Chapter 9 — before you know it… she’s your little darling.
All day Saturday, whenever Zhang Huiwan saw Nan Xu going upstairs or downstairs, she would call Xie Hejing over to escort her.
Probably because Zhang Huiwan was present, Xie Hejing never refused even once. Nan Xu, however, was always nervous every single time.
Fortunately, her scrape wasn’t too serious, and by the next day, the pain had lessened significantly.
By Sunday noon, Nan Xu was sitting on the sofa watching TV. After scanning through the channels for a while, she realized she hadn’t watched TV in a long time, and she had no idea about the plots of many newly aired shows.
In the end, she settled on a cartoon she had seen many times before. Though familiar and no longer exciting, it was enough to serve as background noise.
The phone rang—it was her mom, Wen Qiu.
Nan Xu quickly answered and greeted sweetly, “Mom.”
“Hey, Jiaojiao, are you happy these days? How’s your studies, are you keeping up?” Wen Qiu’s voice was gentle and natural.
Even though nothing particularly upsetting had happened, hearing her mother’s voice made Nan Xu feel like crying.
“I’ve been happy, and I’m keeping up with my studies… I just miss you and Dad,” she said, her voice trembling.
Wen Qiu comforted her for a while. “Jiaojiao, don’t worry. Dad just fell asleep. I’ll go back to the hospital later and have him video call you.”
Nan Xu’s father, Nan Xiaocheng, has heart problems. He had been greatly stressed recently, so even the slightest emotional fluctuation worries the family.
Now that he was finally resting peacefully, Nan Xu didn’t want to disturb him.
Nan Xu quickly declined, “No, no, let Dad focus on his treatment. I’ll listen to Auntie and Brother Hejing. The environment at No. 1 High School is great, and I’ll be adapting well. Mom, take care of yourself and don’t overwork yourself.”
She didn’t want to worry her mother, so she deliberately steered the conversation toward happy topics: being praised on her English quiz, friends from No. 3 High School contacting her and planning to visit soon…
Mother and daughter chatted joyfully.
At that moment, Xie Hejing happened to come in, holding a phone in the middle of a call.
As soon as he entered, Nan Xu’s voice was picked up and transmitted through the phone.
Xiang Weishi, who had been casually chatting, suddenly sat up and turned up the volume. “Xie Hejing, whose voice is that? Sounds like a girl.”
Xie Hejing glanced at Nan Xu.
Still immersed in her conversation with her mother, Nan Xu noticed him and waved. She then used a toothpick to eat a piece of pear. Her mouth was full, so her words were slightly muffled, but her happiness was clear.
He lowered his gaze, hit mute, and quickly returned to his room.
Meanwhile, Xiang Weishi continued to press on, unwilling to let it go. Xie Hejing frowned and replied bluntly, “It was just the TV. You misheard.”
“Really?” Xiang Weishi asked.
“Believe it or not,” Xie Hejing said casually.
Xiang Weishi said “Oh,” unsatisfied but unable to question further, and returned to his own topic.
“Remember the last time we collided with that guy playing basketball?”
“Yeah.”
“He wants us to play again next week.”
Play basketball or hitting people? Xie Hejing sneered.
Xie Hejing already had an aggressive playing style, and Xiang Weishi, though looking funny, played similarly fiercely.
When the two teamed up, their chances of winning were ridiculously high. Anyone who knew them, unless on their team, wouldn’t want to face them—unless they had a very high ego—otherwise, they were just setting themselves up to get beaten.
Last time, he had run into someone stubborn and hot-tempered, and a conflict had broken out. What was originally a small matter, Xie Hejing hadn’t taken seriously—but now it seemed the other person still cared and had come back to confront him.
“Got it. Send me the time on my phone.”
Calm and casual, he completely ignored the other person.
After hanging up, it was already 12:36—lunchtime.
Xie Hejing used to only eat when he was hungry, or just grab something casually, but lately his meal times had become as punctual as work hours.
He tossed his coat aside and went downstairs. Suddenly, he remembered that when he had first opened the door, Nan Xu had been talking on the phone: “I really like Brother Hejing’s cooking. It’s so good, much better than what I make myself.”
The TV was still playing cartoons. Nan Xu had already finished her call, sitting with her back to Xie Hejing and scrolling on her phone.
Xie Hejing passed behind her and set his phone on the table.
A soft sound drew Nan Xu’s attention.
“Brother, you’ve come down.” Nan Xu said, smiling.
“Mm.”
Zhang Huiwan was at the company handling things, so it was just the two of them having lunch.
Nan Xu said excitedly, “Brother, can I make lunch today?”
She had just been talking to her mom about meals, explaining that Xie Hejing usually cooked for her. Wen Qiu had reminded her that she shouldn’t just let others do everything—it wasn’t good.
