Because they ate a lot at the tea restaurant, Bo Yueming and Pei Yi simply skipped dinner after returning home.

Pei Yi returned to the room under the pretext of “being sleepy,” and quickly locked the door before taking out his cell phone.

There was an extra unread message in the text box, which was sent by Xiang Nansheng half an hour ago: Apologies, I was delayed by something. This invitation came too suddenly, and I have doubts about your identity, so I’m sorry, but I can’t agree.

“…….”

Seeing this expected answer, Pei Yi simply dialed the other party’s phone number and got up to walk into the bathroom, which had better sound insulation.

Beep – beep – beep –

After a moment, there was finally a connection sound from the other end of the line. “Hello, this is Xiang Nansheng.”

Pei Yi kept his voice down and greeted politely, “Director Xiang, hello. I’m Will from “The Last Fog.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and then Xiang Nansheng let out a breath. “I believe I rejected you in the text message.”

“I know, but I would like to re-invite you over the phone, and I understand the Director’s concerns. After all, it is really hard for people to believe that I, a person who didn’t show up today, would make an invitation. This is my mistake.”

Pei Yi paused for a moment, and there was a degree of relaxation. “If Director Xiang is willing to accept this invitation, I will ask Mr. Li Yuan to negotiate with you in person.”

Xiang Nansheng didn’t hang up the phone directly, and his calm tone concealed exhaustion. “Mr. Will, I don’t know if you’re aware that Youming Studios was founded by Ke Ming and I.”

“The most fundamental reason for the failure of the bidding this afternoon was our Youming, but this doesn’t mean that we will fall here and never get up again.”

They could replace the Alien Beast images that were plagiarized, and let the art team re-create an original design. And their modeling technology was still there, so as long as the funds were in place, the game could still be made.

Their studio had not yet reached the point of bankruptcy. As long as the funds ran smoothly, there would still be opportunities to find other investors in the future and continue to expand and develop.

Pei Yi admitted straightforwardly, “Yes, I have never doubted Director Xiang’s ability.”

In the real world, he had started a studio with his friends. The group of people worked hard for eight years, and went from being unknown to being famous in China.

No one would be willing to abandon the friendship that had been through such struggle.

If people’s hearts didn’t change, everything would naturally remain the same, but what if someone changed partway?

Pei Yi thought of everything he had observed in secret at G.M. today, and asked meaningfully, “But Director Xiang, are you sure that the Youming you see now is the one you created?”

“The partner Ke Ming at your side right now, are his ideas, his goals, and even his moral bottom line consistent with yours?”

The two were not so much partners as they were boss and employee.

“…….”

On the other end, Xiang Nansheng suddenly fell silent.

Were they consistent?

He couldn’t answer that question.

After the bidding ended in the afternoon, the two of them had the biggest dispute in history—

Frustrated and furious, Ke Ming thought that Xiang Nansheng should not have apologized to Lou Yang before leaving the venue, and that this move was equivalent to admitting that Youming had plagiarized. It was basically a public slap in the face to him, the studio boss!

As long as they got the game out earlier than Lou Yang, even if the bidding was unsuccessful, they may not necessarily bear the infamy of “plagiarism.”

But Xiang Nansheng disagreed.

He proposed to redesign the game settings related to “Alien Beasts,” but Ke Ming, who had already insisted on the cost in the early stages, was not willing.

The two argued until in the end, the word “disband” came out.

If it really came to that, who would be the one to quit? The results would speak for themselves.

Xiang Nansheng only understood technology, and only wanted to work hard at the technical level, so he didn’t understand Ke Ming’s arrogance and desire to soar into the sky, his heart gradually infected by money and interests.

Their original intention was to make local games that were popular in China, instead of imitating foreign game settings, or borrowing and plagiarizing other people’s ideas.

Right now, that clearly wasn’t the case.

“Director Xiang, your silence has already explained everything.”

“I want to make a local game that belongs to China. The basic setting of “The Last Fog” includes character images, and they will all be Chinese people in the future.”

Pei Yi straightforwardly continued to throw olive branches, “I believe that Youming’s development before today must have been inseparable from your technical skills. If you are willing to come to “The Last Fog,” you will receive the good treatment you deserve.”

“Of course, other than the title of ‘partner.’”

Pei Yi spoke the truth. In addition to the financial support from G.M., he hoped that he and Li Yuan would still control the voice of “The Last Fog” in the future.

Xiang Nansheng let out a rare, low laugh. “Mr. Will is direct enough.”

Pei Yi replied, “Directness is the only way to speak about cooperation.”

“Yes, but I apologize, I must refuse for now.” Xiang Nansheng didn’t hide it. “Youming Studios is my creation, and no one will suddenly give up their creation.”

