The Midnight Declaration and a Morning Uproar

Qiyu settled comfortably in front of his computer, humming a tune after his bath, only to freeze in place. Had he only spent about twenty minutes soaking?

His account backend, however, already displayed 999+ messages, and even clicking on the interface caused it to spin endlessly.

As expected, the students of St. Seraphim Starfall Academy were all night owls.

He didn’t need to guess how malicious those messages would be. Lu Xingye’s title as the campus heartthrob was well-earned, especially with the renowned eldest daughter of the Bai family as his fan club president.

Still, none of that deterred him from his mischievous plans.

The anonymity of the St. Seraphim Starfall Academy forum was genuinely impressive; as long as one chose not to reveal their identity, no one would ever know who they were.

His phone, lying nearby, vibrated several times. Unfortunately, its owner was intently focused on the time displayed in the bottom right corner of his computer screen, completely oblivious to the calls.

He had no time to reply to messages either.

Qiyu hadn’t even bothered to dry his hair, damp strands clinging to his forehead. His eyes wide and bright, he gazed at the message he had meticulously crafted, a radiant smile blooming on his face.

The moment that smile appeared, it was clear he was cooking up another devilish scheme.

In truth, Lu Xingye hadn’t hit him very hard; it was mainly meant as a lesson. He knew Qiyu had far too many bad habits, and if indulged, he would never make any progress.

This applied to his studies as much as to any other aspect of his life.

The reason they were constantly at odds stemmed entirely from that one quarrel when they parted ways.

Before that, Qiyu had been incredibly clingy to Lu Xingye, following him around daily, calling him ‘Gege’, and even needing to sleep with his arm wrapped around him.

Would Lu Xingye ever regret the harsh words he’d spoken then?

The clock struck midnight.

Qiyu immediately clicked ‘send’, and thus, a post capable of causing an earthquake in the Mary Sue world of St. Seraphim Starfall Academy burst into existence.

To make the post more convincing, he had specifically changed his username to “YeYe’s Darling,” hoping this post would help Lu Xingye’s “fame” reach new heights.

Although many claimed not to believe it, secretly thinking it was just another fool chasing clout, the moment the post went live, it instantly soared to the top of the forum’s hot topics.

There was another reason: the content was simply too explosive!

The content read as follows:

Today, 00:00

YeYe’s Darling: “The post has arrived as scheduled. Recently, I’ve heard countless people in our school covet my boyfriend, Lu Xingye, whose beauty rivals the heavens.

“Today, I’m here to make an official announcement!

“Of course, don’t blame him for choosing the most dazzling me over all of you; it’s all perfectly understandable. Now, allow me to explain the course of our romance.

“When Lu Xingye and I first met, his attitude towards me was as dismissive as it is towards all of you now—he treated me like dirt.

“That, however, caught my attention. Since childhood, I’ve possessed a face of captivating beauty, receiving countless confessions, with even talent scouts scrambling for my contact information.

“Yet, when he saw my face, there wasn’t a single superfluous expression, not even a change in his rate of swallowing.

“How utterly fascinating.

“Just when I thought I was merely experiencing a fleeting fancy, this man ran off with my heart—he transferred schools.

“From then on, my heart was sealed away from love.

“Just as I believed fate was playing cruel tricks, I never imagined our destinies had already been tied in a permanent knot by a red thread. We reunited, we fell in love…

“And now, we’ve gone public.

“I am an insecure person, and I can only use this method to try and persuade you all to turn your constant gazes from my husband towards someone else.

“(I think that Qiyu from your school is quite handsome, isn’t he?)”

“Lest you disbelieve, I’ve attached a warm photo of me holding my husband’s hand.”

[Image*1]

This photo had been secretly snapped while Lu Xingye was working on a test paper. To make it more convincing, Qiyu had even followed a Photoshop tutorial to alter his own hand, making it appear less like his, preventing anyone from making fanciful connections to him.

Lu Xingye’s pale, slender index finger was held tightly by Qiyu. The soft, ambiguous light cast upon their hands made the atmosphere slowly warm, as if the owners of these hands were truly so harmonious.

In reality, Lu Xingye’s murmurings at the time had been, “If you still can’t grasp this problem, tomorrow’s study session will be extended.”

Surely, someone would be curious: ‘Qiyu, Qiyu, aren’t you afraid Lu Xingye will come out to clarify and expose your identity?’

Qiyu bit his lip, nearly bursting into laughter. From what he knew, someone of Lu Xingye’s caliber—a true king of pretense—would never stoop to forum gossip, as it was beneath his dignity.

The truth was, while Lu Xingye was showering, Qiyu had used Lu Xingye’s phone and computer under the guise of looking up a problem. There were no traces of him having ever logged into the forum.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had such a golden opportunity.

With 99+ messages flooding his backend every minute, he clicked ‘log out’, entered his student ID, and logged back in using another one of his accounts.

He quickly dragged the mouse to click on the hot post, now under a different identity, so the insults wouldn’t sting as much.

The moment he opened the post, the main interface lagged for a full minute, a testament to its overwhelmingly explosive popularity.

Indeed, upon opening it, he found a torrent of abusive comments. He mused that cyber police were needed to rectify the academy forum, not for his sake, but for the rise of China.

1L

“Just a passerby, but I want to ask, what does ‘ran off with my heart’ mean?”

Reply: “A heart thief.”

2L

“Damn! I knew Lu Xingye, that pretentious guy, must have been dating for ages. How could someone so ‘cool’ still be single? What’s with the aloof persona he puts on at school?”

Reply: “Where did this abusive fan come from?”

3L

“Does anyone actually believe this? If you do, don’t let me catch you walking on four legs.”

