Chapter 17 — Nan Xu, do you like your brother?
The English exam in the afternoon was the last subject of this round of monthly tests.
Nan Xu was wrapping up her essay when a sudden, familiar cramp in her lower abdomen made her heart jolt—her period had started.
There were still five minutes left before the exam ended, and one paragraph of the essay remained unwritten. With her hand trembling, she forced herself to finish the final word.
When the bell rang right on time, relief washed over her. She rushed out of the room, grabbed her bag, and headed for the restroom.
Halfway there, she suddenly remembered—she had given her last pad to Dong Fanxi and never restocked her bag.
The campus shop was a bit far.
She let out a sigh. The pain in her abdomen made her want to collapse on the spot, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to walk downstairs, every step slow and careful.
After the exam, the senior year students still had to return to class. This time it was math. Nan Xu had already been late once before, and she couldn’t risk being late again.
She tried to quicken her pace, but her body just wouldn’t cooperate. Even at her fastest, she was only moving a little quicker than before.
“Nan Xu, the classroom’s on the third floor.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Nan Xu looked up in a daze—Xie Hejing was walking toward her.
He caught sight of her lips pressed into a thin line, her fists clenched, and the pained look on her face.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Nan Xu flushed with embarrassment, but she still forced herself to say it.
“My period started. I need to go to the shop.”
She could already feel the dampness with every step, and worried her pants were stained. She couldn’t check, and she had no jacket with her. She was completely stuck.
She wanted to ask Xie Hejing to buy pads for her, though she wasn’t sure if he’d agree. But she didn’t have much choice.
Before she could even open her mouth, he seemed to have guessed. He paused briefly, then turned and said two words: “Wait here.”
He had only taken two steps before turning back, about to ask if she had a specific brand in mind—he wasn’t exactly familiar with them.
At that moment, Nan Xu had shifted slightly to head upstairs. The blue-and-white school uniform made stains glaringly obvious, and Xie Hejing accidentally caught a glimpse of the red mark. He quickly averted his eyes.
Catching up to her, he looked away as he pulled off his jacket and tossed it to her. His voice was cold and clipped: “Tie it around you.”
Nan Xu clutched the jacket, her face burning hotter by the second.
He had seen.
She squeezed the fabric so tightly her fingertips went pale—this was mortifying.
He walked her to the girls’ restroom on the second floor. Standing outside, he spoke to her in a steady voice despite her obvious discomfort: “Go in first. I’ll find someone to bring it to you.”
“…Okay.” Nan Xu lowered her head and answered softly.
At the campus shop, the cashier recognized Xie Hejing. Seeing him rush back not long after leaving, slightly out of breath, the man casually asked, “Back again, kid? What else do you need?”
Xie Hejing glanced at the shelves of pads but couldn’t find the brand Nan Xu had mentioned. He went to the counter and asked a couple of quick questions.
The cashier raised his brows. “That brand? We don’t stock it. Eh? Buying pads, are you? Got yourself a girlfriend already? Early romance isn’t a good idea, you know.”
On any other day, Xie Hejing might have joked back. But now he just asked firmly, “Which one’s better?”
The cashier chuckled. “That one—seems to sell best.”
Inside the restroom, Nan Xu sat with her eyes lowered, the jacket tied snugly around her waist. Clean, safe—it was enough to ease her embarrassment a little.
Then, suddenly, a stranger’s voice called from outside the stall: “Nan Xu? Nan Xu?”
Nan Xu quickly knocked on the stall door and answered, “I’m here.”
A girl passed something through the gap at the bottom. “A guy outside asked me to give this to you.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Once she had taken care of everything, Nan Xu let out a long breath of relief and walked out—only to see Xie Hejing still waiting at the door.
She stepped forward, her heart full of gratitude. “Brother, thank you.”
Xie Hejing turned naturally, studying her pale, weak look.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
Nan Xu nodded. She still hurt, but she felt much better than before.
She climbed the stairs slowly. Xie Hejing strolled behind her, hands in his pockets, casting glances at her every now and then.
As expected, they ended up late. Their math teacher valued punctuality above all, especially for lessons. Nan Xu had already been forgiven once before—this time she knew he wouldn’t let it slide. Her heart sank as she rehearsed possible excuses in her head.
Xie Hejing opened the classroom door first. Inside, everyone was doing self-study; at the sound, they glanced up briefly before returning to their work.
The teacher checked the clock. They were ten minutes late. Last time, Nan Xu had only been one minute late—this was far worse.