“I understand.”

Pei Yi responded readily, understanding, but not forgetting to attach a deadline, “But you have at most one month. If a more suitable programmer is found, the leadership position cannot be Director Xiang’s.”

Xiang Nansheng sighed again, with a gamer’s best wishes, “Mr. Will, the game you built is very interesting. I hope that one day it will become popular in the Chinese game circle.”

“Also, please apologize to Director Lou Yang on my behalf again.”

Ke Ming knew that Xiang Nansheng was straight-laced, so he deliberately kept this matter a secret. By the time he found out, the studio had already put a lot of effort into it.

He was an indirect accomplice, and didn’t dare to say he was in the right, but he should at least express his apology without missing a word.

Pei Yi smiled. “Will do. If Director Xiang changes his mind within this month, you can directly contact Mr. Li.”

“All right.”

The phone hung up.

Pei Yi walked back to the room again and sat down on the bed, opening the Youtu interface. In the three-person chat for him, Li Yuan, and Lou Yang, there were a few more unread messages.

“Will, the bidding was successful! Sure enough, it was as you guessed. That bastard Ke Ming borrowed and copied Sister Yang’s design in terms of modeling style!”

“You didn’t see, Sister Yang frightened him for a moment today.”

Lou Yang added two sentences, “Thanks to Will’s analysis and judgment, I set up a language trap according to what you said beforehand. The other party was arrogant enough to jump right into it.”

“@Will, what about you? What are you doing?”

How could Pei Yi, who had already witnessed the bidding scene, not know how exciting this afternoon was? He quickly replied to the two of them: “Congratulations, you’ve worked hard. Especially Sister Yang, who came all the way here. Are you tired?”

Replies in the group came quickly.

“I went back to the hotel in the afternoon to take a nap, and I feel fine now. There is still some time before the official investment of G.M.’s funds. I will try to design the images of the six characters first.”

Lou Yang was an absolute strong woman in her career, and never dragged her feet in the face of work.

Perhaps it was fate that Pei Yi had found her just at the time she wanted to return to China for development, so the invitation progressed so logically.

The phone vibrated slightly again. It was a group message from Li Yuan. “I’m already dealing with the funding-related matters, and I’m aiming to get the contract signed with G.M. within half a month. As for the specific working location, is it still agreed to be Dawn Games?”

Having a ready-made office environment and staff could save a lot of energy consumption.

Pei Yi agreed. “Yes, but the hardware in need of upgrades cannot be used, and the increase and decrease of personnel must be thought about a little more.”

“I understand.”

“If Yuan needs it, he can ask me for help at any time. I have been in the industry for many years, among other things, and can do a bit of administrative review.”

Pei Yi looked at the two people in the group as they continued to discuss, and took the time to briefly tell them about the “invitation to Xiang Nansheng” just now—

Li Yuan agreed when he heard this. “I’ve dealt with Xiang Nansheng before, and he is indeed capable. It would be a good thing if he were to join “The Last Fog” project team.

He paused for two seconds and added, “Sister Yang, what do you think?”

“You make arrangements. I have no problem. Strictly speaking, as long as Xiang Nansheng doesn’t associate with Ke Ming, I am willing to accept a capable partner.”

Lou Yang’s work experience was far superior to the two youngsters, and her thinking and overall outlook were also very mature.

Suddenly, she added another sentence, “However, I’m a little curious.”

Pei Yi asked back, “About what?”

“Will, you didn’t come to the bidding site this afternoon, and Yuan and I didn’t explain it to you right away, so how did you calculate the right time to invite Xiang Nansheng? What if he was involved in the ‘plagiarism?’”

“…….”

Pei Yi looked at this message, and his heart shook suddenly as he somehow thought of a picture—

As an “undercover agent,” he accidentally gave up his identity and was caught by Lou Yang’s sharp eyes, and she pointed the muzzle of her black gun at him.

A woman’s innate intuition was truly powerful and terrifying.

Pei Yi sighed inwardly, and hurried to fix things, “I had a person I know at the scene, and Xiang Nansheng’s personal information and works are also available on the studio’s website.”

The message was sent within seconds.

Lou Yang, “Oh, so that’s the case.”

Li Yuan: “Will, I have an appointment with Sister Yang for dinner to celebrate today’s victory.”

Lou Yang replied with a smile, “I know you can’t come due to your mysterious vest, so when Yuan and I have a drink later, I will definitely drink two more glasses for you.”

“…….”

Pei Yi was stuck, and laughed out loud helplessly in front of his computer. “Fine, you guys go. I’ll celebrate by myself.”

. . . . . .

Some time later.

Pei Yi, who had soaked his tired body, came out of the bathroom. 

