When Ping Jiapeng saw Xia Xia in Xie Huai’s arms, his face darkened considerably.

He stepped forward and grabbed Xia Xia’s delicate wrist, trying to pull her away.

Xie Huai’s gaze turned cold as he positioned Xia Xia behind him.

He gripped Ping Jiapeng’s forearm – though silent, his eyes held a dangerous glint.

Li Jiamin grabbed Ping Jiapeng’s collar and pulled him back, delivering a swift smack to the back of his head.

Looking at the two soaked figures before him, he could easily guess what had happened.

Not only was his junior lacking in character, but he was also making a public spectacle, causing embarrassment.

“Apologize to the teacher,” he said sternly.

Ping Jiapeng held his head, lifting his lip defiantly as he pointed at Xia Xia. “Teacher? Her?”

His pointing finger was quickly knocked away by Xie Huai.

Seeing Xia Xia in such a state had already depleted half of Xie Huai’s rationality; only Xia Xia’s restraining hold kept him from immediately starting a fight.

When Ping Jiapeng pointed at Xia Xia again, what little composure remained vanished entirely.

“Point at her one more time,” Xie Huai said darkly.

Ping Jiapeng withdrew his hand and turned to Li Jiamin: “Why should I apologize?”

Through their skin contact, Xia Xia could directly feel how tense Xie Huai’s body had become, sensing his anger. She hugged him, her hands caressing his waist soothingly.

Ping Jiapeng’s gaze never left her, his lips pressed into a tight line.

Xie Huai moved Xia Xia’s hand from his waist, enveloping her small hand in his large palm: “Mr. Li, I need to know what happened.”

He didn’t ask Xia Xia, instead directing his question to Li Jiamin.

Before Li Jiamin could turn back to deal with Ping Jiapeng, Xia Xia spoke up: “Huai-ge, I’m fine.”

Xie Huai looked at her as she wiped the water droplets from her face: “Really, I’m fine. I’m good. Are you done with your meeting?”

“Yes, it’s finished,” Li Jiamin said. “Come inside first and take a hot shower. I’ll ask the housekeeper to make you some ginger tea.”

“No need to trouble yourself,” Xia Xia politely declined, wiping her hair and returning his towel. “Let’s go home.”

The last sentence was directed at Xie Huai.

Ping Jiapeng’s gaze fixed intensely on their clasped hands, his expression dazed. He wanted to speak but his lips only moved slightly before falling silent.

In the car, Xie Huai turned on the heater and handed Xia Xia a towel from the back seat.

Xia Xia quietly dried her hair in the passenger seat. Just as she finished squeezing out the water, she heard Xie Huai suddenly exclaim “Ah!”

She looked up questioningly.

Xie Huai: “I forgot, I used that towel to wipe my feet when it rained the other day.”

Xia Xia: “…”

She threw the towel at Xie Huai’s head; he pulled it down and used it to rub her face playfully.

Xia Xia bit his hand through the towel, making Xie Huai release it with a yelp: “Xia Xia, are you a dog?”

Xia Xia hummed proudly, looking quite pleased with herself.

Xie Huai examined the neat row of teeth marks on his hand, asking casually: “Now that we’re alone, you can tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Xia Xia played dumb.

Xie Huai started the car: “Who was that guy, do you know him? What did he do to you?”

He raised an eyebrow: “You didn’t want to stay there earlier so I didn’t ask, but as your boyfriend, I think I have the right to know.”

Xie Huai didn’t just have the right to know – he had every right to know.

Now that they were alone, Xia Xia didn’t hide it from him.

She scratched her head: “Ping Jiapeng.”

Xie Huai’s foot slipped on the brake, and the car stalled in the middle of the road.

Xia Xia blinked, her voice soft: “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you, but in that situation, if you knew who he was, wouldn’t you have started fighting?”

Xie Huai turned to face her, his clear eyes fixed on her.

He remained silent, and Xia Xia reluctantly explained: “We had some unpleasantness in the room. He wouldn’t let me leave, and I didn’t want to cause a scene that would make things difficult for you, so I jumped out the window…”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Xie Huai scolded her. “Which would make me more uncomfortable – a confrontation, or you two climbing out of the lake soaking wet? He jumped after you – what was that about? Some Romeo and Juliet shit?”

Xia Xia: “…”

She didn’t dare tell him about Ping Jiapeng taking her phone and locking the door, fearing Xie Huai would become truly angry beyond consolation.

She argued righteously: “Be clear about what you’re saying – if I wanted to do a Romeo and Juliet, wouldn’t I have found a deeper lake? How was I supposed to know he’d go in to get a towel? I was planning to leave directly.”

Xie Huai’s face darkened like gathering storm clouds as he started the car and made a U-turn.

“Huai-ge!” Xia Xia called out desperately, sounding utterly miserable, “Don’t go back! Running into my ex here is already awkward enough, can’t you let me leave with some dignity?”

Xie Huai pulled over to the side of the road, assuming an interrogative stance: “What unpleasantness happened in the room? Let’s hear it.”

He took out his phone and stared at it for a long while.

Xia Xia asked: “What are you looking at?”

“The time,” Xie Huai said expressionlessly. “From when you went upstairs until I came out was over half an hour. I want to hear your explanation.”

Xia Xia: “…”

“We just talked about some things from the past,” Xia Xia said carefully, trying to avoid sensitive words. “Expressed some remembrance of the past and well-wishes for after the breakup, talked about recent situations. I told him I have a boyfriend now and that I’m very happy with my boyfriend.”

“Oh?” Xie Huai curved his lips. “So you do know you have a boyfriend?”

“Then why didn’t you call me immediately when you found yourself under the same roof as your ex?”

