Unedited
The smack in the face came so suddenly like a passing rainstorm that Brother Chen was totally caught unprepared.
Ren Jing soon noticed that someone was behind him. He turned around and saw Gu Xi, but wasn’t surprised to see him there. He smiled as he greeted, “Good evening, Director Gu.”
“Good evening,” replied Gu Xi. Then he thought, what a good coincidence! Because he was about to witness his ‘son’s’ wedding night if he was just a step late.
They exchanged a few greetings afterward. Not long after, Ye Chen came to his senses. He promptly explained, “Uh… It’s not what you’re thinking of, me and Ren Jing are—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Gu Xi cut him off half-heartedly.
Ye Chen cried in his heart: But you don’t look like you understand anything!
Ren Jing knew Ye Chen was thin-skinned and easily embarrassed, so he didn’t want to make things difficult for him. He simply said, “I’ll go back first.”
Ye Chen nodded repeatedly.
Ren Jing’s eyes fell on the rose that had fallen to the ground.
Ye Chen was still under the impression that the roses were his precious life point, so he thought of picking the bouquet up.
However, Ren Jing grabbed his hand and said, “Don’t touch them, they might prick your hand.”
Ye Chen hesitated upon hearing that.
Ren Jing told him softly, “I’ll give you another bouquet of roses tomorrow if you like them.”
Ye Chen’s eyes pried widely in a sudden, then he responded, “No, no, no, no need!”
Ren Jing’s lips curved into a smile; his smile in the shades of night was intoxicating like a rich wine. He said, “That’s fine, I can give another flower to you.”
Ye Chen gaped in shock. He really wanted to say: you don’t need to give me anything, I don’t lack anything in my life!
Death System interjected, “You shouldn’t refuse him. What if the missions for tomorrow, two days later, three days later, and more days to come are to have Ren Jing to give you gifts?”
Its words had successfully made Ye Chen swallow back his refusal…
Ren Jing said, “I’m leaving.”
Ye Chen responded, “Mn.” He didn’t even dare to tell him ‘be careful on the way back’.
Just as he saw Ren Jing about to leave, Death System suddenly muttered, “Hm…?”
Ye Chen said, “Please don’t cause any more trouble, big brother.”
Death System explained, “You know, this is quite profitable. It’d be such a waste to not do it… Whatever, I’ll just tell you.” It paused before continuing, “Random mission: Get a goodnight kiss from Ren Jing. The reward is one life point.”
Ye Chen, “…”
Death System laughed hollowly. “You would have lost one life point if the mission had come a few minutes earlier.”
Ren Jing had kissed Ye Chen about three or five minutes earlier, yet this mission had just come up now.
Ye Chen retorted, “You really are not tricking me??”
Death System responded innocently, “Nah, I’m not that annoying.”
Ye Chen was so visibly confused that he almost cried!
Death System comforted him. “Well, you can just let it go. It’s just a life point, anyway. No need to force yourself if you don’t feel like it.”
But he could have a ‘day-off’ tomorrow if he got this life point!
What now? Gu Xi is still standing there menacingly!
Ye Chen hesitated to speak, but the observant Ren Jing noticed his behavior and thus asked him, “Do you need anything else?”
Ye Chen responded in a low voice, “No.”
Ren Jing said again, “Then I’ll be leaving.”
“Mm,” responded Ye Chen.
Ren Jing turned around and was just about to walk away, but when he felt his clothes being grabbed by a certain someone, his lips immediately formed a gentle smile.
Ye Chen quickly let go as if he had just gotten scalded.
Ren Jing had already turned around and looked at him.
Ye Chen took a deep breath after deciding to just risk it all and said, “Good night!”
He closed his eyes after that. His lips trembled as he thought: it’d be nice if Ren Jing understood, but if he didn’t then I’ll just tell him what I want.
Ren Jing was frozen stiff for a second before he almost thought of kissing him on the lips, but he held back in consideration that Gu Xi was still there. He still can’t bear to let Ye Chen down, however, hence he took a step forward and kissed Ye Chen’s forehead. “Good night.”
Ye Chen’s disappointment was apparent on his face as he thought: Kiss me on the lips! Why did you kiss my forehead?!
He was just about to shamelessly admit his intention, but fortunately Death System announced right at that time, “Congratulations, you’ve completed the random mission. You got the reward of one life point.”
Huh, it’s complete?? Ohhh, so a forehead kiss counts as a goodnight kiss!
