The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide

Because the accident just so happened to be at the entrance of the hospital, Lu Xiuwen was quickly sent to the operating room for rescue. 

Ye Ming stood outside the operating room, his hands squeezing a bank card that was covered in dust.
It’d fallen out when Lu Xiuwen had been hit by the car, and he’d picked it up.

【Ye Ming: Uncle also prepared some money for me, fearing I wouldn’t live well after I left him.】

 

 

【888: How flawless, everything went according to plan.
You can follow these stairs right down, then express that you believe in his love now.
According to my calculations of human emotions, he will very likely happily lower the blackening value for you again.】

【Ye Ming: Looks like he won’t die then, ke ke】 

【888: He won’t die, protagonist lives are all relatively sturdy.
Only, their luck isn’t too great to bump into you, ah.】

 

【Ye Ming: …】

【Ye Ming: Someone shouldered the condemnation of his conscience to so earnestly do missions and eliminate blackening values.
If you don’t encourage me a bit, then whatever, yet you make fun of me all day long instead, aggrieved.jpg】

【888: Please be sure to clearly understand these few points: Firstly, if you hadn’t courted death when you first left, then you wouldn’t have even needed to come back again to eliminate blackening values.
We would’ve happily disbanded already.
Secondly, you doing these missions is for unfreezing your own experience points.
It doesn’t have much to do with me.
Don’t try to threaten me by kidnapping my morals.
Lastly, I don’t care if you do your missions properly or not.
Because I’m rich, I’m not lacking the tiny commission from your experience points.
What I need even more is a reliable host.
If you don’t cause trouble for me, then I’ll be grateful to you.】

 

【Ye Ming: My dear, you don’t love me anymore QAQ] That last bit was too large of a blow.
To a penniless pauper, a critical hit, -99999 HP.】

Ye Ming’s expression was deeply distressed.
This was the nth time that he completely regretted his brains-soaked-in-water actions at the time.
He felt that he might really need some medicine for regret.

【Ye Ming: Ge… since you have so much money, how about you lend me some more?】

【888: Raise your hand and stroke your face.】 

【Ye Ming: ?】

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.

【888: Look how big your face is, how thick your skin is.】

【Tf Zlcu: …】

Tf Zlcu rbggbkoeiis ibbxfv vbkc ja atf yjcx mjgv lc tlr tjcv.
Lf xcfk atfgf wera yf j teuf rew lcrlvf, fcbeut obg tlw ab fzagjnjujcais rqfcv la ab tlr tfjga’r mbcafca lc atlr kbgiv.
Dea, fnfc lo atfgf kjr j iba, ktja kjr atf qblca? Pa kjrc’a jcs yfaafg atjc ulnlcu tlw fnfc 1 fzqfglfcmf qblca.
Coafg jii, la kjr pera j kbgiv atja tf kbeivc’a rajs obg ibcu lc. 

………………

Because something had happened to Lu Xiuwen, his assistants, subordinates, and others rushed over quickly.
The lights of the operating room stayed lit for a long time.
Ye Ming wasn’t familiar with any of these people.
Although they probably recognized him, right now no one was in the mood to pay attention to Ye Ming, leaving him isolated over there.
Ye Ming just sat outside the ward alone, in a trance-like state.

Just when Ye Ming almost couldn’t hold on anymore and was about to fall asleep, suddenly someone sat next to him, handed him a warm box lunch, and said, “Young Master Gu, you haven’t eaten dinner yet, right?”

Ye Ming held onto the fragrant box lunch, so touched the rims of his eyes moistened.
He turned his head and saw that it was the driver, Uncle Li– one of the few people around Lu Xiuwen that he was actually familiar with. 

Uncle Li often frequented the Lu home, and had also helped Lu Xiuwen pick him up and drop him off before.
He could be regarded as an elder he was relatively close with, who had also known Ye Ming for many years.

Sure enough, the people familiar with him were the ones that’d be concerned about him.

 

Probably because he was hungry, even though it was only an ordinary box lunch, Ye Ming looked at it and felt his stomach rumbling.
But what was even more miserable was… he felt that he shouldn’t have an appetite right now.
After all, Lu Xiuwen was still in the operating room, so how could he be in the mood to eat?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t hold back his tears as they flowed down. 

Uncle Li saw that Ye Ming was staring blankly at the box lunch, silently shedding tears, but still not eating, and couldn’t help but sigh, “Young Master Gu… President Lu will be fine, don’t blame yourself.”

