To be honest, Ruan Bei couldn't quite picture Bai Sen dressed in a suit, sitting in front of the computer with a cold expression... playing games.
No matter how I look at it, it feels so out of place for someone like him to sit in front of a computer, either having a video conference, checking stock and futures markets, or playing games.
However, seeing Bai Miaomiao's good attitude and even a hint of pride, Ruan Bei thought that Bai Sen might change his attitude when he was with his beloved younger brother in private.
These thoughts only flashed through Zeng Peng's mind briefly before Bai Miaomiao changed the subject and distracted him, making him forget he was going to be angry. However, he refused to play ranked matches with Bai Miaomiao anymore, and the two of them went back to the matchmaking arena to hang out.
Ruan Bei told Qin Gu to take a shower first, and then he went to his desk and quietly reported the situation to Niu Niu and Pudding, who were waiting for him on the balcony.
Upon hearing that its owner had been arrested, Pudding whimpered softly. It had become much smarter since becoming a ghost and roughly understood what was going on. It didn't beg Ruan Bei for help, but the dog was visibly dejected, its ears drooping and listless.
Niu Niu hugged its head to comfort him, and Pudding barked. Ruan Bei couldn't understand what they were saying, but seeing that they got along well, he didn't interrupt. He peeled a milk candy and put it in for them to eat.
The little house was Niu Niu's territory. Putting things in there was like offering them to her. She shared the milk candy with Pudding, but for the shrunken Niu Niu and Pudding, the candy was too big.
The man and the dog ate and chatted. Qin Gu finished his bath, and it was Ruan Bei's turn.
Just then, Zeng Peng and Bai Miaomiao finished a game, shut down their computers, and asked Qin Gu, "Xiao Bei said you two ran into trouble at dinner today, are you alright?"
Bai Miaomiao had just heard the news and asked in surprise, "What happened?"
Although I don't know what Ruan Bei said to Zeng Peng at the time, I can guess that he definitely didn't mention Pudding, so there's nothing else to hide.
However, it was definitely not appropriate to talk about Le Yuan's private matters, so he focused on Zhang Gulin: "You know that XX barbecue restaurant on the food street outside our school, right?"
Zeng Peng said, "Is it the one diagonally opposite the oo hot pot restaurant? I saw it when I met up with my fellow villagers during the holidays. They sell barbecue skewers at the entrance of their shop, and it smells really good. I was thinking of going to eat there sometime."
"Don't go." Qin Gu looked at him sympathetically, "Luckily you didn't go to eat."
Why?
"The boss was stabbed and is now in the hospital."
"So bad?" Zeng Peng exclaimed, then asked, "Is everyone alright?"
Bai Miaomiao's focus was different from his. He asked, "Who stabbed him? Why did they stab him?"
"The girl who was stabbed is alright, she was rescued and it was just a minor injury. The person who stabbed her has been arrested." Qin Gu sighed. "The girl who stabbed her used to be blind and had a guide dog. That scum killed and stewed it. A lot of the meat in his shop comes from people who have killed other people's pets."
Zeng Peng: "..."
He recalled the smell of barbecue he used to have, and it didn't smell good at all anymore; in fact, it made him feel nauseous.
Bai Miaomiao: "...???"
"Killing guide dogs? What kind of scum is that!" Bai Miaomiao instantly became furious and cursed online: "They even tried to save this kind of beast, what a waste of the country's medical resources! Why send it to a hospital? Just send it to a slaughterhouse!"
Qin Gu: "..."
I never imagined that you would have thoughts that overlap with Shen Linpeng's. Is it because you both have the character "Lin" in your names?
"Are you cursing Zhang Gulin?" Ruan Bei came out of the shower and was drying her hair when she heard Bai Miaomiao passionately cursing.
Who is Zhang Gulin?
"It's that barbecue restaurant owner," Qin Gu said.
“That’s the bastard I’m talking about.” Zeng Peng also looked disgusted: “Is this guy crazy? Why would he kill someone’s pet for no reason? If he thinks beef and mutton are too expensive, he could make a living selling pork skewers.”
“That’s right, he’s got a problem.” Ruan Bei sneered: “This kind of person is psychologically abnormal. He does it on purpose, wanting to see the owners of lost pets sad and in pain.”
Zeng Peng shuddered. Going to university had really broadened his horizons. First there was Lu Sibai, a manipulative woman who could say one thing and mean another, and then he heard about a perverted barbecue restaurant owner who ripped off people's pets and sold their meat.
