They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 32
After the first evening self-study period, Yan Yaru let out a long sigh.
“So annoying. I still have to line up at the water room to get hot water, then carry the thermos upstairs… I’m exhausted.”
Chen Chang jumped in immediately.
“Want me to fetch it for you, sis? Free of charge.”
Yan Yaru fanned herself with both hands, her face red.
“Pfft! Chen Chang, you shameless jerk.”
Yan Ze spun his pen in thought.
There was a small supermarket next to the school cafeteria. When the school’s hot water supply first opened, thermoses became a hot item. The store owner lined them up neatly in rows of red, green, and blue at the entrance.
Yan Ze bent down and looked through the two rows for five whole minutes but still couldn’t find one he liked.
“Uncle, bring out the best one you’ve got hidden in the back!” he demanded.
The shopkeeper grumbled, “Just pick one and use it. Why are you so picky, kid?”
Yan Ze replied, “It’s for a girl! All you’ve got out here are primary colors and neon pinks. They look like they came from a three-yuan wholesale bin. How am I supposed to give one of these as a gift?”
The uncle raised an eyebrow. “So what kind of wholesale price are you hoping for?”
Yan Ze grinned. “At least five yuan, obviously.”
The uncle laughed, waving him into the back room.
“So, is it the looks or the quality you don’t like?”
“Both,” Yan Ze answered. “Come on, Uncle, I know you’ve got the good stuff stashed away just waiting to rip off guys like me.”
Students usually didn’t have much money, so the cheap ones sold best. But every school had a few kids with too much allowance—like Yan Ze.
He was perfectly aware that he was the prime target for school store price gouging.
The uncle let out a goose-honk laugh and finally pulled out a stainless-steel thermos.
“Here, this one’s plain, good quality. I’ll give it to you at cost—thirty-five.”
But Yan Ze’s eyes were fixed on a white one in the corner with snowflake patterns.
“That one. I don’t care how much it costs—I’m not haggling.”
The uncle warned, “It might be a bit old.”
Yan Ze was already counting cash. “Get me a new one. One price, no bargaining. I swear.”
He was fully embracing the “rip me off, I deserve it” role.
“I only got two of those in the whole batch. One sold today—this is the last one. I’ll wipe off the dust for you. Thirty flat.”
Yan Ze agreed. “Alright, and here—add ten more, throw in one of the cheap ones from the front.”
The uncle couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine. You’ve got a decent face. I’ll take the loss and give it to you.”
So Yan Ze scored himself an extra thermos just by being handsome.
He lugged both bottles to the hot water room. Thanks to his smooth talk, the boiler room grandpa let him skip the line. He filled both bottles and stashed them in the security office.
After evening classes ended, Yan Ze rushed to the security room, grabbed the bottles, and waited outside the girls’ dorms for Xie Tingxue.
He waited a long time, but she didn’t show. With fewer and fewer students around, he couldn’t just go upstairs to wait. So he stopped a passing girl.
“Do you know which dorm Xie Tingxue is in?”
The girl pointed to a tall, cool-looking girl behind him. “Ask her. She’s from Class 7. I’m not.”
Yan Ze turned around and saw the girl staring at him quietly.
He smiled awkwardly. “Uh… classmate, you must know which dorm Xie Tingxue is in, right?”
Hands in her pockets, the girl said coolly, “Call me by name and I’ll deliver the water for you.”
Yan Ze remembered her face and height—he knew she was a top student—but she was always quiet, not one to socialize. He couldn’t recall her name. So he went for a workaround.
“…Sis!”
She cracked a brief smile. “It’s Xu Lu. Remember that.”
Xu Lu—Mei Jian’s next recommended friend for Xie Tingxue.
“I’ll remember! I swear!” Yan Ze said earnestly.
Xu Lu asked, “Are you chasing her?”
Mei Jian had warned him not to create drama around Xie Tingxue, so Yan Ze replied, “Just showing some care.”
Xu Lu snorted. “Want me to take it up for you?”
Yan Ze lit up. “Thanks!!”
So, she’s the cold-outside-warm-inside tsundere type?
Grinning, Yan Ze handed her one thermos. “This one’s for you. Thanks for helping.”
Xu Lu might’ve smiled briefly, but by the time she responded, her face was back to expressionless.
“I’ve got my own,” she said.
Yan Ze insisted. “Just my way of saying thanks.”
Xu Lu shook her head. “Don’t need your water. But since you’re decent enough, I’ll give you a tip.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Xie Tingxue already has someone fetching water for her. Doesn’t even have to wait in line. He gets it directly from the principal’s office—anytime she wants.”
Yan Ze froze.
Xu Lu spread her hands, raised her eyebrows. “She’s got connections. You can’t compete. Don’t tell anyone I told you.”
Even stunned, Yan Ze still smiled and passed her the thermos.
“Give it to her anyway. Even if she has access, that’s just one bottle. This way, she doesn’t have to ration it.”
Xu Lu looked surprised. She stared at him and then asked, “Hey, did you cheat on the midterm?”
One hand in his pocket, Yan Ze raised an eyebrow. “I don’t stoop to cheating. Either I fail fair and square, or I fight fair and square for my grades. That’s who I am. Always have been.”
Xu Lu rolled her eyes and walked away with the thermos.
Yan Ze sensed the quiet hostility melt away.
Top students probably care most about academic integrity, he thought.