Ye Ming had a lump in his throat, and said in a low voice, “It’s all because of me… that Uncle…”

Uncle Li’s gaze was also a little dim.
He actually wasn’t sure whether or not Lu Xiuwen would be able to pull through, but Ye Ming was a child he watched grow up.
The most important thing was that if Ye Ming wasn’t okay, then Lu Xiuwen wouldn’t be at ease even if he died.
Blaming this child now wouldn’t fix anything.
After all, it wasn’t like Ye Ming wanted things to be this way.

He paused, then reached out and patted Ye Ming on the shoulder, and said, “If you’re really worried about President Lu, then don’t do this kind of foolish thing in the future.” 

Ye Ming sniffed a bit, seeming very upset.

Uncle Li saw Ye Ming like this and couldn’t help but sigh.
After hesitating for a while, he finally said, “Some things may not be very appropriate for me to say, since I’m an outsider…”

Ye Ming looked up at him and said hoarsely, “I’ve always thought of you as my family, so if you have something to say, then you can just say it.”

Uncle Li nodded.
“Okay, I’ll just say it then.
I’ve been with President Lu for many years.
As for the matter of him liking your mother in the past, indeed, the number of people who know about it isn’t few.
There are all kinds of conjectures out there, but no one understands the actual situation, so inevitably, false reports were relayed from person to person, resulting in excessive exaggeration.
I’ll just talk about my own perspective, which can be considered fairly objective.
President Lu did like Young Lady Gu before, but that was just in the past.
Who hasn’t liked one or two people before when they were young? It’s just that once some things have passed, then they’ve passed.
They were never together.
Young Lady Gu had her own lover and family.
Since long ago, President Lu had already stopped thinking of her like that.
Young Master Gu… do you understand what I mean?” 

Uncle Li looked at Ye Ming and slowly continued, “To President Lu, Young Lady Gu is like family, and it was because of these feelings that he adopted you.
But, his love for you is different from that for Young Lady Gu.
President Lu is no longer young.
All of these years, he’s never had anyone else by his side.
He’s always been waiting for you to grow up.
We all noticed this… the only person who didn’t know was you, but even if you didn’t know that he had these kinds of feelings for you, his sincere care and consideration for you all these years were not fake.
Sincere or insincere… if you carefully think about it, you should still be able to feel it.”

Ye Ming’s fists were tightly clenched, and his face paled a bit.
He couldn’t take in these words before, and always felt that Lu Xiuwen was lying to him no matter what he said, the fury from learning the unexpected truth completely dominating his mind.

But why he was struggling so painfully… probably was just as Uncle Li said.
Whether a person was sincerely good to him or not could be felt… but it was exactly this man who was so good to him who had also lied to him.

Because of this, he felt so conflicted. 

Uncle Li paused, and then sighed, “Sometimes, when someone loves another person too much, mistakes are made because of impulsivity.
Some of President Lu’s actions were indeed inappropriate, and he went a bit too far.
It’s normal that you can’t forgive him.
You can leave him… but, you don’t need to call his feelings into question.” With these words, he didn’t stay any longer and directly left.
Because of Lu Xiuwen’s accident, everyone was very busy.
No one had time to stay and accompany Ye Ming the entire time.

Ye Ming sat there holding the box lunch.
Before long, the box lunch turned cold, so he no longer had any desire to eat.

【Ye Ming: I really didn’t notice it before, but when the reserved Uncle Li opens his mouth to speak, he’s actually pretty glib.
There’s not much logic, but the simplicity is effective…】

【888: The other was only saying a few words of the big truth.】 

【Ye Ming: ke ke ke.】

Lu Xiuwen was saved as expected.
Everyone else’s expressions looked as though they’d released huge breaths of relief, except for Ye Ming’s, who had a clear idea in his heart and wasn’t too surprised.
After going through so many worlds, it wasn’t as though he didn’t even have this bit of a foundation.
His capture targets were very tough ah, with full protagonist halos.

 

En, the only thing not too good about their lives was that they were the targets in love-capturing worlds.
Even if he hadn’t come, someone else probably would’ve come to capture them instead.

It was nothing more than being apart in life and separated by death.
The results wouldn’t be much different. 

This was their fate.
Who could fight against fate? Anyway, Ye Ming thought that he couldn’t, and didn’t have such grand and lofty aspirations anyway.

………………

Lu Xiuwen stayed in the intensive care unit for a few days before he was finally no longer in critical condition.
Only, he still hadn’t woken up yet.

Ye Ming didn’t leave.
He said he’d wait for Lu Xiuwen to wake up, so Uncle Li arranged a place for him to stay, and let him do as he wished. 

Lu Xiuwen had been seriously injured and was in a coma for a long time.

He was a person who had died once before already, and that time there was also a car accident.
He thought that if he died again this time, the heavens probably wouldn’t give him another chance at rebirth.
This made him feel a bit regretful, yet it was also somewhat freeing, because to him, rebirth didn’t have much meaning.

