Chapter 36: A Warm-Hearted Young Man
In the crowded outpatient registration hall, a beautiful girl in the prime of youth suddenly dropped to her knees on the floor, drawing countless shocked stares from the people around them.
After several seconds of this, Mu Xiangxiang hesitantly stepped forward. “...Are you okay?”
Qiao Nan grabbed the arm she offered to help him up and wobbled back to his feet. The moment he straightened up, he met those crystal-clear eyes.
There was faint concern hidden deep within them.
“...” At that moment, Qiao Nan suddenly began to understand what was so terrifying about a long-haired, straight-haired girl like her. He swallowed and hurriedly tried to save face. “This damn floor is way too slippery.”
Mu Xiangxiang believed him immediately and glanced at the floor of the hall. “Probably rainwater people tracked in from outside. You really do have to be careful.”
They used Qiao Nan’s card to pay. The two of them stood squeezed among the noisy family members crowding the payment counter while Qiao Nan endured the headache-inducing noise, grumbling furiously inside—
[Bookworm!]
[What does she mean by ‘what’s the point of me living’? Was she serious or was that aimed at me?]
[That was a threat, right?]
[Right?!]
[What kind of outdated thinking is this? If your grades suck, you don’t even deserve to live anymore?]
[She’s seriously underestimating people. Back when I was at Yingcheng, I was one of the top students, too! If it weren’t for transferring schools later, plus all the recent crap with the basketball team taking up my time so I couldn’t review properly…]
[Yan Zhiyang and Jiang Hai, those bastards!]
[And so what if I haven’t been reviewing? Has she been training properly? I touched them myself last time—her abs are way softer than before. Don’t even try to deny it.]
[Just wait. I’m absolutely going to use this to make her too ashamed to show her face.]
Thinking this, Qiao Nan’s gaze swept rapidly across Mu Xiangxiang’s waist and stomach. His earlier guilty nervousness suddenly sharpened into aggression. Mu Xiangxiang took back the card and receipt, lowered her head to confirm the amount, then handed them to him. Seeing his expression as though he were about to confront her, she paused slightly. “What’s wrong?” Was there something he wanted to tell her?
The next second, she watched helplessly as his hand suddenly reached out and—in broad daylight, in the middle of a public place—pinched her stomach.
Mu Xiangxiang: “...”
Qiao Nan: “...”
Mu Xiangxiang’s ears reddened slightly. “...What are you doing?”
The instant the words left her mouth, Qiao Nan jerked his hand back as if burned and immediately turned around and walked away.
Damn it.
Worst case scenario—He’d just go home.
And study until midnight.
Like hell he was scared of her.
He couldn’t believe he’d actually bought into her nonsense.
...Though her abs really did seem softer.
The warmth that lingered at his fingertips through the fabric.
Warm and soft.
****
Class 9 of No. 12 High School. That morning, the long-empty seats by the back window finally welcomed back their long-absent owners.
Most of the students in Class 9 could hardly believe their eyes when they saw those familiar faces—The school bosses who had supposedly dropped out had all returned together!
And they were all present for morning self-study too—a class they would normally skip without exception!
Yet they appeared so naturally, as if they had never left at all. Aside from looking thinner and more worn out, they were even properly wearing No. 12 High School’s ugly, tacky uniforms. Every single one of them looked freshly buzz-cut, radiating a neat and clean appearance.
It was as if they’d been sent away for some kind of reformation. From their eyes to their demeanor, they seemed like entirely different people.
Even more shocking—
They were actually holding textbooks in a classroom without teachers supervising them—
AND RECITING ENGLISH.
After the initial shock, the students of Class Nine swarmed around them, surrounding the delinquent boys who were wildly popular throughout both their class and the entire school.
Holding a textbook in his hands, Yan Zhiyang awkwardly ran a hand over his hair beneath everyone’s concerned gazes. His freshly shaved scalp felt pleasantly cool. After spending so many days looking filthy and miserable outside, he no longer thought the pot-lid bangs he used to stubbornly keep in violation of school rules looked cool at all. Instead, the feeling of shaving them off had been far more memorable.
As the strands of hair fell away, it had felt like a layer of fog covering his vision was slowly being lifted, making the world before him suddenly much clearer.
That morning before he left home, his mother had still nagged endlessly, afraid he’d catch cold with his shaved head, insisting on making him wear a hat.
