Reversed Life: Chapter 3 - The Young Master of the Qiao family is Actually Doing His Homework!
Chapter 3: The Young Master of the Qiao family is Actually Doing His Homework!
After Mu Xiangxiang’s father carried Qiao Nan’s backpack into the room, he went back out, seemingly to continue the handicraft work he hadn’t finished earlier.
That gave Qiao Nan a chance to escape his awkward situation—for the moment, at least. He had been getting his head patted every few minutes just now, and it was driving him crazy.
But as he watched the door gently close, sitting on the edge of the bed, he suddenly felt a strange sense of emptiness.Ever since his mother passed away and his father remarried, he had never been this close with an elder again. When he was younger, his older brother had been by his side, the two of them depending on each other and facing everything together. But gradually, even his brother had…
“Tch.” He clicked his tongue, annoyed, and got up to pace over to the window. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opened it, and stuck one in his mouth.
After finding his lighter, his movements paused. That person’s pushy request echoed in his mind: “If possible, please try not to smoke or drink in front of my parents…”
Tch—since when did he have to care about that kind of crap?
Running a hand through his already messy hair and making it worse, Qiao Nan impatiently pushed the window open. In the next moment, he caught sight of Mu Xiangxiang’s father outside, who had turned his head at the sound.
Before their eyes could meet, Qiao Nan yanked the cigarette out of his mouth at lightning speed. The uninvited guest had already left—and had even put the scrubber back on the stall, too scared to take it. Under the streetlight, Mu Xiangxiang’s father saw his daughter standing by the window looking at him. He paused slightly, then smiled warmly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Qiao Nan was genuinely startled, his heart pounding. The cigarette in his sweaty hand had already been crushed out of shape. “…Just getting some air.”
Damn it—how pathetic!
He quickly shut the window, stuffed the cigarette pack back into his pocket, and paced around the room like a trapped animal. It took a while before he finally calmed down.
Forget it. That overly sentimental man outside looked so frail—what if he got so angry he died… better hold back for now.
With nothing else to do, he started surveying his surroundings.
The Mu family’s home was small—no need to say what a self-built house in an urban village was like. And all four family members lived only on the first floor.
Before coming, Mu Xiangxiang had drawn him a very detailed floor plan of the house, so he wasn’t completely lost upon entering. The room he was in now was Mu Xiangxiang’s—visually no more than ten square meters. A bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe filled the already unbelievably cramped space to the brim.
But despite its size, the room was very tidy. Qiao Nan walked around with his hands behind his back, inspecting it. At least, in terms of cleanliness, it passed.
But shouldn’t a girl’s room be full of pink plush toys? Qiao Nan lifted the blanket. Along with a faint, fresh scent, he saw the only “personal items” on the bed besides the pillow and blanket—Two books.
He picked one up—New Standard German Intensive Course 3?
The other was an all-English journal. The title contained obscure technical terms—hard to translate—but it seemed to be some kind of academic publication about pharmaceuticals.
What the hell is this stuff? He tossed them aside.
Then he opened the wardrobe. It was so old it was cracking, the door creaking loudly as it opened. He pulled out its lonely contents— One gray down jacket. One set of Yingcheng school uniform. Two pairs of jeans. A few shirts in gray, white, and black. And one plain sweater. That was it.
Qiao Nan had already prepared himself for the Mu family being poor, but at this moment, he still couldn’t quite describe how he felt. In his pocket was the wallet Mu Xiangxiang had returned to him. Inside were countless cards, loaded with allowance regularly transferred by his father and older brother. Five figures, six figures—each one more than enough, yet never enough for him.
After all, there were so many things to spend money on: how much does a motorcycle cost? Even just opening a bottle with sparklers in a club could cost twenty thousand.
He thought of the dirty, worn apron Mu Xiangxiang’s father was wearing. For the first time, he realized that he had actually been living under the protection of the father and older brother he deeply resented. Because of that, he had never even known that in some corner of this city, there were people living like this.
Qiao Nan frowned and stuffed the clothes back into the wardrobe, closing the door less forcefully this time. Then he opened the two drawers beneath it. The left one contained neatly folded socks, each stacked into a perfectly square shape.
The right drawer—
He pulled it open halfway, then quickly shut it again.
Qiao Nan coughed, then—surprisingly proactive—moved closer to the desk. The dim light made his ears slightly red as he opened Mu Xiangxiang’s oversized backpack. While doing so, a random thought flashed through his mind: So there really is a feminine nature after all? Someone like Mu Xiangxiang actually buys floral and lace… cough cough.
