The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide

Shen Ye felt his arms become empty.
He looked up to find Zhou Jiaping had appeared in front of him, clutching Ye Ming’s wrist tightly, while looking at them furiously.
His gaze slightly chilled, and a cold smile touched his lips.
But, he didn’t say a word, and only stood there calmly to see how Ye Ming would react.

Ye Ming’s face turned pale.
He hadn’t expected that Zhou Jiaping would just so happen to come across this scene.
But, he soon came to a decision.

 

 

With Shen Ye’s attitude, if he didn’t handle this situation well, he was afraid that Zhou Jiaping would end up in trouble.

Furthermore, he’d planned on breaking up with Zhou Jiaping anyway.
As for whether or not Zhou Jiaping would misunderstand… actually didn’t matter that much.
Letting him believe that he’d broken up with him because of Shen Ye was fine too.
Then, he ought to be able to give up ba. 

Ye Ming’s calm expression was gradually restored.
Instead of answering Zhou Jiaping’s question, he said, “We’ve already broken up.
There’s no need for me to explain myself to you.”

 

Zhou Jiaping’s eyes blazed with fury! He’d already recognized Shen Ye as the man who’d suddenly appeared to greet them the last time he had a meal with Ye Ming.
At the time, he’d asked Ye Ming who Shen Ye was, and Ye Ming had said that he’d only met him once before in the hotel, so they weren’t familiar with each other.

At the time… he’d naively wondered if he’d neglected Ye Ming and upset him, causing him to make such a request.
Now it seemed… Ye Ming had probably already met this rich man a long time ago, and had been lying to him this entire time.

“Is that so… when did the two of you get together?” Zhou Jiaping looked at Ye Ming, his eyes red.

 

Ye Ming’s lips thinned.
He remained silent for a moment, before he responded, “Just recently.”

Zhou Jiaping laughed bitterly. So is this the perfunctory answer you’re giving me? When I called you all those times, you were together with this man.
When I was in trouble, you never even thought of how I might’ve been doing.
Now that I’ve figured everything out… this is all you have to say to me.

You won’t even give me a single explanation.

He was the only one who’d foolishly thought that they could still be together.
But, in reality, Ye Ming was no longer the person that he was familiar with, nor the person that he liked. 

And he was a complete idiot for trying to cling on to him.

A look of self-ridicule appeared in Zhou Jiaping’s eyes.
He knew that there really was no hope of recovering their relationship this time, but he still wanted to ask one last thing, “Is it because of him that you wanted to break up with me?”

Ye Ming met Zhou Jiaping’s gaze, looking at the hurt in his eyes, suddenly feeling a little suffocated on the inside.

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.

He slowly said, “Yes.” 

Ca Tf Zlcu’r gfrqbcrf, Itbe Aljqlcu gfifjrfv tlr tjcv.
Llr fsfr kfgf ralii gfv, yea tlr fzqgfrrlbc tjv aegcfv jqjatfalm.
Lf rjlv, “P ecvfgrajcv.
P tbqf sbe mjc byajlc ktjafnfg la lr sbe kjca.
P kbc’a ybatfg sbe fnfg jujlc.”

Qtfc tf olclrtfv, tf aegcfv jgbecv klatbea jcs tfrlajalbc, kjixlcu jkjs rafq ys rafq.

He was very angry and very sad, but what else could he do? Was he supposed to beg the person who’d abandoned and betrayed him?

Ye Ming watched Zhou Jiaping’s resolute, departing back.
At this moment….
it felt as though he’d gone back in time to that night ten years ago when Shen Ye had fallen into a pool of his own blood, looking at him with despair and hatred. 

That time, he was the one who’d left, but for him, the person who’d left had been Shen Ye.

Just like right now, where he was the one heartlessly pushing someone else away himself.

 

Gradually drifting apart in the end.

He felt very apologetic towards Zhou Jiaping, but the remorse and guilt he felt for Shen Ye was hundreds and thousands of times greater.
The pain suppressed in his heart with nowhere to go felt like a hand firmly clenching his heart, almost crushing it to pieces, making it impossible for him to breathe. 

Shen Ye had been standing aloof on the side.
He’d believed that Ye Ming would make a wise decision, and didn’t care about what Zhou Jiaping might do, just like how a lion or elephant might pay an ant no mind.

