Lu Nanyang shoved Xie Quan away like he had just touched something filthy.
Xie Quan squinted at him, lips curled in a teasing smirk. “What’s wrong? Weren’t you quite into it just now?” Then he lowered his voice, whispering close to Lu Nanyang’s ear, “Just like that night—”
Before he could finish, Lu Nanyang landed a punch square on his jaw. Xie Quan’s cheek slammed into his own teeth, and a metallic taste instantly filled his mouth.
Stars exploded behind Xie Quan’s eyes. He reflexively raised his arms to defend himself, but Lu Nanyang was faster—he grabbed Xie Quan’s ankle, and before he could react, swung him over his shoulder and slammed him onto the ground. In one fluid motion, he twisted Xie Quan’s arm behind his back.
The sharp pain made Xie Quan tremble. His knees gave out and hit the floor.
“I was in the military,” Lu Nanyang said coldly. “You can’t beat me.”
Xie Quan looked up with wide, startled eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, a knock came at the door.
“Lu-ge? Dr. Xie? You guys in there?”
It was Jia Rong’s voice. He must’ve heard the noise from outside.
Neither of them spoke. Lu Nanyang didn’t loosen his grip. They stood there in silence for a few seconds before Lu Nanyang finally replied.
“It’s fine. Just slipped.”
“…Oh…” Jia Rong sounded unsure. “Okay, be careful. Come help clean up outside when you’re done—everyone else has pretty much left.”
“Yeah.” Lu Nanyang answered.
Only after Jia Rong’s footsteps faded did Lu Nanyang loosen one of Xie Quan’s arms and lower his voice.
“Delete Wen Fei’s number.”
Xie Quan knelt on the restroom floor, his carefully ironed pants stained by the cold, damp tiles. He was breathing heavily, hair that had been meticulously styled now falling messily across his forehead, partially covering his eyes.
Last time they fought, Lu Nanyang’s moves weren’t this sharp. Now Xie Quan finally realized that back then, Lu Nanyang had been holding back on purpose.
From this angle, Lu Nanyang was standing tall, locking his arm, while he kneeled before him like a conquered slave. If he looked up slightly, he’d be face-to-face with Lu Nanyang’s crotch.
He knew getting aroused at a time like this wasn’t appropriate, but a wave of heat still uncontrollably surged down to his lower abdomen.
Xie Quan licked his dry lips. “I didn’t—”
Lu Nanyang applied pressure, and Xie Quan immediately cried out in pain, tears springing to his eyes, all thoughts scattered.
“Lu Nanyang, I’m warning you! This is physical intimidation. We live in a society ruled by law—”
“Either delete the number yourself,” Lu Nanyang cut him off with a tilt of his chin, “or throw your phone on the ground and I’ll smash it for you.”
Xie Quan fell silent, just breathing heavily with his head down. Lu Nanyang let him go, and Xie Quan stumbled a few steps before managing to stand up. His hairstyle was a complete mess, his bangs disheveled and hanging over his forehead. His pants were in worse shape, soaked with water at the knees and cuffs—anyone who saw them would think something happened between the two in the bathroom.
Xie Quan steadied himself against the sink, glaring at Lu Nanyang while fishing out his phone. Right in front of him, he brought up the newly saved number and deleted it.
“There. Happy now?” Xie Quan flipped the screen to show him.
“Yeah.” Lu Nanyang’s face was expressionless as he pointed at him. “From today on, stay away from me. Don’t let me see you anywhere again. From now on, I’ll act like I never met you in my life.”
Xie Quan let out a cold laugh.
“Get lost,” Lu Nanyang said.
……
For the next half month, Lu Nanyang indeed didn’t see Xie Quan again.
At first, Wen Fei was still obsessed with his crush, but after multiple ignored texts and missed calls, his enthusiasm began to fade.
“You think he blocked my number?” Wen Fei stared at his phone suspiciously. “Is he really just a player?”
“I told you already, but you didn’t listen.” Lu Nanyang flipped the page of his book.
“Maybe he’s just really busy… Should I try again when he’s on duty at the clinic?” Wen Fei said hesitantly.
“Didn’t you already try that?” Lu Nanyang didn’t even look up. “Give it up. He just doesn’t want to see you.”
Wen Fei smacked his lips and changed the topic. “You’re not going home this weekend either?”
“Nope.” Lu Nanyang copied notes as he replied. “I’m doing just fine in the dorms. Why go home?”
“But you live like 30 minutes from campus,” Wen Fei said. “Why not go? Home is more comfortable.”
“You guys don’t go home. If I’m the only one who keeps going back, it’ll look weird.” Lu Nanyang said casually.
“You’re nuts.” Wen Fei rolled his eyes.
The class bell rang. Lu Nanyang scribbled the last sentence in his notebook. As he finished the period, he saw the teacher standing at his desk, knocking lightly.