His life was like a vicious cycle.
No matter which way he went, or how many times he tried again, the result was still the same.
Nothing could be changed.

It was just that he somewhat couldn’t let go of Ye Ming… that child was still too simple-minded.
If he lived, he could still secretly look after him.
If he died, then he really could only struggle his way through society by himself.
No one would be able to help him. 

When Lu Xiuwen thought of this, he felt that it wouldn’t be too good for him to die this easily, almost like a cowardly escape, so he opened his eyes.

The light in front was a bit dazzling.
It should be daytime, the weather not bad and the sun shining high up in the sky.

Lu Xiuwen moved a little, and the nurse taking care of him immediately noticed.
“President Lu, you’re awake?” After, she excitedly rang the bell to call for the doctor.

The doctors hurried over, seriously examined Lu Xiuwen, and consulted among themselves.
It was a good thing that he could wake up.
Now they could finally be completely at ease.
He only needed to slowly recuperate and he’d be fine. 

Lu Xiuwen was calm from beginning to end.
He thanked the doctors with a smile.
After everyone left, the ward was quiet again.

He looked outside the window.
His cold side profile seemed a bit reticent, his complexion pallid and feeble.
After a long time, he grabbed his phone, ready to ask about Ye Ming’s situation.
He had an accident at the time, and Ye Ming left by himself… he didn’t know how he was doing.

Only, he stared at his phone and didn’t move for a long while.

Lu Xiuwen raised the corners of his lips in a self-mocking arc.
He thought since Ye Ming already left by himself, he should really let things go.
It looked like he really hated him quite a bit, and hated him to death at that.
His concern was really just him flattering himself… but with feelings, these things, they weren’t something that could be let go of at will. 

Lu Xiuwen shut his eyes.
In the end, he decided to just ask tomorrow.
He was fairly tired.
It should be okay for him to rest a day first.
And Ye Ming should be okay, otherwise someone would’ve already dropped by to tell him about the situation.

Besides, Ye Ming probably didn’t care for his concern anyway.

Lu Xiuwen lay on the hospital bed.
Probably because his serious injuries hadn’t healed yet, he felt a bit fatigued and was sleepy again after only a little while.
At this time, he suddenly heard a clear voice filled with surprise coming from the doorway, “Uncle, y–you’re awake?”

Lu Xiuwen suddenly opened his eyes again and looked at the youth who had appeared at the doorway.
For a moment, he was afraid that he was dreaming again.

 

 

Why hadn’t he left yet?

Ye Ming had only made a quick trip outside.
He didn’t think that Lu Xiuwen would be awake when he came back.
The fact that Lu Xiuwen had been severely injured in order to save him always made him feel very guilty.
He did resent Lu Xiuwen for treating him like that… but no matter how uncomfortable he felt or how painful it was, he only wanted to end his own life, and hadn’t thought of killing Lu Xiuwen. 

After all, this was the person who had taken care of him for over a decade, the person he cared about the most, ah.
Seeing Lu Xiuwen lying on the bed in a coma, his life or death uncertain, he finally understood his own feelings.
He actually didn’t want to leave him at all.

 

Lu Xiuwen stared at Ye Ming, a complicated and shocked look in his eyes.
But, he wasn’t particularly overjoyed, because he felt that Ye Ming couldn’t have forgiven him.
He’d probably stayed behind only because he couldn’t be completely hard-hearted.
He was a good kid.

Ye Ming rushed over and stood in front of Lu Xiuwen, the rims of his eyes slightly reddening, his voice choked with sobs, “I almost thought that I would never get to see you again.”

Lu Xiuwen saw the look on Ye Ming’s face, and couldn’t help but soften his expression.
His voice was hoarse and carried a smile, “You being like this, it’s almost as though you can’t bear to give me up.”

 

He was only joking, partly in self-ridicule, and partly to let Ye Ming feel at ease.
He didn’t intend to tie him down with this incident.
But, he hadn’t thought that Ye Ming’s answer would be out of his expectations.

Ye Ming bit his lip, looked at him, and said, “Yes, I can’t bear to give you up.”

The smile on Lu Xiuwen’s face slowly froze, his eyes becoming dark and profound.
There were all kinds of feelings suppressed inside him, but he didn’t want to blow things out of proportion.
After a long while, he nodded, and slowly said, “I know.
I’m fine, you can rest assured.”

Ye Ming raised his hand to wipe the corners of his eyes.
He broke into a smile and said, “Uncle, do you want to drink some water? I’ll get some for you.” Then, he went to pour a glass of water, brought it over, then blew on it first, in fear it would burn his hands.
He waited until he thought it was about ready before handing it over to Lu Xiuwen. 