But, at this moment, seeing the pain in Ye Ming’s eyes and his trembling body, an unpleasant feeling suddenly sprouted within his heart, almost like jealousy…

He couldn’t help but recall that night ten years ago.

How had Han Xu treated him before he’d left him back then? 

He’d given him a cold smile, saying: This is my breakup gift to you, do you still like it?

Shen Ye would never forget that moment, nor would he ever forget that one sentence for the rest of his life.
He felt that his feelings hadn’t been worth it.
His wholehearted sincerity had garnered nothing but disdain in return.
Even if Han Xu had really wanted the Shen family and all that he owned for himself… he would’ve just given everything to him.
Why had he been able to remain so unaffected when he’d attacked him?

Had he really… not struggled over it even the tiniest bit?

Had he not ever loved him? 

How could someone’s heart be cold and ruthless to such a degree?

What a joke… he was actually jealous of someone he didn’t care about at all, jealous of Zhou Jiaping, jealous of the concern and love he could receive from someone else.

While he had absolutely nothing at all.

Ye Ming let out a small sigh of relief.
He looked back at Shen Ye and said, “Can I go up now?” 

Shen Ye looked at him, finally concealing the various emotions buried deep in his eyes as he said lightly, “Yes.”

Ye Ming nodded, turning around and going upstairs.

However, Shen Ye didn’t leave immediately.
He returned to his car and sat down, staring at the building in the night, watching as Ye Ming’s figure disappeared, but what he was thinking of was… where was Han Xu now? He’d been thinking about this question for ten years, yet had never received an answer.
But, at least there was one thing that was certain.

You betrayed me, left me, and I won’t love you anymore. 

Ten years ago, you severed our ties.
So, you probably don’t even care who I’m with now, ba?

………………

 

Ye Ming returned to his dorm room, took a shower, and lay down on his bed.

【888: I already reminded you that Zhou Jiaping was waiting for you.
What exactly are you doing?】 

【Ye Ming: This is killing two birds with one stone ah.
First, quickly make Xiao Zhou give up to prevent him from getting mixed up any further in me and Shen Ye’s affairs.
Secondly~ just to stimulate my family’s Shen Ye so he realizes I’m not just the person he vents his feelings on.】

【888: But it seems like you haven’t considered the fact that both of them will be sad, oh?】

【Ye Ming: It’s okay ba, it’s just a part of falling in love ma.
Lots of college students break up these days.
Comrade Xiao Zhou can just consider this to be a scummy past dating experience.
Someone as great as him will have true love waiting for him.
But, my good little brother is in a little bit of a pickle.
With a 100% favorability and then blackening value, if I don’t come back, he’ll be lonely for life with no chance at all with anybody else.】

【888: But, you still have to leave in the end.】 

【Ye Ming: …】

【Ye Ming: Ke, think about it this way.
A lifetime is only about a hundred years.
There’s not much of a difference between living a few more years or living a few years less.
Just take it as though I died young ba!】

【888: So, once you go back to the real world, are you still willing to die young? There’s not much of a difference in living a few years less after all.】

【Ye Ming: QAQ Let’s not discuss this issue anymore, okay?】 

【888: He he.】

Ye Ming went on to work at the company the next day as if nothing had happened.
He was very satisfied with his current role doing nothing! He went to work every day full of energy.
At first, he’d still pretend to snatch up some work to do, but later on, when he realized he couldn’t find anything to do, he’d started to just laze about as a matter of course.

Guan Yuyang hadn’t mentioned anything again since the last time he had that conversation with Ye Ming.
Only, when he occasionally saw him going in and out of Shen Ye’s office, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Ye Ming was practically about to grow moldy from how long he’d remained idle for when he started to consider his future plans. 

Right now, Shen Ye had no idea he was even dead, still thinking he’d absconded out of fear of punishment.
First, he had to find a way to let him discover his true identity, so he could realize that he was already dead.
Only then, would he find a way to investigate his cause of death.
Otherwise, he’d never dream of such a grudge existing between their two families.

Nor would he doubt his father’s words.
After all, he’d lived well in the Shen family for 20 years.

Shen Dayao had done everything very meticulously.
Twenty years had passed by since that incident.
If he hadn’t made a move on him, then there wouldn’t have been any evidence at all.
But, it was exactly because he’d made this move on him, that he’d left some clues behind.