Half an hour later, the slightly calmer Qiao Nan successfully lost his temper again. He shoved aside the pile of incomprehensible textbooks on the desk and started pacing. The cigarette pack in his pocket was taken out and put back several times. He ruffled his hair in frustration—only to realize he now had a handful of long hair.
Meanwhile, Mu Xiangxiang, who had been sitting in a pavilion downstairs in Qiao Nan’s residential complex staring blankly at the moon after reading his message about his father, suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She took it out—
Qiao Nan: “Remember—you owe me!”
Mu Xiangxiang tried to analyze it, then replied with several question marks in confusion.
Qiao Nan didn’t respond. After a while, he sent a few photos. Mu Xiangxiang opened them, her face darkening.
A desk covered in a chaotic spread of brand-new textbooks.
After thinking for a moment, she opened the keyboard:
Mu: “I already finished the winter break homework.”
Qiao Nan: “So?”
Mu: “You just need to preview a bit.”
Qiao Nan: “Heh.”
Qiao Nan: “Preview my ass.”
The cold night wind blew straight into her face. Mu Xiangxiang sighed and stood up, heading back toward the apartment as she typed.
Mu: “What about your homework?”
Qiao Nan: “……”
Mu: “How much did you do?”
Qiao Nan: “……”
Mu: “You didn’t do it?”
Qiao Nan: “In the second drawer of the desk in the study.”
Qiao Nan: “Mm.”
Mu: “It’s the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.”
Qiao Nan: “Mm.”
Mu: “School starts the day after tomorrow.”
Qiao Nan: “…Mm.”
Mu Xiangxiang stepped into the elevator, swiped her card, and stared at the rising floor numbers. For once, she felt a rare sense of helplessness. After a moment—
Mu: “I’ll help you finish it.”
[Qiao Nan: “……”]
[Mu: “Preview Physics Lesson 1. I’ll help you catch up tomorrow.”]
[Qiao Nan: “……………Mm.”]
Mu Xiangxiang put away her phone and entered a string of numbers on the door lock. Her mind was still going over their previous topic. The next second, the door swung open, spilling light into the room.
She immediately realized something was wrong. When she left earlier, it was still daytime, and neither she nor Qiao Nan had turned on the lights in the house.
After weighing whether to go in or leave, she finally stepped inside—but she didn’t close the door. Instead, she cautiously moved forward while staying alert to her surroundings.
Then she saw a slender figure emerge from the kitchen area, wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
At the moment their eyes met, the person clearly froze. Standing there, she showed a hesitant and uneasy expression.
Mu Xiangxiang immediately recognized her—Qiao Nan’s stepmother, Luo Meisheng. Qiao Nan had once shown her a photo on his father’s Moments feed; the real person was even more beautiful than in the picture.
But Mu Xiangxiang was in no mood to appreciate anyone’s beauty. Beneath her calm exterior, waves of panic were already rising—Qiao Nan had clearly said his family wouldn’t be back during the New Year!!!
She hadn’t even had time to prepare for battle before being suddenly dropped into the situation. What was she supposed to do now?!
And so, in the brightly lit living room of the Qiao household, the two of them stood facing each other from a distance, neither speaking for a long while.
Luo Meisheng met the deep, unreadable gaze of her stepson at the entrance. Her unease almost spilled out of her chest. It felt like, after more than a month apart, that already imposing handsome face had become even colder—so much so that she could barely handle it. It seemed that the father and elder brother not returning for the New Year had truly angered this young master.
But this time, there really was no choice. The male heads of the family had clearly planned to return to City A to spend the New Year with Qiao Nan. They had even worked nonstop for half a month to clear their schedule. No one expected that, on the eve of New Year’s Eve, a sudden problem would arise at the overseas branch. The father and son had no choice but to grab their packed suitcases and board another flight.
They spent the entire New Year period traveling across multiple time zones, and only this morning was the unstable situation finally brought under control.
Qiao Nan’s father immediately asked his wife to return first to check on things—yesterday, the housekeeper had called to say that Qiao Nan had smashed the living room again and then disappeared.
Breaking things was minor. What worried his father most was that, in a fit of rage, his youngest son might harm himself.
Luo Meisheng opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she wasn’t sure how to begin—because she knew very well that Qiao Nan might not have the patience to listen.
