Thousands Of People Thought Of Him - Chapter 9
Bigamy
The next day, Ying Fusang went to school as if nothing had happened.
From his observation, Monday mornings were usually the most dull and low-spirited in the class. But today was different—the atmosphere seemed unusually lively.
As Ying Fusang sat down, he happened to overhear the conversation between the student in front of him and another girl.
“Really? The school anniversary celebration is doing something new again this year?”
“I heard they set up a ‘stress relief room,’ which is basically a haunted house. They got some first- and second-year students to act as NPCs, and us seniors can go in to relax and play.”
“Ew, that sounds so ridiculous, hard to imagine.”
Ying Fusang understood — tonight’s self-study session was canceled, and students could freely participate in the school anniversary activities.
After a brief moment of quiet, some commotion arose from his right side.
“Oh my god, Fang Baiyu, what happened to your arm?”
As soon as Fang Baiyu sat down, a crowd gathered around him. The buzzing chatter was so loud it hurt his ears, but he still forced a smile.
“It’s nothing, I accidentally got scratched by something sharp,” he explained.
Seeing the thick bandage, someone continued with concern: “Really? Looks pretty serious. Did you need stitches?”
“It’s not serious,” Fang Baiyu kept up the fake smile.
After enduring a few rounds of back-and-forth questions and answers to satisfy their curiosity, the crowd finally dispersed.
He casually glanced toward Ying Fusang’s direction, only to find Ying Fusang hadn’t glanced at him once.
“Knock knock.”
A moderate tapping sound came from the glass window nearby. No one else seemed to notice, so Ying Fusang turned his head to look.
Their classroom was on the first floor, right next to a lawn and some flower trees.
The visitor was wearing a fine white mandarin-collar shirt embroidered with lush bamboo and cypress; the collar and cuffs were decorated with cloud patterns, and he wore a simple pendant around his neck.
Qi Xingwen bowed slightly. A breeze carrying flower petals drifted onto his hair resting on his shoulder.
This scene hit Ying Fusang’s brain with an impact. After a brief two-second mental calculation, he casually opened the window for some fresh air.
Qi Xingwen used the window frame to leverage himself and easily climbed in.
“Good morning, Sang Sang,” he greeted while sitting on the windowsill, resting his chin on one hand.
Ying Fusang silently mouthed: “Morning.”
Qi Xingwen smiled, then said: “That guy Fang was sneaking glances at you earlier.”
The godlike man’s wording was a bit strange — it sounded like Ying Fusang wasn’t considered “human.”
Ying Fusang didn’t feel put down, instead writing on scrap paper: “Don’t pay attention to him.”
Before the bell rang, holding a pen, he suddenly got a whim and continued writing: “Is the marriage god supposed to help others find their matches?”
“That’s one way to see it,” Qi Xingwen replied gloomily, playing with the red string on his wrist, staring without blinking.
Curious, Ying Fusang wrote again: “So, can you help me find a match?”
“Snap.” He accidentally broke a string.
Ying Fusang saw it and quickly wrote: “Can it be mended?”
Qi Xingwen bundled the broken string in his hand and chuckled softly: “No.”
It was unclear which question he was answering.
When he looked up again, his smile remained but didn’t reach his eyes. “Sang Sang, you don’t need anyone to find your match.”
Before, Ying Fusang had no interest in anything beyond social identities, but after Qi Xingwen appeared, more and more things caught his attention.
He wrote: “Why?”
Ignoring the risk of disciplinary warnings, Qi Xingwen smiled faintly: “Because according to your current laws, doing so would get you arrested.”
Being a law-abiding citizen, Ying Fusang was shocked and seriously asked: “What crime?”
Qi Xingwen said: “Bigamy.”
Ying Fusang: “?”
……
During lunch break, Fang Baiyu suddenly came to find Ying Fusang, saying he wanted to talk.
Ying Fusang guessed it would be something pointless and was thinking of ways to refuse.
Just then, Qi Xingwen standing beside him said: “You can go.”
Understanding there was some consideration, Ying Fusang swallowed his refusal and nodded, following him out of the classroom.
Finding a private spot, Fang Baiyu got straight to the point: “Xiao Sang, I’m sorry about what happened the other day.”
Ying Fusang didn’t know exactly what he referred to but replied: “It’s okay,” since he had already forgotten.
Strangely, his memory of that day in the flowerbed seemed washed away by rain; even when trying hard to recall, it remained vague.
Fang Baiyu didn’t seem to be there just to apologize. Hearing Ying Fusang’s reply, he smiled brightly: “Thank you for forgiving me.”
