They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 20
On the second floor of Yan Ze’s home, there was a small reception room that resembled a music room. Guitars and violins hung neatly on the walls, and in the center stood a piano. Beside it was a small white square table shaped like a cat’s paw—cute and compact.
“We’ll study here.”
Yan Ze hosted warmly, bustling about with stools and snacks, even handing Xie Tingxue a jar of mixed nuts—deliberately pretending Mei Jian didn’t exist.
Xie Tingxue, cradling the jar like a little squirrel, asked hesitantly,
“What about Chen Chang and Yan Yaru?”
Them? Yan Ze had never invited them in the first place.
In fact, he’d even considered playing a trick just to get Xie Tingxue alone, but he backed off, not wanting to scare her. If she hadn’t insisted on bringing Mei Jian, Yan Ze wouldn’t have allowed him to tag along either.
Why would a husband bring his ex to a date? Just an eyesore.
While Yan Ze was cursing inwardly, his face remained all smiles.
“Chen Chang said he’s not coming. Yan Yaru isn’t in the mood either,” he lied smoothly.
“So it’s just the two of us today.”
“Three, actually,” Xie Tingxue corrected.
“Two,” Yan Ze replied with a grin.
“The other one doesn’t count.”
Mei Jian countered calmly,
“Didn’t you say we were practicing oral English today? From what I hear, your speaking skills are already perfect. I’ll tutor Xiao Xue one-on-one.”
Yan Ze pushed back just as quickly,
“How could I allow that? Group study means teamwork. I’ll teach her oral English.”
“Uh…” Xie Tingxue blinked, confused.
Why did this suddenly feel like a palace drama with concubines fighting for favor?
Clutching her English textbook, she tried to shake the strange feeling away and asked,
“So… how are we going to study?”
Yan Ze suggested,
“Let’s do this. Since speaking can’t be judged without hearing it, Mei Jian and I will both read a passage. You pick whose class you want to join.”
Mei Jian smirked confidently.
“Then you’re doomed.”
Both of them knew her too well.
Even if Xie Tingxue thought Yan Ze was better, she’d be too shy to choose a boy she wasn’t close to.
She had always been soft-skinned like that.
Sure enough, instead of choosing directly, she circled the topic and asked Yan Ze,
“What was your English score in the last monthly exam?”
Mei Jian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Yan Ze coughed and muttered,
“…Twenty, I think.”
Xie Tingxue’s eyes widened in shock.
“Twenty or twenty-eight?”
Yan Ze froze in humiliation.
“Is there really a difference?”
“Why so low?” she asked, stunned.
Yan Ze said vaguely,
“I finished the paper in three minutes.”
Xie Tingxue’s eyes rounded—big and glossy like black pearls. Adorably shocked.
The two boys burst into laughter.
“You mean… you guessed?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ve never seriously done a paper.”
As a top student, Xie Tingxue clearly couldn’t comprehend this level of disrespect for exams.
Trying to salvage his image, Yan Ze added,
“But I did register for the competition properly. My spoken English is quite good!”
Mei Jian pushed him aside,
“Then go do a proper paper.”
Yan Ze shrugged,
“I’d love to, but I don’t have any papers at home. That’s why I’m here—for speaking practice.”
Mei Jian smiled slyly.
“I brought some.”
“…What?”
Was he serious?! Who actually brings test papers to a group session?!
Mei Jian pulled a stack of freshly printed test sheets from his bag and tore off a set for him.
“Go on. Do it. You think I’m like you, using this as an excuse to get alone time with her? I came here for actual study.”
Yan Ze paled.
“Why do you get to decide I have to do it?”
Mei Jian leaned closer and said lowly,
“Who was it that promised me yesterday they wouldn’t disrupt her studies? Go on—do the paper.”
Mei Jian’s tone was imperious. Yan Ze refused to back down.
Still outside the loop, Xie Tingxue leaned over to peek,
“Which set is this? Have I done it before?”
As she leaned in, Yan Ze’s heart softened at the sight of her soft, fluffy hair.
He wanted to reach out and pat it.
But before he could, Mei Jian shoved a pen into his hand.
“Go. Do your paper.”
“I don’t want to.”
Mei Jian called over,
“Xie Tingxue, do this listening section with him.”
Xie Tingxue, ever obedient, nodded and sat up straight.
“Okay.”
Yan Ze dragged over the piano bench and sat beside her, finally silent as he picked up his pen.
Yep. That’s how you handle him.
Mei Jian set up a cassette player, slotted in the tape, and pressed play.
Yan Ze sat there with a strange sense of defeat, feeling like he’d been tricked into obeying Mei Jian’s every command.
“So… while we’re doing listening, what are you doing?” he asked.
