Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The wail of sirens and shriek of ambulances still echoed in his mind.

Fu Xie sat silently in the counselor's office, his bangs hanging low as he pursed his lips tightly.

The counselor was busy dealing with the Chen Mo situation and hadn’t gotten around to him yet, until realizing Fu Xie was still there.

"Fu Xie?" The counselor approached. "The police station needs you to give your account. Are you free now? I can drive you there."

Fu Xie didn’t respond immediately, but after a moment, he nodded.

"Don’t be too upset. Everyone is saddened by what happened to Chen Mo. By the way, do you have contact information for Chen Mo’s parents?"

Soon, the incident spread throughout the entire campus, sparking heated debates in various student groups.

Fu Xie stepped out of the car near the school and said as he said goodbye, "Teacher, could you let me know once the investigation reveals the cause?"

"Of course. Don’t trouble yourself with this matter—leave it to the professionals."

The counselor drove off.

Fu Xie made his way home in silence. The moment he closed the door behind him, he crumpled heavily onto the floor.

He tried to get up but found his arms and legs like jelly.

His breathing grew shallow as he struggled to breathe.

How strange... there was nothing here.

Suddenly, he heard the faint *plink* of water droplets hitting the floor. Instinctively, he reached up to touch his face, only to realize he’d been crying without realizing it.

It was an ordinary night. People returned home, sharing warm dinners with their families under soft yellow lights, or living alone, enjoying some peace after work.

No one noticed the muffled crying coming from a corner of the building, hidden beneath similar lights.

...

"The cause of Chen Mo’s death has been determined. It was from a drug overdose."

"However, it wasn’t a deliberate suicide. He was seeking the high of excessive drug use but miscalculated the dose, resulting in accidental death."

"This is supported by the large quantity of the drug found in his dorm, along with empty bottles. Clearly, this wasn’t his first time."

"And the reason for the drug abuse?"

"Police examined his browser history and found records of online communities that romanticize drug use as counterculture, referring to it as ‘OD.’ Chen Mo was likely influenced by them."

A deep sigh came from the other end of the phone.

"We also looked into his family situation. His mother passed away early, and his father was a gambler up to his neck in debt. Only he and his grandmother remained."

"Chen Mo worked side jobs to get by. Perhaps the dual pressures of work and studies drove him to turn to this for relief."

"But wasn’t he managing fine before?"

"To be honest, I fell short as his counselor. Chen Mo always put up a tough front—he never let others see his struggles. His calm act was probably just that—an act. We, as teachers, didn’t pay enough attention."

"Fu Xie, this isn’t your fault. I hope you don’t carry too much guilt. If you’re struggling, maybe try the school’s counseling center. It might help."

"Got it, thanks, Professor."

Fu Xie hung up the phone.

Lately, he’d often zone out, losing track of time, only to snap back and realize hours had slipped by.

Sometimes it happened during class, and when he came to, students were already filing out.

Today was a repeat.

"Daydreaming again? We’re past the main lecture, but I got notes—just copy mine."

Chen Mo slid his textbook to Fu Xie's side. "Here, I've marked everything for you."

Fu Xie gaped, and reached out to grab Chen Mo. "What the—"

Just before his fingers could touch him, Chen Mo vanished.

Everything went dead silent. The classroom was empty except for Fu Xie.

The teaching building was dimly lit, now in cleanup mode after class. Only the common study areas and corridors still had lights on.

Leaving the building, he walked down a tree-lined path.

The dense foliage blocked out the already sparse stars in the night sky.

Chen Mo vanishing barely made waves on campus.

Most students barely knew the quiet, unfamiliar classmate, giving little more than a shrug before moving on.

Fu Xie had only known him for a few months. On the surface, he seemed no different from the others—sad for a hot minute before moving on.

Even Fu Xie himself thought so.

In City A, even at this ungodly hour, the glow from skyscrapers was enough to expose every speck of dust clinging to the asphalt.

"Sulking solo over drinks? Could’ve called me, man."

