When Qiao Nan came home from school, he found the atmosphere in the house unusually tense.
Uncle Wang, who greeted him at the door, hesitated several times before speaking.
Pei Xu and his father were both not at home, but his mother came downstairs looking unusually calm—actually, even gentler than usual.
“Nan Nan, you’re back from school? Today I had Aunt Chen make your favorite crispy pork.”
A strange feeling rose in his chest.
Could it be that Pei Xu hadn’t brought his “girlfriend” home today?
Otherwise, his mother wouldn’t be so calm and indifferent.
He glanced upstairs, asking, “Where are my brother and Dad?”
Zhou Ruo replied, “Something suddenly went wrong over in Yanjing, so your dad rushed back to handle it. As for Axu, he should still be at the company—he hasn’t come back.”
Qiao Nan’s tense nerves relaxed a bit.
He interpreted this to mean that because something urgent came up in Yanjing, his dad had to leave temporarily, and the “meeting the parents” plan was postponed.
Feeling guilty, he didn’t ask any more questions and sat down at the dining table with Zhou Ruo.
But by evening, Pei Xu still hadn’t returned.
Qiao Nan sent him a WeChat message, and the reply came quickly: “Uncle and Aunt probably don’t want to see me right now. I’m temporarily staying at Boting Residence.”
He immediately called a video chat.
The call connected, but the room was dark, and the dim light made it hard to see his face clearly.
“Have you told your parents?”
Pei Xu’s voice was low and calm.
“Yeah, they probably need some time to accept it.”
Qiao Nan was puzzled.
“But when I got home this afternoon, Mom didn’t say anything.”
Pei Xu chuckled softly.
“Isn’t that a good thing? Do you want Uncle and Aunt to scold you?”
“Not really, but it just feels like Mom’s acting weird.”
Qiao Nan hugged his pillow and grumbled, “Why is it so dark over there? Are we not going to see each other for a while?”
“There’s a power outage in the building. They’re rushing to fix it, but the lights aren’t back yet.”
Pei Xu explained, “Nan Nan, do you miss me?”
Qiao Nan rolled over with his pillow, pinching his thumb and forefinger together to show a very small distance.
“A little bit.”
He seemed embarrassed to admit it, a faint blush coloring his pale cheeks.
Pei Xu gazed at the person in the video, gently tracing the screen with his thumb before saying, “I miss you too.”
Qiao Nan’s blush deepened, and his heart couldn’t help but race wildly.
Though he couldn’t see Pei Xu’s face, the deep, gentle voice made his face flush and his pulse quicken.
He hugged his pillow again and sat up, trying to cover it up.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
Pei Xu answered with a soft “Mm,” said goodnight, and ended the call.
He tossed his phone casually on the desk and finally turned on the room light.
The reflection in the floor-to-ceiling window was blurry, but he could vaguely make out the bandage on his right temple.
In a fit of rage, Qiao Shi’an hadn’t held back.
Probably not expecting Pei Xu not to dodge, he smashed a heavy glass cup against Pei Xu’s temple, leaving a one-inch wound.
It wasn’t serious, but Qiao Nan would surely worry if he saw it—maybe even blow up in anger at their parents.
That was not a scene Pei Xu wanted to see.
If his goal was simply to take Qiao Nan away, there were far easier, quicker methods.
But he understood what Qiao Nan meant to his parents.
He hoped their relationship could earn the recognition and blessing of his parents.
One day, if they held a wedding, Qiao Shi’an and his wife would personally hand Qiao Nan over to him.
He had pulled Qiao Nan into this narrow alley, unwilling to let him walk down that path of betrayal and alienation.
His Nan Nan deserved all the blessings.
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time, Pei Xu called Cheng Yu.
“Prepare to hand over work tomorrow.”
Cheng Yu immediately snapped back, irritable, “Just send Zhao Bo or Peng Yi to handle the Ross business. There’s no need for the president himself to go, and I can’t manage everything by myself!”
Pei Xu had come to him suddenly at noon, saying there was no need to look for someone to expand overseas business; he would go himself.
Cheng Yu was completely baffled. He had no idea what had gotten into Pei Xu all of a sudden.
“Zhao Bo is already capable of handling it alone. Keeping him here to help you should be enough.”
Cheng Yu didn’t want to entertain his madness and responded negatively, “No way. Getting one salary but doing two jobs? I’m not an idiot!” Then he angrily hung up.
Pei Xu wasn’t in a hurry.
If he guessed correctly, Qiao Shi’an wouldn’t act so quickly, so he had time to arrange the internal company handover.
Half a month flew by.
During this time, Pei Xu hadn’t returned home.
Qiao Nan wanted to see him, but Pei Xu refused, saying he had promised Qiao Shi’an and his wife not to meet until they had fully thought things through.
Zhou Ruo also stayed in Nanjiang, handling all work remotely by video.
Qiao Nan tried several times to gauge her attitude, but she always skillfully avoided the topic.
Qiao Nan couldn’t tell if this was good or bad, but he felt unsettled and distracted during class.
This slump showed in his paintings—his recent works had a noticeably darker, gloomier tone.
But Old Li still praised him, “You’ve found your direction. The only things missing now are time and experience. There’s not much more I can teach you.”
Qiao Nan looked puzzled.
“Why do you look like you want to kick me out as your disciple? I don’t think I offended you recently, did I?”
