Xie Quan opened the office window, letting a cool breeze blow in. The white curtains fluttered lightly. A few sparrows startled from a locust tree branch flew across the sunny campus.
It was a good day, Xie Quan thought.
It was just between classes. Students trickled out of the building in small groups. A few stopped near the back door and squatted down. Xie Quan pushed aside the curtain for a better look and saw a few stray cats gathering—waiting to be fed.
Most of the strays on campus had been abandoned by graduates. There were common orange and calico cats, and even rare breeds like British Shorthairs and Ragdolls.
Thankfully, the campus had enough meddlesome do-gooders like Lu Nanyang. Without them, those purebreds wouldn’t survive a single winter.
Just then, a knock came at the door. Xie Quan turned around, about to say “Come in,” when he saw Lu Nanyang leaning casually against the doorway, eyeing him up and down.
Lu Nanyang’s vibe was different from last time—gone was the aggressive energy he used to like watching. Now he was laid-back, like a lion who just ate its fill. Kind of like how he’d been when they first met.
“Dr. Xie, busy?” he asked.
Definitely sarcasm.
“Not busy,” Xie Quan walked away from the window and sat down calmly. “What do you want?”
“Can’t I come if I don’t want something?” Lu Nanyang walked in and leaned against Xie Quan’s desk, casually fingering the flowers in a vase. “This place of yours that exclusive?”
“This is a medical office. People usually come here only when they’re sick,” Xie Quan said, glancing at his hand. “If you like them, take them. Someone else gave them to me.”
Lu Nanyang looked at the bouquet—cappuccino roses, a pretty pricey variety.
…This guy really was popular.
Xie Quan then opened a drawer and pulled out several boxes of exquisitely wrapped chocolates, tossing them in front of Lu Nanyang. “Want some? All from girls on Qixi Festival a few days ago.”
“…” Lu Nanyang didn’t stand on ceremony and picked up a piece of chocolate to start unwrapping it.
If it’s free, why not eat it?
A rich sweetness spread through his mouth — no doubt, this was high-end chocolate. The texture was on another level.
As he peeled off the wrapper, he watched Xie Quan from the corner of his eye.
Xie Quan didn’t look too good. There was an undeniable tiredness hanging over him, and if you looked closely, you could see the heavy dark circles under his eyes, just beyond the edge of his glasses.
At that moment, Xie Quan looked up and met Lu Nanyang’s gaze. He didn’t say anything, just reached a hand out toward him.
“What?” Lu Nanyang instinctively leaned back.
“Let me see your hand,” Xie Quan said. “Since you’re here, let me check your wound.”
Maybe it was because he was tired, but Xie Quan’s voice lacked its usual veneer. After hesitating a second, Lu Nanyang still handed it over.
The gauze that had once been wrapped around his palm had already been removed. Xie Quan held his hand for a moment, examined it without any unnecessary movement, then let go.
“Healing well. It’s already scabbed over.”
“My blood clots fast.” Lu Nanyang opened and clenched his hand. “Back in the army, I was always the one who recovered fastest after getting injured.”
“Impressive,” Xie Quan leaned back in his chair. “Too bad you only hurt your fist. It’s a waste of your excellent coagulation skills if you don’t get a few stab wounds too.”
Lu Nanyang chuckled. Suddenly, he braced himself on the desk and hopped up to sit on it.
He was tall with long legs, and the height difference allowed him to look down at Xie Quan from above.
“You knew from the beginning that I took Li Xin’s case. That’s why you just ‘happened’ to show up and call the cops in that alley that afternoon.”
It wasn’t a question — it was a statement.
Lu Nanyang leaned in closer. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
With this posture, his body happened to block Xie Quan’s line of sight, and if Xie Quan looked up, he’d see a glimpse of skin peeking out from under Lu Nanyang’s shirt.
Xie Quan suddenly felt his throat go dry. He picked up the cup on the desk and took a sip of water. The scent of tea polyphenols helped calm him a little. “You never asked.”
That answer left Lu Nanyang momentarily speechless. “So if I asked, you would’ve told me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Xie Quan shot back. “Do I seem that unreasonable to you?”
Lu Nanyang really wanted to say yes, but when he looked at Xie Quan’s face, the words didn’t come out.
“Then let me ask—” Lu Nanyang had just started when Xie Quan interrupted him.
“I just gave you chocolate. Don’t you think you should treat me to something too?” Xie Quan set his cup down.
“What do you want to eat?” Lu Nanyang placed the half-eaten chocolate down and even rewrapped the foil carefully. “Don’t expect a royal banquet though.”
“I’m not that fancy,” Xie Quan stood up. “Whatever you eat, I’ll eat.”
…..
Since he said it, Lu Nanyang didn’t bother being polite anymore and ended up taking Xie Quan to an open-air BBQ stall behind the school.
Maybe it was because he was on duty that day, but Xie Quan was dressed quite formally. Among the rowdy university students, he looked totally out of place. But he didn’t seem bothered in the slightest and even confidently picked up the menu.
“You eaten here before?” Lu Nanyang asked while rinsing their utensils with tea.
“Nope. I usually don’t have anyone to eat BBQ with,” Xie Quan flipped through the menu. “But I know the stall owner. He lives in the same building as me — we run into each other at the market all the time. We should be able to get a discount.”
Right as he finished speaking, the boss’s loud voice rang out: “Hey! Look who it is!”
Xie Quan looked up and smiled, “Boss Hu, long time no see.”
“What have you been busy with lately!” Boss Hu slapped Xie Quan’s shoulder with a grin. “I keep telling you to come eat, and you never show up.”
“Well, I’m here now.”