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.

Lu Xiuwen had injured a hand, and only the other one could move.
He took the cup from Ye Ming’s hands, brushing past Ye Ming’s fingertips, and said, “Thanks.”

Tf Zlcu ibbxfv ja Oe Wlekfc klat mbcmfgc.
Lf atbeuta jybea la jcv jrxfv, “Cgf sbe tecugs? Gb sbe kjca ab fja? P’ii ub yes rbwfatlcu obg sbe.”

Lu Xiuwen looked at the concerned look in Ye Ming’s eyes, the corners of his lips lifting up uncontrollably.
He felt that he really was an easily satisfied person.
Still being able to see this person concerned about him and taking care of him, even if it was just a bit of charity, he felt it was as sweet as candy.
He said, “No need, I’m not hungry.”

Ye Ming gave a blank “oh“.
He was somewhat at a loss and not really sure what else he could do.
Finally, he reached out to help tuck Lu Xiuwen in.
Before, it was always Lu Xiuwen taking care of him, so now he actually wasn’t too sure how to take care of others.
His actions seemed a bit unnatural, and his face turned red. 

Dea cbk tlr ecmif kjr j qjalfca, rb tf rtbeiv ajxf mjgf bo tlw, rtbeivc’a tf? Pa kjr ab rjnf tlw atja…

Lu Xiuwen sighed softly.
He put down the cup in his hands, looked into Ye Ming’s eyes, and said, “I already said before that you could leave.”

Ye Ming’s face slightly paled, and he pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.

In this unbearable silence, Ye Ming suddenly raised his head, steadily looked into Lu Xiuwen’s eyes, and said, “Will you lie to me again?” 

Lu Xiuwen shook his head.
He wouldn’t lie to him again.

Ye Ming paused again.
He flushed and looked as though he was holding something back, and was somewhat awkward and ill at ease.
Then, as if using a lot of courage, he turned his head to the side and said in a low voice, “Then when you said that you loved me, that you only loved me… was that true? ”

 

Lu Xiuwen nodded, “It’s true.”

Ye Ming said, “Then I‘ll trust you.” 

The look in Lu Xiuwen’s eyes condensed, and his expression became more serious.
Even though he was still unwell, he seemed to still have an oppressive, imposing air about him.

Ye Ming was shy and timid.
In the past, he was always a bit afraid of Lu Xiuwen.
But at this moment, he seemed to have summoned all of his courage, like he was betting all of his chips.
He said firmly, “I want to trust you one more time.”

Because I don’t want to leave you.
You’re the one who loves me the most, and also the one I love the most.

If I can’t bear to leave you, then why can’t I trust you once again? I believe you won’t let me down this time… this time, I won’t be an ignorant fool.
I want to stand by your side seriously and love you as an equal. 

Lu Xiuwen looked at Ye Ming and saw his determination, his courage to make it or break it.

Just when he’d thought that there was no hope left anymore, this person stayed behind again and gave him hope.
It was like coming back from death’s door, like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you’re still willing to give me another chance.

Even if I exhaust a lifetime, I won’t let you down. 

【Ding.
Lu Xiuwen’s Blackening Value: -4.
Current Blackening Value: 1】

Lu Xiuwen raised his right hand and gently placed it on Ye Ming’s head.
The look in his eyes was gentle and deep.
He revealed a smile and said, “Okay, you can trust me.”

Although there was still a feeling like this was unbelievable, this person was actually, really standing in front of him, ah…

Ye Ming stayed, but he didn’t spend every day in the hospital.
Instead, he went back to school and took classes during the daytime, then went to the hospital after school.
It was as though this place had become his home.
Their days also returned to normal. 

Neither of them mentioned the unpleasant things from before, and the dark clouds seemed to pass by just like that.

Ye Ming no longer rejected the bodyguards who picked him up and drove him around, and lived the life of a young master as though it was a matter of fact.
After experiencing the ups-and-downs from before, he was actually more accepting and understanding of a great many things now, and didn’t care much about the looks he got from others anymore.
When he went back to the hospital at night, he would tell Lu Xiuwen about the interesting things that had happened at school.

Lu Xiuwen always listened with a smile, occasionally giving him some suggestions of his own.
From what he could see, the things Ye Ming brought up were only childhood worries.
Being young was such a good thing.

“Hu Lei finally got himself a girlfriend.
He treated me to dinner today.” This day, Ye Ming came back much later, and hadn’t accompanied Lu Xiuwen to eat.
He sat down on the sofa with an exhausted look.
His entire body sank in bonelessly like a cat. 

Lu Xiuwen laughed, “You helped?”