With new confidence, he muttered to himself, “Okay. You’re my next target.”
________________________________________
By Xie Tingxue’s feet was a brand-new white thermos with snowflakes on it.
She’d just washed her hair, and the water inside was nearly gone. She considered whether to wash her face with what little was left when Xu Lu walked over, holding an identical thermos.
Xie Tingxue beamed. “Xu Lu! We have matching thermoses!”
Xu Lu put it down beside her. “It’s yours.”
“…Huh?”
“That guy who’s chasing you made me bring it up.”
Xie Tingxue froze. She instinctively whispered Yan Ze’s name.
Xu Lu smirked. “Who else would it be?”
Xie Tingxue stared at the white thermos for a long time, then resolutely said, “I don’t want it.”
“Just use it,” Xu Lu said. “Finish the water tonight. He’s not waiting downstairs. Even if you don’t want it, don’t return it now.”
Xie Tingxue looked at the thermos like it was some wild animal. Using it felt like responding to Yan Ze’s feelings.
She was fine with kindness—but not kindness that came from romantic interest. Romance was absolutely off-limits.
She lived by rules: study, exams, scores. Nothing beyond that. So when something—or someone—broke those boundaries, she panicked.
Yan Ze was outside that boundary. She’d only grown close to him because he temporarily fit within the box. But now that he was sending different signals, she was scared.
She could sense he was pursuing her, but she didn’t dare admit it. She lied to herself, avoided the truth.
But this white thermos forced her to face it.
She didn’t want to use it. But throwing it away would waste his effort. Bringing it to class to return it? Too heavy—and by morning, the water would be cold and useless.
After wrestling with the decision, she finally used the hot water.
“Just a cup,” she told herself. “To brush my teeth and wash my face.”
________________________________________
The next morning, she guiltily brought both thermoses to the classroom.
It was sports day, so morning reading was canceled. Still, she showed up on time, not expecting Yan Ze to be there already.
Her face flushed bright red. Head down, she handed him the bottle. “Um… you should take this back and use it yourself.”
Yan Ze stretched and said, “Keep it. It’s a gift to celebrate your improving grades.”
She shook her head.
His internal radar pinged. She’s uneasy.
He gently said, “Feeling guilty? That’s normal. I need hot water anyway. Getting some for you doesn’t cost me anything. No pressure.”
“I really can’t accept it…”
“Ah, so it is guilt.” Yan Ze smiled. “No big deal—just get me something in return later. It’s fair. I’m not asking for anything more.”
Xie Tingxue, completely missing the hint, replied honestly: “I don’t have anything to give you. So I can’t take this…”
“Then put it on credit.” He sighed. “Thank God I understand you. Otherwise, you’d drive me crazy. What’s the big deal? You won’t accept mine, but you’ll take Mei Jian’s?”
“That’s different.”
Mei Jian used the same allowance money as her. Buying a matching thermos made sense. He wasn’t pursuing her. Getting water from the principal’s office and bringing her some? Just a favor—no deeper motive.
Yan Ze’s eyes darkened. “It’s the same.”
Stubborn girl.
Xie Tingxue shook her head. “It’s not.”
“You think I like you, so you feel pressured, right?”
She froze.
“Is liking someone a crime?” Yan Ze asked, voice gentle. “It’s not murder. Why do you treat it like a disease?”
She was flustered, but still bit back with a shaky, “You’re insane.”
“There it is again,” he murmured.
Softly, he added, “To me, there are only two types of feelings—like and dislike. I don’t dislike you. So I like you.”
So that’s what he meant by ‘like’?
Xie Tingxue grew even more embarrassed. Had she been assuming too much?
Still, she insisted on returning the thermos. “Then… I don’t want this. I already have one.”
“Oh? You picked the same one?” Yan Ze grinned. “Looks like we’ve got the same taste. Fate!”
“…I didn’t pick it.”
“Who did?”
“Mei Jian.”
Yan Ze’s face darkened.
“Oh. Mei Jian. Makes sense.”
If they didn’t have similar taste, they wouldn’t be into the same girl.
He snapped, “Then if you accept his, you have to accept mine.”
Xie Tingxue fired back, “Says who?!”
“Says me. I’m pushy. If we both like you and give you the same thing, why accept his and not mine?”
“I’ll take whoever’s I want!” She shoved the bottle back into his arms. “I’m not taking either of yours!”
She turned sharply, leaving him with a stubborn back and an even more stubborn ponytail.
________________________________________
Soon after, Mei Jian arrived. Just as he sat down, a furious Xie Tingxue growled, “You take your thermos back. I don’t want it!”
Mei Jian: “??”
When Xie Tingxue got emotional, Mei Jian would call Yan Ze to talk it out.
Now, the two “innocent-looking” boys huddled in a corner of the hallway.
After hearing the full story, Mei Jian said, “Are you five? Just because I bought her a thermos she won’t use it anymore?”
Yan Ze replied, “She accepts your gifts because she doesn’t think you like her. But if she realizes you do, she’ll shut down. Right now, she’s blocking all romantic signals.”
Right now, their girl still thought of love as a monstrous threat. What could they even do?
Mei Jian sighed. “Fine. I’ll return the thermos. It was twenty.”
Yan Ze: “Wait, how much?!”
Mei Jian: “Twenty. Why, what about yours?”
Yan Ze: “……”