This child had been hostile toward them for many years. Ever since she married into the Qiao family, she had never seen him give her a good face. Back then, he was still young, and everyone assumed it was just temporary adjustment issues. His father was also busy with work, so no one took it too seriously.
By the time they realized how serious the problem was, it was already too late.
His older brother was better—after going through his rebellious phase, he gradually realized his bias and changed his attitude.
But Qiao Nan had completely gone down a dead end. His hostility expanded from his stepmother to his father, and eventually even his once-close brother was not spared.
To be honest, Luo Meisheng roughly understood part of the reason. When she and Qiao Nan’s father had just married, both were busy with work and had no time to care for the children, so Qiao Nan and his brother Qiao Rui were sent to relatives for a period of time. In a large extended family, it was inevitable that gossip and rumors would spread.
She felt helpless, because even now there were still people whispering behind her back, saying she had latched onto the Qiao family before Qiao Nan’s mother passed away. And seeing how Qiao Nan looked at her—with undisguised hostility—and how he would start smashing things within minutes even around his father and brother, it was not hard to imagine what kind of image he had formed of his family in his mind.
Luo Meisheng thought a lot in that instant, and after weighing everything, she still decided to stay quiet like a “chicken.” The child had finally come home after so long, yet still carried that frosty, unapproachable attitude. If she provoked him and made him run off again to race motorcycles or drink, his father and older brother would only worry more.
So Luo Meisheng broke the standoff first. She took a step back, deliberately showing a submissive stance.
Mu Xiangxiang, who still hadn’t figured out what to do: “????”
Her face remained perfectly still, but her mind was working at lightning speed as she desperately recalled the information she and Qiao Nan had exchanged. Regarding each other’s families, their conversation had gone something like this—
[Mu Xiangxiang: “Besides my parents, I also have a younger brother. You’ll probably run into them often after you go back. But it’s fine—I don’t talk much usually, so just try to minimize interaction with them.”]
And what had Qiao Nan said back then?
Oh, right—he had said something like:
“Tch, that’s great. I don’t like talking to my family either.”
And after saying that, he had even looked up at the ceiling with a mocking expression and let out a cold laugh.
End of memory.
From this, Mu Xiangxiang analyzed and quickly reached a conclusion within seconds: her relationship with Qiao Nan’s family was probably about the same as his relationship with hers!
So before Luo Meisheng could completely turn and leave, she tried to fix the dead silence caused by her earlier mental blank. Leaning on the shoe cabinet while changing shoes, she casually said, “I’m back.”
Luo Meisheng: !!!!!????
She spun around like a top that had been whipped, her expression full of shock as she looked at her stepson.
But to keep up appearances, Mu Xiangxiang’s gaze was still fixed on her shoes and did not meet hers.
Luo Meisheng almost thought that greeting—so natural, like something between normal family members—was just her imagination. But then, after changing shoes, her stepson actually walked toward the stairs and spoke again: “I’m going back to my room.”
No tension, no hostility, no sarcasm!
At that moment, Luo Meisheng truly experienced what it meant to be “pleasantly surprised.” Her throat tightened and she couldn’t even speak. Only when that slender figure was about to disappear from view did she snap back to reality and respond: “…Y-you should rest early!”
She hadn’t expected any reply, but after a moment, a clear voice floated back from the stairwell: “Got it.”
Those simple three words made her eyes sting. Luo Meisheng pressed her fingers to her temples, struggling hard to keep herself from bursting into tears.
*****
Mu Xiangxiang slipped into the study and thought: That was close. She didn’t even bother looking for her winter break homework in the drawers and quickly pulled out her phone.
[Mu: “Your stepmother is back.”]
[Qiao Nan: “!!??”]
One second later, the phone rang. Mu Xiangxiang answered.
Qiao Nan: “What’s going on? Didn’t she say she wouldn’t be back before the New Year?”
Mu Xiangxiang: “You’re asking me?”
“……” Qiao Nan paused. “She didn’t bother you, did she? Just don’t pay her too much attention.”
Mu Xiangxiang thought back and confirmed she had only said twelve words the entire time—her level of silence had been even more extreme than when she was with her own family. She hesitated a little. “I barely spoke to her. Would that be too cold?”
Hearing this, Qiao Nan relaxed. “It’s fine. Being cold is exactly right.”
