Part 4
Now that he knew Lu Feng wouldn’t hurt him, he spoke more boldly. “If the Lu family could shake the Si family a few years ago, why not destroy it directly?”
“Even if Si Zheng isn’t dead and is hiding somewhere, and people can’t be found because the Si family’s information network is extensive and solid, you still have ways to bankrupt the Si family, right?”
“Why choose me, and why involve Shen Yunqian? And hide it from him? Is there a connection?”
Lu Xunye knew his own worth. Acting innocent to trick others was fine, but trying to trick this old fox was clearly not enough. The fact that the other party went to the trouble of kidnapping him meant he hoped to see where he had changed.
As he spoke, he noticed the light in Lu Fengâs eyes directed at him growing brighter, filled with satisfied relief.
The little person in Lu Xunyeâs heart scratched at the walls: Don’t! It’s getting even weirder. It really doesn’t make sense if I’m not the biological son.
The cool wind made Lu Xunye shrink his neck. He looked back at the faux-ancient building behind him. The plaque boldly displayed several large charactersâDuming Club.
ăSide Mission Complete. Congratulations Host for triggering the hidden plot “Death of the White Moonlight.” Successfully unlocking the plot rewards 365 days of lifespan and three Love Strategy Push opportunities.ă
ăCurrent Lifespan: 58 days.ă
Lu Xunyeâs creamy white flannel pajamas had turned dusty gray after this kidnapping ordeal, and his hair was messy in the wind. “He wants to kill Si Zheng. Why?”
Even business rivals didn’t need to be this ruthless.
Murder of a relative?
Or stealing his wife?
Does it have anything to do with the original owner?
The Systemâs eyes lit up: ăAre you really going to help him? You’ll be the heir!ă
Lu Xunye didn’t even think before snorting a laugh. “You’re joking! Am I someone who is easily ordered around by others?”
Just then, his phone went Ding-dong, popping up a message. Lu Xunye unlocked the screen and saw a bank deposit notification in the SMS bar.
50,000,000.00 Yuan?
Fifty million?!
Lu Xunye turned off the phone and stuffed it back into his pocket like a loser, afraid of losing it. “I am.”
The System teased deliberately: ăWhere’s your ambition? Your unyielding spirit?ă
Lu Xunye was firm: “The God of Wealth is my spiritual guide.”
People passing by looked at him with disdain, as if looking at a fool.
A car stopped by the curb. Just as Lu Xunyeâs butt touched the seat, the phone rang. Seeing the contact “Sister Ye” on the screen, his eyelid twitched violently. The original owner’s editor.
“Sister Ye, is something wrong?” Lu Xunye spoke first.
“Teacher Wen Zhou, I hope I’m not disturbing you. I wanted to ask about your book Record of Slaughtering Immortals in Another World. It hasn’t been updated for a year. Will you continue updating it? If not, do you plan to start a new book recently?”
Lu Xunye held the phone and glanced at the System, hesitating. “…I will start one… probably.”
“Mhm-hm. In the previous online vote for the Most Popular Web Author, Teacher won third place. So the platform intends to invite Teacher to participate in the 26th Haishi Anime Convention.”
“I remember Teacher lives in Haishi, so the organizers contacted me to ask if you have time to participate in the offline book signing event at the Haishi International Convention Center on December 31st?”
That was half a month away.
For some reason, thinking of the countless private messages urging for updates and the abusive comments in the backend, Lu Xunye agreed like he was possessed. “Okay, I’ll go. Sorry for the trouble.”
As soon as the call ended, the System leaned in cheaply. ăWow, I haven’t seen what an anime convention is yet. What do they do there?ă
A prank rose in Lu Xunyeâs heart. He beckoned with his finger. When the System approached without defense, he grabbed the swaying antenna on its head and spoke nonsense with a straight face.
ăOh, it’s nothing special. Usually, they just catch disobedient, small, round electronic pets like you, pull out their chips, melt them down into water as one of the raw materials, and print them into books. That’s why there are book signing events.ă
The System shivered: ă…Then I’d better not go.ă
Because of the System upgrade, Lu Xunye had learned some original plot points from the System over the past few days. While sorting through the plot, he also looked through the novels written under the pen name “Wen Zhou.”
The background of the world he was in was a comic adapted from a dramatic, dogblood abuse novel.
Nineteen years ago, because Si Zheng suddenly “died of illness,” the collateral branches of the Si family seized power and hunted down Si Zheng’s wife and sonâthe Protagonist Gong and his mother. During the chase, both fell off a cliff.
Coincidentally, the Protagonist Shou’s family was camping in the wild and saved them. The mother and son then logically changed their names and worked for the Shen family.
Life was relatively harmonious for the next few years, but a sudden accident caused the Protagonist Gong to witness his mother’s death, and… he went mad.