Still, he didn’t want to scold them in front of the class. Once the door was shut, he stepped out into the hallway with the two of them.
“What’s going on with you two? The exam’s over and instead of coming straight back, you’re wandering around? What exactly are you trying to do?” His voice grew sharper as he spoke.
“Sorry, teacher,” Xie Hejing said. “We’re late this time, but I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Hmph.” The teacher’s irritation eased a little. Xie Hejing’s grades were excellent, and he had admitted fault right away. “See that it doesn’t happen again,” he warned coldly.
Then his gaze shifted to Nan Xu. “But you—what’s going on? Late again, and this time by ten minutes? That attitude toward class just won’t do.”
Nan Xu lowered her head, her tone apologetic. “I’m sorry, teacher. I was…” She hesitated, then added, “handling something personal, and it took longer than I thought.”
“Personal? What could possibly be more important than studying?” the teacher pressed.
Nan Xu’s eyes dropped further, her fingers twisting at the hem of her jacket. She couldn’t bring herself to say more.
The teacher’s brow furrowed. “The rule is clear: if you’re late, you stand outside. Last time, I let you off because it was only a minute. But not this time. Both of you—stand by the door and reflect.”
He was about to turn back when Xie Hejing spoke up leisurely: “Teacher.”
“What is it? Don’t think you can talk your way out of this. Just because your grades are good doesn’t mean you get to break the rules.” His expression darkened, but he stopped walking.
“No,” Xie Hejing said with a smile. “I was trying to say that she shouldn’t be punished!”
He tilted his head toward Nan Xu.
Nan Xu’s eyes widened in shock, staring at him.
The teacher gave him a hard look. “You’re getting punished yourself, so what’s the point of playing hero?”
“Hero?” Xie Hejing chuckled. “That’s not me. I just feel a little guilty, is all.”
“Guilty?” the teacher repeated.
“Mm.” Xie Hejing’s tone was casual, but steady. “After the exam, I was hungry and went to buy food. On the way back, I wasn’t paying attention and ran into her—got her clothes dirty too. That’s why she was late. Now she’s being punished because of me, and honestly, I’d feel bad about that.”
Nan Xu’s head snapped up, eyes wide with disbelief. He hadn’t stumbled once, telling the story as though it were the absolute truth.
Then he arched a brow at her, signaling for her to go along with it.
The teacher turned to her. “Is that what happened?”
Nan Xu opened her mouth, torn. In her peripheral vision, Xie Hejing was watching her steadily. After a few seconds of hesitation, she muttered, “Yes.”
At her confirmation, Xie Hejing’s lips curved. He had half-expected her not to be able to lie at all.
The teacher’s expression softened slightly. “Fine. In that case, Nan Xu won’t need to stand. But you,” he looked back at Xie Hejing, “you’ll take her share. For bumping into a classmate and for being late, you’ll stand outside until dismissal.”
There was still half an hour left.
Xie Hejing grinned and nodded cheerfully. “Thanks, teacher.”
Nan Xu sat at her desk, but her thoughts had long since drifted to the hallway.
Why did he do that for her?
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed. The dismissal bell rang, and the classroom immediately emptied by half. Xie Hejing strolled back to his seat.
Five minutes later, only a handful of students remained. Oddly enough, Xie Hejing was still sitting there. Normally, he was one of the first to leave.
When the room dwindled down to just the two of them, Nan Xu reached out and gave his back a tiny poke with her finger.
It was just a light touch, but the steady, solid muscle beneath her fingertip made her curl her finger back quickly, her thumb brushing against her index finger tip as if to erase the feeling.
Xie Hejing had already slung his bag over his shoulder. He tilted his head toward her. “Let’s go.”
“We…” Nan Xu hesitated. She didn’t really want people to see them walking out together—and at the same time, she was afraid people would see.
Xie Hejing took a step forward. “Just two classmates talking on the way. That’s not crossing any line, is it?”
Nan Xu grabbed her bag and followed, but she never walked right beside him, always keeping a few steps’ distance.
Xie Hejing: “…”
On the way, neither of them said much. Finally, Nan Xu seized a pause in the silence to ask the question that had been burning in her mind since class.
“Why did you take the punishment for me just now?”
He’d said before that at school, the two of them were supposed to act like strangers.
“Because I wanted to.” His tone was careless, as if it meant nothing.
“But… Classmate Xie, you—”
She stopped when he suddenly came to a halt.
“What did you just call me?” he asked.