The two young people, completely unaware that there had been a flaw in their information exchange, happily ended the conversation. Mu Xiangxiang concluded that her analysis was correct, so she felt at ease and began doing Qiao Nan’s winter break homework as a way to relax.
*****
After hanging up, Qiao Nan let out a breath of relief. The moment he saw Mu Xiangxiang’s message earlier, he had almost jumped up on the dining table in panic.
Now that he realized the crisis was over, he relaxed as well, shifting from standing to squatting on the edge of a flowerbed.
Of course, calls like that couldn’t be made in front of people.
The urban village at night was pitch dark, even the streetlights seeming dimmer than outside. Cold wind hit his face. Thinking about his family situation again, his irritation started to rise.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cigarettes and lighter, planning to have one to calm himself down.
But just as he was about to open the pack, a hesitant voice came from not far ahead: “Xiangxiang?”
Qiao Nan instinctively looked up—and saw a middle-aged woman in a thick padded coat walking toward them from a distance. The moment her face was illuminated by the streetlight, his scalp went numb.
Mu Xiangxiang’s mother, who had just finished her last part-time job of the day, saw that the person squatting on the flowerbed was indeed her daughter. She gave a gentle smile full of concern and walked closer, reaching out to touch her daughter’s cold face. “Silly child, why are you squatting outside in such cold weather?”
Qiao Nan quickly hid the cigarette pack behind his back. “Uh…”
But Mu Xiangxiang’s mother had already made up her own explanation. Feeling guilty, she pinched her daughter’s ear lightly and took off her scarf to wrap it around her. “Were you waiting for Mom to come home? I’m sorry, I really came back a bit late today.”
The scarf still carried body heat. A faint, strange, long-lost scent—something familiar that could perhaps be called “mother’s smell”—spread in the air.
Qiao Nan’s mind went completely blank. One of his hands was gently taken by this woman—who felt even more overly affectionate than Mu Xiangxiang’s father—and she led him toward the gate.
The grip was actually very light.
But at that moment, Qiao Nan felt like he couldn’t break free at all.
Half an hour later, while Mu Xiangxiang was still furiously writing, her phone vibrated again. She glanced at it—
[Qiao Nan: “You! Owe me!”]
Again.
Frowning, Mu Xiangxiang sent a string of question marks.
A moment later, several photos came through. She opened them—and froze slightly in surprise.
In the images, a crumpled cigarette box lay pitifully in a trash can.
[Qiao Nan: “No smoking anywhere near your parents. OK?”]
Mu Xiangxiang picked up her phone, deleted and edited her reply several times—but in the end, she only sent a few words:
[Mu: “Thank you.”]
Again?! How was she supposed to respond to that! Qiao Nan squatted in front of the trash can, feeling like an idiot. In the end, he didn’t throw his phone away. Instead, with his long hair still a mess from his own frustrated tugging, he replied coldly—
[Qiao Nan: “No need. I just wanted a haircut. It’s an equivalent exchange with you.”]
A haircut?
Mu Xiangxiang blinked. She didn’t think much of it and casually replied: Sure, let’s do it tomorrow then.
After sending that message, Qiao Nan went silent again. Mu Xiangxiang waited a while, and seeing that the phone screen no longer lit up, she went back to burying herself in a sea of knowledge.
While she was furiously writing, she didn’t notice that the slightly ajar door of the study had been quietly pushed open a little. A figure stood outside, peeking in through the gap.
It was Qiao Nan’s stepmother, Luo Meisheng.
After her initial excitement, recalling her stepson’s attitude toward her today, she couldn’t help but feel a bit worried despite her happiness.
Concerned that something might be wrong with him, she thought it over and decided to secretly take a look.
And just that one glance—she saw something utterly unbelievable.
The young master of the Qiao family was actually—VERY—SERIOUSLY—DOING—HOMEWORK!
Luo Meisheng felt dizzy with shock. She staggered downstairs and, still mentally blank, called her husband.
A few seconds later, the voice of the Qiao family patriarch—an otherwise undefeated businessman—rang out from the phone in shock: “What! What did you say?! Nan Nan is actually studying?!”
Luo Meisheng replied tremblingly: “Yes! And today he even greeted me! Very politely too!”
“Oh my god——”
The couple, separated by an ocean, began crying into the phone.
Mu Xiangxiang, who vaguely thought she heard something strange: ????
