Chapter 14
Xie Ning was forced into a life of being taken care of.
Although Xie Ning felt that his injury was not serious at all—his ankle swelling had already gone down by the second day, and when he tried walking on it, it did not hurt as much as he had imagined.
But Pei Zhi did not think so.
Pei Zhi had trained in sports since childhood and had suffered countless injuries. He was experienced and professional. He brought up a number of technical terms, along with possible aftereffects.
Xie Ning fell silent for a moment, then chose to keep troubling his “friend.”
That day, as usual, Pei Zhi took Xie Ning to the on-campus studio. The studio was shared by the whole major.
Xie Ning’s spot was in a corner by the window. He liked quiet places. If he got tired, he could pull back the curtain and look at the pagoda trees swaying outside, or even take a short nap.
Overall, he liked it here very much.
At this moment, though, the wheelchair felt rather inconvenient. Xie Ning tried to negotiate. “I feel like I’m much better now. I should be able to walk normally, so the wheelchair…”
Pei Zhi said, “No.”
One broad hand came down onto Xie Ning’s shoulder and pressed him back in place. “Sit down. You still can’t walk today. We’ll see tomorrow.”
He had been counting the days. The earliest Xie Ning could be allowed back on his feet would be tomorrow.
Xie Ning looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said, “Alright.”
[If I tell you to do something, you really do it?]
[So good. So obedient.]
[Is the wheelchair too big? It makes my wife look even skinnier.]
[Wife’s so skinny, there’d probably still be room for me in the wheelchair too, right? I could sit in it too, put wife on my lap, then catch wife and %?#@……]
Xie Ning said, “Pei Zhi.”
He had thought he was already used to Pei Zhi’s inner thoughts, but the truth was, some of the things still startled him every time. But he knew it was only joking. A little helplessly, he added, “Don’t you still have training? Go early. Don’t keep your coach waiting too long.”
Maybe it was a little warm, because a faint flush rose on Xie Ning’s face, and the fine skin on it gleamed softly under the light.
Soft black hair fell across his forehead. Sitting in the wheelchair, compared with Pei Zhi’s tall frame, he looked almost like a doll that could be picked up and carried away at any time.
He looked very obedient.
Pei Zhi’s Adam’s apple rolled. For some reason, he suddenly reached out and touched the ends of Xie Ning’s hair. The smooth sensation reached his fingertips like a current.
Under Xie Ning’s slightly puzzled gaze, Pei Zhi quickly withdrew his hand, his expression cold and lazy in a way that completely mismatched the action.
“Mm.” Pei Zhi added, “It’s not that urgent anyway.”
“I’ll come pick you up tonight.”
Xie Ning did not need anyone to pick him up. He could return to the dorm on his own. But Pei Zhi’s attitude was firm.
During this whole period, Pei Zhi had been taking him to and from class. At mealtimes, Xie Ning did not need to go out to eat either, because Pei Zhi would bring food back for him. After Xie Ning finished eating, Pei Zhi would even take the trash away. Their classmates could not help asking curiously, “Are you two dating?”
They simply could not think of any other explanation for Pei Zhi being attentive to this degree.
Xie Ning and Pei Zhi were not dating, and of course they would not date. What Xie Ning was thinking was that Pei Zhi had helped him a lot lately, and he did not like owing people. Even between friends, there ought to be some give and take.
Up until now, Pei Zhi had always been the one picking him up. If he went to pick up Pei Zhi, that would count as returning the courtesy, right?
Xie Ning said, “You really don’t need to. The studio is pretty far from the dorm, so it’d take time for you to come over. I’ll probably finish around seven. You train until seven-thirty, right?”
“Then I’ll wait for you at the entrance to the gym. We can go back to the dorm together.”
Pei Zhi seemed to freeze for a moment. “You’re coming to pick me up?”
Xie Ning said, “Mm.”
Pei Zhi said, “That nice?”
Xie Ning did not understand what he meant by that. He looked back at him with faint confusion.
[Hehe, wife’s coming to pick me up!]
[Who’s so lucky that someone comes to pick them up after training? Turns out it’s me.]
[Waiting for wife to come pick me up ^v^]
Usually, Pei Zhi would see classmates showing off—showing off that their partner had come to pick them up, or that their partner had brought them water.