Perhaps it was caused by Li Yuan and Lou Yang drawing out his alcohol addiction, or maybe it was due to the heat of the shower, but he just felt that his desire to drink was about to stir again.

Pei Yi thought of the wine wall in the small living room, and felt that it was time to sneak a taste of it in the name of “celebrating.”

After all, Bo Yueming couldn’t see at the moment, so as long as he got the wine and drank it behind closed doors, nothing would go wrong.

Pei Yi secretly built the plan in his mind, intending to open the door to investigate the enemy’s situation first.

Bonk.

The moment the door opened, he ran into Bo Yueming.

“…….”

Pei Yi was startled, and quickly restrained his expression.

Having had no time to knock on the door, Bo Yueming lowered his eyes, leaving only a shadow of nothingness cast by his fine eyelashes.

The inexplicable silence lasted less than three seconds, and then Inspector rushed to their feet. “Meow-wu~meow!”

Bo Yueming finished adjusting first. “Pei Yi? What are you doing?”

Pei Yi donned a well-behaved look and pursed his lips. “Milk, want to drink milk! Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming cooperated and handed over the warm milk in his hand. “Uncle Kai just delivered it. Drink it while it’s hot.”

“Oh.”

Pei Yi pretended to be happy to take it, and in front of Bo Yueming—

He clearly only took half a sip, but he didn’t forget to make an extremely exaggerated swallowing sound. After drinking, he deliberately pasted on a smile. “Tasty~”

“…….”

Bo Yueming was nearly deceived by this set of “skillful acting techniques,” and said, “It’s good that you like it. I’m a little tired today, so I’ll go back to my room to rest.”

When Pei Yi heard the second half of the sentence, his eyes lit up uncontrollably.

Very good!

Divine aid from the heavens!

Bo Yueming sensed his premature joy, but didn’t pierce the facade. “Go to bed early, ba. Goodnight.”

After going out for so long today, his eyes had become sore and tired, and he really wanted to close his eyes and rest early.

As he said that, he turned around while holding his guide cane, but deliberately shifted his footsteps from the direction of the master bedroom.

Pei Yi watched silently for a moment, then stepped forward and held his hand. “Er-ge.”

“En?”

“Here.”

“Have I gone the wrong way?”

“En.”

“Then help me back.”

“……En!”

Both of them played the fool, asking and answering.

It wasn’t until the master bedroom door clicked shut that both of them took off their masks.

Pei Yi stood silently at the door of the master bedroom for a while. Through the crack of the door at his feet, he confirmed that the lights inside had been turned off, then breathed a sigh of relief and began his long-awaited drinking plans.

Pei Yi walked lightly to the wine wall, his eyes excitedly scanning all kinds of fine wine.

Choose a very expensive one? Without Bo Yueming’s consent, that was no good.

From the electronic menu? No good, they only came in single quantities and Uncle Kai might notice if he drank it.

Pei Yi struggled for a while before taking a Lafite of a common vintage from the top right of the wine cabinet wall. Of course, it was not cheap.

—Clink.

“Meow~”

The sound of the wine bottle being tapped was accompanied by Inspector’s cry.

Pei Yi froze guiltily in place, and waited a while before saying, “Hush! I’ll give you some dried fish later.”

Inspector said very quietly, “Wu~”

Pei Yi knew his current drinking capacity well. He definitely couldn’t stay in the living room to drink, and in order not to alert the enemy, he gestured with his eyes to the beloved pet under his feet, “Let’s go.”

One person and one cat snuck into the bedroom quickly, closed the door neatly, and did bad things.

Pei Yi entered the room, only to realize that in his nervousness, he only took the bottle and forgot the wine glass. He feared that opening the door again would create too much noise, so after some thought, he planned to drink from the bottle directly.

The cork on the wine bottle was easily pulled out, and the unique aroma of red wine drifted out in an instant.

In the past, Pei Yi would definitely want to let it air out and enjoy it leisurely, but the present was different from the past. How could he be so picky?

He brought up the wine bottle and took two sips, then squinted his eyes contentedly.

Invigorating!

At last, no one bothered him!

. . . . . .

Bo Yueming closed his eyes and rested on the bed, but Pei Yi’s eyes flashing with excitement kept coming back to his mind, and he felt that this kitten was doing something behind his back.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t sleep.

When the soreness of his eyes dissipated, Bo Yueming couldn’t help but get up and turn on the light, glancing at the time—

In no time, it was half past twelve.

“He should be asleep at this point, right?”

Bo Yueming muttered faintly, but his instincts were stronger than his rationality, so he opened the door softly.

The corner light in the living room was still on.