Probably just an illusion. She tapped her pen against her temple and went back to the pile of practice problems that had accumulated heavily over the holiday—because some “animal” had done absolutely zero work all winter break.
After Mu Xiangxiang’s father carried Qiao Nan’s backpack into the room, he went back out, seemingly to continue the handicraft work he hadn’t finished earlier.
That gave Qiao Nan a chance to escape his awkward situation—for the moment, at least. He had been getting his head patted every few minutes just now, and it was driving him crazy.
But as he watched the door gently close, sitting on the edge of the bed, he suddenly felt a strange sense of emptiness.Ever since his mother passed away and his father remarried, he had never been this close with an elder again. When he was younger, his older brother had been by his side, the two of them depending on each other and facing everything together. But gradually, even his brother had…
“Tch.” He clicked his tongue, annoyed, and got up to pace over to the window. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opened it, and stuck one in his mouth.
After finding his lighter, his movements paused. That person’s pushy request echoed in his mind: “If possible, please try not to smoke or drink in front of my parents…”
Tch—since when did he have to care about that kind of crap?
Running a hand through his already messy hair and making it worse, Qiao Nan impatiently pushed the window open. In the next moment, he caught sight of Mu Xiangxiang’s father outside, who had turned his head at the sound.
Before their eyes could meet, Qiao Nan yanked the cigarette out of his mouth at lightning speed. The uninvited guest had already left—and had even put the scrubber back on the stall, too scared to take it. Under the streetlight, Mu Xiangxiang’s father saw his daughter standing by the window looking at him. He paused slightly, then smiled warmly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Qiao Nan was genuinely startled, his heart pounding. The cigarette in his sweaty hand had already been crushed out of shape. “…Just getting some air.”
Damn it—how pathetic!
He quickly shut the window, stuffed the cigarette pack back into his pocket, and paced around the room like a trapped animal. It took a while before he finally calmed down.
Forget it. That overly sentimental man outside looked so frail—what if he got so angry he died… better hold back for now.
With nothing else to do, he started surveying his surroundings.
The Mu family’s home was small—no need to say what a self-built house in an urban village was like. And all four family members lived only on the first floor.
Before coming, Mu Xiangxiang had drawn him a very detailed floor plan of the house, so he wasn’t completely lost upon entering. The room he was in now was Mu Xiangxiang’s—visually no more than ten square meters. A bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe filled the already unbelievably cramped space to the brim.
But despite its size, the room was very tidy. Qiao Nan walked around with his hands behind his back, inspecting it. At least, in terms of cleanliness, it passed.
But shouldn’t a girl’s room be full of pink plush toys? Qiao Nan lifted the blanket. Along with a faint, fresh scent, he saw the only “personal items” on the bed besides the pillow and blanket—Two books.
He picked one up—New Standard German Intensive Course 3?
The other was an all-English journal. The title contained obscure technical terms—hard to translate—but it seemed to be some kind of academic publication about pharmaceuticals.
What the hell is this stuff? He tossed them aside.
Then he opened the wardrobe. It was so old it was cracking, the door creaking loudly as it opened. He pulled out its lonely contents— One gray down jacket. One set of Yingcheng school uniform. Two pairs of jeans. A few shirts in gray, white, and black. And one plain sweater. That was it.
Qiao Nan had already prepared himself for the Mu family being poor, but at this moment, he still couldn’t quite describe how he felt. In his pocket was the wallet Mu Xiangxiang had returned to him. Inside were countless cards, loaded with allowance regularly transferred by his father and older brother. Five figures, six figures—each one more than enough, yet never enough for him.
After all, there were so many things to spend money on: how much does a motorcycle cost? Even just opening a bottle with sparklers in a club could cost twenty thousand.
He thought of the dirty, worn apron Mu Xiangxiang’s father was wearing. For the first time, he realized that he had actually been living under the protection of the father and older brother he deeply resented. Because of that, he had never even known that in some corner of this city, there were people living like this.
Qiao Nan frowned and stuffed the clothes back into the wardrobe, closing the door less forcefully this time. Then he opened the two drawers beneath it. The left one contained neatly folded socks, each stacked into a perfectly square shape.
The right drawer—
He pulled it open halfway, then quickly shut it again.
Qiao Nan coughed, then—surprisingly proactive—moved closer to the desk. The dim light made his ears slightly red as he opened Mu Xiangxiang’s oversized backpack. While doing so, a random thought flashed through his mind: So there really is a feminine nature after all? Someone like Mu Xiangxiang actually buys floral and lace… cough cough.
