Chapter 21 Part 1 — It’s not good to provoke someone…
“Nan Xu, I’ll think about this problem some more. I’ll tell you during self-study this afternoon.”
Liu Chengyi walked past a row of empty desks and stopped in front of Nan Xu, who was still packing her bag. He set her workbook down.
“Okay, thank you,” Nan Xu smiled back at him. “Oh, by the way, I asked the teacher about the third question just now—he had another way of solving it.” She was about to pull out some scratch paper.
But Liu Chengyi stopped her. “Let’s eat first, and we’ll talk about it during self-study. I’m leaving now.”
“Okay, bye.”
Wen Qi, who was waiting for Nan Xu to go to lunch, wasn’t surprised at all.
The two of them discussing physics problems had become routine. Sometimes if they couldn’t finish between classes and the next period happened to be a self-study, Nan Xu would even swap seats with Liu Chengyi’s desk mate so they could keep going.
Wen Qi tugged on Nan Xu’s arm. “Come on, let’s go. Stop staring, he’s already gone. Let’s eat.”
“I wasn’t staring,” Nan Xu shot back.
The two walked out of the classroom and headed down the stairs.
“Weren’t you? I honestly thought the two of you might develop into something by now! I don’t really know Liu Chengyi, so I can’t tell what he’s like.” Wen Qi’s eyes darted mischievously across Nan Xu’s face.
Nan Xu, however, stayed calm. “No. We just discuss physics, that’s all.”
“If you say so.” Wen Qi shook her head.
During afternoon self-study, Liu Chengyi’s desk mate happened to be absent, so Nan Xu went over as usual with her questions.
Xiang Weishi watched the two of them working side by side and immediately acted like he’d discovered some huge secret. He nudged Xie Hejing’s arm. “Hey, hey, hey, look—Nan Xu and Liu Chengyi.”
Xie Hejing barely lifted his eyelids, letting out a cold snort. “What’s so interesting about that?”
But Xiang Weishi went on, talking to himself more than anyone else. “Don’t you think there’s something going on? I’ve seen Liu Chengyi coming to Nan Xu almost every day lately. Sure, they say it’s about physics, but once I even spotted them at the milk tea shop near the school. Each of them holding a cup, chatting away.”
“Milk tea shop…” Xie Hejing glanced over at them.
“Yeah. Looked like Nan Xu treated him too—I watched for a while, she was the one who paid. You know, she’s on good terms with all of us—well, except you.”
This guy acted like he was too good for everyone. Aside from Wen Qi, he never talked with any girl for more than ten sentences.
“But Nan Xu gets along pretty well with me and Wen Qi. If there’s really something happening, how come she hasn’t told us? No way, I’m gonna ask her later.”
Xie Hejing didn’t bother listening to Xiang Weishi’s rambling anymore. He set aside the problem he was working on, propped his head on his hand, and looked in their direction. His gaze, at first absentminded, slowly sharpened until it fixed entirely on Nan Xu.
Just then, Nan Xu’s pen slipped from her desk, rolled under Liu Chengyi’s chair. Liu Chengyi bent down to pick it up for her.
Nan Xu, thoughtful as ever, held her hand against the corner of the desk so he wouldn’t bump his head when he stood up.
Liu Chengyi noticed and raised his brows with a smile as he handed the pen back, saying something he couldn’t quite catch.
That little interaction made Xiang Weishi even more excited. He turned to Wen Qi, speculating whether the two were already in the ambiguous stage—or maybe just one step away from being together.
Their chatter buzzed in Xie Hejing’s ears, making him restless and irritable. Finally, he stood up.
“Where are you going?” Xiang Weishi asked.
“What’s it to you?” Xie Hejing shot back, clearly annoyed.
“What’s with him today? Why so cranky?” Xiang Weishi muttered.
Wen Qi yawned. “Who knows. Maybe he couldn’t solve a problem.”
By dinnertime, Xie Hejing’s expression was no longer cold—now it was stormy. Everything seemed to irritate him.
Zhang Huiwan held back from asking at first, but later, when she was alone with Nan Xu, she said: “What’s wrong with Hejing? Did someone at school get on his nerves?”
Nan Xu thought carefully but couldn’t recall anything. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Then someone must have turned him down again?” Zhang Huiwan sighed, half exasperated.
“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you.” Nan Xu lowered her voice a little. “I asked him about it last time. He said he’d never confess to anyone. So it shouldn’t be that.”
Hearing this, Zhang Huiwan finally relaxed. As for the rest, she trusted Xie Hejing could handle things on his own.