Mei Jian smiled faintly.
“Flipping your tape sides.”
Xie Tingxue giggled quietly.
“You two are really funny when you talk.”
With that royal decree, both “concubines” momentarily set aside their feud.
The tape ran for over ten minutes. Xie Tingxue and Yan Ze grew serious, their pens gliding in sync.
Across the table, Mei Jian watched them, a small smile appearing on his face without him even noticing.
When Yan Ze looked up, he caught sight of Mei Jian’s soft, gentle gaze and immediately shuddered.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Ugh, you’re disgusting.”
Mei Jian tossed a pencil case at his head and raised a finger to his lips.
“Shh.”
Yan Ze caught the case in time, and the listening tape played on.
Downstairs, Jin Zhenyu’s parents failed to arrange a dinner with the Yan family, and left in disappointment.
As Yan Ze’s mother was closing the door after seeing them out, she caught a glimpse of Jin Zhenyu turning around and spitting on the ground, his eyes filled with malice.
Yan Ze’s mom muttered, “…Brat.”
Making enemies at such a young age—she decided to interrogate her son properly once the guests left.
As she shut the door, she looked upstairs with renewed curiosity.
“Must be that little girl.”
She dressed modestly, but her eyes held a spark—spirited, a bit stubborn. And judging by how excited her son had been, there was no mistake.
“She’s the little wildcat.” Yan Ze’s mom quickly squeezed three glasses of juice and tiptoed upstairs with a tray.
But as she pushed open the door to the small parlor, she was stunned.
Her son was sitting at the table, brows furrowed as he earnestly tackled a worksheet. Another boy was lounging with crossed legs, grading papers with a red pen. And that little wildcat of a girl was repeating
English phrases from a cassette, her round eyes focused, chin slightly raised—cute and a little pitiful. The kind that makes your heart ache.
Maybe her gaze was too intense, because Yan Ze looked up.
“Mom?”
She hadn’t seen her son study so quietly at a table in years. Overwhelmed, Yan Ze’s mom covered her mouth.
“Don’t mind me, go ahead,” she said, placing the juice down and about to leave.
Yan Ze grabbed her and smiled,
“Mom, let me introduce you…”
Let you officially meet your future daughter-in-law.
He winked meaningfully at her.
“This is my classmate,” Yan Ze said, pulling Xie Tingxue over. “Xie Tingxue. The ‘Ting’ like in ‘An Zhi Ting Lan’—such a beautiful name.”
“I know, I know,” his mother said warmly. “So pretty! You must come visit Yan Ze more often.”
Blushing, Xie Tingxue said politely, “Thank you, Auntie.”
Yan Ze added, “You’ll be seeing a lot of her. We’ve decided to study here from now on.”
His mother’s joy grew even brighter. “Really? You’re more than welcome!”
With introductions done, Yan Ze sat back down.
“I’m still timing myself—back to work.”
His mother paused.
“And this young man? Are you not going to introduce him too, Zeze?”
This childish behavior earned Yan Ze a roll of the eyes from Mei Jian. He stood and greeted politely,
“Hello, Auntie. I’m Mei Jian, also a classmate.”
Yan Ze twirled his pen and arched a brow.
His mother caught his expression out of the corner of her eye and understood immediately.
“Ah… welcome.”
So this was his rival.
Just then, the doorbell rang downstairs.
“Maybe your father’s back!” Yan Ze’s mother exclaimed, light-footed as a girl as she went to answer it.
Hearing that Yan Ze’s father might be home, Xie Tingxue tensed, hands tightening around her paper.
Both Yan Ze and Mei Jian noticed her shift in mood and exchanged glances.
Mei Jian broke the silence,
“I’ve finished grading. Let’s go over your papers.”
Xie Tingxue moved her chair over, fully focused.
“Here’s yours, Xiao Xue. You did well on the short conversations, but lost a lot of points on the long ones,” Mei Jian explained.
“That suggests you only caught a few keywords.”
Xie Tingxue nodded quickly, like a pecking chick.
“Listen to the long dialogue again,” Mei Jian said, handing her the answer sheet. “Then we’ll go over the transcript.”
Then he looked at Yan Ze.
“I already know what went wrong,” Yan Ze said. “I didn’t finish reading the questions and forgot half the vocab. I don’t need your help.”
Mei Jian calmly offered, “Want my advice? One-time offer. Take it or leave it—you won’t get another chance.”
Suddenly, loud, piercing laughter echoed up from downstairs—a woman’s voice.
Yan Ze’s face changed.
“Don’t say anything! That’s not my dad—it’s Yan Yaru’s mom!” He stood and listened for a moment, eyes wide.
“Crap, Yan Yaru came too.”