4L

“Has no one noticed the line on the original poster’s homepage: ‘Lest you disbelieve, I will be regularly updating our daily romantic life with Gege’?”

Reply: “Now I see it.”

5L

“Is it just me, or am I a little smitten with the OP? Their way of speaking is quite cute…”

Reply: “Yes, just you.”

6L

“This woman must be crazy, right?”

7L

“Is the commenter above being sexist? How can you be sure an oddball like the OP is definitely a girl?”

8L

“Everyone, stop arguing, I’ll say it: this ‘he-she’ person must be crazy, right?”

Reply: “Is this the cultural refinement of St. Seraphim Starfall Academy students?”

9L

“Holy crap, at this hour, are there still foreign species from other schools here?”

Reply: “Didn’t you see the OP say everyone from your school is an ugly freak compared to them?”

OP Reply: “You’re an ugly freak too.”

10L

“I also think the OP is right; that Qiyu is indeed quite good-looking ovo.”

Reply: “Just a pretty face with no brains, a complete idiot.”

….

Qiyu stared at the comment that read, “Just a pretty face with no brains, a complete idiot.” He was speechless.

The commenter who had posted the insult never imagined they were actually berating the person themselves. However, it was understandable, as there were few people as narcissistic, and anonymously so, as Qiyu.

Qiyu frowned in annoyance, but even more exasperating comments were yet to come. The person seemed to feel their critique was incomplete and immediately added another line:

“His fashion sense is atrocious. If his taste in clothes were half as strong as his mouth, he wouldn’t be…”

Qiyu: “…”

The room was plunged into darkness, with only a sliver of light emanating from the computer screen. Qiyu had been engrossed in reading comments from midnight until one o’clock.

Not only had he failed to finish reading them in an hour, but the comments were still rapidly increasing. Qiyu couldn’t help but exclaim, “The popularity of a campus celebrity is truly explosive!”

Qiyu seemed to have forgotten that he, too, held the title of a campus celebrity.

To preempt any feelings of guilt, he deliberately pressed the one-key shutdown on his computer, using it as an escape.

With the computer off, the room instantly fell into silent darkness. The only sound was the rumbling coming from Qiyu’s stomach.

The thought of resuming his hellish study schedule tomorrow filled him with dread.

Qiyu tossed his phone aside and lay on the bed, his mind blank. Moonlight crept in from the window, hiding in every corner of the room.

He closed his eyes and pondered life for a while, yet sleep eluded him. The occasional pangs of hunger from his stomach constantly reminded him that he hadn’t eaten dinner since studying.

Finally, Qiyu abruptly sat up. He tiptoed to his desk, picked up some snacks he had previously disdained but hadn’t eaten, and only after finishing them did drowsiness slowly envelop him.

****

The next morning, bright and early.

Classes at St. Seraphim Starfall Academy ran from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon.

Typically, Wang Ma would arrive at five past eight to wake the two boys.

She had even mentally prepared for a prolonged battle, knowing Qiyu wouldn’t leave his bed until called at least ten times.

Seeing that the other servants had already set out breakfast, Wang Ma prepared to take the elevator upstairs to wake Qiyu.

Yet, just as her fingers curled to knock, the door opened. Inside stood Qiyu, already washed, dressed in his school uniform, and looking utterly refreshed.

A cute cowlick stood proudly on his head, and he flashed a sweet smile. “Wang Ma, good morning!”

Wang Ma’s expression was one of utter astonishment, as if she’d seen a ghost. Qiyu immediately understood, adding with a chuckle:

“The calendar says it’s not a good day to sleep in.”

‘As if anyone would believe that,’ she thought.

With that, he snatched his backpack from the floor and dashed downstairs.

On the dining table in the hall, warm milk and slices of bread spread with strawberry jam awaited. The sweet, cloying scent of the jam eagerly wafted into their nostrils.

But none of that was the main point!

The crux of the matter was this!

“Mom, do you know about Gege abusing me…?”

“From afternoon until eleven at night, he was constantly targeting me!” Qiyu seized the opportunity of his mother being home today to dramatically exaggerate his plight.

He held a slice of bread in his hand, untouched, growing increasingly agitated as he spoke. “It’s not like I can’t study on my own; does he really need to be so aggressive?”

After speaking, he took a hurried gulp of milk, leaving a ring of white foam around his mouth from drinking too fast.

Qiyu blinked his eyes, trying to gain his mother’s approval, but today was peculiar. For a full minute, he received no sympathetic glance from her.

Finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer and tried to speak, intending to get a clear answer.

Before he could, someone gently wiped away the white foam around his mouth with a tissue. It was…

Lu Xingye.

Lu Xingye’s face was devoid of expression. He simply tossed the tissue into the trash with an indifferent gesture, then sat beside Qiyu, picked up a slice of bread, and began to eat quietly.

Qiyu had no idea how long Lu Xingye had been standing behind him, nor how much he had overheard.

It was well-known that an expressionless Lu Xingye was capable of world destruction.

It seemed the person with the most power in the house sided with Lu Xingye!

How could he have forgotten that his mother cared most about his grades? Complaining was utterly useless; it only added a heap of invisible pressure.

Qiyu, whose cheek was far thicker than Lu Xingye could have imagined, held out a slice of bread from his own plate to Lu Xingye’s mouth.

“Gege, open wide,” he said. “To thank you for your hard work teaching last night, I’ve decided to feed you.”

Lu Xingye’s face visibly darkened. “I’m finished eating.”

He had only taken a single bite.

Lu Xingye picked up his backpack and headed towards the garage. Seeing this, Qiyu hastily followed.

“Gege, wait for me!”

Hearing that familiar “Gege,” Lu Xingye couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

Qiyu had almost forgotten about the post from last night, unaware that it was currently causing a massive uproar throughout the school.