“Come on, what do you wanna eat? Order whatever — it’s on me,” Boss Hu said, tapping the menu.
“That won’t do,” Xie Quan laughed, pointing at Lu Nanyang. “My friend’s treating me today. Can’t steal his thunder.”
“Alright then, I’ll give your friend a 40% discount,” Boss Hu said boldly, flashing a hand gesture. “Eat and drink well!”
“Thanks. You get back to work.”
After a moment, Xie Quan turned back, still smiling, and pushed the menu toward Lu Nanyang. “60% off — your turn.”
“…” Lu Nanyang took the menu, finding Xie Quan’s smile irritating in the most punchable way.
He’d come to this stall at least a dozen times with Wen Fei and the others, and the boss had never even looked his way twice.
But Xie Quan just had to sit down, and it’s instantly a discount.
Lu Nanyang circled a few of his usual favorites and asked, “What do you want?”
“Same as you,” Xie Quan said. “Just double the chili.”
“You’re a med student — why do you like spicy food so much?” Lu Nanyang clicked his tongue. “Aren’t you afraid of mouth ulcers?”
Xie Quan smiled and said, completely off-topic, “Did you know that spiciness isn’t a taste? It’s actually a pain response.”
“And?” Lu Nanyang wrote “extra spicy” as he spoke. “You saying you’re a masochist?”
Xie Quan didn’t take the bait. He just reached out when Lu Nanyang finished. “I’ll take this to the boss.”
Lu Nanyang handed over the menu and watched Xie Quan walk over to place the order at the little table behind the boss. He even started chatting and laughing with him.
The boss wore a grimy leather jacket and apron — a stark contrast to Xie Quan’s crisp and clean outfit. But they talked easily, and Xie Quan even leaned casually against the greasy little table without a care in the world.
Watching his back, Lu Nanyang felt a strange sense of dissonance.
It was hard to connect this cheerful young man chatting with a BBQ stall owner with the polite, refined Dr. Xie from campus — and even harder to reconcile him with the amoral, selfish, pleasure-seeking man he’d met at the bar.
It reminded him a little of the ill-fated homeowner Chen Zige had mentioned.
That the same person could have so many completely different sides—this was the first time Lu Nanyang felt that Xie Quan’s existence was a bit mysterious.
When Xie Quan came back, a skewer of cilantro beef rolls was already placed on the table.
“You like cilantro?” Xie Quan pulled out a chair and sat down.
“You’re the one who said you’d eat whatever I ordered,” Lu Nanyang replied, putting a skewer into his mouth. “And you didn’t tell me you had any food preferences.”
“I don’t,” Xie Quan smiled faintly. “It just reminded me that my mom really liked cilantro.”
Lu Nanyang looked at him.
“When I was little, we often had stir-fried beef with cilantro at home. The beef was tender, the greens were bright—till this day I still don’t know how she made it taste that good,” Xie Quan said. “Actually, I don’t really like cilantro, but she always looked so happy when she ate it. Whenever there was that dish on the table, it was one of the rare moments I’d see her smile.”
Lu Nanyang was silent for a while. He had originally planned to bring this up after dinner, but now that Xie Quan had taken the initiative, he didn’t feel like beating around the bush anymore.
“Last time I came over, you said your parents weren’t home.”
“Technically not a lie,” Xie Quan said nonchalantly. “One’s locked up in a psychiatric hospital. The other’s not in this world anymore.”
“…” Lu Nanyang asked, “So you really are Li Xin’s nephew? The registered owner of that house is you?”
“Yeah.” Xie Quan admitted it quite openly. “But just to be clear, I honestly didn’t know about that whole house-gifting, house-snatching thing until I caught you beating someone up.”
He spoke about it all so lightly, giving no room for interruption. So lightly, in fact, that it felt strangely off.
It was as if the story Lu Nanyang had heard from Chen Zige was just a story—and had absolutely nothing to do with the person in front of him.
“What do you want this time?” Lu Nanyang got straight to the point.
“Huh?”
“The Li Xin case—you helping me, it can’t come with no strings attached, right?”
“What kind of person do you think I am?” Xie Quan clasped his hands and rested his chin on them with a smile. “Did I ask for anything the last time I helped you?”
Lu Nanyang: “…”
He really sounded self-assured.
“Relax. I don’t want anything this time either,” Xie Quan said with a cheerful look. “Just think of it as two friends hanging out and grabbing a bite to eat. Is that so hard?”
Lu Nanyang snorted, “I remember someone saying they don’t keep in contact with their fuck buddies.”
“Well, we didn’t even get to fuck, did we? It’s been ages and I haven’t even touched a single strand of your pubes,” Xie Quan sighed dramatically. “I’ve given up.”
Damn it.
Even though Xie Quan said it quietly, Lu Nanyang’s scalp still tingled. He instinctively glanced around to make sure no one nearby had heard.
If only the person who gave him that bouquet of cappuccino roses could see this—see this beast in human clothing casually throwing out words like ‘pubes’ as if it were no big deal.
“You’re insane,” Lu Nanyang muttered under his breath. “If you’re horny, go jerk off at home. Don’t go nuts in public.”
Xie Quan stifled a laugh and bit down lightly on his thumbnail.
He found teasing Lu Nanyang was kind of like teasing a puppy—it was really entertaining.
Clearing his throat, Xie Quan looked at Lu Nanyang with a soft smile. The streetlight reflected in his light gray irises. “Seriously, I didn’t overthink it. I just suddenly wanted to have a meal with you. Can’t you do me that honor?”
This guy’s eyes were way too pretty, Lu Nanyang thought. No wonder so many people got fooled by them.
![Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_6298.jpeg "Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]")
