Night had fallen, and the dormitory lights were out. Qiu Xuan lay on her bed, clutching the freshly settled Xiao Zei as she rolled back and forth. The narrow bunk creaked and swayed softly.
The noise was minimal, broken only by the occasional stifled giggle—eerily unsettling.
The occupant of the adjacent bed, Chen Zhi, couldn’t hold back any longer and tapped on the bed frame. “Wu Qiu Xuan, what are you daydreaming about?”
Qiu Xuan stopped rolling and sat up straight, smiling sheepishly. “How did you know?”
Chen Zhi blurted out without thinking: ……
Su Liujun’s gossip radar immediately picked up on the signal. She lifted the bed curtain and coaxed, “Looks like you want to vent a little. We can sacrifice some sleep to be your audience.”
Qiu Xuan scoffed softly. There was no way they’d be going to bed so early.
Should she say it or not?
She actually had a little bragging to do—Jiang Chuhuai had complimented her today.
But it was just a single sentence, no more than four characters. To make a fuss over that would be petty and unbecoming!
Qiu Xuan hesitated and politely declined, “Don’t spread it around.”
Chen Zhi, unwilling to let nonsense slide, called her bluff. “Who else could it be besides Jiang Chuhuai?”
Su Liujun added fuel to the fire. “Right, you already bragged about it when school started.”
Qiu Xuan stroked the cat’s head, curling her lips in the dark. “This is different.”
Hopeless things always inspire a strange courage, but once the target seems within reach, people become cautious.
Su Liujun pressed, “How is it different? You have to report your progress so we can be your strategists, right?”
Qiu Xuan wasn’t giving them any credit. “If you could actually strategize, wouldn’t everyone catch up to Jiang Chuhuai by now?”
“That’s not true. You two grew up together—that’s the foundation of a relationship,” Su Liujun said firmly. “With us as strategists, it’s justified. The more allies, the better.”
Chen Zhi nodded. “Exactly. Liu Huang Shu had the groundwork; only then could Zhuge Liang shine.”
Qiu Xuan spat, “Pah, Liu Huang Shu died halfway through.”
“……”
Amidst the lively banter, Lin Xiqiao softly interjected, “But I think it’s actually harder to chase someone you grew up with. Going from one kind of familiar to another—is it habit or a fluttering heart? Realizing your feelings is already difficult, and the risks are huge. If you break the fragile silence and confess only to fail, you lose not just love but the entire shared universe of growing up together.”
The dorm fell into a brief thoughtful silence.
“So, Qiu still leads,” Su Liujun affirmed habitually. “You understood your feelings early.”
Lin Xiqiao agreed, “Yeah, knowing how to love is a kind of ability.”
They showered the heroine with praise, but Qiu Xuan remained silent.
The sudden quiet made Lin Xiqiao uneasy. She whispered, “Did I say something wrong?”
Qiu Xuan peeked from behind the bed curtain and said toward Lin Xiqiao’s direction, “I realized you speak just like my Elder Sister.”
Lin Xiqiao felt nervous.
Qiu Xuan smiled faintly, “Cloudy with occasional clouds.”
Lin Xiqiao chuckled awkwardly.
Chen Zhi said, “I never had a childhood sweetheart, just childhood friends.”
Su Liujun agreed. “Same here.”
Chen Zhi joked, “Because we’re ugly.”
Su Liujun nodded emphatically, “Can’t argue with that.”
The late-night chatter gradually quieted down. Soon, even the roommates’ breaths became even and rhythmic. Xiao Zei was snoring softly on its sleeping mat.
Qiu Xuan tossed and turned uncomfortably, neither lying on her back nor her side feeling right. She tried to shift frequently but worried about disturbing her roommates, so she just stared at the ceiling with wide, coppery eyes.
Only now did she truly understand what “tossing and turning” meant.
She didn’t deliberately think about anything, but Lin Xiqiao’s words, “Is it habit or a fluttering heart?” kept circling in her mind.
