Shen Liang’s brain was so chaotic that he usually ignored the beeping of System. Dazed and drunk from the effects of alcohol, he grabbed Shao Qinhan’s hand and sank deeper into the bed.
Panting, sighing.
Hugging, kissing.
He felt as if he was having a long dream, a dream that was full of strange scenes, and then finally peace came. He fell asleep hugging the warm person next to him.
The clock on the wall ticked, symbolizing the passing of time.
Knock knock knock
Shen Liang was awakened early in the morning by a hurried knock on the door, as if someone was calling him outside, urging him to come out. He was still too sleepy to open his eyes, and frowned as he rolled over in a daze, “Who… ?”
Nanny Zhang was older and had a gentle temperament, she had never knocked on the door so urgently.
Shen Liang was so sleepy that he didn’t want to move, but the knocking on the door outside became even louder.
“Shen Liang! If you don’t open the door, I’ll call the police!”
Call the police…
Why call the police?
When Shen Liang heard these words, his mind finally cleared a bit. He struggled to open his eyes and get out of bed, irritably lifting the comforter, and stepping away from the bed, about to see which bastard dared to disturb his sleep. But before he could take two steps, he hit a coffee table at his feet and fell to the floor.
“Hiss…”
Fuck.
Shen Liang covered his knee and couldn’t help but gasp loudly, thinking about what the hell had tripped him. However, when he realized that the object he had tripped over was a small white table, it was as if he had been struck by lightning and was stunned on the spot. The blood on his face faded instantly.
This was not his room…
To be precise, it wasn’t the one he lived in with Shao Qinhan, but the one in the real world.
But how…
How could this be possible?
Shen Liang subconsciously tried to get up from the floor, but he felt that all his strength had been exhausted, and he fell again.
The knocking on the door became more and more urgent, “Shen Liang! Are you there?”
How could that be possible?
How could he have returned to the real world?
Shen Liang got up from the floor with a pale face. He touched the cold, hard-edged coffee table and then the soft bed in disbelief. Finally, he stood in front of the mirror and slapped his face hard.
With a crisp sound, the whole world fell silent.
Shen Liang’s head turned, and a bright red mark appeared on his pale cheek, his ears ringing as he held that position for a while.
The person outside the door made a final announcement, “If you don’t open the door, I’ll kick it in”
Before he could finish the sentence, he heard a soft click and the door opened. Shen Liang was standing behind the door with a pale face, his dark blue and black circles under his eyes, and he seemed to have lost his soul.
A man stood in front of the door, he slightly raised his eyebrows at the sight of him, half withdrawing his hand that was ready to knock again. He was tall and elegant, but his words had a venomous tone that didn’t match his appearance, “Strange, I thought you had died suddenly.”
After speaking, he lightly shook his right hand, which was red from hitting the door too hard.
Shen Liang’s mind was blank now and he was unable to respond, seeing it was Chu Xinian, he slowly asked, “What are you doing here?”
Chu Xinian and Shen Liang were authors of the same literary website, they were also considered friends in real life and had a close relationship, but they usually spent most of their time communicating online.
Hearing him, Chu Xinian walked straight in and sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, then gestured to the manuscript in his hand and said somewhat reluctantly, “Literary exchange.”
Shen Liang paused, staring at him silently, “…Are you crazy?”
Chu Xinian wrote novels rigorously, in a very academic way. Shen Liang read a few chapters once, but he always had the feeling of wanting to fall asleep like in a history class, so he gave up in the end.
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.
Shen Liang thought Chu Xinian’s novels were really bad, stinkier than sweaty feet.
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“P vbc’a kjca ab flatfg, yea atf qeyilrtfg rjlv atja ws ybbx ijmxr rbwf tba fifwfcar, rb… ifa wf jrx sbe obg jvnlmf.”
For his own sake, Chu Xinian resisted the temptation to roll his eyes and placed a thick manuscript on the table. The meaning was obvious, he was asking Shen Liang to help him ‘review’ the manuscript.
