At the moment their eyes met, both of them were stunned.
For about two or three seconds, Lu Nanyang felt like time had stopped, leaving only the elegant, gentle, and charming bastard in front of him.
Until Wen Fei’s voice brought him back to reality.
“…You did that on purpose, didn’t you? There’s no chives stuck in my teeth,” Wen Fei grumbled as he put away his phone. Then he looked up and saw the almost tangible eye contact between the two people. He froze. “Wait… you two know each other?”
Lu Nanyang instinctively wanted to deny it, but unexpectedly, the guy opposite him spoke at the exact same time.
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do.”
The air froze for a second. Wen Fei stood between the two of them in complete confusion, and the tension he’d been feeling was scattered by sheer bewilderment.
The campus heartthrob hesitated slightly, then gave a gentle smile. His eyes, behind his glasses, were clear like a spring, “Weren’t you guys sitting next to me at the barbecue stall last Friday night?”
Wen Fei was surprised that the guy actually remembered and lit up with joy. “Yes, yes, that was us! I even asked you to break a bill for change!”
“I remember,” the handsome guy smiled warmly, with a comforting gentleness. “I also know you took a picture of me before you left. Actually, if you’d asked, I would’ve let you take it.”
Wen Fei’s face instantly turned bright red. From where he stood behind, Lu Nanyang felt that if Wen Fei had a tail, it’d be wagging itself into a corkscrew by now.
Overcome with excitement, Wen Fei fumbled to pull out the overly flashy pink love letter from his jacket and shoved it into the guy’s hands with trembling fingers. “Hi, um, I’m from the Law Department, my name is Wen Fei, and this is… this is…”
His voice was a bit loud, and the commotion had already started drawing attention from people nearby.
Lu Nanyang stared coldly at the guy.
He was trying to find any trace of awkwardness, embarrassment, or discomfort on this campus heartthrobs’s face—but found none. Instead, the guy smiled and solemnly placed the love letter into his pocket. He looked at Wen Fei earnestly and nodded. “I’ll seriously consider it.”
Wen Fei clearly hadn’t expected such a response either. His mouth dropped open, and by the time he snapped out of it, the campus heartthrob had already vanished into the crowd with his lunch tray.
Lu Nanyang withdrew his gaze and smacked the back of Wen Fei’s head. “Snap out of it.”
Wen Fei jolted like he’d woken from a dream and turned back, shouting, “Lu-ge! Lu-ge, did you hear that? He said he’ll seriously consider it!”
“Mm,” Lu Nanyang responded absentmindedly.
Wen Fei excitedly tugged at Lu Nanyang’s sleeve. “Oh my god, does this mean I actually have a chance?! I wasn’t prepared at all! What should I wear on our first date? The black shirt? Or the blue one…”
Lu Nanyang yanked him off and shoved him back into his seat. “I’d advise you to stay far away from that guy.”
“Huh?” Wen Fei blinked in confusion.
“Just because someone looks polished and decent doesn’t mean they’re a good person,” Lu Nanyang said. “Rotten fruit looks fine on the outside.”
Wen Fei was clearly unhappy. “Hey, why are you saying that about him? He was super nice to us just now. He even kept my love letter properly…”
Lu Nanyang cut him off, “If he really wanted to consider you, why didn’t he ask for your contact info?”
Wen Fei confidently said, “He’s the campus heartthrob. He’s probably super busy! Besides, I left my contact info in the letter—he’ll definitely add me!”
…
No use waking someone pretending to be asleep.
Wen Fei was still chattering beside him: “Lu Nanyang, admit it, you’re just jealous that I might become the heartthrob’s boyfriend while you’re still single! But if you beg me, I might even teach you the secret to finding love…”
“Are you going back to the dorm?” Lu Nanyang interrupted.
Wen Fei blinked. “Yeah. You?”
“I’m going to feed the cat at the back gate.” Lu Nanyang tapped the ground idly with his toe. “You go on ahead.”
“You’re not gonna nap? We’ve got Civil Law this afternoon, and there’s no way to skip it.”
“I’m good. Not sleepy,” Lu Nanyang said.
If anything, seeing that face had completely woken him up.
He hadn’t cared at all who that person from last night was or what his name might be. He just wanted to forget it ever happened and treat it like stepping in dog poop—just bad luck.
But he hadn’t expected the guy Wen Fei wanted to confess to… was him.
And he was a college student?
Lu Nanyang shut his eyes. The image of that well-built body and firm arms flashed across his mind.
No way. Doesn’t look the part at all, right!?
He rubbed his temples, the headache he’d just barely gotten under control now starting to surge again.
The face was the same, but the vibe was so different from last night that when he first saw him, Lu Nanyang almost thought he was looking at a long-lost twin.
But the moment their eyes met, Lu Nanyang knew.
It was him last night. He would never mistake those eyes.
…..
That day happened to be Xie Quan’s shift at the school infirmary.
