Chapter 118: Chapter 116: The Importance of the Order of Appearance (Added)_1
"Sorry..."
Bai Qi took a small bite of the bun and said awkwardly, "Um, borrowing five hundred would be enough."
"Five hundred?" Fang Ren looked at her, "You're an aristocrat, usually a big spender. Can you really make do with just that little for a few days?"
"I can't borrow too much, or you won't have enough for your living expenses," Bai Qi said.
"You're thinking too much," Fang Ren laughed.
Even without the twenty million from Uncle Han, he could still maintain his living by selling low-grade elixirs. As long as he didn't sell the high-grade ones, no one would pay too much attention to him.
Bai Qi immediately shook her head while eating the bun, saying, "Five hundred is enough. I'll get a job and pay back not only this amount but also what I owe you from before as soon as possible."
"Pull the other one. Which shop would dare to hire you if you went out to work?"
"I can disguise myself. They won't know who I am."
"You're seriously going to work?"
Fang Ren was taken aback. This princess was being unexpectedly down-to-earth.
"Of course, it's true. I can't always be eating and drinking at your expense. I've never felt it's your obligation to provide for me because of the marriage arrangement. I feel I already owe you a lot and should be doing things for you, instead," Bai Qi said.
"Alright, after we finish eating, I'll take you to get the money. But if you can't find work outside, don't keep looking. And you need to understand that you're borrowing money from me, not getting me to support you. There's no need to bring their way of thinking into it," Fang Ren said.
"Thank you."
Bai Qi nodded, her voice very soft.
For the next two or three minutes, neither of them spoke.
Fang Ren continued to devour his bun without caring about how he looked, while Bai Qi, who had already finished eating, bit on her straw and occasionally glanced at Fang Ren with her beautiful eyes.
She discovered that although the boy's appearance was not conventionally handsome, his clean and refined look was pleasing to the eyes, the kind that one would never tire of. Sometimes, an unintentional profile of his face showed more character than those deliberately posed by internet celebrities.
Moreover, for some reason, the vibe he gave off always made her feel a strong sense of affinity, an emotion that made her want to stay with him, and even felt slightly... dependent on him.
After her beautiful eyes lingered on his face for a few seconds, Bai Qi murmured softly, "If we had met a bit earlier, maybe we wouldn't be wanting to annul the marriage arrangement now..."
Fang Ren stuffed a mouthful of bun and glanced at her, noticing her paused movements and her somewhat sentimental expression.
Swallowing a bite of the bun, Fang Ren said, "The order of appearance in life is very important."
If, back then, when he was disheartened after being rejected twice by Liu Qianqian, the person he had met for the arranged marriage had been Bai Qi instead of Mu Huanqing, maybe she would have been his true love now.
But on the flip side, if Liu Qianqian had accepted his feelings back then, he wouldn't have agreed to get to know Mu Huanqing either.
The order of appearance and timing are very important in life.
Bai Qi looked at the table and nodded, saying, "When I first met you, I felt a sense of déjà vu in my heart... To be honest, there's something about you that draws me in, and deep down, I don't want to guard myself against you at all..."
"You feel that way too?" Fang Ren was slightly startled, "I thought it was just me."
Bai Qi was also startled, her pretty eyes gazing at him, "I thought I was the only one who felt that way..."
After silently looking at Fang Ren for a while, Bai Qi suddenly said, "You're right, the order of appearance in life is very important. If I hadn't met Brother Song, I probably wouldn't have objected to this marriage arrangement."
"Brother Song?"
"That's Song Mobei from the Tiandao Sword Sect. I met him last year when I was training there."
"Song Mobei..."
When Fang Ren heard this name, he wasn't too surprised. After all, Bai Qi could only come into contact with very outstanding elites, and the only man she could fall for who was surnamed Song and who was a swordsmanship genius would likely be Song Mobei.
"Yes, Brother Song is the most outstanding young talent I've ever seen. His achievements in Sword Dao have now surpassed those of the Sect Master of the Tiandao Sword Sect, reaching the peak among humans.
Not only is he at the summit among the young generation of men in terms of strength, but he's also a very good person, always willing to help others, never stingy about sharing the secrets of Sword Dao. Everyone in the Sword Sect admires him," Bai Qi said with a look of admiration.
Fang Ren, seeing her look of admiration, spoke, "I've seen many evaluations about him, and what you said doesn't differ much."
"You've paid attention to him too?"
"Came across him occasionally," Fang Ren said casually.
"Oh, by the way, you also like someone, right? Who is she?" Bai Qi asked curiously, "Is it the class president or Jian Qi'er?"
"Huh?" Fang Ren was startled, "Why do you think I like either of them?"
"It's obvious that Jian Qi'er likes to stick to you, and the class president seems to care a lot about you," Bai Qi said, "Anyway, my intuition tells me that it's very likely you're in a relationship with one of them."
