Chapter 49

*Crush: A Glimpse of Dawnlight*
“So you were raised by your uncle?” Qin Sang only wanted to comfort him, determined to be a quiet listener, yet she still couldn’t resist leaning forward to ask.
Xie Yuncheng paused slightly and hummed in reply. “More or less. But he’s very busy, so we actually didn’t see each other that often.”
The Zhou family had fallen out with Zhou Wanqing, but the relationship between the Zhou siblings remained good. Zhou Yiqing probably couldn’t bear to watch her struggle in the Xie family, so he often went to visit the mother and son. Xie Zhenting, out of consideration for him, didn’t dare push things too far.
After all, Zhou Wanqing was a child of the Zhou family. At first, the Zhou family’s attitude was tough; they didn’t want much to do with her. But as time passed, they still couldn’t help coming by. People are made of flesh and blood—seeing Xie Zhenting’s outrageous behavior, and how it dragged down the still-young Xie Yuncheng, they couldn’t bear it.
Out of compassion, they often brought him over to stay. Zhou Yiqing had no children, so he treated Xie Yuncheng as his own. And Xie Yuncheng was truly smart—teaching him took Zhou Yiqing little effort.
“What about Grandpa Xie, then?”
Even though she had only met the old master of the Xie family once, she could feel that the relationship between grandfather and grandson was fairly good—at least much better than the relationship between father and son.
“He hadn’t retired yet, so it wasn’t convenient for him to intervene in things here.”
Xie Yuncheng was very patient. Whatever she wanted to understand, he answered.
Back then, Grandpa Xie hadn’t fully stepped away from the center of power struggles. And on the surface, he and Xie Zhenting had already separated households and completely severed ties, so it wasn’t easy for him to manage Xie Zhenting’s family matters. Besides, the Xie family had other descendants; if he openly favored one branch, people would inevitably suspect him of bias.
“My father actually isn’t my grandpa’s child.”
Qin Sang was startled. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Xie Yuncheng chuckled softly and couldn’t help kissing the corner of her eye, which had widened in surprise. “Don’t panic. That’s only true in the ‘official’ sense. My father was adopted into my great-uncle’s line, so strictly speaking, on the clan genealogy, he isn’t my grandpa’s son anymore.”
Xie Zhenting was taken away when he was very young and didn’t grow up at Grandpa Xie’s side. In his early years, Grandpa Xie grieved that his elder brother had died on the battlefield, leaving no heir. At the pleading of his sister-in-law and other relatives, he had Xie Zhenting adopted into his elder brother’s line, letting him carry on that bloodline.
Xie Zhenting was raised by others, and no one expected he would grow into someone so lawless. Grandpa Xie knew there were problems, but out of guilt he didn’t interfere too much. He only offered a few words of instruction. It wasn’t until Xie Zhenting insisted on divorcing Zhou Wanqing—driving her to extremes and making her take Xie Yuncheng to die—that Grandpa Xie struck him for the first time.
He demanded that Xie Zhenting deal with the women outside. If he couldn’t, then Grandpa Xie would take Xie Yuncheng back to the Xie family and raise him himself, not allowing the couple to interfere anymore.
But Xie Yuncheng refused Grandpa Xie’s proposal. He didn’t return with him to the capital; he stayed in Jing City.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help tightening his arms around her. “I’m very glad I made that decision back then. If I’d left Jing City with Grandpa…”
Qin Sang thought of it too. If Xie Zhenting hadn’t been adopted into someone else’s line, he wouldn’t have grown up in Jing City. If Grandpa Xie had been more forceful and taken Xie Yuncheng away, he wouldn’t have stayed at No. 1 High School, and he wouldn’t…
In the past, she’d only known how hard it was to walk forward. She had thought they would never intersect, and she’d even occasionally felt sad because of the label “classmates.”
Now, though, she felt grateful. To have had the chance to know each other, to become classmates at the same school—turns out even that had not come easily.
Just classmates—such a simple phrase—yet it was the final outcome formed by countless accidents and coincidences.
“I’ve always been a firm materialist, a supporter of Marxism, but now I feel there are some things I can’t help but believe.”
Fate had already written the script, only waiting for them to follow it step by step, moving along the track that had been set.
Qin Sang suddenly remembered something else. “Right—you said your father was adopted into your great-uncle’s line, so you didn’t grow up in the capital. Then was your great-uncle originally from Jing City?”
“No.” Xie Yuncheng stroked her smooth long hair. “He was from Ningjiang.”
The Xie family’s ancestral home was Ningjiang. Later they moved north; plus Grandpa Xie rose steadily through the ranks and took root in the capital. Few people knew that the Xie family had all come from the small town of Ningjiang.
“You’re actually from Ningjiang?”
Qin Sang felt that everything she’d heard tonight was astonishing.
Xie Yuncheng’s gaze was calm. When he lowered his eyes to look at her, there was a touch of gentleness. “Is that surprising?”
“A little.”
In the past, she’d only felt that Xie Yuncheng was out of reach—not only because of his excellence, but also because of his background, his uncommon birth, all of it making him impossible to catch up to.
Or rather, in the experimental class at No. 1 High School, most classmates’ families were decent enough. But compared to the international division—the favored children of heaven who were born in Rome—no matter their grades, their starting line already determined the peaks they would climb. They were completely different from kids like them, from ordinary families.
