After the rain, the sky cleared.

The air was filled with the scent of damp earth and fresh grass. Sunlight filtered through intertwined branches, creating shimmering reflections in the puddles below.

Xia Xia left the academic building after her morning class and noticed a paper posted on the glass door at the side of the building.

She walked closer to read it. In black text on white paper, it read: [Official Notice of Criticism Regarding Xie Huai and Xia Xia’s Use of Unauthorized Electrical Appliances in Dormitory]

[Upon investigation, first-year students Xie Huai and Xia Xia from the Department of Sociology, School of Management, were found using a high-powered electric cooking pot to prepare a hotpot in the male dormitory at 9 PM on November 18.

According to academy regulations, and upon unified decision by academy leadership, the prohibited electrical appliance has been confiscated, and both students are hereby issued an official notice of criticism.]

After reading the notice, Xia Xia sighed but felt somewhat relieved.

The school had ultimately considered the students’ dignity by only reporting the unauthorized appliance without mentioning her presence in the male dormitory.

That night had been absolute chaos.

The dorm supervisor, acting on Li Zhelin’s report, conducted a surprise inspection with several male student council members on duty. They completely blocked the doorway and corridor outside the room.

It was exactly when evening classes ended, and many male students returning in groups stopped to gawk at the commotion.

When the dorm supervisor saw Xia Xia’s head peek out from the bed, she was too shocked to even confiscate the pot.

She looked at Xie Huai and said, “I understand young people have their urges, but couldn’t you two…”

“…couldn’t you go to a hotel instead of doing this in the dorm?”

“And if you must do it here, the water in the pot is still boiling – what if it spills onto the electrical wires and starts a fire?”

Xia Xia was mortified. She squirmed on the bed, pulled the curtain closed, and ducked back under the covers, pretending everything happening outside had nothing to do with her.

Xie Huai had nowhere to hide from the stares – some envious, some admiring, but all carrying the same underlying sentiment:

“Damn, Brother Huai is such a boss.”

Not only did he bring a girl back to the dorm so late, but he even got her into his bed.

Xie Huai maintained his composure as he picked up the pot and handed it to the supervisor: “Aren’t you here to check for prohibited appliances? Well, you’ve found it, so take it.”

He pushed everyone out of the room and pulled open the bed curtain: “They’re gone, you can come down now.”

When Xia Xia emerged from under the covers, her face was bright red. Even Xie Huai’s face showed a rare blush.

They stood there awkwardly blushing at each other for a while before Xie Huai pulled a cap from his cabinet and put it on her head: “There were too many guys here just now, and you weren’t dressed properly to speak. I’ll explain to the teacher later. Let me take you back first.”

Xia Xia could only nod.

Reportedly, the male dormitory had remarkably consistent topics for late-night discussions that night.

Some said they saw the dorm supervisor personally drag Xia Xia from Xie Huai’s bed, berating her for being shameless.

Others claimed Xia Xia was completely naked in Xie Huai’s blankets, and when everyone burst in, Xie Huai was frantically trying to put on his pants.

Some said Brother Huai flew into a rage to defend his beauty, immediately kicking the supervisor out of the room and later arguing with the teacher at the duty office.

Even more outlandish, someone suggested Xie Huai must have been a vacuum cleaner in his previous life, as he had left Xia Xia covered in red marks.

That person described it in vivid detail as if he had witnessed it himself: “You know Xia Xia, right? That gorgeous girl from the Sociology Department? She was covered in hickeys, everywhere, so dense – enough to get any guy excited. It was seductive, totally irresistible.”

…

Jiang Jingzhou came downstairs carrying a stack of documents and, seeing Xia Xia by the door, called out to her: “Xia Xia, I was just looking for you.”

He noticed her reading the criticism notice and remarked in surprise: “The notice came out so quickly? Looks like Xie Huai spending half the night at the supervisor’s office paid off – otherwise they were planning to report you for staying in the male dormitory past curfew…”

Xia Xia looked at him with reproachful big eyes: “Senior…”

Only then did Jiang Jingzhou remember he was the one who pulled back the curtain. He coughed awkwardly: “Even if I hadn’t pulled it back, Li Zhelin would have made the teacher check anyway. Better it was me – at least you two might feel better about it, right?”

He smiled warmly with his usual gentle and cultured demeanor.

Xia Xia said: “Now everyone knows I was lying in Xie Huai’s bed late at night.”

“They’re making up such outrageous stories, saying Xie Huai kicked the teacher out so they could squeeze in another round…”

Jiang Jingzhou: “Let them talk. If you don’t care, their words are just passing wind, gone as soon as they blow by. The more you care, the more it will torment you.”

