After New Year’s, it was time for final exams.
Li Yan and Feng Zhenjie were drowning in anxiety—anxious when studying, anxious when slacking off, and even more anxious when freaking out.
“Nine exams. Nine! Might as well throw in my life line and make it ten—round it up, full combo, a glorious disaster across the board!”
Li Yan was ranting in the library again after failing to snag a seat.
“I was out before dawn lining up, and still got beat! Who the hell studies this hard?!”
To be fair, it was freezing.
Just getting out of bed took willpower.
Every morning was a battle—like convincing yourself out of a warm coma.
Qi Xu couldn’t get up easily either, but at least he didn’t have to motivate himself—he had someone to do it for him.
Even better, someone organized his study notes.
As long as he could open his eyes, he could survive finals.
Feng Zhenjie complained right alongside him:
“Save me. My brain is about to explode. I never missed a single class, ran around all day—and now? These formulas look like strangers!”
Qi Xu chuckled as he flipped through a book.
“Maybe start by introducing yourself to them. Sounds like they don’t recognize you either.”
And Feng Zhenjie actually did it—leaned into the textbook and started formally introducing himself.
There was a hint of madness in the air.
Li Yan, ever the realist, couldn’t help but wonder aloud:
“We’re all human, right? So how come the two geniuses in our dorm act like the knowledge jumps into their brains by itself?”
“Qi-ge,” he said, “how do you remember so much? Don’t tell me you really have Doraemon’s memory bread or something.”
Qi Xu laughed.
“What is this, sci-fi? Memory bread?”
He tapped the side of his head. “I just remember stuff because I have memories from my past life.”
At the keyboard, Xie Huai’s hands suddenly paused.
He looked over at Qi Xu’s face—still smiling, nothing unusual.
But for some reason, a dull ache spread in his chest.
Qi Xu was smiling—genuinely, not forced.
He’d probably just made an offhand joke.
And yet… something about it gnawed at Xie Huai.
Made him feel… off.
He’d just had a full check-up six months ago—his heart was perfectly fine.
So where was this pain coming from?
Li Yan clearly took it as a joke too.
“If you had a past life, Qi-ge must’ve lived a long one—still remembering college material? Did you skip the memory-erasing soup in the afterlife?”
Qi Xu noticed the flicker in Xie Huai’s expression and quietly changed the subject.
“If you can’t get seats in the library, find an empty classroom.
The way you two study? Even gods couldn’t help you come exam day.”
The two of them took the hint and packed up to leave, even thoughtfully asking if they should bring dinner back.
Old Master Shen had arranged for nutritious meals to be delivered during finals week, knowing how stressful it’d be.
Qi Xu said,
“No need.
And don’t eat too much tonight.”
As soon as they heard that, they instantly knew something good was on the dinner menu tonight—suddenly full of energy.
People really do live for food.
Once the two left the dorm, Qi Xu walked over to Xie Huai.
“What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”
Xie Huai tugged lightly on Qi Xu’s hand, and Qi Xu instinctively straddled his lap, cupping his face to smooth out the tight furrow between his brows.
Xie Huai wrapped his arms around Qi Xu’s waist.
“Just a little tired.”
Hearing that, Qi Xu felt a wave of mixed emotions.
Lately, Xie Huai really did seem busier than usual—constantly on the phone, sometimes skipping lunch entirely before rushing out, only to come back for afternoon classes.
He was shuttling between his company and school, and still managed to organize Qi Xu’s study notes for finals.
Even a machine would be running on fumes by now.
Qi Xu gently ran his fingers through Xie Huai’s hair.
“I’ll take care of the review materials myself.
And you don’t need to wake me up so early on mornings when I don’t have class.
Sleep a little more.”
“When did you become so mature?”
Xie Huai lowered his eyes and pulled Qi Xu even closer.
“If I don’t wake you up, the whole morning disappears. Will you even study?”
Qi Xu adjusted his position on Xie Huai’s lap, pressing tightly against him.
“Huai-ge… I can help support us too, you don’t have to push yourself so hard.”
Qi Xu had always thought Xie Huai, aside from his physical reactions being true to an 18-year-old—flirt with him a little and boom, instant reaction—was mature far beyond his age in every other way: thoughts, behavior, even the way he handled things.
Probably had to do with his upbringing.
Born into a family full of expectations from both the Xie and Qin sides, Xie Huai had grown up under pressure.
Luckily, he didn’t turn into a stiff old man; he still had a bright, youthful energy appropriate for his age.
But sometimes, he was too deep, too unreadable—even Qi Xu, with the mental age of a 28-year-old, couldn’t always figure out what he was thinking.