Half an hour later, the slightly calmer Qiao Nan successfully lost his temper again. He shoved aside the pile of incomprehensible textbooks on the desk and started pacing. The cigarette pack in his pocket was taken out and put back several times. He ruffled his hair in frustration—only to realize he now had a handful of long hair.
Meanwhile, Mu Xiangxiang, who had been sitting in a pavilion downstairs in Qiao Nan’s residential complex staring blankly at the moon after reading his message about his father, suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She took it out—
Qiao Nan: “Remember—you owe me!”
Mu Xiangxiang tried to analyze it, then replied with several question marks in confusion.
Qiao Nan didn’t respond. After a while, he sent a few photos. Mu Xiangxiang opened them, her face darkening.
A desk covered in a chaotic spread of brand-new textbooks.
After thinking for a moment, she opened the keyboard:
Mu: “I already finished the winter break homework.”
Qiao Nan: “So?”
Mu: “You just need to preview a bit.”
Qiao Nan: “Heh.”
Qiao Nan: “Preview my ass.”
The cold night wind blew straight into her face. Mu Xiangxiang sighed and stood up, heading back toward the apartment as she typed.
Mu: “What about your homework?”
Qiao Nan: “……”
Mu: “How much did you do?”
Qiao Nan: “……”
Mu: “You didn’t do it?”
Qiao Nan: “In the second drawer of the desk in the study.”
Qiao Nan: “Mm.”
Mu: “It’s the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.”
Qiao Nan: “Mm.”
Mu: “School starts the day after tomorrow.”
Qiao Nan: “…Mm.”
Mu Xiangxiang stepped into the elevator, swiped her card, and stared at the rising floor numbers. For once, she felt a rare sense of helplessness. After a moment—
Mu: “I’ll help you finish it.”
[Qiao Nan: “……”]
[Mu: “Preview Physics Lesson 1. I’ll help you catch up tomorrow.”]
[Qiao Nan: “……………Mm.”]
Mu Xiangxiang put away her phone and entered a string of numbers on the door lock. Her mind was still going over their previous topic. The next second, the door swung open, spilling light into the room.
She immediately realized something was wrong. When she left earlier, it was still daytime, and neither she nor Qiao Nan had turned on the lights in the house.
After weighing whether to go in or leave, she finally stepped inside—but she didn’t close the door. Instead, she cautiously moved forward while staying alert to her surroundings.
Then she saw a slender figure emerge from the kitchen area, wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
At the moment their eyes met, the person clearly froze. Standing there, she showed a hesitant and uneasy expression.
Mu Xiangxiang immediately recognized her—Qiao Nan’s stepmother, Luo Meisheng. Qiao Nan had once shown her a photo on his father’s Moments feed; the real person was even more beautiful than in the picture.
But Mu Xiangxiang was in no mood to appreciate anyone’s beauty. Beneath her calm exterior, waves of panic were already rising—Qiao Nan had clearly said his family wouldn’t be back during the New Year!!!
She hadn’t even had time to prepare for battle before being suddenly dropped into the situation. What was she supposed to do now?!
And so, in the brightly lit living room of the Qiao household, the two of them stood facing each other from a distance, neither speaking for a long while.
Luo Meisheng met the deep, unreadable gaze of her stepson at the entrance. Her unease almost spilled out of her chest. It felt like, after more than a month apart, that already imposing handsome face had become even colder—so much so that she could barely handle it. It seemed that the father and elder brother not returning for the New Year had truly angered this young master.
But this time, there really was no choice. The male heads of the family had clearly planned to return to City A to spend the New Year with Qiao Nan. They had even worked nonstop for half a month to clear their schedule. No one expected that, on the eve of New Year’s Eve, a sudden problem would arise at the overseas branch. The father and son had no choice but to grab their packed suitcases and board another flight.
They spent the entire New Year period traveling across multiple time zones, and only this morning was the unstable situation finally brought under control.
Qiao Nan’s father immediately asked his wife to return first to check on things—yesterday, the housekeeper had called to say that Qiao Nan had smashed the living room again and then disappeared.
Breaking things was minor. What worried his father most was that, in a fit of rage, his youngest son might harm himself.
Luo Meisheng opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she wasn’t sure how to begin—because she knew very well that Qiao Nan might not have the patience to listen.