Nan Xu blinked, puzzled by his focus on something so trivial. Still, she answered honestly: “I called you… Classmate Xie?”
That was the proper way at school, wasn’t it?
Xie Hejing didn’t reply.
Not right?
Nan Xu frowned.
Then… what was she supposed to call him?
Tentatively, she tried again. “Xie Hejing?”
She rarely said his name, but it really was a beautiful name.
Her voice was clear and soft, every syllable precise, obedient, and clean. Whenever she spoke, there was always that hint of seriousness—like now, her tone slipped straight into his ears.
He suddenly remembered the last time she had sought him out just to say—
“Xie Hejing, I’m angry.”
Her tone back then was just the same: brows furrowed, that schoolish seriousness, telling him plainly, “I don’t like this.”
So earnest, without the slightest pretense.
Unknowingly, the corners of his lips lifted.
“Xie. He. Jing—”
Nan Xu called again, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“What?” His eyes stayed fixed ahead, his voice cold.
She frowned. “Even that’s wrong?”
“…Wrong.”
Then what am I supposed to call you?
The thought flashed through her mind. She hurried a few steps to catch up to him and, almost breathless, blurted out, “Bro—Brother?”
Xie Hejing’s mind skipped right over the first word, but the last two syllables struck a nerve like a spark against flint.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his expression shifted ever so slightly, but he quickly smoothed it over, as calm as still water.
Nan Xu, of course, didn’t notice.
Xie Hejing kept silent, leaving her unsure what he was thinking. She had no choice but to call out again.
“Brother? Right?”
He pressed his hand against his lips, coughed twice, his clear voice carrying over. He didn’t say yes or no—only, “Not bad.”
Nan Xu took it as agreement. Falling a few steps behind, she thought making her meals had already fulfilled Aunt Zhang’s request quite well, but it turned out he had done more—far more.
Lifting her gaze, she looked at his back ahead of her.
Tall and refined, posture relaxed—carefree like a boy his age, yet steadier than most his peers.
Though his words were always cold, everything he did seemed warm.
Blinking, Nan Xu let her slow mind wander over matters of the heart. Thinking back to the way she had just addressed him, sudden realization struck.
Could it be—he’s a siscon?
Aunt Zhang had always wanted a daughter. Maybe he really wanted a little sister too.
After wrestling with the thought, she couldn’t help herself—she ran forward to walk beside him.
For this sudden move, Xie Hejing only cast her a glance, then let it go.
Nan Xu snuck a look at his profile, more convinced of her guess, and secretly felt happy that their relationship seemed a step closer.
Still, she wanted confirmation. So she asked, “Brother, do you really like having a sister?”
Something jolted through him. He froze in place. Amid all the noise outside, he could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
A dangerous sign—especially for him.
Why would a single question make his heart tremble so sharply?
Xie Hejing was shaken, even stunned.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at her silently.
That look made Nan Xu nervous for no reason. She quickly said, “I was just asking.”
He withdrew his gaze, voice cool and flat. “Not interested. Don’t like it.”
Nan Xu raised her eyes to him again. He said he didn’t like it, yet he had been nothing but good to her.
Something about him felt off, though she couldn’t put her finger on what. Frowning, she stepped closer, fixing her eyes on him.
“Really don’t like it? But I…”
Her words were cut off.
Xie Hejing suddenly bent down, bringing himself level with her eyes. His pale irises locked onto her dark ones.
Looking at her bewildered, defenseless face, so full of questions—
He gave a teasing, playful smile, tinged with provocation. “Nan Xu, do you like your brother?”
Nan Xu actually thought about it seriously. Having a brother didn’t sound so bad.
“Of course I do.” Her lips curled into a gentle smile, revealing two dimples, and her gaze was serious and—
—stirred the heart.
Xie Hejing’s mind went blank with a sharp buzz. His breath caught.
His Adam’s apple moved again, and, unusually, he was the first to look away. His eyes fell on the strands of her hair hanging beside her cheek.
Those strands, drifting lightly, seemed to curl around him—soft, slow, inescapable.
Arrogant and stubborn as he was, Xie Hejing wanted to resist the strangeness clawing at him, yet that hair only seemed to tighten its hold.
A wild tug-of-war raged inside him.
He wanted to warn her off, to push her away—
—and yet he also wanted to keep her close, to lock her in place.
Xie Hejing’s eyes grew darker, more dangerous.
But when the words reached his lips, what came out instead was a light, almost casual: “Classmate Xiao Nan, your hair’s a mess.”