Old Li rolled up the file in his hand and tapped his head with it.
“Stop hanging out with Zhao Yutong. You’re learning slick talk from him.”
Qiao Nan didn’t dodge, half-heartedly asking, “Then why did you come find me?”
“Because it’s good news.”
Old Li threw the file to him.
“Our school has an exchange student program with Ross’s Benny Art Academy. Our academy only has two spots.”
Ross’s Benny Art Academy was the highest art institution in Ross’s art education system.
It had trained batch after batch of world-renowned realism masters.
To be an exchange student there was a rare, coveted opportunity for any artist pursuing their craft—especially since Qiao Nan’s painting style leaned toward realism.
He felt a spark of excitement but quickly frowned.
“How come our school suddenly has an exchange program with Benny Art Academy?”
He wasn’t belittling his alma mater—Nanjiang Art Academy was strong, ranking among the top five art schools nationwide.
There were exchange programs every year, but cooperation with an academy of Benny’s caliber was unheard of.
Old Li didn’t know either.
“Seems like the principal arranged it. Opportunities like this won’t come around often. Fill out the application form and get it back to me ASAP. If everything goes smoothly, you could go next month.”
Qiao Nan hesitated as he took the application form.
Leaving Old Li’s office, he wandered aimlessly around the campus before sitting on a random bench and sending Pei Xu a message:
[The school has an exchange program with Benny Art Academy. Old Li got me a spot.]
[Benny Art Academy? That’s great.]
[Old Li said if things go quickly, I might be going next month. Will you miss me? qaq]
Qiao Nan bit his lip and stared tightly at the chat window, waiting for Pei Xu’s reply.
[I can come visit you. We won’t be apart for too long.]
Qiao Nan stared at that message so hard he nearly bit through his lip.
From the moment he learned of the exchange program, a strong sense of unease settled in.
No, more accurately, ever since Pei Xu hadn’t come home and his mother stayed in Nanjiang, something felt off.
There was a calm before the storm.
He didn’t reply but instead took a taxi straight to Xunan Technology.
Without notifying the front desk, Qiao Nan took the elevator directly upstairs.
Just as he reached the office door, he bumped into Zhao Bo.
Zhao Bo was startled. “Young Master Qiao, why are you here all of a sudden? President Pei is still in a meeting.”
“I’m here to see my brother.”
Qiao Nan caught the flicker of surprise on Zhao Bo’s face and the quick movement toward his phone. He immediately stopped him.
“Don’t tell him—I want to surprise him.”
Zhao Bo could only sulkily put his phone away and followed him inside.
When Pei Xu returned from the meeting and pushed open the office door, the first thing he saw was Zhao Bo’s twisted expression, then the office chair turning around to reveal the person who hadn’t been seen for half a month, sitting there with an angry glare directed at him.
He signaled Zhao Bo to leave and walked toward Qiao Nan.
“Nan Nan, why are you here? You didn’t tell me in advance.”
Qiao Nan had many questions but his gaze landed on the spot hidden by Pei Xu’s fringe, and his nose immediately stung.
He seemed to understand something and touched the healing new wound.
“Did Dad hit you?”
He knew his father’s temper well.
Pei Xu was silent for a moment before confessing, “Uncle was just too angry.”
Qiao Nan glared at him, eyes red.
“You just stood there and let him hit you?”
“This was my own ruse.”
Pei Xu kissed his reddened eyes.
“It’s just a small wound. It’s already healed.”
Qiao Nan wanted to push him away in annoyance, but seeing the injury on his forehead, he stopped, placing his hand on Pei Xu’s chest.
“That exchange student program—was that Dad’s doing? I know he knows the principal.”
The timing of this exchange program was too coincidental.
Pei Xu’s attitude made him even more certain of his suspicion.
“You all want to send me away without even asking my opinion.”
Qiao Nan sniffled.
Pei Xu bent down and hugged him.
“This isn’t a bad thing. Uncle and Aunt think we’re too young and just acting on feelings. They want us to take a break and cool down. And going to Benny Academy as an exchange student will only benefit you.”
“And you?”
Qiao Nan’s eyes were red and watery like a rabbit’s, but he held back tears.
“Don’t you want to see me anymore?”
His voice was full of grievance.
“How could I not want to see you?”
Pei Xu lifted him up.
Qiao Nan wrapped his arms and legs tightly around him, burying his face in the hollow of his neck.
Pei Xu patiently coaxed him like a child: “Actually, Xunan had been planning to expand overseas markets, and Ross was part of that. The choice for the overseas representative had been undecided for a while. Recently, I planned to personally take charge of Ross’s overseas business…”
“Uncle and Aunt can’t accept it yet, but we can take our time.”
Pei Xu kissed the top of his head, his voice low and gentle, gradually calming Qiao Nan’s anxious heart.
“We don’t have to choose between them and each other. They love you very much and will understand eventually. We just need to give them some time.”
He hadn’t intended to tell Qiao Nan all this.
He just wanted Qiao Nan to happily go abroad for a semester, and he would follow him to Ross.
He was confident he could soften Qiao Shi’an and his wife within half a year.
“But I don’t want to go abroad.”
Qiao Nan lifted his head, tears glistening on his eyelashes.
“This is something that concerns both of us. We should face it together. You can’t just make decisions alone.”
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