Seeing Ye Chen’s eyes completely filled with joy, Ren Jing really wished he could push him into the bed.
But the mission was already complete… So Ye Chen hurriedly said, “You should go now, Yang Sen must have been waiting for a while.”
Ren Jing’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Ye Chen had no choice but to say, “Be careful on the way…”
With that, Ren Jing eventually left.
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.
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Gu Xi’s sight fell onto the roses.
Ye Chen tried to explain, “It won’t be good to leave them outside like that… It’ll be bad if, uh, someone sees them…”
“So you do know that it’s bad?” Gu Xi’s accumulated anger finally bursted out at this moment as he lectured him, “If you know it’s bad, then you shouldn’t have kissed and hugged someone outside! Have you forgotten about your identity and Ren Jing’s identity? What if you were caught by the paparazzi? Even if you properly came out of the closet, it’s still gonna cause a huge sensation! You don’t want to be in the headline news, don’t you?!”
Ye Chen showed a mortified expression on his whole face.
Gu Xi sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, then asked, “Speak, what’s actually going on? Since when did you get together with Ren Jing?”
He didn’t even bother asking Ye Chen if he liked Ren Jing.
I mean, if he doesn’t like him after all that, then he’s the wall-scratching husky like the one I raised! Just look at that gaze, that unwilling-to-part look, and then he asked for an obligatory goodnight kiss before leaving… If he still says that he doesn’t like him after being all flirty like that, then I’ll live stream myself eating shit!
Ye Chen decided to come clean with Gu Xi, he was no stranger, after all.
He summarized everything that has happened in his mind, then told Gu Xi, “I’ve never told anyone about this but you.”
Gu Xi rolled his eyes. “Then say it. I’m listening.” He wanted to know just how Ye Chen and Ren Jing got together.
Ye Chen sighed, then explained seriously, “I got into a car accident about a week ago. I thought I’m dead for sure, but I actually got resurrected and came back to life… And then there’s this thing called Death System that started…”
He recounted in detail what experienced over the past few days, feeling both nostalgic and emotional at the same time. He had experienced many ups and downs just in the span of a week.
From kissing, hugging, making chocolates, then lifting up high, and then touching abs, then up to today’s mission of receiving ninety-nine roses… He truly had shed bitter tears every single day because of them. It hasn’t been easy for him to stay alive!
After finishing the retelling, Ye Chen felt deeply impressed by his indomitable will to live.
“And that’s it.” He anticipated that Gu Xi would say, “It’s been hard for you, buddy.”
However, Gu Xi instead rolled his eyes so far away it almost flew to space. He said, “Wow, such a thrilling drama. Why don’t you just become a scriptwriter?”
Ye Chen was left completely dumbfounded by his response.
Gu Xi continued, “You sure are creative. I should use this trick to pick up a guy in the future.”
Ye Chen exclaimed in panic, “Hey, I’m telling you the truth!”
Gu Xi responded, “Sure, I believe you.”
Despite saying that, his tone clearly showed he didn’t believe him in the slightest. Ye Chen tried to explain again, “I truly had almost died, then a system—”
“Uh-huh, If You Don’t Fall in Love, You’ll Die System, right? How very interesting.”
Ye Chen, “…”
At this time, Death System consoled him, “Gu Xi’s response is expected, like any normal person would, honestly.”
Ye Chen finally came back to his senses… Yeah, if it was Gu Xi who told him all of that, he would definitely respond this way: “Brother Xi is amazing! You can stop spewing nonsense now, Brother Xi! See yourself out, Brother Xi, I won’t show you out, goodbye!”
Ye Chen stayed silent upon pondering that. Then Gu Xi scolded him, “I swear, you’ve always lacked the courage of your convictions since young. If you like him then say it with your whole chest, what’s there to hide? Are you scared of coming out? You seem open-minded, yet you’re actually so narrow-minded! You still refuse to admit that you like Ren Jing, do you think I’ll eat you if you do? I’ll give you all of my blessings as long as he likes you as well!”
Ye Chen felt so wronged he was close to crying.
Gu Xi knew him very well, so he said after collecting his thoughts, “What I’m saying is, don’t do anything stupid!”
Ye Chen couldn’t keep up with what he was trying to say.
Gu Xi stared at him as he asked, “Did Ren Jing approach you because he has an ulterior motive?”
Ye Chen showed a bewildered look.
Gu Xi suddenly came to a realization: This naïve young master is being deceived by the two-faced scumbag, who used his body and betrayed his heart, like in those cliché dramas.