Ji Ruisi plopped down uninvited across from Xi Wenlun and signaled a waiter. "My regular."

Xi Wenlun shot him a look and said nothing.

Ji Ruisi leaned in, scrutinizing him back and forth until the latter frowned in irritation.

"Spit it out."

Ji Ruisi clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk tsk, rare to see you like this. How long has it been? Still hung up on him?"

Xi Wenlun finally deigned to meet his gaze head-on. "Careful."

"Alright, alright, my bad. Last time, President Xi hounded me for intel, only to do nothing with it afterward—just sitting on it."

"Ask for death cleaner."

"Whoa! No, no, boss, I was joking!" Seeing Xi Wenlun’s dark expression, Ji Ruisi quickly backtracked. "Chill, boss—just kidding! Don’t take it to heart."

After some more needling and repeated apologies, Xi Wenlun’s expression finally eased.

"I’m just saying—why mope around alone here? Just go find him."

Xi Wenlun glanced at him, hesitating to speak.

"He... doesn't want to see me."

Ji Ruisi stared at him in confusion. "What's the big deal? Don’t you remember you’re the Xi Corporation's iron-fisted CEO?"

"Love makes fools of us all. Instead of wallowing, why not just find any excuse to visit his city? Can’t you just inspect the branch office while you're there?"

"Just come up with an excuse. It’s easy."

Xi Wenlun lifted his gaze, pursing his lips.

Ji Ruisi shrugged.

......

At night, Fu Xie, unusually not gaming, was catching up on his lab report when he received a message from Lin Yubin.

Lin Yubin: Fu Xie, long time no speak. Are you free lately?

*The Bottom?* Why would he suddenly reach out?

Having left the drama behind, Fu Xie thought the main characters had already forgotten about him.

Was this about collecting on a debt?

Fu Xie: What’s up?

He answered warily. If the Bottom was here to demand repayment, he’d have no choice but to block then delete him on the spot.

Lin Yubin: Heh, actually, I have some good news.

Lin Yubin: I’m getting married to Mr. Xi!

Fu Xie’s mind went blank at the words.

He clutched his chest, struggling to breathe, clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white.

His mind said move on, but emotionally, Lin Yubin’s sudden punch left him in pieces.

Lin Yubin: We’re distant relatives, and we were kind of friends before, so I wanted to invite you to the wedding!

Wait, what?

Fu Xie’s fingers trembled, the sound of his keyboard taps intermittent.

Fu Xie: What distant relatives?

Lin Yubin: Wait what? Didn’t Wen Lun tell you?

Lin Yubin: He even asked for my hair for DNA testing before. I thought he’d already told you.

Fu Xie: He’s your fiancé. Why would he tell me?

Lin Yubin: What fiancé? What? No!

The sudden statement hit Fu Xie like a ton of bricks.

Hadn’t the plot progressed to the love story between the Bottom and the villain? Wasn’t that how the story went after that bastard came to steal him away?

...I can't believe I still remember the plot of that novel.

Lin Yubin: Guess I didn't phrase that right. The Mr. Xi I mentioned isn't Xi Wenlun.

Lin Yubin: It's Wen Lun's cousin! So I was just calling him "brother" like his cousin does.

Fu Xie looked completely confused.

Wait, what cousin?

He dug through the few remaining fragments of memory in his mind and realized there really was such a person.

He had even gotten the wrong idea because of this cousin, thinking Xi Wenlun was disabled.

Fu Xie, hit by old memories: "..."

But the original plot didn’t seem to have this cousin character. He thought it was just the world auto-generating minor characters.

Fu Xie started typing rapidly.

Fu Xie: What about Li Junyuan? Don’t you like him?

Lin Yubin: Huh? How did you know I used to like him?

Fu Xie: It was obvious.

Lin Yubin: Oh, okay.

The main bottom was trusting and immediately believed Fu Xie.

Lin Yubin: That’s all in the past now. Later, I met Mr. Xi. He courted me for some time, and then we got together.

