A gentleman's fortune begins with his words

The plush rabbit lay quietly on the table. Under the restaurant's bright lights, the dark stain that would never wash out looked especially jarring.

Liang Yanni's face instantly went pale.

The man across from her frowned and stood up, anger plain on his face.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Wang Xiaoliang ignored him and simply stared at Liang Yanni.

He was waiting for an answer.

For a word of remorse, or even the slightest trace of sorrow.

As Zhou Tao's brother in all but blood, he felt this was the only thing he could do for Old Third now that he was gone.

But he got nothing.

Liang Yanni avoided his gaze and pushed the rabbit back toward him, gently but firmly.

"I broke up with him a long time ago." Her voice was cold, devoid of emotion. "I can't accept this gift."

Wang Xiaoliang's heart sank.

He had imagined all sorts of possibilities, but never such utter indifference.

"Don't you feel guilty at all?" He stepped forward, the fire in his chest blazing up again. "Wasn't Zhou Tao's death caused by you breaking up with him?"

Those words seemed to flip a switch.

Liang Yanni abruptly raised her head. A sharp light flashed in the eyes that had been avoiding his.

"Wang Xiaoliang, don't try to guilt-trip me!" Her voice rose sharply, filled with hurt and anger. "Thank goodness I broke up with Zhou Tao! I'm glad I did! Do you hear me?"

Everyone in the restaurant turned to look.

Feng Yuan's face had darkened like a gathering storm.

"A man who couldn't take even that much of a setback, a coward who wanted to die just because his girlfriend left him-if I'd actually married him, wouldn't I have been letting myself down?" Liang Yanni's chest heaved.

Her shouting left Wang Xiaoliang stunned.

He had come armed with questions and accusations, but now he found he couldn't get a single word out.

A coward?

The word struck him hard.

To his surprise, he felt that what Liang Yanni had said... made sense.

Yes, it was only a breakup. So many people in the world went through breakups. Why had Old Third been the one to take his own life?

He had always believed that Liang Yanni's heartlessness had broken Zhou Tao.

But now, suddenly, he wasn't sure.

The expulsion notice bearing the university's official seal, or Liang Yanni telling him it was over-which had been the last straw?

Or had it been both?

Or neither?

Or had it simply been Old Third's own weakness?

In that moment, Wang Xiaoliang's anger became a tangled mess.

He had no rebuttal.

"You... you should at least be sad!" All he could do was grasp at an argument, his voice betraying a weakness he didn't even notice.

Liang Yanni fell silent.

She simply looked coldly at Wang Xiaoliang, at this man who had armed himself with justice and friendship to pass judgment on her.

Then, without warning, large tears rolled from her anger-filled eyes.

She neither sobbed nor wiped them away, just let them trail down her cheeks and drip onto her clothes.

Those silent tears cut deeper than any hysterical crying could have.

Wang Xiaoliang was completely at a loss.

He stood there awkward and mortified, like an executioner who had struck the wrong person.

"Xiaoliang! Come back!" Li Jun finally rushed over, grabbed his arm, and tried to drag him back to their table.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. He's had too much to drink... He's been having a rough time lately. I'm sorry." As Li Jun pulled him away, he kept apologizing to Liang Yanni, her boyfriend, and the onlookers around them.

Wang Xiaoliang finally understood what it meant to lash out in humiliation.

Wasn't he seeking justice for Zhou Tao? Why did he end up looking like an unreasonable clown?

He violently shook off Li Jun's grip.

He didn't look at Liang Yanni again, nor at the ugly expression on their university counselor Feng Yuan's face.

Without so much as a goodbye, Wang Xiaoliang turned and walked out of Hongbin Tower without looking back.

The evening breeze was cool against his burning face, but it couldn't dispel the agitation and humiliation inside him.

He returned to the dorm room.

Wang Xiaoliang hurriedly pulled the old thread-bound book from beneath his pillow.

He needed an answer.

Or rather, he needed a little supernatural power to soothe the helplessness reality had inflicted on him.

He took a deep breath and opened the book.

The third page of the Book of Fate.

[Second Fate-Changing Art: rise at the proper time, eat at the proper time, work at the proper time, rest at the proper time. When the four follow their order, mind and spirit become one.]

Wang Xiaoliang read it word by word, but his brow only furrowed more deeply.