Later, for some reason, the Protagonist Gong and Shou encountered a shipwreck. The Protagonist Shou hit his head on a reef and lost his memory, while the Protagonist Gong vanished without a trace. The Shen family salvaged for months but never found a body.
Speaking of the Protagonist Shouâs amnesia, it was truly bizarre.
Lu Xunye stared at the word “Amnesia” in his notebook, circling it with his fountain pen until the ink bled through the white paper before lifting his hand.
If the Protagonist Shou has amnesia, fine. But he only forgot the Protagonist Gong! No one would believe that! Let alone the Protagonist Gong who had gone mental.
The subsequent plot was dogblood enough. The Protagonist Gong returned with a vengeance, incited by others to mess with the Shen family first, then locked up the Protagonist Shou, refusing to believe anything the Protagonist Shou said.
You think the Protagonist Gong was going to do forced love?
Wrong!
The Protagonist Gong was purely crazy. He made the Protagonist Shou watch him do it with othersâpure psychological torture.
The reason was even more ridiculous. During the years the Protagonist Gong was missing after falling into the sea, he was saved by his sickly White Moonlight who had saved him when he was a child. Since then, he had been pining for the White Moonlight.
While finding the Protagonist Shou disgusting, he also brainwashed the Protagonist Shou into thinking they were in love, claiming that the current situation was all because the Protagonist Shou’s parents killed his mother.
Heaven knows how shattered Lu Xunyeâs worldview was when he found out!
You think the Protagonist Gong would put the White Moonlight on a pedestal and play out a substitute lover drama with the Protagonist Shou?
Wrong again.
After the White Moonlight returned to the country for treatment, for some unknown reason, the Protagonist Gong released the Protagonist Shou. He turned around and locked the White Moonlight in another villa with the absurd excuse that “Outside is dangerous, only my place is safe.”
Even though he let him go, every time the Protagonist Gong went crazy, he would go find the Protagonist Shou to humiliate him.
Therefore, rumors of substitutes, white moonlights, and sadomasochistic deep love stories emerged endlessly.
Lu Xunye pounded the table and roasted: “No wonder you two are a couple.”
And the ending was a happy, blissful HE for the protagonists. The truth was, after regaining his memory, the Protagonist Shou found out that his parents’ car accident was related to the Protagonist Gong.
By then, the Protagonist Gong’s White Moonlight had died of heart disease. He realized his feelings for the Protagonist Shou, stayed silent about the harm he had caused, and pretended nothing happened, wanting to reconcile.
Then came over a hundred chapters of “he flees, he chases, they can’t escape even with wings.” Finally, the Protagonist Shou went bizarrely mad, pretending to be obedient and returning to the Protagonist Gongâs side.
Just when the Protagonist Gong felt his life was complete and painstakingly prepared for their wedding, the Protagonist Shou stabbed the Protagonist Gong and set fire to the villa. Double death HE.
Readers screamed: Life and death together, what beautiful love!
Lu Xunye sighed: “Eat something better, people.”
As for the various reasons within, the original novel didn’t clarify. In Lu Xunyeâs view, how was this different from a botched ending?
Originally, none of this had anything to do with him, but now that Lu Xunye had to fill in these blank plots, his eyes breathed fire. He wanted to kill the author with his own hands!
“I congratulate you on getting rich~ Congratulate, congratulate, congratulate you~” The phone rang.
Lu Xunye saw it was an unknown number. His finger paused over the red hang-up button, but he eventually answered.
“Hello, are you a friend or family member of the phone owner?”
Lu Xunyeâs brain was muddled. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What phone owner? You have the wrong number.”
There was a pause on the other end. Just as Lu Xunye was about to hang up, the voice spoke again: “Aren’t you named Lu Xunye, Mr. Lu?”
“Your friend is injured and hospitalized. Only your number in his contacts could be reached; the others are all disconnected. The hospital requires family notification, so we could only call you.”
Lu Xunyeâs head was full of this sentence. He couldn’t figure out who valued him so much. He thought he was annoying enough; not being blocked was already a miracle, let alone being the “only one.”
Driving over ten kilometers, he finally arrived at the hospital mentioned. Just as he pushed open the ward door, the person sitting obediently on the hospital bed looked over at the sound.
The handsome man curved his lips at him. The next second, Lu Xunye slammed the door shut with a Bangâ.
Outside the door, Lu Xunye stared at the snow-white door in front of him, biting his thumb in thought. “Must be wrong.”
“Sir, why aren’t you going in?” A young male doctor walked over, clutching a clipboard under his arm.
“The patient inside… can I ask what his name is?” Lu Xunye felt he might have been driven mentally disordered by the original novel and asked the doctor urgently.
“Don’t get excited yet, I came just to tell you about this.” The young doctor was startled, pushed the door open, and walked in first.
