Play (21)

"Oh? So you admit that it is you who were behind the pictures?" Feng Qi asked with his brows raised. He was surprised that Pei Ling would be so forthcoming with her confession of guilt.

"As I've mentioned earlier, I do not wish to spend one more second here than it is necessary and arguing about who did what would only work against that. But you have not answered my question." Pei Ling was referring to how Feng Qi found out she was the mastermind.

"It is actually not that hard to piece the clues together. In fact I'm quite surprised that you would make such an amateur mistake.

"I looked through the series of pictures carefully and a detail jumped out. They were all taken at the theme park and had their frames and angles altered to fit a narrative. This means that the person behind the pictures has to know about our schedule. Or else how would they be prepared to have a photographer stationed there at the theme park?

"This means that the suspect pool can be narrowed down to our little group. Naturally I know Jun Yang and myself aren't the culprit so that eliminated two people from the possible suspects.

"Next, I excluded Qin Xing because he was most likely someone who was dragged into the mess, in other words, he was an outsider. Furthermore, there is the possibility that Cindy told him about the gathering at the last minute so the chance of him doing all the preparation in advance is slim.

"Then, that leaves only Cindy and yourself. Honestly, I've considered for a moment that Cindy might be behind this but once I remembered the girl is nothing more than your lackey, so whether she is the one who released the pictures or not, the road still leads right back to you. In other words, if she was the one who released the pictures, then it would have to be on your order.

"On top of that, there's the issue of motive. None of us stand to gain from releasing those pictures but yourself, so the truth cannot have been clearer." Feng Qi said with a shrug like it did not even take him that long to deduce the whole truth.

Pei Ling clapped her hands weakly like how one would because the other people around you were and you felt pressured into doing it. "Brilliant analysis," she said flatly, of course, she did not actually mean it. "But, after hearing all that, I still have one more question that is bugging me."

"What is it?" Feng Qi was in the mood to indulge in the girl's curiosity.

"Since you've already figured that out, why didn't you expose me to Jun Yang? Wouldn't that make your life easy if he hates me?" Pei Ling was genuinely curious about that, it was the only thing that she did not understand. She tried to place herself in Feng Qi's shoes but she could not for the life of her figure out why the young man had decided to spare her. If she had such sensitive information on her enemy, you could bet that she would definitely put it into 'good' use. To put it in a different manner, if their roles were switched, Pei Ling would not hesitate for even a second to tear Feng Qi down.

Feng Qi answered matter-of-factly, "Because I don't want to harm my boyfriend. If Jun Yang ever find out it is his friend who was behind all the sneaky actions, he would be devastated and I don't want that to happen."

Pei Ling was silent for quite some time after Feng Qi gave his explanation. It appeared as if the girl was in thought, possibly contemplating whether the young man was pulling her leg or not.

After some time, Pei Ling chuckled. It was a mirthless laugh. As the laughter died away, the girl uttered, "You know what, Feng Qi. I should introduce you to my family psychiatrist, he will have a field day with your delusions. To think that you would have the courage and shamelessness to refer to Jun Yang as your boyfriend so casually and openly, I cannot imagine any other reason other than the fact that you've lost your mind."

Feng Qi smiled and deflected the thinly-veiled insult smoothly, "Thank you for your kindness but you should keep that recommendation to yourself, because I'm afraid you too are suffering from the entrapping of mental illness because you keep interjecting yourself into Jun Yang's relationship, thinking you could rope him into some kind of twisted affair. So it is really undecided which one of us suffer from a grander illusion."

That cracked through Pei Ling's defense because Feng Qi noted a slight slip of her controlled expression. Her lips twitched as she hissed angrily, "You little…"

But she quickly regained control of herself, realizing how unladylike she was acting. Finding her composure, Pei Ling said tonelessly, "Ha ha, how very amusing of you to say that. But be that as it may, you have to realize that I ultimately hold the upper hand because I have something that you don't."

"Oh, and what might that be?" Feng Qi challenged with interest.

"The blessing from the society of course," Pei Ling answered plainly, "Homosexual relationship is depraved and sick, it will never receive the approval from the people around you. A normal relationship should be between a man and a woman, that is how God made us and how nature deems it to be. If you want what is best for Jun Yang like you said, you shouldn't drag Jun Yang down into this cesspool of depravity, and stay as far away from him as you can. Feel free to go and rot in hell on your own but do not drag an innocent young man with a bright future down with you."

"This tired tirade again?" Feng Qi rolled his eyes. "And I thought you would be above such plebian argument. The times have moved on, and society has changed. Even though it has not reached the utopia for free love, many steps have been taken. Furthermore, love is something between two people, why should we be concerned about what other people think? If you think a lecture like that can shame me, you really have another thing coming."

To Feng Qi's surprise, Pei Ling chuckled and there was real amusement behind this one, unlike before. For the first time, since he sat down, Feng Qi felt weirdly unsettled like the girl's chuckle was a portent of worse thing to come.

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