At eleven that night, Xie Hejing took a pill and lay quietly in bed, waiting for sleep. Insomnia had always been a long-standing problem for him, and lately it seemed to be getting worse.
At one in the morning, he woke up again. With a resigned sigh, he threw back the blanket, slipped on his slippers, and headed downstairs for some water.
A couple of minutes later, a door creaked open upstairs.
Xie Hejing paused mid-step, sipping his water slowly, not in any rush to return to his room.
Nan Xu had just finished a physics test paper, finally relaxing. To sleep a little longer the next morning, she planned to fill her thermos with hot water tonight.
She had just filled a cup at the counter and turned around, when the glow of her phone light revealed Xie Hejing in dark blue pajamas.
He leaned against the counter, one hand holding a cup, silent from the moment she came downstairs to the moment she finished. He didn’t make a sound—just watched her quietly.
The sight startled Nan Xu so much her heart skipped several beats. Her thermos slipped right out of her hand.
At this hour, Zhang Huiwan was asleep. Afraid the noise would wake her, Nan Xu scrambled to catch it, but it was useless—fortunately, Xie Hejing’s reflexes were quick, and he caught it.
Even so, there was still a loud clatter. Nan Xu froze, staring at Zhang Huiwan’s door until she was sure there was no movement. Only then did she relax a little.
Just as she was about to breathe out in relief, she noticed the thermos felt lighter. She looked down—and saw that the hot water had spilled out, scalding the back of Xie Hejing’s hand, now reddened.
She gasped, and before she could even apologize, she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the kitchen.
Water splashed noisily from the faucet as Nan Xu held his wrist, rinsing his hand under the stream with eyes full of guilt.
Xie Hejing didn’t seem to feel any pain. His other hand stayed casually in his pocket, his expression calm. But when he noticed how focused Nan Xu was on his hand, his brow twitched slightly, and his gaze shifted to his wrist.
His frown slowly eased. Even the corner of his mouth lifted faintly.
He didn’t say anything, letting her hold on.
Ten minutes passed like that. The only sound in the kitchen was running water. Nan Xu didn’t move, still carefully holding his hand under the faucet.
Xie Hejing lowered his gaze to her face.
Her phone’s light, set aside on the counter, cast a warm glow across her profile. A few strands of hair tucked neatly behind her ear, her lashes lowered, throwing delicate fan-shaped shadows across her cheek. Her lips were pressed together, her face tense with concentration.
The still waters of his heart stirred, rippling quietly.
Then Nan Xu suddenly sneezed. Xie Hejing looked at her thin pajamas, his breath tightening. Finally, he spoke, breaking the silence of the night.
“Still holding on?”
It took Nan Xu a moment to realize what he meant. Flustered, she let go and said awkwardly, “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be downstairs too.” Her eyes flicked to his hand, still red. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Xie Hejing skipped right over the question, his voice low. “Why are you still awake at this hour?”
“I was working on a physics paper. I messaged you that I’d be up late,” Nan Xu murmured, her voice trailing off.
Late… all the way to one in the morning.
“One paper keeps you up this late? Looks like Liu Chengyi isn’t teaching you very well.” Xie Hejing gave a cold laugh.
Nan Xu didn’t quite understand how the topic suddenly turned to Liu Chengyi. After all, he’d been helping her with problems; whether she grasped them or not was her own ability.
“I think he explains things pretty well. It’s just me—I’ve been stuck on one concept, so I kept working until late.”
Xie Hejing raised an eyebrow. Now she was even defending other people in front of him.
But that Liu Chengyi… his eyes darkened.
“Stay away from him.”
“Why?” Nan Xu asked. “I think he’s nice. He’s willing to help me with physics.”
Time in senior year was precious. Someone willing to spend time tutoring her in physics—Nan Xu only felt grateful.
Xie Hejing stepped closer. “I’ll say it again. Stay away from him. He’s not a good person.”
Nan Xu fell silent. She didn’t argue, but her expression made it clear she didn’t agree with him at all.
Xie Hejing’s gaze turned cold.
Of course. The two of them were so close—what business of his was it to interfere?
He pulled his hand back, gave it a quick shake, and walked out of the kitchen without another word.
Mindful that Zhang Huiwan was still asleep, Nan Xu had to keep her voice low. “Does your hand still hurt? Do you want some ointment?”
Xie Hejing went straight upstairs, shut his door, leaving not a single word behind.
Nan Xu could only knock softly on his door with the burn ointment in her hand. No response.