No wonder, ten years down the line, he’d become the stone-faced, calculating CEO Xie.
Now it seemed that transformation had already begun.
Thinking back, in his previous life, every time Qi Xu had seen him, there was always a mix of fatigue and emotions in Xie Huai’s eyes that Qi Xu couldn’t quite place.
Not that they’d seen each other much—just a handful of times.
Xie Huai unwrapped a piece of dried fruit and held it up to Qi Xu’s lips.
“Didn’t you say you liked cash-printing machines? I’ll be your personal money printer.”
To Qi Xu, that counted as a love confession.
“You’ve been a wish-granting machine, a money-printing machine… sounds like someone’s really into tin men.
But I don’t need you to be a robot. Just be my exclusive chair.
Put your phone on silent, stop checking it, and focus on studying.”
Qi Xu’s tone was a little bossy.
Xie Huai gladly obeyed—he liked holding Qi Xu like this anyway.
So that entire afternoon, Qi Xu stayed perched on Xie Huai’s lap, reading his books.
Sometimes he shifted to sit sideways; when he got tired, he leaned on Xie Huai to rest.
Occasionally, they’d kiss to relax a bit.
They looked just like any ordinary young couple—except these two were emotionally detached study machines, locked in battle with finals week.
As the end-of-term chaos ramped up, Qi Xu got busier too.
He had originally planned to skip an upcoming banquet, sending Li Kaixing and Su Kehao to attend in his place.
But Su Kehao came down with a fever the day before and had to get IV treatment—now resting at home.
Zhong Aiming was away on a business trip.
That left Qi Xu with no choice but to put the books down and head to the event with Li Kaixing.
Li Kaixing came to pick him up from home, but since drinking was inevitable at these functions, they had Chen Wei drive them to the venue.
To be honest, Li Kaixing had never properly seen Qi Xu’s place—apart from the day they came to check it out after closing the deal.
It’d been a while, and the layout had probably changed.
“So, Young Master Qi, how’s the place? Comfortable? Doesn’t it feel a little empty living alone?”
“It’s fine. The bed’s comfy,” Qi Xu replied.
“Not empty at all—two people living here is just right.”
Li Kaixing instantly perked up, his face practically glowing with gossip.
“You and the boss lady are living together?!”
Qi Xu didn’t deny it.
“Living with Xie Huai.”
That immediately killed Li Kaixing’s gossip buzz.
His curiosity deflated on the spot.
“Didn’t Young Master Xie help you house hunt before? When did he end up moving in?”
Qi Xu gave a straightforward reply:
“We’re cohabiting.”
Li Kaixing was stunned, completely at a loss.
He wasn’t sure whether to be shocked that his boss was gay or that he was actually with Xie Huai.
He wasn’t the clueless kid from a few months ago anymore.
Back when he’d assumed Qi Xu was just some young master from the Shen family who took his mom’s surname—now, he knew better.
He understood at least a little about his boss’s background, though he didn’t know what to say, so he could only mutter,
“Well, at least the heavens weren’t blind.”
He also knew that Xie Huai was the heir to the Xie Corporation, born into a powerful and prestigious family.
Putting everything else aside, the two were a perfect match in terms of family background.
It clearly wasn’t some ridiculous arranged marriage—this had to be genuine feelings on both sides.
Li Kaixing said,
“You guys better invite me to your wedding, alright? I was the broker for the house where it all started.”
Qi Xu: “…”
Just then, Li Kaixing’s phone buzzed.
He glanced at it and waved the screen at Qi Xu.
“Boss Lady just messaged me. Told me to make sure you don’t drink too much tonight.”
Then he remembered something from their business trip to S City a while back.
“I knew something was up when he asked me for our schedule during those days. Makes sense now—it all adds up.”
Qi Xu took Li Kaixing’s phone and replied to the message himself:
“If he wants to drink, I can’t stop him. He’s my boss, after all.”
Li Kaixing would never dare speak to Xie Huai like that—way too obvious.
Sure enough, moments later, Xie Huai sent Qi Xu a voice message.
Qi Xu played it:
“If you’re less than halfway drunk tonight, I’ll do whatever you say tomorrow.
If you’re more than halfway drunk, then tomorrow you’re mine to boss around all day.”
Qi Xu, ever confident in his alcohol tolerance, sent back a simple:
“1.”
The group project culture was clearly rubbing off on him.
As the founder of Yunrui, Qi Xu rarely made public appearances.
This was actually his first time attending a formal banquet as a representative.