The civil law teacher, Mr. Meng, was in his forties and already balding, so he grew his side hair long to cover the top. It worked fine on still days, but the illusion fell apart in the wind, with the long strands fluttering like seaweed.
“Xiao Lu,” Mr. Meng said cheerfully, hands behind his back, “Your last test score was quite good—big improvement.”
Lu Nanyang paused while picking up his book. “It was okay. Thanks, teacher.”
“No need to be modest. I checked with your other teachers too—they all said you’ve made great progress.” Mr. Meng continued to smile, even reaching out to smooth Lu Nanyang’s collar. “But don’t forget to take care of yourself. It’s getting chilly—remember to wear more layers.”
Wen Fei, sitting beside him, looked puzzled. Chilly? It’s summer. It’s not cold enough for layers.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.” Lu Nanyang smiled and subtly moved back a little.
“Going home this weekend?” Mr. Meng asked. “The holiday’s coming up. If you’re going—”
“Sir,” Lu Nanyang cut him off politely, “I’m not going home this weekend.”
“Not going?” Mr. Meng looked awkward. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Aren’t your parents worried—”
“Our dorms are comfortable. My parents are fine with it.” Lu Nanyang said.
That shut Mr. Meng up. His expression shifted a few times, but in the end, he straightened and waved a hand. “Alright, alright.”
After Mr. Meng left, Lu Nanyang calmly packed his books and slung on his bag.
There were only a few students left in the classroom. If they didn’t hurry to the cafeteria, they’d miss lunch. Lu Nanyang turned to Wen Fei. “Let’s go. What are you spacing out for?”
“Oh, right.” Wen Fei scratched his head and followed.
Once they sat down with their food, Wen Fei couldn’t help but speak.
“Lu-ge, do you think that Mr. Meng… you know.. about you… and your family…”
“So what if he does?” Lu Nanyang slurped a mouthful of noodles. “I already told him I’m not going home. Whatever he thinks is his business.”
“But we have eight civil law classes a week,” Wen Fei looked at his friend worriedly. “You’re going to see him constantly—shouldn’t you at least give him a little face?”
“If I give him face, do I have to give Mr. Wang face too? And Mr. Li? Might as well let Lu Hongzhen buy out the whole school.” Lu Nanyang rolled his eyes.
Wen Fei choked on his food and muttered in defeat, “Fine, fine. You’re always right. Who can argue with young master Lu?”
“Eat your food,” Lu Nanyang said.
The cafeteria food at Yuncheng University was average—except the ramen, which was decent. Lu Nanyang finished his food in minutes, while Wen Fei still had more than half left.
It must have been a habit left over from the military. Lu Nanyang still ate faster than most people.
While waiting for Wen Fei, Lu Nanyang rested his chin on his hand and aimlessly glanced around the cafeteria.
There were a lot of people in the cafeteria—some timid-looking ones who were obviously freshmen at first glance, and others buried in their books in a corner, clearly students preparing for graduate school entrance exams.
But Xie Quan was definitely not among them. Even other medical students were rarely seen here.
There was a second cafeteria right at the entrance of the medical school. Unless there was a special reason, they usually wouldn’t come all the way here to eat at the first cafeteria.
So why had Xie Quan shown up here that day?
Lu Nanyang took out his phone and casually scrolled through Yuncheng University’s forum.
Even posts related to Xie Quan had decreased lately. All that remained were a few old posts saying he was handsome and some pictures.
Oh, there was a relatively new post from five days ago. It was a photo of Xie Quan squatting to feed a stray cat. The girl who took the photo was very excited and wrote that “Doctor Xie is indeed full of love, so gentle with animals.”
Lu Nanyang zoomed in on the picture and noticed it was taken near the back gate where he often fed cats.
Xie Quan was wearing a beige trench coat, and the way he was squatting made his pants look especially form-fitting, subtly visible under the coat’s hem.
For some reason, Lu Nanyang felt a dryness in his throat, and a subtle itch spread across the skin near his thigh.
He pushed at the photo with the pad of his thumb and absentmindedly tapped the phone case with his index finger.
He… likes small animals?
Seriously?
“Lu-ge, what are you looking at?” Wen Fei’s voice startled him. Lu Nanyang instinctively put away his phone in a flash.
“Nothing.” Lu Nanyang cleared his throat. “Just scrolling through the school forum.”
“You’re checking the forum?” Wen Fei looked surprised. “Didn’t you used to hate this stuff the most? I used to try to show you gossip and you wouldn’t even look.”
Wen Fei was right.
He used to hate all those baseless rumors and gossip, and he never cared about the school’s chaotic public opinions. It was only after Xie Quan appeared that he opened the school forum for the first time.
At first, it was to find out what kind of person Xie Quan really was. But now?
Lu Nanyang clicked his tongue irritably and stood up from his seat. “You done eating? Let’s go.”
“Almost, almost.” Wen Fei quickly slurped up a mouthful of noodles.
