Su Lixu didn’t expect the students from the art academy to be so enthusiastic. Even after class, they surrounded him with questions, and it escalated to the point where they wanted his contact information. He wasn’t sure if it was genuine curiosity or just an intense desire for knowledge.

In the end, he used the excuse of having another class to escape the crowd and finally catch his breath outside the classroom.

It’s not that he dislikes students asking questions; he just doesn’t appreciate being surrounded by too many people. There might be physical contact, collisions, triggering his cleanliness obsession.

It’s not about disliking people getting close; it’s just his obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

In the restroom, Su Lixu stood in front of the sink, continuously rinsing his hands. He used hand soap repeatedly, meticulously washing every inch, not even sparing the gaps between his fingers. He washed until his hands turned red, not feeling the pain.

“Teacher Su, your hands are red. Doesn’t it hurt?”

At that moment, he heard a somewhat familiar voice behind him. His hands, in the midst of rubbing together, abruptly stopped as he turned around.

It was the guy who had asked him about having a boyfriend earlier.

The student looked at him with a concerned expression, as if Su Lixu was doing something harmful to himself. Perhaps the proximity was too much; he found the face of the student vaguely resembling someone else’s. The feeling was fleeting; he lowered his gaze, turned back, and shut off the tap, smiling.

“It’s fine, just washing my hands.”

As he was about to reach for tissues to dry his hands, the student beat him to it, handing the tissues to him. With the warm and firm chest behind him, his body stiffened instantly, while a familiar August night fragrance passed through his nose.

This is the perfume he has been using for nearly five years, so he can easily detect if someone else is using the same fragrance. However, he hasn’t had the chance to ponder over these insignificant matters yet.

The tissue—should he accept it or not?

Not accepting it might make the students uncomfortable, given his role as a teacher. Accepting it means facing his own inner conflicts.

“Teacher Su, why are you daydreaming?”

Just as Su Lixu was deciding whether to take the tissue and confront himself, the tall figure of the student embraced him from the front, holding his hand from behind. Powerful arms pressed against his body, the student’s large hands almost a size bigger than his, grasped his left hand first. The student carefully wiped off the water from his hand with the tissue, leaving no gap untouched, inside and out, even between the fingers.

Then, onto the other hand.

He felt it was an unimaginable situation.

Perhaps he had never encountered such an awkward moment in his life.

….Or maybe he had.

There was once an even more awkward incident.

The man’s long and fair hands, initially beautiful like works of art, turned slightly red after the friction. Despite this, whether it was the fingertips turning rosy or the nails showing a faint pink, it was all an exciting temptation for the blood.

Fu Xingran saw Su Lixu, held in his embrace, remaining silent. He lifted his eyes to the mirror and found Su Lixu staring at him as if he didn’t recognize him at all.

Indeed, he had changed so much that he was unrecognizable.

But he still wanted to ask why he suddenly disappeared, was it because he was afraid of him?

“You…” Su Lixu brushed away the hands of the student behind him, took a few steps back, leaving the intrusive embrace. “I can handle it myself, thank you.”

After saying that, he grabbed two more tissues and left the restroom without looking back.

In the midst of this chaos, he didn’t realize that his hands had been touched by someone, not accidentally but deliberately, repeatedly, even between the fingers.

He didn’t think about washing his hands; it was as if there was a flood or a fierce beast behind him, ready to embrace him inexplicably in the next second.

Meanwhile, Su Lixu was completely unaware that, after he left, Fu Xingran behind him bore a deep sense of loss in his eyes.

“Do you forget about me? It’s really heartbreaking.”

In an instant, his eyes filled with hope again. Fu Xingran placed the hand that had touched Su Lixu’s lips, expressing a sense of infatuation, kissing the fingertips and imagining Su Lixu.

Imagining the trembling appearance of the man.

“It’s okay. Let’s get to know each other again, Teacher Su.”

