I’ll Listen to You
After the morning’s experiment, the teacher still felt bad for missing last night’s session and offered to treat them to lunch.
The three of them declined several times, but the teacher insisted, and they had no choice but to go.
The school surroundings were rather desolate with not many dining options, so the four ended up eating in the cafeteria.
No separate faculty cafeteria existed at No.1 High School, but if a teacher ordered the food, the cafeteria auntie would be quite generous.
No shaky scoops, no shortage of meat—carrying a plate piled high with food, the four of them sat at one table.
The lab teacher was a good person, easygoing and humorous. He was a retired teacher who had been rehired by the school and had even taught Zhang Chuchu physics in the past.
But still, as a senior teacher, he had a natural aura of authority, and his gaze was incredibly sharp.
He sat beside Qin Mudong, with Lu Xingjia sitting opposite them. Every time Lu Xingjia tried to sneak a glance at Qin Mudong, he met the teacher’s stern, serious eyes, radiating academic authority.
So Lu Xingjia didn’t dare to make any small moves. He ate quietly with his head down.
The teacher even asked, concerned: “Why are you keeping your head down and not saying anything? Not feeling well?”
“No, not at all.” Lu Xingjia feigned ignorance, smiling brightly but with a touch of awkwardness.
He thought to himself, It’s not like I want to be like this! It’s just that you’re sitting next to my boyfriend, QAQ!
Despite the little hiccup, the meal was quite enjoyable. The main dish of the day was braised lion’s head meatballs, and since the teacher was with them, the auntie generously served them two each.
The meatballs were round, fried, and then simmered in sauce—sweet and savory. When he split one with his chopsticks, the rich aroma came wafting out, and Lu Xingjia was completely satisfied.
After the meal, the four of them walked together for a bit. The teacher returned to his office, while the other three headed back to the lab to work with the instruments.
With the teacher around, Miao Qian no longer clung to Lu Xingjia. She explored the equipment on her own, recording her questions to ask later in the afternoon.
Lu Xingjia was happy to be left alone and took the chance to sit next to Qin Mudong to do experiments together.
In just a day and a half, they had managed to go through all 30-plus experiments once. Now it was just a matter of repetitive practice—to reinforce memory and standardize operations.
They followed the sequence in the lab manual, practicing one experiment after another. Occasionally, Lu Xingjia would forget a small detail, and Qin Mudong would quietly pause and look at him, waiting patiently for him to remember before continuing.
Time flew by without them even realizing it.
Lu Xingjia really liked this feeling—immersed, focused, working hard toward a clear goal.
In his past life, he had missed out on his best years in a haze. But after being reborn, he could finally grasp it with his own hands.
What’s more, standing beside him was the person he had loved from past to present—and into the future.
At that moment, Lu Xingjia was working on the air track experiment.
The buzzing sound of the air pump filled his ears—not quite noise, but a bit distracting.
Qin Mudong handed him the slider and looked up, then suddenly lost focus, his fingers stiffening in place.
The lab curtains weren’t fully closed. Noon sunlight streamed through the gaps, creating a bright path in the air, landing exactly on the boy’s upright back.
Dust particles floated faintly in the light, like barely visible wings, dazzling and radiant.
But the boy bearing those wings remained unaware, one hand holding a stopwatch, the other a pen, focused entirely on the little glider on the track, diligently recording the data of each run.
Maybe Qin Mudong’s gaze was too intense. After a full set of data was recorded, Lu Xingjia seemed to sense something, turned his head—and met those deep, abyss-like eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Xingjia flushed and asked in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?”
“…No,” Qin Mudong’s Adam’s apple moved slightly. “Just looking at you.”
Lu Xingjia choked, a bit embarrassed. “W-Why are you looking at me?”
“Because I like you.” Qin Mudong replied without hesitation, still staring at him unwaveringly with those dark eyes.
With a loud bang, fireworks exploded in Lu Xingjia’s head.
This was no longer just a foul—it was like the genius player was forcing his opponent to forfeit!
Lu Xingjia cleared his throat awkwardly a couple of times, his eyes darting nervously: “Ahem, how come all of a sudden…”
His thoughts started to wander unconsciously, and he suddenly recalled the moment when they held hands that morning.
With such beauty before him, his self-control clearly dropped. Before he could stop himself, his mouth moved faster than his brain: “W-Wanna hold hands?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Xingjia regretted them.
They were seriously doing an experiment right now—holding hands all the time, what would that look like?
“No, I was just kidding…”
He hurried to save the situation, but before he could finish, long slender fingers gently wrapped around the back of his hand.
Lu Xingjia was still holding the stopwatch—his whole body froze in place.
The touch on the back of his hand lasted only a moment before Qin Mudong let go. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Good boy.”
It was just like soothing a startled little animal.
Lu Xingjia’s face turned red-hot. He was absolutely certain now—Qin Mudong was deliberately flirting with him!
At the same time, he silently scolded himself for being so inexperienced. He had literally been reincarnated and still got completely flustered by a real, live high schooler.
“What are you two mumbling about instead of practicing properly?”
A smiling voice came from behind, successfully interrupting Lu Xingjia’s train of thought.
“Chu Ge?!”
Lu Xingjia froze and looked up, only to realize that Zhang Chuchu had somehow appeared at the lab entrance without them noticing.
It was beyond awkward.
Lu Xingjia quickly lowered his head in embarrassment.
Thankfully, Zhang Chuchu didn’t overthink it. He assumed they were just fooling around, gave them a few reminders to focus on practicing, and then changed the subject.
