My Brother's Arranged Marriage Partner Is My Boyfriend - Chapter 6

“I’m sorry, Nanxing, it’s all my fault.”

“Why do you say that?”

Yan Mo lowered his gaze, speaking self-reproachfully, “If I hadn’t insisted on dragging you over to see him together, you wouldn’t have taken a secret photo for my sake. If you hadn’t taken that secret photo for me, you wouldn’t have been caught by the senior, and today’s mess wouldn’t have happened.”

Bai Nanxing was completely defeated by this logic. It wasn’t even a matter of “secret photography”—he had been taking photos quite openly, and the photos were so blurry that they couldn’t possibly constitute evidence of so-called secret filming.

He just didn’t understand why the other party was doing this. What was the purpose of forcing him to submit?

Revenge?

Or hatred?

Bai Nanxing knew that many people in the school disliked him. While it wasn’t visible on the surface, they did plenty of things behind his back.

To destroy a person, one didn’t need brute force; a single spit from everyone could invisibly drown a person. Without getting blood on one’s hands, one could hide beautifully—it was the perfect murder weapon.

But this time, the attack was direct. Unlike previous attempts to make him look ugly through rumors, this person was coming straight for him.

Seeing his furrowed brows, Yan Mo felt even more guilty, becoming more certain that things were not as easy as Bai Nanxing claimed. “Nanxing, tell me the truth, did the senior make things difficult for you? Tell me, and I’ll go testify for you. You didn’t capture his face at all—no, not even a person! You just photographed a head; only a ghost could recognize who that was!”

Bai Nanxing remembered saying the same thing in the equipment room, but the other party hadn’t listened at all. Or rather, the other party had never intended to listen to his explanation; they just needed a reason to make their threat legitimate.

“It’s nothing, it’s already resolved. I’m not lying to you.”

That person was too dangerous. Bai Nanxing decided not to let Yan Mo know about it. If the other party was coming for him, then Yan Mo was innocent, and he shouldn’t drag Yan Mo into it.

“Really?” Yan Mo still didn’t believe him. “Are you intentionally trying to make me feel better?”

Bai Nanxing didn’t continue explaining. The more he said, the more Yan Mo would think. He simply changed the subject. “I don’t have a shift tonight. Where do you want to eat? I can accompany you.”

Yan Mo had been sad because he couldn’t find anyone to accompany him. Bai Nanxing was the type who often had part-time jobs in the evening and was almost impossible to find whenever he was free at school. Over the past six months, Yan Mo had almost become a loner. “Are you sure? You won’t stand me up again, will you? I’m still upset about the last time you stood me up!”

“I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll reluctantly forgive you.”

Only afterward did Yan Mo realize something was wrong. They were just talking about the secret photo, and suddenly they had shifted to considering what to eat for dinner. Without realizing it, he had been led astray by Bai Nanxing again!

“Wait!” Yan Mo stared intently into his eyes. “You haven’t answered me about just now. No shifting the topic. Did that senior make things difficult for you?”

Bai Nanxing looked at him with an “I’m not lying” expression, his facial management nearly flawless.

Facing such an innocent and deceptive face, Yan Mo had no way to proceed, but he worried that Bai Nanxing was hiding a problem from him and felt very guilty. “Then… if the senior makes it hard for you, you must tell me. We are in the right, so we aren’t afraid of him!”

Bai Nanxing gave a perfunctory “Mhm.”

Before long, the bell for the end of class rang.

After the class monitor finished the roll call, the two of them agreed to go to a beef ramen shop near the school for a good meal.

Bai Nanxing’s treat.

The two walked along the road by the gymnasium toward the ramen shop. Halfway there, their path was blocked.

Bai Nanxing was already in a bad mood because of what happened today. After seeing clearly who was blocking the way, his face darkened with a murderous impulse.

Not only did Bai Nanxing know this person, but Yan Mo knew him too.

And they knew him all too well.

“Bai Ruoning, what is the meaning of this?” Yan Mo instinctively stepped in front of Bai Nanxing.

The person who came was none other than Bai Nanxing’s half-brother.

Technically, Bai Nanxing and Bai Ruoning were the same age. Born on the same year, month, and day, Bai Nanxing was only a few hours older, making him the elder brother.

However, Bai Ruoning did not acknowledge this, nor did he ever treat him as a brother. Bai Nanxing could actually understand this.

After all, no one wanted their biological father to be a father to another woman’s child outside.

So all along, Bai Nanxing felt in his heart that he owed Bai Ruoning. No matter what Bai Ruoning said or how he scolded him, he just listened silently.

There was no need to take it seriously.

This was what he owed Bai Ruoning.

But constant forbearance did not make Bai Ruoning stop; instead, he became more aggressive. Over the past week, the frequency of Bai Ruoning looking for trouble had become higher and higher. The dormitory, the cafeteria, the library… as long as there were many people, Bai Ruoning would suddenly appear before him.

Knowing he wouldn’t talk back, Bai Ruoning deliberately used his birth to humiliate him. It was hard for the people around them not to know Bai Ruoning.

Bai Ruoning mocked, “Your name is Yan Mo, right? His business has already spread all over the forums. Why are you still walking with him? Don’t you find it unlucky?”

