“Not bad. This is called ‘Provence Blue,’ the trendiest hair color this year,” Xie Heng said. “Only people with taste can truly appreciate it.”
Even though his Dad was clearly mocking him, Xie Heng still reluctantly accepted it.
At the very least, his Dad had noticed.
Besides, apart from Lu Xi, there probably wasn’t a second person in this house who genuinely liked his hair color. The moment he dyed it, he regretted it. If not for the fear of losing face, he would have changed it back the next day.
Now, things were complicated.
Ms. Lu seemed to really like it. If he dyed it back, would she be disappointed?
He planned to test the waters with her sometime.
After finishing breakfast, Xie Heng went to school. The next few days followed the same routine—no tardiness, staying from morning self-study until evening prep class. He still slept during lessons, but instead of dozing off for an entire period, he now only napped for half. The teachers weren’t sure if this counted as an improvement.
At the very least, Xie Heng felt good about it.
His classmates were shocked—had the school tyrant reformed? Even his usual group of troublemaking friends noticed something was off.
These past few days, aside from playing basketball, Xie Heng had been unreachable. Invite him to hang out online? No. Ask him to chill at a café and smoke? No. Even when some guys from another school came looking for trouble, his friends called him to join the fight, he still refused.
When asked why, his only answer was:
“I need to get home early after school.”
???
Since when did their Brother Heng become a homebody?
But even if he thought he had changed, in his classmates’ eyes, he was still the feared school tyrant—someone not to be provoked. Class A, the top science class in the entire grade, was half filled with high achievers and half with wealthy kids who disliked Xie Heng but dared not cross him. He had no real friends in class and rarely spoke to anyone except his deskmate.
One day, he overheard his deskmate, a girl, mention Xu Jiaming.
“Hey, Xie Heng, you live in Jinjiang No.1, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“Nothing, just heard that Xu Jiaming’s family is moving there too.” She glanced at Xu Jiaming, who sat in the front row. “So you’ll be neighbors now.”
Xie Heng was taken aback.
Why tell him that? It wasn’t like he and Xu Jiaming were close.
Still, he vaguely remembered that his deskmate seemed to like Xu Jiaming. She often found excuses to ask him about schoolwork. She wasn’t the only one—many girls in their class, and even from other classes, liked to hang around the door just to catch a glimpse of him.
Xu Jiaming always looked helpless about it.
Unlike Xie Heng, who never gave a single girl a pleasant response when they approached him, Xu Jiaming, despite being cold and distant, was at least polite. So even when the girls got rejected, they still dared to approach him again.
Xie Heng found it exhausting just watching.
But it wasn’t his problem. He and Xu Jiaming weren’t close. Though Xu Jiaming was a top student like Zhou Wenyuan, Xie Heng didn’t dislike Xu Jiaming—he simply didn’t care.
That Saturday, they only had a half-day of classes. At noon, Xie Heng arrived home just in time for lunch. As his car pulled into the neighborhood, he suddenly remembered that Xu Jiaming had moved in.
And then he thought of how Lu Xi had been watching that gala the other day, looking completely smitten with Xu Jiaming.
Would they run into each other in the future…?
Hopefully not. He didn’t have anything against Xu Jiaming, but he also didn’t want to hear Lu Xi gushing about how handsome Xu Jiaming was.
Lost in thought, he pulled up to the front of his house.
A figure in a school uniform walked through the front gate of his house. In a moment of daze, Xie Heng thought he was seeing things.
He frowned.
It was Mingli’s school uniform.
He recalled the day a few people had come to his house and made Ms. Lu so upset that she fell ill. Could it be Ruan Tian and her group again?
If it was, this time he would not be polite!
As soon as the car stopped, Xie Heng got out immediately. With his long legs, he strode into the house in just a few steps, his face dark as he questioned the servant at the door, “Who came to the house again? Weren’t outsiders not allowed in?”
The servant was startled by his demeanor. “It’s Madam’s friend. Madam let them in.”
