Chapter 3: Feather Feiqing, the Embodiment of Cringe
Yu Feiqing was furious, but there was nothing he could do except continue hurling insults.
“Si Xu, how dare you let your soul pet attack me? In front of everyone, you dare humiliate me like this—truly vicious at heart.”
“And you usually pretend to be noble and kind. You even fooled Grandpa into thinking you were decent.”
Si Ran quickly stepped forward to soothe him. “Brother Yu, you’ve misunderstood Second Brother. He’s not that kind of person. He’s probably just upset because he can’t enter the city.”
“So just because he’s upset, he can hit people? I’ve always thought he had a bad temper. Who knows how often he bullies you in private?”
Seeing Si Ran repeatedly shake his head, Yu Feiqing felt even more protective toward him.
His Ranran was just too kind. He had never said a bad word about Si Xu. But what about Si Xu?
“Ranran, stop speaking up for him. Si Xu has always been ungrateful. He doesn’t deserve your sincerity.”
[Sincerity? Heh. More like sincere scheming, right?]
[And speaking of ungrateful—who in this world is more ungrateful than Yu Feiqing?]
Si Er had always thought Yu Feiqing was trash.
This engagement between Si Xu and Yu Feiqing had been tricked out of the Si family’s old master after the Yu family’s old master got him drunk. If Yu Feiqing was unhappy with the engagement, he should go home and scold his own grandfather!
But he didn’t. He believed his grandfather did it out of love for him.
So who could he blame? Only Si Xu, for pretending too well and deceiving Grandpa into thinking he was a good person—thus occupying the position of his fiancé.
Hm? Was being Yu Feiqing’s fiancé some great treasure?
Though Yu Feiqing was also the grandson of a city lord, Luoyu City was merely a mid-tier power, far inferior to the Si family’s East Radiance City.
Si Xu was just unlucky—stuck with a muddle-headed, biased grandfather and saddled with a scumbag fiancé for no reason.
[If only Si Xu would take this chance to break off the engagement. Yu Feiqing is carrying the betrothal token anyway.]
[He’s head over heels for Si Ran right now—definitely in the mood to cancel it.]
[He thinks his engagement to Si Xu is the biggest stain on his life, making him unworthy of his pure and flawless Ranran.]
The onlookers eating popcorn: Ugh… Did this Yu guy crawl out of some cringey romance novel? Why is his vibe so weird?
Even Si Xu felt nauseated. He wanted to break off the engagement too—but Grandpa…
[Sigh. If you’re going to cancel it, you’ve got to be fast, accurate, and ruthless. Don’t give Si Ran a chance to interrupt. Otherwise he’ll definitely stop it.]
[After all, Si Ran doesn’t actually have feelings for Yu Feiqing. He’s just using him to disgust Si Xu. There’s no way he’d let himself bear the blame of ruining his brother’s engagement.]
[He wants to stir up trouble between them first, then lock them together for life—so Yu Feiqing can drag Si Xu down forever.]
Forever?
Thinking about that time span—and recalling how abnormal Yu Feiqing became whenever he saw Si Ran—Si Xu sucked in a sharp breath.
Break it! This engagement must be broken!
“Yu Feiqing, you think I’m vicious, and I think you’re foolish. Since we dislike each other so much, we might as well cancel the engagement.”
As soon as he said that, the surrounding spectators’ eyes lit up.
Oh ho—breaking off the engagement? So the green-clad beauty and this cringey Yu Feiqing really are fiancés?
On the Continent of Ten Thousand Beasts, as long as one’s contracted soul pets had long lifespans, people themselves could live very long lives.
So while offspring were important, they weren’t that important. Same-sex marriages were common enough; no one batted an eye.
But flirting with your future brother-in-law…
Tsk tsk.
Feeling the strange looks around him, Si Ran quickly put some distance between himself and Yu Feiqing.
“Brother misunderstood. There’s nothing between Brother Yu and me. We’re just friends, we…”
Si Xu shook his head. “I didn’t misunderstand. If there were nothing, he wouldn’t have held you so tightly. You’re not children anymore.”
Si Ran tried to argue, “I—”
“No need to explain. I understand.” Si Xu cut him off again. “Let it be so. As an elder brother, how could I not fulfill my younger brother’s wishes?”
