My Supernatural Exes Are Desperate to Win Me Back - Chapter 11 - Past Life

Back then, Xu Xining didn’t even show up for the final exam because she had just broken up with Wen Nansen and couldn’t stand the sight of him.

Wen Nansen was her first love.

She had liked him from the age of thirteen to eighteen.

But now, she would rather refer to him as “that unfortunate ex who died young and miserably.”

During her third year of middle school, over the winter break, she ventured into the wilderness at night with a tripod to capture a meteor shower, only to fall into a pit. It was Wen Nansen, out collecting plant specimens, who rescued her.

At the time, she suffered a mild concussion, temporarily losing her sight and hearing, and could only sense someone gently caring for her.

Being young, she thought she might remain blind and deaf forever, and shed a few tears. He gently wiped them away and held her, softly patting her back.

He spoke to her, but she couldn’t hear. Yet, she felt the vibrations of his voice through their foreheads, imagining it to be as deep and melodious as a cello.

When she awoke in the hospital, she saw a handsome man looking down at her, his brows slightly furrowed, with long lashes, golden hair like sunlight, and eyes as green as cat’s-eye stones.

Xu Xining was overjoyed, thinking she must have finally ascended to heaven after a life of good deeds.

Lying in the hospital bed, she babbled, “Hello. Nice to meet you. How are you? I’m fine, thank you. And you?”

Wen Nansen placed a hand on her forehead, murmuring in fluent Chinese, “It seems you’re still a bit confused from the fever.”

His voice was indeed as deep and melodious as a cello.

Xu Xining thought, well, heaven sure has unified languages.

Falling for Wen Nansen was natural.

He was like the lover every young girl dreams of-mature, gentlemanly, and charming. Though he occasionally taught at Wenjuan University, he seemed to possess endless wealth.

His coats or three-piece suits never cost less than six figures, yet he wasn’t boastful. When taking Xu Xining hiking and she got tired, he would even lay his coat on the steps for her to sit on, as if the fabric of a Burberry coat wasn’t more precious than her nine-yuan-nine school pants bought wholesale…

Old Xu had his suspicions about why such a person would be hiking in the mountains late at night.

Wen Nansen explained it was to collect unique plant specimens from the Huaijiang, even pulling out an Oxford University PhD in botany to prove it.

Such a person saving Xu Xining in passing was reasonable, but in the following years, he treated her so well that if not for his blond hair and blue eyes, Old Xu might have suspected he was her real father.

Sometimes he would come to see Xu Xining without telling her in advance, just waiting under the ginkgo tree at her high school gate.

Xu Xining’s return times were unpredictable, and sometimes Wen Nansen would wait for two hours.

Even Xu Xining felt embarrassed, “If you’re coming, just tell me! I secretly brought my phone.”

Wen Nansen would simply say, “If I tell you, you’d rush out to avoid keeping me waiting. I prefer you to be free.”

Xu Xining would reply, “Oh, even if you’re waiting, I wouldn’t rush out! You’ve given me too much freedom.”

Wen Nansen would look up, the distant sky above the long street blowing a desolate autumn wind, squinting slightly in the breeze, “For many years, I’ve waited for something unattainable. Recently, I’ve realized that if the person you’re waiting for is destined to appear, the waiting becomes beautiful.”

Xu Xining: “?”

The ginkgo leaves rustled in the wind like a golden rain falling on the man’s broad shoulders.

Wen Nansen turned to her, smiling gently with his eyes, “In short, I enjoy waiting for you. Xu, it’s my indulgence.”

Xu Xining hid her inexplicably warm face in her scarf, patting Wen Nansen’s elbow like an old hand, “Alright, Wen. But we Chinese usually don’t just call by surname.”

Wen Nansen asked, “What do you want me to call you?”

Without hesitation, Xu Xining replied, “Big Brother.”

“…”

Fortunately, Wen Nansen didn’t listen to her on everything.

Xu Xining confessed to him in high school, but Wen Nansen just smiled at her, patted her head, and said she was still young.

Xu Xining thought he didn’t like her and was rejecting her, but it turned out he was an ultimate traditionalist, genuinely thinking she was too young.

On her first day of adulthood, Wen Nansen took her to a French restaurant, with candlelight and wine, the huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the surging Huai River and the city lights on both banks.