Shoot! That might actually be the case here!
Ye Chen might be naïve, but he wasn’t dumb. If his relationship was going well with Ren Jing, he would have most likely admitted it to Gu Xi long ago. There were only two possibilities of why he was keeping his mouth sealed shut right now: One, Ye Chen liked Ren Jing, but Ren Jing was merely playing with him. Ye Chen realized this, but chose to put up with it because he loved Ren Jing, thus he wouldn’t speak of it to Gu Xi. Two, Ye Chen didn’t like Ren Jing, but Ren Jing has got something on Ye Chen, so he had no choice but to be on intimate terms with him.
The second option was likely not the case. Although Ren Jing was astute and had a mind of his own, with his position, he might not necessarily be interested in Ye Chen, the Ye Family’s young master who was devoid of any titles.
Therefore, the first option seemed to be the most plausible.
With that said, Gu Xi truly had what it took to be a director. Such an abundance of brain juices that he had created a whole abusive love affair series!
Ye Chen dreaded that Gu Xi would make things difficult for Ren Jing. Nevermind how unfair it would be for Ren Jing, the thought that he wouldn’t be able to do missions anymore if Gu Xi meddled in his relationship with Ren Jing was enough to make him worry to death.
What should I do now?
All that was left was for Ye Chen to ‘acknowledge’ it.
“Stop your wild guesses!” Ye Chen blushed, then explained as he stammered, “I… I kind, kind of like him. And that day… I drank too much, and you asked Ren Jing to send me home. When I looked at him while still intoxicated, I felt an itch and… and… with him…”
Gu Xi’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes opened so wide they became round. He asked, “You’ve slept with him??”
Ye Chen’s face turned completely red as he nodded. “Yes…”
Gu Xi suddenly panicked. “Did he force you?”
Ye Chen felt like he was about to explode when he replied, “I… I was the one who took the initiative.”
“You… You…” Gu Xi was frozen with shock.
Ye Chen swallowed his saliva and forcefully concluded, “In any case, that’s what happened! I… like him, but he doesn’t necessarily like me. Anyway… that’s all!”
Gu Xi believed him, he truly did, but he needed some time to process everything; he needed time to process it carefully.
Seeing his look, Ye Chen immediately knew he believed him.
Brother Chen was grieved. This bastard didn’t believe me when I told him the truth, yet he actually bought it when I told him nonsense!
After the two of them stayed silent for some while, Gu Xi broke the silence. “Didn’t you get really annoyed by him before?”
Ye Chen truly didn’t know how to explain it to him.
Who would’ve known Gu Xi would ‘patch up’ the story for him by adding, “Don’t tell me… you are into things like ‘I bully him because I like him’?”
Ye Chen, “…”
Gu Xi was so convinced by his own story because he knew Ye Chen wasn’t that bright; it was sometimes comparable to a high schooler’s intelligence. So for him, liking someone meant hating them or something like that. He was quirky like that.
Though still dissatisfied, Ye Chen really didn’t want more problems to arise, so he simply acknowledged it.
Gu Xi thought about it for a long time before he grabbed Ye Chen and said, “Then you should be more composed! Even if you like him, you shouldn’t be too obvious about it. Dating is a game; if Ren Jing gets you so easily because you just foolishly give yourself to him, he’ll end up not cherishing you. Do you understand?”
Brother Chen understood nothing.
Gu Xi continued, “I’m telling you, Ren Jing is nicknamed ‘slick person’; he’s toying with you like you’re a three-years old child. Promise me you won’t take the initiative and be overly intimate with him. You must take it slow!”
Hearing Gu Xi’s words, Ye Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Afterward, Gu Xi gave him an order he must obey. “You’ve only known him a bit better for less than a week! You must not sleep with him, absolutely don’t sleep with him, you’re forbidden from sleeping with him!” It was a thing of utmost importance, he wished he could repeat it thirty times.
The tip of Ye Chen’s ears grew hot. “Who… Who will… with him…” He was too embarrassed to say the whole thing.
Gu Xi felt compelled to reprimand him. Thinking back on what these two were about to do if he came just a bit later, Ren Jing would probably have ‘pay a visit’ to his home, went in, then ‘eat’ Ye Chen clean!
Seems like he had been ‘eaten’ clean, indeed…
Forget it, that was misconduct under the influence of alcohol, so it doesn’t count!
Ye Chen could only assure him, “I won’t, I certainly won’t.”