Lin Yubin: Funny enough, Wen Lun and his brother have such similar names. At first, I thought it was Xi Wenlun who liked me, but he already had you, so I rejected him many times. Not until we met did I realize they weren’t the same person.

Fu Xie wracked his brain trying to recall the original plot. In it, Xi Wenlun, as the major antagonist in the main couple’s relationship, usually appeared as a puppet master.

Probably something like the scum top’s company suddenly facing problems, and then the bottom would come to the rescue—usually orchestrated by Xi Wenlun.

Then the villain would use this to control the couple, forcing the bottom to accept him—some kind of non-consensual relationship.

Thinking it over, the original novel Fu Xie read didn’t seem to have any scenes where the villain directly confronted the main couple. It only described the villain secretly causing trouble behind the scenes.

As for the later parts of the plot, Fu Xie didn’t know. Just reading the earlier parts had infuriated him with the main bottom’s naive devotion.

He skipped straight to the end of the novel, only to find the main bottom still entangled in their messy relationship with the scum top, and immediately closed his phone.

Could it be... he really remembered the wrong person?

Fu Xie was completely confused. He needed Lin Yubin to provide more information.

Fu Xie: So what about Xi Wenlun now? Has he gone public with Ji Shaoting?

If Lin Yubin was now Xi Wenlun’s cousin-in-law, he should know, right?

Lin Yubin: What are you talking about? Ji Shaoting? No idea how you know about him, but why would Wen Lun wreck the company of someone he likes?

Fu Xie’s fingers froze over the keyboard.

This was completely different from what he thought.

Lin Yubin: Did you break up with Brother Wen Lun? I'm really sorry for inviting you to your ex's cousin's wedding. I feel awful about it!

Lin Yubin: It's totally fine if you don’t want to come. No pressure.

Fu Xie: So... no one knows I’m not with him anymore?

As he tried to type "Xi Wenlun," his joints seemed locked in place, unable to move.

Resorting to the third person, he continued.

Lin Yubin: No, Brother Wen Lun doesn’t share much about his personal life, but my S.O.'s tight with him, so we know a little. Brother Wen Lun has always been alone. My partner told me there were even rumors in the family about him being... unable to perform. But once you entered the picture, those rumors stopped.

Fu Xie: ...

He didn’t know how to respond.

The sudden silence grew especially awkward in this situation.

Fu Xie: It’s probably the same now, even without me.

Lin Yubin: No, it’s not!

Lin Yubin: Uh, sorry, I got a bit emotional. I just mean, my partner and I have been worried about him. We saw him at our engagement party, and though Brother Wen Lun didn’t say anything, he seemed really out of sorts.

Fu Xie stared at the screen, expression complicated.

Could he really have misunderstood?

Lin Yubin asked cautiously: So... are you thinking about getting back together with Brother Wen Lun?

Fu Xie "slapped" his phone face-down on the table.

After a pause, he replied.

Fu Xie: No.

Fu Xie: And I was the one who ended things, so...

So unless he was a fool, he wouldn’t be waiting for him.

He couldn’t fathom why someone like Xi Wenlun, standing on a cloud, would trade his cloud-nine life just to wait for someone like me.

This wasn’t some novel.

Lin Yubin: That’s not how it works. I believe love is something you fight for! If not for my S.O., I might still be tangled up with Li Junyuan. I don’t know what spell I was under back then—he treated me horribly, yet I kept sticking to him like glue.

Lin Yubin: This might sound funny, but after I stopped liking Li Junyuan, he actually started chasing me. But I blocked him everywhere and swore I'd never lay eyes on that guy again. Later, I heard he got into trouble with the law and got locked up, sentenced to a solid few years.

Fu Xie’s eyes widened.

He thought the Main Bottom’s marriage was just a minor detour in the original plot, but he was serious.

If things had progressed this way, didn’t that mean the original plot had gone completely off the rails? The main top ending up in jail, the Main Bottom married to someone else—how was the world still functioning?

So does this mean... maybe there was still hope for them after all.