Chapter 45 [VIP]
"It's not like we've been apart for a long time, it's just been a winter break." Pei Xingzhi was somewhat relieved that his past social interactions had honed his strong heart and thick skin, allowing him to still crack a few jokes in this situation.
“I…” Xie Nanyi wasn’t amused by his words. He paused, as if hesitating about how to begin. While organizing his thoughts, Xie Nanyi noticed the box Pei Xingzhi was carrying.
Are you going out?
"Ah... I need to go deliver some food to Chu Ling." Pei Xingzhi's mind also drifted away with Xie Nanyi's arrival; upon seeing him, he even forgot what he was planning to do.
"Okay...go ahead." Xie Nanyi stepped aside to make way, then asked hesitantly, "Are you...coming back tonight?"
“I should… come back…” Pei Xingzhi replied, equally hesitant.
"I'm leaving first. Chu Ling must be hungry. Have you had dinner? If not, you can have some. I did my homework too late tonight and was a bit hungry, so I bought a lot. There's food on the table, but I haven't eaten yet. You can eat first. I'm leaving now. I've been dragging this out for too long; Chu Ling will be nagging me." Pei Xingzhi had lost the ability to organize his thoughts; whatever came to mind just came out of his mouth, without any logic whatsoever.
Fortunately, Xie Nanyi seemed to be in the same boat as him. After hearing Pei Xingzhi's nonsensical words, he also asked a question.
Have you eaten?
"I've already eaten." Pei Xingzhi nodded, picked up the food box and walked towards the door. Xie Nanyi followed his movements into the dormitory, and the two passed each other, their positions reversed.
"I'm leaving now."
"Come back soon."
"Um."
After their strange conversation ended, Pei Xingzhi stepped into the elevator and closed the door. Xie Nanyi's face disappeared from his sight, and Pei Xingzhi instantly felt all his strength drain away. It felt as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out, but instead of excruciating pain, he felt a profound and inexplicable emptiness.
He was forced to reunite with him before he was ready to say goodbye. If he could, he would never want to see Xie Nanyi again. Strictly speaking, they couldn't even be considered forced into marriage after a breakup, because they didn't have a real relationship. Similar cases were so rare that he didn't even have the opportunity to find a reference.
No one had told him how to handle this kind of problem, and there were no answers in textbooks. He could only rely on his limited experience to figure out how to solve it. He thought he was more rational than emotional, and that he only needed to treat Xie Nanyi as a stepping stone to climb higher.
But the facts show that he clearly did not do a good enough job.
Putting aside his wandering thoughts, Pei Xingzhi leaned against the elevator wall, forcing himself to calm down. His only bottom line in this deal was rationality; he couldn't let emotions cloud his judgment.
The elevator doors opened and closed, closed and opened again. Pei Xingzhi, crouching inside, suddenly didn't know what to do next. What was he just about to do? Why was his mind completely blank?
Oh right, he was going to deliver food to Chu Ling.
The elevator doors opened again, and Pei Xingzhi took a deep breath, tidied his messy hair in front of the mirror, and made himself look no different from usual.
It all happened so suddenly. He hadn't even told Chu Ling about moving back. Appearing before him like this, he wondered what Chu Ling would think. If Chu Ling knew he had not only reconciled with Xie Nanyi but also planned to marry him, Chu Ling would probably want to kill him.
Thinking of this, Pei Xingzhi couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that his choices had never gone according to his wishes.
The confession with Chu Ling was inevitable sooner or later. Pei Xingzhi hesitated at the door for a long time before finally raising his hand and knocking. He prayed in his heart that the person who opened the door wouldn't be Chu Ling's roommate, otherwise his bad luck today would break all records.
Despite thinking this, Pei Xingzhi still lacked confidence. He only lightly rubbed the door with his bent index finger, making a faint "knock-knock" sound. He bit his lip in annoyance, but didn't have the courage to knock again.
He suddenly realized that his current concern was not because he was afraid of Chu Ling's blame, but because he was grieving for his pitiful self-esteem.
He didn't want to lose his last shred of self-respect in front of his friends.
Pei Xingzhi lowered his head, and a tear slid from his eye to the ground, instantly disappearing into the beige carpet.