She had to do something—anything was better than wasting herself away inside.
So she pulled out her phone, opened someone’s chat, and sent a message: “Hey, how did you know I was at the Green Shaded Path today?”
Then she continued staring with wide eyes, waiting.
An eternity passed without a reply. Rationally, she knew he was probably asleep, but what good was reason now?
She tapped “poke,” feeling it wasn’t enough, then hit “big move,” watching the screen vibrate twice with satisfaction.
It worked. Above the chat window, “typing” appeared. Moments later, his message popped up.
zz: “Passing by to check on the cat. The vet said you took the cat away in a delivery box…”
zz: “Just a guess.”
He knew her too well—so well that cleaning up her messes had become routine.
Her heart finally settled, and the little joy from earlier disappeared.
The straightforward, ever-jumping thought process of this girl was completely wide awake now.
–
Jiang Chuhuai frowned when he received Qiu Xuan’s “666” thumbs-up.
This emoji was bigger than usual, animated—a string of sixes flying over, strangely dripping with mockery.
And the two other emojis that made the chat box vibrate? He had never seen those before.
Especially the second one—two wrists knocking together, pushing out a red balloon that flew from her avatar to his and exploded…
What did they mean?
Was she threatening to blow him up if he didn’t reply?
It had been less than a minute from her message arriving to his response.
He recalled it wasn’t like this before. Maybe the weirder the hair, the bigger the temper.
“Chuhai, so it’s settled—tomorrow after school, East District Basketball Court?” a roommate informed him.
Jiang Chuhuai responded with a “Hmm.” “Thanks.”
“No problem. If too many people bring you water, remember to save a few for your ‘dad,’” the roommate said.
An oblivious boy nearby interjected, “What secret plan have you all been cooking up all night?”
“Nothing much,” the roommate replied proudly. “Our Jiang Chuhuai wants to challenge the first-year school basketball team to a friendly match. I, the ‘dad,’ have just set it up.”
“Why find outsiders? Two teams from our class are enough,” the boy was confused.
“Did you even check who leads the first years?” the roommate raised an eyebrow.
“Who?”
“Wang! Kailin!” the roommate said each syllable with emphasis.
“Oh wow, what’s Chuhai planning?”
The roommate chuckled. “Come on, it’s to help Peipei get some justice.”
That revelation shocked everyone even more. “Wang Kailin still made the school team with that physique?”
A nearby basketball enthusiast explained, “Underestimate him all you want, but he’s solid as a rock. His defense is brutal.”
“Tsk,” the roommate clicked her tongue. “Better watch out tomorrow.”
“Why don’t I have a childhood sweetheart? It’d be so interesting and might even solve some old grudges.”
“Because you’re ugly,” came the reply.
“No way, I had some decent female classmates in kindergarten…”
“I’m talking to you.”
“……”
“I’ve never had one either. Growing up together closely like that, it’s hard not to have something, right?”
The topic lightened again as the chat casually turned back to Jiang Chuhuai.
“Chuhai, do you like Wu Qiu Xuan?”
Jiang Chuhuai, having just exited the chat, turned off his screen and answered flatly, “No.”
“Just friends?”
“Yeah.”
–
The next day, Qiu Xuan was so exhausted her eyelids fluttered constantly.
After being called on by four teachers in a row, she finally got some rest time in the evening.
Usually, this was just enough to eat dinner and shower before evening self-study.
Today, she didn’t even have time for dinner. As soon as the bell rang, she went straight back to her dorm to catch up on sleep.
She was shaken awake by Su Liujun. “Good grief, I called you eight hundred times! Get up or you’ll miss the big news!”
“What big news? I’m not interested. Let me sleep, please…” Qiu Xuan turned over and kept sleeping.
Su Liujun kept shaking her shoulders. “Jiang Chuhuai is playing basketball at the East District Basketball Court. If you don’t go soon, your rival will have him surrounded inside and out!”