Xie Heng was taken aback.
Her friend? Who? A boy from Mingli?
He wasn’t stupid. A thought quickly formed in his mind, and he walked straight toward the living room. Before he even got there, he could already hear laughter and conversation from inside.
Besides Lu Xi, there was also another woman’s voice.
“What a coincidence! You live right next door. You should visit often when you’re free,” Lu Xi said lightly.
“That would be great, but I’m usually busy with work and probably won’t be home more than a few times a year.”
Lu Xi smiled. “I understand. Being a celebrity keeps you busy. When you have time, bring Xiao Xu over. I really like this kid.”
Xie Heng : … Xiao Xu?
His steps faltered slightly. When he stepped into the living room, sure enough, he saw Xu Jiaming sitting on the sofa.
Xie Heng couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Was this that so-called Murphy’s Law? The things you don’t want to happen always end up happening—and so quickly, too.
“Xiao Heng, you’re back?” Lu Xi’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “This is Xu Jiaming, and his mother, Aunt Yang, you know them?”
Xie Heng knew. He recognized her, Yang Yihan. He wasn’t interested in the entertainment industry, but he had seen her movies.
As for Xu Jiaming, that was even more self-explanatory.
Last time, Lu Xi had helped them pick out clothes, and Xu Jiaming even called her ‘Sister.’ Just thinking about it was ridiculous.
Xie Heng nodded weakly, sat down on the sofa beside Lu Xi, casually tossed his Banana Novel app aside, and lifted his chin toward Xu Jiaming in a half-hearted greeting. “Yeah, same class.”
Xu Jiaming also nodded in response.
Lu Xi let out a soft humph.
She had just found out. Xu Jiaming had told her earlier.
She hadn’t expected Xie Heng and Xu Jiaming to be classmates. They had met twice before, but Xie Heng never mentioned it, so she figured they probably didn’t get along.
Xie Heng was the school bully, while Xu Jiaming was the top student. They were of two completely different worlds. It was likely they didn’t see eye to eye.
Lu Xi felt a little regretful.
Earlier today, she had been sunbathing in the garden when she noticed new neighbors moving in next door. Out of curiosity, she took a glance and unexpectedly saw Yang Yihan.
The house next door had been vacant for a long time. It originally belonged to Yang Yihan and her ex-husband when they bought it during their marriage. After their divorce, she was awarded the house but moved away. Now, she was finally planning to move back.
Since her home was still in disarray, Lu Xi invited her over as a guest.
Yang Yihan had a good impression of Lu Xi. After their last encounter, she had wanted to befriend Lu Xi and even called her son, asking him to come straight here after school.
She found Lu Xi warm and approachable. Despite their more-than-ten-year age gap, they got along surprisingly well, without any generational barrier.
It was fascinating—Lu Xi was only in her twenties, yet she was incredibly familiar with her work, a true die-hard fan.
Yang Yihan felt rather lucky.
Before moving back, she had some hesitation. This was where she had lived with her ex-husband, and she was afraid the familiar surroundings would bring back painful memories. She also worried about how it might affect her son’s emotions.
But now, things were looking up. With Lu Xi as a reliable neighbor, she could have someone to look after Xu Jiaming when she wasn’t home.
Besides, the two kids were classmates. It felt like fate.
Lu Xi initially thought the same way.
The friends Xie Heng used to hang out with were no better than a bunch of troublemakers. The ones who approached him often had ulterior motives, just like Zhou Wenyuan. Of course, she hoped Xie Heng could befriend someone like Xu Jiaming.
It was just like how every parent wanted their child to befriend good students back in school.
She felt the same way.
But if they didn’t get along, then so be it. After all, you couldn’t force friendships.
She decided to let things be and just treat Xu Jiaming as a friend’s son.
She didn’t expect that with this nonchalant attitude, she would discover the very next day that Xie Heng and Xu Jiaming had actually become friends.
On Sunday afternoon, Xie Heng left home dribbling a basketball. By the time he returned in the evening, he not only brought back the basketball but also brought Xu Jiaming home for dinner.
