There is, of course, no such thing as being good-looking and not knowing it.
Jing Xuan clearly knew he was good-looking, but he never seemed to actively exploit that fact—otherwise, he wouldn’t always wear black T-shirts that differed only in the embroidery or heat-pressed design on the chest.
And when he did decide to actively use it, how could she possibly defend against it? She had fallen for him starting with that face in the first place.
Her ears burned bright red, and she couldn’t even form words. Mu Ning had no idea why she kept digging holes for herself to fall into.
At times like this, all she could do was clumsily change the subject: “I… I should get going.”
Jing Xuan hummed in acknowledgment, then added, “Teacher Mu really is quite the heartbreaker.”
“…Huh? What do you mean, I am?”
“You always do this.”
“…Do what?”
But Jing Xuan didn’t answer. He pulled his mask back on, took half a step back, and said, “I’m leaving.”
“You haven’t answered what—”
“It’s just like what I did just now. Not giving a direct follow-up.”
…Mu Ning had nothing to say. She really did have a habit of talking in circles when she was shy.
“Go on up.” Jing Xuan wasn’t actually going to hold it against her. He let out a low chuckle, then switched to a serious tone and said, “Go check on Xiao Wa.”
“Mm…”
“See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.”
Mu Ning hesitated before taking a step: “…Take a cab, okay? Get some rest early too.”
“Alright.”
Mu Ning turned and walked toward the entrance of the residential complex. Just as she was about to reach it, she couldn’t help but look back.
Under the shadow of the trees, waiting for a cab, a figure somewhat blurred in the night—was also looking back.
Something gently knocked against her heart.
It was Saturday night, and the other tenants in the apartment hadn’t gone to bed yet. From behind closed doors, faint sounds of music or TV dramas drifted out.
When Mu Ning returned to her room, Xiao Wa immediately clung to her with a sweet, needy meow.
Mu Ning scratched its chin and head in a flurry. Five minutes later, Xiao Wa immediately reverted to its aloof state, gave her finger a light nip, then turned and hopped up onto the cat tree on its own.
Cats were really wonderful—their small doses of dependence never burdened a human who’d already had all their energy drained.
Mu Ning first went to check the litter box beneath the wall-mounted vanity cabinet in the bathroom. The stool was still a bit soft.
She took out the treat-dispensing gadget “Churu Pocket,” squeezed out half the meat paste, tucked the pill broken in half inside, then filled it back with more meat paste.
Xiao Wa came over at the smell, curled its tongue and swept the treat into its mouth. Then it tilted its head and chewed a few times.
With a dip of its head, it spat out a pill coated in meat paste.
Mu Ning refused to believe it. She tried again.
Xiao Wa accepted the treat every time, and returned the pill every time.
She searched online and found that some fellow cat owners shared that cats that were too clever or had particularly sharp senses of smell had a chance of failing at this method.
She tried twice more. Still failed.
As for the method of prying the mouth open to force-feed the pill, Mu Ning had already tried it several times yesterday, and every attempt ended with her chickening out for fear of getting her fingers bitten.
Xiao Wa rarely got sick. Apart from the FVRCP vaccine, rabies shot, and spaying, it had never been to the vet. Yesterday was its first time.
Mu Ning had no choice but to ask in the tenants’ group chat: “Does anyone know how to give a cat medicine?”
She’d expected the “every man for himself” situation, but the fact that it took five minutes before someone replied with just a “No” still made her feel the coldness of an atomized society in that moment.
She stared at the chat interface for a while, then switched out of it. Seeing that the little red dot on Jing Xuan’s avatar still hadn’t been tapped away, she couldn’t resist clicking in.