…

Su Lixu adapted to a week of university teaching quite well, perhaps due to his frequent presence on campus. Compared to working in a hospital, he preferred the straightforward academic atmosphere of the university. Despite his teacher’s advice to work in a hospital, he ultimately made the resolute decision to join the school.

After work, he drove to Sam’s Supermarket to buy some daily necessities and ingredients for tonight’s dinner. Perhaps because of his background in medicine, he was particularly sensitive and cared deeply about food hygiene. He preferred to cook at home and avoid eating out whenever possible. He wouldn’t even use convenient food delivery apps because he was not confident in their hygiene standards. Therefore, he chose the slightly inconvenient option of going out to buy groceries.

Being able to see the food he bought gave him peace of mind.

He carefully selected green vegetables in the vegetable section and bought some live shrimp from the seafood section, planning to make steamed shrimp for tonight. After purchasing the ingredients, he went to the household goods section to replenish some items that were lacking in his apartment.

Finally, he filled a shopping cart with a substantial amount of items.

Pushing the cart to the parking lot, he had some difficulty loading the items into the trunk since most of Sam’s Supermarket products were in large packaging with substantial weight. As he was contemplating how to lift three boxes of bundled apples into the trunk, a hand appeared beside him and effortlessly lifted the three boxes of apples. He was stunned, looking puzzled at the person beside him.

It was that same guy again.

Fu Xingran smiled brightly at Su Lixu, “Teacher Su, what a coincidence! Are you shopping too?”

After placing the three boxes of apples in Su Lixu’s trunk, he also helped put the other items from the cart into the trunk.

Su Lixu noticed that the frequency of encountering this guy had become unusually high.

Throughout the week, he encountered this student in almost every class, almost every corridor he passed, and even when he went up the stairs. Now, he ran into him at the supermarket. What kind of high-probability event was this?

“What a coincidence, are you shopping too?” Su Lixu politely smiled and then went to tidy up his trunk. “I can handle it, thank you.”

“It’s okay, Dr.Su, your hands aren’t suitable for these things, these items are too heavy.” Fu Xingran pressed Su Lixu’s hand, attempting to move the boxes. He glanced sideways, “In the future, if you want to buy anything at Sam’s, you can contact me directly. This Sam’s Supermarket is owned by my family, and I can arrange for them to deliver anything to you, no matter how small.”

Su Lixu silently withdrew his hand, wondering if students nowadays were all so enthusiastic towards their teachers.

“Alright.” Fu Xingran organized the items in the trunk neatly and then stood up, looking at Su Lixu.

Facing the intense gaze of the student in front of him, Su Lixu felt a moment of confusion. An indescribable sense of familiarity overwhelmed him, but it seemed unlikely, especially considering that the father had mentioned that they might not return to the country for a while.

Besides, it didn’t quite match.

That child used to be afraid of the outside environment, even afraid of light. He would tightly cling to Su Lixu when he pulled the curtains, unlike this tall, handsome, and radiant young man before him.

Even though they were of similar age.

“Thank you so much. Do you need me to give you a ride back to the school?” Su Lixu asked with a smile. Regardless, he assumed the child just had a friendly and enthusiastic nature.

Fu Xingran shook his head, took out his car keys, and pressed a button nearby. A Lamborghini hidden in the shadows blinked its lights. “I drove here, I can manage on my own. Dr. Su, see you tomorrow.”

After saying that, he turned and walked towards his car.

Su Lixu was about to ask the name of this student when he abruptly left. He didn’t even have a chance to ask for the name, and it wasn’t appropriate to call him back just for that.Without dwelling on it, he opened the driver’s door, drove away.

Probably just a rather enthusiastic kid who enjoys helping others.

…

In the evening, the pink and purple hues painted the sky like an oil painting. The road was bustling with traffic, but the distance of a few cars, Su Lixu never spotted the Lamborghini.

Everything seemed like a coincidence.