All it meant was that he should get up when it was time to get up, eat when it was time to eat, work when it was time to work, and sleep when it was time to sleep, without disrupting the rhythm of his life.

That was it?

That alone could be Fate Changing?

The absolute faith the first art had inspired in him began to waver violently again.

This sounded more like some tired old advice for healthy living than a divine art called Defying Heaven to Fate Changing.

Was this book a fraud after all?

Eager to shore up his faith, he turned another page.

[Third Fate-Changing Art: speak sparingly but sincerely, speak kindly and truthfully. Utter no malicious words, spread no falsehoods, engage in neither slander nor mockery. A gentleman's fortune begins with his words.]

Wang Xiaoliang shuddered when he saw those words.

This passage seemed far more profound than the last.

It meant that he should speak honestly, with kindness and truth. He should not hurt others with malicious words, spread false statements, or take part in slander and mockery. A person's good fortune began with how he spoke.

"A gentleman's fortune begins with his words..."

Wang Xiaoliang murmured to himself, his heart in turmoil.

This... this was incredible!

At Hongbin Tower today, hadn't Counselor Feng Yuan used threats and incentives precisely to keep him from telling the truth?

And hadn't he just said things that maligned Liang Yanni? Hadn't he used his self-righteous sense of justice to "slander and mock" a girl who was suffering too?

It was as though the book had eyes and had seen everything he had experienced that day.

That uncanny feeling instantly filled him with reverence for the old Book of Fate.

He wanted to keep turning the pages and see what other astonishing secret arts lay ahead.

But remembering the warning on the first page, he forced himself to stop.

He carefully tucked the book beneath his pillow.

The door burst open with a bang.

Before Li Jun even entered, his voice arrived, thick with drink and anger.

"Stop pretending! I know you're awake!"

Wang Xiaoliang kept his eyes closed and lay motionless.

Li Jun walked to his bedside and looked down at him. "Wang Xiaoliang, what the hell was wrong with you today? Do you know you nearly ruined everything? Teacher Feng's face turned green!"

Wang Xiaoliang still didn't respond.

When he remained silent, Li Jun dropped into his own chair, sighed heavily, then cursed bitterly. "Still, that bitch Liang Yanni really is fucking heartless! Old Third must've been blind to fall for her! If Feng Yuan hadn't been standing there, I'd have slapped the hell out of her."

At those words, Wang Xiaoliang abruptly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Brother, don't talk about her like that."

Li Jun stared at him in surprise, as though he no longer recognized him. "Don't talk about her like that? Xiaoliang, have you lost your mind? She got Old Third killed, and you're still defending her?"

"I'm not defending her." Wang Xiaoliang shook his head, recalling Liang Yanni's tear-streaked face and the third art in the Book of Fate. "I think she was right. Breakups are a normal part of dating. Old Third couldn't take the blow because he was too fragile."

"We... we've always looked at this as his brothers, so we naturally treated her as an enemy. We shouldn't have."

Li Jun's mouth formed an O as he stared at Wang Xiaoliang in disbelief.

"You... you've been acting really strange these past few days, Xiaoliang." Li Jun leaned closer and examined him. "Did it get to you too? Did something snap in your head?"

"I understand, really." Li Jun's voice softened. "Last night, I dreamed about Old Third and Fourth Brother. They were playing games in the dorm, just like before... When I woke up, my pillow was soaked."

He patted Wang Xiaoliang's shoulder. "Come on, stop thinking about it. Let's play a few rounds. We both need to unwind."

Wang Xiaoliang shook his head.

"Wash up and go to bed, brother."

He remembered the Second Fate-Changing Art: rest at the proper time.

When it was time to sleep, he should sleep.

Li Jun looked at him with a complicated expression, a mixture of confusion, concern, and a hint of disappointment. In the end, he said nothing more and pressed his computer's power button.

Gunfire and curses filled the dorm room, mingling with the rush of water from the washroom across the hall.

Wang Xiaoliang lay in bed with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling, but his mind had never been clearer.

He made a decision.

As Li Jun finished a round, cursing the useless noobs, Wang Xiaoliang suddenly spoke.

"Brother, I'm not going to testify in court."

Li Jun froze.

Wang Xiaoliang continued in a calm voice. "I heard from you that the university was going to expel Old Third. I'm not a firsthand witness."}]}

Looking at Li Jun's astonished face, he spoke with absolute clarity.

"You should go."