Even before they saw their partner, they would already look full of anticipation. Not to mention how they acted once they met up—so clingy.
In his memory, all these perfectly normal classmates would instantly turn into wagging lapdogs the moment they saw their partner.
Every last one of them was hopelessly love-brained.
Pei Zhi had never understood it. He did not see what was worth showing off about having someone come pick you up, and he understood even less why these people seemed to lose their minds after falling in love.
At any rate, he would absolutely never become that kind of person.
To him, falling in love was something boring. A waste of time and energy.
But now… it seemed he could understand it a little.
Pei Zhi pushed himself through intense training, sweat covering the young, taut body. Bent forward and panting, his black hair was damp against his forehead, exposing a pair of sharp eyes.
Exercise normally helped keep his mind clear. But now, amid that clarity, another figure had mixed itself in.
Pei Zhi kept checking the time, hoping training would end sooner.
He wanted to see Xie Ning earlier, and he was also afraid Xie Ning might end up waiting for too long.
During the break, the first thing Pei Zhi did was reach for his phone. Xie Ning was probably still busy; he had not replied to the last message yet.
[Waiting for You: I’m resting right now. Coach is letting us off at seven-thirty today. Waiting for you.]
“Holy shit! Someone is selling porn on our school forum again!” Chen Xi shouted nearby. “And this time it’s not straight stuff, it’s gay stuff. What are the admins even doing? Why aren’t they deleting it? This is hilarious, a bunch of people are bumping the thread just for fun.”
School forums were always full of ads and scam posts, and the ads were mostly porn sellers.
Grinning, Chen Xi turned his phone screen toward his friend.
One of the men in the picture was sitting on the other man’s lap, both of them naked, with the key parts mosaicked out.
Pei Zhi turned his gaze away and frowned.
How disgusting.
Having to see that right after training only made him feel nauseated. He lowered his eyes back to his phone screen. Xie Ning still had not replied. Since he was idle anyway, he tapped into Xie Ning’s Moments.
Yesterday, Xie Ning had posted a design draft on Moments. No one appeared in the picture—only a slender, pale hand was visible.
The irritable, disgusted mood from just a moment ago cleared up instantly.
Pei Zhi zoomed in on the photo and focused on the hand in the lower right corner. A thin layer of skin wrapped over delicate bones, the fingernails faintly pink and healthy-looking, as if he could fit them all into his mouth in one bite.
He saved the photo to his album. After exiting, he went back into the album and kept looking at it again and again.
“Don’t show Brother Pei stuff like that. He’s homophobic,” Gu Nian said nearby. “Let me look at something with Beauty Xie instead, to cleanse my eyes… the OP on the forum really knows how to take photos.”
Pei Zhi’s fingers paused. Without changing expression, he entered the campus forum. The porn-selling thread was still pinned on the homepage, and he saw it at a glance, the nausea from before rising again… only to die down quickly.
He tapped into another thread instead.
Title: [I refuse to believe there’s still anyone who hasn’t seen this set of photos of Beauty Xie! [hot]]
The first floor contained a set of photos. Xie Ning was sitting at his desk, long soft fingers holding a pencil, eyes lowered toward the draft paper, his brows faintly furrowed as if he were thinking about how to revise it. The sunlight outside the window cast a holy glow over him. His skin was pale and fine, flawless to the point of being untouchable.
All the photos in the thread were from various faculty events. The photographer clearly had ulterior motives; the camera practically clung to Xie Ning.
Pei Zhi saved every single one of them, but felt vaguely displeased. Why did these photos have watermarks?
When he read the replies below, his expression became even uglier.
3rd floor: Saved. OP, delete this already. Stop posting photos of my wife.
4th floor: Your wife? I looked down at the Xie Ning next to my bed and laughed. Your wife? Then who am I holding?
5th floor: Stop arguing, everyone. Beauty Xie is mine, thanks.
6th floor: …
Pei Zhi: “……”
The thread had been posted last night, and the replies were mostly from last night too.
At that time, the one holding Xie Ning while sleeping was him, okay?
What exactly were these people fantasizing about?
