NASAY CH 30

“Still… still okay.” 

Luo Xing usually felt very confident, but the moment Huo Xing asked, his confidence wavered. Thinking for a moment, he added, 

“I’m not sure if I did well. Some of the questions were a bit difficult.”

“Don’t worry. You definitely did better than others.”

 Huo Xing smiled, holding his hand until it warmed up before placing it back in his pocket, leading him forward.

Luo Xing couldn’t eat spicy food, and coincidentally, there was a Jiangsu cuisine restaurant nearby. Huo Xingzhou had already made a reservation there and ordered the dishes. When it was almost time, he came out to pick Luo Xing up.

As soon as they entered the restaurant, Huo Xingzhou poured a cup of warm water for Luo Xing to sip and cool down. Luo Xing took two small sips, and soon the dishes were served.

Huo Xingzhou took the cup from his hand and set it aside. 

“Don’t drink too much water, or you won’t have room for the food.”

“It smells so good.” 

Luo Xing caught the aroma of crab roe tofu and couldn’t help but swallow. Smiling, he said, 

“I didn’t eat much this morning. I was hungry during the exam.”

Huo Xingzhou chuckled, 

“Did your stomach shrink? Let me check.”

“No, no.” 

Luo Xing quickly dodged his hand and whispered,

 “There are so many people here. Don’t lift my shirt.”

Huo Xingzhou laughed. 

“Then can I lift it when no one’s around, Teacher Luo?”

Luo Xing didn’t know how Huo Xingzhou always twisted his words like this. Flustered, he scooped a small spoonful of crab roe tofu and stuffed it into Huo Xingzhou’s mouth. 

“Hurry up and eat. You need to rest later.”

Huo Xingzhou swallowed the tofu and persistently asked, 

“Teacher Luo, can I?”

Luo Xing’s head lowered more and more, his voice becoming smaller. 

“We’ll… we’ll talk about it later.”

***

After finishing their meal, Huo Xingzhou called a cab to take them back to the hotel.

They ran into Xue Jian in the lobby. He seemed to have just returned from dinner as well and greeted Huo Xingzhou.

Luo Xing’s fingers tensed, and Xue Jian’s words from earlier flashed in his mind. He tightly held onto Huo Xingzhou’s hand and whispered,

 “Let’s go upstairs. I’m a bit tired.”

“Okay.”

Luo Xing lowered his gaze. He felt like he was being selfish. He knew Huo Xingzhou didn’t like him, yet he still felt jealous.

But…

He couldn’t stop thinking about what Xue Jian said—how he and Huo Xingzhou used to be very close, playing basketball and eating together, always together except when they slept or went to the restroom.

He didn’t want Huo Xingzhou to be that close to anyone else.

“After the exam today, Xue Jian came to talk to me.”

Huo Xingzhou was changing clothes and paused for a moment before laughing. 

“What did he want? To compare answers?”

Luo Xing stared at his waistline, swallowed, and softly said, 

“He said you two used to be very close, but later, things fell apart because you hated him.”

Huo Xingzhou finished changing, got into bed, and locked his gaze onto Luo Xing’s face. After a moment, he sneered, 

“He still dares to play the victim in front of you?”

Luo Xing’s fingertips tightened, and he instinctively clasped his hands together. Cautiously, he asked, 

“Was that… also related to the class monitor?”

From Xue Jian’s tone, it seemed like he was also quite familiar with Ye Qiaoqiao. According to what Luo Xing knew, Huo Xingzhou and Ye Qiaoqiao were childhood friends. If they were so close, Xue Jian must have been part of that circle, too.

Luo Xing bit the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t just jealous of Ye Qiaoqiao—he was jealous of Xue Jian and everyone else who had a close relationship with Huo Xingzhou.

Huo Xingzhou was silent for a moment. 

“Yeah.”

Luo Xing’s chest tightened—he was right.

He lowered his head, not wanting to listen anymore. Suddenly, he regretted bringing it up. After blinking twice, he forced himself to raise his head and said, 

“Let’s… let’s sleep.”

