Chapter 39
But once he calmed down, he had no choice but to face the practical problem.
Lin Huaixi was still underage, and he was also in the crucial sprint phase of high school. His main task was studying, and when it came to money, he was stretched thin and struggling at every step.
“Then what are we supposed to do afterward? Commute?” Lin Huaixi asked miserably as he jumped down from Qi Wang.
That provincial key high school had a long history, over a hundred years old. Its original location had once been rather remote, but as the city expanded, it ended up surrounded in the middle of everything. The land where it stood had become worth a fortune, which meant the school had no way to keep expanding the campus, and even less chance to build new dormitory buildings.
Most of the students commuted. Only a very small number could board on campus, and those spots were incredibly limited. You had to get in line and reserve a place. Since they had just transferred in, there was no way it would be their turn.
But if they commuted, the provincial capital was too far from home. They would lose six or seven hours on the road, making a daily round trip impossible. That meant they would have to rent a place there.
The problem was—where would the money come from? He had no money at all!
Qi Wang guessed what he was thinking. “It’s fine. Auntie can help you solve that. Her work focus is going to shift there anyway, and she’ll need a place to stay. You two can live together.”
Lin Huaixi was stunned. “Really?”
Qi Wang smiled and nodded.
Lin Huaixi suddenly felt like a very unqualified son. He never paid attention to his mother’s work and had no idea where her career would be developing next. “Okay. I’ll go home today and talk to Mom about it.”
Even though he had not gotten an official reply yet, Lin Huaixi’s heart had already settled back into place.
Ever since he was little, any request he made, his mother fulfilled. Growing up in that kind of environment had made Lin Huaixi instinctively feel that there was nothing his mother couldn’t do.
“And what about the transfer?” Lin Huaixi asked next.
Qi Wang thought about it. “I was already going through the transfer process myself, so I’m familiar with all the basic steps now. If you give me a few documents, I can handle it for you.”
Lin Huaixi blinked. “What do I need to do?”
“You…” Qi Wang deliberately kept him in suspense before saying, “You just need to wait patiently for a few days, pack your luggage, and once the paperwork is done, we’ll go to the new school.”
Looking at Qi Wang standing in front of him, Lin Huaixi suddenly realized he had been stuck in the wrong mindset.
He had read the original book and knew that Zong Nanze and Qi Wang would start developing their plotline in high school, so he had thought up all kinds of methods, even becoming a disciplinary monitor, desperately trying to change Qi Wang’s fate. But the best solution had actually been to never let the two of them meet in the first place!
Lin Huaixi opened his mouth slightly and suddenly let out an ah, regretting it so much his vision almost went black. He just wanted to slam his head into a tree, but there was no tree nearby, so all he could do was crash into Qi Wang like a little calf.
He crashed into Qi Wang with quite a bit of force. Qi Wang’s shoulder swayed slightly, and he looked at the highly emotional Lin Huaixi in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“What am I supposed to do? I made a huge mistake!”
The more seriously Lin Huaixi had taken this and the more preparations he had made, the more he regretted it now. He was practically stupid enough to cry.
“What was I even thinking back then? Why did I bring you to meet Zong Nanze? Everything was perfectly fine before, and now it’s all over!”
Qi Wang had originally still been smiling, but the moment he heard Zong Nanze’s name, his expression changed. The smile slowly disappeared from both his lips and his eyes, and his gaze deepened like the night sky.
“Why weren’t you willing to let me meet Zong Nanze? Did something happen between you and him?” Qi Wang lost all his earlier warmth and gentleness and suddenly pressed step by step. “Xixi, I know your personality very well. In junior high, you didn’t even want to be a class representative, so why did you suddenly become a disciplinary monitor after entering high school? And not just any disciplinary monitor—the only first-year one. What was it for? Was it because of Zong Nanze?!”
Lin Huaixi was questioned into speechlessness and could only look at Qi Wang with a blank, helpless expression.
He had never expected Qi Wang to be this sharp, to have noticed all this the moment they met again. And all the things he had bragged about earlier had now become self-made traps, turning into evidence for Qi Wang’s suspicions.
Lin Huaixi opened his mouth and closed it again. After going back and forth a few times, he finally came up with an excuse. “How could I possibly have become a disciplinary monitor because of Zong Nanze? I didn’t even know him before… You and Baiyi were both gone, and I could barely find any old classmates either. Disciplinary monitors look cooler and are more popular, and I thought I could make a lot of new friends, so I…”
Lin Huaixi was bad at lying, and his guilty gaze darted around. He knew that flaw in himself very well, so he kept his head lowered tightly to control his reactions. But from Qi Wang’s angle, it only looked as though his voice was growing softer and softer, his head lowered, unable to hide his sadness.
Concern clouded judgment. Combined with the darkness hiding Lin Huaixi’s little movements, Qi Wang instantly believed him. His heart tightened and a dull ache spread through it. “Xixi, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been gone for one hundred and three days. Most of the time it was you contacting me, and I only took the initiative to contact you five times.”
This time it was Lin Huaixi who froze.
He had only wanted to brush the matter aside, but the effect had been way too good. Qi Wang had actually started reflecting on himself voluntarily.
Lin Huaixi could not remember any of the specific details Qi Wang mentioned. After pausing, he patted Qi Wang on the shoulder in a buddy-like way. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t want to leave either. Every time we talked on the phone, you always sounded really tired. Have you been resting properly lately?”
Lin Huaixi was still very much like when he was little—his thoughts came in fragments. Before this matter had even been fully discussed, he suddenly shoved his face right up in front of Qi Wang’s, and only then, in the dim night, noticed that Qi Wang had no dark circles under his eyes.
“Looks like you really did rest well during this time. Since you kept your promise, I’ll let you off the hook.”