“I don’t care what others say about me,” Xia Xia said. “I’m worried Xie Huai might care. I’ve been causing him trouble since the start of the semester.”

“Xie Huai cares even less,” Jiang Jingzhou smiled. “What harsh words hasn’t he heard before?”

He handed her the documents: “These are next week’s basketball tournament schedules. Please give them to Zhao Shanqi – I’d rather not make the trip myself.”

Xia Xia took them and hesitantly asked: “Xie Huai, he…”

Jiang Jingzhou: “What about Xie Huai?”

Xia Xia shook her head: “Nothing.”

Evening.

After class, Xia Xia got two meals from the cafeteria and brought them to the basketball court.

With the basketball tournament approaching, the class representatives had arranged with teachers to give permission slips to tournament participants, allowing them to practice at the small sports field during the last two periods each day.

Zhao Shanqi was in charge of the class basketball tournament. Xia Xia didn’t know how she had convinced Xie Huai to play, she only remembered that after the second period, Xie Huai had walked to her desk and, having made a habit of ruffling her hair, messed it up by patting her head like a puppy.

Since they would be training late at the court, Xie Huai had temporarily stopped delivering takeout for dinner and asked Xia Xia to bring him food from the cafeteria.

When Xia Xia arrived, they were taking a break. Li Zhelin had taken a taxi to the pedestrian street and brought back four large bags of KFC to treat everyone.

Zhao Shanqi brought a family bucket to Xie Huai: “Come eat with us.”

Xie Huai wasn’t with the group but sat alone under the basketball hoop.

Behind the basketball court was a grove of ginkgo trees, their golden leaves carpeting the ground, brilliantly illuminated by the warm sunset.

Today Xie Huai wore a navy blue T-shirt with black compression pants under his athletic shorts, making his legs look long and straight.

He had a blue headband holding back his hair, and being bored, was idly playing with scattered ginkgo leaves blown over by the wind.

He said: “No thanks.”

Zhao Shanqi said: “Come on, eat with us.”

“No.”

“You don’t have anything else to eat by yourself, just join us.”

Xie Huai turned to look at her: “Zhao Shanqi, are you a broken record?”

Zhao Shanqi: “…”

Xia Xia appeared at the edge of the field carrying two boxes of food, and Xie Huai waved: “Over here.”

“But,” Zhao Shanqi said, puzzled, “what’s so good about cafeteria food? If you don’t want KFC, I can order Haidilao hotpot delivery for you. Just don’t cook hotpot in the dorm anymore – if you get reported again, you’ll get a demerit…”

“Oh, so you know about me cooking hotpot in the dorm?” Xie Huai asked. “Then do you know who I was cooking hotpot with?”

Zhao Shanqi said: “Wasn’t it with Xia Xia?”

“Then do you know what people around the academy are saying about me and Xia Xia?”

Zhao Shanqi blinked.

“The cafeteria food isn’t good, but the person bringing it is – is that okay?” Xie Huai said. “Go back to your chicken wings and stop interrupting my meal.”

Zhao Shanqi: “…”

She had only been there for two minutes before Xie Huai drove her away.

Xia Xia handed Xie Huai his food box and sat down beside him to eat dinner together.

“What took you so long?” Xie Huai pouted. “Were you trying to starve me? The fried chicken smell from over there is so tempting, I’m practically drooling.”

Xia Xia unwrapped his chopsticks: “The cafeteria was crowded, I had to squeeze through for a long time.”

Xie Huai was fidgety while eating, occasionally turning to look at Xia Xia and placing ginkgo leaves on her head.

Xia Xia didn’t mind, letting him play until he was satisfied before shaking her head to dislodge the leaves.

“Why are you so well-behaved?” Xie Huai couldn’t help but tug at her hair by her ear. “Don’t you have any temper at all?”

Xia Xia was known for being gentle and obedient around Xie Huai. She just shook her head and made small humming sounds without speaking.

Zhao Shanqi had come over happily but returned upset.

Li Zhelin asked: “What’s wrong? Did Xie Huai say something to you?”

Zhao Shanqi said impatiently: “No.”

“It must have been Xie Huai, who else would dare bully you?” Li Zhelin squeezed ketchup into a paper cup and walked toward Xie Huai.

Xie Huai was talking with Xia Xia when a shadow blocked their light.

He looked up at Li Zhelin: “Need something?”

Li Zhelin had been pursuing Zhao Shanqi lately and couldn’t stand seeing her pay so much attention to Xie Huai, especially when Xie Huai completely ignored her efforts. The contrast made him feel far inferior to Xie Huai.

