My Supernatural Exes Are Desperate to Win Me Back - Chapter 10 - The Make-up Exam

Zhan Xingye said, “I’m here to apologize.”

His hands were full, carrying a large bag of Pet Fox food, a packet of nutritional powder, and two Chew Bones.

“Wow, come in, come in! Good Man, come and see!” Xu Xining exclaimed happily, “Someone brought you a gift!”

Xie Yi walked over with a skeptical look, flicked his tail, and turned away.

Pet food?

Who was he insulting?!

Xie Yi had never been poor in his eight hundred years, having seen the ups and downs of the world. With his innate charm, he always rode the crest of the wave, adored by many, demanding the best in everything he ate and used.

In the new media era, being a celebrity was the most lucrative, so he plunged into the entertainment industry without hesitation… After all, exuding charm was second nature to him.

Zhan Xingye, expressionless, said, “These are all the Pet Fox’s favorite foods, the best-selling on the market. If it doesn’t eat, there must be something wrong with its health. You should take it to the vet.”

Xu Xining was alarmed, “No way, no way, could there really be a health issue?”

Xie Yi: “…”

He made a 180-degree turn on the spot, pretending to be very interested as he walked back.

Alright, Zhan Xingye, remember this.

As the food poured into the new bowl, Xie Yi caught a whiff of a fishy stench and nearly gagged…

He lived a life of extreme luxury and was accustomed to indulgence. Once, in Tokyo, he had eaten at a Michelin Three Stars restaurant where the fish belly wasn’t fresh enough. He put down his chopsticks, leaned back arrogantly in his chair, and asked the chef to taste it himself.

Of course, the chef didn’t think he was being picky; the chef was so ashamed he almost wanted to commit seppuku on the spot.

Xie Yi sniffed the food; he had never seen such coarse food in his life, and it made him want to burn down the pet food factory overnight.

Xu Xining squatted down, gently patting his head, “Good Man, why aren’t you eating? Are you feeling unwell?”

Xie Yi: “…”

With a pained expression, he took a big bite, chewing while forcing a smile that said, “I’m so damn happy.”

Xu Xining was overjoyed, looking up at Zhan Xingye, “Looks like Good Man isn’t mad at you anymore!”

Xie Yi nearly choked on the spot.

Zhan Xingye acknowledged with a nod and added, “There’s something even more nutritious.”

He pulled out a transparent ice bag, inside were individually vacuum-packed… frozen white mice!!!

Zhan Xingye, like an emotionless sales machine, said, “White mice can help Pet Foxes supplement taurine and protein. All foxes love fresh rodents.”

Too fresh! Not even skinned, each one looking as if it had just died!

Xie Yi was numb, completely numb.

He stiffly looked at Xu Xining, thinking, you’re a pretty girl; seeing something like a white mouse must make you feel disgusted and scared! Quickly throw the white mice at Zhan Xingye’s face and tell him to get out! You absolutely won’t allow your pet to eat such filthy, inferior food!!!

Xu Xining’s eyes welled up with tears, “Oh, Xingye, you’re so thoughtful.”

Xie Yi: “…”

Xu Xining tore open the package, her eyes shining, “Wow! They look delicious!”

Xie Yi: “…”

Xu Xining dangled a white mouse by its tail, enthusiastically bringing it to Xie Yi’s mouth, “Ah-”

Xie Yi: “…”

Xu Xining turned to Zhan Xingye, “Vet, why isn’t it eating?”

Zhan Xingye calmly replied, “Domesticated foxes haven’t tasted premium food. Force-feed it a bite, and it’ll know it’s delicious.”

Xu Xining suddenly understood!

Xie Yi, furious, lunged at Zhan Xingye, baring his teeth and claws, determined to show Zhan Xingye who was boss tonight!

He was ready to fight to the bitter end! If it came to a father-son showdown, so be it!

Just as Xie Yi pounced, Xu Xining grabbed his tail, as if grasping the throat of fate.

Xu Xining dragged him back by the tail, cradling him in her arms, sternly admonishing, “You can’t do that! He’s sincerely here to apologize! We’re all good brothers, and good brothers should love each other!!”

Xie Yi: …

Who was a good brother with whom?! Isn’t the hierarchy a bit messed up?!

Xu Xining’s smile was as angelic as it was terrifying.

She pried open Xie Yi’s mouth with one hand, holding the white mouse with the other, gently coaxing, “Ah-”

Xie Yi numbly opened his mouth, numbly swallowed it down, “slurp,” straight to the stomach.

Xu Xining eagerly asked, “How is it? Tastes good, right?”

Xie Yi’s eyes rolled stiffly, his face gradually contorting, as he broke free from Xu Xining’s embrace and dashed to the bathroom, retching loudly.

Xu Xining was shocked, “Why is he throwing up?! Vet! Call the vet!”

