“What do you mean by ‘there’s no original owner’? What do you mean by ‘Little Pepper has no after-sales service’? What do you mean by ‘it’s okay for him not to go back to his original world’?”
If the system had a physical form, Xu Chenghao would want to grab it by the collar and demand to know what the hell was going on!
[Ding—Host, please calm down. These are all results analyzed based on your choice to give up returning. If you haven’t given up on returning, you just need to complete Little Pepper’s task to exchange for Mary Sue Pepper, swallow it, and shout ‘I’m an idiot’ three times to avoid the disaster before the car accident.]
Xu Chenghao felt like his head was going to explode: What exactly do you mean by this?
[Ding—Just want to tell the host that no matter what decision you make now, you have to wait until Little Pepper’s task is completed to make the final decision. So why not enjoy the present? Maybe it’s better to make a decision after love is consumed?]
Xu Chenghao didn’t trust the system at all: Tell me honestly, how many people can return to their original world after binding with the time-traveling system?
[Ding—Unable to estimate.]
Xu Chenghao: Why?
[Ding—Because human emotions are too complex, the system cannot conduct mechanical evaluations.]
Xu Chenghao: …
That’s true.
At the very least, before this, he never imagined he would be involved with the villain, let alone end up like this.
So just go with the flow and enjoy the present?
That seems a bit casual… oh well, let’s just leave it at that. Let future decisions be left to future Xu Chenghao to decide. That’s how it is now!
Xu Chenghao crushed all his emotions and buried them deep in his heart, tidying up his desk to force himself into work mode. He quickly pushed everything aside, so he wouldn’t dwell on random thoughts.
He persevered like this until the end of the workday. Li Nian quietly opened the office door and asked, “Do you want to grab dinner this afternoon?”
Xu Chenghao was putting on his coat, and without turning his head, he replied, “No, thanks.”
Li Nian: “Why not?”
Xu Chenghao: “Tired.”
Suddenly, Li Nian went silent. Xu Chenghao found it odd and turned back, saying, “What… why are you… here?” When he saw the person standing behind him, Xu Chenghao’s surprised words took an unexpected turn.
“I’m worried that someone may not want to go back, so I came to pick him up,” Jing Yicheng said with a face that seemed to say ‘don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking,’ while reaching out to straighten Xu Chenghao’s collar.
Perhaps because of the change in his mindset, Xu Chenghao couldn’t help but feel nervous in the face of such a gesture, subconsciously looking towards Li Nian as if he had something to hide.
Jing Yicheng immediately furrowed his brows, following Xu Chenghao’s gaze towards Li Nian with an expression of displeasure.
Li Nian, feeling caught even while lying down, could only offer his trademark smile as he retreated, waving goodbye, “Goodbye, President Xu, President Jing. I’ll take my leave now, bye-bye~”
After Li Nian’s figure had completely disappeared, Jing Yicheng withdrew his gaze, his expression sour. “What were you two talking about?”
Xu Chenghao remained silent for two seconds before bringing up past grievances. “Weren’t you monitoring me? How could you not know what we were saying?”
Jing Yicheng coughed nervously twice. “That was before. Shortly after the project started, I removed the close surveillance.”
Xu Chenghao was shocked. “You still differentiate between close and distant surveillance?”
Jing Yicheng replied hesitantly, “Well… that’s all in the past now. Everything’s been removed, only the protection for you remains, truly.”
Xu Chenghao: “Is it protection or surveillance?”
Jing Yicheng: “The goal is to protect, but anything can be reported.”
Xu Chenghao: “…”
Xu Chenghao turned away unhappily and walked off, not wanting to pay attention to him.
Jing Yicheng followed, grabbing his clothes from behind. “Seriously, withdraw. I don’t even know what you guys talked about, or what Ruan Chenxuan talked to you about, let alone why you turned out like this because of what you heard…”
As he spoke, Jing Yicheng also began to feel unhappy. After all, Xu Chenghao avoiding him suddenly yesterday had been a knot in his heart, but every time he wanted to ask something, he couldn’t bring himself to. He didn’t want to provoke Xu Chenghao either, so he felt even more frustrated with all the fuss.
Xu Chenghao stepped into the elevator, looking at the person standing outside who seemed even more aggrieved than himself, feeling both angry and amused. “Come in.”
Jing Yicheng stood outside the elevator, pursing his lips without moving.
When the time was up, the elevator doors began to close automatically. Xu Chenghao looked at the gradually closing gap and Jing Yicheng’s increasingly dark expression. Helplessly, he reached out to stop the elevator door, palms open in a gesture. He signaled, “Come.”
Jing Yicheng restrained himself for a second, then, at a speed he thought was slow but was actually faster than normal, raised his hand and grabbed the hand extended by Xu Chenghao, letting himself be pulled in.
The elevator doors closed.
Li Nian poked his head out from around the corner, exclaiming, “Damn, this is clearly a love affair!”
Inside the elevator, Xu Chenghao also felt something was off. After pulling the person in, he immediately let go and pretended to be preoccupied with selecting the floor to cover up his abrupt action.
Jing Yicheng was still immersed in the joy of being coaxed. The unpleasantness that had just arisen seemed to evaporate like mist in an instant, completely forgotten.
The two reconciled as if nothing had happened, forgetting all the unpleasantness, going home together to eat and watch TV.
They brought out the fruit platter prepared by Auntie and enjoyed it while watching TV. Midway through, Jing Yicheng’s phone, which had been silent for ages, suddenly rang. It was obvious the call was important, as Jing Yicheng’s expression changed.
