Chapter 54 — Nan Xu, stop teasing!!!
“Assistant Xie, why do you look so tired?”
“Didn’t sleep well last night?”
Hearing the voice, Nan Xu instantly opened her eyes. Standing before her was Xie Hejing—and her little act of pretending to nap at her desk had clearly been caught by him.
He lightly tapped her desk, a wordless reminder.
Nan Xu hurriedly stood up. “Sorry, President Xie. Last night, I…” she hesitated for a moment, “went to bed a bit late.”
Xie Hejing gave a short hum of acknowledgment, the picture of a considerate superior. “Assistant Xie, you should rest earlier. Don’t let fatigue affect tomorrow’s work.”
His tone was perfectly proper and professional.
“Thank you for the reminder, I’ll make sure to sleep earlier and not let it affect my work,” Nan Xu replied obediently.
But inwardly, she couldn’t help complaining—the reason she’d stayed up so late was because of his recording.
After hanging up the call last night, she’d listened to it again… and ended up wide awake until three in the morning.
Thinking of that made her glance at Xie Hejing with a faint trace of resentment.
He caught her look immediately, the corners of his eyes lifting with amusement.
“Meeting in thirty minutes. Assistant Xie, prepare the meeting notes,” he said before turning and heading back to his office.
“Yes, sir,” Nan Xu replied.
Half an hour later, she took her laptop and entered the conference room—only to see a very familiar face.
Dong Fanxi.
After chatting with Sister Zhang, Nan Xu learned she’d been transferred from a branch office.
During lunch, Dong Fanxi was just as she’d been back in school—quiet, solitary, not one for small talk.
Nan Xu took Qi Yule and sat beside her.
Dong Fanxi’s hand, holding her chopsticks, froze for a moment. In truth, when she’d first seen Nan Xu in the office that morning, she’d been thrilled.
But years of being on her own had made her awkward about taking the initiative, even with an old friend.
Now that Nan Xu had sat down beside her, Dong Fanxi finally smiled and greeted her. “Nan Xu, we meet again.”
Her gaze shifted toward Qi Yule.
“And this is…? Sorry, I just got here, so I’m not familiar with everyone yet.”
Qi Yule smiled understandingly. “I’m Qi Yule, from the marketing department.” Then she turned to Nan Xu, catching onto what Dong Fanxi had said. “Xiao Nan, you two know each other?”
Nan Xu nodded. “Yeah, we were in the same class in high school.”
“Wow, what a coincidence! You even ended up working at the same company after graduation,” Qi Yule exclaimed. She was from out of town and hadn’t seen her own classmates in ages.
“Xiao Nan, first your boyfriend’s a high school classmate, and now you’ve got a colleague from high school too. You’ve got quite the luck with familiar faces,” Qi Yule teased.
Nan Xu’s heart nearly leapt into her throat. She hadn’t expected Qi Yule to bring that up—especially not in front of Dong Fanxi.
She silently prayed that Dong Fanxi wouldn’t ask who her so-called “boyfriend” was.
Sure enough, at the mention of “boyfriend,” Dong Fanxi’s expression flickered in surprise. Then, as if recalling something, she gradually composed herself again.
She looked at Nan Xu, clearly wanting to ask more, but with Qi Yule sitting there, it wasn’t the right time.
So she let the matter drop—for now.
Setting aside Dong Fanxi’s distracted air and Nan Xu’s nervous tension, the three of them still managed to keep the conversation pleasant.
When they swiped their cards to re-enter the company, Qi Yule suddenly clutched her stomach in pain, so Nan Xu and Dong Fanxi went up in the elevator first.
They’d taken their time at lunch, so by the time they returned, it was already late—and the elevator was empty except for the two of them.
“…Nan Xu,” Dong Fanxi spoke up suddenly.
Nan Xu tensed slightly, swallowing hard. “Go ahead.”
But instead of asking what Nan Xu had feared, Dong Fanxi simply said, “When did you come back to the country?”
At that, the tight string in Nan Xu’s mind loosened a little. Her tone grew lighter. “A few months ago. Why?”
