The Price of a Puppy and a Forum War

Qiyu’s pupils dilated, staring incredulously at the lines of text on his phone. He mumbled softly, “Be… a dog?”

Had Lu Xingye really become this shameless?! Just how much did he despise him, to humiliate him like this?

Jian Lin saw Qiyu frozen in a daze, completely forgetting his earlier questions. He innocently asked, “Do you want to get a dog? What kind do you like? I can keep an eye out for you.”

Across from them, Lu Xingye was sprawled on the table, idly playing with his phone. His long, fair fingers scrolled repeatedly across the screen, yet he wasn’t angered by Qiyu’s lack of response. After all, for the little drama queen to be demoted to a puppy—it was quite a difficult pill to swallow.

He deserved some time to console himself.

At this thought, a wicked laugh escaped him.

Qiyu mumbled a few perfunctory replies to Jian Lin, a lump of frustration stuck in his chest, neither rising nor falling. His heart hammered several beats faster. Upon realizing the situation, he furiously typed a message.

[^-^: Go to hell! ! ! ! ! !]

[^-^: Just die already, okay? Stop bothering me. Be a dog? Are you even worthy?]

Qiyu pursed his lips, wearing an expression of grim determination. Despite unleashing his most venomous words, his anger remained unquelled.

He felt his entire body burning, struggling to comprehend the sudden, unprovoked malice Lu Xingye had directed at him since yesterday.

During their first year of high school, Lu Xingye hadn’t yet moved back to the Lu family residence. Even if they harbored some resentment towards each other, whenever they met at school, they simply pretended not to know one another.

But now that he had moved back, Qiyu couldn’t fathom what nerve he had struck. Lu Xingye had started targeting him at every turn, especially by seizing his room the moment he returned.

[. : Really?]

[. : Do you really want me to die?]

Qiyu was suddenly seized by an ominous premonition. It was too late to close his eyes and avoid the phone; a new message quickly popped up.

[. : But… then you’d become a widower…]

The ellipsis conveyed Lu Xingye’s profound regret.

Jian Lin had been silent since earlier, but finally, with a heavy heart, he asked, “Qiyu, do you have a girlfriend?”

Two kilometers was only a few minutes’ drive, and during those few minutes, Qiyu’s mood fluctuated wildly. When he stepped out of the Jian family car, a gust of wind slapped his face, jolting him mostly awake.

“What girlfriend?” Qiyu replied weakly, his schoolbag slung over one shoulder.

Jian Lin stood beside Qiyu, both of them looking disheveled in the wind.

Jian Lin put on a pair of sunglasses. “Could it be a boyfriend?”

He had just seen Qiyu’s expression in the car, looking exactly like a little wife who had been thoroughly wronged. If it wasn’t a girlfriend, then it had to be a boyfriend.

But he had always been by Qiyu’s side. Who could have possibly seized such an opportunity?

Qiyu let out a dangerous laugh. “Do I look like a gay man?”

Jian Lin nodded. “I hope he treats your snow-white skin well, your slender waist, your beautiful and profound eyes, your delicate nose, your light pink lips…”

As Jian Lin spoke, he choked up. ‘I’ve liked Qiyu for so long, yet I’ve still lost?’

‘Who could that mysterious man be?’

Qiyu stared at him, speechless. ‘Was this world proud of having bubbles in its brain, or had I pressured Jian Lin so much that he developed a mental illness?’

‘Why was he complimenting me so much in his crazy ramblings?’ Yet, Qiyu couldn’t help but feel that Jian Lin’s words were entirely accurate!

Jian Lin’s warm tears slowly escaped from under his sunglasses, threatening to drip into his mouth. Qiyu hastily pulled out a tissue and offered it to him.

To Qiyu’s surprise, Jian Lin not only refused the tissue but also sniffled and choked out, “Don’t interfere. Let these scorching tears flow into my heart. I want to taste the tears of failed love myself, to see if they are bitter or salty.”

Qiyu, expressionless, leaned in and wiped the tears from Jian Lin’s face with the tissue. Then he held it to Jian Lin’s mouth. “Taste it.”

The moment Jian Lin extended his tongue, Qiyu shoved the crumpled tissue back into his hand, silently cursing himself. ‘Did I also have a bubble in my brain?’

[. : You only have one day to consider, you know.]

More distressing news arrived, late but inevitable.

What was this?! What kind of people were these?! Couldn’t the world show more favor to pretty people, instead of inflicting them with more lunatics?

Yesterday, a minor ‘earthquake’ had occurred on the school forum, resulting in several groups of people standing before the imposing gates of a certain aristocratic academy today.

Others merely needed to watch the drama unfold with a ‘eating melon’ mentality. However, Qiyu had to gather all his wits to face these individuals.

He tugged on Jian Lin’s sleeve, gesturing for him to stop dawdling and hurry inside before they were late.

The moment they stepped through the school gates, they were nearly blinded by dazzling camera flashes. Jian Lin, who had already prepared by donning his sunglasses, remained unaffected.

