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Mango had been acting odd lately- sneaking out of the temple during lessons, acting more happy but guilty, and was hard to track down nowadays as opposed to the room body he had used to be.
The cover up and offering to do laundry daily for everyone had been the biggest tell really, and the faint smell of exotic herbs.
However, most had chosen to not comment on it, as while he had been skipping classes, his tests and quiz scores had skyrocketed. He hadn’t been cheating… so everyone agreed to leave it be for the moment. Maybe the fresh air was helping him?
Unfortunately for Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang was making it his problem. “Uggh, why are we doing this again?” He asked, turning to his… acquaintance? Friend? To Nie Huaisang.
“Well~ don’t you wanna see what Mango is up to? After all, it’s rare for a homebody like him to leave his room or the library, come one, you gotta be curious right? Right?” Nie Huaisang said, grinning as he dragged Jiang Cheng away from the lecture halls and towards the nearby village.
“Why the crap would I be! Besides, you're just using this as an excuse to ditch! Don’t pretend you care about him!”
“What?! I would never~ Ohhh, here’s a good hiding spot!” Jiang Cheng’s protests were ignored as Nie Huaisang dragged him out to hide behind a corpse of trees.
Mango could be seen on the arm of a very handsome man, whose smile was as bright as the skies in the heavens at night. “Mango, you are an absolute riot!”
“Damn right I am!” He said, grinning and leading the other towards the shop stalls. “I heard they’re selling those dice you like so much today!”
“Oh! Let’s get going then!” The man said, happily chatting and laughing with Mango as they went on their way.
Nie Huaisang’s gasp as the two passed by was thankfully quiet enough for them to not get caught. The grin on his face was something Jiang Cheng knew was going to haunt his nightmares when he knew Wei Wuxian or Nie Huaisang had a potential date set up for him. “Okay, so he’s spending time with some mystery guy. What’s the big- GYA!”
Jiang Cheng didn’t expect for them to share a kiss, and in public of all places! In privacy, it made sense, but to be so bold as to kiss in public-
“Oh my gods he’s married.” Nie Huaisang breathed out, stars in the man’s eyes as he started to vibrate in excitement. “Or engaged! Probably engaged! Wait, can he even be at the temple then? Like is that allowed?” He asked, turning to Jiang Cheng.
“How the crap am I supposed to know?! This isn’t something they teach us in our lessons! If it’s not allowed I don’t think asking about it is gonna be a good look either.” He pointed out, already trying to shut down the wild goose chase Nie Huaisang was going to send them both down.
“Come on! Aren’t you dying to know how this happened? That strange man did look rather handsome, and from those robes he’s got to be from a rather rich and noble family. He looked a bit old though, with the beard and all.” Nie Huaisang mused.
“He didn’t even look old- what am I even saying, Ugh! If you’re really that set on it, why don’t you grab Wei Wuxian and investigate.” He said, trying to glare at his friend.
“That’s a great idea! He should investigate with us!” Nie Huaisang said, grinning. “Wuxian knows all the gossip! He’s bound to know something about the guy with the beard that Mango smooched! I know the best way for us all to sneak out too, Mango’s always leaving after dinner! It’ll be perfect, and you can’t claim I’m trying to get out of my classes.”
‘Crap he really did think this through, and so quick?!?’