Standing in his orderly home dressed in warm, clean clothes, Yan Zhiyang realized for the first time that he didn’t find it annoying anymore.Actually...having people willing to care about and look after you felt really nice.
Old Mo entered the classroom cheerfully. His gaze swept across the unusually energetic students before deliberately avoiding lingering too long on the lively corner. Carrying a thick stack of practice exams, he announced— “Alright, class committee members, come help pass these mock exam papers out. Starting today, our class can’t stay so lazy anymore. Within the next two weeks, we’re going to finish this entire set.”
The students froze for a moment before immediately breaking into horrified wails.
Class 9 had always been the most relaxed class in the entire grade when it came to academics. Old Mo barely placed any restrictions on their grades at all. Whether they studied or not, no matter how badly they performed at finals, they would still rank at the very bottom of the second-year classes anyway. So, amidst the tense academic pressure of high school life, the atmosphere in Class Nine had always been as carefree as a hidden utopia.
Public high schools always faced enormous pressure regarding college admissions. Among all the classes across the three grades of No. 12 High, even first-year students had already started doing mock exams and reviewing middle-school material. Only Class 9 of the second year had escaped that fate.
Naturally, the students loved this special treatment. If it could continue forever, they could just coast through all three years in total comfort.
So this sudden change in treatment immediately triggered endless complaints—
“No way, Old Mo—”
“Come on, spare us! What’s the point of doing all this stuff anyway?!”
Old Mo was well-liked in the class, but he didn’t command much authority. Amid the room full of groans, even the class committee members and subject representatives were pounding their desks and joining the protest.
Then, amid the noise, several figures suddenly stood up.
The room instantly fell silent. Under countless gazes, Yan Zhiyang and several of his brothers walked toward the podium and silently took the stack of papers from Old Mo’s arms.
Old Mo looked at his students—who now appeared far more mature in both appearance and manner than before—with gratified eyes. “Work hard from now on,” he said. “You’re doing this for yourselves.”
Yan Zhiyang had heard similar words countless times before. But only now did he truly understand what they meant. He smiled at Old Mo. “Got it.”
Then he turned around and kicked a desk expressionlessly. “Everyone get back to your seats.”
The gang leaders of the worst-performing class carried far more authority than the homeroom teacher ever did, so even though the students were reluctant, they quickly obeyed. After Yan Zhiyang and the others handed out the exam papers, they quietly returned to their seats and began flipping through them.
Their strange transformation naturally stirred suspicion among many classmates. The room stayed silent for a long while until Old Mo left, when someone finally gathered the courage to creep back over. “...Brother Yan, Brother Yan, wanna play cards?”
Yan Zhiyang, along with Guo Zhi and the others around him, all lifted their heads to look at him.
The boy who’d made the invitation stiffened. Half a minute later, he watched as the gang leaders slowly broke into smiles.
“If you’ve got a death wish, feel free to try.”
*****
Mu Xiangxiang had finally returned to the environment she was most familiar with. A classroom that remained quiet both during class and after class; even during breaks, desks were still crowded with students bent over practice problems. Everywhere there were the faint sounds of vocabulary recitation and pen tips scratching across paper.
The feeling was deeply comforting.
Yan Zhiyang and the others seemed to have truly come to their senses. Their sudden dedication to studying didn’t look like a mere three-minute burst of enthusiasm. Thinking about their equally poor families and the parents who had placed all their hopes in them, Mu Xiangxiang was genuinely glad to see them becoming motivated, so whenever she had spare time from studying herself, she would often help guide them.
The sheer breadth of her knowledge completely overwhelmed Yan Zhiyang and his group of followers—no one besides them could understand the urge to kneel down and call her “Dad.”
And only Yan Zhiyang and the others themselves understood that ever since the withdrawal incident, “Brother Nan” no longer held the weight of merely “a cool older bro they hung around with.”
Their rebellious phase had vanished overnight. After truly tasting the bitterness of the adult world, they finally understood what the wrong step they had nearly taken actually meant.
That brief period when Brother Nan had persuaded the school to let them “live independently” might become the most important turning point of their entire lives. Every lesson they learned from it would become an inseparable part of who they were.
Their parents had been right. This wasn’t just a “friend.” Not just a “big brother.”
He was a “benefactor.”
