Xie Xishu wanted to tell Qi Wu, “Stop staring at me.”
But he didn’t dare.
Because he felt that Qi Wu seemed to have gone mad.
================
The day Xie Xishu first crossed paths with Qi Wu, the weather forecast for City A had issued a high-temperature warning. Meanwhile, in Class 1 of Senior Year 3 at Nanming Third High, the second period that afternoon was scheduled to be P.E.
If Xie Xishu had attended a normal school, one with even a slight focus on college admission rates, the P.E. class for senior students would likely have been replaced by a Chinese, math, or English class. In short, it wouldn’t have been a class taught by a P.E. teacher.
However, Xie Xishu attended Nanming Third High.
The school was widely recognized as the worst public high school in City A, notorious as a breeding ground for future unemployed people or factory workers. In fact, even the better vocational schools had far superior learning environments than Nanming Third High.
As a result, no teacher would be foolish enough to attempt using the P.E. period to teach anything—this included the P.E. teachers themselves.
This meant that for the students of Nanming Third High, P.E. was essentially a legitimate and sanctioned free time for wandering around, both on and off campus. However, the temperature was so unbearably high that most students decided to stay in the classroom, chatting, playing cards, and gaming, rather than hanging out outside.
Even though these students rarely listened to teachers when they were in class, without a teacher present, the noise level in Class A quickly rivaled that of a bustling marketplace.
Sitting in the classroom, Xie Xishu’s frown grew deeper and deeper.
It was too loud.
He pressed his lips together, trying hard to focus on the exam paper in front of him. However, just as he was about to write something, someone bumped into his desk. At the same time, the can of cola in that person’s hand spilled entirely onto Xie Xishu’s desk, soaking his exam paper and reference book in a wet, sticky brown mess.
Xie Xishu’s desk was instantly in chaos, but the culprit showed no concern. The person continued laughing and joking with their friends, then finally seemed to notice what had happened and glanced casually in Xie Xishu’s direction.
The boy at the desk was silently wiping the surface with a tissue. Even in the face of such a sudden “disaster,” his expression remained indifferent.
As the only student in the class wearing a school uniform, Xie Xishu had his collar neatly buttoned up to his sleeves. His exposed wrists were pale and slender, with calluses on his knuckles from constant writing. Even though he sat quietly, not saying a word, his desk was the only one still covered with exam papers and textbooks in the noisy classroom. His image, studying diligently amidst the chaos, stood out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else.
“Wow, am I interrupting our class ‘top student’s’ studies?”
The boy met Xie Xishu’s expressionless face, paused, then suddenly smirked and spoke carelessly.
“For all that effort in studying, why did the ‘top student’ end up at our school? Isn’t it tiring pretending to be something you’re not here?”
As soon as the boy finished speaking, Xie Xishu’s pupils contracted slightly, and the knuckles of the hand holding his pen turned white from the pressure.
“You—”
At that moment, a muttered complaint suddenly came from beside Xie Xishu.
“Chen, why are you making a fuss after knocking over someone’s desk? You woke me up, and it was hard enough to fall asleep with all this noise. Seriously, get lost!”
Xie Xishu’s deskmate, who had been sleeping on his desk, yawned and muttered half-jokingly, half-complaining at the boy.
“Tsk, Cheng An, you should go book a hotel room if you’re going to sleep all day. Every day I see you napping here…”
Xie Xishu’s deskmate was named Cheng An, and he, too, was something of an anomaly at Nanming Third High.
It was said that Cheng An came from a very wealthy and powerful family, and by all accounts, he shouldn’t have ended up at a place like Nanming Third High. Rumor had it that Cheng An had bashed someone’s head open at an international school, and since the other party’s family also had some influence, Cheng An had transferred here to lay low.
Perhaps because of his different background, Cheng An had almost no interaction with anyone at school. The thing he did most often was sleep at his desk. The teachers knew this about him, which was why they had made Cheng An Xie Xishu’s deskmate.
Although Cheng An rarely hung out with other students at Nanming, the boys in the class had heard the rumors about him and made sure to give him some respect.
The boy named Chen was no exception. He gave Xie Xishu a dark look, muttered a few words, and finally turned and left.
Xie Xishu watched him leave in silence, then turned his attention back to his desk.
