HL 7

After saying that, Xu Nanxiao belatedly realized his tone had been too eager, and his face flushed slightly.

But Ying Yusheng made no comment. He simply smiled, took Xu Nanxiao’s wrist, and pulled his arm down from the wall.

“Alright.” Ying Yusheng gently held Xu Nanxiao’s wrist, not letting go. “I told you—you can come to me whenever you need.”

Just then, the sound of two male students talking and laughing drifted in from outside the dorm building.

Xu Nanxiao tensed and instinctively pulled his wrist back. Ying Yusheng didn’t stop him, letting go smoothly.

Then he stepped forward, almost brushing against Xu Nanxiao’s ear, his low breath spilling into his ear canal: “This isn’t the best place. My office—would that work?”

Upon entering Ying Yusheng’s office, Xu Nanxiao found the layout and decor very similar to his psychological consultation room.

Equally minimalist and tidy, the desk and floor practically spotless. A curtain in one corner partitioned off a small alcove containing a narrow bed.

“You… actually treat people here?”

“Of course.” Ying Yusheng nodded with a smile. “Forgive me for boasting, but I do have some reputation in this field.”

The thought of countless people having lain on that bed made Xu Nanxiao inexplicably uncomfortable. He wrinkled his nose.

“If you’re ready, please lie down.” Ying Yusheng pretended not to notice Xu Nanxiao’s expression, settling onto a round stool nearby. “Same treatment as last time—you want to fall asleep quickly?”

Xu Nanxiao lay flat and nodded.

After a moment, staring at the ceiling, he suddenly asked: “Can hypnosis make my memory worse?”

“That’s a first.” Ying Yusheng set down his notes and looked at Xu Nanxiao gently. “Quite a few students come to me for hypnosis hoping to improve their memory and concentration. You’re the first who wants to remember less.”

Xu Nanxiao draped an arm over his eyes and muttered: “If you can’t, forget it. There are some things I don’t want to remember so clearly.”

Ying Yusheng knew something must have happened during the weeks they’d been out of touch.

Even without that, he was certain Xu Nanxiao would eventually come back to him for hypnosis—but this incident was undoubtedly a catalyst.

“It’s possible, but very difficult.” Ying Yusheng considered for a moment.

“If you’re willing to tell me in detail about what’s causing you pain, I can delve into your subconscious and build new cognitive bridges to overwrite those memories. Of course, it varies from person to person—I can’t guarantee success.”

Hearing that Ying Yusheng wanted him to confess everything, Xu Nanxiao was silent for a while, then turned his head away and deflected: “Forget it. Some other time.”

Ying Yusheng didn’t press. “So—just insomnia treatment this time?”

“Yeah.”

Xu Nanxiao didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he woke, his mind was remarkably clear. It was as if the weeks of restless nights had been nothing but a brief nightmare.

Though Ying Yusheng had said hypnosis couldn’t easily erase memories, Xu Nanxiao found the details of that morning’s altercation with Old Liu already growing hazy. Reluctant to recall them, he let them slip from his mind.

He felt reborn.

“How do you feel?” Ying Yusheng had somehow changed into a white lab coat, hands in his pockets as he strolled toward Xu Nanxiao. Tall and long-limbed, with an elegant build, he made the coat look particularly good.

Xu Nanxiao didn’t get up, just shifted his gaze to look at him.

The clarity of his mind gave him more room to think. After a long silence, he asked abruptly: “Where were you last Tuesday at three in the afternoon?”

Ying Yusheng froze and said nothing.

The room fell into dead silence.

Tuesday at three—that was when the hooded man had shown up at his door.

“Why are you asking?” Ying Yusheng looked helpless.

“Where were you?” Xu Nanxiao pressed.

The two stared at each other in silence. The air seemed to carry the scent of something burning.

Just then, someone knocked on Ying Yusheng’s office door, and a female voice came from outside: “Professor Ying, may I come in?”

“Please do.” Ying Yusheng responded first.

“You called me to—” Mao Ke stopped mid-sentence, noticing a stranger lying behind the curtain. She fell silent, looking at Ying Yusheng awkwardly.

“I wanted to discuss your paper publication. Sorry—a friend is here right now. Wait for me in the small conference room across the hall.”

“Oh, okay.”

As Mao Ke was about to leave, Ying Yusheng called out from behind: “Mao Ke, do you remember where I was last Tuesday at three in the afternoon?”

