Wen Chu: “!!!”
In a flash of lightning, the memory came rushing back—it was that night under the dorm building when, flustered by the couples surrounding them, she had blurted out that they would hug “next time.”
She had assumed the Male Lead knew she was just being polite. After all, neither of them had mentioned it since, and she had long ago tossed that thought to the back of her mind. She never expected him to bring it up today.
“Then… just a quick hug?”
Wen Chu thought about it. It was just a hug, and they had already done it once. It wasn’t like they were kissing. Plus, they weren’t in front of the girls’ dorm this time; there were only the two of them, and they were technically boyfriend and girlfriend. A hug shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
Xi Liye’s eyes darkened. He released her wrist but did not pull away.
“Mhm,” he hummed low, his voice sounding even deeper than before.
Then, he unbuckled his own seatbelt and leaned slightly toward her. Wen Chu felt his arms reach out, gently encircling her shoulders.
Her body tensed instantly, all her senses concentrating on the points where they touched. Since she hadn’t put her coat back on yet, this hug felt much more intimate than the last. She could sense the scent and warmth of his body and feel the vibration of his heartbeat as his chest drew near. His chin brushed ever so slightly against the top of her head, sending a faint, tickling sensation through her.
The hug wasn’t tight; in fact, it was quite restrained.
After an unknown amount of time, Xi Liye slowly loosened his arms and pulled back a short distance.
“Alright, go back and get some rest.” Feeling a bit playful, he reached out and patted the top of her head.
Feeling as if she had been granted a grand pardon, Wen Chu scrambled to grab her coat, put it on, and fumbled to push the car door open.
“Goodbye!” she tossed the words over her shoulder as she hopped out and hurried toward the campus gates.
Only after her figure vanished inside the gates did Xi Liye slowly withdraw his gaze. The sensation of touching the fabric over her shoulders seemed to linger on his fingertips, and the faint orange scent from her hair still ghosted near his nose.
He looked down at his phone to check the time. That hug just now had lasted five minutes.
“Next time,” he whispered to himself, a glint in his eyes, “maybe we can try… a little longer.”
The car glided into the night, heading toward his apartment.
Back in her dorm, Wen Chu stared blankly at the ceiling after climbing into bed. Her heart was still thumping wildly, and the heat in her cheeks refused to fade. Her mind replayed that restrained yet heart-fluttering hug over and over—and the crisp, clean scent of him when he was close.
What breakup plan? What “warm violence”? At this moment, it all seemed distant and surreal.
…
In the days that followed, Wen Chu was frequently dragged to Xi Liye’s apartment to be forced into tutoring for her CET-4. Two hundred words a day was far too much for her; her brain was clearly built for understanding logic, not for things that required rote memorization.
Another day passed, and a “demonic” study session finally ended. She collapsed onto the sofa.
“Two more days… I’m finally going to be free,” she drifted off, her voice weak.
The exam was in two days. In the dorm, Xia Yaoyao and the others were also in the final stretch for their English exams, though they were taking the higher-level CET-6.
Wen Chu had thought about asking them for help, but Li Yue had put it bluntly: “Isn’t CET-4 easy as long as you have hands? H-Uni is a top-tier university; everyone who makes it here should have good English. Surely no one would fail CET-4?”
Wen Chu, who had relied entirely on other subjects to get into college: “…”
Even the original owner of this body had better English scores than she did back in the day.
Collapsed on the sofa, Wen Chu’s thoughts wandered. She stole a glance at Xi Liye, who was sitting in the armchair nearby, head down as he read a medical journal. The warm light traced the sharp contours of his profile. His long lashes were lowered, his expression focused and serene.
If she hadn’t experienced it herself, who would believe that this cold, distant, and elegant medical prodigy would be such an iron-faced “tyrant” when tutoring someone?
As if sensing her gaze, Xi Liye looked up and caught her eyes with precision.
“Done resting?” He closed the journal, his voice calm. “There’s one more listening mock exam. We’re finishing it today.”
Wen Chu: “…” She let out a wail and buried her face in a throw pillow.
Seeing her ostrich-like behavior, Xi Liye’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.
“Last two days,” he stood up, walked over to her, and looked down at her. “Hang in there.”
Wen Chu lifted half her face from the pillow, feeling uncertain. “Teacher Xi, what if I still fail?”
She even made an ill-timed joke to hide her anxiety. “Wouldn’t that… ruin your reputation? If word gets out that someone tutored by Teacher Xi couldn’t even pass CET-4, it wouldn’t look good.”
Xi Liye looked at her pathetic state. He leaned down and, using his knuckle, gave her exposed forehead a light, firm tap.
“Ouch!” Wen Chu yelped, clutching her forehead and looking up at him in surprise.
Xi Liye straightened up. “Do your best on the exam. There’s a reward once you’re finished.”
Wen Chu was stunned. “A reward just for finishing? Not for passing?”
Xi Liye smiled faintly, his voice carrying a hint of indulgence. “I said it right. You get a reward just for seeing it through to the end.”
Getting greedy, Wen Chu leaned against the sofa and looked at him with bright eyes. “Then if I do pass, do I get another reward?”
“Mhm,” Xi Liye replied, his gaze sweeping over her suddenly lively face. “On the condition that you take it seriously.”
“I’ll definitely take it seriously!” Wen Chu declared immediately, her voice much more confident. She didn’t know what the reward was, but… something was better than nothing! And a reward from Xi Liye was bound to be great!
“So…” she asked curiously and cautiously, “What… is the reward?”
Xi Liye looked at her, looking very much like a small animal waiting to be fed, and a smile flickered in his eyes. He didn’t answer directly. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and asked back: “Guess?”
His tone was flat, almost like a casual inquiry, but those two words—combined with his deep gaze and the slight lilt at the end—felt inexplicably like he was teasing her.
Wen Chu: “…?”
“I… I can’t guess.” She admitted honestly but couldn’t help probing. “Is it… something delicious? Or something fun?”
She started counting on her fingers. “Or an ornament?” She remembered the bracelet. “Look, I’m still wearing the bracelet you gave me!” She shook her wrist to show off the little cat bracelet. Her subtext was: I cherish your gifts, so hurry up and tell me what the reward is!
Xi Liye’s gaze followed her movement, landing on her slender, fair wrist. The bracelet suited her perfectly; the silhouette of the kitten appeared and disappeared as she moved, much like her own occasional glimpses of being both cunning and cowardly.
Seeing her eager reaction, Xi Liye stopped teasing but didn’t give a clear answer.
“You’ll know once the exam is over.”
In the end, Wen Chu couldn’t squeeze the secret out of him. Instead, seeing that her spirits had recovered, Xi Liye heartlessly assigned her yet another practice paper.