They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 3

Xie Tingxue returned to the classroom. The next period was history, and her classmates were loudly reciting from their textbooks. Yan Yaru raised her book and said, “The monthly exam papers were handed out. I left yours on your desk. Where’d you go?”

“I was taking out the trash,” Xie Tingxue replied.

Yan Yaru frowned. “You should tell the homeroom teacher! They’re bullying you way too much.”

Xie Tingxue pursed her lips. “What’s the point? If I go to the office now, they’ll just curse at me even worse afterward.”

Why make things more complicated? It’s not like she had any real way to fight back.

At that moment, Mei Jian walked in and took his seat, which was diagonally in front of Xie Tingxue.

Yan Yaru’s eyes followed him. Mei Jian glanced back and gave Xie Tingxue a small smile.

Then Yan Yaru looked at Xie Tingxue and asked, “How’s your mom doing? Still staying at Mei Jian’s house?”

“…She went back home,” Xie Tingxue said, lowering her gaze. “Uncle Mei told my mom that something came up at their place and said she could return at the end of the month.”

“What could have happened? They’re obviously just trying to avoid drama. Rumors are flying everywhere. The Mei family must be annoyed too,” Yan Yaru said indignantly, her voice a bit too loud. “Your dad really is a walking disaster—showed up drunk late at night and caused a scene at their house, even forced Auntie out into the street…

How’s she supposed to keep working for them after that? And what are you two going to eat?”

Just then, the history teacher walked in, and the reciting stopped. Unfortunately, the second half of Yan Yaru’s comment was loud and clear.

Xie Tingxue’s mind went blank, her ears buzzing.

The history teacher, Mr. Hao, smiled in his usual refined manner. “You all read loudly enough, but I know you’re just pretending to study… The diagnostic test results are out. You’ve all got your papers, right?”

“Yes—” the students replied halfheartedly. It was a drowsy afternoon.

Mr. Hao clapped his hands. “Let’s spice things up then. Should we start by reading out the bottom ten scores?”

The class groaned, “Nooo, Mr. Hao…”

He chuckled, “Kidding. Today I’m only announcing the top ten. The rest of you—work harder. We’ve got a long semester ahead.”

The class laughed, the mood lightening.

Mei Jian stretched out his legs, listening to the familiar classroom banter and watching the teacher at the podium.

Mr. Hao Feng was probably only thirty-seven at the time. Back then, Mei Jian hadn’t realized it, but now he could see that Hao Feng had a depth of knowledge and a calm, objective viewpoint. His lessons were rich in content and low on fluff, with a style uniquely his own—a rare talent.

Sadly, in 2016, Mr. Hao had passed away from a brain tumor. It had already been in its late stages by the time it was discovered.

If only he could be warned to get a checkup in time… could things have ended differently?

Mr. Hao beamed. “First place, 98 points… Guess who?”

The class tossed out a few names, including Mei Jian. Someone murmured, “Xie Tingxue.”

Xie Tingxue glanced at her own paper and shook her head.

“Mei Jian,” Mr. Hao announced. “Xie Tingxue, 97 points—second place.”

Xie Tingxue took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, a faint smile softening her brows.

Maybe life wasn’t entirely terrible after all.

Mei Jian rolled the paper in his hand. From his current perspective, the exam seemed laughably simple.

With his present academic level, he could teach all these high school subjects with ease.

Propping his chin on his thumb, he muttered to himself, “Too bad they can’t afford me.”

Yan Ze never understood. He would always mockingly emphasize that Mei Jian was “just an associate professor,” trying to insult him. But Mei Jian knew the truth. At twenty-seven, he was an associate professor of management at a prestigious university. Anyone in academia knew how rare that was—only someone utterly ignorant would scoff at a title like that.

After class, Mei Jian tapped on Xie Tingxue’s desk and motioned her over to the corner of the hallway.

“What is it? Did Auntie say when my mom can go back?” she asked.

Mei Jian paused, then smiled as he recalled something. “Ah, right… So this is when it happened. I remember now.”

After thinking for a moment, he said gently, “Don’t worry, she’s not being let go. Your mom is meticulous and kind—my parents are already too used to having her around… Tingxue, we’ll get through these tough times together.”

Xie Tingxue’s ears turned red, and she instinctively pressed a cold hand to them.