【Ye Ming: Ge, speaking of… how exactly did they deal with my corpse back then?】 

【888: They dug a pit somewhere and buried it, what else would they do with it?】

【Ye Ming: Ke… then right now…】

 

【888: It can’t be you want to dig yourself out? Then, you have to be mentally prepared.
It’s rotting and won’t be a pretty sight.】

【Ye Ming: …】 No, he was especially afraid of these kinds of horror movie scenes! 

【Ye Ming: Ke, ke, ke… it’s best to leave this kind of thing to my clever baby brother ba. I’m scared, yingyingying.】

888: The heck.

Shen Ye didn’t summon Ye Ming for several days in a row.
Ye Ming enjoyed his leisurely life.

 

 

Then, one Friday afternoon, Shen Ye texted Ye Ming: Wait for me after work.

Ye Ming was beyond excited.
He could feel that their relationship was finally about to make some progress.
Compared to occasionally getting physical, of course it’d be easier to reveal some flaws and jumpstart some plot development if they stuck together day and night! 

This time, Shen Ye hadn’t asked Ye Ming to stay behind for them to sleep together, but to take him out for dinner.

 

This was the very first time Shen Ye had taken Ye Ming out.
Besides getting right down to business, he’d never done anything he’d considered superfluous with Ye Ming before.

Shen Ye brought Ye Ming to a Western restaurant that had already been opened for many years.
Han Xu had been rather partial to this restaurant, so they’d often come here to eat.
Later on… Shen Ye seldom came here anymore.

He closed his eyes for a bit, lightly tapping a finger against his knee.
Over the years, it wasn’t that he hadn’t attempted to have a fresh start, but that he hadn’t been able to go through with it.

 

Han Xu’s departure had stolen away all the love inside his heart, leaving only deep-seated hatred in its place.
There was no way for him to love someone else or lead a normal life.
He was always waiting for him or thinking about how’d get his revenge, the unknown leaving him hopelessly aimless with no end in sight…

Instinctively resisting anyone who tried to get close.

But, now there was a person in front of him who could relieve the tedium.
Keeping him by his side didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Then, so be it ba. 

Shen Ye opened his eyes, a rare bit of warmth in the look he directed toward Ye Ming, as he said in a low voice, “The dishes here are rather delicious.
You should try some.”

Ye Ming lowered his gaze.
Of course he knew the food here was good.
He used to come here rather often.
Only, he hadn’t thought that ten years later, its appearance would remain nearly unchanged.

Shen Ye had already ordered some dishes in advance.
Ye Ming looked at the food in front of him.
To his surprise… they were all dishes he used to like.

He clutched his fork tightly, and couldn’t help but look up at Shen Ye, wanting to know what exactly it was that he was trying to do.
He had absolutely no idea who he was! Yet, he was still treating him like he was Han Xu.
Wasn’t that ridiculous?! 

Shen Ye noticed the complicated look in Ye Ming’s eyes, and raised an eyebrow.
He thought that Ye Ming was probably not too used to being with him.
After all, he’d just broken up with his ex-boyfriend.
But, he didn’t think it was too much of an issue.
With a soon-to-be college graduate, as long as he treated him a bit better, sooner or later he’d come to understand that compromising with reality wasn’t that unbearable.
On the contrary, compromise could lead to a better life.

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.

Shen Ye faintly smiled.
He said to Ye Ming, “Oh, right… you’re just about to graduate.
You can’t stay in the dormitories forever.
You might as well move into my place ba.”

Tf Zlcu’r fzqgfrrlbc olcjiis rtloafv, jcv tf qgbafrafv, “P mjc olcv rbwfktfgf firf ab ilnf wsrfio.”

Vtfc Tf ibbxfv jrxjcmf ja tlw klat j rwlif bc tlr ilqr.
Dea, lc j abcf atja ygbbxfv cb jguewfca, tf ribkis rjlv, “Qts ub atgbeut jii atja agbeyif? Tbe’gf wlcf.
Pa’r wbgf relajyif obg sbe ab ilnf klat wf.
Pa’ii jirb yf wbgf mbcnfclfca obg wf ab tjnf sbe atfgf ktfcfnfg P kjca.” 