Li Zhelin asked aggressively: “Why are you bullying Shanqi?”

Zhao Shanqi ran over to pull him back: “Don’t cause trouble, I told you he didn’t do anything. Why are you getting involved?”

Xie Huai looked confused: “I bullied her?”

At that moment, Xia Xia happened to put some spicy chicken in his bowl, immediately drawing his attention.

He stared at Xia Xia’s bowl: “Why do you have spicy chicken?”

“You already had braised pork, and now you’re eating spicy chicken, which means you got two meat dishes and one vegetable for yourself, but only one meat and two vegetables for me?”

Xie Huai said: “I need an explanation.”

Xia Xia: “…Explain what? You’re the one who said you wanted one meat and two vegetables.”

Xie Huai stopped eating altogether to argue this point with her: “Yes, I did say that, but don’t you know how to be flexible? When have you ever seen a subordinate eating meat while the boss eats vegetables? When you got two meat dishes for yourself, you should have realized that if even you need two dishes, Xie Huai with just one definitely wouldn’t be satisfied.”

Xie Huai said coldly: “But you didn’t. You don’t care about me at all.”

Xia Xia: “…”

“Then you can have mine.” She offered her bowl to Xie Huai.

Li Zhelin: “…”

This poor couple was flirting right in front of him, clearly not taking him seriously.

His anger flared up, and he threw the ketchup onto Xie Huai’s shoe: “Xie Huai, I’m fucking talking to you!”

Xie Huai’s hand froze midway as he reached for Xia Xia’s food box. He lowered his eyes to watch the ketchup spread across his shoe.

Xia Xia was stunned too.

The childish, playful expression that had been on Xie Huai’s face while joking with her vanished. His gaze at Li Zhelin was still relatively calm: “Apologize.”

Li Zhelin smiled perfunctorily: “Sorry, my hand slipped, accidentally dropped it on your shoe.”

Xie Huai pointed down: “I told you to apologize for it.”

Li Zhelin: “You want me to say sorry to a shoe?”

His smile turned mocking: “Xie Huai, is this the only decent pair of shoes you’ve ever owned? It’s bad enough that you show them off every day, but now you want me to apologize to them? Let me be blunt – know your place.”

Xie Huai put the food box on the basketball stand and stood up to confront Li Zhelin.

Zhao Shanqi stepped between them: “Xie Huai, wait, I think there’s been some misunderstanding between you two.”

Xie Huai: “Move.”

Zhao Shanqi said to Li Zhelin: “Xie Huai really didn’t bully me, quickly apologize to him.”

Li Zhelin said carelessly: “I already apologized. He’s not satisfied and wants me to apologize for his shoes. What’s that about?”

With Zhao Shanqi between them, Xie Huai couldn’t reach Li Zhelin. His expression turned cold: “I’ll say it one more time, move aside.”

She still wouldn’t budge. Xie Huai looked at her: “Do you think I won’t hit a woman?”

Zhao Shanqi was startled by the viciousness in his words. Seeing his fierce expression, she moved aside, hurt.

Just as Xie Huai was about to move, something caught his foot.

He looked down to see Xia Xia crouching in front of him, wiping the ketchup off his shoe with tissue paper.

She worked silently, wrapping the thick sauce in the tissue, though an obvious mark remained on the shoe’s surface.

Xia Xia: “Ketchup is hard to clean once it dries. Take them off, let me clean them first, then you can go fight.”

She was so obedient and quiet. Looking at her clear eyes and that beautiful, bright little face, Xie Huai’s anger dissipated by half in an instant.

He pulled Xia Xia up, took the dirty tissue ball she’d used to clean his shoe, and threw it in the nearby trash can.

Zhao Shanqi: “Xie Huai…”

Xie Huai ignored her. He glanced at Li Zhelin, then took Xia Xia’s hand and left the field.

Xie Huai stood by the outdoor sink, having removed his shoe to rinse it under the tap.

He scrubbed hard with a brush until the bristles stood up, but the shoe wouldn’t come clean.

“You won’t be able to clean it that way,” Xia Xia took the shoe to look at it. “This material can’t be scrubbed hard.”

She went to the nearby convenience store and bought a bottle of detergent and a soft brush. She applied the detergent to the shoe’s surface and gently brushed where the sauce had been. As the stain began to fade, she used a soft cloth with detergent to clean the dirt from the seams.

Xia Xia held up the shoe, examining it against the twilight sky.

Xie Huai followed her gaze. The stain that had irritated him so much was gone; she had cleaned the shoe spotless.