This child had been hostile toward them for many years. Ever since she married into the Qiao family, she had never seen him give her a good face. Back then, he was still young, and everyone assumed it was just temporary adjustment issues. His father was also busy with work, so no one took it too seriously.
By the time they realized how serious the problem was, it was already too late.
His older brother was better—after going through his rebellious phase, he gradually realized his bias and changed his attitude.
But Qiao Nan had completely gone down a dead end. His hostility expanded from his stepmother to his father, and eventually even his once-close brother was not spared.
To be honest, Luo Meisheng roughly understood part of the reason. When she and Qiao Nan’s father had just married, both were busy with work and had no time to care for the children, so Qiao Nan and his brother Qiao Rui were sent to relatives for a period of time. In a large extended family, it was inevitable that gossip and rumors would spread.
She felt helpless, because even now there were still people whispering behind her back, saying she had latched onto the Qiao family before Qiao Nan’s mother passed away. And seeing how Qiao Nan looked at her—with undisguised hostility—and how he would start smashing things within minutes even around his father and brother, it was not hard to imagine what kind of image he had formed of his family in his mind.
Luo Meisheng thought a lot in that instant, and after weighing everything, she still decided to stay quiet like a “chicken.” The child had finally come home after so long, yet still carried that frosty, unapproachable attitude. If she provoked him and made him run off again to race motorcycles or drink, his father and older brother would only worry more.
So Luo Meisheng broke the standoff first. She took a step back, deliberately showing a submissive stance.
Mu Xiangxiang, who still hadn’t figured out what to do: “????”
Her face remained perfectly still, but her mind was working at lightning speed as she desperately recalled the information she and Qiao Nan had exchanged. Regarding each other’s families, their conversation had gone something like this—
[Mu Xiangxiang: “Besides my parents, I also have a younger brother. You’ll probably run into them often after you go back. But it’s fine—I don’t talk much usually, so just try to minimize interaction with them.”]
And what had Qiao Nan said back then?
Oh, right—he had said something like:
“Tch, that’s great. I don’t like talking to my family either.”
And after saying that, he had even looked up at the ceiling with a mocking expression and let out a cold laugh.
End of memory.
From this, Mu Xiangxiang analyzed and quickly reached a conclusion within seconds: her relationship with Qiao Nan’s family was probably about the same as his relationship with hers!
So before Luo Meisheng could completely turn and leave, she tried to fix the dead silence caused by her earlier mental blank. Leaning on the shoe cabinet while changing shoes, she casually said, “I’m back.”
Luo Meisheng: !!!!!????
She spun around like a top that had been whipped, her expression full of shock as she looked at her stepson.
But to keep up appearances, Mu Xiangxiang’s gaze was still fixed on her shoes and did not meet hers.
Luo Meisheng almost thought that greeting—so natural, like something between normal family members—was just her imagination. But then, after changing shoes, her stepson actually walked toward the stairs and spoke again: “I’m going back to my room.”
No tension, no hostility, no sarcasm!
At that moment, Luo Meisheng truly experienced what it meant to be “pleasantly surprised.” Her throat tightened and she couldn’t even speak. Only when that slender figure was about to disappear from view did she snap back to reality and respond: “…Y-you should rest early!”
She hadn’t expected any reply, but after a moment, a clear voice floated back from the stairwell: “Got it.”
Those simple three words made her eyes sting. Luo Meisheng pressed her fingers to her temples, struggling hard to keep herself from bursting into tears.
*****
Mu Xiangxiang slipped into the study and thought: That was close. She didn’t even bother looking for her winter break homework in the drawers and quickly pulled out her phone.
[Mu: “Your stepmother is back.”]
[Qiao Nan: “!!??”]
One second later, the phone rang. Mu Xiangxiang answered.
Qiao Nan: “What’s going on? Didn’t she say she wouldn’t be back before the New Year?”
Mu Xiangxiang: “You’re asking me?”
“……” Qiao Nan paused. “She didn’t bother you, did she? Just don’t pay her too much attention.”
Mu Xiangxiang thought back and confirmed she had only said twelve words the entire time—her level of silence had been even more extreme than when she was with her own family. She hesitated a little. “I barely spoke to her. Would that be too cold?”
Hearing this, Qiao Nan relaxed. “It’s fine. Being cold is exactly right.”
The two young people, completely unaware that there had been a flaw in their information exchange, happily ended the conversation. Mu Xiangxiang concluded that her analysis was correct, so she felt at ease and began doing Qiao Nan’s winter break homework as a way to relax.
