“No need for that.”
“You’re being unfair to me.”
“This isn’t a competition.”
“So… will you take me off your blacklist?”
What on earth had gotten into Xie Qingwang?
Ji Nian felt so embarrassed she could practically dig out a whole castle with her toes. She didn’t even want to imagine how many people would gossip about them after this.
“Oh? Did I accidentally pick a young couple?” Fu Jinqiao quickly stepped in.
“No, Professor! I’m not familiar with him at all!” Ji Nian shook her head like a rattle drum.
That made Xie Qingwang laugh in irritation.
Fu Jinqiao glanced at him, then said, “Alright, game over. Let’s begin the lecture.”
The lecture officially started. Xie Qingwang didn’t cause any more trouble and sat quietly in his seat, which finally let Ji Nian relax. She took out her notebook and started jotting down key points.
Two hours later, the lecture ended.
“I’m very happy to have met all of you today. Hopefully, we’ll meet again,” Fu Jinqiao concluded.
Ji Nian rubbed her lower back—it felt a bit sore. “A-Yu, it’s almost 5. Want to grab dinner?”
“Sure, I barely ate lunch. My stomach’s already growling,” Ruan Yu said.
Just as she finished speaking, Ji Nian caught a glimpse of Xie Qingwang standing up and following Fu Jinqiao out.
What was going on? Was he going to cause trouble for the professor?
“A-Yu, Xie Qingwang followed Professor Fu out. I’m worried he might do something—I need to check.”
“Huh? Wait for me, I’m coming too!”
Ji Nian walked around and eventually found the two of them near a black car. Since Fu Jinqiao had his back to her, she could only see Xie Qingwang’s expression—it didn’t look friendly.
“Xie Qingwang, why are you looking for Professor Fu?” she hurried over and stared at him.
“What kind of tone is that?” Xie Qingwang frowned, clearly displeased. Did she think he’d actually pick a fight with someone in broad daylight?
Was that really how she saw him?
“Brother-in-law, tell her why I came to find you.”
…Brother-in-law?
Ji Nian’s eyes widened slightly. She had never known Xie Qingwang had such a relative.
But then she realized—during her past life, she had never bothered to learn about his extended family.
After marriage, because she had married into the Xie family through questionable means, she always felt looked down upon. She rarely interacted with them.
Even at family gatherings, she kept a low profile and spoke as little as possible.
“This student,” Fu Jinqiao said gently, looking at Ji Nian, “my wife is Qingwang’s cousin.”
He hadn’t expected that his fearless, troublemaking brother-in-law would actually fall for such a delicate-looking girl.
How awkward.
Ji Nian felt like she could dig out an entire villa this time.
“I’m sorry, Professor Fu.” After apologizing, she quickly turned and ran off.
Xie Qingwang tried to grab her but missed. “Wait—why is she apologizing to you? Shouldn’t she be apologizing to me?”
“What’s going on with you two? Had a fight?” Fu Jinqiao looked amused. “You act like a couple, but also not like one. She seems timid—stop scaring her all the time, or you’ll regret it when she runs away.”
Xie Qingwang didn’t even know which part to argue with, so he just stayed silent.
“Alright, it’s about time I go. Your sister will be back this weekend—come over for dinner if you’re free.”
“Got it.”
Fu Jinqiao patted his shoulder and got into the car.
Xie Qingwang stood there for a moment, then tugged at his cap irritably before pulling out his phone. “Come out.”
……
“Brother-in-law?!” Ruan Yu was equally embarrassed for her friend. “It’s fine, it’s fine—they won’t care. And you meant well.”
Ji Nian slumped lifelessly in the cafeteria. “That’s not even the worst part. At least that only involved the three of us. Did you forget what happened in the auditorium earlier?”
At that, Ruan Yu was also shocked. “What is wrong with him? He used to ignore you, and now that you’re ignoring him, he’s chasing after you?”
“Are all men this cheap?”
Isn’t that exactly it? They only want what they can’t have.
What they can’t get is what they can’t forget—the “best” thing.
“I’m turning embarrassment into appetite. I’m going to eat a big meal,” Ji Nian took a deep breath, deciding to go for the most expensive stall in the cafeteria.
Ruan Yu followed. “Eat! After this, we’ll just pretend none of that ever happened.”
It wasn’t anything serious anyway. Small things only disturb the mind—the best thing was to let it go.
While lining up, Ruan Yu felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Xu An.
“What a coincidence,” he said, standing behind them. “This meal’s on me.”
“No, no need,” Ruan Yu quickly refused. She wasn’t close to him and felt uncomfortable with his sudden enthusiasm.
As for Ji Nian, she disliked him even more—there was no way she’d let him treat them.
Seeing them refuse, Xu An smiled awkwardly. “Sorry about earlier. I actually planned to go reserve seats for you, but I ended up with a stomachache when I went out.”
What should’ve been a great opportunity to get closer had been ruined by his uncooperative stomach—he regretted it.
“We could find seats ourselves,” Ruan Yu replied briefly, not wanting to continue the conversation. She simply took out her phone and started scrolling.
Standing behind her, Xu An could clearly see what she was watching—video after video of handsome guys.
His brows furrowed slightly, but he suppressed his displeasure and said nothing more.
After dinner, Ji Nian planned to go to the supermarket to buy pens. The one she used during the lecture had been from high school—it ran out of ink halfway through, so she had to use her phone to take notes for the rest.
Ordering online would take days, so she might as well just grab one now.
Ruan Yu had planned to go with her to buy snacks, but halfway there, her stomach suddenly started hurting—probably from the spicy food earlier.
“No, I need to go to the restroom first.”
“Go ahead. Just text me what you want—I’ll get it for you,” Ji Nian said, fully understanding. Her own stomach wasn’t great either—sometimes even cold water could upset it.
Inside the supermarket, Ruan Yu quickly sent her a list. Ji Nian first went to the stationery section to buy two black pens, then grabbed a basket and headed for snacks.
She was just about to pick up a couple of spicy strips when she heard voices behind the shelf—mentioning her name.
“What do you think Bro Wang is thinking? Didn’t he dislike that Ji Nian before? What was that stunt he pulled this afternoon?”
“Didn’t you hear? She stopped paying attention to him recently. A couple days ago, I heard him talking to Chen—she blocked him. He couldn’t accept it, so now he wants to win her back… and then dump her hard.”
The other guy suddenly understood. “Ah, so that’s it. Makes sense—someone like him wouldn’t tolerate being blocked and dumped.”
Ji Nian listened expressionlessly, quickly grabbing her snacks and heading to the checkout.