Shen Liang was not very energetic now, and replied half-heartedly, “Oh, leave it there. I’ll help you review it later.”
Chu Xinian lifted the glass of water on the table, saw that there was dust floating in it, and put it back. After thinking about it, he still urged earnestly, “I have been writing this novel for five years, read it thoroughly.”
Unlike a heartless author like Shen Liang, Chu Xinian took every character in his book very seriously, so much so that he might spend five years revising over and over again before he managed to write a manuscript.
Shen Liang didn’t even bother to sit on the sofa, he sat straight down on the carpet, picked up Chu Xinian’s manuscript and looked at it, and saw four powerful words written on the cover…
“A Thousand Years of Feud.”
Shen Liang twitched the corner of his mouth, “Oh, very much up your style.”
He used to be very smiling, but for some reason, even his smile had become forced now.
Chu Xinian looked at him, leaned his head back, and asked, “How do you feel after sleeping for two days and two nights?”
Shen Liang froze, unconsciously reached for his phone, opened the screen to see the time, and checked that he had slept for two days and two nights. He couldn’t help but be surprised, “How do you know?”
Chu Xinian said lightly, “Oh, nothing, I haven’t seen you fight with readers for two days.”
Shen Liang’s novels were criticized, and he wasn’t much better, but he was always willing to fight and scold readers, and he took this as an amusement. Every day there must be criticism, rain or shine.
Whenever Chu Xinian got bored, he would click on Shen Liang’s comment area to watch, just as a seasoning in his busy life.
Shen Liang knew that Chu Xinian’s dog mouth couldn’t spit ivory, so he teased, “I don’t want to smash you, okay?”
“Okay.” Chu Xinian changed his position and pointed to the garbage can, “But the garbage already stinks, it hasn’t been thrown out for at least two days.”
The smell in the room was quite strong.
Shen Liang rubbed his face silently, “Did you come just to remind me to take out the garbage?”
Chu Xinian smiled, “Not really, I came to make sure you were still alive, after all, it seems a bit miserable for a person to die at home without anyone knowing suddenly.”
This was an era in which loneliness was engraved in the bones. A person who had no blood relatives and who did not like to socialize may die quietly at home, and no one may know until the body stinks.
This was probably one of the meanings of the word “social,” not to relieve loneliness, but to let someone know about your death.
Shen Liang paused when he heard these words, he didn’t know who he was thinking of, his chest heaved for a moment and he didn’t speak for a while. Messy hair covered his eyes and also covered his distant memory of another world.
Chu Xinian had noticed his abnormal mood since he entered, but he couldn’t think of a reason for it. Thinking about what had happened in the past few days, he could only attribute it to “The Wrong Way of Love”.
It seemed that many readers were clamoring and protesting in the comment area, asking Shen Liang to rewrite the ending of one of the villains in the novel.
But according to Chu Xinian’s understanding of Shen Liang, he was unlikely to change the ending, “Are you still thinking about that villain?”
Shen Liang finally reacted to his words, he slowly raised his head to look at Chu Xinian, “…Who?”
This word was dry and harsh, with a faint tremor.
Chu Xinian couldn’t read Shen Liang’s bloody literature, at best, he just thought it was more interesting to watch Shen Liang fight with the readers. But fortunately, he had a good memory. After thinking for a moment he remembered the name that the readers always mentioned, he frowned and said uncertainly, “Shao… Qinhan?”
Shao Qinhan…
After whispering these words slowly, he had a drifting feeling. Shen Liang couldn’t even tell if this person existed or was just a product of his imagination.
Shen Liang blinked hard, took a breath, and wanted to reply something to Chu Xinian, but he felt that his throat was clogged by something, he couldn’t utter a word.
What should he say?
Shen Liang couldn’t help but clench his fingertips, should he say that he had a ridiculous and strange dream, or should he say that he had been in that world?
But when he left, he didn’t even have time to leave a single word for Shao Qinhan, and System had also completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.