Perhaps he’d soon tire of this person.
But, at least for now, he wanted to keep this person under his watch at all times.

And not have anything happen like it had last time.
If he hadn’t sent Ye Ming back that day, Ye Ming would’ve met up with Zhou Jiaping or even someone else.
Either way, it would’ve made Shen Ye unhappy.
He’d begun wanting more and more from him.

 

Ye Ming clenched his fists.
Just maintaining this kind of relationship with Shen Ye and meeting at their current frequency had forced him to suppress his feelings time after time, very painfully… if he had to live with Shen Ye as well, and look at this person each day and night, he was afraid he’d… no longer be able to stop himself from spilling everything, or continue keeping his emotions under control.

No one knew how it’d taken almost all of his courage back then to bid him farewell. 

This was the person he loved most, but was also the only person in the world he couldn’t love.

“Move in tonight ba,” Shen Ye casually made this decision for Ye Ming, leaving no room for argument.

Ye Ming’s face turned pale.
He said, “Isn’t this too rushed, all my things are in the dormitories.
There’s no time for me to move everything tonight.”

Shen Ye stared at him, a cold glint in his dark eyes as his lips curved into a smile, “Is that so, ah…” 

Ye Ming hurriedly said, “Yes, I still need to pack up.”

Shen Ye gave him a teasing look, “If it’s too rushed, then just don’t bother.
All you have to do is buy new things ba.
It’s not a problem.”

Ye Ming’s eyes finally flashed with anger, “You—”

On the contrary, Shen Ye grinned.
And here, he’d thought Ye Ming wouldn’t get angry.
Ye Ming had demonstrated just how patient he could be, completely unlike a young man of his age, steady and restrained like someone more experienced… and now, with Ye Ming glowering at him, things actually felt much more real and interesting. 

“Eat ba,” Shen Ye leaned back, smiling lazily as his eyes twinkled with humor.

But, Ye Ming was nowhere in the mood to eat.
He shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing with Shen Ye! He’d come back for revenge.
How could he get tangled up with Shen Ye again? But, how could he get away from him without involving the people around him?

Shen Ye was certain Ye Ming couldn’t escape from the palm of his hand.
Of course, because this person looked so similar to Han Xu and had coincidentally appeared in front of him like that, he’d already carefully investigated him.
Tao Xu’s background and family were very ordinary.
No one was instigating him from behind, and he had no relatives or friends that could be a threat to him.
He— absolutely couldn’t get away from him!

Unless he no longer wanted him first. 

Bogged down by his worries, Ye Ming could barely swallow his food.
He’d even considered contacting his former friends.
But, wouldn’t it be too selfish of him to involve others in his vendetta against the Shen family?

On the way out of the restaurant, Shen Ye held onto Ye Ming by the wrist, not giving him any chance to break free, directly bringing him to his home.

Shen Ye’s house was located in a high-end residential area.
It wasn’t particularly small or large in area, with four bedrooms and two living rooms, more than enough for a person living by himself.

Shen Ye opened the door to the second bedroom, and told Ye Ming, “This will be your room.” 

Ye Ming shot him a cold look, pulling away his wrist that had reddened from his tight grip, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “President Shen has really put in a lot of effort.”

Shen Ye acted as though he hadn’t heard Ye Ming’s unpleasant tone at all.
He pinched his chin, then pressed him against the wall, gently kissing him.
He flashed him a teasing smile, “You can call me by my name.
We’re not inside the company right now.
There’s no need to be so formal.”

 

Ye Ming became even more furious.
There was no way he hadn’t understood what he’d meant.
He was just doing this on purpose!

Shen Ye looked into Ye Ming’s eyes, his mood inexplicably bright… back when he’d acted shamelessly in front of Han Xu, wanting to do something excessive, Han Xu had occasionally given him an angry look just like this. 

En… but, it also wasn’t exactly the same.
After all, Han Xu would’ve never displayed such true disgust on his face.
He’d liked him so much…

Shen Ye slowly released his hand, that inexplicable trace of joy in the depths of his heart vanishing as though it’d never appeared to begin with.
Maybe it’d just been his imagination.

“Don’t try me.
Understand?” Shen Ye finally said this to Ye Ming, then turned around and left.