Pei Xingzhi turned to leave, but the door opened at an inopportune moment. Pei Xingzhi subconsciously turned back, only to be met with Xie Nanyi's face.
"you……"
"Why are you back so quickly?"
Their voices rang out simultaneously. Xie Nanyi's eyes showed the same surprise as his. Pei Xingzhi looked at his face and thought for a moment before belatedly realizing that he seemed to have forgotten to press the elevator button.
He shouldn't have thought that way; it would have been better if Chu Ling's roommate had opened the door. It's all Xie Nanyi's fault for making such a basic mistake.
"I...I forgot to bring my cutlery. There aren't any cutlery in Chu Ling's dorm. I'll come back and get some." Pei Xingzhi tucked a stray hair behind his ear to cover up his mistake, and the slight turn of his head revealed his thin chin and slender neck.
He seems to have lost some weight.
Before Pei Xingzhi could reply, he walked past him, went straight to the restaurant, grabbed the cutlery, and slipped out. Just as he reached the door, Xie Nanyi, who was blocking the doorway and hadn't moved, grabbed his clothes.
"What's wrong?" Pei Xingzhi asked, puzzled.
"Chu Ling isn't here tonight, so you don't need to go." As if afraid he might overthink things, Xie Nanyi added, "He and Shen Lichuan are going to a seminar tonight."
Shen Lichuan? Pei Xingzhi paused, searching his memory for any recollection of that name. After a long search, he finally remembered that he was Chu Ling's roommate. Xie Nanyi knew Chu Ling's roommate. Pei Xingzhi glanced at Xie Nanyi, something suddenly flashing through his mind, but then vanished in an instant.
These wealthy people all belong to the same circle, so it's not surprising that they know each other.
Xie Nanyi had already said that Chu Ling wasn't there, so there was no point in Pei Xingzhi making another trip to confirm. The dinner he had ordered was still set out the way it was before he left, and Xie Nanyi didn't eat it.
Xie Nanyi didn't want to eat, but he did. He had experienced too much these past few days and needed to replenish his energy.
He didn't bother to politely ask Xie Nanyi if she wanted to eat together; he simply placed a set of cutlery next to her and let her choose for herself.
As soon as he sat down, Xie Nanyi sat down opposite him. Pei Xingzhi didn't say anything, and Xie Nanyi just silently watched him eat.
Pei Xingzhi appeared indifferent on the surface, but inwardly he felt utterly disgusted, and his composure was about to crumble.
"I'm sorry." Xie Nanyi suddenly apologized without any apparent reason.
"What?" Pei Xingzhi put down his chopsticks and looked up to meet his gaze. "What are you apologizing for? The kidnapping of me by your father, or the forced marriage I was forced to marry you?"
"Yes, I have both." Xie Nanyi apologized, but her face showed the detached indifference that Pei Xingzhi hated most. "I knew he would use such a radical method to force you. I told him to be gentler, but I'm sorry, he didn't do that."
"If you're apologizing for this, there's no need. I don't want to hear these meaningless excuses." He had expected to hear Xie Nanyi complain about her father, but instead, he was expressing his disapproval of his methods.
Pei Xingzhi could no longer deceive himself; he and his father were essentially the same kind of people, birds of a feather, and he had only been making excuses for Xie Nanyi.
"I didn't mean to force you; he misunderstood me." Xie Nanyi placed the two pieces together on the table, no longer showing the bewilderment she had when the two had just reunited.
"Are you saying this wasn't your intention?" Pei Xingzhi sneered. What kind of filter did he have on Xie Nanyi in the past to think that this Celestial Dragon respected him?
"Not entirely. Xiaozhi, whatever you want, I will give it to you."
"What if I ask you to cancel the marriage agreement with me in the contract?"
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"Ha, Xie Nanyi, you're so hypocritical." Pei Xingzhi lost his appetite after hearing Xie Nanyi's words. He didn't want to listen to Xie Nanyi's self-righteous talk anymore, so he snorted and got up to leave.
"Xie Nanyi, our relationship is a transaction, and only a transaction. Don't fantasize that anything else will happen between us; it's impossible."
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