Mei Jian calmly closed the papers and asked,
“Did you tell her about today’s study session?”
Yan Ze panicked.
“You two, hide!”
Xie Tingxue was confused.
“…Why?”
Yan Ze admitted,
“I didn’t tell Yan Yaru a word about this.”
Xie Tingxue froze, her expression falling.
“You lied to us? You said it was a group study! What is this? Girls hate this kind of cliquey behavior—it looks like we’re excluding her on purpose…”
“I know, I know, my ancestor,” Yan Ze coaxed.
He hurriedly packed her things and pushed her into his bedroom, then told Mei Jian,
“You go to the other room!”
Mei Jian, clearly enjoying the show, cooperated and slipped into the other room.
Yan Yaru came upstairs.
Seeing the three glasses of juice still on the table, Yan Ze quickly gulped down two—his and Xie Tingxue’s—and hid the cups beneath the table before going back to his seat.
God, I’m so full!
Downstairs, his mom called,
“Yaru, want some juice?”
Yan Ze burped, defeated.
Yan Yaru’s sweet voice rang out, “Yes please, thank you Auntie!”
She pushed open the door and plopped onto the couch.
“You okay? Wanna go to the plaza?”
“I’m doing homework. Leave me alone. Go by yourself.”
“Oh, come on. Like you’re actually gonna finish it?” she scoffed.
“Hurry up and come with me. Otherwise, my mom’s going to ask where I’m going.”
“Tell her you’re picking up books from school.”
“Only if you come with me!” Yan Yaru insisted. “She’ll never let me go alone.”
Yan Ze pointed to the bandage on his head.
“See this? I’m not being your human shield anymore. Spare the poor boys. Another karaoke invite?”
“It’s with girls,” she said coyly.
“Are you coming or not? I already told them you’d be there to impress them!”
Yan Ze grimaced. “No. Go without me. Don’t drag me into it.”
“What, studying hard now?”
“Not planning to. I am.” His tone was icy.
“Why? For Xie Tingxue?” she pried.
“None of your business. Are you leaving or not?”
Pouting, Yan Yaru stood and stomped her foot.
“Fine! I won’t go either.”
She headed for Yan Ze’s bedroom, hand on the doorknob. He rushed over and shut it.
“Did I say you could go in?”
“You’re not some delicate girl. What’s there to hide?”
“Try having some manners,” he snapped. “It’s not your room. Respect that.”
Annoyed, she muttered, “So boring.”
Just then, Yan Ze’s mom came upstairs with a tray. Seeing only the two of them, she paused.
“Where’s everyone else?”
Yan Ze shot her desperate looks and said to Yaru,
“Did you finish your homework? Go home and do it!”
“Auntie,” Yan Yaru pouted, “look at your son—so mean to me…”
Yan Ze’s mom played along.
“Ignore him. He’s just cranky because he can’t solve his problems. Want to go play in the recording room with Auntie?”
“Yes!” Yaru brightened.
Yan Ze’s mom rolled her eyes at him and led Yan Yaru downstairs.
He let out a huge sigh of relief.
________________________________________
Xie Tingxue stood at his desk, holding her backpack. On the desk lay an open magazine with a fun quiz:
“Which prince is your perfect match?”
Halfway through, there was a question:
6. Your favorite color:
A. Red — go to Q8
B. Blue — go to Q11
C. Yellow…
She liked both red and blue, so she followed the red path first. The result: a gentle top student type with glasses and a book.
Meh.
Not her thing. She backtracked and tried blue—this time, the result was a popular, aloof idol.
Better looking, but she wasn’t into idols either.
Xie Tingxue shook her head.
As expected, these quizzes were nonsense. Not one answer felt right to her.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, Mei Jian was in the upstairs study. There were lots of books, all organized by category—it didn’t look like someone just trying to look cultured.
“His parents must be the real intellectuals,” Mei Jian mused.
On the desk sat a phone.
After a while, he picked it up—an older model, but not ancient.
Then he froze.
This was a new-gen smart phone from ten years in the future!
He flipped it over. On the back, the model confirmed it—yes, it was a phone that wouldn’t exist for another decade.
“How is this possible? Yan Ze’s?” He pressed the home button. The screen lit up—
October 8th, ten years from now.
The wallpaper was a cow-patterned cat Mei Jian recognized—Xie Tingxue’s cat.
Later, fans had figured out her alternate Weibo from a reflection of that same cat in a photo Yan Ze had posted at night, and dug out their entire timeline.
This was Xie Tingxue’s phone!
He tried unlocking it with her birthday—wrong password.
Mei Jian paused.
“…Could it be Yan Ze’s birthday?”
But… when was Yan Ze’s birthday?