Looking around at everyone present, Future continued, “The control centre has instructed me to begin gradually guiding Ji Ning to wake up. When this time comes, I will retrieve the data this space is created from and remove Ji Ning from the simulation world.”
“What if our bet hasn’t ended by then?”
Gu Chen, who had hardly spoken up before, suddenly said, “If Ji Ning doesn’t choose any one of us, how will you judge the outcome?”
Future was silent for a few seconds, before replying, “I will forcibly shut this program and help Ji Ning wake up. If my shards of consciousness are not recovered, my data will be seriously damaged and may not function properly, while you will all disappear.”
“Disappear?”
Huo Wuling folded his arms and laughed lightly, a sarcastic expression on his face.
“According to what you’ve told us, we would become the same person if we fused. Is that not the same as disappearing? Even if Ningning doesn’t like me in the end, I would rather die then become another person.”
“Fusing together does not necessarily mean you will disappear.” Future shook his head, “There is no precedent for this situation so I cannot be certain of the final outcome.”
There was another silence. Fu Qinghan pondered for a moment, then unexpectedly asked, “If I agree to the fusion, what should I do?”
“Qinghan.” Yun Yuan frowned slightly, disapproval shining in his eyes.
“I just thought.” Fu Qinghan smiled slightly, “If Ji Ning knew that ‘Jiang Che’ was still alive, he would be happy. I don’t want him to be sad anymore.”
He turned to Future, “When Ji Ning wakes up, can you tell him that Jiang Che is still alive?”
“Yes.” Future said slowly, “But that is under the assumption that I still exist.”
“If Ji Ning chooses one of you, I will relinquish control of the ‘Future system’ to them, but you must continue operating as ‘Future’ from then on.”
“On the other hand, choosing to fuse back together requires acknowledgement of the identity of ‘Jiang Che’ or ‘us’ in your heart. If I receive this acknowledgement, I can integrate your shard of consciousness back into my main system. At the end of the operation, I will perform a final fusion.”
Lai hooked his lips into a smile,
“You speak too abstractly, it would be better to change the method.”
He glanced down at the terminal that was on the verge of breaking, before throwing it into the data wall for the final time.
“If you agree to fuse together…”
“Let’s show it by giving teacher a kiss.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ji Ning shook his head, waking himself up from his drowsy sleep.
Lf geyyfv tlr mtffxr atja tjv yffc wjgxfv ys atf xfsybjgv jcv ibbxfv ja tlr qjqfg bc tlr ijqabq. Lf wera tjnf ojiifc jriffq ktlif tf kjr gfnlrlcu tlr qjqfg, jcv atf xfsr tf’v yffc gfralcu bc tjv ufcfgjafv j iba bo ujgyifv mtjgjmafgr lc atf wlvvif bo tlr atfrlr.
Terrified for a moment, Ji Ning quickly deleted the random letters. He was relieved to find that the rest of the thesis hadn’t been affected.
Someone had told him a story about a student who fell asleep when writing his paper. His head had rolled onto the mouse pad, and when he woke up, his whole paper had been deleted. Although it was a funny story, he wouldn’t be laughing at all if it happened to him.
Was this because he woke up too early?
Ji Ning drank some water, still feeling sleepy. After he’d woken up from his nightmare, he went downstairs for a walk with Qin Ruwang before breakfast. Because he had no morning classes, he came to the library to revise his thesis, but it must have been too relaxing and quiet in the library because he fell asleep.
He sighed and flipped casually through the open book in front of him. The next moment, the chair opposite him was pulled back and a familiar voice asked, “Is there anyone here?”
“There’s no one there Senior, you can sit down.”
Ji Ning raised his head and saw Fu Qingan. He immediately smiled and greeted him, “Don’t you have class this morning?”
“The professor had something to do and cancelled the class,” Fu Qinghan smiled. He asked softly, “Are you revising your thesis?”
“Yes…” Ji Ning sighed helplessly. He and Fu Qinghan had a pretty good relationship, so he didn’t mind acting spoiled with his Senior, “There are so many things I have to change. Maybe I’m too stupid, do you think Professor Yun will hate me?”
“No, the professor isn’t that kind of person.” Fu Qinghan laughed. “If you want, I could help you?”
