Chapter 2.9
It is not surprising that the points he receives for this world are once again very low. Inwardly lamenting his pathetic amount of points, Sui Yuan can’t help feeling a tad resentful.
He has already put in so much effort, even experiencing what it is like to die after sacrificing himself to save the male lead. Couldn’t he have been rewarded with a little more points? The grading system is so stingy...
"Complain? You still have the cheek to complain?!" 5237 shrieks. "The worlds you are being placed in are all clearly BG ah! We don’t need you to leave behind legendary BL romance stories in these worlds one after another! Spare those innocent children ah!! QAQ"
"Since when did I leave behind legendary BL romance stories?" Sui Yuan frowns, firm in his rebuttal. "That is only friendship!"
"Your mum is only friendship ah!!" 5237 wishes it can mutilate itself, or at the very least fling itself into the nearest abyss. "If that truly is only friendship, then I will immediately apply to go to BL worlds!"
Sui Yuan indulgently listens to 5237 vent its frustrations.
"5237, you are still as stupid as ever." An icy voice containing clear ridicule rings out, causing 5237 to freeze.
Turning his head in the direction that voice is coming from, Sui Yuan’s eyes fall onto another plump little system about the same size as his own, before moving on to that system’s partner...Mo Xuanzhi?
"The fuck, why is it you!!" 5237 explodes in fury immediately after seeing its counterpart, drifting in front of Sui Yuan as though protecting it partner from an enemy. "What are you doing here?!"
"Watching you drown in foolishness," The other system answers blandly.
5237: "...... QAQ"
Sui Yuan’s interest piques as barbs are exchanged between these two systems, past grudges and dislike surfacing in their words. However, the other system’s partner doesn’t seem all that interested in observing the verbal spar, opening his mouth and drawing Sui Yuan’s attention. "Let the systems settle their own dispute. Do you have a moment to chat?"
Glancing between 5237 and Mo Xuanzhi - no, his name is not Mo Xuanzhi - Sui Yuan hesitates for a second, then nods, following behind the expressionless man observing him intently.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Zhao Xihe. What’s your name?" The man extends a hand.
Clasping the offered hand, Sui Yuan shakes it once. "I am Sui Yuan."
"I meant your real name." Zhao Xihe frowns. "Isn’t Sui Yuan the name of your character from the world before this?"
"...You are Qin Zheng?" Sui Yuan instantly pounces on the unspoken admission and stiffens, anger spitting from his eyes.
Zhao Xihe blinks, momentarily taken back by the bitter and resentful gaze. A second later, his lips purse, subtly shifting his line of sight away from Sui Yuan’s face.
Although he is still wearing He Haochen’s astute and cool-headed appearance, the indignant wide eyes and furious question causes him to look like an adorably angry child. Heart unprepared to deal with this expression, Zhao Xihe nearly reveals his cloven foot[1].
"That’s right, I am Qin Zheng." Even if he is somewhat unable to face Sui Yuan’s limpid eyes head on, Zhao Xihe valiantly maintains his cool and admits.
"...Why? What did I do wrong?!" The feeling of being wronged carried over from his first world to the next, accumulating in the second world and festering until now. Taxing his mind and body only to receive such low scores is an extremely miserable experience. For a newly-created Sui Yuan to face this in his first world is something he cannot accept. "Why didn’t you let me complete my assignment properly? Where did I offend you? Then will it be all right if I apologise?"
Zhao Xihe stares blankly ahead at this string of questions, not knowing how he should reply. Discovering that the other party is more disappointed and sorrowful than himself makes him somewhat torn between whether to laugh or to cry. He can’t help feeling that indeed, he caused trouble without reason.
- Also, it is most probably due to seeing those pure, wide eyes filled with accusation and glistening with tears that any fury Zhao Xihe has at this moment all goes up in smoke.
After experiencing so many worlds, Zhao Xihe can be considered a naturally cool-headed and reasonable man. No matter what happens out there, after returning to the space between worlds, he will immediately revert to his calm and collected self. As for what happened the last time, he was too busy trying to catch Sui Yuan, thus, he didn’t pause to reflect and reason with himself.
Ultimately, faced with Sui Yuan’s accusations, Zhao Xihe can only lift a hand and pat him on the head, softening his tone. "I apologise, I made a mistake."
As Zhao Xihe graciously admits his error, Sui Yuan who doesn’t believe in holding a grudge feels satisfied and pleased with this apology. Blinking away his tears, a smile spreads across his face.
Zhao Xihe breathes a sigh of relief after seeing Sui Yuan’s smile and can’t help regretting his actions somewhat, after seeing the other forgive him so easily.
Really haven’t seen such a pure child in a long time...
