In the end, Lu Nanyang had no idea whether Xie Quan removed him from the blacklist or not.
But after that night, Lu Nanyang would occasionally send messages to the account named “Drowning” with some trivial updates from daily life.
Like when he got a piece of fried dough stick from the cafeteria that was hard as a rock, he took a picture and sent it:
[“Yuncheng University Weapon #3376, Lethality Rating: S+”]
Or when he saw the long-haired orange cat near the back gate looking pregnant, he sent:
[“Misjudged. No idea which brat knocked her up. Should’ve gotten her fixed last week.”]
Or when he found a snail slowly crawling across a fallen leaf after a rainstorm, he sent:
[“Found this guy in the middle of the road. Almost got squished. Good thing I spotted it in time and moved it to the flowerbed.”]
This pattern repeated a few times, and finally one day, the other person replied.
Drowning: Childish.
Xiang Nanyang: It’s called being caring. How is that childish?
Drowning: Spending effort on things unrelated to your own interests is inherently childish.
Xiang Nanyang: By that logic, aren’t you pretty childish too?
Drowning: ?
Xiang Nanyang: Didn’t you just reply to me?
Drowning: ……
After those six dots, Xie Quan said nothing more. Lu Nanyang’s lips curled up slightly as he swiped away the chat window.
…..
“Dr. Xie? Dr. Xie?”
Only when the patient in front of him called out did Xie Quan snap back to reality. He put his phone back in the drawer and put on a professional smile. “Sorry, what is it?”
The boy sitting across from him looked nervous, not knowing where to place his hands or feet on the stool. “Um, it’s just… I haven’t been able to sleep again these past few days. I finished the last prescription, so…”
“You’re studying for grad school exams, right?” Xie Quan looked up at him.
“Yeah,” the boy quickly lowered his head, avoiding Xie Quan’s gaze.
“It’s normal to feel pressure during this time, but you shouldn’t rely too heavily on sleeping pills.” Xie Quan said gently, “They’re not good for your body, and over time, you’ll develop resistance and dependence. You won’t be able to sleep without them. You don’t want that, do you?”
The boy kept his lips pressed together, not saying anything.
“How about this? I’ll prescribe you some traditional herbal medicine to calm your nerves.” Xie Quan tore off a prescription slip and uncapped his pen. “Try taking it for a while and see how it goes…”
“The calming meds you gave me last time didn’t work.” The boy interrupted him, looking distressed. “Dr. Xie, haven’t you ever been under so much stress you couldn’t sleep?”
Xie Quan paused slightly, then smiled. “Of course I have.”
The boy’s eyes lit up. “So what do you do about it?”
“Me?” Xie Quan propped his chin on his pen as if genuinely thinking it over. “Listen to soothing music, take a walk by the sea, chat with friends, eat a good meal—my mood usually gets better after that.”
The boy’s face changed from hopeful to disappointed. He mumbled, “I’ve tried all of that, but it doesn’t work…”
Xie Quan set down his pen and looked the boy in the eye. Then, all of a sudden, he reached out and took the boy’s hand.
The boy looked up in panic, ears turning red. “Dr. Xie—”
“You’re still young. There’s a long road ahead of you. Grad school entrance exams are just a small bump in your journey—not worth the emotional toll, and definitely not worth harming your health with medication.” Xie Quan looked at him sincerely. “Don’t rush. Take it easy. Life is a marathon. Everything will get better.”
The boy’s eyes turned red as he nodded hard. “I understand. Thank you, doctor.”
In the end, Xie Quan still prescribed some calming traditional medicine. The boy looked much happier as he took the prescription slip.
Just before he stepped out of the infirmary, he stopped and turned back, hesitating.
“Dr. Xie,” he said.
“Yes?” Xie Quan looked up.
“There’s something I wanted to ask…” The boy seemed to gather a lot of courage before finally speaking, “Do you, um, have a boyfriend?”
Xie Quan raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Who told you that?”
The boy stammered, “I, uh, saw it… people on the school forum were saying… that the second young master of the Lu family is dating you…”
Xie Quan lowered his head slightly, and a small smile crept onto his lips, which only made the boy more flustered—he didn’t even know where to put the prescription slip.
“You believe those messy rumors from the forum?” Xie Quan said with a smile in his eyes. “There’s all kinds of truth and fiction on there.”
The boy finally breathed a sigh of relief, awkwardly thanked Xie Quan, and ran off toward the first floor with the prescription.
But it wasn’t until he got his medicine from the pharmacy that he realized—Xie Quan hadn’t actually denied it.
Ten minutes left until the end of his shift. Xie Quan took off his glasses and buried his face in his palms, rubbing hard. But the dizziness from prolonged work and study didn’t go away. The veins at his temples throbbed uncontrollably, and the sharp tinnitus bored into his skull like poison insects.