“Ranran, you’ve already lost your entry pass. You can’t lose love as well.”
[666! Didn’t expect it—this gentle-looking beauty Si Xu is actually pretty witty.]
Si Er was surprised—and a bit regretful.
[Too bad Si Ran is destined to lose neither love nor his entry pass. Yu Feiqing’s token can bring him inside.]
[Only Si Xu ends up losing both the scumbag and the pass—on the surface, a huge loss.]
But in Si Er’s opinion, dumping trash like Yu Feiqing was a massive private win.
After all, in the original plot, with Si Ran’s help, Yu Feiqing would eventually slaughter all of Si Xu’s soul pets, cook them into dishes, and feed them to his own pets to improve their quality.
Si Xu didn’t know anything about the so-called original plot. What puzzled him now was why Yu Feiqing even had an entry token.
Had Luoyu City’s connections grown that broad?
Or had the Yu family’s old master drunk his way into another trick?
Seeing Si Ran about to speak again, Si Xu quickly added, “I’ve heard Young Master Yu has a token that allows him to bring one extra person into the city. If you refuse to break off the engagement with me yet plan to bring Ranran in, wouldn’t that invite criticism?”
“Surely you wouldn’t leave Ranran behind, would you?”
“Ranran is young and shy about admitting his feelings—I understand. But Young Master Yu shouldn’t be so lacking in responsibility, should he?”
“Who says I lack responsibility? Break it off then!”
Yu Feiqing was impulsive and easily provoked. Since he’d already wanted to cancel it, he immediately pulled out the betrothal token and threw it to Si Xu.
“Brother Yu, don’t!”
Si Ran rushed to stop him. Flirting behind the scenes was one thing—but he absolutely could not bear the blame of meddling in their engagement.
Unfortunately, he was too slow. Even his two contracted soul pets weren’t helpful at a time like this. He could only watch as the token fell into Si Xu’s hands.
Si Xu quickly put away his own token and tossed the Yu family’s token back.
“Then it’s settled. Our engagement is canceled. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other. I hope you’ll treat Ranran well in the future—don’t be half-hearted like today.”
Yu Feiqing said smugly, “Ranran is different from you. Of course I’ll treat him well.”
Si Xu said nothing more. He turned and stepped out of the line, preparing to leave.
The guardian escort hesitated. “Second Young Master…”
Si Xu smiled faintly. “Continue following Third Brother. I can’t enter the city and have no prospects anyway. No need for a guardian.”
The escort looked guilty. “I failed to guard the entry pass. I…”
“No need to say more. That’s enough.”
Si Xu waved his hand and had just taken a large step when Si Ran stopped him again.
“Second Brother, you’ve truly misunderstood! There’s really nothing between Brother Yu and me! I only see him as a brother, and he sees me as a younger brother. How can you cancel the engagement over a misunderstanding?”
“This marriage was decided by Grandpa. Wouldn’t this be…”
Si Xu’s expression turned colder. “Are you implying I’m unfilial?”
“I don’t mean that, but Second Brother…”
“Si Ran, if you think I shouldn’t cancel it, then you should keep your distance from Yu Feiqing.”
Si Ran shook his head repeatedly. “It’s my fault. I thought we were all friends—being closer wouldn’t matter. If Second Brother minds, I’ll keep my distance from Young Master Yu from now on. Please don’t cancel the engagement.”
Si Xu paused, then said helplessly, “Ranran, since you insist on renewing my engagement with Yu Feiqing, then you should return to East Radiance City alone.”
“Wh… what?” Si Ran froze.
“Our entry passes are gone. Yu Feiqing’s token only allows one person inside. Since you’re so determined to bring us together, you go back alone. I’ll enter the city with him.”
Si Ran was speechless. He hadn’t expected Si Xu to become so eloquent today—he’d ended up shooting himself in the foot.
If he’d known, he should’ve destroyed only Si Xu’s entry pass.
But destroying just one would’ve been too obvious and aroused suspicion.
[Hahaha, dumbfounded now, aren’t you? Serves you right, you little black lotus, always pretending.]
Si Er watched with delight.
Hehe. If Si Ran wanted to enter the city smoothly today, he’d have no choice but to let Si Xu leave.
After all, at this stage, Yu Feiqing was his only devoted bootlicker. He wouldn’t find another person to bring him into the city anytime soon.