Huo Xingzhou wrapped his arm around Luo Xing’s waist and seemed to sigh. Luo Xing had never seen this side of him before and became nervous. Yet, he couldn’t tear his eyes away, afraid of missing a word.

“When I was in third grade, I met a girl named Min Yao.”

Min Yao was a student at a vocational school near Xingzhi High School. She was a year older than them and had a bold personality—she could hold her own in a fight, even against boys.

One time, she came to block someone and happened to see Xue Jian. It was love at first sight.

By then, Huo Xingzhou rarely fought anymore, and Xue Jian was one of the school’s top students—gentle and well-respected. Min Yao fell hard for him.

For Xue Jian, she stopped fighting, dyed her hair back to its natural color, and started wearing conservative dresses. Every day, she waited for him near the school gate, afraid of causing him trouble, so she didn’t get too close. At that time, there were students being extorted, so she just followed him silently to make sure he got home safely before leaving.

Min Yao was pretty and straightforward. She soon became good friends with Ye Qiaoqiao and gradually joined their circle, giving her more opportunities to meet Xue Jian.

Xue Jian was a deeply thoughtful person who rarely revealed his true feelings to others.

Huo Xingzhou believed that only a weirdo like Lu Qinghe could slightly understand what Xue Jian was thinking.

He wasn’t interested in relationships and didn’t care about the romantic progress between Xue Jian and others.

When it came to Min Yao’s pursuit of Xue Jian, the latter never explicitly rejected her, but he also didn’t accept her. Every time she was about to give up, he would give her a sliver of hope, keeping her hanging.

“Don’t be fooled by how fierce Min Yao is in fights; she actually can’t drink at all,” 

Huo Xingzhou said while holding Luo Xing’s wrist, massaging it lightly with a frighteningly dark tone.

 “Xue Jian and his friends were drinking at a bar and bet that if he called Min Yao, even if she had to climb the school fence, she would come running.”

He sent her a text, and before long, Min Yao did come. Her long hair was blown into a mess by the wind as she nervously grabbed the front desk and asked,

 “My friend is drunk and asked me to pick him up. Where is he?”

The receptionist was confused. After listening to her describe him, they realized she was talking about that group of students and pointed her in their direction.

When Min Yao saw Xue Jian and his friends chatting happily—completely sober—she relaxed but also felt a surge of anger.

Xue Jian, seeing Min Yao rush in, showed a look of disdain. He even bragged to his friends, 

“See? I told you she’d come. Even if it’s midnight, she’ll still show up.”

They all laughed together. When Min Yao walked over, Xue Jian didn’t even stand up. He just tilted his head and smirked at her. 

“Want a drink?”

Min Yao clenched her fist, biting her lip as she asked, 

“Why did you lie to me? Do you think it’s fun to make me worry? I had to skip my night class to come here.”

Xue Jian replied indifferently, 

“I didn’t force you to come. I just told you I was drunk.”

“You!”

“Come on, have a drink, sis-in-law!” 

someone jeered. Xue Jian chuckled and pushed that person lightly. 

“Don’t call her that.”

No matter how dense or carefree Min Shen was, she could tell that Xue Jian was deliberately humiliating her. Fighting back tears, she asked,

 “Xue Jian, I like you. Is that why you feel you can trample on me like this?”

Xue Jian looked at her coldly, completely different from his usual gentle demeanor.

 “I told you a long time ago that I don’t like you. You insisted on being nice to me. I’m not trampling on you—you’re trampling on yourself.”

Min Yao nodded, smiling bitterly through her tears, and turned to leave.

Xue Jian grabbed her wrist and yanked her back hard, forcing a mouthful of strong alcohol onto her lips. Min Yao was stunned, standing there dumbfounded as the burning alcohol with Xue Jian’s scent slid down her throat.

“I don’t hate you entirely. If you drink this, I’ll agree to be your boyfriend,”

 Xue Jian said, picking up an opened bottle of alcohol and placing it in Min Yao’s hand.

The others cheered, 

“Drink it, sis-in-law! It’s just one bottle.”