Xu Xining drank wine for the first time and was quite happy, tipsy, seeing Wen Nansen across the table, his pupils bright in the candlelight, his gaze deep enough to drown in.

He kissed her fingertips, saying, “I love you.”

Xu Xining thought, haha, wine is truly a wonderful thing! No wonder philosophers throughout history loved it!

Feeling bold, Xu Xining downed the rest of her wine, bit her hair tie, and casually tied her golden hair back, then leaned over the table, grabbing his tie to kiss him.

Her sudden boldness caught him off guard. Wen Nansen had never been so flustered, accidentally knocking over the wine bottle, soaking himself, yet he didn’t pull away.

His lips were cool, trembling slightly.

Drenched, the smell of wine spread.

He hadn’t drunk, yet seemed more intoxicated than the girl.

After her bold move, Xu Xining collapsed into sleep, but the man held her, unmoving.

A waiter came over to clean up the mess, seeing Wen Nansen soaked, and asked, “Do you need assistance?”

Wen Nansen repeated twice, “Nej tack så mycket.”

The waiter didn’t understand and asked again, to which Wen Nansen finally responded in a low voice, “Thank you, but no need.”

Xu Xining thought they would never break up.

But Wen Nansen always looked at her with a hint of sadness, sometimes making her feel he was seeing someone else through her.

In their first year together, Wen Nansen often gave her things she didn’t like, like mint, light blue items, various artists’ works, or expensive flowers and plants.

Xu Xining was too polite to say she didn’t like them and didn’t pay much attention, even though she always preferred lemons, light yellow, her drawing skills were akin to a dog’s mess, and the only plant she could keep alive was a cactus.

Wen Nansen would also take her traveling, looking at everything with a nostalgic gaze, saying things like “we did this before,” even though none of it had happened.

Until she found an old photo in Wen Nansen’s pocket watch.

The photo showed Wen Nansen with another girl, smiling beautifully, their fingers intertwined.

Xu Xining rummaged through his notes, finding the day they first met.

Back then, Wen Nansen didn’t know her name, referring to her as “Irene” in his notes.

Xu Xining confronted Wen Nansen with the pocket watch, asking if the girl in the photo was Irene.

Wen Nansen’s eyes were filled with restraint and pain.

But he said, yes.

Xu Xining was furious, asking where Irene was.

Wen Nansen said she was dead.

So everything was explained.

Why Wen Nansen seemed to fall for her at first sight, why he was willing to wait for her endlessly, why when she asked when he started liking her, he would say from a long, long time ago.

Xu Xining never expected such a clichéd substitute white moonlight trope to happen to her, and immediately broke up with him.

She didn’t even look like Irene!

If anything, it was because in first grade, when asked to choose an English name, she picked Irene, not even remembering why, but probably just because it looked nice to her.

What a cursed name!

Wen Nansen tried to contact her, waiting all night downstairs, asking for a chance to explain.

Xu Xining, having watched enough TV dramas, was tired of the male lead’s “let me explain” and the female lead’s “I don’t want to hear it” cliché.

So she agreed to meet, arms crossed, staring at Wen Nansen, chin raised, “Explain.”

At that moment, Xu Xining even had some acceptable excuses in mind, like the photo was of his half-sister, or his cousin’s aunt’s brother’s second daughter… or that it was actually a very pretty long-haired man, bigger than him.

Wen Nansen said, “She is you.”

Xu Xining: “…Are you blind?”

“Some things about me, due to certain confidentiality principles, I can’t tell you.” Wen Nansen looked a bit weary, his usually pleasant voice slightly hoarse, “But I’ve never loved anyone else, Xu Xining, you are the same person, because she is your past life.”

Xu Xining was deeply shocked.

Wow, men really can say anything to deceive!

Xu Xining’s patience ran out, thinking maybe TV dramas weren’t entirely wrong; sometimes listening to nonsense was worse than not listening.

She turned to leave, Wen Nansen tried to hold her back, Xu Xining slapped him, laughing in anger, “You’ve got the wrong person, I’m actually your mother reincarnated, you’d better show some respect!”

“Even if I had a lover in a past life, it would be Old Xu, not you!”