For some reason, she felt that Mei Jian seemed… different now. Like he’d grown a bit closer.

He used to be cold and distant, barely saying a word to her at school. It was like he was keeping their classmate relationship at arm’s length, as if he didn’t want anyone to know she and her mother lived at his house.

When people gossiped about her and it got out of hand, Mei Jian would occasionally speak up—but usually only if they were disturbing his studying. Then he’d snap,

“Quiet down. Anyone who doesn’t want to study, get out.”

Xie Tingxue had thought about it from his perspective. The fact that he even spoke up at all was already a big deal. She was genuinely grateful for his subtle but consistent kindness.

“Anything else? I should get going. Next period is PE. You’d better hurry—everyone else already left,” she said quickly.

She hated the idea of being seen talking to him alone—worried that teachers would misunderstand, or that classmates would tease her. If Mei Jian got caught up in it, things would only get worse.

“I already asked for leave. I’ll be back in the classroom later,” Mei Jian replied, then turned and walked toward the homeroom office.

The bell rang as Xie Tingxue returned to class. Glancing down over the balcony, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

The campus was quiet. Yan Ze was squatting under the flagpole, biting a silver cross pendant and writing on the ground. The bald disciplinarian—nicknamed “Mediterranean”—stood nearby with his hands behind his back.

“Yan Ze,” the man said, “your handwriting’s not bad.”

“Of course. I paid good money to learn calligraphy,” Yan Ze said cheerfully. “One day, my handwriting will be a font people download.”

“Give you an inch and you take a mile,” the man muttered. “Have you reflected on what you did?”

“Yeah,” Yan Ze said, “writing helped me calm down. Things are starting to make sense now. Thanks.”

The man had no reply to this level of absurdity and just waved him off. “Go back to class!”

“Okay!”

Yan Ze returned the chalk cheerfully.

“Wait! You—stop right there!”

Yan Ze turned and walked backward. “Hmm?”

“What’s that on your neck? Take it off! And grab a mop and clean those words!”

Xie Tingxue couldn’t help but hold her breath.

She’d heard teachers mention Yan Ze before when delivering homework. Her impression of him wasn’t great—he was rebellious, disobedient, didn’t study despite having such a good-looking face. He slept through class, wore strange outfits, refused to remove his jewelry, hung around with delinquents, and even got into fights off-campus…

She thought he’d argue back. But to her surprise, Yan Ze looked down, yanked off the pendant, and casually tossed it to the teacher.

“Here. It’s yours.”

“I’m throwing this in the trash!” the teacher barked.

“It’s just stainless steel. I bought it outside the school gate—wasn’t expensive,” Yan Ze said. “But if you keep it and one day sell it online with my name on it, you could fetch at least four digits.”

Xie Tingxue quietly muttered, “Psycho.”

“Xiao Xue,” Mei Jian had returned. “Let’s talk inside.”

He naturally took her hand, glancing once at Yan Ze wielding a mop in the distance, and his expression darkened slightly.

Startled, Xie Tingxue quickly pulled her hand back. Then, realizing she might’ve overreacted, she hurriedly changed the subject.

“You went to the homeroom office? For what?”

They were alone in the classroom now, and Xie Tingxue felt a little anxious.

Mei Jian looked at her hand—now tucked into her sleeve—and after a pause, smiled.

“Sorry, I forgot. Habit, I guess… I went to ask about changing seats.”

Then he rolled up his sleeves and started moving his desk.

“I’m switching with Yan Yaru,” he added, then chuckled as he recalled,

“She becomes a really flashy celebrity in the future. You’ll see… she’s quite the character.”

“…Switching seats? Why?” Xie Tingxue asked. “Did the teacher say yes?”

“It’s so I can tutor you more easily.” Mei Jian pushed his desk next to Xie Tingxue’s and said, “Xiao Xue, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Mei Jian sat down, his deep eyes fixed on her. “It’s important.”

“First, don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on your studies. I’ll tutor you one-on-one, even on weekends. I’ll take you to a fast food place—we’ll study there. We must get your grades up.”

“Second, your goal is to get into a top-tier university. That degree is crucial—it will shape both your future and mine. Got it?”

“Third, stay away from Yan Ze. That guy will ruin your future. Stay far away from him, do you understand?”