Gu Xi even broke down the pros and cons for him. “A relationship is meant to be taken slowly. You can’t say for sure yet that Ren Jing doesn’t like you, but his experience and personality differ a lot from yours. The things he likes might not be the same as yours either. So heed my advice, you must control yourself and never, ever do anything foolish. Got it?”
Ye Chen asked out of curiosity, “Just what kind of foolish thing can I do?”
Gu Xi felt a prick in his heart. He promptly opened his mouth to say something, but eventually decided not to. He simply repeated, “In any case, just don’t do anything foolish!”
After reflecting on it for a bit, Ye Chen noticed that he might have reopened Gu Xi’s old wounds, thus he consoled him again, “I won’t, I promise.”
Gu Xi still couldn’t set his mind at ease, but there really wasn’t anything else he could do. Things like liking someone wasn’t something anyone could control. If we could, no one would have fallen in love with scumbags.
After ‘Father Gu’ lectured Baby Chen for a long while, he felt a bit relieved seeing that his dear son was listening to him so attentively.
Ye Chen heaved a big, long sigh after seeing Gu Xi off. He felt extremely tired, like he had just finished running a marathon.
Afterward, he took a bath and felt more relaxed. Thanks to that, he slept very soundly at night.
He had one more life point now thanks to the random mission. He’d still have two left even if it was deducted by one at 9.55 AM tomorrow, which made him feel very pleased.
After waking up, Ye Chen asked the system, “Are the random missions generated sporadically?”
Death System responded, “Yup, like the name suggests, everything is random: the time, difficulty, and rewards are random.”
Ye Chen’s eyes lit up. “Even the rewards are random? Does that mean if I’m lucky, I’d be able to get the reward of 100.000 life points just from a kiss?”
Death System stared at him dead in the eye. “You’re thinking too much.”
Ye Chen pursed his lips and said, “One can at least dream, alright?”
Death System, “…”
Death System, who rarely felt apprehensive, found itself unable to say anything at this moment and Ye Chen’s mood improved thanks to its silence. The breakfast tasted especially delicious today; it has been a long while since the last time he ate with so much relish.
While he was still eating breakfast, Death System released the mission as usual. “Today is your lucky day.”
Ye Chen said exhilaratingly, “Tell me the mission!”
The system said, albeit with very little enthusiasm, “Send thirty WeChat to Ren Jing. The chats must not be repeated and each message must not be less than twenty-five words. The reward is one life point.”
Ye Chen was radiant with joy as he exclaimed, “That’s super easy!” I could just send thirty jokes and it’s all good!
Feeling disappointed because it couldn’t witness juicy drama today, Death System intended to go offline and sleep.
After finishing breakfast, Ye Chen sent a message to Ren Jing: [Morning.] I should strike up a conversation first, then I’ll crack a good joke later!
Ren Jing replied swiftly: [Have you had breakfast?]
Ye Chen hurriedly typed: [I have. I ate a bowl of salted bone congee, a plate of shrimp dumplings, and sticky rice buns. The rice buns are small, but still fulfilling. Oh right, I also drank a glass of milk…]
Ren Jing: [You ate a lot.]
Ye Chen continued typing: [Yeah, they’re very tasty! Old Wang is on duty today. He’s the best at cooking congee and making pastries. I’ll let you in on a secret: the steamed buns he made are one of a kind. He’s good at both northern and southern specialties, he could turn all of them into delicacies!]
Ren Jing couldn’t help but purse his lips into a smile. Then he replied: [That sounds great.]
Ye Chen asked: [What did you eat in the morning?]
Ren Jing told him, to which Ye Chen replied: [You mustn’t be negligent with your breakfast! You should eat a proper breakfast…]
Cellphone in his hand, Ye Chen continued blabbering about all kinds of things. He still counted the words at first, trying to make each message exceed 25 words. However, as they chatted, he had long forgotten about the word count. He typed the messages very swiftly and chatted with full vigor.
After his fingers were finally tired from all the typing, he eventually realized, “These… should at least be already thirty messages, right?”
Death System replied, “It’s close to three hundred, actually.”
Ye Chen, “…Then why didn’t you remind me?!”
Death System said, “I wouldn’t dare disturb you. You seem to be chatting so enthusiastically, after all.”
Feeling embarrassed, Ye Chen refuted, “Nonsense! What ‘enthusiastic’? I’m just doing this for the mission!”
Death System was long used to his awkward disposition, thus it played along and said, “Mm-hmm, everything you do is for the missions.”