Zhan Xingye calmly said, “He ate too fast in one go, got stuffed.”

Xu Xining breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, “So that’s it! If Good Man likes it so much, I’ll defrost two mice for you every day! One in the morning, one in the evening! Aren’t you happy?”

Xie Yi was so furious he started cursing incoherently.

Xu Xining: Listen! The kid’s gone crazy with joy again!

After delivering the apology gifts, it was almost eleven at night, but Zhan Xingye didn’t leave. Instead, he sat on the sofa watching TV.

When they were kids, he and Xu Xining often slept over at each other’s houses, sometimes even sharing a bed. But now, they weren’t kids anymore, and after years of no contact, they had grown distant.

Xu Xining wanted to say, “Dude, your place is just across the hall, no need to hog my sofa,” but before she could speak, the thunder outside rumbled again, shaking the glass.

The house had been so lively earlier that she almost forgot about the thunder.

…When the thunder rumbled, Zhan Xingye glanced at her without a word.

Xu Xining, clutching a bag of chips, scooted over, her words taking a detour, “Wow! You like Shrek too? Why don’t we watch it together?”

Zhan Xingye: “Sure.”

The three of them squeezed onto the small sofa to watch the movie, with Xu Xining sitting between Zhan Xingye on her left and the fox on her right, feeling unusually safe, like she had guardians on either side.

…If only she didn’t keep feeling like someone was messing around behind her.

Xu Xining suddenly turned her head, but there was nothing behind her.

To her left, Zhan Xingye sat upright, eyes glued to the TV.

To her right, the fox lounged lazily against her, its soft tail swaying.

Both appeared very quiet, very focused, very innocent.

Xu Xining: “…”

Was it just her imagination?

She resumed watching the movie, but soon, a chill like flying blades began to creep up the back of her neck.

…

Xu Xining, like a teacher catching students misbehaving, slammed the table and stood up, “Who’s messing around behind my back?! Stand up!!!”

One person and one fox remained silent, one shifting his gaze and nervously fidgeting with his fingers, the other fluttering its eyes, exuding charm.

Xu Xining: Why do I feel like these two are hiding something from me?

The movie played on into the late night, with the rain outside continuing to fall.

Eventually, Xu Xining grew too sleepy, nodding off intermittently, only to be startled awake by the thunder, unable to sleep soundly or focus on the movie, not even knowing what it was about.

When the thunder finally subsided, Zhan Xingye picked up the remote, fast-forwarded to the end, and stood up, “The movie’s over. I’m heading home.”

“Ah, is that so? Take care,” Xu Xining mumbled, turning over and curling up on the sofa with a blanket, ready to sleep.

Zhan Xingye looked down at her for a moment, “You’ll catch a cold sleeping like this.”

Xu Xining, eyes closed, mumbled, “Yeah, I like Watermelon Boy too.”

Zhan Xingye: “…”

He knew better than to wake Xu Xining now, or she’d throw a fit.

He hesitated, cautiously extending his hand, almost touching Xu Xining before pausing as if encountering an invisible barrier.

Xu Xining used to think he avoided her back then because he was afraid of her, because he disliked her.

…

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

He feared himself, disliked himself.

He detested the thought of his touch sullying her skin, like a beautiful gem being tarnished.

Zhan Xingye, through the blanket, gently lifted the girl like wrapping a dumpling.

Her golden hair cascaded like a waterfall, brushing against his hand, lighter than the wind.

Xie Yi rolled his eyes in exasperation nearby.

If you’re going to carry her, just do it! What’s with the hesitation, are you a man or not?

His status made it inappropriate to intervene; if Xu Xining woke up groggily and saw Xie Yi’s face, she’d probably be scared awake and call the police.

Zhan Xingye carried her to the bed, quickly and skillfully rearranging the dolls and pillows.

Xu Xining turned over, conveniently hugging a Lemon Doll, her bent knees resting on a cushion, with a little whale pillow supporting her back, as if she were nestled in a soft nest.

Seeing her asleep, Zhan Xingye turned off the lights, his voice low and soft, “She ran away like the wind, and the little bear couldn’t catch up.”

Xu Xining didn’t hear.

But in her dreams, the thunder and lightning turned into a sunlit forest, and she slept soundly and deeply, as if returning to a long-lost childhood.

The next day, she predictably overslept.

Xu Xining sprang up to the blaring alarm, hurriedly packing her bag, brushing her hair, and scurrying around the house like a panicked mouse, “Oh no, oh no, I’m going to be late!”

She had an exam today! And it was a make-up exam for her senior year! If she failed, she’d face the dreaded prospect of delayed graduation!

Xu Xining dashed out the door, too rushed to notice where Good Man was.

As soon as she exited the complex, she saw a crowd gathered around a fiery red convertible Ferrari, chattering excitedly. Xu Xining didn’t even glance as she prepared to run past, but the Ferrari suddenly honked persistently.