Despite his anger, Bai Miaomiao's mind worked quickly: "You said the person who stabbed someone was arrested? How is he now? Does he have a lawyer?"
Upon hearing his words, Ruan Bei knew that he intended to help.
It's a good thing they want to help. The Bai family has a huge legal team, and even though most of them deal with economic cases, they still know some top criminal lawyers.
In public, Le Yuan stabbed Zhang Gulin and shouted "Go to hell!" before attempting to stab him a second time. Although he and Qin Gu stopped her, she could not escape the charge of intentional homicide.
However, since Zhang Gulin didn't die, it was an attempted crime. Find a good lawyer to argue your case properly, and hopefully Shen Linpeng will put in some effort so that Le Yuan can get a lighter sentence.
“She’s been arrested.” Ruan Bei wanted to ask Bai Miaomiao for help, so she explained Le Yuan’s situation: “She probably doesn’t have a lawyer yet. Her parents are gone, she’s blind, and she treats her guide dog like family, but…”
“I’ll hire one for her!” Bai Miaomiao thumped her chest loudly. “I have plenty of lawyers in my family. I’ll find her a good one, and she definitely won’t suffer any losses.”
"Then I thank you on her behalf."
Bai Miaomiao waved her hand dismissively: "It's nothing."
He didn't even need to contact his brother about this; he could just call his brother's secretary.
Just then, Zeng Peng suddenly called out, "Come and see!"
He shared the trending post he had just seen on the campus forum in his roommates' group chat. Ruan Bei had water in his hands, so he stood next to Qin Gu and watched him open the post.
The post was about the problem with the barbecue at Zhang Gulin's barbecue restaurant. Most of the customers at the food festival were students from Jinzhou University. Ruan Bei questioned the restaurant in front of so many people, and then the meat was taken away by the police. How could the onlookers not have some thoughts?
Those who haven't eaten there before are fine; at most, they're just curious and want to see what's going on. But those who have eaten there before are terrified, fearing they've eaten some unclean meat, like diseased pork or dead rat meat.
Some went to the hospital for checkups, others inquired about the situation, and still others quickly notified classmates and friends who had eaten at the restaurant before.
The news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching not only Jinzhou University but also several surrounding universities.
The school cannot ignore such food safety issues at a store near the school. If students get sick from eating there, the school will be held responsible.
So the school contacted the police to find out what kind of meat it was and whether it would harm the students.
After receiving feedback from the police, the school immediately notified the students not to panic or cause trouble.
While the thought of that meat is unbearable, it's unlikely to cause illness from cannibalism.
When this news was announced, some people immediately couldn't stand it. They said it was better to eat dead rat meat or diseased pork. These people were pet owners.
Zhang Gulin is a psychopath. What he really wants is to sell pet meat to its owners. His shop is located here, and the rented house is also near the school. So where did he catch those pets?
Although the school has explicitly prohibited keeping pets in dormitories, the existence of such a prohibition means that some people will inevitably do it.
In my freshman year, we often had to check dorm rooms, so very few people kept pets. But by my sophomore year, some dorms started doing it, keeping hamsters or rabbits, though these were relatively low-profile.
Those who are a bit bolder will keep cats or dogs, usually kept by one person, and they eventually become the dormitory pets.
Hamsters and rabbits are fine, they don't need to be let out to roam. But dogs need to be taken out for walks frequently. Every time the dog is walked, the whole dorm goes out, with the person carrying the dog acting as a cover and the person diverting the dorm supervisor's attention.
It's rare for me to walk the dog, but it's gone missing, and everyone in my dorm is heartbroken.
Besides students who secretly keep pets, there are also pets kept by retired professors who rent houses near the school or in family compounds, or pets kept by nearby businesses.
The news reached the family compound late, but the school and nearby businesses got the news first. Those who had lost their pets were devastated and furious.
Especially for those who lost their pets and then ate at that barbecue restaurant, they can't help but wonder, was the same pet they were eating?
When Ruan Bei and his friends saw the post, the barbecue restaurant had already been vandalized in a fit of rage. Even the police's barricades were ineffective, and some nearby business owners even threw swill onto his store.
Some law students are advocating that everyone record the value of their lost pets and report them to the police together. If the amount is large enough, Zhang Gulin will not only have to pay compensation, but also go to jail.
"Serves you right." Ruan Bei spat out a curse.
Zhang Gulin didn't fare well this time, mainly because he was still injured and lying in the hospital. If he had been there, those angry pet owners would have torn him to pieces.
