Standing Next To You
Chapter 138: Rumours about Fei Chuan

Chapter 138: Rumours about Fei Chuan

A/n: This Chapter is now fixed.

****

The moon was full tonight. The weather was getting colder, especially at night.

Bei Sangyun covered herself in a blanket as she walked towards the balcony. She opened the curtain and stared at the dazzling moon.

Whenever she was alone in the Lin mansion, she would be constantly haunted by unpleasant memories of the damn Lin family. But tonight, her mind was occupied by that man who stood relentlessly by her grave.

After suffering a painful death, she thought she would be free from the pain that haunted her mind and body. However, she was shackled to her grave. Her soul wasn’t given any rest, and she was constantly tormented by the sadness of being alone and having no place to return to.

The agony of enduring the same loneliness and sorrow for many years had dulled her senses. Her memories were slowly deteriorating, with the unpleasant ones fading first, followed by the memories she was trying to hold onto being forcefully taken away.

It was as if her soul was forced to endure long emptiness and sadness to strip away her emotions and memories. She felt her whole existence slowly disappearing into nothingness.

Perhaps only the anger towards the fate that made her this way and the resentful life she had lived kept her consciousness awake.

At first, that hateful man’s constant visits fueled her anger. The anger she had for him was the only thing keeping her sane. She got angry at his words, she hated to see him doing well while she was suffering in desolation. Only that emotion, which hadn’t been taken away by the passage of time and place, kept her existence alive.

Seasons changed. Years passed.

His frequent visits were like a spark of fire that made her slumbering soul awaken. She would open her ears to listen to his boasting. She would open her eyes just to see how he was ’doing well.’

His visits were the only thing that kept her existence alive.

Bei Sangyun closed her eyes. The most vivid memories she had weren’t of the past life she had lived but the long years of Fei Chuan’s visits to her grave. His voice, his words, his stories, and the image of his desolate figure.

Bei Sangyun went to her desk and took a pen and paper. She let the curtain open as she began writing.

****

A lot of students were hugging their jackets as they made their way to the school. Everyone was wearing thicker jackets than yesterday. The season had officially entered winter.

The cold morning usually made the students lethargic and sleepy. However, today, everyone was lively.

"Hey, did you read the current post on the school forum?"

"There’s a new post so early in the morning?"

"There is. Check it. It’s very wild!"

"Oh, is it about what happened at the school cafeteria yesterday?"

"There is also a post about that with the tyrant and the foreign student. But this one is different."

Curious about his classmates’ mysterious urging, the student opened the school forum and immediately found the post.

The number of reads in the post was continuously increasing every second.

"Woah! The target is from the Fei family? That Fei family?!"

"Yeah. There are two alumni from the great Fei family, right? One of them graduated as the top-ranked student, and the other is also an honorary one."

"I also heard about that from our seniors. Who could have thought the target is from this family? Was he truly from the Fei family? He doesn’t look like it."

This conversation happened at every corner of the school.

The Fei family had much more reputation than the Lin family in the past. But with the Lin family’s current head’s effort, their influence and reputation became much more affluent. They were able to catch up with the Fei family who had a long history than them.

Now they were on the same caliber as the great Fei family.

Still, in terms of prestige, the Fei family towered above all others. Their illustrious reputation was etched in the minds of everyone, casting a shadow over lesser-known families.

Moreover, each member of the Fei family carried the weight of being a prominent figure in their respective generations.

Their influence and achievements were akin to the revered Lin family, adding an extra layer of respect and expectation.

However, when the revelation about Fei Chuan’s lineage surfaced, it triggered a cascade of exaggerated reactions from the school forum, reactions that weren’t favorable.

The comments on the post only served to intensify the students’ curiosity and gossip.

[Is he truly from the esteemed Fei family? Why does he display such cowardice?]

[His class standing is low. He has no achievements in school. And he is timid and gloomy. The easiest target to bully. How come someone like him belong to the prestigious Fei lineage?]

[The Fei family has a tradition of contributing significantly to the school through various competitions. Fei Chuan, however, seems to only contribute as fodder for bullies. The disparity is glaring.]

[I held the Fei family in the highest regard. It’s disheartening to see someone like him sullying their name. He is tarnishing the very essence of what the Fei family stands for!]

[Does the Fei family even know that one of their own is dragging their name through the mud? Fei Chuan is worse than the so-called tyrant. At least she maintains the top rank, although she is a bit crazy sometimes. But Fei Chuan? Utterly useless.]

[He’s nothing but trash, the lowest of the low. The Fei surname is wasted on him.]

The discussions spread like wildfire, with every comment fueling the flames of contempt.

Fei Chuan became the unfortunate target of their collective frustration, evolving into a punching bag for students to vent their anger, casting a dark cloud over the once-glorious Fei family name.

....

As Fei Chuan strolled along the school’s pathway, he couldn’t help but notice that all eyes were on him. Such scrutiny was nothing new; he had grown accustomed to the peculiar gazes that seemed to follow him everywhere—he was the school’s well-known target, after all.

His long bangs and slender frame were distinctive features that made him easily recognizable- the target. However, today’s gazes seemed to carry an even stranger undertone than usual. There was a palpable sense of judgment in their eyes, as if he were an affliction, a walking disease.

It wasn’t the first time he had received such stares, but today’s scrutiny felt different, more intense. The whispers and hushed conversations that followed his every step added an extra layer of discomfort.

"Well, strange looks were nothing new," Fei Chuan mused to himself. He had grown resilient to the piercing gazes and speculative whispers that had become a constant backdrop to his daily life.

Even though his relationship with the so-called tyrant had changed so much compared to the past, his image in everyone’s mind won’t change overnight.