Saint Lanxinglin Academy housed numerous student-founded departments, including a ‘News Department.’ It was indeed peculiar, but it genuinely existed.

The News Department’s name was its most imposing feature, yet its activities were utterly incongruous with it. Its members spent their days photographing classmates’ gossip.

Which student had bird droppings on their face today, which student had hemorrhoids bleeding, which student was forcibly kissed in an alley…

To enhance the authenticity, their News Department even included accompanying pictures.

Reportedly, the student with the bleeding hemorrhoids suffered the most. Someone had reportedly shoved a camera right up to their backside to capture a truly ‘epic’ shot.

For instance, camera flashes would punctually light up at the school entrance every day, poised to capture students’ embarrassing moments at any given second.

“Qiyu, you harmed Lu Xingye so terribly, and you still have the nerve to show up?” Bai Mingwei said, her arms crossed and chin slightly raised, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Bai Mingwei was one of the few people in the school who wasn’t afraid of Qiyu. Her family’s influence also ranked among the top few within the academy.

Indeed, currently, two factions stood on either side of the school gate. On the left were Lu Xingye’s ‘girlfriend fans,’ led by Miss Bai Mingwei of the Bai family. On the right were Qiyu’s ‘mommy fans,’ led by Miss Xia Qingyuan of the Xia family.

Originally, these two groups had no connection and no conflict, each content in their own niche.

That was, until some clueless individual wrote a fanfiction shipping the two of them, posting it on the forum. Coincidentally, it exploded in popularity, attracting a horde of ‘CP fans’ [TL Note: CP stands for ‘coupling’ or ‘character pair’, referring to a romantic pairing in fanfiction].

From then on, these two factions began their forum ‘war of words.’

“Is there something wrong with your brain, Bai Mingwei? You should be calling Qiyu ‘sister-in-law’ now.”

“Qiyu is your Xingye Gege’s official wife~” Xia Qingyuan knew Bai Mingwei would come to trouble Qiyu, so she had specifically come to supervise.

Upon hearing Bai Mingwei’s words, Qiyu had no desire to explain or reply. He never expected Xia Qingyuan to retort on his behalf.

Bai Mingwei and Xia Qingyuan were mortal enemies, unable to stand each other, to the point of wishing to crush the other to death.

For instance, at this moment, upon hearing Xia Qingyuan’s words, Bai Mingwei trembled with rage, from head to toe, including her hair strands. However, being slow-witted, she couldn’t figure out how to retort.

Qiyu gave her a grateful look, then quickly urged Jian Lin to leave the battlefield with him.

Saint Lanxinglin Academy used an alphabetical class division system. Class A was considered excellent, but not *too* excellent, as there was still an elite class above it.

And Lu Xingye was in the elite class. How could he always be one step ahead of him in everything?

Qiyu’s deskmate in front of him mysteriously turned around. “I have two pieces of news. Which one do you want to hear?”

Qiyu had just sat down when he heard his deskmate speak. However, his mind was utterly consumed by Lu Xingye’s malicious messages, leaving him utterly devoid of interest in any good or bad news.

He thought, ‘Surely there’s no news worse than being a dog.’

Qiyu replied perfunctorily, “Let’s hear the good news first.”

Wen Nuo shook his head. “There isn’t any.”

Qiyu was dumbfounded. “None?”

Wen Nuo smiled. “There’s only bad news, and worse news.”

Qiyu: “……”

He suddenly felt a reluctance to face it. “This is so annoying. Two pieces of bad news? Then I don’t want to hear them.”

Simultaneously, another voice chimed in. “The bad news is that the seat next to you is about to be taken. The worse news is that it’s by Lu Xingye, the one you despise.”

Qiyu’s hand trembled. “What?! Are you really not messing with me? How could he possibly be in our class? You’re not just tricking me because my entrance exam score was better than yours, are you?”

“If I’m lying, I’m a dog.” The more earnestly Wen Nuo swore, the colder Qiyu’s heart grew.

It seemed there was indeed news worse than being a dog—being a dog *in front of* Lu Xingye, tormented at every moment.

“Oh, for goodness sake! I’m seriously going to go crazy. Is there any way I can get dropped to Class F? I’m going to die, I’m going to die…” In his panic, Qiyu’s Taiwanese accent slipped out.

As Qiyu’s good deskmate, Wen Nuo had a fairly good relationship with him and knew about his aversion to Lu Xingye.

He waved his hand at Qiyu, gesturing for him to lean closer, then whispered into his ear, “Try doing the thing he hates most. He’ll leave on his own then.”

Qiyu, being rather simple-minded, instantly had his eyes light up upon hearing this. “You’re so clever!”

Several girls surrounded Lu Xingye, their eyes filled with shy adoration. Using the excuse of asking math questions, they brazenly stared at him.

Lu Xingye smiled politely, answering all their questions one by one. It wasn’t until they had left that he noticed his latest WeChat message.

[^-^: Gege’s little puppy is here, woof.]