Chapter 22: Reason and Reward
Pei Xilin had many matters to handle, but his arm injury was truly quite severe. If he went out directly without resting, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the next encounter. Thus, he could only stay here for a few more days to recover. He even borrowed a laptop from Chu Yang.
Pei Xilin was very alert. Worried he might bring trouble to Chu Yang and the others, he only contacted his subordinates to give instructions and didn’t let them come over.
After dinner on Mid-Autumn night, Pei Xilin went upstairs, not wanting to disturb the brothers’ moon-viewing. He could see that Chu Yang and Chu Yuanzhou had an excellent relationship. After eating, the two moved fruit, mooncakes, and a tea stove to the courtyard.
Pei Xilin was somewhat reluctant to leave. It had been many years since he had celebrated a holiday; back when his mother was alive, there was still someone to arrange the festivities.
Actually, there were celebrations later too, but no one would invite him. In fact, his presence at the dining table would cause the atmosphere to freeze. Pei Xilin was not one to make a fool of himself.
Moreover, that was a home with a stepmother and an illegitimate son—a disgusting home, and disgusting people.
He leaned against the railing of the guest room balcony to handle matters. Looking down, he could see Chu Yang cutting mooncakes with a sweet smile. Beside his hand sat a cheap lotus lamp—a memory from childhood.
Chu Yang liked lotus seed paste mooncakes, but they were a bit greasy if he ate too many, so Chu Yuanzhou brewed tea on the side.
Chu Yang pushed the mooncake toward Chu Yuanzhou and lay down on the lounge chair. “Everything is great, it’s just still not cool enough.”
He had even moved his mini-fan outside and was waving a palm-leaf fan in his hand.
Chu Yuanzhou: “How about we install an air conditioner in the courtyard then?”
“Don’t. It’s not that hot anyway.” An AC wouldn’t be of much use in a courtyard.
Chu Yuanzhou ate half a mooncake and watched Chu Yang drink two cups of tea before asking, “When do you plan to let him leave?”
Although Pei Xilin’s presence was very low, Chu Yuanzhou was still unhappy. Furthermore, he had to go to work soon.
Work. That meant only Chu Yang and Pei Xilin would be left at home. There was no telling how this man might seduce his brother. It was absolutely unacceptable.
Chu Yang: “I plan to take him to a hospital further away tomorrow for a check-up. If he’s mostly recovered, I’ll let him leave.”
“Mm.”
The next day, Chu Yuanzhou went to work. Since Chu Yang had no morning classes, he mentioned the hospital trip to Pei Xilin.
Pei Xilin didn’t refuse, and the two had breakfast together.
Pei Xilin was wearing the short-sleeved shirt and shorts Chu Yang had bought. Fortunately, he was good-looking, so he didn’t look bad.
Before heading out, he also wore a mask and sunglasses.
After the hospital check-up, it was determined that he still needed a period of recovery, but hospitalization wasn’t necessary.
Chu Yang and Pei Xilin stood at the hospital entrance. One of Pei Xilin’s arms was still in a sling as he looked down at Chu Yang.
Chu Yang gave him a glance, then turned his gaze away, squinting at the children playing on the lawn in the distance. He had a smile on his face.
Pei Xilin didn’t know what he was smiling about. He watched him, his Adam’s apple bobbing: “Thank you. You…”
Chu Yang looked back at him helplessly. “Do you have to start every sentence to me with ‘thank you’?”
It seemed that aside from “thank you,” there was nothing else to say. Actually, silence would have been fine, but Pei Xilin just loved to find reasons to talk to him.
“I’m sorry… I don’t have many friends. I don’t know how to interact with people…” Pei Xilin apologized immediately.
“…” A popular meme popped into Chu Yang’s head. He’s really pathetic, isn’t he?
Pei Xilin looked at him and continued, “I wanted to ask… were you coerced into saving me? Both last time and this time.”
Chu Yang raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. A few slivers of sunlight fell on his shoulder, making the scene look dreamlike.
He hadn’t expected Pei Xilin to be so direct. He thought Pei Xilin would guess his motives or ask if someone had told him to save him, but he hadn’t expected him to guess that he was being “coerced.”
Seeing that he was being quite considerate of him, Chu Yang’s mood improved slightly.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t exactly coercion. It was… a transaction. So you don’t need to overthink it.”
Chu Yang didn’t want Pei Xilin to be excessively grateful to him. At first, it could indeed be considered “forced” to save Pei Xilin.
But from another perspective, if he encountered someone else in trouble, he would save them within his ability. So there was nothing to be unhappy about.
Besides, saving Pei Xilin in exchange for Chu Yuanzhou’s safety was a very good deal.
“In the future, be careful when you go out. I might not be able to save you every time.” Chu Yang added another sentence. Actually, he probably could save him; the system wouldn’t let Pei Xilin die.
But he hoped Pei Xilin would be more cautious and not harbor any illusions of safety.
Pei Xilin smiled, taking this as Chu Yang’s concern for him. He was very happy.
He quickly asked again, “What kind of transaction?”
He was worried that Chu Yang’s safety or health was being used as the price for the transaction. Since he began to suspect there was some kind of “saving” mission involved, Pei Xilin had researched a lot on the topic and even posted on online forums.
Others asked him if he had read too many novels. Thus, Pei Xilin went to “recharge” himself with those types of stories.