After receiving the life points, Ye Chen really had no more reason to continue chatting. Nonetheless, he felt quite at a loss of what he should do next.
He still hasn’t chatted enough with Ren Jing…
I’ll just say something to end the chat!
Ye Chen sent a message to Ren Jing: [You should do your work. Meanwhile, I’ll play some games.]
Ren Jing replied: [I’m already working.]
Ye Chen was already familiar with his schedule, so he can’t help but ask: [You can’t be in a meeting, right?]
Ren Jing: [I am.]
Ye Chen froze for a moment before he promptly typed: [Attend the meeting seriously! Don’t look at your phone!]
Ren Jing sent a smiling emoji to him.
Ye Chen found his heart clenching at such a basic emoji.
What are you smiling about? Where did that workaholic go?!
Ye Chen threw his phone away and stopped chatting with Ren Jing.
Ren Jing finally put down his cellphone and got down to his work. Yang Sen, who was standing beside him, could simply think: nights of spring seemed all too short, the sun arose too soon, and from this point on our Emperor forsook daybreak court!
In this case however, spring is yet to come, but the Emperor has forsaken daybreak court!
It was a relaxing day for Ye Chen. He decided to visit his old house to see his grandpa.
He would regularly go back every five or six days and accompany his grandpa to a chat and a meal.
Grandpa has always doted on his grandson a lot, so he was always delighted whenever Ye Chen came back.
But of course, the old man was an ‘expert tsundere’. Although his eyes were clearly gleaming from seeing his grandson coming back, he still kept a reserved front. “You’re back?”
Ye Chen’s eyes were in a curve as he smiled. Then he replied happily with his smooth-talking skill, “I heard the peach that Grandpa grows is already ripe. If I don’t come back, I won’t even get the taste of the skin.”
Old Man Ye felt at ease, yet his expression remained stern. “Have you forgotten your age? You’re still such a glutton.”
Ye Chen replied, “Everyone is born gluttonous. We’ll have a starving stomach if we don’t eat and drink!”
The old man was amused by his words. “You’re being unserious again!”
Ye Chen went to pick peaches with his grandpa. The weather was a bit hot, but the two of them talked and laughed as they did so, being extremely jolly.
After picking a basket full of peaches, they washed and peeled the peaches by themselves. As they tried it, Ye Chen exclaimed, “It’s so sweet!”
The old man snorted. “But of course. Who do you think grows them?”
Ye Chen had no choice but to sing praises to the old man.
Having stayed at the old house for almost the entire day, the old man ‘chased’ him out when night came. “Go, go, go back now. There’s no quiet with you here.”
Ye Chen responded, “I’m not going home. I’m staying the night today.”
Old Man Ye immediately beamed with joy. He asked, “You’re staying the night?” However, he quickly realized that his tone wasn’t ‘right’, so he hurriedly switched back to his stern tone. “I don’t have anyone to clean your room, so you should go back to your home!”
Ye Chen still wouldn’t leave, however. At this moment, Old Man Ye stopped acting tough since he would regret it so much that he couldn’t fall asleep if his grandson truly left.
The pair of grandfather and grandson had dinner, then played chess together. Afterward, Ye Chen went to his room when it was time to go to bed.
The old man said he didn’t get anyone to clean the room, yet Ye Chen’s room was spotless. It was evident that he specifically asked someone to clean the room every day.
As he looked around the all-too-familiar room, he felt somewhat upset.
Death System said, “The old man hasn’t been well, has he?”
Being aware of it, Ye Chen could simply affirm. “Yes.”
Death System continued, “Mortal’s lifespan is flexible, actually.”
Ye Chen was stunned by its words for a moment before asking, “What do you mean?”
Death System explained, “Human’s life isn’t a fixed value. It’s possible to live until the ripe old age of 85, or, even better, 95.”
Ye Chen suddenly clenched his hand into a fist. “You—”
Death System interrupted, “By curing the old man’s illness, he’d be able to live for ten more years no problem.”
Ye Chen promptly sprung out of bed and asked, “And how could I do that?”
Death System responded, “By using the life points.”
Ye Chen’s voice was tinged with shivers as he asked, “My life points?”
Death System replied, “Yes, you can use your life points for your loved ones.”
Ye Chen’s heart went ‘ba-thump’, thumping wildly. He was so on edge that it felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat!
“Ten life points would be enough for the old man’s illness.” added Death System.
Thank you for the update dear translator 💖