Feng Chen and Huo Li Ruo both had strong auras and everyone else moved out of the way to create a path.
Seeing this, Yu Qing Qian approached Feng Chen with a chuckle: “Why do I feel that you and Huo Li Ruo have the potential to be bandits?”
Feng Chen glanced at her faintly, “You have a good relationship with him?”
“Average. He owes me three favours.” Yu Qing Qian said honestly.
Feng Chen’s narrow phoenix eyes held a faint smile, and he was obviously very happy with Yu Qing Qian’s answer.
“Don’t interact with him much in the future, his background is too complicated.” Feng Chen said this not just because he disliked Huo Li Ruo, but because he was telling the truth.
There were several forces involved behind Huo Li Ruo, which was quite complicated.
Especially since Yu Qing Qian had already offended Qin Feng Yi, who was favoured by the Qin Clan, if she had too much contact with Huo Li Ruo, he was afraid that the step-Empress would cause trouble for Yu Qing Qian.
He wasn’t afraid of the Qin Clan’s power, but he was afraid that Yu Qing Qian would be hurt secretly in a place he couldn’t see.
Yu Qing Qian had always known that Huo Li Ruo wasn’t simple. After hearing Feng Chen’s words, she felt that the fact that Huo Li Ruo could still live so openly and freely in a very complicated personal background might be because there were many unknown secrets or temper.
“I’ve promised to be friends with him who can give our backs to each other, so no matter how complicated his background is, I won’t keep my distance from him because of it.” Yu Qing Qian replied to Feng Chen without much thought.
During the apocalypse, she valued friendship a lot, so since she’d promised Huo Li Ruo, then she’d do it, unless the other party betrayed her first or deliberately alienated her.
After hearing Yu Qing Qian’s words, Feng Chen felt a little colder, and the smile in his eyes also faded.
He didn’t expect that Huo Li Ruo had already dug a trap and trapped Yu Qing Qian in it.
Growing up, he had a fairly good understanding of Yu Qing Qian’s temperament. He knew that she valued promises and friendship, and it was basically impossible to persuade her to change that.
He pondered for a moment, then asked: “Do you want to regard him as a good friend or a life-or-death companion?”
“We’re just friends for now. We have yet to test whether we can be life-or-death companions.” Yu Qing Qian rarely hid her true self in front of Feng Chen.
There were too many secrets and unstable factors regarding Huo Li Ruo. She couldn’t completely trust him yet. Time would prove it.
Then she changed her tone and moved a little closer to Feng Chen: “But I’m very certain that you’re a person I can trust with my life or death.”
This sentence contained some ambiguity and sincerity, and it was also from the bottom of her heart.
In this world, the only people whom she could truly and boldly open up her heart to and entrust her life or death or back to were beauty dad and Feng Chen.
This was a kind of emotional dependence, and also a strong feeling—these two people wouldn’t betray her.
Feng Chen was still pondering deeply about the friendship between Yu Qing Qian and Huo Li Ruo, when he suddenly heard such trusting words from her, and the frozen lake in his heart completely shattered, forming layers upon layers of ripples.
“Me too, Qian Qian!”
Feng Chen’s voice was gentle and soft, like a breeze blowing past Yu Qing Qian’s ear, making her heart itch.
The conversation between the two of them was covered by spiritual energy, so others couldn’t hear it.
Watching Feng Chen accompany Yu Qing Qian into the Plant Inscription Department to take part in the test while having an intimate conversation, plus the warm look Feng Chen showed in the moment when he lowered his head and looked at Yu Qing Qian, everyone present, be it freshmen or old students, felt like they were abused dogs1.
They were increasingly speculating about the relationship between the two. They believed that after today’s test, rumours of Yu Qing Qian and Feng Chen’s extremely ambiguous relationship would spread throughout the Royal Academy.
1虐狗 nüè gǒu has two meanings—one is the literal, meaning to abuse dogs. The second is more figurative. Colloquially, among young, single people, they might refer to themselves or others as ‘单身狗’ (single dog). It just means they’re single and not in a relationship, the dog representing the single person. I’m not entirely sure how it started, but it’s often used to joke around with among friends and is more often used in a self-deprecating manner. To expand on this metaphor, there’s also 撒狗粮—so if a single person sees a couple showing a public display of affection, the single person can say they’re ‘scattering dog food’ at them, and therefore also ‘abusing the dog’.