A small pile of soggy tissues had formed in one corner of the desk. While the desk itself had been wiped clean, the soaked reference book and exam paper were clearly beyond saving.
Xie Xishu pursed his lips tightly, tossed the wet reference book into the drawer with a thud, and pulled out another exam paper to lay on the desk. But he didn’t start writing for a long time.
Cheng An yawned again and leaned a little closer to Xie Xishu. “Don’t pay attention to that guy. He’s just annoying with his big mouth. Just treat what he says like it’s nothing. But, he’s always sticking to Qi Wu and his crowd. If you end up on his bad side and bring Qi Wu into it, things might get out of hand… Oh, did you finish your homework? Let me copy it.”
Xie Xishu responded with an “Mm” and handed over his homework to Cheng An. Then, he packed up his things and stood up.
“Huh? Where are you going, top student?!”
Cheng An was startled by Xie Xishu’s actions and instinctively asked.
Xie Xishu turned around, looking at the one person in the class he could actually communicate with, and replied calmly, “It’s too noisy here. I’m going for a walk.”
*
Xie Xishu wasn’t just making an excuse to Cheng An.
He did indeed have a bit of a headache. Recently, a flu outbreak had spread across the entire city of A, and Xie Xishu had no doubt that he had probably caught it too. Starting two days ago, his body temperature had remained at a low-grade fever. Fortunately, over the years, Xie Xishu had already grown accustomed to the discomfort caused by fevers, so he hadn’t shown any signs of it at school. But today, those people were being excessively loud, and with the small trouble caused by Chen Bie earlier, Xie Xishu could no longer suppress the irritation in his chest. He decided to leave the classroom to get some fresh air.
As he walked past the empty desks at the back, Xie Xishu subconsciously glanced over.
The entire Class 1 had turned into a chaotic mess, with most desks and chairs pushed around haphazardly to make space for playing cards and video games. But those few empty desks were arranged unusually neatly, and even the floor was spotless, not a single sunflower seed shell in sight.
It was as if there was an invisible barrier around that area, making it seem strange and out of place.
Oh, right, that was Qi Wu’s seat — Xie Xishu realized after a brief moment of distraction.
*
Qi Wu’s seat had always been at the very back of the classroom.
On one hand, it was because the boy was indeed tall — at seventeen or eighteen years old, he was already over 1.9 meters. And he wasn’t the lanky, skinny kind of tall, but rather the kind with solid, lean muscles, making him not only tall but also sturdy. With that kind of build, he was like a wall, standing out no matter where he sat.
On the other hand, Qi Wu himself was known throughout the school — or rather, throughout the entire city of A — as a notorious troublemaker. By seating him at the back, teachers wouldn’t have to worry too much about whatever he might be up to.
Someone had once vaguely mentioned that Qi Wu’s family had been crooked for several generations. The men in his family, going back three generations, rarely walked the straight and narrow. Through ruthlessness and cunning, they’d managed to amass a considerable fortune, becoming one of the influential families in the city.
“That guy looks like someone who’s bound to end up in jail one day. You, as a good student, should definitely avoid getting involved with people like him…”
Seeing that Xie Xishu and Qi Wu were in the same class, someone had cautiously offered this piece of advice.
At the time, Xie Xishu had agreed but hadn’t taken it too seriously.
After all, Qi Wu spent far more time hanging out as a delinquent than attending school. Even when he did come to school, he was always surrounded by a group of followers, constantly busy with fights and other trouble.
As for Xie Xishu, the reason he had ended up in a place like Nanming Third High was purely due to his unfortunate constitution.
He got nervous easily.
Of course, a more polite way of putting it was that he couldn’t handle stress well. Whenever something slightly important happened — like the high school entrance exam — Xie Xishu would get a fever.
As a result, he had repeated a year twice, and the outcome of his exams was still disastrous.
Unfortunately, Xie Xishu’s parents were both highly educated intellectuals, working at prestigious research institutions. Being two of the proudest people around, they were utterly humiliated by Xie Xishu’s poor exam results and had never been able to hold their heads high among relatives and friends since.
And as the biggest disappointment in his parents’ lives, the consequence was that, due to a small error in paperwork, Xie Xishu ended up at Nanming Third High, and his parents had made no effort to get him out of that terrible school. Essentially, they had abandoned him, choosing to let him fend for himself, out of sight and out of mind.