Ever since the previous campus doctor, Dr. Zhao, quit after being harassed by a student’s parents, the university had students from the medical school take turns running the infirmary. They called it an internship opportunity to “enhance real-world experience,” but in reality, there was no pay, no benefits—just using students as free labor.
But among all the students constantly complaining, Xie Quan was the most proactive and had the highest attendance.
And accordingly, he got something most of them didn’t—a private office of his own.
It was a great spot: third floor, sun-facing window, and from there, you could see a huge stretch of the campus. There was even a tall pagoda tree right outside the window, where you could sometimes see birds perched on the branches singing in the early morning.
Especially after that senior named Yang graduated, the space officially became his alone. Many non-medical students who came in for treatment assumed he was a full-time doctor.
Xie Quan pulled open the drawer on his right, placed two small white medicine bottles on the desk, and pushed them forward.
The two medicine bottles, nestled among other common medications on the desk, looked utterly ordinary—as if they could be casually picked up to treat a cold.
Now that the senior student was gone, Xie Quan was the only one in the office who actually knew medicine.
Hiding those particular pills among the everyday ones gave Xie Quan a strange, rebellious thrill.
He closed his eyes for a moment, suppressing the rush of emotion, then walked over to the window and drew back the curtains.
The entire office was so monotonously colored it was almost suffocating. The walls were white, his clothes were white, the desk was black, and the nameplate on the desk was white too. Working long hours in that kind of environment often gave Xie Quan the illusion that he was in a funeral parlor. Only when he looked out the window during breaks did he feel the presence of life outside.
It was lunchtime. After eating, students were heading back to their dorms in twos and threes. A few couples lingered under the shade of trees, clinging to each other, neither willing to let go first.
Then Xie Quan noticed someone squatting near the back gate.
They seemed to be feeding the campus’s stray cats—he tossed out a handful of something, and seven or eight cats swarmed over, clearly familiar with this mealtime routine.
Xie Quan narrowed his eyes, watching closely.
One of the cats was completely white, looking timid and new to the group. It lingered at the back, hesitating, its front paws testing the ground but not daring to move forward.
Then he saw the person smile and gently nudged the other cats aside, scattering food in front of the little white one.
That smile suddenly stung Xie Quan’s eyes.
Just then, a knock came at the door. Startled, Xie Quan instinctively pulled half the curtain shut.
A female student stood outside the infirmary door, looking surprised, her hand still raised mid-knock.
“Dr. Xie…”
Realizing he had lost composure, Xie Quan quickly put on a polite, gentle smile and gestured for her to sit.
“The sunlight’s a bit harsh. Have a seat. What’s wrong?”
The girl snapped out of it and sat down cheerfully across from him.
“Ah, right! I came to get some ibuprofen—”
Xie Quan glanced at the student ID she handed over.
“Bao Yiyi, right? You just got ibuprofen last week. Why are you getting more?”
The girl quickly explained,
“Last time was for me, this time it’s for a friend.”
Xie Quan smiled gently.
“Your friend came to me on the 18th last month for some herbal medicine. It’s only the start of the month now—shouldn’t be her period yet, right?”
Her face instantly turned bright red—not just because her lie had been exposed, but also because this handsome guy had just said the word “period” right to her face without a trace of embarrassment.
Aaaaah! Is Dr. Xie even human? How could someone remember exactly what medicine every person got and when?!
She lowered her head, her toes metaphorically curling hard enough to dig a whole apartment complex, and her brain was spinning at full speed trying to figure out how to escape without seeming too obvious—when she suddenly heard a soft laugh from above.
Xie Quan looked at her with a warm gaze and a teasing smile, tapping the prescription form lightly with his pen.
“If it’s just to see me, you don’t need to make excuses. I’d be happy.”
Boom—her face went full tomato red. She stammered,
“N-not really… Uhm, really?”
Xie Quan smiled but didn’t answer directly. He looked down and scribbled something on the prescription, then handed it to her.
“Painkillers only treat the symptoms and aren’t good for your stomach. I’ve prescribed you some traditional medicine to help regulate your digestion—you can take it regularly.”
The girl received the prescription like it was a precious autograph photo, nodding furiously.
“Okay, okay! Thank you, Dr. Xie!”
“Go on.” Xie Quan gave her a smile, subtly pushing his chair back and crossing his legs under the desk.
He expected her to rush off to the pharmacy, but instead she stood there turning her eyes around the room, taking everything in—eventually staring at a cat bed and scratching post in the corner.
“Huh? Dr. Xie, where’s Marshmallow?” she asked curiously. “Did Doctor Yang take him?”
Marshmallow was the name of the cat the former senior student had raised in the office.
“No, wait…” she continued, frowning. “If he took her, why would the bed still be here?”
Tsk.
Why hasn’t she left yet?
Xie Quan’s shoe heel tapped impatiently on the floor twice, though his face remained soft with a smile.
“Senior Yang got too busy with his internship and couldn’t keep Marshmallow anymore, so he gave him to someone else.”
“I see…” The girl looked a little disappointed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Quan glanced toward the window. His expression turned cold again.
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
After all, it hadn’t died of hunger yet, had it?