Ye Ming raised his chin very proudly, his black eyes shining, “You don’t know how popular I am at school.
When they mention someone tall, rich, and handsome, they’re referring to me.
Allegedly, the title of campus hunk has to go to me this year.
There are all kinds of fangirls around me everyday.
Hu Lei and one of them fell in love at first sight, and soon after, became a couple, so this was especially to thank me, this matchmaker.”

 

Lu Xiuwen’s eyes were filled with laughter, and he pressed his fist to his lips.
“He indeed should be grateful to you, then.”

Ye Ming sprawled on the sofa for a while.
Seeing the fruit on the table, he walked over, peeled a tangerine, and tossed a slice into his mouth.
Then, his expression froze for a moment. 

Because his back was facing Lu Xiuwen, Lu Xiuwen wasn’t able to see his expression.

Ye Ming took a deep breath, held the peeled tangerine and came to Lu Xiuwen’s bedside.
He said very gallantly, “Open up, I’ll feed you.”

Lu Xiuwen very obediently opened his mouth.

Ye Ming cheerfully stuffed a slice into Lu Xiuwen’s mouth, and said, “Very delicious, ba.” 

As soon as Lu Xiuwen bit down, his mouth filled with an astringent taste, and his expression slightly changed.

Ye Ming let out a triumphant ha ha ha.
He seemed to think that he still hadn’t courted death enough yet, and bowed his head to briskly kiss Lu Xiuwen’s lips.
His eyes were curved as he waved the tangerine in his hand, “Do you want some more?”

Lu Xiuwen’s gaze darkened.
Suddenly, he reached out and pulled Ye Ming into his arms.
He lowered his head and kissed his lips, then pried his teeth apart.

Ye Ming didn’t expect to be caught.
But, Lu Xiuwen was injured, so he was scared to move, and in the end, could only obediently be kissed by Lu Xiuwen to his heart’s content. 

Lu Xiuwen’s eyelids were lowered, laughter in his eyes.

Could these small tricks actually fool him? He’d even foolishly delivered himself right onto his doorstep, but… the taste in Ye Ming’s mouth was very sweet.
He didn’t think it was sour at all.

Ye Ming was kissed by Lu Xiuwen until his face turned completely red.
His entire head was filled with indecent images.
All he could think about was the scene of this man doing this or that to him.
He reached out and pushed Lu Xiuwen away, then ran off.

Lu Xiuwen gave a low chuckle and watched Ye Ming’s back as he left, his eyes gentle. 

He thought that he shouldn’t have any more regrets.
It turned out that this rebirth wasn’t completely meaningless after all.

There were some things that, even if you held onto them with all of your strength, still couldn’t be kept.
But once you loosened up, they’d come back again.
Life was probably just this unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Love, even more so, could not be forced.

Ye Ming accompanied Lu Xiuwen until he was discharged from the hospital and the two returned home.

Lu Xiuwen was as gentle to Ye Ming as before, only, he never brought up any demands again.
He did love him, but he exercised restraint, and gave Ye Ming absolute freedom and trust.

 

 

As long as this person was willing to stay by his side for even another day, he’d put his all into loving him, and respect him as an equal.

If he wanted to leave… then he’d just let him leave.
As long as he could tell that he was doing well, then that was enough. 

When Ye Ming returned home, he seemed a little emotional.
Actually, that period of time that had made him feel hopeless and sad hadn’t been completely wiped away from his heart yet.
But, he also told himself, why do you have to use your misgivings and those few times you were deceived to deny your happiness over the past decade and the kindness of this person who’d tried his very best?

 

Since he couldn’t bear to leave this person, why not open up his heart and trust him once again?

This was also to give himself one more chance, ah…

He knew in his heart that in order to obtain him, Lu Xiuwen may have done some things behind his back that were wrong.
But, at least he didn’t regard him as anyone else’s substitute.
The person he loved was him.

 

Because, if someone didn’t truly love the other, that person would’ve never disregarded his own safety like that without caring about anything else, ba.

That decade’s worth of care wasn’t something a complete liar could accomplish, ba… what if he really had misunderstood? What if there really was another reason?

Ye Ming let out a breath.
He thought that since he’d already made a decision, then he had to be more rational and mature.
He couldn’t always let Uncle feel that he was a simple-minded and impulsive child.
If he couldn’t grow up, then even if he was deceived or despised, then it would serve him right, ba?

The two of them actually still had scars on their hearts, but neither of them showed it.
They tried to be considerate to each other, making the atmosphere seem incredibly harmonious. 

After dinner, Lu Xiuwen went back to his room first to rest.
He’d just left the hospital and couldn’t exert himself too much.