Ye Ming slammed the door with a loud bang, as though he were venting the dissatisfaction in his heart! 

Just like that, the two of them began living together.

………………

Although Ye Ming never directly resisted or provoked Shen Ye, his indifferent attitude clearly indicated that he wasn’t happy.
Even in bed, he always remained passive.

If they’d really been a couple or even husband and wife, this would’ve been considered a cold war.
But, Shen Ye didn’t care at all.
He knew that Ye Ming had never liked him, but he didn’t like Ye Ming either.
This was nothing more than a relationship forged under the dual efforts of money and threats.
He wouldn’t childishly expect any true love to come out of this. 

All he wanted was this person.

Occasionally, when Shen Ye was in a good mood, he’d bring Ye Ming out for dinner and go shopping.
Although he was nowhere near satisfactory as a boyfriend, these conditions were already pretty good for a sugar relationship.

Many people could only dream of having Shen Ye as their sugar parent.

Yet, Ye Ming always looked gloomy and unhappy. 

【Ye Ming: Ah, this is what a happy life is truly like ah.
No worrying over my food, clothing, or s*x life.
Why does everyone want to marry into a rich family? Because, this is what marrying into a rich family is like!】

【888: …】 He must’ve been hallucinating when he’d been under the false impression that Ye Ming was actually going to start working hard.

【Ye Ming: It’s a pity I can’t let things go on like this ah… QAQ】

【888: …】He was already too lazy to comment. 

………………

Although Ye Ming was living inside Shen Ye’s home, he left and arrived at work separately from Shen Ye.
He was unwilling to go in and out of the company at the same time as him, in case it caused more gossip.
As for this, Shen Ye just let him do as he wished.

 

One night, Shen Ye had to leave for a party, and let Ye Ming go home first on his own.

Ye Ming cheerily cooked himself a bowl of noodles.
After he finished eating, he started wandering around the house. Tsktsktsk.
A bachelor’s house was just so drab and dull, looking utterly devoid of personality.
Plus, it also belonged to a boring, lifeless, workaholic bachelor. 

Ye Ming first nestled himself on the sofa to play some games on his phone.
After playing for a while, he got bored, and went inside Shen Ye’s study.

The study wasn’t locked, meaning there probably wasn’t anything very important here anyway.
Shen Ye almost never brought his work home.
He finished everything he needed to at the company, so his study only had some books unrelated to work.
Moreover, because he used to live alone, there wasn’t much security in place.

Ye Ming flipped through a few books. Uh… he wasn’t interested in philosophical stuff like this, and preferred to read novels with plots going up and down like riding on a rollercoaster, so he put the book down out of a complete lack of interest.

When he opened the drawers to take a look, he found a box hidden inside. 

Ye Ming opened the box to take a peek.
Fantastic! It turned out there were photos of him inside.
After so many years, even after Shen Ye had moved out of his home, he’d actually still held onto his pictures.

There weren’t that many photos, only a few, including a photo with both him and Shen Ye, as well as a separate photo of him by himself.
One was from the year he’d just graduated from college, when Shen Ye had gone to his school to look for him, and they’d taken this photo together.
The two of them were laughing so happily in the shade of a tree…

It’d been many years since Ye Ming had last seen what he’d used to look like.
Holding onto the photo in one hand, he’d turned his head to face the mirror above the bookcase, his current appearance vaguely reflected within.

The main system was really very reliable.
The 80% similarity was indeed 80%.
Especially when he smiled, they looked even more similar.
Ye Ming almost suspected that this body had been created just for him by the main system.
Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? Not only did they look alike, but even their names were also similar.
The probability was really much too low! 

Ye Ming had lots of fun with his reflection in the mirror.

Just then, he suddenly heard a loud bang! The door was abruptly pushed open, hitting the wall and bouncing right back again.
Shen Ye’s tall figure appeared at the doorway, a bone-chilling look in his eyes, his voice forbidding, “Who allowed you to touch my things!”

【Ye Ming: F*ck me, he scared me to death. Ge, why didn’t you give me a little bit of warning QAQ.】

【888: Weren’t you waiting for him to come back? Why else would you be acting so unbridled? I was afraid of affecting your performance, so I didn’t say anything.
Your frightened expression just now was very realistic, excellent! Don’t be shy, you get full marks.】 

【Ye Ming: …】