“Ge, I’m calling you ‘ge,’ but please, can you stop barging into the dorm so early in the morning?” Wen Fei complained while yawning. “I finally fell asleep after staying up all night, and then you came in slamming the door.”
“Who told you to stay up all night? There’s class this morning, after all.” Lu Nanyang said helplessly. “Now you’re blaming me?”
“Well, at least there are classes this morning,” Wen Fei replied. “If there weren’t any classes this morning, you’d have barged in, and I’m sure Da Ze and the others would’ve beat you up.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be more careful next time,” Lu Nanyang said, raising his hand in surrender.
They arrived late, and the cafeteria already had a long line. Luckily, there was still some meat left when it was their turn.
Wen Fei sat across from him, still muttering, “Isn’t that a long-term rental? Why not just sleep for two more hours at home and then come straight to school for class? Why do you always come back to the dorm?”
“I miss you guys, is that a problem?” Lu Nanyang stuffed a bun into his mouth.
“Stop lying,” Wen Fei said dismissively. “If you’re going to make up a story, at least make it more believable.”
“Alright, well, how should I put it… it’s a bit complicated,” Lu Nanyang put down his chopsticks, thinking for a moment. “To put it simply, I got a new roommate.”
“You, a roommate?” Wen Fei was a bit surprised. “You need the rent money that badly?”
“It’s not about the money, it’s…,” Lu Nanyang hesitated, feeling guilty talking about Xie Quan in front of Wen Fei. “Anyway, it’s complicated.”
Wen Fei gave him an understanding look, leaned back like a rich lady, and crossed his legs. “I see. You’re just overflowing with sympathy, and in a moment of impulse, you decided to help some junior, right?”
…Although Xie Quan wasn’t a junior, that was basically it.
“So, it turns out this junior’s personality doesn’t match yours, and their habits are way different,” Wen Fei continued. “You had some conflict in the middle of the night, and now you’re just trying to avoid them by running back to the dorm early in the morning.”
The situation was probably more complicated than that.
Lu Nanyang couldn’t help but touch his still swollen lips.
“I don’t even need to ask. This isn’t the first time this has happened,” Wen Fei said. “In freshman year, you stood up for a girl who was being bullied, and you ended up getting scolded by the professor for a whole class. And then that girl became friends with her bully. Then last semester, you lent Ding Lei 5,000 yuan, and the next thing you know, he drops out and runs off, leaving you with nothing…”
Lu Nanyang frowned. “So by your logic, do all good deeds need to be repaid, and if they’re not, you shouldn’t help people?”
“The problem is, not only is there no reward, but you also get bitten by the snake,” Wen Fei retorted. “Look at the people you’ve helped, do they really deserve all this effort from you? Maybe some of them didn’t deserve your help in the first place. They ended up like this because they brought it upon themselves. By helping, you’re just being used, is it worth it?”
Xie Quan’s face flashed across Lu Nanyang’s mind for a moment. He lowered his head, finishing his milk, crumpled the plastic cup, and threw it in the trash. “Not all snakes bite people. And if a snake bites a farmer, it’s not the snake’s fault, it’s the farmer’s fault.”
“Huh?” Wen Fei was confused.
“The moment the farmer decides to save the snake, he should’ve realized it’s a venomous one, and take all the necessary precautions for dealing with snakes,” Lu Nanyang said. “He shouldn’t deceive himself into thinking that the snake is just like him, expecting it to repay him like a human.”
Wen Fei shook his head. “What nonsense… I see you’re hopeless.”
“Shut up and eat, or you’ll be late for class,” Lu Nanyang pointed to Wen Fei’s plate.
Wen Fei stared at him, “Damn, how did you finish everything already? Are you human with that speed?” He quickly started eating.
Lu Nanyang took out his phone and saw a message from “Doctor Liu from the Sixth Hospital.”
[It’s not just a matter of whether it’s easy or hard, it mainly depends on whether the patient is willing to cooperate with the withdrawal process and how strong their will to quit is. Generally speaking, for patients with addiction issues, the root cause still lies in unresolved emotional or trauma issues. Otherwise, they wouldn’t rely on medication to numb themselves. If that root cause isn’t addressed, blindly attempting to withdraw might cause more suffering and lead to relapse. We’ve seen this happen many times in clinical practice.]
Lu Nanyang stared at this message, reading it repeatedly before replying seriously.
[Dr. Liu, thank you. You are truly a responsible and diligent doctor.]