There was no evidence of its existence…
Shen Liang did not want to cry in front of Chu Xinian, a man with a poisonous tongue, it was too humiliating. He buried his face in his palm and said in a hoarse and vague voice, “Well, maybe…”
Chu Xinian got up from the sofa and frowned, his eyes roamed over the slap marks on Shen Liang’s face, and said somewhat worriedly, “Shen Liang, you are very strange today.”
Shen Liang did not refute, he buried his face in his arms slowly and said softly, “Maybe…”
But he still wanted to say something, as if to find a trace of acceptance.
“I seem to have transmigrated into my novel…”
His topic jumped too quickly, but Chu Xinian barely kept up smiling, “Transmigrated? Is that new material for your next novel?”
Shen Liang raised his head slowly after hearing him, thus Chu Xinian noticed that his eyes were reddened and there seemed to be some unfamiliar things hidden in them, which made people feel suffocated.
“I said that I transmigrated in the novel I wrote. Do you believe me?”
Chu Xinian, “I don’t think so.”
By the way, he also despised Shen Liang’s brain. He made circles on his forehead with his fingertips, and said slowly, “Too much sleep will make the brain slow down, making your dreams more realistic. Don’t talk nonsense in the future, I will suspect that you are not sane.”
Shen Liang was so angry at his words that he almost fell to the ground, and almost lifted the table with his hand, “Chu Xinian, you son of a bitch!”
The bastard dog raised his hand to smooth his clothes and prepared to leave, before leaving he also left a message, “There is a face-to-face meeting in two days, let’s meet then. Also don’t forget to review my novel thoroughly.”
After he finished speaking, he left the house and closed the door.
With a soft click, the room came to complete silence.
Shen Liang sat alone on the floor, not wanting to think about Chu Xinian. He slowly raised his head to look at the ceiling until his neck ached, as if he was waiting for something, but he didn’t see what he wanted.
“System…?”
Shen Liang spoke softly, the ending sound gradually fading into the air, but no one answered him.
“System…”
Shen Liang raised the volume a bit, hiding some helplessness and panic that he didn’t even know he had, but still, no one answered him.
“System!”
Shen Liang suddenly hit the table with bloodshot eyes, his forehead filled with veins, and he shouted into the air until he lost his voice, “Damn it, come out!”
“Come out!”
At least say that it was not a dream, Shao Qinhan did exist, he existed …
He transmigrated suddenly and left suddenly without warning. At least let him leave a message for Shao Qinhan, asking him for something. That person managed to get out of his original unfortunate fate, what should I do if he goes back?
Shao Qinhan finally stopped taking pills, what if he starts taking them again?
He is afraid of the dark, he can’t sleep alone at night, what will he do when he is gone?
Shen Liang’s fingers slid through his hair and slowly clenched. He didn’t even dare to think about how the world would be turned upside down after he disappeared. A tear slipped from his eyes and landed on the ground, leaving a small wet spot.
Shen Liang was trembling, he was even beginning to suspect that those months were just a dream he had had, that Shao Qinhan was fake, that System was fake, that the story was fake.
But that person was so real in his memory.
Is it all just a dream?
This insight drained Shen Liang’s strength for a moment, and he closed his eyes in pain, unable to accept this realization. Only when he inadvertently saw the computer on his desk did he stumble to his feet, fingers trembling as he opened the novel’s web page.
He hadn’t logged in for two days and the comments section had accumulated many unread messages, but the content was much the same. They appeared one after another.
[The damn author of this dog blood novel has to change Shao Qinhan’s ending! Is a little white flower like Shen Yan worth being so miserable for!]
[Although I know that dog blood is the author’s style, but, hmm, this is just too bloody!]
[If the author doesn’t change the ending, I curse him to eat instant noodles without seasoning]
[The novel is too bloody, change the ending! Author, don’t pretend to be stupid and change the ending, it’s too upsetting!!!]