Xu Chenghao nibbled on a strawberry, watching the person on the balcony answering the phone, wondering what news they might receive… It probably wasn’t good news, judging by Jing Yicheng’s expression.
Xu Chenghao picked up another strawberry, trying to find some clues from the original plot. Unfortunately, the plot mostly revolved around the female lead after she went abroad, with little involvement from other characters, so there was nothing to gain.
While he was lost in thought, Jing Yicheng had already finished the call and returned to the living room.
Xu Chenghao stared at him without blinking, although he didn’t speak, his curious expression was evident from his eyes.
Jing Yicheng couldn’t hold back: “Want to know?”
Xu Chenghao remembered his identity and hesitated, “Can you tell me?”
“Yes,” Jing Yicheng sat back on the sofa and briefly described, “There was an incident during the research process of the order I rejected last time. It’s said to be sabotage resulting in casualties. They warned me to stay safe.”
Xu Chenghao chewed on a piece of strawberry in his mouth, feeling that the information contained was a bit too much.
Jing Yicheng leaned closer to him, “Scared?”
Xu Chenghao glanced at him, “No, I’m just wondering how an agricultural machinery order could go wrong.”
Jing Yicheng: “…”
Xu Chenghao continued calmly, “Also, what do you mean by ‘an incident during the research process’? Did they just abandon contacting you and went back to research, is that it?”
Jing Yicheng: “…”
Oops.
Without waiting for Xu Chenghao to ask further, Jing Yicheng got up and directly rushed into the guest room, slamming the door shut, and messaged Xu Chenghao, “It’s impossible for me to leave!”
Xu Chenghao: “…”
Where did he learn this move from… Oh no, he learned it from himself.
But could it be that Jing Yicheng became like this because of him? Is he really that naive?
No! He refuses to admit it!
“Xu Chenghao adamantly refused to admit it, shamelessly shifting all the blame onto Jing Yicheng. Then he pretended to be calm and sent a message: ‘I didn’t say I wanted to kick you out. You come out first, and let’s continue discussing your safety.’
Jing Yicheng was deceived: ‘Really?’
Xu Chenghao: “Otherwise?”
After a moment of silence, Jing Yicheng slowly opened the door and looked into the living room. Just as his gaze swept over the empty sofa, he suddenly saw a shadow dropping rapidly from above, banging three times. He instinctively wanted to close the door, but seeing the other person’s leg poking in, he was afraid of injuring him and could only quickly retreat, allowing the other party to successfully breach the door.
Xu Chenghao chased after him with a pillow in hand, “I’ll teach you! I’ll teach you for deceiving me! I’ll teach you not to leave!”
Jing Yicheng was already feeling guilty, so he could only lie on the bed and endure the beating, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Xu Chenghao was very pleased: “Will you dare to do it again in the future?”
Jing Yicheng lay limp on the bed: “I won’t dare… be careful, your head isn’t fully recovered yet.”
Xu Chenghao instinctively touched his forehead, which was actually just slightly red and almost fully healed long ago, but out of appreciation for the other’s concern for him, he was satisfied and stopped, not continuing to beat him.
Jing Yicheng lay on the bed, looking at him: ‘Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kick me out?'”
Xu Chenghao looked for water to drink in his room: “Yeah.”
Jing Yicheng felt wronged, “Then why did you still hit me?”
Xu Chenghao: “I hit you because you lied to me and acted stubborn.”
Jing Yicheng: “…”
With solid reasoning, there was nothing to say.
Xu Chenghao drank a glass of water and continued, “Okay, let’s talk about your safety now. First of all, let me clarify that I’m not kicking you out, but I need to make sure you’re safe staying here. If they’ve arranged suitable accommodation for you over there, you can go first and come back when it’s safe in a few days. I really mean it when I say I’m not kicking you out. When you come back, I’ll still welcome you.”
Jing Yicheng sat up, asking seriously, “You mean it?”
Xu Chenghao nodded, “I mean it.”
Jing Yicheng showed a slight smile, got up, and said, “The threat of not taking the order is probably small, but they definitely won’t be at ease and will urgently recall all bodyguards, even increasing manpower. So, you don’t need to worry about my safety. Instead, it’s you…”
Xu Chenghao fidgeted with his cup uncomfortably, “What about me?”
Jing Yicheng casually took his cup and finished the remaining half of the water. Xu Chenghao panicked, “That, that was what I was drinking!”
“I don’t despise you,” Jing Yicheng said subconsciously. Then he immediately recalled the disastrous incident with the formal attire and tried to amend, “I mean, our relationship is so good, how could I despise you… Yes, what I mean is our relationship is so good, inevitably, there might be people who would target you because of my actions, even possibly harming you, so you should be more vigilant.”
Xu Chenghao’s initial embarrassment was instantly wiped away, and he could only try to shift the focus, “I see. Will there be anyone harming my family?”
Jing Yicheng furrowed his brows, following suit, “Have Uncle and Auntie made any other arrangements lately? Maybe they could try traveling abroad?”
Xu Chenghao: “They could.”
Jing Yicheng: “Don’t worry, I’ll contact people to protect them.”
Xu Chenghao: “Oh.”
Jing Yicheng: “And I’ll protect you too.”
Xu Chenghao: “Oh…”
The author has something to say: Suddenly realized that Xu Chenghao effortlessly evaded answering and shifted the topic, while Jing Yicheng didn’t want to say anything… wishful thinking!
T/N: love is in the air~