Li Kaixing didn’t go out of his way to introduce Qi Xu’s real identity, and Qi Xu himself preferred to stay low-key.
If anyone really wanted to dig, they’d quickly find out his connection to the Shen family.
To avoid bringing unnecessary trouble to Yunrui, Qi Xu attended under the title of Head of Development.
Still, with his striking looks and composed demeanor, it was impossible for Qi Xu to blend in quietly.
And with Yunrui’s sudden rise in the industry, he became a hot topic.
Plenty of people came over with their wine glasses, looking to strike up a conversation.
Li Kaixing, who had near-zero social skills, left most of the talking to Qi Xu.
But Qi Xu had been through enough in his last life to master the art of playing the room—talking smoothly to whoever came his way.
By the end of the night, these two were easily the busiest pair at the banquet.
The toasting kept going, one drink after another, until Li Kaixing finally reminded him, “Just go through the motions. Time to raise some goldfish—if you get drunk, I’m afraid Young Master Xie will beat me up.”
Qi Xu shot him a glance. “He wouldn’t.”
He’d never seen Xie Huai get physical before, but he knew that guy was definitely stronger than him.
Just as the two of them thought they could finally catch a break, three people approached them—one of them was a foreigner.
Li Kaixing recognized one of them and greeted him proactively. “Mr. He, long time no see.”
Mr. He shook hands with Li Kaixing and smiled as he introduced the others. “Director Li, this is Jackson, our CEO at Chuangzhi.”
Mr. He was the general manager of an internet company in S City. He’d been a big name in the industry, but even he hadn’t been able to hold off the foreign investment wave. Now the company had become a Chinese-foreign joint venture.
Jackson shook Li Kaixing’s hand and then looked toward Qi Xu, clearly intrigued by his striking appearance.
Qi Xu introduced himself, “I’m Qi Xu, head of development at Yunrui.”
Jackson greeted him enthusiastically and went in for a cheek kiss, which Qi Xu flatly rejected.
Afterward, Jackson used awkward Chinese to exchange contact info, even throwing in the classic Chinese line about “getting dinner sometime.” Qi Xu gave him his work number.
Eventually, the three of them were swarmed by others from different companies, and Li Kaixing and Qi Xu were finally able to slip away.
Li Kaixing was still shaken. “That foreigner was way too friendly. If you’d gotten taken advantage of and I didn’t stop it, I wouldn’t be able to face Young Master Xie.”
Aside from basic social etiquette, Qi Xu never let people get close enough to touch him.
Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Jackson looked familiar—like he’d seen him somewhere before. But he couldn’t place it just yet.
The banquet finally ended. Li Kaixing and Qi Xu lived in opposite directions. Since Li Kaixing had been drinking and couldn’t drive, he couldn’t swing by Qi Xu’s place to pick up his own car either.
Li Kaixing said, “Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll just call a ride. Young Master Xie is probably still waiting for you at home.”
Qi Xu rolled his eyes. “What kind of boss doesn’t take his drunk employee home?”
“I’m not that drunk. It’s just a twenty-minute ride for me, but if you give me a lift, it’ll take you over an hour.” Li Kaixing glanced at his phone. “My ride’s here. I’ll text you when I’m home.”
Qi Xu memorized the license plate and watched as Li Kaixing got in and left.
It was already 10:30 p.m. The roads were mostly empty, and the drive was smooth. But as they passed a stretch of country road, two black cars suddenly showed up behind them.
Chen Wei, with his sharp instincts, couldn’t help paying closer attention to their movements. One of the black cars suddenly sped past them—but didn’t slow down, which helped lower his guard a little.
Qi Xu was in the backseat, wearing his seatbelt, eyes closed and resting. The whoosh of the speeding car hadn’t disturbed him at all.
Chen Wei was driving at a modest speed. The car behind them didn’t try to pass, which wasn’t unusual—better to be cautious when driving at night.
Suddenly, a car from the opposite lane came toward them with its high beams on. Chen Wei flinched from the glare and instinctively tapped the brakes.
Qi Xu opened his eyes—then bang—they crashed into the car in front, and were rear-ended at the same time.
The Rolls-Royce was caught in a sandwich. The force threw Qi Xu forward. The seatbelt yanked tight, cutting into him painfully.
Then came the second hit from the rear, slamming him sideways. His head cracked hard against the car window—louder than even the sound of the crash.
The airbags in the front had deployed. Dizzy and dazed, Chen Wei’s first thought was to check on Qi Xu in the back. Blood was already seeping from Qi Xu’s forehead.
The car itself looked even worse than they did.