…
Xie Ning normally did not browse the school forum, nor did he pay attention to any of this. He rarely even used social media.
Once in a while, he would record some inspiration or materials on Weibo. Other people used Weibo to share their lives; Xie Ning used it like a memo app.
The last time Xie Ning had logged in to Weibo had been two or three years ago.
At seven o’clock, Xie Ning finished his work for the day. His alarm rang, reminding him that it was time to go “pick up” Pei Zhi.
He did not know the exact process of making friends. Thinking back to high school, lots of girls would go to the bathroom together, and boys would go play basketball or buy water together.
Maybe it was the same principle.
Xie Ning had even specifically looked up “100 little things friends must do together.”
Hold hands, hug, travel, get drunk, soak in hot springs, change profile pictures, watch horror movies, ride a Ferris wheel, sleep under the same blanket, go to an amusement park…
To be honest, Xie Ning did not really understand the point of doing those things.
But maybe that was what normal socializing was. Later, he and Pei Zhi would probably have to do the things on that list too. He had to learn to get used to them.
Even though Xie Ning found some of them rather unnecessary.
He recorded the list of 100 little things in his memo app, and put a check mark next to the ones they had already done.
The wheelchair was electric. The breeze blowing head-on lifted the ends of Xie Ning’s hair, making him suddenly think of when he was little.
Back then, he had also hurt his foot once. But there had been no wheelchair—he had simply been carried to school on someone’s back every day.
The on-campus studio was not far from the gym, and before he knew it, Xie Ning had already arrived nearby.
He stopped beneath the shade of a tree.
He checked the time. 19:28. Pei Zhi’s training was almost over.
“Ning Ning!” A delighted male voice came from the side. Xie Ning looked over and saw Shen Ye hurrying toward him, face full of joy. “Why are you in a wheelchair? What happened to your foot?”
“Are you going somewhere? I can push you.”
Xie Ning said politely, “No need. I’m waiting for someone here.”
The smile on Shen Ye’s face stiffened.
Even though Xie Ning had not said who he was waiting for, Shen Ye seemed to know. Nine times out of ten, it was Pei Zhi. Jealous fire burned hot in his chest, warping his expression slightly.
Were they together?
Probably not. Pei Zhi was straight—how could he possibly be with Xie Ning? But then again, this was Xie Ning… If it was Xie Ning, it would be perfectly normal for Pei Zhi to get bent.
Shen Ye had once thought he himself was straight too. Then he met Xie Ning, and now he was so bent he practically did not recognize himself anymore.
He looked at Xie Ning, obvious infatuation in his eyes.
Xie Ning’s faint gaze was fixed on his phone screen. The glow from the screen made his face look astonishingly beautiful, as though covered in a layer of silver frost.
Opportunities were things one had to fight for. Shen Ye was unwilling to give up. “I really don’t know who’s so ungentlemanly that they’d make you wait here all alone in weather this cold. You’ll catch a chill. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t do that… How about we go somewhere warmer first? Then I can wait with you.”
After replying to a message, Xie Ning locked his phone screen. “No need, thank you.”
Shen Ye insisted on helping push the wheelchair.
A slight crease appeared between Xie Ning’s brows. The evening breeze lifted the hem of his clothes, bringing with it a cool fragrance that drifted faintly through the air.
Shen Ye’s heart skipped a beat.
Looking at that pale neck, and the slim figure outlined beneath the simple shirt, he could see how beautiful the line of his shoulder and neck became with even the smallest turn of his head.
The hand that had been about to rest on the wheelchair suddenly shifted direction, as though it were about to land on Xie Ning’s shoulder instead.
With a sharp smack, Shen Ye’s hand was slapped away. A tall figure stepped forcefully in front of Xie Ning, shielding him completely behind himself so thoroughly that not even a strand of hair could be seen.
Damp black hair hung messily over deep eye sockets. Pei Zhi’s tone was so cold it was frightening. “Don’t touch him.”
Shen Ye instinctively took half a step back. A chill rose from his spine straight to the top of his head.
He had always known Pei Zhi had a bad temper, but this was the first time he had experienced that aggression so directly.
Pei Zhi’s expression was savage, like a guard dog protecting its owner, baring sharp, menacing fangs at an enemy.