The depth and weight of that kindness was probably something they could never repay in their lifetimes.
All they could do was refuse to waste everything he had arranged for them—study hard and become decent people.
After finishing her explanation, Mu Xiangxiang looked up and met the boys’ eyes, now shining even brighter than before. She froze briefly, then habitually reached over and ruffled a few heads.
At that moment, a light knock sounded from the doorway. Looking up, she saw the figure of a middle-aged man standing there.
Guo Zhi, who had been working on problems, immediately threw down his pen and stood up on his crutches in shock. “Dad!”
The middle-aged man, who in his memories had always been violent-tempered and fierce, awkwardly tugged at the hem of his shirt and tried hard to pull out an unfamiliar smile toward his son. “...Your leg still hasn’t healed. Your mom told me to bring you some bone broth for lunch.”
The rich aroma of the soup filled the entire classroom. Guo Zhi lowered his head, ears reddening slightly, and drank the huge thermos clean to the last drop.
It seemed like everything really was getting better.
After class, Mu Xiangxiang stood staring absentmindedly at the sky. Warm sunset light poured over her as she carried her schoolbag, remembering that father who had tried so hard to show kindness to his child. Before she realized it, she had wandered to a beautifully landscaped residential complex.
A budding flower branch stretched out through the courtyard fence. Through the gaps in the railing, she could see lush greenery and neat modern high-rises inside.
Well-off little children, their faces carefree, ran screaming and laughing through the playground as they chased each other around.
This place felt completely different from the urban village she was used to. Mu Xiangxiang stood there for a long time. Her gaze drifted away from those children, whose upbringing was obviously nothing like hers, and settled on the curved sign above the complex gate in the distance.
The calligraphy was bold and flowing.
This was the Mu family’s new home.
She missed them so much. It had already been such a long, long time since she’d seen her parents.
Her mother, who always sneaked into her room late at night to tuck her blanket back around her. Her father, who unfailingly sat downstairs weaving bamboo baskets while waiting for her to come home. Even her rebellious younger brother, whom she only saw a few times a week and who always acted cold and disdainful toward her whenever they met. The people who had once been such natural fixtures in her life had suddenly vanished, and Mu Xiangxiang realized she might care about them even more deeply than she’d imagined.
Qiao Nan’s family was also lovable, gentle, and easy to get along with, but it was different.
Even if Qiao Nan’s father was more capable and wealthier, that stooped and frail figure was still utterly irreplaceable in Mu Xiangxiang’s heart.
She had always been someone good at restraining her emotions. But sometimes longing multiplied without warning, growing so intense it became impossible to suppress.
At times, on impulse, she even wanted to throw caution to the wind and come back just to see her family. Even if she couldn’t tell her parents the truth, she could still visit like Qiao Nan did—under the excuse of being a friend.
But she had too many concerns. She was different from Qiao Nan.
And the Mu parents were different from Qiao Nan’s father and brother, too. Mu Xiangxiang understood her parents well: if their usually solitary daughter—who didn’t even have same-sex friends—suddenly brought home a boy her own age, all the speculation that followed would absolutely terrify the couple who had warned her since elementary school not to date early.
Why give them extra worries?
Mu Xiangxiang gently touched the branch tipped with pink flower buds extending through the wall. Her gaze met the scrutinizing look of a security guard patrolling in the distance.
Security guards... there had never been security guards in the urban village.
And suddenly she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. How wonderful. Her family had moved into such a nice neighborhood.
Even if she couldn’t see them, being able to see their new home was enough. Following the information Qiao Nan had given her, Mu Xiangxiang searched the apartment building’s exterior, trying to identify which window might belong to her family. Unfortunately, she failed.
She wrinkled her nose, feeling a little disappointed and a little happy at the same time.
The windows here were so large, and the apartments had such good sunlight exposure. The rooms definitely wouldn’t be as damp as the old house, right? Dad’s health wasn’t good—his bones always hurt. He really needed more sunlight.
At this hour, according to the schedule Qiao Nan had told her about, Mom and Dad should already have packed up their stall and gone home, right?
Just imagining her parents moving around somewhere inside this building at that very moment made Mu Xiangxiang feel happy. Maybe they were turning on warm lights, with the noisy TV playing in the living room while they picked vegetables and prepared a fragrant, steaming dinner.
Even though she couldn’t be part of it herself, she still couldn’t help feeling happy for them.