But when Lu Xiuwen was about to rest, he looked at the empty space beside him in the bed, and his eyes dimmed slightly.

Ye Ming hadn’t come, but Lu Xiuwen didn’t plan to go outside to call Ye Ming over or coax him to come.
He thought that Ye Ming might not be ready to completely reconcile with him yet.

Lu Xiuwen raised his hand to turn off the lights.
As soon as he lay down, he heard the door being pushed open and the warm yellow light from the corridor shined in.
Ye Ming stood at the doorway, wearing a large pair of pajamas.
He yawned, “Uncle, why’re you sleeping so early?” 

Lu Xiuwen looked at him.
In the dark, his eyes seemed even darker, “You’re here.”

You know what it means to come here, right?

Ye Ming acted as though he was very naturally going back to his own room, and directly got under the blankets.
Because it was a little cold, he shifted inwards a bit.
The area around Lu Xiuwen was warm and seemed to dispel the chill.
He actually really liked to cuddle with him.
It let him indulge in affection, and he felt relieved he could rely on him.

Lu Xiuwen flipped over, reached out his long arms, and pulled Ye Ming into his embrace.
The corners of his lips lifted, “Before, I was a little sleepy, but now I’m not.” 

………………

When Ye Ming woke up the next day, he was still in Lu Xiuwen’s arms.
His face turned red.
Uncle had just been discharged from the hospital, yet his physical strength didn’t seem to have diminished much, ah.

 

He saw that Lu Xiuwen didn’t seem to be awake yet.
He stretched out a fingertip and gently scratched Lu Xiuwen’s chin.

Suddenly, he was pressed down again. 

The two had completely returned to their normal couple life.
Ye Ming also didn’t care much about what other people thought of him anymore.
He didn’t want to doubt Lu Xiuwen’s feelings for him because of other people pointing at them and spreading rumors.
Their love was something between the two of them, and had nothing to do with other people.
Since he decided to trust this person, then he wouldn’t be so easily agitated by others again.

Soon, the semester ended, and it was almost time to celebrate the new year.

Lu Xiuwen and Ye Ming only had a few relatives who they didn’t have much contact with, and didn’t have too good of a relationship with.
Therefore, it could be said that they were each other’s closest relatives.
In the past, they’d spend the new year together each year.
Although it was a bit deserted and dull, it never felt lonely.

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.

Mbg qfbqif ktbrf tfjgar kfgf rfqjgjafv, vlrajca, bg lcvloofgfca, fnfc lo wbgf qfbqif kfgf ujatfgfv, la kbeiv wfgfis yf rajcvlcu jwbcu ragjcufgr, klatbea mbwobga bg rjalrojmalbc… obg qfbqif ktb ibnfv fjmt batfg, fnfc lo atfgf kjr bcis bcf batfg qfgrbc ktfc atfs kfgf abufatfg, la kjr fcbeut. 

Tf Zlcu kjr bc rmtbbi njmjalbc jcv tjv cbatlcu ab vb.
Mgbw alwf ab alwf, tf’v ub bnfg ab Oe Wlekfc’r mbwqjcs obg j ragbii.
Lf veyyfv atfw ‘regqglrf lcrqfmalbcr’ ab rff lo tf kjr agslcu ab qeii jcsatlcu yftlcv tlr yjmx.
Oe Wlekfc pera ijeutfv jcv vlvc’a rjs jcsatlcu.

One day, Lu Xiuwen suddenly told Ye Ming, “Later, let’s go to a place.”

Ye Ming didn’t bother asking at all.
He was nestled in his office playing games.
He waited for Lu Xiuwen to get off work before he got in the car and left with Lu Xiuwen.
At first, he didn’t mind very much.
It wasn’t until the car stopped at the gate of a cemetery that he showed a surprised and complicated look.

Lu Xiuwen’s expression was steady and solemn.
He held Ye Ming’s hand and walked step by step to the front of the Gu couple’s grave. 

He said, “Ya-jie, I didn’t dare to tell you before, but I’ve fallen in love with your son.
He’s the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

“I don’t know if you’ll blame me, but I can promise you that I’ll always love him and protect him.”

Lu Xiuwen didn’t say much else.
His intentions couldn’t be expressed through a few simple words.
Moreover, words paled in comparison.
Only time could prove everything.

He’d use the rest of his life to prove his love. 

【Ding.
Lu Xiuwen’s Blackening Value -1.
Current Blackening Value: 0】

Ye Ming stood beside him silently, watching the man’s firm and steady profile.
He lowered his gaze and didn’t say anything.

………………

On the way back, Ye Ming seemed a little absent-minded.
He was playing games and died many times in a row. 

