Chapter 38 [VIP]

"Um?"

The doctor's blunt words made Pei Xingzhi's eyes widen, and even his voice changed as he spoke. "Take...take off what! There's no need to take it all off."

"Pei, there's no need to be shy. I'm just conducting a routine check-up." Upon hearing this, the doctor took two steps back to keep his distance, and his gentlemanly demeanor only made Pei Xingzhi seem overly sensitive.

"Do I have to be completely naked? Why do I have to be naked to check for marks?" Pei Xingzhi questioned again. What kind of examination requires you to be completely naked? This doctor is clearly taking advantage of him. He has reason to doubt whether this is a legitimate examination.

“Student Pei, the mark isn’t just on your exposed skin. It could also be on your thighs, waist, back, or even… buttocks.” The doctor said this rather shameless thing in a helpless tone, as if he really was an upright doctor.

There were other students in line behind him. Afraid of wasting too much time, Pei Xingzhi reluctantly took off his shirt under the doctor's gaze. When he touched his pants, Pei Xingzhi looked up and met the doctor's stare.

He had never had an imprinting examination before and was unsure if the current procedure was correct, but his intuition told him that the doctor in front of him was definitely not a good person.

"And pants," the doctor prompted.

"Let's examine him like this first. Why do you always make people take their pants off?" Pei Xingzhi's tone was reproachful. The "doctor," afraid that he would really piss off if he continued, said, "Okay."

The doctor walked over to Pei Xingzhi, pinched his chin, and forced him to open his mouth. Pei Xingzhi's glasses darted around nervously, not understanding the meaning of his action.

“Let me check your teeth,” the dentist explained, his hand suddenly tightening its grip on his cheek. “You have… a tongue piercing?”

"What's wrong with wearing a tongue piercing?" Pei Xingzhi glared at him and subconsciously stuck out his tongue.

His initial purpose in getting his tongue pierced was simply to leave a bad impression on Xie Nanyi, but it eventually became a habit. Since being with Xie Nanyi, he'd switched to a less noticeable transparent color. However, he'd recently come across a color he really liked and changed it this morning before leaving the house.

"It was just a bit of a surprise." Xie Nanyi released her grip on his chin and chuckled softly. "So you're this rebellious."

When did Pei Xingzhi get his tongue piercing? After he took Zhuang Xiaoyue's place, he was almost always by her side, and Pei Xingzhi never had a chance to leave her sight. So it must have been before Zhuang Xiaoyue left.

He hadn't even noticed something that happened so long ago.

Pei Xingzhi's tongue piercing was quite beautiful; the small red ball was attached to his tongue, and his face matched the flamboyant design perfectly.

It's also quite erotic.

Pei Xingzhi naturally didn't miss his clingy gaze. His words made Pei Xingzhi's lips twitch involuntarily. What era is this? How can people still judge others based on stereotypes?

"Are you going to get checked or not?" The doctor had taken too long and kept touching him inappropriately, so Pei Xingzhi's goodwill towards him plummeted, and he naturally didn't give him a friendly look.

"Let's start the check now. Put your hands down from your chest first." After all that dawdling, Xie Nanyi finally picked up the notebook and began the check.

Pei Xingzhi glared at him and reluctantly lowered his hands.

“Marks…good, no marks.” Xie Nanyi circled Pei Xingzhi while writing something in her notebook. “No scars on his body either…ah!”

"What exactly do you want! Can't you just check properly?!"

The moment Xie Nanyi's hand touched Pei Xingzhi's back, he was thrown to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw. Pei Xingzhi frowned, twisted Xie Nanyi's arm behind his back, and straddled him with his right arm against Xie Nanyi's neck.

"With this little skill, you think you can commit indecent assault? Where's your medical license?"

The "doctor" pinned beneath him remained silent. Pei Xingzhi clicked his tongue, grabbed the clothes placed beside the bed, quickly put them on, and pulled the man up by the hair.

"Say something! Weren't you full of energy just now?"

“Pei Xiaozhi…” the doctor said, and the familiar voice made Pei Xingzhi pause for a moment.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Xie Nanyi broke free from his grasp, sat up, took off her mask, and complained, "Why are you only so ruthless with me?"

"Xie Nanyi?" Pei Xingzhi never expected that the unscrupulous doctor would be Xie Nanyi. He put his hand to his lips and then put it down, as if he wanted to say something but did not speak.

Xie Nanyi appeared here.

This seems to explain why the engraving inspection was suddenly scheduled today.

"Yes, it's me." Xie Nanyi rubbed the spot where she had been bumped, and as usual, pulled Pei Xingzhi's hand to her face. "Why do you always hit me so hard? It really hurts, my face is all swollen."

Pei Xingzhi frowned and shook off his hand, took a deep breath to suppress his anger, and tried his best to talk to him calmly.

"Xie Nanyi, why are you here?"

"Let me check for you." Xie Nanyi rubbed her wrist and came closer again, answering him with a grin, not forgetting to add a wink. Her carefree demeanor clearly showed that she hadn't noticed Pei Xingzhi's emotions.

"Why are you the one checking me?"

"Because I wanted to help you check. Xiao Zhi, wouldn't you let me see? Did you hide my name so I wouldn't find out?" Xie Nanyi said in a light tone, thinking about the name on Pei Xingzhi's chest.

Pei Xingzhi's pent-up anger finally erupted after he finished speaking. He pushed Xie Nanyi away, stood up, and looked down at him.

"I'm really curious what I did to offend you that you keep making such a mess of my life without my consent!"

"Xiao Zhi, I..." Xie Nanyi was suddenly pushed to the ground by him, and her reaction was a beat slow.