"Should we hurry up..." Ruan Bei whispered to Qin Gu.
If Zhang Gulin is placed under investigation by the police, it will be much harder for them to do anything again.
"It's okay, there's still time."
People like Zhang Gulin, if they sense something is wrong, will definitely pretend they're still sick and stay in the hospital, which gives them time to cause trouble.
While her roommate was looking at the post and joining her classmates in condemning the scumbag, Ruan Bei pulled Qin Gu into bed and asked him to teach her the incantation to summon ghosts.
Although they are all grown men, they still want some privacy. Ruanxi bought blackout bed curtains for Ruanbei and Qin Gu. When they go to sleep, they can just pull them closed so that their roommates can play games or use their phones without being disturbed, and they won't disturb their roommates either.
Zeng Peng and Bai Miaomiao thought it looked good, so they bought it and installed it. Ruan Bei pulled Qin Gu onto his bed, and with the curtains drawn, the small enclosed space was just the two of them.
They can speak in a low voice and practice spell gestures silently, without worrying that their roommates will think they are charlatans or suffer from severe chuunibyou.
The single beds in the student dormitory were only so big, and the stairs in the middle could only be climbed one at a time. Ruan Bei went up first, and then held up the bed curtain to let Qin Gu crawl in.
The moment the curtain was drawn, Zeng Peng looked up and saw Qin Gu's figure disappear behind Ruan Bei's curtain.
Zeng Peng scratched his head in confusion, glancing worriedly at Ruan Bei's bed. What were these two whispering about that they had to do in one bed? Wouldn't they break the bed?
"Look at this, that's really satisfying to watch." Bai Miaomiao's words interrupted Zeng Peng's worries. He looked down at his phone and immediately got excited and started cursing the scumbag.
Anyone who has lived in a student dormitory knows that the bed is really small. Ruan Bei piled up the pillows and thin blankets at the head of the bed and sat cross-legged facing Qin Gu.
And so, their knees almost touched.
In the almost enclosed space, with the two of them very close together, Ruan Bei hadn't felt anything at first, but when he met Qin Gu's gaze, he inexplicably became uneasy.
He lifted the bed curtains to peek inside, made sure the air conditioning was on, then sat back down, saying awkwardly, "It's a bit hot. I thought the air conditioning wasn't on."
Qin Gu chuckled softly, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at him: "Should we learn incantations or hand seals first?"
“A spell,” Ruan Bei said.
He remembered his master saying that whether it was incantations or hand gestures, they were essentially meant to amplify the effects of their spells and increase the success rate.
In the past, truly powerful beings could change the world with a single thought, and so-called incantations and hand seals were all superfluous.
He certainly didn't have that level of skill, but he knew that his own Kunkun was very powerful; he could already use single-syllable spells for some relatively simple incantations.
Qin Gu first taught him the incantation. The incantation to summon ghosts was not a difficult one, but it was a bit unorthodox for the Celestial Master. After all, they traditionally ignored benevolent ghosts and only attacked evil ones.
Fortunately, he had taken the time to prepare for teaching Ruan Bei, so he made sure to catch up on his studies; otherwise, he would have lost face now.
Qin Gu taught him a few times, and Ruan Bei memorized it. Although the incantation was difficult to pronounce, it was only a few dozen words at most, and with Ruan Bei's memory, it wasn't too hard for him to memorize it.
However, simply memorizing it is useless; whether it can be used in practice remains to be seen. We'll have to try it tomorrow; it certainly won't work here.
After learning the incantation, Qin Gu taught him the matching hand seals.
At first, Ruan Bei thought that the hand seals would not be too difficult to learn, and he considered himself to be quite skillful.
After Qin Gu demonstrated it, Ruan Bei was completely dumbfounded: "..." How did he twist that finger just now?
Qin Gu ruffled his hair and said with a smile, "Don't rush, take your time."
He broke down all the movements and taught Ruan Bei them separately, explaining as he taught: "The incantation and hand seals are paired together, and the timing must be synchronized when using them, otherwise it is easy to fail."
In other words, when casting the spell, Ruan Bei must simultaneously mobilize the spiritual energy within his body, recite the incantation, and form the incantation seal. If he finishes reciting the incantation but the incantation seal is not yet complete, he is doomed and fails.
The same applies to the opposite.
Although Qin Gu didn't say it, Ruan Bei knew that if the spiritual energy didn't keep up, that would also be the outcome.