“No, no.” Ji Ning shook his head repeatedly, “I’d be embarrassed if I bothered Senior.”
“It doesn’t matter. Since you call me Senior, I should help you.” Fu Qinghan looked around, “The library isn’t a good place to talk, let’s move somewhere else.”
He stood up and naturally helped Ji Ning to gather his things. Ji Ning was taken aback for a moment, but seeing his firm attitude and immediate action, he quickly stood up to help. It was embarrassing enough to ask his Senior to help with his thesis, how could he make him pack up his things?
The two left the library together and moved to an empty classroom. They sat side by side as Fu Qinghan instructed Ji Ning according to the notes Professor Yun made. He spoke carefully and patiently, and with his guidance Ji Ning was able to rapidly correct his thesis. In just a short period of time, he revised more than he had yesterday and the writing was better quality.
“Thank you so much Senior, I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time.”
Ji Ning closed his notebook and told Fu Qinghan he could edit the rest by himself. He self consciously said, “I’ll treat you to lunch, otherwise I’ll feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“I have something to do this lunch, let’s do it another day.”
Fu Qinghan smiled and stroked Ji Ning’s hair, “You don’t have to act so polite around me, it’s my job to take care of you.”
How could that be right…
Ji Ning felt more and more embarrassed. He lowered his head, his face feeling a little hot. Fu Qinghan looked at him tenderly and said in a very soft voice, “It’s always been like this.”
In fact, as soon as he’d received the memories of ‘Jiang Che’, he’d had no problems with recognising that identity as part of himself. He’d already spent a lifetime in isolation, then reincarnated into another life, which might explain why he felt no sense of conflict with this new identity.
No matter whether he was ‘Fu Qinghan’ or ‘Jiang Che’, Ji Ning had always been his beloved.
He likes Ji Ning, and so does Jiang Che. From his memories, he knew that Jiang Che would always hold Ji Ning in his heart, protect him, and take care of him. Jiang Che had always taken care of Ji Ning in the same way he had.
The thing that connected the two of them was that they both hoped that Ji Ning would be happy.
“Do you have any wishes?” Fu Qinghan asked suddenly.
“Wishes?” Ji Ning was taken aback for a moment, not knowing why Fu Qinghan had asked such a question. It was so unexpected that for a while, he couldn’t think of an answer.
“Maybe you once hoped that Jiang Che would come back to life.” Fu Qinghan smiled slightly, “I think it can be achieved, this wish.”
He stood up and walked over to Ji Ning, leaning over to drop a light kiss to his forehead.
“You won’t remember, but you once asked me what my greatest wish was.”
“My answer has never changed, that is, I hope that one day you can achieve the wish in your heart.”
“I wish you all the best.”
“…”
Ji Ning was so surprised by the kiss, that for a while he couldn’t give any response to the words Fu Qinghan had said. He couldn’t understand why he was saying these things.
“Senior…”
While he was caught in a daze, Fu Qinghan had already left the classroom. Ji Ning finally reacted and touched the place where he’d been kissed. His heart beat faster in his chest and he felt a little shy, but also confused and uneasy. Was this a subtle confession? But why did it sound more like a final goodbye?
He couldn’t sit still and hurriedly put his things into his backpack, chasing after him, but Fu Qinghan had already vanished by the time he left the classroom.
Ji Ning pulled out his phone and wanted to call Fu Qinghan, but thinking of the sudden kiss, he hesitated, and finally just sent him a few messages, asking what Fu Qinghan meant.
He didn’t receive an immediate reply.
And in the end, the way Senior had looked at him…
Ji Ning clutched his phone and stood still, feeling a little emptiness in his heart.
For some unknown reason, in that moment he’d thought of Jiang Che. They were two completely different people, but for a split second, they overlapped in his eyes.
Future stood in the darkness that lay outside of the virtual world when he suddenly sensed something. The next moment, Fu Qinghan’s figure appeared in front of him.
“You chose to withdraw?”
Future’s cold face changed, like he’d just watched a car accident.
Fu Qinghan nodded and said indifferently, “It doesn’t matter what my identity is. As long as Ji Ning is safe, I will have no regrets.”
Fu Qinghan’s memories and emotions were passed over to Future in reverse. Future browsed through them and couldn’t help but feel slightly moved, before he passed them on to the other fragments of consciousness.