He held his forehead with one hand and fumbled through the medicine bottles on his desk with the other, eventually finding that familiar one. His fingers trembled so badly, he could barely open the cap.
The bitter taste spread across the tip of his tongue, and Xie Quan took a big gulp of water, struggling to swallow the pill in his mouth.
In the few minutes waiting for the medication to take effect, Xie Quan stared blankly at the branches of the locust tree by the window.
The tree was lush and green, its leaves shining in the hot wind, swaying back and forth. The sound of tinnitus mixed with the cicadas outside, and for a moment, it was hard to tell if it was a hallucination or reality.
In fact, he had never been to the seaside, had no friends, and couldn’t even taste any delicious food.
Xie Quan felt like a broken little boat, sinking deeper and deeper into the swamp, unsure when it would completely shatter.
……
“I need to find a way to get Little Black-and-White and Liu Sanjie neutered tomorrow,” Lu Nanyang said, standing up from the ground. After squatting for so long, his legs were sore, and he gritted his teeth for a while before stabilizing himself. “Otherwise, by the end of this summer, the cats in the school will double in number.”
“You’ve been saying that since last week.” Wen Fei, holding a bag of chips, spoke while crunching away. “But the problem is, can you even catch them? These two are the most agile, they run as soon as you get close. The security guard has been trying for three years and hasn’t caught them. You should just give up.”
Lu Nanyang clicked his tongue and, with a frown, pushed the leftover cat food on the ground. “I think the strategy needs to be adjusted. I’ll get some better freeze-dried food or cat treats next time. That should lure them in.”
Wen Fei shook his head with an “You’re hopeless” expression while still munching away.
Lu Nanyang brushed off the cat fur from his pants and opened the loosely closed iron plate on the back gate. The gate had only been sealed for half a day, and the students had quickly removed the nails from the iron plate. Now, the gate was just hanging there, offering no real obstruction but still somewhat convincing.
It was said that the people who made the hole and removed the nails were from building 31, the dorm closest to the back gate. That building housed students from the Engineering College. Very resourceful.
When they passed the garbage bin at the back door, Wen Fei finished the chips, tossed the bag into the bin, and pointed in a direction. “Is it that shop?”
“Yes.” Lu Nanyang looked toward the direction Wen Fei pointed. It was a cake shop decorated in a very pink style, with a cursive font on the sign that would make many men hesitate to go inside.
They entered, and the fragrant smell of freshly baked goods enveloped them. The young lady at the counter greeted them with a smile, “Welcome! How can I help you?”
“This, this, and this,” Lu Nanyang pointed to some bread and cakes in the glass display. “And this too, please pack it up for me. Thanks.”
Lu Nanyang walked out of the store with a large bag of delicious-smelling treats. Wen Fei’s eyes were wide open. “Big spender, Lu-ge. Can I pick a chocolate one?”
“Ah.” Lu Nanyang lifted the bag of cakes and smiled. “Next time, I’ll treat you. Today, I’m going to meet a friend.”
“Meet a friend?” Wen Fei eyed him suspiciously. “Which friend?”
“You don’t know them.” Lu Nanyang replied vaguely.
“Hey, you’ve got friends I don’t know?” Wen Fei raised his eyebrows. “Chen Zige? Fu Qi? Or the short guy from the other class?”
“None of them.” Lu Nanyang said.
“Hey—Lu Nanyang, something’s not right with you!” Wen Fei raised his voice and said sarcastically, “Could it be that Da Ze was right? Are you secretly in a relationship?”
Lu Nanyang felt a sudden sense of guilt. He pulled out a small chocolate cake from the bag and handed it to Wen Fei. “Alright, stop guessing. Go back, I’m leaving.”
Wen Fei narrowed his eyes, looking like he had figured everything out. He clicked his tongue. “Look at you with your dumb straight guy look. Which girl is blind enough to fall for you?”
Lu Nanyang: “…”
He had walked several meters away when Wen Fei continued shouting from behind the gate, “Which beauty is dating you? Bring her around for us to see one day!”
Even one cake couldn’t silence Wen Fei’s mouth.
Lu Nanyang looked up, preparing to find a shared bike. But just as he raised his head, his peripheral vision caught a wisp of smoke rising in the distance.
There were no factories or chimneys in the area, so where was the smoke coming from?
City center cooking smoke? That seemed strange.
Lost in thought, Lu Nanyang walked forward. Soon, a mother and son passed by him, and he overheard their conversation.
“…Looks like there’s a fire? I heard several fire trucks rush by.”
Lu Nanyang froze.
It was clear now, the smoke wasn’t from a kitchen; it had to be a fire.
A fire… but the direction was…
An indescribable premonition suddenly rose in his chest. His mind buzzed, and his body moved faster than his brain. He rushed toward the direction of the rising smoke.
