Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Stir-Frying Him, Thinking We're a Couple That word made it sound as if they were the prince and princess of a fairy tale, overcoming countless obstacles to finally end up together. It was what everyone expected and had long hoped for. Was that right? But there was no time to ponder the meaning of that word. The more pressing issue at hand was that this classmate had clearly mistaken the two of them for a couple. Was she supposed to say that the two of them weren't together and had just happened to run into each other while shopping at the supermarket? Laughable. Even Nan Shu herself thought it sounded absurd. Though that was exactly the truth. At a loss, Nan Shu secretly glanced at Xie Zeyan. He was far more composed than she was—he was even leisurely picking out slippers, as if he hadn't heard that comment at all. Nan Shu had no choice but to break the awkward silence herself. "No, no! We're not together!" Her hand was practically a blur as she waved it. "We just happened to run into each other here and chatted for a bit. I'm already done picking mine out, so I'll go look somewhere else. You two catch up—I'm off!" With that, Nan Shu grabbed a pair of cotton slippers and bolted. "Hey, Nan Shu!" Guo Jun grabbed a matching pair of pink slippers from the shelf and chased after her a few steps. "You grabbed the men's ones!" But Nan Shu turned a corner and vanished from his sight entirely. "Ha, she's quick." Guo Jun didn't manage to catch up to her. Holding the pink slippers, he turned back to put them on the shelf when a slender hand appeared in his field of vision, taking the slippers from him. Guo Jun looked up at Xie Zeyan's roguish, indifferent face and kindly reminded him, "God Xie, these are women's slippers." Xie Zeyan calmly looked at the slippers printed with Hello Kitty. "Is that so?" "Yeah." Wasn't it obvious? "I want this pair." "..." Guo Jun was even more confused. He scratched his head in bewilderment and looked at the label on the shelf. He hadn't misread it—there was no way he couldn't tell men's from women's styles. Could this be some new trend? Were people now wearing slippers unisex? • Nan Shu hid behind the potato chip aisle. When she saw Guo Jun head back, her pounding heart finally settled a little. If she hadn't clarified things in time and the rumor spread that she and Xie Zeyan were together, the two of them would never be able to clear their names no matter what. This place wasn't safe to linger. Xie Zeyan had just about finished his shopping anyway, so she planned to send him a message to meet up in the underground parking garage. But before she could, a message from Xie Zeyan popped up first. Xie Zeyan: [Why are you running?] Why was she running? Wasn't this the kind of situation where you run? Nan Shu: [He mistook us for a couple /stone-faced.jpg] Xie Zeyan: [Mm] His calmness was beyond her expectations. Nan Shu suddenly remembered something. Back in high school, there was a period when people often saw the school beauty and Xie Zeyan wearing matching shoes and matching watches. Rumors spread quickly—many said the two had been secretly involved for a while, and that their families, due to business dealings, had even arranged a childhood betrothal between them. That day happened to be the end of monthly exams. Nan Shu was already feeling down because of the tests, and hearing this rumor only made things worse. She lost her appetite for dinner and sat alone in the classroom, trying to process it. She comforted herself by thinking that Xie Zeyan and the school beauty were well-matched in both looks and family background, and that it would be nice if they were together. But she couldn't help feeling sad inside. Yet before she could be sad for long, before evening self-study, someone ran into the classroom to spread the news. "It's fake! It's fake! Xie Zeyan said he doesn't even know the school beauty, and the childhood betrothal is complete nonsense!" The rumor was debunked even faster than it had spread. In her memory, Xie Zeyan, when faced with such baseless rumors, would have nipped them in the bud immediately. Why was he so calm now? But then she thought again—this wasn't high school anymore. Maybe Xie Zeyan had long since outgrown caring about such things. A tingling vibration in her hand snapped Nan Shu back to reality. She looked down and saw another message on her lock screen. Xie Zeyan: [Waiting for you in the parking lot] After paying at the register, Nan Shu headed to the parking lot first. Level B2 was damp and cold. She stood there holding the men's slippers, and in less than two minutes, a black sedan with low beams pulled up. Nan Shu got into the passenger seat. The car drove out of the supermarket's underground garage. Outside, the moonlight was like silk. Only then did Nan Shu notice the box of cookies in front of her. Xie Zeyan must have snuck back to grab it at some point. Knowing it was bought for her, Nan Shu quietly said "thank you" to him. She placed the slippers in her hand onto the back seat. The pink slippers sitting on top of the shopping bag were especially eye-catching, with the Hello Kitty on them grinning triumphantly. "Why did you buy a pair of women's slippers too?" "That guy just now shoved them on me." Xie Zeyan kept his eyes straight ahead, his tone matter-of-fact. "I see." Nan Shu nodded thoughtfully. That male classmate was pretty kind after all. "By the way, I saw the two of you chatting by the slipper section for a while. What did he say? He didn't notice anything, did he?" Xie Zeyan tugged at the corner of his lips, a hint of teasing in his tone. "I asked him why he said 'finally.'" This was also the question Nan Shu cared about. She instinctively leaned toward Xie Zeyan, but the seatbelt held her back. "What did he say? What did he say?" "He said—" The yellow light ahead just turned red. Xie Zeyan lightly pressed the brake, and the car came to a smooth stop. He turned his head, his dark eyes fixed on the girl, a faint, elusive