【888: You’re distracted.
】

【Ye Ming: I’m about to die again, ying ying ying.
I’m so scared ah…】

 

【888: It’s not like it’s your first time dying, what’s there to be afraid of.】

【Ye Ming: Ge, this is what you said ah, so you’ll definitely shield me from pain, right? Don’t play games when the time comes oh QAQ】 

【888: …】

【Ye Ming: I believe you aren’t that type of cruel, heartless, and cold-blooded system.
I can see that under your indifferent exterior is the mighty spirit of brotherhood.
Please shield me! づ】

【888: …】Hurry up and go die!

Lu Xiuwen was faintly aware that Ye Ming’s mood seemed a bit downcast and assumed the reason was because he was thinking about his parents.
He brainstormed ideas on how to coax Ye Ming. 

In fact, he was prepared to propose to Ye Ming during the new year.
There were some unpleasant rumors outside saying that Ye Ming was being raised by him for entertainment.
In addition to the matter with Gu Xueya that year, some of the rumors circulating outside sounded especially nasty.
Lu Xiuwen was very angry when he heard about them.

He wanted to marry Ye Ming openly under the sun and publicly proclaim their relationship to the entire world.
Although the rumors being discussed in secret couldn’t all be eliminated, since there were always dark corners in people’s hearts, at least he wanted to let everyone understand that he truly loved this person.
He wasn’t some plaything, wasn’t a substitute, and wasn’t something that could be discarded on a whim.

This was the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Recently they’d gotten along very well.
Lu Xiuwen thought that Ye Ming would accept.
This child had grown up a lot recently.
He was sensible and considerate, which made Lu Xiuwen feel very gratified.
He was confident that their relationship wouldn’t easily be shaken by gossip and rumors. 

And he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

Ye Ming didn’t make any moves and lived a stable life as usual.

【888: This time, you’ve actually been pretty laid back.
In a few days, you’re going to die, but I haven’t seen you make any preparations.】

【Ye Ming: There’s nothing much to prepare, ah.
Living like an old married couple doesn’t give me much of a chance to do anything even if I wanted to.
Besides, there’s no need to.
Isn’t the system going to send me a complimentary accidental death package? The stingy main system is deathly determined to get money for everything else, but when it wants your life, it doesn’t want money, ah.】 

【888: Well… it’s considered pretty good treatment for you already.
At least it’s taking care of your body for free, ah.】

【Ye Ming: It does seem to be this way…】

【888: So, it’s not that stingy, ba.】888 would absolutely never tell Ye Ming that he thinks the main system is the most uptight, the most inflexible, the most stingy, the most heartless, and the most ruthless.
However, in order to oppose Ye Ming, he managed to admit with great difficulty that the main system was still a little bit human.

【Ye Ming: Ah, this is actually my first time enjoying the accidental death treatment.
Super curious! Anticipate-ing!】 

In order to fake it until the end, he’d absolutely never tell 888 that spending each day waiting for an accidental death was actually a bit terrifying.
He felt like he was living in a Grim Reaper-type horror movie.

Hu Lei was also a native here.
His romantic relationship had developed extremely smoothly.
During the new year, he even brought his girlfriend home to meet his parents.
He’d also maintained a fairly good friendship with Ye Ming.
A few of these good buddies had nothing to do, so they made plans to go out for dinner.

 

After Ye Ming had dinner with them that day, he cheerily waved them goodbye.

Because he had to cross the road to flag down a taxi to take home, Ye Ming just walked along the side of the road.
Today, it was fairly windy, and he hadn’t reached the crosswalk yet when a huge gust of wind suddenly blew by, almost carrying him away with it.
Before he could steady himself, he looked up and saw a gigantic billboard falling from the sky, smashing into him! 

【Ye Ming: F*ck me, ahhhhhhhhhh】

………………

Lu Xiuwen was going to propose to Ye Ming today.
In order to give Ye Ming a surprise, he made sure not to reveal any flaws in advance.
As usual, he let Ye Ming go out with his classmates for a get-together.

The entire house was completely spruced up.
Photos of the two of them were hung up on the wall, making it seem especially cozy. 

Lu Xiuwen sat on the sofa and took out a couple’s ring from a velvet box.
This was something he secretly asked someone to specially customize.
The insides were engraved with both of their names.
Lu Xiuwen rubbed the engraving on the inside of the ring with his finger, a tender look containing anticipation in his eyes.

He figured Ye Ming would be back soon.
He usually handled matters steadily with moderation, but now he was actually a little nervous.

Only, he waited for a long time, but Ye Ming still hadn’t come back yet.

Lu Xiuwen was starting to get a little worried.
But, he hadn’t been tracking Ye Ming anymore, so he wasn’t too sure of his whereabouts and had no choice but to call and ask.
Unexpectedly, no one actually answered Ye Ming’s phone. 