The horn was piercingly loud, and Xu Xining turned to look.

She saw a tall, long-legged man in a white casual suit, his elbow resting on the seat, sleeves rolled up to reveal his sleek arm muscles. Sunglasses perched on his forehead, he turned back with a dazzling smile, “Morning, Ning, want a ride?”

Normally, Xu Xining would tell Xie Yi to get lost, but today was different; a wise person knows when to yield.

Xu Xining tossed her bag into the seat, jumped into the car, and urged impatiently, “Go, go, go! Hurry!”

Xie Yi floored the gas pedal, the engine roared, and the Ferrari sped onto the highway like a streak of red lightning.

The early spring wind whipped past, yet Xie Yi’s voice remained lazy, “Heading to school?”

Xu Xining was wary, “How did you know?”

Xie Yi laughed in the wind, “A Magician knows everything.”

Thanks to Xie Yi, Xu Xining even arrived at the exam hall five minutes early.

Her classmate Zhang Yao was cramming outside the classroom, and when he saw Xu Xining approaching with a piece of bread in her mouth, his eyes widened, “You’re taking Teacher Wen’s make-up exam too?”

Xu Xining replied confidently, “Haha! I failed.”

Zhang Yao couldn’t help but ask, “How did you fail?”

The professor for this English and American Classical Literature Appreciation course was Wen Nansen, an internationally recruited professor with light blonde hair and deep green eyes like cat’s-eye stones.

On the first day of the new semester, he stood at the lecture hall entrance in a khaki trench coat, greeting each student who had enrolled in the course with a gentlemanly smile.

Soon, the news that “the new Nansen professor at the English Institute is devastatingly handsome” spread across the entire university.

Those who got into the class laughed maniacally, while those who didn’t beat their chests in regret.

By the second class, the room was packed, with students from other departments crowding the aisles to catch a glimpse.

At that time, Wen Nansen leaned against the window, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with dangling chains, one hand in his trouser pocket, flipping through a book of Shakespeare’s poems.

White orange blossoms drifted in from outside, landing on his shoulder, and he seemed to be surrounded by a soft glow, like a figure from a classical painting come to life.

All the students couldn’t help but secretly take photos, but someone forgot to turn off the flash, and with a click, a blinding light flashed.

The surrounding crowd instantly fell silent in fear, but Wen Nansen merely looked up with a gentle smile, “Do you need me to pose?”

The room was silent for a few seconds, then erupted with countless phones raised and screams echoing, “Teacher, look at me!!!” “Nansen, over here!!!!” “My camera’s expensive, look at mine!!! Damn, I should’ve brought my DSLR!”

…

Students, by nature, tend to bully the kind and fear the strict. Wen Nansen had a gentle demeanor and a genuinely kind face, so everyone collectively assumed he was the type of “soft-hearted professor who’d give decent grades even if you played on your phone in class and scribbled nonsense on exams,” leading to the first few classes being filled with infatuated students who paid little attention to learning.

Little did they know, the first quiz resulted in an average score of forty… out of one hundred and fifty.

Only one person scored a perfect hundred, and an astonishing one hundred and forty, and that person was Xu Xining, now standing at the entrance of the make-up exam room.

Zhang Yao, the academic underachiever, was baffled, “You shouldn’t need to take a make-up exam.”

“It’s necessary, it’s necessary,” Xu Xining said, setting down her bag and entering the classroom, patting his shoulder with a smile and giving a thumbs up, “because I turned in a blank paper for the final!”

Zhang Yao: “…”

What are you proud of?!

Xu Xining grabbed a pen and casually found a seat in the front row.

Typically, professors personally proctor final exams, while administrative staff handle make-up exams.

It didn’t matter who it was, as long as it wasn’t Wen Nansen.

One minute to the exam.

The classroom door opened.

The breeze carried the scent of blooming orange blossoms, and the hem of a light gray trench coat fluttered with the man’s steps, the slender gold chain of his glasses swaying slightly, reflecting the bright, fragmented light.

A few students taking the make-up exam couldn’t help but whisper.

“No way, no way, why is Nansen proctoring a make-up exam?”

“Why is Teacher Wen here to proctor?”

“Oh no, seeing him makes me even more nervous!”

Xu Xining raised her head at the sound, her gaze cold.

She met a pair of deep, picturesque green eyes, green like a forest, like a lake, like a captivating and fragrant wine brewed from the essence of spring.

In countless past days of waiting for her after school, he stood in the shade of a tree, the raised collar of his coat gently flapping in the wind, the golden sunset filtering through the leaves onto those eyes, carrying an inexplicable sadness that broke one’s heart.

-The eyes she had kissed countless times.

Xu Xining bit down hard, crushing the candy between her teeth.

Damn, it’s just like before.