Every one of them received Fu Qinghan’s memories, and at the same moment, they were each reminded of some of Jiang Che’s memories.
Every year on his birthday, Jiang Che would make the same wish.
He hoped his family would be healthy, and he hoped that Ji Ning would always be safe and happy.
Fu Qinghan represented the part of Jiang Che that wished for Ji Ning to be happy.
As Ji Ning ate lunch, he suddenly received a message from Fu Qinghan.
Fu Qinghan didn’t explain his actions, he just sent a small smiley face. For some reason, when he saw this smile, Ji Ning inexplicably felt a little sad.
“What’s wrong?”
Ying Qianqiu, who was eating with him, asked casually, but his eyes had turned a darker colour.
“It’s nothing…”
Ji Ning shook his head, put down his phone, and continued eating his lunch.
After lunch, he still didn’t have time to rest, because the theatre group’s rehearsal was happening. He rushed over to the gym and saw Ark, who was waiting for him. According to the agreement he’d come to with Fu Ji, it was going to be a solo rehearsal between the two of them again.
I don’t know why I’m so upset by this, but Fu Qinghan was the last to show up and the first to leave and all he wanted was for Ji Ning to be happy so he doesn’t care even if he dies and now I’m crying again, this isn’t fair *cryyyy*
And worse then that – @Mianmian??? You created the cutest piece of art I’ve ever seen and no one told me?!?! I want to squish him to death – I may have to fight Ark for this adorable baby, Xiao Ning, please let me be your gege, I can have masculine charm too!! Thank you for your beautiful art, I’m so grateful – I will put him everywhere!! I know that you’re Ying Qianqiu’s fan so to celebrate my one year anniversary I wrote a little extra for the Xianxia protagonist! (Please remember I am a translator, not a writer, so my talents are limited in this field~)
No no no no noooooo I ain’t accepting that! My fu Qing han!! Dear tears really dropped from my eyes. No wayyyyyy why is it so emotional 😭🔪my kokoro hurts!!😭😭
Happy one year anniversary 🎉🎊🥺❤️✨ thnx for ur hardwork for a whole year!! Love ya<333
When he asked Ji Ning what his biggest wish was I wailed! 😭
Exactly!!😭😭
Thank you!! I’ve had so much fun <3
Fu Qinghan is actually one of my favourites, I’m so sad there’s so little of him in the novel (T⌓T)
fu qinghan giving second male lead vibes hurts me :)))😞
Our boy just wants him to be happy😭!
How did he make himself a second male lead in a harem novel?!? What a tragic figure~
Ahhhhh thank you so much!!!! I saw the word extra and was like, “Is this the end? Already!?” But thankfully not! I’m thanking you with all my heart! 😭💖💖💖💖 Happy 1 year anniversary!!
(I’m gonna have to redraw that Ji Ning drawing in the meanwhile..)
Sorry to scare ψ(｀∇´)ψ but Ji Ning’s troubles aren’t over yet!
(you’re so good!! I have baby Ningning printed out on my wall as my arowana fish <3)
This ia why Qinghan is my favorite. Because he represents the part of Jiang Che that has unconditional love and only wants for Nings happiness.
It’s such a pure way of loving!! Fu Qinghan’s underrated, but he’s just as powerful as the other protagonists!
Okay I guess we all know how this is gonna end but let me be Clear!!! I am still rooting for Huo Wuling and also I am so 😭😭😭😭 at him realizing he isn’t the most important person to Ningning and lashing out
I love that Huo Wuling’s reaction is so desperate – he loves Ningning just as much as the others but he only wants to love him as himself, which as the reader is so sad…
I just spent the past three days bingeing this and I 😭😭😭 totally not prepared for the headache.
Thank you for the translation!!
**heartache
welcome to IFTRA – I hope you keep enjoying it!! More heartache to come, promise~
Pain pain pain pain 🥹
Oh my god. BEST BOI FU QINGHAN FORDA WIN. I want my own Fu Qinghan too. Precious little cinnamon roll too good for this world. ❤️❤️❤️
…this is a danmei. of course there’s a knife stab.
so does this mean each other the protagonist represent a part of Jiang Che?
My kind Fu! Sob