“Qin Mudong,” he said, legs crossed and leaning casually against the lab table, “your mom just called me. She’s waiting for you at the school gate—wants to bring you something.”
Qin Mudong’s brows suddenly furrowed, and Lu Xingjia was also momentarily stunned.
Without giving them time to react, Zhang Chuchu patted Qin Mudong on the shoulder. “It’s lunch break now—go ahead, don’t keep your mom waiting.”
“Alright, just came to let you know.” He stood up from the table and headed toward the door. “Nothing else to report. You guys keep working hard.”
With that, Zhang Chuchu quickly disappeared down the hallway, and the lab fell into a sudden, heavy silence. The warmth from earlier had completely vanished.
No one moved for a long time. They remained frozen in their positions—Lu Xingjia was still clutching the stopwatch.
The air track continued to whir softly, but the slider had long stopped moving due to friction.
After a long pause, Lu Xingjia finally spoke. “Are you… going?”
Qin Mudong looked down and asked in return, “Do you think I should?”
“Do you want to?” Lu Xingjia tilted his head to look at him. “I’ll go with whatever you decide.”
Lu Xingjia thought to himself, He Xi was right—Qin Mudong has his own choices and judgment. He couldn’t use the excuse of “protecting” him to force his hand.
Besides, he didn’t know exactly what happened in their past life. If Pu Shulan was being sincere now, then this familial love might be something essential for Qin Mudong.
“I don’t want to go,” Qin Mudong said plainly.
“Then don’t.” Lu Xingjia replied quickly, feeling an odd sense of relief.
He reached into his pocket, searching for something but didn’t find it. So he said lightly, “There’s still a long time left for lunch break. Let’s do a bit more and then head to the little shop downstairs. I ran out of candy.”
Qin Mudong didn’t respond.
Lu Xingjia grinned and said softly, “Come with me, I’ll share with you.”
After a moment of silence, Qin Mudong said in a low voice, “I thought you’d try to convince me to go see her.”
Everyone always told him that—be grateful, think of the bigger picture, blood is thicker than water, parents would never hurt you.
Even just a few days ago, Zhang Chuchu had sat him down and told him that the woman had realized her mistakes and hoped he would give her a chance to make up for them.
“Nope,” Lu Xingjia smiled, the reflected light on him soft and warm. “How you feel is more important. I won’t force you to do something that makes you unhappy.”
Besides, Pu Shulan had done wrong in the first place—what right did she have to guilt-trip Qin Mudong with morality and blood ties?
“…Alright.”
After a moment, the corner of Qin Mudong’s mouth lifted slightly. “I’m not going.”
He stood up, one hand in his pocket. “Come on, let’s go get that candy.”
After a beat, he added, “My treat this time.”
“Sure!” Lu Xingjia smiled brightly and walked with him out of the lab building, side by side.
But his smile didn’t last long. As soon as they exited the building, he spotted a familiar figure not far away.
Pu Shulan, hands full with five or six shopping bags of various sizes, was just passing by them.
It was too late to hide.
Pu Shulan clearly saw them too and changed direction, walking straight toward them.
“Mudong, Jia Jia,” she greeted them with a gentle smile, stopping in front of them. “What a coincidence—I was just about to come looking for you.”
Qin Mudong lowered his eyes, expression unreadable. He didn’t look at her.
Lu Xingjia hesitated for a moment before smiling and greeting her, “Hello, Auntie.”
“Hello.” Pu Shulan smiled and nodded.
She wore a plain long-sleeved dress, her hair tied up in a loose bun, and her entire aura softened. For a moment, Lu Xingjia even felt a trace of the gentleness he often saw in He Xi.
Could she have really changed? Had she truly seen the error of her ways and decided to turn over a new leaf?
Lu Xingjia found it hard to believe.
Qin Mudong stared coldly at her without saying a word. Pu Shulan, however, didn’t get upset. She opened the bags she was carrying and started showing him the contents one by one: “These are some fruits, and some milk. You don’t usually get fresh fruit at school, so I brought some over.”
After showing everything, she offered the bags to Qin Mudong. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought a bit of everything. Next time, just tell Mom directly what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”
Qin Mudong glanced at it but didn’t take it.
“…Alright then.”
Pu Shulan sighed as if helpless and set the bags on the ground. “I’ll leave them here. Don’t forget to take them. It’s dry weather now, so eat more fruit.”
As if afraid of being rejected again, she turned around quickly and left in a hurry, soon disappearing beyond the school gate.
With no support, the bags drooped, revealing the colorful fruits inside—mandarins, bananas, dragon fruit, and a few round longans that disobediently rolled out of the bag.
The fruit scattered all over the ground didn’t look great, but Lu Xingjia didn’t pick them up. He thought, since they were from Pu Shulan, Qin Mudong probably wouldn’t like them.
So he didn’t say anything, just waited for Qin Mudong to make his decision.
After a long silence, Qin Mudong bent down and began picking up the fruit.
Lu Xingjia was startled, then heard Qin Mudong speak calmly: “After we buy the candy, let’s divide these up and give them to the school staff.”
Lu Xingjia’s nose stung slightly. He inwardly scolded himself—why were his tear ducts so sensitive?
But he really couldn’t help it.
Even surrounded by filth and ugliness, his boy still held on to a kind and pure heart.
“Okay.” Lu Xingjia nodded as if it were nothing and naturally reached out. “Let me help you carry some.”
Qin Mudong handed him two of the lighter bags. “The things themselves are innocent.”
Lu Xingjia walked beside him and repeated softly, “Mm, the things are innocent.”
Author’s Note:
Craving braised lion’s head meatballs.