"Your intuition... is really off."
"It isn't?"
"It isn't."
"Then who is it?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I said."
"Tell me, and I'll believe."
"Forget it, let's clean up the table. With so many people watching, I'll take you to withdraw the money."
...
After cleaning the table and washing their hands by the pool, Fang Ren took Bai Qi to the ATM at the campus gate to withdraw the money since all of Bai Qi's payment accounts were frozen and online transfers were useless.
"I kept hearing yesterday that there's a guy of really low quality in our school, spreading rumors around that he's Xuan Nv's boyfriend,"
As they chatted idly on the road, Bai Qi asked about this issue and couldn't help frowning, "Do you know who that person is?"
"Uh..."
Upon hearing this, Fang Ren's mouth twitched, and he said, "How is his quality low?"
With an angry face, Bai Qi said, "Sister Hui Qing protected his life here not long ago, and that guy didn't even know how to be grateful. Instead, he spread rumors about Sister Hui Qing. Saying that he's of low quality is already being very lenient towards him."
"You don't know the real situation. Don't jump to conclusions, okay?" Fang Ren said with an embarrassed look on his face.
"Why are you still defending that kind of guy?" Bai Qi said unpleasantly.
Fang Ren slapped his forehead and said, "It wasn't his own will to spread this around."
"How do you know?"
Fang Ren looked helpless and confessed straightforwardly, "Just now in the canteen, didn't you ask me who I liked? The one I like is the Jiutian Xuan Nv, and that guy you're calling low quality is me."
Bai Qi was stunned by his words. Her beautiful eyes blinked continuously as she muttered, "No way, you don't seem like that kind of person... "
"I already said it wasn't me spreading it. This situation is really helpless," Fang Ren waved it off.
"So why are they spreading it without any basis?"
"When I enrolled, I had a conflict with a student from Baili."
"That's the reason?" Bai Qi frowned, "But just because of a conflict, to smear your reputation like this, that's going too far."
"It's complicated, and I can't explain it clearly to you," Fang Ren said.
With a face full of indignation, Bai Qi said, "It's perfectly normal to like Sister Hui Qing. After all, she is so beautiful and very strong. How can they blacken the matter of you liking Sister Hui Qing just because of a conflict?"
"The process was very complicated..."
"How complicated?"
"In any case, your little brain wouldn't understand it."
"I'm standing up for you here! And you're calling me dumb! Whose side are you even on?"
...
After chatting for a bit, Fang Ren withdrew two thousand yuan from the ATM and handed it to Bai Qi.
Looking at the money in her hand, Bai Qi felt warm inside. She immediately took out fifteen hundred yuan and stuffed it back into Fang Ren's hand, smiling and saying, "I don't need this much. Five hundred is enough."
Fang Ren looked at her, "I just worry you'll start crying from hunger again if your paycheck hasn't come."
Bai Qi's face turned red, and she retorted, "I didn't cry last time because I was hungry..."
"Just take it. As long as you don't spend recklessly, you won't eat me out of house and home," Fang Ren insisted, pushing the money back into her hands.
Bai Qi looked at the money for a long time, hesitated, then said earnestly, "I will keep an eye on you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I'll supervise your meals. If I find out one day that you're not eating well, I'll immediately give you the money back," Bai Qi said with seriousness.
"Alright, alright, just take it already. So many people on the street are watching you," Fang Ren said helplessly.
Bai Qi nodded and took the money, then immediately followed Fang Ren towards the campus.
"Was what you said about liking Sister Hui Qing true or not?" Bai Qi asked.
"Of course it's true," Fang Ren replied.
"You want to pursue her?"
"Not pursue, I want to marry her."
"Ah? Marry her? Are you serious?"
"Of course."
Bai Qi was stunned, "But that's... really difficult."
"If it were simple, I would have married her by now," Fang Ren said.
Without hesitation, Bai Qi said, "Even if it's simple, you can't just marry right now. The marriage agreement isn't dissolved yet; neither of us can go and marry someone else right now or there will be big trouble."
"I know."
"But do you realize how difficult it is to marry Sister Hui Qing?" Bai Qi looked at him in surprise.
"I know," Fang Ren replied casually.
"I don't think you have any idea," Bai Qi said frowningly. "To marry Sister Hui Qing, you must be as close to her as possible in terms of cultivation level. Although you're also very talented, you started too late, and right now, the decision of the Central District Command is to have Sister Hui Qing and Brother Song be together. You still need the whole Command to accept you...
Just pick any one of these issues, and for you right now, it's as hard as reaching the sky."
"I know."
"..."
Bai Qi looked at his unconcerned expression, and was utterly baffled, "I think you truly have no idea how difficult it is."