“So it’s only been a few months?”
Dong Fanxi shook her head. “Nothing, really. I just think… it’s nice.”
She paused, then added softly, “I’d like to have a meal with you sometime, catch up properly.”
Hearing that, Nan Xu completely relaxed. “Sure, no problem. When are you free?”
“Maybe in a while. Things are a bit busy for me lately,” Dong Fanxi replied.
“Alright, just let me know when. I’ll adjust my schedule to match yours.”
Dong Fanxi couldn’t help but study her a little longer. Nan Xu was still the same—radiant, the kind of person who naturally drew others in, someone who brought warmth wherever she went.
“You and your… boyfriend,” she began.
Nan Xu’s heart skipped a beat. She kept her eyes fixed on the elevator doors, not turning her head, just listening quietly.
“How are things between you two?”
The question struck Nan Xu as odd. Normally, when old classmates heard about a “boyfriend,” their first reaction would be to ask who it was. But Dong Fanxi didn’t. And since she didn’t ask, Nan Xu had no intention of volunteering the answer.
“We’re doing fine,” she said lightly. “Still getting to know each other.”
“Still getting to know each other…” Dong Fanxi repeated softly, then lowered her gaze, saying nothing more.
Nan Xu couldn’t see her expression, but something about her tone felt strange. Did Dong Fanxi know something? But that didn’t make sense—she’d only just transferred here from the branch office.
The questions lingered in Nan Xu’s mind all the way until the end of the day. Even when she got into Xie Hejing’s car, she was still lost in thought.
Seeing her dazed expression, Xie Hejing flicked her forehead in annoyance.
“Who are you thinking about so intently that you didn’t even hear me calling you?”
Pain shot through her forehead, and Nan Xu instinctively hissed, “Ow,” startled out of her daze.
She immediately raised her hand to rub the sore spot, eyes misting slightly as her focus returned.
Looking at Xie Hejing’s teasing smile, she pouted. “Why’d you flick me? I wasn’t thinking about anyone.”
She’d just been… overthinking, that’s all.
Xie Hejing didn’t bother to argue. Instead, he went straight to what he wanted to ask.
“Did you listen to last night’s recording?”
At his words, Nan Xu’s eyes darted away toward the window. “I—yeah. I did.”
The tips of her ears turned pink.
Last night, almost without realizing it, she’d pressed play on the recording… and afterward, hadn’t managed to say a single word.
. . . . .
The heat was bottled up inside Xie Hejing, unable to be released.
He gritted his teeth and called out, “Nan Xu, talk.”
Nan Xu had already been stunned by his heavy breathing, but she still managed to say, “I like…”
It felt as if a lump of air was stuck in her throat, making Nan Xu’s breathing grow quick and uneven.
Xie Hejing asked again, not aggressively this time, but gently guiding her: “Keep going, Nan Xu, don’t be shy, you’ve said it before.”
Could the situation then be the same as now? Nan Xu frowned, looking at her phone screen, which felt like a hot potato.
But throwing it away now was impossible.
She inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled: “I like Brother.”
His heart was scorched by those words.
The corner of Xie Hejing’s eyebrow arched slightly with a touch of recklessness. His eyelids were half-lowered as he asked: “Nan Xu, did you press record?”
“I… I pressed it,” Nan Xu’s heart was pounding. She didn’t know why Xie Hejing wanted her to record it.
Xie Hejing stopped his movements, took the phone, and walked a few steps away. The sound of running water suddenly softened, but Xie Hejing’s voice became clearer.
The friction of his clothes, the undisguised hoarseness, the slight gasps that surfaced after the intense heat—all of it intertwined in the call, rushing towards Nan Xu relentlessly.
She couldn’t help but hold the phone further away, then grabbed a pillow and buried her whole face in it.
As the heavy breathing waxed and waned, Nan Xu buried herself deeper.
Until the final sound dropped, Nan Xu’s heart trembled violently. She heard Xie Hejing’s voice come back through the phone: “Nan Xu, how about listening to it in front of me next time?”