This was a bit difficult, but fortunately, Ruan Bei wasn't the type to back down from challenges. This was the first spell he was going to cast on his own, and he was determined to learn it well.
Qin Gu broke down the movements for him, and he watched and learned them carefully. Because he was so focused on learning, before he knew it, their heads were touching.
After Bai Miaomiao and Zeng Peng finished browsing all the trending posts, Bai Miaomiao took a sip of water, caught her breath, and asked, "Where are Xiao Bei and Qin Gu?"
Zeng Peng pointed to the bed.
"Why go to bed so early?" Bai Miaomiao muttered. "Are they both asleep?"
Zeng Peng hesitated and said, "No..."
Ruan Bei's bed is too small for two people to sleep in.
When Bai Miaomiao heard him say he wasn't asleep, she assumed the two of them were lying in bed playing on their phones. She ran to Ruan Bei's bedside, stepped on the cushion under his chair, and lifted his bed curtain: "Xiao Bei, you're not asleep, are you...?"
In the space hidden by the bed curtains, Qin Gu and Ruan Bei were head to head. Qin Gu held Ruan Bei's hand, their fingers intertwined. Startled by Bai Miaomiao's outburst, Ruan Bei hurriedly tried to pull her hand away, but it was too tightly entwined to separate them...
Bai Miaomiao: "...Sorry to interrupt! Please continue."
His face flushed, and he quickly pulled the bed curtains back up.
Ruan Bei: "..."
Qin Gu: "..."
No, although I was indeed disturbed, why are you blushing?! What are you blushing for?! We're learning something you wouldn't understand!
Ruan Bei roared inwardly, but as if he had been infected by Bai Miaomiao, his fair cheeks turned as red as a big tomato.
He tried to pull his hand away; in his excitement, he didn't know how, but his fingers had become completely entangled with Qin Gu's.
"Don't move, I'll pull it out gently, it won't hurt you," Qin Gu said with a smile.
Bai Miaomiao, who hadn't gone far, suddenly felt a blush spread from her cheeks to her ears.
"What's wrong with you? What are those two doing?" Bai Miaomiao had blocked the view, and the bed curtains were only partially open, so Zeng Peng hadn't seen anything.
"It's nothing." Bai Miaomiao sat down in her seat, feeling dizzy, and suddenly remembered what had happened before.
No wonder, no wonder Qin Gu resisted so much when he tried to hold Ruan Bei's hand; it turns out they had that kind of relationship.
I hadn't thought about it this way before, so I didn't realize it, but now that I think about it carefully, these two people's behavior is too obvious.
Even the best of friends don't have to be inseparable every day, like conjoined twins, sharing clothes and helping each other wash clothes and shoes.
Also, Qin Gu wouldn't let him hold Xiao Bei's hand, but he himself was quite comfortable holding it, and even... he held both of her hands at the same time.
Wow, I didn't realize these two were so inseparable.
However, I heard that the two of them grew up together. Although Qin Gu is a jealous and annoying person, he is very good to Xiao Bei. Xiao Bei has a gentle personality, loves to laugh, and has a very good temper. She throws a little tantrum at Qin Gu because she knows that he is the closest, most intimate, and most trustworthy person to her.
Moreover, he was always the first to respond when others said anything about Qin Gu. Previously, some boys in other dormitories had criticized Qin Gu for being pretentious and were almost driven to the point of fainting by Xiao Bei's subtle and overt teasing. This gave Bai Miaomiao quite an eye-opener.
Ruan Bei isn't incapable of getting angry; he just rarely does.
Thinking about other people's love stories, Bai Miaomiao's face inexplicably turned redder and redder. He covered his face, unable to stop himself from laughing.
Ruan Bei finally pulled his hand away from the bed. He calmed himself down and tried his best not to seem strange or concerned about what had just happened.
He made Qin Gu sit down, and the two of them moved a little further apart—if he hadn't been kicked out before he finished learning the hand seals, he would have lifted the bed curtains wide to make sure his roommate could see clearly that he and Kunkun were completely innocent.
"Miaomiao, what do you want to do?"
"Huh? What?" Bai Miaomiao was immersed in the love between her childhood sweethearts, marveling that there is still true affection and true love in the world, and that people like Lu Sibai are a minority.
Hearing Ruan Bei call him, he looked up and saw that the bed curtains were open, and blurted out: "You two are done with that?"
Ruan Bei: "...Explain yourself clearly, which one?"
Bai Miaomiao glanced at Zeng Peng, her gaze suggestive: "Are you really going to let me say it? You don't mind?"