Flipping through the medical records, the doctor pulled out a sheet and glanced at the bewildered patient. “Room 13, Bed 33. Patient Shen Yunqian, Male, 21 years old.”
“Wrist sprain, multiple abrasions on arms and back. Preliminary diagnosis is temporary amnesia caused by a mild concussion.”
Lu Xunye followed him in and heard this sentence. He froze and looked at Shen Yunqian, who was sitting dutifully on the bed. Seeing him, a flash of surprise crossed the other’s eyes.
Lu Xunye pondered: Did I never save Shen Yunqianâs number?
The System exposed him and complained: ăNo. You are currently only Alipay friends. You don’t care about the strategy target at all.ă
Lu Xunye: “…” It must have been hard for Shen Yunqian to find his number.
Lu Xunye felt a little guilty deep down, but… Will getting amnesia twice really not turn someone into an idiot?
The next moment, the voices of the doctor and Shen Yunqian rang out simultaneously.
“You are his boyfriend, right? The patient isn’t thinking clearly. Please go to the front desk to pay the surgical fees.”
“Are you my boyfriend?”
Lu Xunyeâs mind went blank. Someone patted his shoulder comfortingly, and a payment slip was stuffed into his hand.
Lu Xunye: “…”
Only Lu Xunye would find this scene incongruous.
He felt he might need to go to the neurology department for a checkup. Why am I hallucinating from the pressure of the strategy mission?
At this moment, Shen Yunqianâs cold temperament was completely replaced by tenderness. He blinked curiously like a month-old bunny, looking at him. “Boyfriend? Am I actually gay?”
Lu Xunye: “…” Don’t you know if you’re gay or not?
He looked away and asked the System: ăIs my mission complete? Can I go back?ă
ă…In your dreams. Current Love Points: 55,000. Points needed for target: 1,945,000 points!ă
ăCurrent Love Points: 55,000. Points needed for target: One million, ninety-four thousand, five hundred points!!ă(System repeats for emphasis)
…
The System repeated it fully four or five times. Lu Xunye waved it away impatiently. “Shut up, you’re making my head hurt.”
Turning around, he saw Shen Yunqian looking at him helplessly, his watery eyes filled with pitifulness.
Lu Xunye realized belatedly that he had spoken aloud. He instantly had a headache. What age has he regressed to now?
“I wasn’t talking about you.” Lu Xunye explained, walking over to sit by the bed. “Do you remember who you are? How old are you?”
“The doctor already said it just now.” Shen Yunqian tilted his head in confusion, commenting sharply, “Does your brain not work well?”
Lu Xunye: “…Ha.” He laughed in anger.
Then Shen Yunqian asked three questions in a row: “Why would I find a boyfriend with amnesia?”
“Why weren’t you with me?”
“Are we getting a divorce?”
Lu Xunyeâs eyes widened. How did we get to divorce?! Who married you?! Too far! My reputation!
He tried to reason with the youth. “Why do you think I’m your boyfriend?”
The System advised him: ăHost, the Protagonist Shou has amnesia and thinks you’re his boyfriend. Isn’t it good to go with the flow? Besides, with your previous “great achievements,” are you afraid you can’t win over the Protagonist Shou?ă
Lu Xunye was silent for a while, surprisingly not retorting. ăAccording to the usual tropes, if I lie to him, once he regains his memory, my strategy mission will be over. Besides, what happened before was… never mind.ă
The System detected that Lu Xunye was feeling down and said “Oh” as if it understood but didn’t really understand.
Shen Yunqian shoved his lit-up phone screen into Lu Xunyeâs face. “I looked at our chat history. You said I should provide for you and called me ‘Sugar Daddy’. If we aren’t a couple, what could we be?”
“And I transferred money to you, which proves I agreed.” Shen Yunqian reasoned clearly. “Unless you are a scammer, cheating me of both feelings and money. In that case, I’ll have to call the police.”
The phone screen was practically pressed against Lu Xunyeâs face. Blinded by the white light, he leaned back.
Unexpectedly, the leg of the stool beneath him was missing a piece of silicone cover. The stool slipped with a thump and tipped over. Fortunately, he was agile enough to grab the bedside table and didn’t fall.
Seeing him stand steady, Shen Yunqian withdrew the hand he had extended in worry to pull him, looking rather disdainful. “Is your cerebellum underdeveloped?”
Being insulted several times in just a few minutes, Lu Xunye roared silently: Damn it, poison-tongue spirit! Can someone take him away! He’s not cute at all anymore.
The door was slammed open with a Bangâ. A woman barged in with a girl of about five or six. It was obvious she was in a hurry. Lu Xunye had just picked up the stool and wanted to ask if they had the wrong room.
Unexpectedly, the woman fell to her knees with a thud, forcing the girl to kneel as well, weeping bitter tears. “Quick, Xiao Yun, thank the benefactor.”
Lu Xunye: “?”
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