*****
After hanging up, Qiao Nan let out a breath of relief. The moment he saw Mu Xiangxiang’s message earlier, he had almost jumped up on the dining table in panic.
Now that he realized the crisis was over, he relaxed as well, shifting from standing to squatting on the edge of a flowerbed.
Of course, calls like that couldn’t be made in front of people.
The urban village at night was pitch dark, even the streetlights seeming dimmer than outside. Cold wind hit his face. Thinking about his family situation again, his irritation started to rise.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cigarettes and lighter, planning to have one to calm himself down.
But just as he was about to open the pack, a hesitant voice came from not far ahead: “Xiangxiang?”
Qiao Nan instinctively looked up—and saw a middle-aged woman in a thick padded coat walking toward them from a distance. The moment her face was illuminated by the streetlight, his scalp went numb.
Mu Xiangxiang’s mother, who had just finished her last part-time job of the day, saw that the person squatting on the flowerbed was indeed her daughter. She gave a gentle smile full of concern and walked closer, reaching out to touch her daughter’s cold face. “Silly child, why are you squatting outside in such cold weather?”
Qiao Nan quickly hid the cigarette pack behind his back. “Uh…”
But Mu Xiangxiang’s mother had already made up her own explanation. Feeling guilty, she pinched her daughter’s ear lightly and took off her scarf to wrap it around her. “Were you waiting for Mom to come home? I’m sorry, I really came back a bit late today.”
The scarf still carried body heat. A faint, strange, long-lost scent—something familiar that could perhaps be called “mother’s smell”—spread in the air.
Qiao Nan’s mind went completely blank. One of his hands was gently taken by this woman—who felt even more overly affectionate than Mu Xiangxiang’s father—and she led him toward the gate.
The grip was actually very light.
But at that moment, Qiao Nan felt like he couldn’t break free at all.
Half an hour later, while Mu Xiangxiang was still furiously writing, her phone vibrated again. She glanced at it—
[Qiao Nan: “You! Owe me!”]
Again.
Frowning, Mu Xiangxiang sent a string of question marks.
A moment later, several photos came through. She opened them—and froze slightly in surprise.
In the images, a crumpled cigarette box lay pitifully in a trash can.
[Qiao Nan: “No smoking anywhere near your parents. OK?”]
Mu Xiangxiang picked up her phone, deleted and edited her reply several times—but in the end, she only sent a few words:
[Mu: “Thank you.”]
Again?! How was she supposed to respond to that! Qiao Nan squatted in front of the trash can, feeling like an idiot. In the end, he didn’t throw his phone away. Instead, with his long hair still a mess from his own frustrated tugging, he replied coldly—
[Qiao Nan: “No need. I just wanted a haircut. It’s an equivalent exchange with you.”]
A haircut?
Mu Xiangxiang blinked. She didn’t think much of it and casually replied: Sure, let’s do it tomorrow then.
After sending that message, Qiao Nan went silent again. Mu Xiangxiang waited a while, and seeing that the phone screen no longer lit up, she went back to burying herself in a sea of knowledge.
While she was furiously writing, she didn’t notice that the slightly ajar door of the study had been quietly pushed open a little. A figure stood outside, peeking in through the gap.
It was Qiao Nan’s stepmother, Luo Meisheng.
After her initial excitement, recalling her stepson’s attitude toward her today, she couldn’t help but feel a bit worried despite her happiness.
Concerned that something might be wrong with him, she thought it over and decided to secretly take a look.
And just that one glance—she saw something utterly unbelievable.
The young master of the Qiao family was actually—VERY—SERIOUSLY—DOING—HOMEWORK!
Luo Meisheng felt dizzy with shock. She staggered downstairs and, still mentally blank, called her husband.
A few seconds later, the voice of the Qiao family patriarch—an otherwise undefeated businessman—rang out from the phone in shock: “What! What did you say?! Nan Nan is actually studying?!”
Luo Meisheng replied tremblingly: “Yes! And today he even greeted me! Very politely too!”
“Oh my god——”
The couple, separated by an ocean, began crying into the phone.
Mu Xiangxiang, who vaguely thought she heard something strange: ????
Probably just an illusion. She tapped her pen against her temple and went back to the pile of practice problems that had accumulated heavily over the holiday—because some “animal” had done absolutely zero work all winter break.
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