Min Yao probably liked him too much, and at that time, she didn’t know she couldn’t handle alcohol. By the time she realized it, it was already the next day.

She woke up in the alley behind the bar, her clothes torn and barely covering her body, her face and body stained with filth from unknown men—now dried into a crust.

Passersby pointed at her and whispered. By that morning, photos of her in that state had flooded the internet.

Although Min Shen was wild and a fighter, she was still a girl. Facing such overwhelming humiliation and online accusations, she nearly broke down.

She locked herself in her room, obsessively reading strangers’ cruel comments, almost as a form of self-torture. By the time Huo Xingzhou and Ye Qiaoqiao found her, Min Yao was already standing on the rooftop.

She said,

 “Qiaoqiao, meeting you was a blessing.”

She also said,

 “Xingzhou, don’t hurt Xue Jian for my sake. He’s not worth it.”

Then, before Huo Xingzhou could say a word, she turned and jumped off the rooftop, ending her life in front of their eyes.

Luo Xing was stunned after hearing the story. He stared blankly at Huo Xingzhou, not knowing that such a deep grudge existed between them.

“Then… when Min Yao got drunk, why didn’t he take her away? How did she end up like that?” 

Luo Xing’s hand trembled slightly.

Huo Xingzhou held his hand tightly and said, 

“He claimed he was drunk.”

Drunk.

***

The police had investigated that incident many times, but the case was shelved due to a lack of evidence. Min Yao hadn’t seen her attackers, so there was no way to trace them.

After Min Yao died, both the school and her family treated it as a scandal and avoided talking about it.

Xue Jian transferred to No 1 High School, while Huo Xingzhou and Ye Qiaoqiao went to Second High School. No one expected Xue Jian to eventually return to No 2 High School and bring up the past, trying to clear his name.

Even if he did get drunk in the end, what about the beginning?

If he hadn’t humiliated Min Yao, none of it would have happened. What had Min Yao done wrong? Her only mistake was liking Xue Jian. But really, what’s so wrong about liking someone?

If Xue Jian had clearly rejected her from the start, things wouldn’t have spiraled to this point.

Luo Xing bit his lip, not knowing what to say. A life was involved—he didn’t know how to respond. He shifted slightly, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” 

Huo Xingzhou noticed him moving and asked curiously, 

“Do you need something? I’ll get it for you.”

“Lift your head a little,” 

Luo Xing said softly.

Confused, Huo Xingzhou turned his body slightly and raised his head. Luo Xing stretched out his hands, climbed up a bit, and wrapped his slender arms around Huo Xingzhou’s shoulders, whispering timidly, 

“D-Don’t be sad anymore.”

Huo Xingzhou’s body stiffened. The warm breath against his neck filled every inch of his senses. The soft skin on Luo Xing’s neck was so close that all he had to do was lower his head to reach it.

This little one…

His body trembled slightly as he hugged him. Huo Xingzhou raised a hand and pressed Luo Xing tightly into his embrace, burying his head into the crook of Luo Xing’s neck, savoring every second of this comforting closeness.

Luo Xing’s legs turned weak from the embrace. His arms lost strength, but he still tried to steady himself. 

“You’ll always remember Min Yao. She’d be happy about that.”

“Yeah.”

 Huo Xingzhou pulled him back slightly, lowering his eyes to look at Luo Xing’s flushed cheeks. His heart almost melted into a puddle. He smiled and gently flicked Luo Xing’s forehead.

For Huo Xingzhou and the others, what happened to Min Yao had become an unhealed wound—something far beyond mere sadness.

“That’s nice and all, but do you really think one hug is enough to comfort me? Teacher Luo, that’s a bit insincere,” 

Huo Xingzhou teased, holding his hand and tucking him back into the blanket, afraid he’d catch a cold.

Luo Xing bit his lower lip, struggling to think of what to say. After a long pause, he buried his head low and nervously grabbed Huo Xingzhou’s hand, placing it on his soft stomach.

“Y-You can touch it… if you want.”