Lin Huaixi started grinning foolishly on his own, but Qi Wang was still frozen in the exact posture from before. He had even forgotten to blink. For those few seconds, it was as though he had vanished from his own world entirely.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lin Huaixi instinctively leaned closer, but Qi Wang moved first and stepped backward.
The distance between them widened. The cool night wind drifted in from the horizon, carrying away the nonexistent closeness and sticky heat between them, but there was sweat on both Qi Wang’s nose and forehead.
Since Lin Huaixi was farther away now, he did not notice any of that. He only felt that Qi Wang’s gaze was very strange. To someone as completely unawakened as him, it was more difficult to decipher than the final huge question on a math exam. He could not even understand what the question was asking.
Lin Huaixi tilted his head in confusion and had just opened his mouth when Qi Wang interrupted him. “Shouldn’t you be going to evening self-study?”
!!!
Lin Huaixi finally remembered the serious business he had forgotten for a long time and abruptly turned to look toward the teaching building.
Being a disciplinary monitor was more a responsibility than a privilege, and he had no intention of using it as an excuse to skip evening study.
“Then let’s hurry back.” Lin Huaixi looked at Qi Wang with a smile. “There’s still an empty seat in the classroom, so you can sit there. Afterward I’ll introduce you to the other classmates. Tonight it should be our homeroom teacher on duty. After class, I’ll take you to see him.”
But Qi Wang shook his head. “I came today to handle transfer paperwork. Strictly speaking, I’m not really a student at this school anymore. And besides…”
Lin Huaixi understood the unspoken meaning. “Are you leaving now?”
Qi Wang did not know how to answer, so he only nodded silently.
Lin Huaixi was not as sad as one might have expected.
Since they had already decided they would be classmates at the new school, this was only a brief separation for now.
“All right then. I’ll call Mom tonight. And if there’s any new progress on your side, you have to tell me immediately!”
As Lin Huaixi spoke, he waved at Qi Wang and ran toward the teaching building. Qi Wang kept looking at his retreating figure with a smile, but he did not leave right away as he had said he would. Instead, he stood there for a while and then, without warning, turned his head. His gaze became sharp as a blade, cold light flashing from it in the dark night as it stabbed accurately into Zong Nanze’s chest.
Zong Nanze raised one brow carelessly, though he was not actually as relaxed as he appeared.
If looks could kill, he estimated he would already have died several times over.
“Don’t be nervous.” Zong Nanze raised both hands to show he posed no threat, then said teasingly, “You two really are good friends. The first time each of you saw me, it was like you had a grudge against me.”
Qi Wang did not reply.
Zong Nanze continued as though speaking to himself. “I only happened to pass by just now. I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping, and honestly I didn’t hear much either. I’ve never seen Lin Huaixi act this close with anyone. Are you two junior-high classmates? Elementary-school classmates? Don’t tell me you’re childhood sweethearts who grew up together?”
Those last few words seemed to strike some sore point in Qi Wang. He frowned and stingily spat out only a few words. “What’s it to you?”
“I was just asking out of curiosity. By the way, are you called Qi Wang? Lin Huaixi has mentioned you before.”
Qi Wang had almost turned to leave, but the moment he heard Lin Huaixi’s name, his reaction was obvious. His body unconsciously leaned forward. “What did he say?”
“Let me think…” Zong Nanze pretended to ponder, tilting his head to look up at the stars and keeping Qi Wang in suspense for as long as possible. Only then did he grin lazily and say, “I’m kidding. He never mentioned you at all.”
He was always smiling, but never made any effort to hide the malice in him. He was provoking Qi Wang in the most open and blatant way possible.
One of them was cold and reserved, the other loose and carefree. On the surface, neither looked openly aggressive, but the air between them was thick with gunpowder, ready to ignite at any moment.
Qi Wang had never wasted time on people he did not care about. But Zong Nanze had become special because of Lin Huaixi, and precisely because of Lin Huaixi, Qi Wang did not want too much entanglement with him. He did not want Lin Huaixi to worry.
For the time being, Qi Wang spared him. After shooting him one warning look, he turned to leave. But Zong Nanze seemed to have no survival instinct at all. Narrowing his eyes as he watched Qi Wang’s back, he suddenly said, without any warning, “Xixi is really cute. I like that type a lot.”
Qi Wang stopped dead in his tracks. His whole body became like a bow drawn to its fullest, and even the loose fabric of his clothes could not hide the tense lines of muscle beneath.
Zong Nanze had only been testing him, but after saying just a few words, Qi Wang had already given him his answer. Silently mouthing a little wow, he found the two of them even more interesting than before.
“Don’t be angry. It’s only admiration and appreciation. He’s nothing special to me. I’m not trying to steal him from you.”
Zong Nanze had not intended to make the atmosphere this tense, but his words only poured oil on the fire. Qi Wang turned around suddenly and strode over with an aggressive force. His lips were pressed into a straight line, and his eyes were lowered darkly.
He reached out a hand toward Zong Nanze. The joints of his fingers stood out sharply, veins bulging on the back of his hand, full of raw strength. If a fist like that landed, Zong Nanze’s deceptively charming face would probably be disfigured for a month. Yet Zong Nanze did not even blink. The fist brushed past the tip of his nose, leaving it burning hot, and the force of it even swept his hair backward, but nothing else happened. Instead, Qi Wang only grabbed his collar tightly.
A person with a weak spot was always at a disadvantage. The collar dragged so hard that Zong Nanze could barely breathe, his body tilting slightly forward, and yet he still smiled, even speaking with shameless confidence. “I’d advise you not to hit me. Otherwise I’ll tell your secret…”
“You, Qi Wang.”
“Like.”
“Lin Huaixi.”