Nan Xu agreed and, worried that Xie Hejing might not trust her cooking skills, added quickly, “I promise there won’t be any food poisoning.”
“I’m not hungry enough to need an injured person to cook for me,” Xie Hejing said.
Nan Xu replied, “My injury shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Take care of it,” Xie Hejing paused, then said lightly, “Unless… you want me to send you every day?”
Send her?
At first, Nan Xu didn’t react. After a moment, she realized what he meant, her eyes widening, and she hurriedly explained, “No, Brother, you should still cook. I’ll do it next time.”
She turned her head. It was quiet behind her. She thought Xie Hejing had already gone into the kitchen, so she peeked quietly—but happened to meet his gaze.
“What do you want to eat?”
Nan Xu was startled. This was the first time Xie Hejing had actively asked her what she wanted to eat. Before, he hadn’t bothered to ask—he’d just set the food on the table and let her eat if she wanted. Fortunately, Nan Xu wasn’t picky and always ate happily.
“…Braised pork?” she asked, smiling slightly. Her two small dimples stood out prominently.
Xie Hejing didn’t answer immediately, and her smile disappeared instantly.
“Never mind if it’s too much trouble.”
Her dimples vanished.
He averted his gaze from her face, picked up his phone, and walked toward the kitchen. “I can do it.”
“Ah, thank you, Brother!”
The next day was Monday. The school had a flag-raising ceremony starting at 7:30 AM.
It was now 7:15 AM. The class monitor was holding the class flag on the podium, urging everyone to head to the playground.
Half the class had already left. Some went in a scattered line, while others lingered at their desks, dawdling and thinking about which books to bring.
There was a vocabulary dictation in the next period. Nan Xu wanted to take her vocabulary notebook with her to review for a bit. She bent down and searched for it, but the desk drawer was full of materials, and for a moment she really couldn’t remember where she had put it.
Seeing that it was already 7:20 AM, any later and it would be too late.
Nan Xu gave up and thought it might be easier just to take her English book downstairs.
Unexpectedly, when she pulled out the English book, the vocabulary notebook tucked inside came out with it—flying out, but landing squarely under the front-row seat.
In the senior year of high school, students kept a lot of stuff around their desks—boxes, books all around. Nan Xu looked at the vocabulary notebook, feeling helpless, as it was in a spot that was difficult for her to reach.
Coincidentally, Xie Hejing hadn’t left yet. Without thinking, she called out, “Bro—”
Only after saying it did she realize something was off. At home these past few days, she had been calling him “Brother,” but suddenly at school, her brain hadn’t caught up.
“Who are you calling ‘Brother’?” Xiang Weishi, sitting in front, turned with a smile. “Don’t tell me you’re calling me!”
That “Brother” was definitely heard by the two people in the front row. Xie Hejing didn’t turn around; he just kept organizing his papers without a pause.
Unable to explain, Nan Xu decided to go along with it: “…Yes.”
Xiang Weishi froze for a second, raised his eyebrows, and grinned so wide he could barely close his mouth. He patted Xie Hejing beside him like crazy. “Xie Hejing, did you hear that? Someone called me ‘Brother’! Wow, it feels amazing!”
Having such a pretty, obedient female classmate call him “Brother” was extremely satisfying. Xiang Weishi felt like he could brag about it forever.
“Hey, I’m an only child. I’ve never had anyone call me ‘Brother’ before. Hearing it all of a sudden… I kind of want my mom to have another daughter!” Xiang Weishi sighed, but didn’t forget to look at Xie Hejing, hoping for a reaction.
“Xie Hejing, what if I named my sister ‘Xiang Xiaohua’?”
Xie Hejing stood up, dodging Xiang Weishi’s playful pats. “You’re ridiculous. Sounds like a joke.”
His gaze swept past Nan Xu and quickly moved away. As he passed by her desk, he muttered to someone—or maybe no one in particular—“Hurry up, we’ll be late.”
Nan Xu’s eyelashes fluttered.
“Got it, right away.” Xiang Weishi bent down to pick up his book, and when he looked up, Xie Hejing had already walked far ahead.
His eyebrows immediately shot up—why didn’t he wait for him?
Turning back, he saw Nan Xu still sitting at her desk. He chuckled, “Walking together?”
“Ah, okay.” Nan Xu was still a little dazed but quickly remembered the real reason. “Could you help me pick up my vocabulary notebook?”
Xiang Weishi looked down. The stack of books on the floor next to Xie Hejing leaned against a small pink notebook. The handwriting was neat and elegant, clearly carefully organized.
He picked it up in one go and placed it on Nan Xu’s desk, rather generously. “Come on, little sister, let’s go to the flag-raising.”
On the way, Xiang Weishi kept mulling over something.