Shen Liang read the comments and sat in front of his computer for a long time without moving. He slid the mouse and clicked on the last chapter belonging to Shao Qinhan’s extra chapter, and a familiar paragraph slowly appeared before his eyes…
The last time Shen Yan saw Shao Qinhan was at the hospital. He stood in the hallway, looking through the window. And discovered that the man who once covered Z City with his hands was sitting in the coldest corner of the floor, with hands on his knees, motionless.
Shao Qinhan was not dead, nor was he mentally impaired… he was just crazy…
He had already gone mad many years ago, only to go completely insane to get Shen Yan.
This was the end of Shao Qinhan.
This was… the end that Shen Liang gave him…
With just a few strokes, he wrote of suffering and pain that would haunt him throughout the years.
Shen Liang sat in front of the screen and his vision blurred uncontrollably. He lowered his head blankly, his fingertips sinking into his palm, his forehead veined, forcing himself to hold something back. Tears fell from his reddened eyes to the keyboard, as letters disappeared from the screen.
“Shao Qinhan…”
He repressed the lump in his throat and his shoulders shook.
“Sorry…”
Sorry…
He once wanted to pull him out of the abyss, and he also wanted to give him a happy ending that everyone would envy. But the story ended too quickly, he didn’t have time to write and Shao Qinhan couldn’t wait for it to end.
Shen Liang’s fingers covered the keyboard, almost trembling as he erased Shao Qinhan’s ending word by word. He repeated this action almost in a daze, but when the last word remained, he could not continue any longer.
I am so fond of Shao Qinhan, so fond that he couldn’t bear to change it, he didn’t even want to erase half a word, half a punctuation mark. He just wanted to remove those tragedies and leave a clean Shao Qinhan.
But it was those tragedies and pains that shaped Shao Qinhan.
A character shaped by bitterness and sorrow.
How many words and phrases must he use to write the person in his heart?
On the other end of the screen, readers were still feeling disturbed by Shao Qinhan’s ending; while Shen Liang on the other end of the screen, finally began to rewrite the story.
He felt that the ending he had in mind this time would satisfy the readers.
However, after sitting in front of his desk for half a day, he could not write a word.
The page was clean, nothing, just like Shen Liang’s heart now, empty and blank.
The sky was getting darker and light and shadows were moving across the ground. The man who had been sitting in front of his desk for a long time seemed to finally realize the passage of time and shifted his rigid body, raising his hand to turn off the computer and prepare to go to the bathroom to take a shower.
He had erased everything but failed to write any words.
Shen Liang ate something to fill his stomach. When he went to the bathroom to shower, his mind was still fuzzy. He looked at himself in the mirror and undressed, thinking that he would never again be able to stay up all night or have such absurd dreams…
The shower turned on and heat filled the room, the mirror soon fogged up and clouded over.
Shen Liang usually showered twice until a clear mark appeared, and only then did he slowly let his hand drop. However, when his eyes inadvertently passed over his right shoulder, he found a shallow tooth mark on it and was shocked.
“…”
Shen Liang suspected for a moment that he was hallucinating, he rubbed his shoulder, not understanding why the wound that Shao Qinhan had once bitten appeared on his own body in the real world, his expression was one of astonishment and wonder.
A few breaths later, Shen Liang’s eyes could not help but redden.
It was not a dream…
He didn’t dream…
The author has something to say:
System: I’ll come back again, okay?
I’m glad you released several chapters at once because I’m very upset right now 😭 I need a happy ending
Exactly!!
It was a good choice otherwise the readers will die because they can’t wait for the next chaps
System, why didn’t you at least let him say his goodbyes!? 😭 What happened to Shao Qinhan in his world!???
I hope shao qinhan doesn’t lose it too much 🙏😭 your babe shen liang will come back to you!!
DYING*
BROOOOO THAT WAS TOO CRUEL😭😭😭😭
nnonononnono
don’t do this… please!
it was real! why isn’t he here? why can’t they be happy together??
author, i’ll send you blades! 😭