And Xie Yuncheng was the best of the best. His family background was no worse than those international-division students; even the rich second-generation kids there couldn’t compare to him. And yet he still worked hard himself—relying on ability to firmly hold the number-one rank in the grade.
She had once thought his future would be smooth, that he would only move forward with ease. Her world and Xie Yuncheng’s were separated by several levels—a threshold she could never cross. Class solidification had always been an unsolved problem, from ancient times to now.
So she didn’t dare to hope for any intersection with him—yet she couldn’t stop herself from imagining a future that included him.
But everything she heard tonight shattered her understanding, as if her long-fixed worldview had been smashed apart and reassembled.
The solid barriers and stubborn cognition collapsed with a roar. A chaotic, ruleless world was quietly erected in its place.
“Are you willing to believe now that I’m just an ordinary person?” Xie Yuncheng didn’t seem to mind laying his past bare. Or rather, he didn’t want to hide it at all.
Things that others would avoid at all costs—afraid people would know, afraid they’d become leverage—were, to him, merely an unimportant past.
He was open and real, never intending to deliberately cover up, and even less to deceive.
“You and I are no different.”
Xie Yuncheng’s gaze was gentle as he touched her eyes. Those clear pupils held his reflection. He only curled his lips into a smile, his voice especially warm. “Sang-sang, I’ve never been more special than you. It’s your liking that makes me different from everyone else.”
Not because he was outstanding, but because her liking put a halo on him and made him stand out.
Was it really like that?
When you like someone, you automatically add a filter.
You ignore all their flaws and only see their strengths. That was the greatest “cheat code” she had bestowed on him.
Was Xie Yuncheng truly no different from anyone else? Was he originally just an ordinary person—if you stripped away the surname and the identity, removed the halo she gave him, would he be any different from others?
Qin Sang fell into a daze, her eyes empty.
After a long while, she finally came back to herself. “No way.”
“I almost let you lead me by the nose.”
Qin Sang looked at him skeptically. “You’re really underestimating me. Do you think I’m the type who’s totally love-brained, completely not clear-headed? Or in your eyes, am I just someone who’s after your family background—greedy for your wealth?”
“I like you. It’s not because your surname is Xie.”
“I like you because you’re genuinely outstanding. You can stand up for strangers, and you’ll fight for the class’s honor.”
“Even if you were an ordinary person, you’d never be mediocre.”
Family background was only a halo on top of icing. Everything he had gained had never depended on his parents, nor had it relied on any benefit brought by the surname “Xie.”
Even at school, who you are doesn’t matter—what matters is whether you’re capable.
Who cares who your parents are? Who cares which family you come from?
Student thinking really is that simple.
Good grades and a sharp mind were already enough to make someone stand out.
“I’ve never liked you because of what you’re姓什么. I like you because you’re you—simply the Xie Yuncheng I know.”
The first time she saw Xie Yuncheng, across a sea of people, across mountains and rivers, she only knew his name. She knew nothing else.
Even after she learned more later, she only sighed a little—thinking that the gap between them had widened again, that the distance was even farther.
But the root of it all was still that he himself was outstanding. He was good at everything, as if he had no shortcomings. Someone like that—just standing next to him—could make people feel ashamed of themselves.
“I used to not understand. What’s so special about you? I didn’t understand why I could never forget you, why I always unconsciously compared you to others.”
“But now, I understand.”
“It isn’t that my liking makes you different from others. It’s that your difference makes it hard for me to accept anyone else.”
“Don’t get it backwards, okay?”
Qin Sang felt inexplicably annoyed. “Don’t brainwash me.”
People with strong thinking skills were too scary—just a few sentences and they could guide her thoughts, step by step, into sinking.
So close—she almost really got led astray.
“If you insist that I had some ulterior motive, then maybe it’s…”
Qin Sang had to admit it. “Because you’re good-looking.”
The essence of love at first sight is just being attracted by looks.
The first time she saw Xie Yuncheng, it was hard to say she wasn’t drawn to that face. The reason for liking was really simple, really cliché. What ultimately made it hard for her to let go was that he wasn’t like others.
Because Xie Yuncheng was Xie Yuncheng—unique, irreplaceable. That was why she couldn’t forget, couldn’t put it down.
Qin Sang suddenly cupped his face, eager to try. She kissed his brow, the tip of his nose, and only then his lips.
In truth, her kissing was clumsy—far less skilled than his. She bit at the corner of his lip, awkwardly, as if paying him back for when he’d bitten her lip and broken the skin.
Sensing his desire, his hand slid to her nape, pressing lightly, as if he wanted to deepen the kiss.
But Qin Sang pulled back a little at that moment. Their breaths mingled, her gaze fever-hot. Yet she pressed her lips against his, not letting him come closer by even half an inch. She only panted, her breathing uneven. “Classmate Xie, are you trying to take advantage of me again?”
Her eyes were watery. Her already-bright features grew even more shimmering, veiled in a hazy mist. Her breath was a mess. The collar of her knit sweater slipped down, her bony shoulders thin, her skin pale—like warm jade under moonlight.
Xie Yuncheng’s gaze shifted. The clear brightness in his eyes was stained with color. His knuckles pressed into the soft hollow at her waist, and his voice dropped low, magnetic, hoarse. “Sang-sang. Are you willing?”