But Xie Xishu’s grades were actually quite good, as long as he wasn’t taking a major exam. In fact, they were so good that even at a place like Nanming Third High, Xie Xishu still received a certain level of invisible but noticeable privilege.
Moreover, Xie Xishu wasn’t the type to seek attention. Though his diligent study habits made him stick out like a sore thumb in the chaotic classroom, like a drop of oil in water, since his transfer, he hadn’t encountered any serious trouble.
At most, it was just minor taunts from small-time bullies like Chen Bie.
That was all.
In fact, Cheng An’s earlier reminder was somewhat redundant for Xie Xishu. From beginning to end, Xie Xishu had never intended to involve himself with those who drifted along with the crowd — after all, Xie Xishu and those people were simply not from the same world.
Since they weren’t from the same world, there was no point in wasting any energy or effort on them.
*
After leaving the classroom, Xie Xishu walked several laps around the school, not used to the scorching white heat of the sun.
He realized, somewhat helplessly, that while the campus was unusually quiet under the blazing sun, almost all the shaded areas were already occupied.
But at that moment, Xie Xishu had no desire to return to the noisy classroom, so he continued to search. Fortunately, his luck wasn’t too bad that day. Near the school’s library, in a small garden, Xie Xishu found a rare quiet spot.
The garden was backed by the library building, with century-old trees transplanted by the school flanking both sides. Above was a thick canopy of vines, and in front lay a lush bed of roses.
In the shade of the plants, the stone benches in the garden were pleasantly cool. Without hesitation, Xie Xishu sat down.
Originally, he had planned to take advantage of the peace and quiet to read for a while. However, perhaps due to his low-grade fever, combined with the exertion of walking back and forth in the summer heat, Xie Xishu soon felt his head growing heavier and his thoughts more muddled.
Drowsily, Xie Xishu took off his school jacket and laid it down on the cool stone bench. He used it as a cushion, curled up on the bench, and fell asleep.
*
Xie Xishu had a dream.
It was hard to say whether it was a nightmare, as there were no traditional monsters or demons in the dream.
He simply dreamt of a door.
It was the door at the end of the hallway in his house, the one to his parents’ bedroom.
Because of their work, his parents had been living abroad for a long time, so Xie Xishu hadn’t opened that door in a very long time. In the dream, the door remained tightly shut, and the room beyond was dimly lit, as though it were dusk. Xie Xishu stood at the doorway with a stiff back, his hand slowly reaching for the doorknob.
…
It felt like stepping into thin air. In the next second, Xie Xishu suddenly gasped, jerking awake with a violent heartbeat. The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with a somewhat familiar face.
“Shit—”
While Xie Xishu was nearly scared into a heart attack, the other person was clearly equally frightened by Xie Xishu’s sudden awakening. He screamed, stumbling backward, nearly falling to the ground.
“Hahaha…”
The guy’s clumsy reaction immediately triggered a chorus of mocking laughter from the group behind him.
“Xiao Wu, are you serious?”
“Scared like that by Xie Xishu? If word gets out, people will die laughing!”
“For the sake of your reputation, you owe us at least a barbecue, right?”
…
As the boys teased and jeered with a slight mischievousness, Xie Xishu slowly came to his senses. Only then did he realize that, at some point, a group of people had gathered around him. Coincidentally, they were also his classmates—although not ones he was familiar with.
These were the usual hangers-on of Qi Wu.
A gaze as tangible as it was oppressive landed on Xie Xishu, making him shiver involuntarily. He lifted his head, his eyes drifting past the grinning boys, and found himself locking eyes with Qi Wu.
Qi Wu stood there, arms crossed, expressionless, at the back of the group. But it was undeniable that no matter how many people stood in front of him, no one could ignore his presence.
In terms of facial features, Qi Wu could indeed be called handsome. However, his overly sharp facial lines transferred any sense of attractiveness to a kind of neurotic viciousness. Anyone with a functioning brain would sense the ferociousness and volatility in this tall guy with just one look.
Xie Xishu’s brain wasn’t just functioning; it worked very well.
The moment he sensed Qi Wu’s unreadable gaze locked onto him, his throat tightened involuntarily.
