Lu Nanyang… used to be surnamed Xie?
That information came too suddenly, and Xie Quan couldn’t react for a while.
He didn’t even know what he was feeling at that moment.
The surname “Xie” came from Xie Yuanqiang—a man who made Xie Quan feel sick just thinking about him. Xie Quan had never liked his own last name, had no emotional connection to his full name at all. To him, it was just a label, a symbol others used to refer to him.
But now, something had changed.
The surname “Xie” wasn’t just associated with that crazy man who beat his wife to death.
Now, it also meant something else.
It was Lu Nanyang. It was his boyfriend’s former surname.
Just then, shouts came from downstairs.
“Lu Nanyang! Lu Nanyang—”
“Are you up there, Lu Nanyang?”
The voices sounded familiar. Xie Quan turned to Lu Nanyang, “Your roommates?”
“Sounds like it.” Lu Nanyang stood up from the steps, rubbed his face, and asked, “Does it show?”
Xie Quan looked at his eyes. “A bit red, but not obvious. You could say Lu Zhanlei punched you.”
“Damn,” Lu Nanyang laughed, “what kind of punch makes you look like this?”
He called down, “I’m here!”
Then came a flurry of footsteps. Jia Rong’s head popped up first from the stairwell below. When he saw Lu Nanyang, he let out a sigh of relief. “Damn, you are so hard to find! Not picking up your phone or replying to messages, hiding in this little corner…”
Halfway through his rant, he suddenly noticed Xie Quan standing beside him and jumped in surprise. Just then, Da Ze and Wen Fei also came climbing up from behind.
“We heard Lu Zhanlei gave you trouble? What happened—”
And then they all simultaneously saw Xie Quan standing next to Lu Nanyang. The three of them instantly fell silent.
“Dr. Xie… hi,” Wen Fei gave an awkward smile and greeted him, “Didn’t expect to see you here too.”
Xie Quan nodded calmly, “Hello.”
The three of them exchanged complex glances back and forth between the two.
Lu Nanyang couldn’t take it anymore and took the initiative. “If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t worry about him.”
Da Ze finally spoke, “You missed all your afternoon classes. No one could find you. If Wen Fei hadn’t remembered you’d been up to this rooftop before, we’d have been searching all night.”
“I heard your brother came to our teaching building to cause trouble for you? What exactly happened, are you okay?”
“Sorry to make you all worry. It was just a little friction, nothing to make a fuss about.” Lu Nanyang patted the dust off his clothes.
“What do you mean ‘a little friction’? Look at the bruises all over your face!” Wen Fei said with dissatisfaction.
“Seriously, this whole thing has blown up,” Jia Rong said. “A lot of people saw it in front of the teaching building. They’re saying Young Master Lu just started hitting without saying a word.”
“Wasn’t he way out of line? Acting crazy right under our noses! Isn’t group fighting supposed to be a major demerit? No, he should just be expelled!”
“Alright, alright, it’s not that serious. Just a small misunderstanding. I’ll explain things to him later,” Lu Nanyang said, pressing down on Wen Fei’s shoulder and changing the subject. “What are you guys planning to eat tonight? How about I treat you—”
Xie Quan frowned. No matter how many times it happened, he still couldn’t stand Lu Nanyang’s habit of suppressing his own grievances just to keep others happy.
“I’ll treat.” Xie Quan interrupted him, saying calmly, “How about the new barbecue place by the back gate?”
Everyone froze for a second. A strange awkwardness lingered in the air for half a beat before Lu Nanyang was the first to react.
“Sure, sounds good. I’ve heard that place has a good reputation and does good business.” He cleared his throat. “What do you guys think?”
Clearly, none of the three roommates had expected Xie Quan to suddenly insert himself into their dinner plans like this.
This was nothing like Wen Fei’s earlier fanboy behavior, when he’d insisted on dragging Xie Quan in to join them for fun.
The high-and-mighty medical school flower, top student, and perfect golden boy actually volunteered to treat them to a meal?
What the heck? Did the sun rise from the west?
Other than that one time they played a round of murder mystery together, they didn’t really have much of a relationship with this med school big shot.
Oh, right—now Lu Nanyang was apparently his roommate.
So… were these two considered friends now?
Or were they still at odds?
The three followed behind, utterly confused, their brains nearly overheating.