Nan Xu shot her face up from the pillow and shouted into the phone: “Absolutely not!”
If she really listened to it in front of him, Xie Hejing definitely wouldn’t let her simply just listen.
There was no sound from the other end, and silence lasted for a while.
Nan Xu thought he had hung up. She completely dropped the pillow, moved to the edge of the bed, and picked up her phone.
However, she saw that the call was still connected.
She cautiously called out: “Brother? Brother? Xie Hejing? Are you okay?”
“No,” Xie Hejing complained slightly, then continued, “Nan Xu, what did you feel just now? Did you have the urge to come over? Were you aroused?”
Xie Hejing asked her directly.
Nan Xu, however, was hesitant. She had covered her ears with the blanket, so the sounds she heard later were indistinct and sparse.
“I… I guess I heard it.”
“You guess you heard it?”
Xie Hejing’s voice dropped, a warning: “Nan Xu, you better listen to it seriously once, or you’ll listen to it in front of me tomorrow.”
Without a doubt, Nan Xu chose the former.
. . . . .
“Then you…” Xie Hejing started to say.
“Brother, hurry up and drive,” Nan Xu interrupted him, “We still have to go to the supermarket, right? Other things, let’s talk about them after dinner.”
Well, if she could stall for a while, she would, Nan Xu thought, lowering her gaze.
Xie Hejing could tell what she was trying to do, but didn’t say anything.
The car stopped in front of the supermarket.
Holding Nan Xu’s hand, Xie Hejing led her to the food section on the second floor.
Surrounded by all kinds of colorful snacks, Nan Xu grabbed quite a few.
Normally, Xie Hejing wouldn’t let her buy any junk food, but when she turned around and looked up at him with those innocent eyes, she said softly,
“But, Brother, I really want some.”
There was no way he could refuse her when she spoke like that. “Stop acting cute,” he said, clearing his throat before adding, “Fine.”
Nan Xu’s eyes lit up—so this was what counted as acting cute? Her lips curved into a small smile.
When they got home, the two went into the kitchen together. Nan Xu wasn’t much of a cook, so all she could do was help out a little.
But Xie Hejing had high standards—even for the dishes themselves.
Her poor attempts in the kitchen were far from acceptable to him. He tried to endure it, but in the end, couldn’t.
“Just go sit down,” he said, finally giving up.
Nan Xu was happy to comply. She handed everything over to him, then went to sit on the sofa, snacking and listening to music.
Since the playlist was on shuffle from Xie Hejing’s phone, she didn’t notice when it suddenly switched to that song—the one he had used last time to “help her relax.”
Her memories rushed back instantly, and that familiar sensation seemed to reappear between her legs.
Her cheeks flushed red as she listened.
She quickly set the chips down, hurried to the side, and reached for the phone to turn it off.
Just then, Xie Hejing came out with the last dish. Naturally, he heard the song too, and with a teasing smile asked, “Listening to this again tonight? You shouldn’t be nervous this time—maybe you’ll even enjoy it more.”
Even if it happened a few more times, she’d still be nervous. Nan Xu ignored him, turned on the screen, and stopped the music.
But even though the song was off, the sensations it brought back still lingered on her body. She lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.
Setting the plate down, Xie Hejing asked, “Why’d you turn it off?”
Nan Xu couldn’t possibly tell him the real reason. After thinking for a moment, she said, “We’re about to eat—it’s better not to have music playing.” A decent enough excuse.
He probably guessed what was really going on, but didn’t press the issue. Instead, he took a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and placed it on the table.
“Want a drink?”
Nan Xu nodded—anything to distract herself from her thoughts.
He poured her a little, barely enough to cover the bottom of the glass.
Nan Xu took a bite of braised pork but wasn’t in the mood to sip slowly. She downed the wine in one go.
Xie Hejing refilled her glass, and she didn’t even notice—she just drank it again.
Soon, her stomach felt uncomfortably full, and she couldn’t eat another bite, though her head finally started to clear from those earlier thoughts.