“You know, why does me wanting a little sister sound like a joke? I have to ask Xie Hejing later.”
Nan Xu thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s because the name you chose sounds like one.”
“Name?” Xiang Weishi repeated. “What’s wrong with ‘Xiang Xiaohua’? Isn’t it cute?”
“It just sounds a bit like it,” Nan Xu reminded him.
Xiang Weishi stood still, muttering to himself: “Xiang Xiaohua1… Xiang Xiaohua2… sounds like ‘Xiang Xiaohua’… like a joke… hmm, it really does a bit.”
By the time he came back to his senses, Nan Xu had already walked a short distance ahead.
Xiang Weishi immediately called out for her to wait and ran to catch up, walking shoulder to shoulder with her.
Class 17 was located in the middle section of the playground. Many students had already gathered, and the teacher was standing on the stage at the front, constantly urging everyone to get back to their classes. The flag-raising ceremony was set to start in just three minutes.
The weather wasn’t great today; the air was misty and still. The class flags hung limp, making it hard to spot Class 17.
Nan Xu and Xiang Weishi searched for a while before finally finding their class by spotting the classmates in orange vests.
Xiang Weishi was easygoing and friendly, able to chat with anyone. Many students in other classes knew him.
As they walked toward their class, someone from the neighboring class recognized him.
“Isn’t that Xiang Weishi? Who’s that with him? They look pretty close.”
“My friend is in Class 17. Her name’s Nan Xu.”
The two classes were very close. Xie Hejing, hearing Nan Xu’s name, momentarily lifted his gaze from the book in his hands.
The voices continued: “She just transferred here. Looks super innocent. A few days ago, I even walked by their classroom door a few days ago to take a look—totally wasn’t exaggerating.”
Nan Xu and Xiang Weishi were getting closer to their class.
One of the speakers suddenly raised their voice, smiling at Xiang Weishi: “Hey, Xiang Weishi, who’s that with you? You two seem really close!”
Following the sound, Xie Hejing looked over. Nan Xu and Xiang Weishi were walking together, chatting and laughing. Their atmosphere was completely harmonious—not like when she was around him, like a frightened little quail, trembling at every move he made.
His gaze fell solely on Nan Xu. She was smiling, eyes curved, hair occasionally falling around her ears, carrying a trace of innocence that made it easy to… be deceived.
“They look good together!” the person said again.
Only then did Xie Hejing glance at Xiang Weishi and scoff at the comment.
Those few students in Class 16 often joked around with Xiang Weishi; usually it was harmless. But this time, Xiang Weishi immediately panicked: “What are you talking about? She’s my classmate! She just called me ‘Brother’!”
He didn’t want that messy nonsense to tarnish the pure, newly formed, unshakable sibling-classmate bond he had with Nan Xu.
Hearing this, the person turned slightly, lowered their voice, and said something to the person next to them—Nan Xu and Xiang Weishi didn’t hear, but Xie Hejing did, clearly: “It always starts like this—first you call him ‘Brother,’ then ‘Little Sister,’ and before you know it… she’s your little darling.”
Xie Hejing’s expression involuntarily darkened.
Xiang Weishi kept his head down, walking forward, complaining about picking up the wrong book. He didn’t notice that at his pace he was almost about to bump into someone, still focused straight ahead.
Nan Xu called out to him, but he didn’t respond.
Seeing he was about to collide with someone, she quickly ran a few steps, grabbed his arm, and pulled hard enough to make him stop.
Realizing what happened, Xiang Weishi hurriedly thanked her.
Nan Xu smiled and said it was fine as long as no one got hit.
This little interaction didn’t escape the eyes of the two students from Class 16—it served as perfect evidence to support their earlier conversation.
“Hey, hey, hey! Did you see that? I told you—they’re already holding hands!”
“I see it, I see it! Whoa, this girl is so beautiful! Xiang Weishi is one lucky guy!”
Xie Hejing turned his gaze to the hand Nan Xu had just brushed against Xiang Weishi’s, and his expression gradually darkened.
“Hey, hey, hey! It’s noisy over here. Can’t you hear the flag-raising ceremony is starting? Do I have to call out your class name to make you quiet?” The teacher on patrol walked by, pointing at the students who had been talking.
Immediately, the surrounding classes fell silent.
Nan Xu stood in the line. Class 17 didn’t have many girls, so she was at the end of the girls’ row, with the boys’ line stretching far beside her.
Next to her was Xie Hejing, who had come down early.
He held a book in his hand but raised his eyes to stare into the distance. Nan Xu only glanced briefly and silently recited vocabulary in her mind.
The flag-raising ceremony, along with the principal’s speech, took a total of half an hour.
When it was finally over, Nan Xu felt someone brush her arm, and a familiar voice spoke right beside her:
“After school, wait for me at the back gate.”