Originally calling out to Sui Yuan with the intention of making reprisals, Zhao Xihe feels that the entire situation is slowly slipping out of his control; because he completely cannot bring himself to be so callous towards this child called Sui Yuan. Even watching him sustain an injury is unbearable.
Incapable of being cruel towards this innocent individual and with no way of telling him what caused the misunderstanding in the first place, Zhao Xihe decides to change tactics.
Although he typically likes to display a gentle and calm façade, Zhao Xihe is definitely not this kind of person deep down. After going through countless worlds with him standing at the summit of each as the male lead, this sort of treatment has nearly spoiled him rotten. As such, he will definitely not let go of something - or someone - he desires simply because he feels a tad remorseful. Now that he has cleared up the little misunderstanding between them, Zhao Xihe resolved to tie Sui Yuan to his side.
Carefully sounding out the other man, he is left with disappointment. His sole comfort is that Sui Yuan hasn’t forgotten this Qin Zheng. However, who is to say after Sui Yuan goes through a few more worlds, the name ’Qin Zheng’ wouldn’t fade from his memory?
This...this is something Zhao Xihe cannot allow. His ego and pride make him unable to accept the fact that someone who left such a deep impression on his heart and mind will, in turn, forget about him so easily.
At minimum, he will carve his shadow in Sui Yuan’s heart. As for whether or not he should take things one step further, that will have to wait and see if Sui Yuan constantly occupies his mind as time passes. Nonetheless, with great difficulty, he finally found someone capable of snaring his attention from the get-go. No matter if it is love or friendship - Zhao Xihe definitely has to capture him and hold him close. Only if he loses interest first will he leave the other. But until that happens - if it ever does - he will absolutely not permit this person to escape.
As for whether or not the other party is willing, this doesn’t fall within the range of his concerns.
Naturally, Zhao Xihe doesn’t wish for things to worsen between Sui Yuan and himself. He knows that he never wants to see Sui Yuan’s loathing gaze directed towards him ever again. Thus, besides vowing that he will never enter a consensual relationship with the female lead from this point onwards starting from Leng Xia, he also begins his attempts at softening Sui Yuan. Ignoring the female lead and focusing on Sui Yuan, Zhao Xihe dotes on him in hopes that he will progressively come to depend on him, be more intimate with him and also rise the other’s good opinion of him.
Zhao Xihe feels that his way of handling things seems to be pretty effective. At the very least, Sui Yuan no longer rejects his presence. However, each time he looks, he doesn’t see the slightest trace of deep emotion surfacing in Sui Yuan’s clear, guileless eyes.
Well, if there’s no way of making Sui Yuan genuinely develop feelings towards him, then he will make the other more accustomed to being intimate with Zhao Xihe first. In the apocalypse world, he restrained himself after that first kiss, then slowly proceeds step by step from the embracing stage to the kissing stage. He found it wasn’t difficult to reach this level of intimacy, but even so, he dares not push things too quickly. Besides, he has all the time in the world.
In order to ensure the period of time Sui Yuan is together with him will be longer, Zhao Xihe begins to scheme again. He will make sure the other is unable to complete his mission and can only stick at his side until their lives in the select world is over. Then, they will return to this space together. As for the restrictions set by ’regulation’, Zhao Xihe is not afraid to use some of his accumulated points and protect Sui Yuan from the consequences of making the plot deviate.
Zhao Xihe believes that using this lifetime as Mo Xuanzhi, he will be able to thoroughly hook Sui Yuan, teach him a lesson, and bind him to his side forever.
...It’s a shame that Sui Yuan is not so easily deceived, not even waiting until the climax has ended before allowing himself to die. Zhao Xihe has no choice but to die with him in order to avoid arriving too late. If he lets the other slip through his fingers again, it would be near impossible to find him.
Speaking of which, Zhao Xihe is still unclear as to why Sui Yuan will willingly sacrifice himself to protect him. Is it due to feelings, or because he naively thinks that a supporting male lead must not allow the male lead to die first?
Zhao Xihe sincerely wishes it is the former.
Although Sui Yuan’s too-early death caused his carefully laid-out plans to fail, he doesn’t feel it is a misdeed. At least he is able to introduce his real self to Sui Yuan and vice versa, then get to genuinely know each other.
After that, he has to eliminate the resentment Sui Yuan harbours towards him after he disrupted the original plot, then establish a friendly relationship before he can take things one step further.
As long as this is something Zhao Xihe wants to do, there is no way it will not happen. Naturally, if he desires to catch the prey named Sui Yuan, then it is only a matter of time before he gets his hands on the man.
Footnotes:
[1] Show/reveal a cloven foot = Show their true, devilish nature
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