Pei Xu saw the WeChat Moments post at 6 PM.
He clicked on the accompanying picture and recognized it as Qiao Nan’s bedroom.
Qiao Nan’s bedroom was distinctly different in style from his own; Qiao Nan had specifically redecorated it once during high school.
Perhaps because he studied art, his bedroom style was very post-modern, incorporating a lot of contrasting colors and graffiti designs.
Compared to its primary function as a resting space, it seemed more for aesthetic viewing.
So, in reality, Qiao Nan had always lived in his bedroom.
He still remembered when Qiao Nan had just moved into the Qiao family home.
One night, after several days of secretly observing him, six-year-old Qiao Nan knocked on his door with his small pillow and asked, “Brother, can I sleep with you?”
He silently agreed, and little Qiao Nan cheered, bouncing onto his bed with his pillow.
From then on, Qiao Nan naturally settled into his room.
From the very beginning with his exclusive small pillow, to later clothes, bedding, books, and even his favorite scented ornaments, Qiao Nan, like a little animal hoarding supplies, gradually filled the originally minimalist room.
His own bedroom, on the other hand, lay unused; Qiao Nan rarely slept there.
Instead, every inch of his room bore Qiao Nan’s mark, and every breath of air was filled with his scent.
Remembering Qiao Nan’s angry look, Pei Xu couldn’t help but curve his lips.
He clicked on Qiao Nan’s WeChat avatar, his thumb gently caressing Qiao Nan’s figure—Qiao Nan’s WeChat avatar was a photo of their backs together, taken when they traveled abroad after Qiao Nan finished his college entrance exams.
Qiao Nan had his head slightly tilted, resting on Pei Xu’s shoulder, and was giving a “V” sign with his hand behind his back.
Pei Xu used his memories to depict the smile on Qiao Nan’s face, staring in a daze for a long time until his assistant, Zhao Bo, knocked on the door, interrupting his thoughts.
“Boss, Dr. Chen has arrived.”
Zhao Bo’s voice was very soft.
Every time his boss saw Dr. Chen, before and after, his mood would not be very pleasant.
Hearing that Dr. Chen had arrived, Pei Xu instinctively frowned.
He snapped out of his recollections and stood up to leave.
“Got it. You can go back first.”
Zhao Bo knew this was his habit and left swiftly.
This was a property Pei Xu had specially acquired to see Dr. Chen, far from the city center, with excellent privacy.
Here, he could vent his emotions without concerns.
He slowly walked into the therapy room.
The therapy room was elegantly furnished, except for a frosted glass partition in the middle that allowed light through but obscured figures.
From Pei Xu’s perspective, he could only vaguely see the blurry outline of a person on the other side of the glass.
And the person opposite saw him the same way.
Locking the heavy soundproof door, Pei Xu slowly walked to the sofa and sat down, greeting the doctor on the other side politely and distantly, “Dr. Chen.”
“Mr. Pei, long time no see. How have you been feeling recently?”
Dr. Chen’s voice came through the glass partition.
“Not so good.”
Pei Xu took off his non-prescription glasses, somewhat roughly loosened his tie, and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
He let out a long sigh as if breaking free from some restraint.
“I’ve already moved out of the house.”
He relaxed his body into the sofa, his long legs, encased in suit trousers, casually crossed, revealing a wildness completely different from his usual demeanor.
Especially those narrow, sharp, upward-slanted dark eyes, unsoftened by glasses, were much more piercing and aggressive than usual.
Like a predatory beast lurking, ready to strike.
“And his reaction?”
Dr. Chen continued to inquire.
Through the frosted glass, one could vaguely see him lowering his head, writing something.
“He… reacted very strongly, he was very angry, and very sad.”
Pei Xu recalled Qiao Nan’s accusations, his emotions uncontrollably surging, and his tone became low.
“I don’t want to see him sad.”
On the other side, Dr. Chen was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words.
“But your tone sounds quite pleased.”
This time it was Pei Xu’s turn to be silent. After a long pause, he said, “Yes.”
“He can’t leave me.”
“This mindset is not beneficial for treatment.”
Dr. Chen’s tone showed a hint of helplessness, but his voice remained gentle.
“My advice is still the same: if you don’t want to hurt him, it’s best to break this unhealthy emotional dependence in time. The best way is to try to separate the romantic part and transfer it to a suitable person.”
***
Pei Xu’s posture was no longer relaxed; he stood up somewhat restlessly, pacing in the therapy room.
Dr. Chen didn’t rush him, patiently waiting for his answer.
After a long time, Pei Xu sat down again.
He picked up a sketchbook and pencil nearby, skillfully sketching on the white paper.
The rustling sound of the pencil against the paper helped him regain his composure.
He emphasized very slowly, “I can’t do it.”
No one could replace Qiao Nan.
Fourteen years ago, his parents died in a car accident on their way to a court hearing, leaving behind ten-year-old him and a pile of unsettled debts.
Their family wasn’t extremely wealthy; his parents started from scratch and worked tirelessly to build a family business, only for it to end disastrously.
Relatives, fearing entanglement in debts, no one was willing to take him in, and he was kicked around like a ball.
Finally, Qiao Nan’s mother, Zhou Ruo, remembering her business relationship with his parents, took over the mess his parents left behind and took him in.
However, although Zhou Ruo took him into the Qiao family, she was too busy with work, even lacking time to look after her own child, let alone him.
He was lucky to have temporary shelter but felt lost and anxious about the future.
That period was his most chaotic, most vulnerable, and most helpless time.
If it weren’t for little Qiao Nan nervously knocking on his door with his pillow, he might not have had the courage to get through that dark, sunless period alone.
