The top position of the comment section was occupied by a highly upvoted post.

"Wen Ruyu publicly admits to stealing photos for romance scams just to protect Yang Ruiqing. The IP of the clarification post perfectly matches the IP of May Wealth Bloom. This is not clearing his name. This is a self destructive confession of love."

The original poster was not making baseless guesses. He first posted the IP address of the person who had written the clarification post, then posted the livestream IP address of May Wealth Bloom. The two IP addresses were exactly the same.

"Poster: When I checked the IP of the person who made the clarification post, I discovered something interesting. The IP of that account is exactly the same as the IP of May Wealth Bloom. It's almost certain they are the same person. The clarification post was written by Wen Ruyu."

"Poster: With a face like Wen Ruyu's, if he really wanted to run romance scams, he would never need to steal someone else's photos. His face is far more useful than Yang Ruiqing's. If he simply sat in front of the camera, people would throw money at him willingly. Yet he deliberately used Yang Ruiqing's photos instead. That leaves only one possibility."

"Wen Ruyu likes Yang Ruiqing."

The analysis in the post sounded logical and convincing. Based on this assumption, the poster compared Wen Ruyu's chat records with Yang Ruiqing to the chats he had with other victims.

It was obvious that Wen Ruyu behaved far more cautiously when speaking with Yang Ruiqing.

He seemed afraid of making him angry.

But when speaking with the other victims he was much more perfunctory. His messages looked warm and proactive, yet most of them were clearly mass sent scripts. Every sentence was filled with misery and pity baiting.

The purpose was obvious.

Money.

The poster also attached several photos that Wen Ruyu had sent to the victims of Yang Ruiqing.

After analyzing the photos from multiple angles and digging through Yang Ruiqing's social media accounts, the poster concluded that the photos were unlikely to be selfies.

They looked far more like pictures secretly taken from a distance.

Which meant the person taking them had likely been hiding somewhere nearby.

And the most likely photographer was Wen Ruyu.

"Poster: In what situation would someone secretly photograph another person, and even publicly destroy their own reputation by admitting to romance scams?"

"There is only one explanation."

"Poster: Secret love."

"Poster: Wen Ruyu posted the clarification to protect Yang Ruiqing from being misunderstood, willingly taking all the blame upon himself."

"Poster: This is no longer ordinary liking."

"This is a kind of love that has already gone mad."

"Poster: And Yang Ruiqing probably does not like Wen Ruyu at all. After carefully studying their chat records, Yang Ruiqing clearly shows signs of impatience toward Wen Ruyu."

"Wen Ruyu is most likely just in unrequited love."

The comment section had already been in chaos before.

After reading this post, it completely exploded.

"I knew it! When I saw the livestream I was already thinking about it. With a face like his, why would he need to steal photos to scam people? If he just sat in front of the camera, the gift donations alone would crash the platform! I couldn't understand it at the time. Turns out he's doing it because he likes Yang Ruiqing!"

"Speaking so cautiously, even exposing himself just to protect Yang Ruiqing. That's not just liking someone. That's love carved into his bones."

"So those victims were basically Yang Ruiqing's substitutes? I noticed in the chat records that when someone ignored him he became even more enthusiastic, but when they responded he became colder. Did he actually treat them as substitutes?"

"What the hell is Yang Ruiqing anyway? Isn't he just a little handsome? What's so special about him that someone would be this devoted?"

"He doesn't deserve it. Absolutely doesn't deserve it. With Wen Ruyu's face, he could find anyone he wanted. Why hang himself on Yang Ruiqing's tree?"

"Yang Ruiqing should stop pretending nothing happened. If someone secretly photographed him for so long, did he really never notice? I think he actually enjoys being liked by Wen Ruyu. He's been stringing him along the whole time."

The screen was filled with comments attacking Yang Ruiqing, reducing him to nothing and claiming he did not deserve that love.

Wen Ruyu tightened his grip on the phone.

His knuckles began to ache from the force, his whole body tensing.

Everything he had done had never had anything to do with love.

The original host did not like Yang Ruiqing.

And Wen Ruyu certainly did not.

Yet the original host's actions, done purely for money, had now been completely twisted.

They had become "irrefutable proof" of Wen Ruyu's love for Yang Ruiqing.

The phone kept vibrating.

New comments were still pouring in, refreshing rapidly.

The insults directed at Yang Ruiqing were becoming more and more vicious.

So vicious it felt like something was about to spiral out of control.

The clarification post he had written seemed to have personally pushed Yang Ruiqing into an even more dangerous position.

Even more dangerous than before.

Because being liked by him had never been something safe.

Ever since he was young, anyone who was suspected of being someone he liked had never survived more than three days.

Even when he desperately tried to explain, it never changed the outcome.

It never changed the decisions of those lunatics.

Wen Ruyu clenched the phone tightly in his hand. Cold sweat slowly seeped across his back.

He opened the previous chat window with Yang Ruiqing again and sent another friend request.

He needed to contact Yang Ruiqing as soon as possible.

However...

It still sank without a trace.

Wen Ruyu pressed his lips together and looked out the window at the pitch black night. A trace of hesitation and unease flashed through his eyes.

In the end he gritted his teeth and stood up.

After putting on a hat and a mask, he left the teachers' apartment building.

On the other side.

Yang Ruiqing felt that the entire world had gone crazy.

Half an hour earlier, he had been quietly reading in the dormitory.

His roommate suddenly turned his head and looked at him with an extremely strange expression.

It looked like resentment.

It also looked like hostility.

Maybe he had imagined it.