Lu Xiuwen suddenly stood up, his fingers squeezing the phone with so much strength they turned white, his lips pressed together tightly.
Everything should be okay… he only didn’t pick up the phone.
It was probably too noisy on the road, so he couldn’t hear it.
This was very normal… he shouldn’t overthink it, how could there be so many accidents.

There couldn’t possibly be so many accidents.

But Lu Xiuwen still wasn’t reassured.
He immediately called Hu Lei to ask about Ye Ming’s situation.
To Lu Xiuwen’s surprise, Hu Lei said that he separated from Ye Ming two hours ago.

Lu Xiuwen hung up the phone, a trace of uneasiness in his eyes.
No, he still wasn’t reassured.
While he continued to call Ye Ming, he immediately instructed people to go find Ye Ming. 

Just as he was becoming more and more unable to sit still, someone finally answered Ye Ming’s phone.
There was an unfamiliar male voice, “Hello, you’ve been making a lot of calls to this phone.
May I ask if you’re a family member?”

Lu Xiuwen’s voice slightly trembled, “Who are you?”

The other side said, “I’m a policeman.
If you’re his relative, please come to XXX Hospital right now.”

……………… 

Lu Xiuwen didn’t wait for the driver to come, and personally drove a car and sped over.
He’d probably have to pay for a lot of tickets he’d accumulated along the way, but he didn’t care at all.
He staggered into the hospital, and walked to the morgue.

He saw the person he’d been waiting for, but had never arrived.

 

The youth lay quietly on the cold metal bed, his body covered with a white cloth.
His rib cage seemed sunken in, and his forehead still had blood on it.
His eyes were shut, and he wasn’t moving.

Lu Xiuwen walked over step by step, then reached out a hand and touched his cold face. 

He felt that he might be having a nightmare.

In this nightmare, he was reborn… then, he used the wrong methods in an attempt to possess this person.
He lost him, but the nightmare still wasn’t over yet.
Like it was deliberately stringing him along, it allowed him to come back from death’s door to have this person again, and they were finally able to have an affectionate life together…

This dream full of twists and turns utterly exhausted him both physically and mentally.
Just when he naively thought that this was a beautiful dream, there was a crashing sound…

And everything was shattered again. 

But why hadn’t he woken up yet, why was he still stuck in this dream, unable to wake up?

“Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran…” Lu Xiuwen softly called out a few times.

But, no one answered him.

Lu Xiuwen used his sleeve to lightly wipe away the blood on the youth’s forehead.
He gently tidied his hair, then finally lowered his head, and gave an incomparably affectionate kiss to the cold lips that would never radiate warmth ever again. 

“Xiao Ran…”

I said before that I wanted to protect you for a lifetime.
I wasn’t able to do it, ah.
In the last life, I hadn’t been able to do it… in this life I also couldn’t.

Why wasn’t I the one who died.
Why am I unable to keep you with me.

If fate meant for things to be like this, then why let me relive everything again.
It would’ve been better to have just died like that, while you’d still been alive somewhere in this world. 

It would’ve been better to just let me die like that, ah…

Lu Xiuwen’s gaze was sorrowful beyond compare.
He took the couple’s ring out from the box and slowly put it on the youth’s finger.

This is what I prepared for you.
But, I couldn’t give it to you in time.

I’m not sure if you like it or not. 

………………

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years passed by.

 

Lu Xiuwen returned home.
After so many years, the house had never taken anyone else in.
It was just him by himself, making the house seem somewhat empty and lonely.

He was only in his forties, yet Lu Xiuwen already had white hair on his temples.
He thought that it was too dark inside the house, so he turned on all of the lights.
Then, he went up to Ye Ming’s room on the second floor. 

Someone came to clean the room every week, so it was always clean and tidy.
Just that, no matter how carefully he tried to preserve the room, it was impossible to hide the scent of an uninhabited room… Lu Xiuwen walked over, sat at the desk, and opened the drawer.
Various gifts he’d once given Ye Ming were arranged inside it.

That gemstone necklace that’d been discarded had also been placed inside by him.

This house was full of traces once left by Ye Ming in the past.
No matter where Lu Xiuwen went, he seemed to still be able to see that child, his former figure revealing a smile to him.

Later, he was a little tired and went back to his room to rest.
He raised his hand and looked at the ring on his finger, his gaze momentarily falling into a trance. 

Every day before he shut his eyes, he always thought about the exact same thing: if he opened his eyes, would he wake up and discover that all of this had just been a dream.

But he still hadn’t woken up.
He thought that if this was actually a dream, then it really was too long.

Much too long.