Xu Xining’s angry words were thoughtless, not realizing how damaging they were individually, let alone combined, essentially accusing Wen Nansen of being the son of her and Old Xu in a past life… truly outrageous!

Such outrageous words didn’t stop Wen Nansen; he still sought her forgiveness, but couldn’t offer more explanations, only asking Xu Xining to trust him.

Xu Xining found it hilarious, trusting his words was less reliable than trusting a liar’s ghost.

Later, when she started dating Huo Ting, Wen Nansen stopped seeking her out.

Xu Xining didn’t know if he had given up, or if it was due to some ultimate traditional moral principle, or for her so-called “freedom,” but she didn’t care.

She never wanted to see Wen Nansen again.

Until he, in his coat, pushed open the classroom door amidst the scent of orange blossoms and stepped onto the podium.

Seven years ago, when she opened her eyes in the hospital, he looked the same as he did now, time leaving no trace on him.

…

The exam papers were handed out, and Xu Xining began writing, mainly because she didn’t want to delay graduation.

She knew too well that Wen Nansen was a man of principle in every sense; if she handed in a blank paper, he’d give her a zero. He was gentle but strict, good-natured but not easy to talk to.

He wouldn’t give her any special treatment, and she didn’t need it.

As she wrote, she felt Wen Nansen’s gaze.

What are you looking at! Stop staring!

Xu Xining tossed her pen, watching it roll to the edge of the desk.

Annoyed, she lifted her eyes, her voice clear and crisp, “Teacher Wen, could you stop staring at me?”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but the classroom was quiet, making every word distinct.

The other students taking the retest exchanged glances.

Zhang Yao, sitting beside her, was stunned, internally exclaiming: Wow! She’s actually confronting the teacher during the exam! She’s so brave!

Wen Nansen’s eyelashes fluttered, and he replied gently, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Good-naturedly, he sat down, opened a poetry book on the podium, and began reading.

The sound of pages turning.

The sound again.

And again…

Xu Xining pressed her pen, pulling at her mouth, unable to bear it any longer, “Teacher Wen, do you know your page-turning is noisy?”

Zhang Yao: Wow!! She’s starting to be unreasonable!

The other students, afraid of being caught in the crossfire, dared not move, fearing Xu Xining might turn on them too.

Wen Nansen paused, his emotions unreadable, gently setting the book down, rubbing his temple, and softly replying, “Alright.”

But Xu Xining was seated too close to the front, too near Wen Nansen, and even though he didn’t move or speak, she could still sense his breathing, the chain of his glasses subtly glinting.

…Wen Nansen didn’t need glasses.

For him, they were merely decorative. Once, at his home, Xu Xining saw drawers full of various expensive glasses.

She casually picked one with a chain, holding it up to Wen Nansen’s eyes, joking that the style was so antique it seemed ready for burial… fitting him perfectly.

A joke she made, and Wen Nansen wore those glasses for seven years.

Still wearing them now.

Xu Xining took a deep breath, raising her head, just starting to say “you.”

Wen Nansen caught her gaze, silently stood, and left with his book.

Xu Xining’s irritation suddenly extinguished.

The last look Wen Nansen gave her… she’d never seen such a desolate expression in anyone’s eyes, despite their rich green, all she saw was desolation.

Zhang Yao was astounded: Wow!!! She drove the invigilator away!!!

The other students were thrilled, almost cheering: Xu Xining! Forever a legend!!!

The second half was invigilated by an administrative teacher, as it should have been.

After the exam, Xu Xining felt better, chewing on candy with her hands in her pockets, walking through the corridor to find her thesis advisor.

Her advisor was the academic titan Zheng Hongyun, a retired yet rehired professor, humorous and approachable despite his age.

Rumor had it that he had taught Wen Nansen abroad, which was why the college managed to invite Wen Nansen to teach.

Xu Xining reached the office door and knocked.

Unexpectedly, the door was ajar, opening with a knock.

Through the crack, she seemed to see Wen Nansen sitting in the main seat, reading something, while the gray-haired old professor stood respectfully beside him, pouring tea.

Xu Xining: ?

Why is the ex’s shadow everywhere?

And aren’t you two in the wrong positions? Who should be serving whom tea here?