「morning: Are you home yet?」
「X: What’s wrong?」
「morning: Xiao Wa still has soft stool. I’m not very good at giving it medicine」
「X: Didn’t that treat of yours work?」
「morning: It can taste it. Every time it separates the pill out and spits it up」
「X: So clever. It knows that with a sugar-coated bullet, you return the bullet.」
「morning: …」
「morning: This doesn’t seem like the time to be praising it /sobbing」
「X: Need my help?」
「morning: You know how?」
「X: My parents have cats.」
Half a minute passed before Mu Ning replied: 「You’re not home yet?」
「X: Not yet」
「morning: Okay. Then I’ll trouble you to come back for a bit」
She added her building and unit number.
「X: I’ll be there in ten minutes.」
Mu Ning scrambled up from the bed, tossed the dirty clothes that had been lazily piled on the drying rack into the laundry basket, then paced around the room, hiding anything messy or inappropriate out of sight.
If she’d known Jing Xuan would be gracing her room tonight, she would have jolted upright and done a deep clean even if she’d been on her deathbed yesterday.
Only seven minutes had passed when Jing Xuan sent a WeChat message, asking how to get through the building’s front door.
Mu Ning shared a mini-program and had Jing Xuan fill it out to obtain a visitor QR code valid for two hours. He could scan it to get in.
To avoid disturbing the other tenants, Mu Ning went to the living room entrance ahead of time.
Two minutes later, through the door, she heard the sound of the elevator arriving.
The moment she held her breath, there was a soft knock at the door.
Mu Ning opened it immediately.
She glanced at Jing Xuan once, then quickly turned away. “I’m really sorry… troubling you to come help this late…”
Jing Xuan was also a bit flustered by her excessive politeness. He said “It’s no problem,” then looked at the shoe rack. “Shoes…”
“It’s fine, just come in directly. The common area doesn’t require changing shoes—someone cleans it regularly.”
Mu Ning walked ahead, leading Jing Xuan to the door of Room C and opening it.
Seeing a stranger visit, Xiao Wa immediately darted to the highest spot on the cat tree.
There were no men’s slippers indoors, so Mu Ning let Jing Xuan come in as he was. He glanced at the floor, took off his shoes at the door, and walked into the room in his socks.
Once inside, he kept his gaze straight ahead, standing only in front of the cat tree, observing Xiao Wa.
“Want to try this?”
Hearing her voice, Jing Xuan looked down. Mu Ning walked over to his side.
“Open your hand a bit.”
Jing Xuan raised his hand.
The few remaining pieces of treats were poured into his palm by Mu Ning.
Sure enough, Xiao Wa twitched its nose and fixed its eyes on Jing Xuan.
Jing Xuan wasn’t in a hurry. He crouched down and waited patiently for a moment. Xiao Wa jumped down from the cat tree, obediently padded over to his hand, and took the treats away.
Just as it was about to slip off, Jing Xuan caught it in one go.
He sat cross-legged on the floor and secured the cat between his knees.
“Medicine.”
Mu Ning quickly handed it to him.
She watched as his slender fingers reached over the kitten’s head, pinched both cheeks, opening the cat’s mouth. With the other hand, he slipped the pill in, closed the mouth, held for three seconds, and let go.
Exactly the same technique as the tutorial on Xiaohongshu.
Smoothly done in under half a minute.
“…How did you do that? Aren’t you afraid of getting your fingers bitten?”
Xiao Wa twisted away and ran off, meowing twice as if condemning humans for their cunning tricks.
“It can’t bite me.” Jing Xuan smiled at her. “Didn’t see it clearly?”
“I saw it clearly, but I didn’t learn it.”
“Then do I need to teach you again at the next meal?”
Mu Ning didn’t know how to describe this moment in words. The boy she liked was sitting on the floor at the foot of her bed, looking up at her. Beneath the mask hid strikingly handsome features with excellent bone structure, and those tea-brown eyes carried a hint of a smile as he said something that was essentially a synonym for “I’ll come to your room again”—yet there was nothing frivolous about it.
His good upbringing showed—other than the cat tree, he hadn’t let his eyes wander anywhere else in the room even once.
“…Yes, I do.” Mu Ning heard herself answer, unable to resist.