Yan Mo had endured Bai Ruoning for a long time. For Bai Nanxing’s sake, he hadn’t said anything, but as the saying goes, even a worm will turn. He really couldn’t stand someone acting like a jerk in front of him. “Even though you are Nanxing’s half-brother, since you are so unreasonable, I don’t need to be reasonable with you. Let’s put it this way: who I choose to stay with is my business. Who the hell do you think you are?”

Bai Ruoning’s face turned black with anger. He could manipulate Bai Nanxing, but Yan Mo was not Bai Nanxing and didn’t need to care about his attitude.

“Hmph, that’s right. Birds of a feather flock together. That saying really isn’t wrong at all.”

“Is that so?”

Yan Mo was not to be outdone. “If we’re going by what you said, then the friends you hang out with must be a pack of rats in the gutter, right? Oh, wait, gutter rats at least don’t have such ugly mouths. You guys must be maggots in a cesspool, right? Tsk tsk, I’m about to throw up my dinner from last night.”

“What did you say!”

Unable to win the argument, Bai Ruoning became fly-blown with rage and swung a punch. Yan Mo hadn’t expected Bai Ruoning’s heart to be so fragile or that he would be such a sore loser, so he was completely unguarded and could only quickly close his eyes.

After waiting for a moment, Yan Mo didn’t feel any pain in his face. He opened his eyes to see what was happening and found that Bai Nanxing had grabbed Bai Ruoning’s hand from the side, saving his face from disaster.

“Nanxing!”

Bai Nanxing threw Bai Ruoning’s hand aside and warned, “Don’t go too far. If you have a problem, you can come at me.”

This was the moment Bai Ruoning was waiting for. He sneered, “I thought you were going to hide behind him and be a shrinking turtle forever. If he got hurt, it would be your fault. I was looking for you in the first place; he’s the one who insisted on showing off for you, so you can’t blame me.”

Yan Mo was so angry he wanted to roll up his sleeves and give him a beating, but he was held back by Bai Nanxing. “What do you want with me? If it’s the same as before, don’t waste my time. Also, if you do this to my friend again, don’t blame me for being impolite.”

Bai Ruoning burst out laughing. “What, you want to lay a hand on me? Have you thought about the consequences of hitting me? I am the future heir of the Bai family. Can you, a child of a stray woman, compare to me? You didn’t learn your lesson after being whipped last time? I guess the child of a low-life just loves being low.”

“You’d better watch your mouth, or it might rot!” Yan Mo really couldn’t listen anymore. If Bai Nanxing hadn’t been pulling him back, he would have definitely let Bai Ruoning know the power of his fists today.

Bai Ruoning didn’t care. He loved seeing Bai Nanxing make this kind of expression; the uglier it was, the happier he became. If it hadn’t been for Bai Yi stopping him, he would have ground Bai Nanxing under his heel long ago.

Especially this face that looked neither purely male nor female—it looked exactly like that stray woman outside. It was revolting no matter how he looked at it.

At the thought of this, Bai Ruoning’s hatred for Bai Nanxing increased by another point. “I’m not looking for you for anything else, just one thing I have to tell you personally. Otherwise, I won’t be at peace.”

Yan Mo knew it wasn’t anything good the moment he heard it. He pulled Bai Nanxing’s arm to bypass him from the side. “Let’s go. Don’t talk to maggots. His mouth is full of the smell of filth; it’s truly unlucky.”

Just as the two were about to walk away, Bai Ruoning said behind them, “Dad asked me to bring a message to you. Are you sure you don’t want to hear it?”

Bai Nanxing stopped dead in his tracks.

Yan Mo could only stop with him. “Nanxing, do you really want to listen to his nonsense?”

Then he discovered that Bai Nanxing’s body was trembling slightly, and his complexion was no longer as natural as before.

He remembered that Bai Nanxing had been wearing long sleeves after showering in the dormitory lately, but it wasn’t cold this season yet—it wasn’t time to need long sleeves. Combined with what Bai Ruoning had just said, Yan Mo guessed about seventy or eighty percent of the situation.

He turned his head and said to Bai Ruoning, “If you have something to say, then say it and get it over with. Stop being so dawdling—are you a ladyboy?!”

Bai Ruoning knew he couldn’t win a shouting match with Yan Mo, so he stopped bickering with him and spoke to Bai Nanxing instead: “Dad told me to give you a message. The Mo family wants to see you this weekend. Don’t say you don’t have time. If you delay them, it won’t be as simple as being whipped.”

“Oh, right.” Bai Ruoning suddenly turned to look at Yan Mo. “You don’t know yet, do you? He’s about to be married off. Make sure to prepare a gift for him.”

Yan Mo froze for a moment, glanced at Bai Nanxing, then turned back to stare at Bai Ruoning. “What do you mean? What ‘married off’?”

Bai Ruoning smiled maliciously. “Aren’t you best friends? He didn’t even tell you about such a big thing as a wedding? Oh, I see, it’s because he’s too ashamed to speak, right? After all, he’s not taking a wife, he’s being married away, and it’s the kind where money is paid to take him. If it were me… thinking about it, if I were in his position, I’d rather be dead. What do you think?”