"Tell me, explain yourself clearly!" You can't not explain yourself clearly today.
Ruan Bei was getting anxious. He and Kun Kun were completely innocent and upright, and he couldn't allow Bai Miaomiao, a guy with a head full of dirty thoughts, to misunderstand him!
If they had actually done something that Bai Miaomiao had seen, that would be one thing, but they were clearly doing something legitimate. Isn't that unfair?
“You made me say it.” Bai Miaomiao pulled Zeng Peng to embolden him: “Dapeng, you be my witness.”
Zeng Peng is still in a daze. He clearly hasn't left his dormitory, but it's like he missed two episodes of a TV show, and he can't connect with the plot at all.
"So what if I caught you two kissing in bed? What's the big deal? Why won't you admit it!" Bai Miaomiao shouted.
Zeng Peng: "..." What? What does "kissing and cuddling" mean? How do you kiss and cuddle? Explain yourself!
Ruan Bei: "..." What nonsense are you talking about?
"When did I ever get all lovey-dovey with him? Don't slander me!" Ruan Bei said angrily.
"Who slandered you? Weren't you holding hands just now? Did you hold hands?!" Bai Miaomiao has never been wrong, and he always tries to stir up trouble, let alone when he is in the right.
Ruan Bei: "I was..." learning hand gestures...
"What is that?" Bai Miaomiao pressed on, saying smugly, "You two not only held hands, but you held both hands together, standing so close. If I hadn't interrupted you, you would have definitely kissed."
Ruan Bei: "..."
Qin Gu leaned against the wall, propping his head up and laughing uncontrollably. Ruan Bei glanced at him in despair, "Why aren't you speaking up for me?"
Sometimes Bai Miaomiao is an angel on earth, and sometimes she is a little devil who can drive people crazy.
For example, right now, he keeps talking nonstop, determined to destroy the truth about Ruan Bei and Qin Gu's affair.
He had just thought of so much, and now he poured it all out to support his conclusion, while simultaneously seeking the opinion of the only bystander present.
"Dapeng, tell me, would you and your buddies act like that?"
Zeng Peng shook his head blankly, looking bewildered, helpless, and pitiful.
"Even if holding hands isn't a big deal, what's with you two secretly holding hands behind the bed curtains? And you're even planning to kiss!"
"I'll kiss you my ass!" Ruan Bei was filled with shame and indignation, and almost went crazy because of Bai Miaomiao.
"You're still laughing!" He punched Qin Gu in anger.
Qin Gu forced himself to stop laughing and raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore. Um, I really didn't do anything with Xiao Bei just now, we didn't kiss."
Bai Miaomiao understood immediately: "You just want to kiss me, right? Oh, sorry, I'm sorry to bother you."
Ruan Bei: "...If you had even a tenth of the ability to argue with me when you were arguing with Lu Sibai, you wouldn't have let him throw mud at you like that."
Bai Miaomiao waved her hand impatiently and said, "I'm talking about you guys, don't mention that awful stuff."
Ruan Bei sneered: "You're calling me that, huh? Then let me have a good talk with you. Is it abnormal that my relationship with Kunkun is good? He hasn't flown all the way to celebrate my birthday, he hasn't told me stories at night to lull me to sleep, and he hasn't put down his work to play games for me just because others say I'm bad at games."
Bai Miaomiao: "Are you implying something about me?"
Ruan Bei: "Don't doubt it, be confident, and remove the 'no' part."
Bai Miaomiao: "That's my brother! So what if my brother is good to me?"
Ruan Bei turned to Zeng Peng and said, "Da Peng, you are an only child, but you must have cousins, right? Tell me, would your older and younger brothers treat you like this?"
Zeng Peng continued to shake his head fairly, like a heartless head-shaking machine.
A small flame flickered in Bai Miaomiao's eyes, making him feel hot all over. What Ruan Bei said was only a very small part; he himself couldn't even explain how good his brother was to him.
Isn't it normal for him and his brother to be so close?
Ruan Bei regretted what he said a little, but seeing that Bai Miaomiao wasn't angry with him and instead looked thoughtful, he silently sighed, "I'm such a good person. Bai Miaomiao is criticizing me, and I'm even helping her understand her own heart."
In his previous life, Bai Sen never married until his death, and he had no close relatives or lovers, not even a bed partner.
Ruan Bei once accidentally saw a photo he kept in his wallet; it was of Bai Miaomiao with a bright smile.
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