Mao Ke didn’t understand why he was asking, but she thought for a moment and answered obediently: “That was when I came to your office to drop off the lab report. We chatted for quite a while—don’t you remember?”

Ying Yusheng looked at Xu Nanxiao and let out a soft laugh that made Xu Nanxiao’s cheeks burn.

Damn it. He pressed his temples—what an embarrassment.

“It’s nothing. You can go now.”

After Mao Ke left, Ying Yusheng looked at Xu Nanxiao again, eyes narrowing slightly. “As you can see—I was in my office.”

Xu Nanxiao’s lips moved. The words “I’m sorry” were almost out, but he swallowed them back and settled for a stiff “Mm.”

Cute, Ying Yusheng thought, his eyes curving. Like a feral cat.

“So—what happened last Tuesday at three?” Ying Yusheng asked.

Xu Nanxiao found it hard to speak and just shook his head.

Ying Yusheng didn’t push, saying considerately: “That’s fine. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“Mm.” Xu Nanxiao grunted, then got up, threw on his jacket, and prepared to leave.

Ying Yusheng saw him to the door. “Do you know the way out?”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot.” Xu Nanxiao raised an eyebrow.

“Haha. Well, hope to see you again.”

But Xu Nanxiao didn’t move. He suddenly ran his hands through his hair roughly, turned around, and said to Ying Yusheng with complete seriousness: “I’m not gay.”

“?”

“Even though there were… handprints on my ankles, that was just drinking buddies messing around—not what you think. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that day really—”

“Nanxiao.” Ying Yusheng suddenly interrupted, speaking slowly and steadily: “I believe you. Besides, I don’t care.”

In that instant, Xu Nanxiao truly believed Ying Yusheng possessed some special power.

The man smoothed away the wrinkles in his heart in a single moment, and Xu Nanxiao felt an unprecedented ease in his presence.

After Xu Nanxiao left, Ying Yusheng returned to his office, closed the door, and leaned against it.

That was close, he thought with a smile.

Xu Nanxiao was sharp—his instincts were keen. Ying Yusheng had never underestimated him. That was why he hadn’t gone himself that day; he’d sent someone else to deliver the compressed file, creating an alibi just in case.

Surely, after this, all of Xu Nanxiao’s suspicions had been dispelled.

And indeed, from that day forward, Xu Nanxiao began visiting Ying Yusheng’s psychological consultation room frequently.

They didn’t chat—just brief pleasantries before starting the session. When it was over, Xu Nanxiao left without ceremony, and Ying Yusheng never contacted him by phone for any reason.

No interference, no prying, no demands, no disturbance.

Sometimes Xu Nanxiao couldn’t help thinking—if only Ying Yusheng were a woman. He’d be an ideal bed partner.

One day, Xu Nanxiao walked into the consultation room to find Ying Yusheng sitting by the coffee table, with two delicate slices of cake on it.

He glanced at the packaging—the cake was from his favorite coffee shop, the one he always wanted but couldn’t justify buying.

“The one you treated me to last time was really good. Consider me successfully converted,” Ying Yusheng explained.

Rich people, Xu Nanxiao thought sourly—they can buy two slices at once and eat their fill.

“Doesn’t eating two at once get sickening?” he asked jealously.

Ying Yusheng hadn’t expected that reaction. He looked at Xu Nanxiao in surprise. “No—the other slice is for you.”

Now it was Xu Nanxiao’s turn to be surprised. “Why would you buy me cake?”

“Because I liked it, and I wanted you to try it too.”

Xu Nanxiao frowned, noncommittal.

But Ying Yusheng didn’t press. He pulled out a chair for Xu Nanxiao. “Sit down. Eat.”

“…”

The fork cut through—the outer cream was cool, offering only slight resistance before yielding smoothly. The milky scent didn’t overpower; the subtle natural sweetness of taro slowly unfolded, with a hint of graininess, not cloying, leaving only a faint sweetness drifting between teeth and cheeks.

Xu Nanxiao was eating intently when suddenly, a forkful of cake appeared before his mouth.

He looked up to see Ying Yusheng smiling: “New flavor—mango pomelo white chocolate. Try it.”

Xu Nanxiao wasn’t used to such close contact with another man, but having just eaten the other’s expensive cake, he couldn’t very well make a scene. So he opened his mouth and took it in.

To be fair, the new flavor was excellent—refreshing, cutting through the richness, with a strong mango taste.

