Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
Xie Shu returned to their classroom floor, just stepping out from the stairwell when he bumped into several male classmates from his class heading towards the classroom after leaving the restroom.
Everyone was a pro at surfing the web, and in the short break between classes, many had already seen the post about Xie Shu on the campus forum.
Then, as the news spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred, even more people became aware of it.
In just a few minutes, they had enough time to scroll through hundreds of comments on that post.
***
Seeing Xie Shu return, they immediately sidled up to him, slinging an arm over his shoulder to gossip.
"Xie Shu, did you know you were just photographed?"
Xie Shu: "What?"
"It happened just a few minutes ago, right below our teaching building. You were with a beautiful girl, sharing an umbrella, and someone posted it on the forum."
"Lots of people are discussing it, who is that girl?"
Everyone tactfully avoided mentioning whether he was pursuing that girl.
After all, they were classmates with Xie Shu and could more keenly sense his affection for Su Qianyi, his meticulous care for her often made them feel inferior.
Xie Shu paused for a few seconds, quickly guessing that it must have been students from another class who had just finished and curiously snapped a photo of him with Ruan Nianxi.
He thought it was something serious.
So, without any concealment, he told them that Ruan Nianxi was a friend he had known since childhood and that they were very close.
However, before Xie Shu had said much or walked far, he suddenly saw someone coming out of their classroom and heading straight towards them.
Su Qianyi approached with a stern face, stopping in front of Xie Shu and staring at him with cold eyes.
Xie Shu initially didn't want to deal with Su Qianyi, but the male classmates clearly felt awkward.
"Cough! Xie Shu, we'll head back to the classroom first, you two talk."
They quickly left and entered the classroom.
The corridor was unusually quiet with other classes gone, students who still had classes hadn't come out, and even the teachers were in their offices.
Su Qianyi's pretty face was stern, her red lips tightly pursed as she tried to suppress her anger, her eyes filled with coldness.
This was the first time Xie Shu had seen Su Qianyi look at him with such eyes.
If it had been before, even if he didn't know why she was angry with him, he would have apologized immediately.
But now, what did this have to do with him?
After a few seconds of eye contact, Xie Shu calmly looked away: "If there's nothing else, I'll head back to the classroom."
With that, he attempted to walk past Su Qianyi.
"Xie Shu."
Su Qianyi couldn't hold back and spoke first.
Just calling his name seemed to take all her strength.
Before, it was always Xie Shu who took the initiative, no matter where she went or what she did, he was always the one calling her name.
But just now…
She had looked at him for so long, yet he didn't call her gently as he used to.
It felt like she had lost something important again.
But Su Qianyi didn't have time to think too much, she just urgently wanted to make Xie Shu stop.
And as she expected, Xie Shu did stop, turning to her: "What is it, say it."
His voice was steady and gentle, but there was a subtle distance in his tone.
"Were you just with Ruan Nianxi?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"You know I don't like Ruan Nianxi!"
Su Qianyi's voice rose slightly.
Meanwhile, down the corridor…
A pair of fair and slender legs came to a halt, standing there without leaving.
"I know there's a conflict between you two, but what does that have to do with me being with her?"
"I…"
Su Qianyi was at a loss for words.
Right, what did Xie Shu's normal social interactions have to do with her?
But… she didn't like Xie Shu being with someone she hated!
It just felt so strange.
A person she disliked, and… and someone who had been by her side for so many years, they were so close, what was she in the middle?
She paused for a second, then continued her previous statement: "I don't like you being with her!"
He should be by her side!
Xie Shu was taken aback at her words, then a skeptical look crossed his face, his brows furrowing: "Are you the Pacific Ocean police?"
（Peter Pan's tip:"Pacific Ocean police" describe someone who is nosy）
"What?"
"Being so nosy?"
"…"
"What does it matter to you whether I like it or not? Do I need your permission for everything I do? Su Qianyi, who do you think you are? What right do you have to meddle in my affairs?"
Su Qianyi was left stunned by Xie Shu's words.
This was the first time she had heard him speak to her in such a tone.
In an instant, a wave of grievances surged in her heart, and her eyes became sore, her tightly pursed lips almost giving way.
But her strong pride stopped these emotions in their tracks.
She lowered her head slightly, took a deep breath, and pushed all the strangeness back.
Looking up again, she was back to normal, her lips parting slightly to speak, but Xie Shu cut her off.
"Teacher! My drawing is printed, can you check it for me first?"
Seeing several teachers coming out of the office and talking, Xie Shu called out proactively and walked towards them as he spoke.
And so, Su Qianyi was left standing there.
The emotions she had just mustered were shattered in an instant.
She couldn't hold back anymore, and suspicious tears quickly appeared in her eyes.
At the same time, the bell for class rang, not even giving her time to feel sad.
Su Qianyi stood there for a few seconds, then held back all her grievances, returned to normal, and turned to walk towards the classroom.
The corridor quickly returned to silence.
On the other side of the corridor, Ruan Nianxi finally turned and went downstairs.
She walked out of the teaching building and stopped outside the door.
Then, she took out her phone and made a call.
"Uncle Zhang, could you help me check everything about Xie Shu from last week?"
"Please, don't let my parents know."
"I'm just curious, I know what I'm doing."
"I'll go to the hospital myself, just help me check."
After speaking with the other party, she hung up the phone and stood in silence for a long time.
There really was something going on between Xie Shu and Su Qianyi.
Before, she would control herself not to pay too much attention to Xie Shu, which led to her not being very clear about what was happening between them.
Everything about Xie Shu, she used to see in her friend circle.
If it weren't for the fact that her medication had no effect today and she couldn't control herself from following them, she might not have heard their conversation just now.
Out of curiosity, she wanted someone to check.
Right… was the medicine expired?
It didn't work at all.