Ruan Nianxi glanced at the closed storage room beside her, feeling extremely anxious. Seeing that Ruan Qin was about to speak again, she interrupted him and urged him to leave.

Ruan Qin knew that his daughter wasn’t close to him—oh no, to be precise, she wasn’t close to either of them as a couple.

It was mainly because they had spent too little time with her when she was young. There were many things she wouldn’t tell them, nor did she want to.

Even the fact that she was bullied as a child was something Xie Shu had privately informed them about. At that time, he had reminded them to spend more time with Ruan Nianxi whenever they could. Initially, they didn’t take his words seriously, thinking he was just a kid.

Later, when Ruan Nianxi started to exclude them and didn’t trust them, they realized it was too late…

Being urged to leave, Ruan Qin wisely shut his mouth. He told her to go back to her seat quickly and then walked away.

Not far ahead was a door leading into the venue. After seeing him enter, Ruan Nianxi turned to retrieve the key left on the storage room door. She had seen the key earlier, which was why she dared to lock the door. It was probably left there by someone from the student council who forgot to take it.

When the door opened, Xie Shu stood there with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ruan Nianxi felt a bit embarrassed and didn’t dare to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to just now…”

Alright, she did do it on purpose.

Seeing her speak with a guilty conscience, Xie Shu realized she knew she was lying.

“It’s just Uncle Ruan, what’s the big deal? Our relationship will be known to our parents sooner or later. Telling him in advance isn’t a problem,” Xie Shu said nonchalantly.

Ruan Nianxi lowered her head and didn’t speak.

It’s too early. She didn’t have any power now. If they didn’t agree, she couldn’t resist.

Xie Shu couldn’t see her expression and didn’t know what she was thinking, but he could feel that she wasn’t in a good mood.

He took a step forward, held her hand, and was about to say something when Ruan Qin’s familiar voice echoed down the quiet hallway, “Oh right, Little Xi, there’s one more thing…”

Bang—!

The deeply affectionate Xie Shu was once again locked in the storage room by Ruan Nianxi.

Xie Shu: “…”

He wasn’t stupid. Of course, he knew Ruan Nianxi didn’t want him to meet Uncle Ruan.

Locked in for the second time, Xie Shu leaned against the door with a sullen face, quietly waiting for their conversation to end.

The storage room door and the door to the venue were on the same side, and since Xie Shu hadn’t walked out earlier but stood by the door frame, Ruan Qin didn’t see him. He only saw Ruan Nianxi standing in front of the storage room door.

“Were you just…?”

Ruan Qin walked quickly and soon reached Ruan Nianxi. His gaze fell on the door beside her, where a bunch of keys was still swaying.

When he came out earlier, it seemed she was standing at the door. What was she doing?

“What is it?” Ruan Nianxi avoided answering and directly asked him what he wanted.

“Uh, I… Oh right, I wanted to ask you…” Ruan Qin paused, then asked cautiously, “How have you been feeling lately? Are you still taking your medication?”

Ruan Qin had received news from his wife, Jian Qing, a few days ago that Ruan Nianxi had thrown away all her medication.

That night, they speculated for a long time about what was going on and were worried something might be wrong. His wife even went to see Xie Shu personally, but Xie Shu had assured her that everything was fine.

They were still worried and had someone observe her at school for two days. They found that she was behaving normally, and Xie Shu occasionally took her to class. That was all…

Although Xie Shu didn’t spend much time with her, they were still very concerned.

The issue of medication was something they occasionally asked Ruan Nianxi about before, and she always answered truthfully. But this time, Ruan Qin had hit a nerve.

Ruan Nianxi’s face darkened immediately. “I’m perfectly fine!”

Seeing her expression change, Ruan Qin knew he had said something wrong and quickly changed the subject. “Uh, the lecture is about to start. Let’s go in.”

“You go ahead! Don’t worry about me!”

Ruan Nianxi impatiently pushed Ruan Qin away, and he had no choice but to turn and leave again.

After he entered the door, Ruan Nianxi quickly opened the storage room and pulled Xie Shu out, then turned and walked in the opposite direction. She was afraid her dad might remember something and come back, and she’d have to lock Xie Shu in again.

As Ruan Nianxi had feared, after entering, Ruan Qin suddenly remembered something and turned back out the door.

The hallway was empty. He thought he could just stand at the door and speak; she could hear him, and he wouldn’t have to go over and upset her.

“Little Xi, this weekend you…”

But before he could finish, he saw Ruan Nianxi pulling a boy away at the end of the hallway, disappearing around the corner in the next second.

Ruan Qin watched this scene in silence.

Ruan Nianxi kept pulling Xie Shu around the gymnasium until they had walked almost halfway around.

Xie Shu followed her the whole time without stopping her.

After they stopped, he waited for Ruan Nianxi to catch her breath before asking in a muffled voice, “Why don’t you want me to meet Uncle Ruan?”

Ruan Nianxi stiffened, her lips moving but unable to give a good explanation.

“Is it because you’re worried about our family backgrounds and that they won’t agree?” Xie Shu asked again.

He had thought about this before. He felt it was normal for them to have such concerns, given that Ruan Nianxi’s family… really was wealthy.

Ruan Nianxi hung her head, looking even more dejected.

Seeing this, Xie Shu took her hand, kissed it gently, and said in a calm voice, “Nianxi, this is not something you should be worrying about. If anyone should worry, it should be me. Have a little more confidence in me. I will work hard to gain your parents’ acceptance and make sure we can be together.”

Ruan Nianxi’s mind buzzed. She looked up at Xie Shu, feeling the warmth of his lips still lingering on her fingers, and a blush slowly crept up her cheeks.

Seeing her adorable, dazed expression, Xie Shu took her hand and rubbed it against his cheek, leaning closer to her.

“Be good. Don’t think about these things anymore. Leave them to me, okay?”

——

I’m back, no more breaks!