As soon as Lu Nanyang typed the final word, two girls carrying lunch trays walked past him.
“…That’s the Xie Quan, the one who won first place in the practical skills competition.”
The girl next to her exclaimed, “That Xie Quan from the medical school? No way, isn’t he an excellent student?”
Lu Nanyang’s hand paused.
He had heard people talk about Xie Quan many times, but “that” Xie Quan?
This was the first time he had heard someone mention Xie Quan’s name with that tone.
Lu Nanyang stood up from his chair and called out to the girls from earlier, politely asking, “Excuse me, did you just mention Xie Quan? The one from the medical school?”
The girl was startled by Lu Nanyang’s sudden question. The short-haired girl quickly shielded the long-haired girl behind her and looked at Lu Nanyang warily. “What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing. I just wanted to ask… Is something wrong with him?” Lu Nanyang quickly explained.
The two girls exchanged looks, and the short-haired girl said, “Don’t you know? Someone posted on the school forum last night. It’s been all over, and it’s a really big deal.”
After saying that, the long-haired girl tugged at the short-haired girl’s sleeve, and the two of them didn’t say anything more before leaving with their lunch trays.
Wen Fei turned around. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, eat your food.” Lu Nanyang frowned, lowering his head to open the campus forum.
It had been a while since he checked the forum, and just yesterday, he had even considered uninstalling the app to free up some space.
Opening the forum, the first post he saw was the one the girls had mentioned.
The title was so striking it couldn’t be ignored: “Xie Quan, the one who won first place in the medical skills competition, is a drug-addicted trash!”
The post was anonymously published, and the tone was extremely harsh.
“…He took the duty at the infirmary just to have access to an unsafe amount of Diazepam. For those who don’t know, Diazepam is a class II controlled substance in our country, and it’s highly addictive, with strict regulations on prescriptions! And this Xie Quan, last month, he got 10 bottles of Diazepam from the medical office, and this month, he got 15. Our school sends this kind of person to participate in a city-wide competition and even broadcasts it everywhere with a loudspeaker—don’t you feel ashamed? There are so many excellent students in the medical school, why does this drug addict get an award?”
When Lu Nanyang clicked on the post, the comments had already exceeded five hundred, and the number was still rising.
At first, most people were refuting the post and defending Xie Quan.
- ??? What, people can just make baseless accusations anonymously now? The cost of slander is way too low.
- OP, dare to unmask yourself? Got any actual proof or just talking nonsense?
The original poster replied: I’m just stating the facts. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. As for evidence, you’ll find out soon enough. Girls, wake up, don’t stay lost in a dream. He’s just a scumbag who acts one way in front of you and another behind your back.
Lu Nanyang quickly scrolled back, and after a few pages, he noticed the public opinion had started to turn around.
- Xie Quan’s reputation was so good that I didn’t dare say anything… but I once saw him throw away a gift a girl gave him, including a paper crane I’d folded for days. When I gave it to him, he smiled so gently and even thanked me. But he turned around and threw it in the trash. I was really heartbroken, and when I told my friends, they didn’t believe me and said I must have seen it wrong…
- I also don’t think Xie Quan is as good as everyone says. Not long ago, someone saw him and the second young master from the Lu family being all cozy in the library? They looked like a couple of gays, and he still accepted gifts from girls. Shameless.
- Hold on, why has this thread turned into something else? Even if he’s a scumbag, does that mean he has to be on drugs? This is a serious accusation.
…
However, not long after, the original poster posted a photo.
The timestamp showed it was posted just after they entered the cafeteria.
The photo was of Xie Quan standing in a professor’s office, being scolded.
This ignited the discussion like a spark setting off an explosion.
- What’s going on? Is what the op said true? Is it really to the point of involving Professor Qi?
- No way… I can’t believe it! I refuse to believe he would do such a thing!
- If it’s true, will his award be revoked?
- If it’s true, the award doesn’t even matter anymore! He’ll definitely be expelled!
…
“Finished? Let’s go.” Wen Fei packed up his tray, stood up, and looked at Lu Nanyang, who was still frozen. “Hey, what are you zoning out for? We can’t be late—you just said we’ve got class.”
Lu Nanyang tightly pressed his lips together, put away his phone, and stood up. “Sorry, Wen Fei. I’m not going to class. Please mark me absent, and if you can’t, ask the professor for leave. Say I’m sick or something.”