And in the middle of that sweet happiness, without warning, she heard a voice behind her—a voice so familiar she wouldn’t fail to recognize it even reduced to ashes—
“Ow!”
Along with a heavy thud, she spun around sharply and immediately saw a thin man fall awkwardly to the ground near the entrance of the residential complex.
The moment Mu Xiangxiang saw that figure, her pupils contracted.
The next second, before rational thought could return, her body had already instinctively rushed toward him—
Apples and oranges rolled everywhere from his pockets. Father Mu had never expected to twist his ankle. Sitting on the ground, he was completely dazed, with only two thoughts flashing through his mind—
- It kind of hurts.
- As expected, A-Si got scammed. Those shoes she bought—some supposedly famous brand—cost a fortune, several hundred yuan a pair, yet they weren’t even as comfortable as the cloth shoes she’d handmade herself.
Then a shadow fell over him. Before the security guard who had noticed his predicament could run over, warm body heat approached him, and a pair of strong arms helped him to his feet.
The force was perfectly moderate—he didn’t feel any pain at all.
Father Mu inhaled a faint scent of body wash. Turning toward it, he met a pair of clear amber eyes.
He froze for a moment for no reason at all, and then felt the place where he had fallen being gently patted. The young man who had helped him up spoke in an unexpectedly warm voice: “…You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
Father Mu looked at him, momentarily dazed. He had a strange, dreamlike feeling, as if the handsome young man in front of him gave off a sense of familiarity.
Someone this striking should be unforgettable after just one glance.
But he couldn’t recall where he had ever seen him. Still, for no reason at all, a sense of closeness rose in his heart.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He held onto the young man’s arm, unable to stop looking at him, gratitude overflowing in his tone. “Thank you so much.”
Looking at her father, she was surprised to find that he seemed a little younger than before.
It wasn’t an illusion—his graying temples had darkened quite a bit, and now that he stood up, the change was even more obvious. His back also seemed a little straighter than before.
She then keenly noticed that her father’s entire outfit was brand new—from clothes to shoes.
It seemed like the family was doing better now. She crouched down and started picking up the fruits scattered all over the ground, her gaze on them unusually gentle.
Dad watched this “strange young man” silently help him pick things up and felt deeply moved. “Ah, you’ve really gone out of your way—thank you, thank you, I can do it myself—”
As he spoke, he tried to step forward, but the injured ankle immediately shot with pain. He cried out.
She immediately steadied him, her gaze dropping to his injured foot. Her brows furrowed. “Are you okay?”
When he insisted he was fine, she frowned even more. Without another word, she picked up the bag of fruit and walked in front of him, crouching down. “Get on. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“No, no, it’s just a small thing, what’s the hospital for! I’ll just go home!” Father Mu waved his hands repeatedly, embarrassed, trying to refuse. But she didn’t give him the chance to protest. She slipped an arm under him and lifted him onto her back.
The body she was currently using was very strong, so carrying both the fruit and a person didn’t feel difficult. She adjusted his weight slightly, then, thinking of what he had just said, asked hopefully: “…Then I’ll take you… home?”
The clean scent of body wash became even clearer. Father Mu suddenly fell silent. That familiar feeling grew stronger, almost making him feel like the person carrying him wasn’t a stranger at all.
He sighed softly, warmth spreading through his chest, unable to refuse. He gave directions, then rested on her shoulder, repeatedly thanking her: “You’re really such a kind-hearted kid! It’s rare to see someone like you these days!”
She lifted him slightly to adjust his weight and glanced sideways at him, her tone gentle: “It’s thanks to my parents teaching me well.”
“Haha!” Dad felt an inexplicable sense of pride. “Honestly, the moment I saw you, you reminded me of my daughter.”
Realizing how that sounded, he quickly added: “I don’t mean you look like a girl! I mean your vibe—my daughter is just like you, very well-behaved and steady, and she studies well too. Very capable.”
Mu Xiangxiang let out a breath; a warmth spread through her heart, and her eyes turned incredibly soft. "Your daughter is quite impressive, then."
“She goes to Yingcheng High School—you’ve heard of it, right? The best high school in our city. She got in purely on grades, didn’t cost me a cent. She studies hard and is very filial. Look at this down jacket I’m wearing, this sweater, I’ve got so many things at home—all bought by my daughter with her scholarship…”
He kept talking proudly, while she listened with a faint smile. When the elevator arrived, they reached the door facing east.