“I’ll just leave it by your door,” she said, knocking once more before heading back to her room.
. . . . .
On Sunday, while Zhang Huiwan was at work, only Nan Xu and Xie Hejing sat down to lunch together.
After a bit of hesitation, Nan Xu finally said, “Brother, I’m going out later.”
“With who?”
“…Liu Chengyi.” Expecting him to object, she quickly added, “He’s been helping me with physics for so long, so I thought I’d treat him to a meal. We agreed on it earlier.”
To her surprise, Xie Hejing only gave a calm “Mm.”
But when Nan Xu returned home, her whole demeanor was different from when she left—listless, drained, and with a trace of anger still between her brows.
She froze when she saw Xie Hejing sitting on the sofa. At this time of night, he was usually in his room. Yet here he was, sitting squarely in the living room.
The TV was on, its noise filling the otherwise empty house, but he hadn’t been watching it at all. Instead, he was idly scrolling through his phone.
When the sound of the door opening came from the entryway, he lifted his head.
Nan Xu met his eyes, then quickly looked away, turning her face aside. She didn’t even say hello—just headed straight for the stairs.
“Nan Xu.” His legs spread lazily, his body leaning against the sofa back, his tone casual but impossible to ignore. “Come here.”
Nan Xu clutched at the scarf draped across her chest, frozen in place. “Good evening, Brother. I’m really tired tonight, so I’ll just head up and rest.”
“Don’t make me come drag you out of your room later.” His voice carried a quiet threat.
Reluctantly, Nan Xu walked over. “What is it?”
Xie Hejing stood. He was much taller than her, and the sudden pressure of his presence made her instinctively take two steps back.
Noticing that, he softened. He bent down, lowering himself to meet her eyes. That’s when he caught sight of the tears welling up, the sadness written all over her face.
“Who upset you?”
The question broke something loose. Nan Xu’s eyes reddened further, her vision blurring with tears. Her lips trembled, and she blinked stubbornly, refusing to let them fall.
“Liu Chengyi…” Her voice was thick with grievance.
She had only intended to treat him to a meal today. But Liu Chengyi had asked her to meet at a KTV instead, saying it happened to be his birthday and he wanted her to celebrate with him.
Nan Xu hadn’t thought much of it. She even stopped by a shop to buy him a gift before going to the address.
But when she arrived, she discovered it wasn’t his birthday at all—it was a setup. Liu Chengyi had planned to confess to her.
Nan Xu had never once considered anything beyond being classmates with him. She politely refused.
The problem was, Liu Chengyi had convinced himself he already had her in the bag. He believed Nan Xu must like him—why else would she choose him, out of everyone in class, to spend so much time discussing physics problems?
So, full of confidence, he had invited as many friends as he could, determined that everyone would witness him winning over such a beautiful girlfriend.
But Nan Xu’s rejection made Liu Chengyi feel utterly humiliated on the spot. He forced a smile and said, “What kind of joke is this?”
Nan Xu, however, looked at him seriously and replied, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to ask you a physics question. I must have given you the wrong impression, and I really apologize. But I truly don’t like you.”
Liu Chengyi’s friends, seeing him rejected again and again, instantly lost their patience.
“What are you acting all high and mighty for? If you weren’t interested, why even come here? Stop being so pretentious—it’s embarrassing!”
One stone stirred up a thousand ripples. Liu Chengyi’s friends naturally stood on his side, and their voices grew sharper, banding together to attack Nan Xu.
Backed into a corner, Nan Xu was forced to listen as they jeered and insulted her.
It was the first time she had ever faced something like this—the first time so many people ganged up on her. It was as if she had committed some terrible crime, when in truth all she had done was reject someone she didn’t like.
She tried over and over to explain herself, but no matter what she said, it was like her voice carried no weight. Her words trembled with anxiety, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Then someone, noticing she was about to cry, mocked, “Liu Chengyi, your girlfriend’s about to cry. Aren’t you going to comfort her?”
Another chimed in, “Hey, this girl of yours isn’t being obedient. You better tame her while you can.”
Laughter erupted around them.
The words dripped with malice. Liu Chengyi caught someone’s eye, then burst out laughing too, lowering his head as if to force a kiss on Nan Xu.
Startled, Nan Xu dodged and shoved him away in panic.
The push wasn’t hard, but it was enough to shock everyone around. A delicate little girl, daring to lay hands on Liu Chengyi?
Seizing their moment of surprise, Nan Xu ducked out from the corner, slipped through the door, and bolted straight out to flag a cab home.