smile lingering in them as he drew out his words. "Because he's always thought the two of us were a perfect match." Wow. Nan Shu's face flushed bright red in an instant. She was grateful it was nighttime—though the streetlights cast a glow through the car window, the dim lighting meant Xie Zeyan couldn't notice her cheeks practically burning up. So that classmate had been a shipper of her and Xie Zeyan all along? Nan Shu looked out the window. The city lights were just beginning to glitter, traffic flowing like a woven thread, and she couldn't help but let a smile sneak onto her lips. She and Xie Zeyan actually had shippers? During her school days, just having her name appear alongside her crush's was already something to be happy about—let alone having someone think she and Xie Zeyan were "a perfect match." Despite the excitement inside, Nan Shu had to maintain a facade of composure on the surface, not letting any cracks show in front of Xie Zeyan. She pressed her lips down hard. "Don't mind what he said. He must have been joking." Xie Zeyan's eyes dimmed slightly, and he said nothing more. The rest of the drive was silent, with only an English song looping on the car's audio system. Nan Shu was lost in the warmth of Guo Jun's words, in a good mood, humming along softly. It wasn't until the music stopped that she realized they were already home. Nan Shu got out of the car and instinctively looked up, only to find the lights on the eleventh floor blazing brightly. "What's wrong?" Xie Zeyan locked the car and walked over, noticing Nan Shu standing still in place. "I remember turning off the lights when we left earlier. Why are the lights on at home now?" Xie Zeyan looked toward their apartment. The living room light was indeed on. This was a civilized society, and Jingyuan Huating's security measures were top-notch—a burglar breaking in was highly unlikely. "Maybe Huituichang jumped up and accidentally hit the switch?" Nan Shu guessed. The two stepped out of the elevator. Xie Zeyan carried the shopping bags in both hands, so Nan Shu went ahead to enter the passcode. "Beep, beep, beep..." Nan Shu's hand touched the lock, and she heard footsteps approaching from inside the house—clearly not Huituichang's. "It sounds like someone's inside." Nan Shu didn't dare continue entering the code. Xie Zeyan beside her had also noticed, his expression shifting as he stepped forward to shield Nan Shu behind him. "Let me handle it." Nan Shu's palms were sweating. She nervously tugged at Xie Zeyan's shirt. "Maybe I should message the security guard in the group chat?" She'd heard the security guard had a black belt in taekwondo—he could probably handle a thief with ease. But just as her words faded, she heard a "click" as the door suddenly opened from the inside. A familiar face appeared before her, fresh and bright. Liang Jiayi's eyes widened in shock. She looked at Xie Zeyan, then at Nan Shu, and finally her gaze landed on the shopping bags in their hands, disbelief written all over her face. "Wait—Nannan? Xie, the school heartthrob? You two—" • "Spill it. What's going on? How are you two living together?" In Nan Shu's room. Liang Jiayi sat on the small sofa, her expression stern as she interrogated Nan Shu. Nan Shu sat cross-legged on the floor like a kid caught dating behind their parents' backs, guiltily hugging Liang Jiayi's calf. "Don't be mad, okay? I was planning to tell you as soon as you got back." "Really?" Liang Jiayi crossed her arms, squinting with suspicion. She was originally supposed to come back the day after tomorrow, but she'd finished her work early and wanted to surprise Nan Shu—only to end up giving herself a shock instead. "How could I lie to you? Hear me out." Nan Shu shook Liang Jiayi's leg and told her everything that had happened over the past few days. "So that's how it is." But Liang Jiayi shook her head again. "Still, something's off." "What's off?" "I can believe Xie Zeyan had nowhere to go," Liang Jiayi said with a knowing look. "But what about you? You actually brought a man home to share a place?" Seeing that she couldn't hide it anymore, Nan Shu sat on the sofa, wrapped her arms around Liang Jiayi's neck, and whispered close to her ear, "Let me tell you a secret." After hearing it, Liang Jiayi's breath caught. "You—you like Xie Zeyan? I actually thought you liked Yu Yitian at first, but then I realized that didn't seem right either... Okay, okay, if it's not convenient to talk about, forget it." In high school, Liang Jiayi had always felt the atmosphere between Nan Shu and Yu Yitian was strange, and she'd guessed Nan Shu might have some unspoken difficulty. "But are you sure Xie Zeyan is a reliable person?" Even though Liang Jiayi also had the scholar-and-school-heartthrob filter for Xie Zeyan, this cohabitation thing was about Nan Shu's safety. Nan Shu hummed in agreement and nodded. "Don't worry. After spending this time with him, I've found that Xie Zeyan really is a good person." "Let's hope you're not just blinded by his looks." Liang Jiayi took out the local specialties she had brought back from Jiangzhou from her bag and handed them to Nan Shu. "You really do big things quietly. Well then, I won't disturb you two any longer." Nan Shu walked Liang Jiayi out. Liang Jiayi glanced at Xie Zeyan's tightly shut door and gave a mischievous smile. She lowered her voice again. "Speaking of which, now that you've brought him home, what's your next move?" Nan Shu blinked rapidly and also lowered her voice. "What move?" Liang Jiayi shook her head in frustration at Nan Shu's lack of initiative, pointing at the closed door. "Of course, you go after Xie Zeyan! The fish has taken the bait, and since you brought it home, you should give it a good stir-fry—mmph mmph mmph—" Nan Shu moved quickly to cover Liang Jiayi's mouth. But she was still a step too slow. Xie Zeyan's door swung open. Liang Jiayi's words flowed into Xie Zeyan's ears as smoothly as water. Nan Shu lifted her gaze in a panic and met the man's deep, unfathomable eyes.