Lu Xi was quite surprised.
She was sure she hadn’t invited Xu Jiaming over.
During dinner, she overheard the two boys chatting nonstop about basketball stars and video games, and suddenly, it all made sense.
Boys had an easy way to bond—either playing ball together or gaming together.
If they could do both, they were just a step away from becoming best friends.
After Xu Jiaming left, Lu Xi, curious, went up to Xie Heng’s room.
His door was open, and he was playing on his phone.
Lu Xi knocked lightly.
Xie Heng had his legs propped up on the desk, lounging lazily while gaming. When a teammate made a stupid mistake, he let out a few cursing words.
Lu Xi happened to hear them.
She pressed her lips into a smile, then deliberately cleared her throat and said, “Such a sweet mouth—so polite, even remembering to send greetings to someone’s family.”
Xie Heng froze in embarrassment.
He instinctively put his legs down and glanced at Lu Xi. Seeing that she wasn’t angry, he let out a small breath of relief.
Realizing he was about to lose the game anyway, he did something even worse than his bad teammate—he simply quit mid-game.
“You need something?”
Lu Xi stood at the door, a faint smile on her face. “Not really, just curious—are you and Xu Jiaming good friends now?”
Xie Heng scratched his head and stretched. “I guess. He’s alright.”
That afternoon, while Lu Xi and Yang Yihan were chatting and having tea at home, Xie Heng had gone out to play basketball after lunch, and Xu Jiaming had gone home.
Unexpectedly, just half an hour later, they ran into each other again at the court.
Seeing that Xu Jiaming had brought a basketball, Xie Heng was a bit surprised. He had never seen him play at school, so he invited him to join.
After playing ball all afternoon, Xie Heng was surprised to find that Xu Jiaming was actually pretty skilled. He didn’t have the usual arrogance of a top student, had a cheerful personality, and could keep up with conversations about the things Xie Heng was interested in.
Most importantly—he knew his place!
That day, he respectfully called Lu Xi ‘Aunt.’ If he had pulled the same stunt as last time and called her ‘Sister’ again, making Xie Heng a whole generation younger than him, there wouldn’t have been any friendship to speak of—just a solid beating.
Lu Xi raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. “That’s good.”
“…What’s good?” Xie Heng looked at her, confused.
His eyelid twitched suddenly, giving him a bad feeling.
Lu Xi smiled. “Since you two get along well, I’d like to ask him to tutor you. What do you think?”
Xie Heng: “…”
As an academic failure, he absolutely despised the word ‘tutoring.’
Even if the one asking was probably his own mother, he wasn’t going to give in. The teenager frowned and refused outright, “Forget it. Tutoring is absolutely not happening.”
Not in this lifetime.
Lu Xi looked at him with an indifferent expression.
Xie Heng remained on high alert.
He knew that since she had brought it up, she wasn’t going to give up so easily.
But he wasn’t going to compromise either.
“Alright, suit yourself.” With that, Lu Xi headed upstairs without even looking back.
Xie Heng : ?
J-Just like that, she let him off the hook?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, unable to shake the matter from his mind.
Then, an idea struck him.
He couldn’t control what Lu Xi did, but he could talk to Xu Jiaming! As long as Xu Jiaming refused to tutor him, they couldn’t force it—after all, the guy wasn’t short on money.
Xie Heng immediately called Xu Jiaming.
“Hello? Xu Jiaming? Do me a favor. If my dear Ms. Lu asks you to tutor me, just say no. Whatever you do, don’t agree.”
Xu Jiaming paused. “I didn’t agree because she never asked.”
Xie Heng was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when Xu Jiaming added, “She only asked me to teach her how to play the guitar. I said yes.”
After speaking, he even sent Xie Heng a screenshot of their chat.
Xie Heng stared at the WeChat messages, his eyes widened in disbelief.
???
She added Xu Jiaming on WeChat?
Why didn’t she add him!?