Noticing a heavy gaze on him, Xu Nanxiao looked over and found Ying Yusheng had stopped eating altogether, chin propped on his hand, watching him intently.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He set down his fork, uncomfortable, and demanded: “What exactly are you after?”

“…Nothing. You treated me before—this is my return gesture.”

“I’m not just talking about the cake. Why do you keep helping me? I’m broke now—all my money went to endorsement penalties. I can’t give you what you want.”

“Because you’re Yingjie’s—”

“Come on, Professor Ying.” Xu Nanxiao shot back bluntly. “I asked Yingjie—you’re not even that close to him. So why his brother? Besides, I have a bad temper—most people can’t stand me. What’s your angle?”

Xu Nanxiao was no stranger to people who were overly nice for no reason. Their disguises were always flimsy—their motives written all over their faces. But this Ying Yusheng—he couldn’t read him.

And that was exactly what made Xu Nanxiao uneasy. He preferred things simple and direct—transactional relationships.

But at that moment, all Ying Yusheng was thinking was—

Heh. So he knows he has a bad temper.

“Thirty percent of it is because you’re Yingjie’s brother—he’s my best student.” Ying Yusheng sat up straight and said candidly: “But more importantly, I want to talk to people my age. I told you before—I don’t have many peers to chat with. From the first time we met, I felt we got along well.”

Xu Nanxiao couldn’t believe it—Ying Yusheng went through all this trouble just to “make friends” with him? This ivory-tower elite had the social intelligence of a grade-schooler.

“I don’t have friends. I’ve got plenty of dinner buddies and drinking buddies, though,” Xu Nanxiao said coldly.

“It doesn’t have to be ‘friends.’ That sounds awkward.” Ying Yusheng touched the back of his neck shyly. “I just want someone my age to talk to.”

Since Xu Nanxiao needed Ying Yusheng’s hypnosis anyway, and since Ying Yusheng wanted to please him, he figured he might as well take advantage while it lasted. Once he no longer needed the man, he’d kick this weirdo to the curb.

So he shrugged and popped the taro vanilla cake into his mouth: “Suit yourself.”

On the way home, Xu Nanxiao was in a decent mood.

He hadn’t expected Ying Yusheng to be so naive—wanting to be friends with him. What a joke. Almost thirty years old and not embarrassed to say it.

Xu Nanxiao had once had many friends too. Whoever needed money or connections, he’d help if he could. But once he’d fallen from grace, he finally realized those so-called “brothers” were just transactional.

The weak offer “loyalty” for protection; the strong exchange “wealth and power” for support. Once the benefits dried up, people left—his own downfall was proof enough.

So now he only needed partners. Calling anyone a friend was an insult to the word.

But his good mood lasted only until he reached his front door.

As he entered the hallway, he spotted something hanging from his doorknob from a distance. Upon closer inspection, it was a tote bag. Frowning, he picked it up and peered inside—it contained a white dress shirt.

There was also a note:

[Darling, you left this shirt at my place last time. I’ve made good use of it a few times, but don’t worry—I washed it clean ^_^]

Xu Nanxiao unlocked his door, clutching the white shirt, baffled. At first he thought someone had left it at the wrong door, but the shirt looked increasingly familiar.

Suddenly, it hit him. He cursed “holy shit,” then scrambled to his closet on unsteady feet. He yanked open a drawer and rummaged frantically—sure enough, he was missing a white shirt. The one in his hand.

Now recalling the note—

What did “left at my place” mean? He’d been to the hooded man’s home? How could he have no memory of it?

And if he hadn’t been there, how did the guy get his shirt?

“Made good use of it a few times”—worn it?

No—the hooded man was taller and bigger than him. The shirt wouldn’t fit. So what did “used” mean…

Xu Nanxiao’s stomach dropped:

The hooded man had jerked off using his shirt!

Xu Nanxiao immediately flung the neatly folded white shirt into the trash like it was a burning coal. Even that wasn’t enough—he tied up the garbage bag and tossed it out the door.

Pervert. Die. Pervert. Die. Pervert. Die!

That bastard had actually expected him to wear a shirt that had been drenched in his fluids?!

In an instant, the lingering sweet cream taste in Xu Nanxiao’s mouth turned nauseating. He could almost recall its melting texture—wet, sticky.

He clamped his hand over his mouth, barely holding back a dry heave.