She wasn’t sure if Jing Xuan had expected her to dodge around the question again, but when she surprised him with a direct hit, he was clearly stunned for a moment. Then a sudden burst of coughing made him quickly turn his face away.
“Your cold is really bad.”
“…It’s fine.”
“Then… you should head back and rest early?”
Jing Xuan nodded and stood up from the floor.
He hadn’t even been inside for five minutes. Mu Ning deeply felt that her approach was a bit like treating him as a tool, but it was already this late, she had no place for him to stay, and he was sick—she couldn’t think of a better arrangement.
“I’ll walk you downstairs…”
“No need. You should wash up and go to sleep soon.”
“Thank you…”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
The room was small—two steps and they were at the door. Jing Xuan put on his shoes, bent down to tie the laces, and straightened up.
The hallway wasn’t wide. Standing there, he seemed to make the space feel even more cramped, and the air felt thinner, as if compressed.
“I’m heading off. Sleep early.” Jing Xuan adjusted the slipping strap of his backpack.
Mu Ning reached out almost by reflex.
Her fingers grabbed the sleeve of his thin black jacket.
Even Mu Ning was startled by her own reaction.
Jing Xuan was slightly surprised. He looked down at her fingers, then lifted his gaze to her face. “What’s wrong? Do you need something else?”
“I…”
Her throat was as dry as a vast desert, her voice parched and unable to take root.
She didn’t know him that well yet—so many things about him were still unknown—but she still wanted to tell him.
I like you. I really like you.
Because of this moment, but also not just because of this moment.
“Hm?” Jing Xuan patiently lowered his head further, as if trying to hear more clearly.
And so, in that instant, that cool, clean scent of soap became even more distinct.
Her face burned bright red, and her courage feinted once, then retreated in defeat: “…I want to know what brand of laundry detergent you use.”
Jing Xuan was briefly taken aback, then laughed. “I’ll send you the link later.”
Mu Ning had nothing to say to her own spinelessness. She lowered her eyes and hummed in acknowledgment, then mumbled a thank you.
The silence hung in the air.
A moment later, seeing Jing Xuan glance at his sleeve again, Mu Ning finally realized she was still holding on. She quickly let go.
“I’ll be going then?”
“Okay…”
Seeing that she seemed to intend to see him to the door, Jing Xuan said, “No need to walk me out. Just close the door directly.”
A wave of coughing hit. Jing Xuan covered his mouth through the mask, coughing quietly and restrainedly—probably worried about disturbing the other tenants. Then he took half a step back and insisted once more that she just close the door.
Mu Ning nodded, repeated the usual pleasantries like “get some rest,” then retreated back into the room and gently closed the door.
She stood behind the door, still annoyed at her own timidity from earlier.
She heard footsteps outside, crossing the living room toward the front entrance, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.
Jing Xuan had left.
Mu Ning didn’t shower right away. After waiting a moment, she sent him a WeChat message asking if he’d gotten in the car.
A moment later, Jing Xuan replied, “Just got in.”
「morning: I’m going to shower. Let me know when you’re home.」
「X: Okay.」
Mu Ning didn’t have the energy to wash her hair. She took a quick shower, changed into her pajamas, and lay down on the bed. She grabbed her phone and saw that Jing Xuan had messaged saying he’d arrived.
Only seven minutes had passed from the time he got in the car to when he sent that message.
「morning: That fast by taxi?」
「X: I don’t live far.」
Mu Ning scrolled back through their chat history.
「morning: So earlier, you had actually already gotten home and then came back out, right?」
「X: Yes.」
「morning: Where exactly do you live?」
Jing Xuan sent her an address.
It was on the west side of the complex, a residential area about a ten-minute walk away.
Opening the map, Mu Ning entered the address, then also entered the address of the small bar.
She zoomed in on the map to study it and discovered that the bar was very close to where Jing Xuan lived, but it was situated between both of their residences.
She screenshotted the map and sent it to Jing Xuan.
「morning: It’s not even on your way at all.」
「X: It’s on my way if I’m taking you home.」