Xie Tingxue looked completely bewildered.

“I could never get into a top university…” she mumbled, a little lost. She’d had a strange feeling since the lunch break but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “But now that I’ve dropped physics and chemistry, I should at least be able to meet the basic undergraduate cutoff…”

“A top university!” Mei Jian’s eyes flared. “Stop getting distracted by all that other stuff. Leave your mom to my family, and forget about your dad. Just study. From now on, whatever exam I take, you take too. Do you understand?”

His sudden, inexplicable anger made her a little afraid. Xie Tingxue stood up and took a few steps back, forcing a smile. “Mei Jian… what’s going on with you?”

“It’s important.” Mei Jian rubbed his face and sighed tiredly. “I can’t explain it clearly… and I probably never will. But I know there’s a reason I’ve come back to this point in time. Xiao Xue… the results of the college entrance exam mean everything—for our future, for you… you have to do well. I’ll clear every obstacle in your path. Let’s get through this together, alright?”

He looked up and gave her a gentle smile.

________________________________________

During the long break between classes, Yan Ze returned to his own classroom. It was fun for a few minutes, then quickly got boring.

The younger boys crowding around him had wild hairstyles—either huge, spiky afros or dyed, neon bangs. They danced in front of his eyes, annoying him to no end.

“What the hell are those haircuts? Go get them fixed—now!”

One of the boys joked, “Yan Ze, did Mediterranean rub off on you?”

Yan Ze flipped up the guy’s bangs and squinted. “Damn, Feng Fei?”

He stared at the single-lidded boy for a moment and then growled, “Go! Go get a haircut! If you don’t, you’ll either lose your life or your hair and end up like Mediterranean!”

One kid, sitting backward on his chair, asked, “Ze, why’d you get sent to the palace today?”

They called the discipline office “the palace.”

“…” Yan Ze took a second to register, then said, “Listen up. I need you guys to keep an eye on someone.”

“Say the word, Yan Ze. Someone from our school or another?”

Yan Ze remembered how reckless he’d been ten years ago—his gang activity had extended beyond the school gates.

Cursing himself for being such an idiot, he said, “Class Seven. Mei Jian.”

“…Are we beating him up? Did he mess with you, Ze?” Feng Fei asked.

“Stole my girl,” Yan Ze replied coldly.

“Sh*t!” The group immediately rolled up their sleeves, ready to go.

“I’m not telling you to beat him up. Do we have anyone in Class Seven? Just keep an eye on him. If he dares make a move on Xie Tingxue, you tell me. I swear I’ll…”

“Ze, we don’t have anyone in Class Seven. There’s a tall dude from the sports school in there—they don’t mix with us.”

“Ze, what about Sister Yan? She’s in Class Seven. We can ask her for help?”

“Ze… Mei Jian’s dad is the director of the Education Bureau. Can we really touch him?”

Yan Ze: “…”

Damn. Looks like his hands were tied. This was giving him a headache.

“Yan Ze… who’s Xie Tingxue?” Feng Fei asked.

Yan Ze smiled foolishly. “She’s my future wi—”

Before he could finish, a boy with dyed hair jumped in, “Wait, isn’t that the girl whose mom got chased down the street naked by her dad before the holiday? It ended with the cops showing up, right?”

“No way?! That dramatic? She was caught cheating?!”

“I know! She used to live upstairs from me,” another chimed in. “Her dad disappeared for a while, and her mom started working as a nanny at the bureau chief’s house.

End of last month, her dad came back, couldn’t find them, went straight to the Mei house, kicked down the door, dragged his wife out, and accused her of cheating. They fought in the street, ripped each other’s clothes off. Even the cops couldn’t separate them. Super intense!”

“The nanny… that’s Xie Tingxue’s mom,” one of them snickered. “I heard she’s got a huge butt, real pale too, and down there—”

“Shut the f*** up!!”

BANG!

A desk at the back of the room flipped over. Books and water bottles crashed to the floor.

The whole class fell silent.

Yan Ze’s eyes were bloodshot. He stepped on top of a desk and growled, “Listen up. From now on, if anyone dares say one more word about Xie Tingxue’s family, I’ll beat you so hard you’ll wish you were dead. I mean it!!”