Lu Nanyang and Xie Quan walked in front, shoulders not too close but not far apart either. Wen Fei, Da Ze, and Jia Rong trailed behind, eyes darting back and forth between the two ahead.
“You guys think…” Da Ze finally broke the silence, rubbing his chin and squinting like he was solving the final question on a physics exam, “What exactly is their relationship now?”
“What else could it be? Roommates and eternal rivals,” Wen Fei said, crossing his arms with a shrug. “They didn’t get along from the moment they met. I doubt that’s changed much—I’m used to it.”
“Shouldn’t be like that,” Jia Rong chimed in. “Didn’t Lu Nanyang say he was rooming with Xie Quan now? Who chooses to live with their nemesis?”
“You know his bleeding-heart personality. Xie Quan’s place burned down and he had nowhere to go, so Lu-ge just stepped in like a knight in shining armor,” Wen Fei said. “It’s just co-renting, not like he’s not paying rent.”
“Just helping out? I don’t think it’s that simple.” Jia Rong stared at the two figures ahead, falling into thought. “Lu Nanyang hasn’t even been back to the dorm lately—he’s always heading north after class. And I remember hearing a rumor that Xie Quan came out on Qixi and said he has a boyfriend, right?”
“So what if he has a boyfriend? With that face, he could have girlfriends and boyfriends lined up—” Da Ze’s words caught in his throat mid-sentence.
The three of them practically gasped in unison.
“No, no, no way!” Wen Fei looked horrified, shaking his head like a rattle drum. “I refuse to even consider that possibility! That’s terrifying—no way!”
“I think you’re just being slow,” Jia Rong said, analyzing the situation. “Look, a while ago Lu Nanyang said he was dating someone, and Xie Quan came out around the same time. Now they’re roommates… it all looks suspicious to me.”
“Impossible,” Wen Fei said firmly. “Lu-ge is clearly straight. There’s no way he and Dr Xie… Didn’t you see how awkward he looked when Xie Quan interrupted him just now? You call that dating?”
“That was awkward? I thought he just looked surprised,” Jia Rong said. “Lu Nanyang got harassed by his brother, skipped class, and went up to the rooftop to be with Xie Quan. Doesn’t that mean something?”
“Being together doesn’t mean they’re on good terms,” Wen Fei insisted. “I heard Xie Quan was there when Lu Zhanlei came to stir things up. For all we know, those two might’ve fought it out up on that rooftop—maybe Xie Quan is the one who gave Lu-ge that bruise.”
The other two fell into contemplation. As far-fetched as the theory was, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
At that moment, Lu Nanyang suddenly turned and asked, “Is that place this way?”
They were startled. Jia Rong quickly answered, “Yeah, just turn right up ahead.”
Xie Quan glanced at the three of them sneaking behind them and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Looks like we’ve been made.”
“What?” Lu Nanyang, completely clueless, looked up in confusion.
“Nothing. Have you decided what you want to eat?” Xie Quan asked. “A junior of mine said their signature pork belly is a must—rich but not greasy.”
“Whatever, I’ll just look at the menu later.” Lu Nanyang frowned, clearly distracted. “Why’d you suddenly offer to treat our dorm? That place isn’t cheap, and you don’t even eat much…”
Xie Quan cut him off, holding up a “shh” gesture and emphasized, “I’m treating you. Your dorm mates are just tagging along. I just can’t stand how casually you treat others to meals. Do you even know how much money you have left to be throwing it around like that?”
Lu Nanyang raised his eyebrows. “I am a Lu, you know—”
“Oh, give it a rest. I can’t even be bothered to expose you. The money you’re spending now, did a single cent come from the Lu family?” Xie Quan couldn’t even be bothered to argue with him.
Lu Nanyang laughed and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Sigh, only my husband really knows how to care for me.”
Xie Quan immediately got goosebumps and raised his voice. “Get lost!”
Little did they know, this one sentence sent a shock through the three people behind them.
Wen Fei looked horrified. “See? See?! I told you, they don’t get along. They’re arguing even just walking down the street!”
Da Ze said worriedly, “You don’t think they’ll end up fighting at dinner, do you?”
“Relax. Maybe they’re just flirting in a weird way,” Jia Rong said.
Da Ze & Wen Fei: “……”
That… might actually be worse.