"Never mind." Pei Xingzhi turned his head to calm himself down, and turned away before Xie Nanyi could answer. "I don't know why you're conducting this imprinting test, but Xie Nanyi, I've said before that I'm not your imprinter, not before, not now, and never will be. I only consider you a friend. If you think you can make me accept this slowly in this way, Xie Nanyi, you've misunderstood."

"Xiao Zhi, I..." Xie Nanyi wanted to explain, but Pei Xingzhi didn't give him a chance to speak at all.

“I am not your imprinter, not your appendage, I am myself, I am Pei Xingzhi.”

"Xie Nanyi, if you're only approaching me because of the mark, then you should find another target as soon as possible."

Pei Xingzhi picked up the coat that had just fallen to the ground and added one more sentence before leaving.

This test seemed to be prepared just for him. Pei Xingzhi walked out of the cubicle, and his line had already been led to the other two sides.

Having absentmindedly completed the remaining tests, Pei Xingzhi walked out of the teaching area, suddenly unsure of where to go.

That's the downside of breaking up with your live-in partner; he doesn't even have the courage to go back.

As more and more students finished their tests and came out, Pei Xingzhi, standing alone, looked even more pitiful.

This morning when he left, Xie Nanyi was still clinging to him, telling him to come back early. But it's only noon now, and he already has nowhere to go.

Why is it that whenever he tries to forget this, Xie Nanyi always tells him in the most straightforward way that she only got close to him because of the mark on his body?

But he did not carve the mark.

Pei Xingzhi looked at his smooth wrist—there was nothing there, no name of Xie Nanyi, no mark that Xie Nanyi had mentioned.

He didn't even have a chance to deceive himself.

Pei Xingzhi squatted down, burying his head in his knees, but he didn't know what emotions he should have.

He had no right to complain about Xie Nanyi, because he too had despicably enjoyed his relationship with Xie Nanyi that crossed the line of "friendship".

"Pei Xingzhi?" Before Pei Xingzhi could even process his grief, Chu Ling's voice interrupted him.

"Chu Ling, what are you doing here?" Pei Xingzhi quickly wiped away his tears and stood up as if nothing had happened.

"You...cried?" Chu Ling was never good at reading the room and couldn't even say a tactful thing.

"Chu Ling—" Now that they had been discovered, Pei Xingzhi no longer hid his emotions and directly hugged Chu Ling and burst into tears in the street.

Chu Ling patted his back, somewhat regretting that she had interrupted Pei Xingzhi's emotional outpouring too early.

"Alright, alright, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry." Chu Ling mechanically comforted Pei Xingzhi, but Pei Xingzhi did not calm down as he expected. Instead, he cried even harder.

"Chu Ling, do you think I was being really mean? He was so good to me, and I treated him like that." Chu Ling stayed by Pei Xingzhi's side for as long as he cried. When he finally stopped crying, Pei Xingzhi started pouring out his heartbreak about love again.

Chu Ling sighed, looking up at the sky. In his opinion, Pei Xingzhi's only mistake was being too indulgent with Xie Nanyi. How could he have tolerated that young master for so long?

"You're not wrong, he's the one who's wrong." These were Chu Ling's true feelings.

"But I think I went a bit too far with him. Was what I said today too harsh?"

"No, no, it's just right."

“But I’ve also gone too far. I rejected him, yet I let him do all sorts of things for me and kept taking advantage of him. Chu Ling, am I particularly bad?” Pei Xingzhi said, his brows furrowing as he was about to cry again.

Chu Ling quickly covered his mouth and continued to patiently persuade him, "It's not your fault. Xie Nanyi was never a good person to begin with. What you did was to punish evil and promote good."

70% of the things Pei Xingzhi has encountered recently were created by Xie Nanyi. So what if he takes up some of his resources? That's what Xie Nanyi was supposed to give him anyway.

“But Xie Nanyi isn’t that bad, is he?” Pei Xingzhi sniffed and defended Xie Nanyi, “He’s actually quite good to me. You seem to have a prejudice against Xie Nanyi as well.”

"Xie Nanyi has a problem with me?" Chu Ling's fake smile disappeared, and he glanced at Pei Xingzhi from the side.

"No, no, he has no problem with you." Pei Xingzhi realized he had misspoke and hurriedly explained for Xie Nanyi.

“It’s nothing,” Chu Ling chuckled. “I also have a lot of opinions about him.”

"Chu Ling... are you... are you angry?" Pei Xingzhi asked weakly. Why was he so unlucky today? He had offended both of them at once.

"No, I knew he didn't like me all along." He and Xie Nanyi were at most business partners, but Pei Xingzhi's words gave him a strange and indescribable feeling. He thought Pei Xingzhi would always stand on his side, but he didn't expect that this man had been turned against him by Xie Nanyi at some point.

Even though she was hurt by Xie Nanyi, she still turned around and spoke up for Xie Nanyi.

"So you've forgiven Xie Nanyi now?" Just in case, Chu Ling asked again.

“I don’t know.” Pei Xingzhi shook his head, resting his head on his knees in confusion. “Actually, I’m not in a position to forgive. I just want to know if Xie Nanyi’s approach to me was solely because of the mark. What if he had some other reason…”

What if it's because he's fallen for him?

It's not impossible, is it?

"Pei Xingzhi." Chu Ling suddenly spoke up as she looked at Pei Xingzhi, who was deep in thought with his head in his hands. "Why don't you move back in and continue living with me?"

A note from the author:

To add

Only Xie Nanyi can see Pei Xiaozhi's mark!