Qiao Nan said he was afraid of the dark, but in truth, the one truly afraid of the dark was him.
He held Qiao Nan’s hand, and only then did he struggle out of the darkness, step by step.
Fourteen years of companionship; all his familial love and romantic love were tied to Qiao Nan.
Irreplaceable, unchangeable.
“He is all my beautiful aspirations,” Pei Xu’s voice became very gentle.
“I can’t strip him away, and I don’t want to strip him away.”
He put down the pencil, looking at the face he thought of day and night on the sketchbook, the thick darkness in his eyes surging like a tide.
Countless times he had sketched him; he was intimately familiar with every expression on that face.
But every time he looked at him, Pei Xu still couldn’t control the stirrings and desires in his heart.
His thumb pressed against the lips of the person in the drawing.
Pei Xu imagined that soft touch, caressing it inch by inch until his fingertip was stained with lead gray. Only then did he stop, staring at the smudged drawing with an unreadable expression.
Dr. Chen’s tone grew more helpless, “You are intentionally indulging yourself; this is not a good sign.”
Pei Xu remained silent.
After a long while, he didn’t directly answer the question, only saying, “Let’s stop the consultation here for today.”
***
After Qiao Nan posted his Moments update, the notifications didn’t stop.
Under that “moved house” Moments post, all his mischievous friends were lining up, sending a string of question marks.
Immediately after, Qian Chuan’s “death-call” video came in.
Qiao Nan answered, and Qian Chuan’s large face was shoved right into the phone screen.
“You have time to post on Moments but don’t know how to reply to your dad, me, eh?”
“Bad mood, no energy.”
Qiao Nan rested his chin on the back of the chair, feeling very down.
Qian Chuan made a surprised “tsk tsk” sound.
“Didn’t your brother pick you up yesterday? You two haven’t made up yet?”
“Nope.”
Qiao Nan hadn’t even sorted out this mess himself and was already annoyed, unwilling to waste words with him.
He made to hang up, “Anything important? If not, I’m hanging up.”
“Hey, don’t!”
Qian Chuan quickly said, “I really do have something to tell you. Didn’t you see the group chat message? That person is back in Nanjiang.”
“Who’s ‘that person’?”
Qiao Nan was impatient with his teasing.
“Spit it out.”
“Who else, it’s Zhong Shiyi. He just arrived in Nanjiang yesterday,” Qian Chuan finally said.
“He’ll also be at Old Xiao’s birthday party. You know their family and the Zhong family have some business dealings recently, so they have to save face. He couldn’t refuse, so he asked me to tell you that if you don’t want to see Zhong Shiyi, it’s fine if you don’t go. Just the thought is enough.”
“Zhong Shiyi?”
Hearing that name, Qiao Nan immediately perked up.
His face turned fierce, and he gritted his teeth, “He still dares to come back to Nanjiang? Isn’t he afraid I’ll break his other leg?!”
Qian Chuan knew about that messy incident from back then and awkwardly coughed.
“I don’t know if Zhong Shiyi is scared, but Old Xiao is pretty scared. Although Zhong Shiyi was being an idiot back then, you breaking one of his legs was enough. Don’t cause trouble tomorrow.”
He was genuinely afraid that Qiao Nan still held a grudge and would beat the guy up again.
***
Speaking of Zhong Shiyi and Qiao Nan, they had a rather troublesome connection.
Although both the Zhong and Qiao families were in Nanjiang, they had little interaction due to different business fields.
Plus, Zhong Shiyi was two years younger than them and usually didn’t socialize in their circle; one could say they kept to themselves.
But in Qiao Nan’s third year of high school, Zhong Shiyi, who was two grades younger, somehow learned of Young Master Qiao’s reputation and eagerly tried to get close to him.
Qiao Nan was handsome and had a good personality, so he always had good popularity.
If Zhong Shiyi wanted to hang out, then they’d hang out; an extra person wouldn’t hurt.
But who knew this little brat actually had his eye on Qiao Nan’s pretty face and harbored twisted intentions of getting Young Master Qiao into his grasp.
The second-generation circles each had their own ways of playing.
Zhong Shiyi’s circle was more open, while their circle had a bit more integrity.
Zhong Shiyi took a liking to Qiao Nan’s face. After flattering him for a while, he confessed to Qiao Nan during a gathering, pretending to be drunk.
Qiao Nan immediately refused.
But Zhong Shiyi probably thought he was easy to get because he was pretty and well-behaved, so he used the excuse of being drunk to try and force himself on Qiao Nan.
As a result, he didn’t get what he wanted.
Instead, Qiao Nan hit him with a stool, breaking one of his legs, and he was sent to the hospital, wailing, where he lay for three months.
After he recovered from his injuries, he left Nanjiang and never returned.
***
Recalling the old incident, Qiao Nan let out a displeased “heh.”
“As long as he doesn’t provoke me, I’ll still give Old Xiao face.”
Qian Chuan understood his underlying meaning.
“So you’re still going to Old Xiao’s birthday party?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I? If I don’t go, that brat will think I’m hiding from him.”
Qiao Nan forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
His usually smiling peach blossom eyes now carried a hint of murderous intent.
Qian Chuan chuckled dryly, said, “Then I’ll go tell Old Xiao,” and quickly hung up the video call.
Qiao Nan put away his phone and pondered for a while, then called Uncle Wang, asking him to get a different formal outfit ready for the Xiao family banquet.
After giving the instructions, he went into the bathroom again, ran his fingers through his slightly long bangs in front of the mirror, and, imitating Pei Xu, put on a stern face, making an extremely fierce expression.
At tomorrow’s banquet, he was determined to make that dog Zhong Shiyi recall the fear of having his leg broken by him, so he would avoid him from now on 🙂