At that moment, Qi Wu’s cronies shifted their attention back to Xie Xishu.
“Well, well, isn’t this our school’s ‘top scholar’? What, even top students have some guts?”
“Do you even know whose turf this is? And you dare sleep here?”
“Top scholar, are you trying to experience the full package of life at Nanming?”
Xie Xishu inwardly groaned.
At this point, he finally realized what was happening: every nook and cranny in the school was already occupied by people, but this spot, with its flowers and trees, so comfortable and quiet, remained vacant.
It wasn’t that he was lucky to find this spot—this garden bench was reserved, unofficially, for someone.
Probably everyone in the school knew that, except for Xie Xishu.
“Sorry, I didn’t know someone had claimed this spot. I just wasn’t feeling well…”
Xie Xishu, looking a bit pale, didn’t hesitate and quickly apologized in a low voice.
Luckily, Xie Xishu usually kept quiet and unobtrusive like a quail. Qi Wu, clearly beyond the school’s usual petty conflicts, along with his cronies, carried an air of superiority. Xie Xishu could tell that, to them, he was nothing more than some insignificant school kid. As long as he behaved well, there was no reason to take issue with him.
Things proceeded exactly as Xie Xishu expected. After tossing a few harmless words his way, one of the boys, Xiao Wu, gave Xie Xishu a forceful shove and sneered, “Get lost, ‘top scholar.’ Don’t let your nerdy air rub off on us.”
Xie Xishu lowered his eyes and quickly made his way out of the garden.
However, just as he was about to pass by the silent Qi Wu, standing on the outermost edge of the group, and leave, a force suddenly tugged at the back of his collar.
Cough, cough!
Xie Xishu was caught off guard, choked, and coughed violently.
After finally regaining his breath, he turned his head, only to find himself face-to-face with Qi Wu.
“You…”
Maybe it was because he was too nervous, but for a moment, Xie Xishu felt that Qi Wu’s expression as he looked at him was particularly strange.
“I—I really didn’t know this spot was yours.”
With alarm bells ringing in his head, Xie Xishu had no idea what had triggered this “god of destruction” in front of him. He could only repeat his earlier apology, trying to sound as sincere as possible. But he soon realized that Qi Wu…
Qi Wu didn’t seem to be listening to him at all.
The boy was staring at him with an unusually intense, almost reptilian gaze, and after a moment, Qi Wu’s hoarse, low voice broke the silence.
“What kind of perfume are you wearing?”
Nobody could have predicted that this would be the question Qi Wu would ask.
It was a question so utterly bizarre it left everyone dumbfounded.
“Huh?”
Even Xie Xishu had to admit he was completely flabbergasted. He stared blankly for a few seconds, unable to process what he had just heard.
“Per-perfume? What perfume?”
Qi Wu’s hand was still tightly gripping his collar.
Because of that, the distance between them was close.
So close that Xie Xishu could even see that Qi Wu was deliberately controlling his breathing. The boy’s nostrils flared slightly, almost like some kind of wild animal, giving his expression an oddly feral, menacing look.
Hesitating for a moment, Xie Xishu tried to explain as calmly as possible, “I don’t wear perfume, and besides, it’s against school rules… but maybe it’s my body wash…”
After stammering through his explanation, Qi Wu still didn’t respond as expected.
In a daze, Xie Xishu felt Qi Wu’s rough knuckles, still gripping his neck, slowly brush against his skin.
Cold sweat broke out all over Xie Xishu’s back.
A breeze blew past. Despite the scorching summer heat, Xie Xishu felt a chilling coolness creep over his entire body.
At that moment, he saw Qi Wu’s pupils suddenly contract.
“Alright, get lost.”
Qi Wu abruptly let go and forcefully shoved Xie Xishu.
The boy’s voice was cold, his tone unnaturally tight.
Qi Wu’s irritation came so inexplicably that Xie Xishu couldn’t afford to think about it. He didn’t even glance back at Qi Wu and seized the precious opportunity to flee.
Only after running quite a distance, panting heavily, did Xie Xishu remember that his school uniform jacket was still left on the corner steps, completely forgotten.
But Qi Wu and his group were probably still there, and Xie Xishu had no intention of going back for it right now. However, when he returned to the little garden after school, the bench was indeed empty, cleaned up entirely.