“Even as an alarm clock, you’re useless,” Chen Zhi sighed coldly, pushing Su Liujun aside and quietly whispering into Qiu Xuan’s ear, “The opponent is Fu Ge.”
Qiu Xuan instantly sat up with a jolt.
“Who? Wang Kailin?”
Chen Zhi said flatly, “Right.”
Su Liujun started exaggerating, “That physique of Wang Kailin’s—last month at the outside high school tournament, he knocked the center’s bone out of place. It’s strange that with midterms coming, Jiang Chuhuai suddenly wants to play against him…”
Chen Zhi said, “Hard to guess.”
Qiu Xuan jumped out of bed, running out of the dorm before properly putting on her shoes.
When she finally reached the basketball court, she was already out of breath.
The crowd had gathered in layers, the clamor nearly sweeping her away.
She anxiously stood on tiptoe, eyes searching desperately for that familiar figure.
Jiang Chuhuai wore a black and red number 7 jersey. Among the tall players, he didn’t look bulky, but his movements were exceptionally clean and precise.
Sweat soaked his forehead and hair, dripping onto his sweatband. His jaw was tight, eyes sharp and focused on the ball-handling Wang Kailin.
Qiu Xuan’s heart hung in midair, every physical clash making her eyelids twitch. Especially when Wang Kailin used his bulk to shoulder Jiang Chuhuai off balance, she clenched her fists tightly.
Many around her gasped aloud.
But the next moment, Jiang Chuhuai quickly steadied himself. Just as Wang Kailin turned confidently to box out, Jiang Chuhuai slipped through like a ghost from an angle.
His long arm shot out and cleanly intercepted the pass Wang Kailin had just received—a move so fast it left only a blurred afterimage on the retina.
“Nice play!” cheers exploded from the sidelines.
Jiang Chuhuai wasted no time—dribbling, accelerating, changing direction—a flawless sequence to shake off the defenders.
He leapt lightly and flicked his wrist. The basketball traced a beautiful arc and dropped through the hoop without touching the rim.
The whistle blew—score confirmed.
As he landed, Jiang Chuhuai breathed heavily. Passing Wang Kailin by the shoulder, he whispered something that made Wang Kailin freeze.
Though the spectators outside the court couldn’t hear the exchange, it was clear Wang Kailin lost focus in the second half.
In the end, he slammed the backboard in frustration and stormed off the court.
The crowd sighed in sympathy.
The final score no longer mattered—some basked in applause while others left the court humiliated and alone.
Jiang Chuhuai and his teammates withdrew to the sidelines to rest.
The onlookers gradually dispersed; no girls stepped forward to bring water.
His teammates teased Jiang Chuhuai about his lack of charm. He smiled and pulled a bottle from a crate of mineral water behind him, gulping down half before handing one to a teammate.
“No? Waiting for others to bring it?” he teased.
—There’s water here.
No one wanted to be the overzealous fool.
His fleeting smile was something Qiu Xuan had never seen before.
She stared at him, forgetting to leave.
When Jiang Chuhuai bent down to grab a towel, he caught sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye.
He looked up and met the gaze of a girl by the sidelines—her cheeks flushed red, hair slightly tousled, eyes wide open and locked onto him.
In that instant of eye contact, Qiu Xuan clearly saw the faintest lift at the corner of his mouth.
His eyes held a quiet question.
A surge of indescribable warmth rushed over Qiu Xuan’s head, her cheeks burning fiercely.
All the anxiety, worry, and anger she had just felt turned upside down with this silent look.
She quickly averted her gaze, but her pounding heart refused to calm.
After evening self-study ended, the Campus Wall updated with an apology post.
The writing was terrible; Qiu Xuan barely glanced at it.
But the ending was to her delight.
With Wang Kailin’s public apology by name, the Private Daughter Incident finally came to a close.
Only now, Qiu Xuan faced another sleepless night.
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