But her vision was beginning to blur, and her mind felt sluggish.
What kind of wine was this? She’d barely had any, yet it was already hitting her this hard.
In truth, she’d been so focused on calming herself down—trying to shake off those lingering sensations—that she hadn’t noticed how many times Xie Hejing had refilled her glass.
She naturally didn’t notice that one-third of the large bottle of wine had been drunk by her, who couldn’t hold her liquor well.
Xie Hejing stared at the blush on Nan Xu’s face, knowing the girl was drunk.
He led Nan Xu to sit on the sofa and said, “Be good and sit here, listen to me, or I’ll spank your palm.” Xie Hejing threatened her.
Nan Xu shrank her neck, hugged her hands in her lap, and timidly replied, “Don’t spank my palm.”
“Then be good and sit, you are not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Okay.”
. . . . .
Fifteen minutes later.
“…Brother, Brother, why are you swaying?” Nan Xu sat on the sofa, staring at Xie Hejing, who had just finished tidying up and was walking towards her.
“Stop swaying, my head is so dizzy,” she tried hard to blink her eyes, but it was useless.
She also found that not only was Xie Hejing “swaying,” but many other things were “rocking.”
Xie Hejing chuckled, picked her up into his arms again, grabbed the bottle of red wine beside them, and didn’t bother pouring it into a glass, drinking directly from the bottle.
“Brother, why is that light swaying too?”
“What was I just about to say? Why can’t I remember?”
“What did I want to do, Brother?”
“…”
Nan Xu nestled in Xie Hejing’s arms, the drunkenness entangled in her mind, making her unable to think, or even keep her balance.
The moment Xie Hejing’s hand loosened, she would tip over to the side.
Fearing that she would fall, she clutched at Xie Hejing’s clothes and leaned her head against his chest.
A wave of warmth coursed through Xie Hejing’s body, the intimate and dependent gesture made Xie Hejing’s lips curl into a smile.
He took an even larger gulp of wine.
Carelessly, the red wine slipped from the corner of his mouth down to his Adam’s apple, which Nan Xu happened to see.
She stared at the red liquid with hazy, drunken eyes, then reached out and poked it.
Xie Hejing’s breathing hitched as he looked down at Nan Xu; she seemed very interested in the wine flowing down.
An idea flashed in Xie Hejing’s mind. He continued to swallow, and “unintentionally” spilled red wine onto his body, letting it slowly flow downwards.
Nan Xu seemed to start playing; wherever the red wine flowed, she followed it with her gaze and poked it with her finger.
Xie Hejing was equally amused and continued to “leak” red wine to tease Nan Xu.
Just as a drop of red wine slowly traced a path from his neck, across his chest, and then disappeared into his black shirt.
Nan Xu, unable to poke the wine, became a little anxious. She lifted her heavy hand, gently lifted Xie Hejing’s shirt, and looked inside.
The sight almost ignited a flame.
With a sudden burst of breath, Xie Hejing slammed the wine bottle heavily onto the table, the force of which caused the red wine inside to splash out.
Several drops splattered onto Xie Hejing’s hand and wrist…
But at this moment, he completely disregarded it, only because Nan Xu’s posture wasn’t limited to just looking—she wanted to pull his shirt further open so she could poke that fading drop of red wine.
Xie Hejing could no longer control his breathing and suddenly gripped Nan Xu’s wrist with his large hand.
It was very thin, as if it could snap with just a light force; therefore, Xie Hejing relaxed his grip quite a bit.
Frowning, he said, “Nan Xu, if you don’t want to hear it, if you don’t want it—then don’t tease.”
Nan Xu had no idea how “dangerous” her earlier action had been, nor did she understand what Xie Hejing meant.
Her eyes were only drawn to his hand—the one holding her wrist—which also had some red wine on it.
After a brief silence, Nan Xu moved again. This time, instead of poking at the wine with her other hand, she leaned forward and lightly traced it with the tip of her tongue.
A satisfied smile curved her lips. “Brother, it’s a little sweet.”
Xie Hejing’s heart stopped for a beat.