The two of them had not spoken at all. One was reading, the other was playing on his phone.

There was no reason for hostility.

It made no sense.

He had not offended him recently.

The only thing they had said to each other was just now.

"What happened to you?"

Wei Jiayu also felt that his reaction was strange.

But after reading that analysis post, he simply could not suppress the emotions in his heart.

He could not suppress the faint hostility.

Or the jealousy.

Why him?

Why Yang Ruiqing?

Wei Jiayu suddenly froze when he realized what he had just thought.

How could he think that?

Yang Ruiqing was his friend.

Besides, Yang Ruiqing probably did not even know about any of this.

Wei Jiayu forced himself to look away and tried not to think about it.

But when his eyes fell on the analysis post again, and he saw someone saying that Wen Ruyu had treated all those victims as substitutes for Yang Ruiqing, a dark emotion rose inside his chest once more.

He looked at Yang Ruiqing again.

Yang Ruiqing was getting annoyed from being stared at. He closed his book, stood up, and went directly to the library.

What he did not expect was that the strange stares became even more frequent after he left the dormitory.

Every so often, someone passing by would look at him strangely and whisper to the person beside them.

"So that's him?"

"That's him."

"He doesn't even look that impressive."

"I really don't understand what he's doing."

"Maybe he thinks he's the campus heartthrob."

"I seriously don't understand what about him is worth liking."

"When people talk to him he acts so indifferent."

"He must be the one stringing him along."

"I never expected him to be this kind of person."

Yang Ruiqing: "...?"

What kind of person?

What kind of person was he supposed to be?

What terrible thing had he done?

Yang Ruiqing suppressed the irritation rising in his chest and ignored the stares as he walked quickly toward the library.

The library usually closed around eleven at night, so there were still quite a few students studying.

Yang Ruiqing stood at the entrance and looked around.

Because it was already somewhat late, many students had already returned to their dormitories.

There were plenty of empty seats.

He walked toward one at random.

But after only a few steps, his body stiffened slightly.

Again.

That strange feeling again.

He could clearly sense multiple gazes falling on him.

If he had not been sure before, now Yang Ruiqing was absolutely certain.

Those were hostile looks.

Fortunately, people were not allowed to make noise in the library, so no one spoke.

They simply stared at him silently.

Yang Ruiqing suppressed his impatience once more and walked to the empty seat.

He had a habit of placing his books down before sitting.

But just as he set the book on the desk—

Someone threw it away.

Everything happened too quickly and too suddenly.

Yang Ruiqing stared in shock as his book was tossed aside like garbage, landing on the floor.

The library suddenly became extremely quiet.

So quiet that even the sound of pages turning disappeared.

The air itself seemed frozen.

The student who had thrown the book was the male student sitting beside the seat.

When he saw the book land on the ground, he suddenly looked as if he had just realized what happened.

He immediately spoke with an apologetic expression.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I reacted a little too strongly."

His tone sounded sincere, his attitude extremely apologetic.

He looked at Yang Ruiqing.

"There was someone sitting here. When I saw you put your book down, I thought you were trying to take the seat, so I instinctively threw the book away."

"Really sorry."

"How about... I help you pick it up?"

Although he said he would help, his body remained firmly seated in the chair.

He did not move even slightly.

Behind that apologetic tone hid completely undisguised malice.

He had done it on purpose.

Yang Ruiqing looked at him expressionlessly.

He did not say a word.

He turned around and went to pick up the book himself.

The book had been thrown quite far, landing near another student's feet.

Yang Ruiqing bent down.

But before his hand even touched the book—

The book flew away again.

This time someone had kicked it.

The student who kicked the book was sitting in the next seat.

He seemed to suddenly realize what he had done and immediately spoke with exaggerated apology.

"Oh sorry, sorry. My foot went numb from sitting too long so I moved it a little."

"I think I accidentally kicked your book."

"Really sorry."

"Student Yang, you're such a kind and generous person. You wouldn't hold it against me, right?"

Although the student claimed it was an accident, his eyes carried obvious provocation.

And a hint of hostility.

And even a trace of...

Jealousy.

Yang Ruiqing was not someone without a temper.

After tolerating it again and again, his patience had finally run out.

He stood up and looked at the student.

His tone was calm, as if he did not consider the other person worth his attention.

"It's fine."

"I never argue with ugly people."

The student's expression instantly twisted in anger.

He jumped to his feet.

"Who are you calling ugly?"

"Was I too direct?" Yang Ruiqing raised an eyebrow calmly. "I didn't mean to be."

"After all, anyone who looks like you probably already suffers enough."

Those words completely ignited the student's fury.

He grabbed Yang Ruiqing's collar and growled through clenched teeth.

"You think you're so great just because you're handsome? What do you even—"

"Silence in the library."

Before he could finish speaking, the librarian interrupted sharply.

The librarian hated people causing trouble in the library.

"Take your argument outside."

The student's words stopped abruptly.

He glared fiercely at Yang Ruiqing but finally released his collar and sat back down.

Yang Ruiqing expressionlessly straightened his wrinkled shirt.

He said nothing more and walked back to retrieve his book.

The book had already been kicked all the way to the corner of the room, far from the desk.

This time he picked it up without trouble.

After all of that, he had no desire to study anymore.

Yang Ruiqing picked up his books and walked out of the study room toward the library entrance.

Just as he stepped outside—

A sudden urgent shout rang out above his head.

Something heavy cut through the air with a violent whistling sound.

Something was falling from above.

"Watch out!!!"

"Move!!!"

Chapter 27

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