“I didn’t want to affect your business meeting,” Xia Xia said. “And…”

Xie Huai quietly waited for her to continue.

Xia Xia mumbled: “…and I wanted to call you, but he took my phone away.”

Xie Huai maintained his composure: “He took it away, and then what?”

Xia Xia stammered, still not daring to mention that Ping Jiapeng had tried to touch her face. She said: “Nothing else happened.”

Xie Huai remained quiet for a moment, suppressing his anger.

“Forget about leaving with dignity,” he said. “You might as well leave in peace. I’ll remember to think of you on this day every year.”

Xie Huai parked the car in the campus parking lot.

On the way back, he hadn’t said a word. When they separated at Xia Xia’s dormitory building, he only reminded her to take a hot shower.

The car windows had been open during the drive, and Xia Xia’s hair was mostly dry from the wind. Standing at the bottom of the dormitory building, her mood was low because of Xie Huai’s anger.

After some thought, instead of going upstairs, she walked toward the boys’ dormitory building.

Xie Huai returned to his dorm. Xin Pu wasn’t there; he had messaged saying he was going to an internet café and wouldn’t return tonight.

Xie Huai removed his shirt with a sour expression, just about to head to the bathroom for a shower when he heard someone knocking.

Xia Xia stood at the door, her previously dried hair now deliberately wet again, strands sticking to her face.

“Huai-ge, can you let me take a shower here?” she asked pitifully. “Cai Yun locked me out.”

Xie Huai: “…”

Using Cai Yun as an excuse was one thing, but she was taking him for a fool.

The wet strands of hair stuck to her face made her look utterly helpless, but the top of her head was already dry.

Xie Huai didn’t expose her pretense, stepping aside to let her in.

Xia Xia wandered around the room, making herself at home as if she lived there.

Xie Huai’s desk was very neat, with only some books and daily necessities arranged on it. Xia Xia sat in his chair, curiously picking up a blue glass jar and examining it.

“What’s this?” she asked puzzled.

Xie Huai snatched it away.

Xia Xia smiled teasingly: “Huai-ge is so fancy, even using face cream.”

Xie Huai looked somewhat uncomfortable: “It’s not mine, Xin Pu keeps leaving his stuff around again.”

The face cream was still quite full, barely used.

Xia Xia propped her chin on her hand, her pupils bright and sparkling: “Did you buy it after we started dating? Did you want to take care of your skin to look more handsome for me?”

“No.”

Xia Xia picked up the vacuum sealing tool and bags on his desk: “Are these for packing nuts for me?”

“Huai-ge,” she looked at him with admiring, ingratiating starry eyes, “can you show me how you shell walnuts for me?”

Xie Huai asked impatiently: “Are you going to take a shower or not?”

Xia Xia slowly entered the bathroom. Xie Huai stood still where he was.

After a while, he saw the bathroom door open slightly, and a fair white arm reached out, bundling up the dirty clothes and tossing them into the basin by the door.

Those were Xia Xia’s wet clothes – her clothes, pants, bra, and underwear.

Xie Huai walked over and took the clothes from the basin to wash them in the corridor’s washing area.

When he returned, the shower had stopped.

Xia Xia heard the door open and her soft voice called out again: “Huai-ge, I don’t have a towel.”

Xie Huai handed her a towel. Xia Xia peeked through the door crack with bright eyes: “Xin Pu won’t come back, right?”

“…No.”

Xie Huai had already forgotten he was supposed to be angry; his mind was filled with the glimpse of spring scenery he’d caught earlier.

Xia Xia hadn’t deliberately covered herself, merely holding her arm loosely across herself. To Xie Huai’s eyes, it was a glimpse of milky white curves.

He turned his face away, his throat dry.

Xia Xia took the towel and called again: “Huai-ge, I don’t have any clothes.”

Xie Huai dug out a loose T-shirt from his wardrobe for her. This time he didn’t look, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor tiles.

He thought that would be the end of it, but Xia Xia wasn’t done being mischievous.

She put on the shirt with nothing underneath, though the looseness of it meant nothing could be seen.

She opened the bathroom door wide, smiling candidly: “Huai-ge, I still don’t have any underwear.”

Xie Huai: “…”

“Want to wear mine?”

“Or you could use the hair dryer to dry mine.”

The girl’s face was flushed from the hot water, looking pure and innocent.

Xie Huai suppressed the urge to pull her into his arms and have his way with her, instead giving her an unused pair of underwear to wear first, while he, who had been sulking earlier, resignedly used the hair dryer to dry her underwear.

After her shower, Xia Xia came out swaying casually.

Xie Huai had the hair dryer on high; when he finished half-drying the underwear and looked up, he found Xia Xia had somehow crawled into his bed.

Xia Xia had wrapped herself in the thin summer blanket, her head also covered, with only a pair of round eyes peering out at him.

Xie Huai handed her the underwear: “It’s dry.”

“Don’t want it,” Xia Xia whined. “I want to wear yours.”

She rolled around in his bed, wriggling herself into a cocoon, and acted coy towards Xie Huai: “Huai-ge, do you think I’m cute?”

Xie Huai didn’t respond.

Xia Xia continued acting coy: “Do you want to hug me?”

Xie Huai still didn’t speak.

“Then do you want to kiss me?”

“Don’t want to kiss.” Xie Huai’s voice was hoarse.

He took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed in a few quick movements.

The single dormitory bed was narrow; with two people squeezed together, there wasn’t a hint of space left.

Xie Huai pulled her blanket down to her chest, revealing her fair, delicate face and half-dried, still-damp hair.

He brushed the loose strands of hair by her forehead behind her ear: “Want to make love.”

Xia Xia looked at him with a grin.

Xie Huai lowered his head to bite her lip: “You’re asking for it.”