Naturally, he only read the synopses. They were all about “redemption” novels where the protagonist was sick and obtained a system to complete tasks, getting health or something else in return. There was also one point… the person being saved in the book would usually fall in love with the protagonist…
Love… Pei Xilin grew excited. But the next second, he began to worry about Chu Yang’s physical condition. From Chu Yang’s expression, he couldn’t tell anything, so he took the initiative to ask.
After asking, he waited for the answer with great tension.
Chu Yang pondered for a while, then suddenly saw a lottery shop in the distance. He walked toward it, and Pei Xilin followed.
Chu Yang bought ten scratch-off tickets and said to Pei Xilin, “It’s this kind of transaction.”
A monetary transaction? Pei Xilin frowned.
Chu Yang stood at the counter and began to scratch off all ten tickets in one go. He didn’t expect to win; it was his first time buying them, and he just wanted the satisfaction of the scratching!
As it turned out, once he finished, he had won 10,000 RMB! He widened his eyes slightly and pushed them toward the clerk: “Did I win?”
The clerk had noticed Chu Yang the moment he bought the tickets. He was good-looking and his movements were casual. Usually, people would scratch the winning numbers first and then check each line, but Chu Yang scratched from left to right, top to bottom. Even after reaching the last number, he didn’t verify it before moving on to the next one.
He was indifferent, as if he were just doing it for fun.
The clerk checked the tickets. He really had won!
“Yes, 10,000 yuan!”
Pei Xilin was also a bit surprised. But then again, for someone as good as Chu Yang, having such good luck was only right.
Today’s luck really was good. Before Chu Yang could say anything, the system’s voice suddenly rang in his head:
[This is the reward for the first task.]
[…]
[…Is this the reward you guys spent so much time thinking about?] Chu Yang was a bit speechless, but he was happy nonetheless. Receiving money always made one happy.
System: [Yes.]
They had thought of this reward for a while, but later they discovered Chu Yang didn’t like doing things like this. Not to mention scratch-off tickets, he rarely even clicked on free lucky draws online, clicking [X] on pop-up windows immediately. He gave it no chance.
The system couldn’t directly tell Chu Yang to buy a lottery ticket; that would be too obvious and wouldn’t work.
10,000 yuan. After taxes and the cost of the ten tickets, he had 7,850 yuan left, which was quickly deposited.
Chu Yang and Pei Xilin walked out of the lottery shop. He squinted his eyes: “Should we go eat now?”
Pei Xilin nodded: “Okay.”
Walking to the parking lot, Pei Xilin suddenly asked, “The transaction you mentioned… is it a monetary one?”
“Yes.” Chu Yang nodded.
It was easy to explain; it made it look as if someone had hired Chu Yang to protect and save Pei Xilin.
Pei Xilin’s brow furrowed slightly, and his knuckles tightened. Chu Yang shouldn’t be short on money… or perhaps… “Do you like money very much?”
Chu Yang shot him a strange look as he opened the car door: “Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t like money?”
“No.”
Chu Yang: “Then I’m certainly no exception.”
“Okay, I understand.” Pei Xilin blinked, suppressing the urge to say, ‘I can give it to you.’
He certainly could give it to Chu Yang. He had asked for Chu Yang’s card number just two days ago, but large transfers right now would be easily tracked. He had to wait.
Chu Yang didn’t know the extent of Pei Xilin’s need to stay hidden. This hospital was quite far away, so he simply found a restaurant nearby to eat and asked for a private booth.
However, he hadn’t expected to run into an acquaintance—Jiang Baibai was also here for a meal.
After washing his hands, Chu Yang saw Jiang Baibai in the hallway. Jiang Baibai smiled at him; he was clearly waiting for him.
“…What a coincidence.”
Jiang Baibai nodded: “It is a coincidence. Why are you here for a meal?”
He tilted his chin toward the balcony, signaling for Chu Yang to go there to chat.
Chu Yang followed him: “I came here with a friend, so we’re eating nearby.”
Jiang Baibai gave an “mm.” He had just seen Chu Yang enter the booth with a man who had a crippled arm.
“Want a smoke?” Jiang Baibai held out his cigarette case.
Chu Yang looked at him strangely. He was quite sensitive to smells and hadn’t detected a hint of cigarette smoke on Jiang Baibai. Why was he offering him one?
He wasn’t one of those people in the business world; there was no need for such formalities. If there was nothing to say, he’d just leave.
Chu Yang gave an “mm” and reached for one. To his surprise, Jiang Baibai moved his hand back, opened the case himself, and placed a cigarette against Chu Yang’s lips.
Chu Yang glanced at him, bit down on it, and held out his palm, raising an eyebrow at Jiang Baibai for a lighter.
Jiang Baibai continued to smile. He squeezed Chu Yang’s palm and brushed his hand away: “I’ll do it.”
A flicker of orange flame rose from the lighter. Jiang Baibai lowered his head to shield the flame as he leaned in. The two were very close—so close that he could smell the cool fragrance on Chu Yang.
He couldn’t tell where the scent was coming from—his hair, or perhaps between his lips…?
Jiang Baibai felt a bit lightheaded.
Chu Yang tilted his chin slightly, touching the cigarette to the flame and exhaling a cloud of smoke. He lifted his eyelids to glance at Jiang Baibai.
Jiang Baibai’s heart skipped a beat. Did he see through me?
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