She held the shoe high, her soft white hand supporting it under the tongue.

Following her arm upward, he saw the darkening sky and the setting sun in the distance.

Something stirred in Xie Huai’s heart, and he reached out to ruffle her hair.

“Stop messing with my hair,” Xia Xia dodged away, blushing. “You’ll make it greasy, and I’ll have to wash it when I get back.”

“I used to have a dog, and when I was unhappy, I loved to rub its head,” Xie Huai smiled. “I rubbed it when I was happy too.”

Xia Xia mumbled: “I’m not your dog.”

“You’re my little brother,” Xie Huai said.

In the distance, the sun was setting, painting the sky crimson.

“The shoes were from my father,” Xie Huai suddenly said.

“I didn’t even like this style, but he doesn’t understand shoes. He just bought them because they were globally limited edition.” His expression was bland. “He’s always been like this, never asking what I like or dislike, just assuming whatever he gives me is the best.”

Xia Xia listened quietly, thinking Xie Huai’s troubles were quite peculiar.

If it were her, regardless of whether she liked them or not, if Wei Jinhai was willing to buy her a pair of shoes worth 288 yuan, she’d be moved to tears.

“In my second year of high school, I got into trouble at school. The principal complained to him about it. He was already in a bad mood because his business was having problems, and after hearing what happened, he got angry and slapped me in front of everyone.”

“That was the first time I’d been hit in my entire life,” Xie Huai smiled slightly. “It didn’t hurt, but it was pretty humiliating.”

Xia Xia also smiled: “I’ve been beaten since I was little, you get used to it.”

Xie Huai: “I had a bad temper then. In a fit of anger, I ran away to Chang City and hung out with Qi Da for two months.”

“I didn’t go to school or return home. My dad called me several times, but I blacklisted him. I didn’t want to talk to him.”

“Know why Jiang Jingzhou calls me Young Master?” His lips curved in what seemed to be a mockery of his past self. “Back then, everyone called me Young Master. I had everything handed to me, and couldn’t take the slightest grievance or hardship. I was a delicate glass prince – might have shattered if someone touched me wrong.”

Xia Xia looked at Xie Huai, thinking it couldn’t be true.

She didn’t dare voice this thought, but instinctively felt Xie Huai wasn’t that kind of person.

In just a few short years, she couldn’t imagine what the pampered person Xie Huai described had gone through to transform into who he was now.

In the distance, the sky darkened as the sunset.

Xie Huai shifted his gaze to the nearby ginkgo tree tips bathed in twilight.

“Two months later, the police station called me. My dad was gone.” His expression remained calm. “Suicide. He jumped into the factory’s sulfuric acid pool. His body and clothes were completely dissolved. If there hadn’t been surveillance cameras at the factory, I wouldn’t have believed he jumped in himself.”

Xia Xia froze.

For a long while, neither of them spoke.

Xia Xia looked at the shoes on his feet and hesitantly asked: “Were these his apology gift?”

“Don’t know, maybe,” Xie Huai said. “But I wish he’d never bought them.”

“They must have been. You ran away for two months without coming home, your dad must have been worried. Though I don’t know why he committed suicide, he must have loved you very much.” There was a hint of envy in Xia Xia’s eyes. “My dad wouldn’t even buy me shoes to apologize, let alone worry. If I died somewhere out there, he probably wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.”

“Did he love me?” Xie Huai asked in return, coldness in his expression.

“Of course! He was thinking of buying you shoes even when he was about to leave, and besides the shoes, he must have left you lots of other things too, right?”

Xia Xia looked at Xie Huai, feeling quite envious of him.

That air about him – his broad perspective and fearless attitude – was something unique to children raised in wealth.

She envied it, but could never attain it.

No matter how imperfect Xie Huai’s father might have been, the confidence, courage, and sense of security he had given Xie Huai since childhood were things that would benefit him for life – things she could never reach in her lifetime.

Xie Huai said flatly: “He left me eight million…”

“Eight million!” Xia Xia couldn’t help exclaiming. “Your dad was so good to you!”

She consoled him: “Don’t be sad, Brother Huai. Try to think about the positive side – eight million is more than most people can earn in a lifetime. For someone like me, forget one lifetime, I couldn’t earn eight million in my next life or the life after that.”

“Although your uncle has left you, he left this money surely hoping you could live a better life.”

Xie Huai looked at her with a complex expression.

Xia Xia asked puzzled: “Did I say something wrong?”

Xie Huai said: “You’re right, eight million is more than most people can earn in a lifetime.”

His expression was unnaturally calm: “But what he left me was eight million in high-interest loans.”