Ying Fusang nodded politely, still clueless.
Qi Xingwen watched nearby, amused at Fang Baiyu’s sudden complete change of expression — like a theatrical performance he once saw at a teahouse.
The apology ended quickly. Fang Baiyu took a sachet out of his coat pocket and handed it to Ying Fusang.
“After you fainted that day, I went to a temple to pray for you. This is for your safety.”
“No thanks,” Ying Fusang declined.
A strange feeling lingered in his heart.
Unlike before, Fang Baiyu was very persistent this time, insisting on putting it in Ying Fusang’s hand.
“Xiao Sang, just take it. I’m sincere in apologizing.”
The more he insisted, the more uncomfortable Ying Fusang felt. As he pushed it away, the sachet brushed his hand and fell to the ground.
Fang Baiyu quickly bent to pick it up, putting it back in his pocket, his expression lonely and hurt.
……
At the same time,
“Boss, is your injury serious?” After leaving the cafeteria, several people carefully followed Sun Wenhao, not daring to breathe loudly.
“I say, table, you’re dumb too, even mistaking a person,” another henchman mocked.
“You fatso, who are you to talk? You ran away at the last moment!” The short, chubby guy named Zhu Rui retorted angrily.
“It’s not desertion! I was—”
“Enough!” Sun Wenhao, walking in the middle, stopped and growled, clutching his swollen face, gritting his teeth in pain.
Then, looking cautiously around, he saw no one else was there except them for now.
Sun Wenhao stopped, beckoned the two to come closer.
“What’s up, boss?”
His secretive manner and suddenly dark smile: “Look at this thing I found this morning on the road.”
He pulled out a crumpled, yellow talisman.
Zhu Rui’s eyes widened, swallowing nervously: “Boss, what is this?”
Liu Yizhuo glanced at him with disdain: “I told you, you’re ignorant. What else could it be? It’s a talisman!”
“Exactly,” Sun Wenhao was pleased: “I thought it was interesting, so I checked on my phone. Guess what it’s for?”
They exchanged confused looks and shook their heads.
Putting away the talisman, Sun Wenhao grinned and mouthed two words.
Zhu Rui’s eyes went wide: “Can you just use this casually?”
Wait, shouldn’t it be dangerous to pick up such a thing?
Liu Yizhuo was less scared, sensing Sun Wenhao’s hatred for Ying Fusang had reached a new high after that night’s incident.
So he didn’t stop him but asked, “Boss, what’s the plan?”
Ignoring the timid Zhu Rui, Sun Wenhao leaned close and whispered: “Tonight the school is hosting that haunted house…”
Not wanting to be left out, Zhu Rui also came closer and hesitated: “But how do you make sure only Ying Fusang encounters it?”
Sun Wenhao, happy, stepped forward, chuckling: “I have my ways.”
……
Night fell, stars twinkling.
The school had really put effort into it this time — not only was there a simple haunted house built, but also various stalls for students to enjoy. If they didn’t want to walk around, they could go to the auditorium for performances.
However, Ying Fusang had no intention of joining. Almost everyone in class had left; he remained at his desk, steadfastly doing exercises.
Qi Xingwen silently accompanied him, pondering before asking: “Sang Sang, don’t you like to go play?”
He remembered when he first took Ying Fusang shopping, the kid was quite interested.
Ying Fusang shook his head, then nodded.
His reaction made Qi Xingwen laugh, just about to ask more when suddenly a transmission from Jiang Tan appeared in his mind. After sensing his divine power, his expression grew serious.
“Sang Sang, I suddenly want to take a walk around your campus. I’ll be back soon.”
Ying Fusang paused writing, tilted his head toward him. Three seconds later, he capped his pen and said, “I’ll come with you.”
Qi Xingwen was surprised but smiled lightly: “Okay.”
Tonight, the street lamps seemed dimmer than usual.
Looking up, Ying Fusang saw that colorful lanterns hung on the trees lining the road, shining brilliantly.
The plaza was crowded, with a lively atmosphere and lots of noise.
After wandering a bit, Ying Fusang stopped caring what others thought and loudly asked, “Do you want to go over there…?”
Qi Xingwen was gone.
Realizing this, Ying Fusang froze.
Did they get separated because it was too crowded?
He quickly tried to recall when Qi Xingwen disappeared, frowned, and parted the crowd to search. Suddenly, someone grabbed his wrist.
“Hey, you’re a senior, right? Want to try our ‘stress relief room’?”