After a knock, the door opened, and a barefoot woman appeared.
She paused for two seconds, realizing something was wrong, and hurried forward. “Old Mu, what happened?”
Father Mu explained what happened, groaning slightly in pain. She set him down, quietly observing everything inside the house—from the floor to the ceiling, not missing a single detail.
The new home really was spacious. Seeing it in person, it was even nicer than in the photos. There were large floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of sunlight.
The lighting was soft, the floor looked warm. Otherwise, Mom wouldn’t be running around barefoot.
After hearing what happened, Mother Mu was extremely grateful and warmly grabbed the young man’s hands.
At the moment of contact, she froze slightly at the warmth she felt, then smiled and said: “Oh my, I really don’t know how to thank you. Do you live nearby? Don’t just stand at the door—come in and sit. My daughter should be home soon. If you don’t mind, stay for dinner tonight.”
She realized she didn’t often see her mother at this time. Her mother was always busy, working multiple jobs and usually coming home late at night.
But now she could style her hair nicely, wear a warm knitted dress, stand on a warm floor, and invite someone to dinner.
She felt she couldn’t stay any longer. If she stepped into this house, she might end up crying from happiness.
After politely refusing the dinner invitation, she left. Both parents were stunned. A moment later, Mother Mu impulsively chased after her barefoot, stuffing two apples into her hands before she left.
Standing outside the elevator, Mom felt a strange sense of loss, then laughed at herself for not understanding why.
“What a good kid,” she thought. “Feels like we’ve known him forever.”
That evening, Qiao Nan came home carrying a huge bag stuffed with the tutoring books and practice materials he'd gone on a shopping spree for at Xinhua Bookstore. The moment he stepped inside, he saw Father Mu's foot propped high on the armrest of the sofa, covered with a medicated plaster.
He froze for a moment before hurrying over. "What happened? How did you get hurt?"
Father Mu and Mother Mu had been chatting. The instant they saw "their daughter," bright smiles spread across their faces. Mother Mu waved her over. "We were just talking about it. Your dad took a fall at the entrance of the neighborhood today. A kind young man carried him all the way home on his back. Oh, we wanted to invite him in for dinner, but that kid was so polite—he absolutely refused to come inside."
Father Mu chuckled foolishly. "Yeah, that young man was really wonderful. Warm-hearted, handsome too. Really good-looking—looked just like a movie star. If you ever look for a boyfriend, that's the kind of guy you should find."
Then he slapped his thigh and looked deeply regretful. "Ah! What a pity I didn't keep him here. I should've introduced the two of you. Such an outstanding young man—I'm afraid it'll be hard to run into someone like him again. What if the two of you actually hit it off?"
Qiao Nan: "..."
The corner of his eye twitched. He let go of the bag in his hand, which had become absurdly heavy from all the study guides he'd crammed into it. It hit the floor with a dull thud. Already irritated because he'd resigned himself to pulling an all-nighter studying, his mood instantly became even fouler.
Damn it. Isn't this old man going a bit too far? Some guy carries you home once, and you already want to hand your daughter over to him? What does he take his daughter for?
"Handsome?" "Really good-looking?" "Looks like a movie star?"
Give me a break.
How many movie stars do you even know, old man? "Looks like a movie star," my ass. More like he looks like Pan Changjiang. Someone like me—universally acknowledged by every girl since childhood as blessed with heavenly looks—that's who's qualified to be called movie-star handsome, okay?
You've got no eye for beauty.
Irritably flexing his fingers until his knuckles cracked one after another, Qiao Nan thought to himself that the guy was lucky enough not to have overstayed his welcome.
Father Mu was still happily rambling on about how, if they ever happened to meet again, he'd definitely ask for the young man's contact information.
Qiao Nan snorted. A next time? Dream on.
If there is a next time, and I don't beat that brat to death, my surname isn't Qiao.
-----------------
Author's Note:
Qiao Nan [furious]: What's wrong with old men these days? Every other day they're trying to marry off their daughters!
Qiao Nan [furious]: Damn it, that brat better watch himself. If I ever run into him, I'm going to beat his head in.
Qiao Nan [furious]: And I've still got to stay up all night studying. Why is my life so damn miserable?
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