Bo Yueming glanced at the wine cabinet wall, feeling that something wasn’t right. Before he could distinguish carefully, Inspector’s coquettish cry sounded from the second bedroom.

It was followed by a denial, “No, you’re, you’re not allowed to eat any more dried fish, I’ve already given you a lot!”

“…….”

Different from his usual remarks, his speech was quite complete, but the tone and pauses weren’t normal, as if…….he was stuttering after drinking.

Was this stealing alcohol behind his back?

Bo Yueming suddenly came to a realization, and didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry for a moment. He approached the second bedroom with narrowed eyes, and knocked on the door curiously.

The movement in the room suddenly became more apparent, and it took a long time for a confused voice to answer, “Who, who’s there, ah?”

Bo Yueming said concisely, “Pei Yi, open the door.”

The voice stuttered, “I’m, I’m already asleep.”

Bo Yueming didn’t believe it. “Open the door.”

There was another short silence before the door was pried open from the inside.

Pei Yi, who had accidentally gotten drunk, peered through the crack in the door and squinted his eyes. After confirming that he knew the person outside, his well-behaved smile had a hint of guilt.

“Hehe Er-ge.”

“…….”

Bo Yueming took in his drunken expression and also caught a glimpse of the wine bottle in his hand, which only had less than half left. He asked knowingly, “What are you drinking?”

He remembered what happened to Pei Yi when he was drunk last time. When he woke up the next day, he was completely out of sorts. Now that he drank half a bottle, he would definitely forget everything!

Pei Yi was carried away by his drunkenness, and said in a lofty tone, “I, I drink milk!”

“…….”

Bo Yueming shifted his gaze slightly and scoffed.

Milk?

Fancy that, this little drunk cat could make up nonsense to be perfunctory with him.

The cup of warm milk that was handed out before going to bed was placed on the table, almost full.

Pei Yi thought he had fooled Bo Yueming, and his drunkenness gave birth to enthusiasm.

He licked his dry lips and raised the wine bottle again, and only took half a sip before his hand was suddenly empty—

Bo Yueming grabbed the wine bottle and said seriously, “No more drinking.”

Pei Yi frowned unhappily and reached out to grab it, but stumbled and fell directly into Bo Yueming’s arms. The unspoken condemnation suddenly turned into a cute and pitiful whimper.

“Careful.”

Fearing that Pei Yi would fall again, Bo Yueming stretched out his hand to stabilize the body of the man in his arms, and then casually placed the wine bottle on the cabinet inside the door.

“Hm, hot.”

Pei Yi disliked the heat and sensed the refreshing coolness on Bo Yueming’s body, and his thoughts of grabbing the wine swiftly changed.

He wrapped his arms around the person in front of him and acted without thinking, pressing up against him to absorb the coolness.

The baggy bathrobe fell open.

Bo Yueming inadvertently lowered his head, and caught a glimpse of the sight underneath the bathrobe. The skin that had been hidden beneath clothes at home all year round was very fair, and a swath of red had appeared due to the wine.

It was extremely provoking.

“…….”

Bo Yueming’s breathing stalled for a beat, and he only felt the soreness of his eyes coming back.

However, Pei Yi was still senseless in his arms. His drunken eyes were wet, and he looked inexplicably as if he had been bullied. Thin red lips opened and closed as he hummed a little sufferingly, “I’m thirsty.”

There was nothing Bo Yueming could do about him, and he tried to use a calm tone, “Then let go, I’ll get you some water.”

“Don’t, don’t want to.”

Pei Yi subconsciously clung tighter, asking vaguely, “What if you run away?”

Bo Yueming was angrily amused again. “This is my home, where would I go?”

Pei Yi paused and thought for a moment, but couldn’t come up with an answer, so he could only huddle in his arms and repeat, “…..So thirsty.”

“Now you’re thirsty? Who let you drink so much wine in secret?”

Pei Yi raised his head at once and emphasized forcefully, “I drink well! I, I can drink!”

Bo Yueming asked him back, “Then do you want to drink water?”

“Want.”

The little drunk cat could bend with the direction of the wind.

“…….”

Bo Yueming had no choice but to move Pei Yi to the sofa in the living room.

After living for twenty-seven years, this was the first time he had to learn how to take care of another person.

Bo Yueming embraced Pei Yi with one arm and poured warm water with the other, then put the cup close to the other’s mouth. “Drink. Drink and you won’t be thirsty.”

Pei Yi stared at the pure, transparent water and tilted his head. “White wine? I can drink it too.”

Bo Yueming gritted his teeth silently in angry amusement.

He was still thinking about drinking at this time?

Fortunately, Pei Yi took the cup in a timely manner and gulped it up with both hands, then handed it back obediently.

Bo Yueming asked, “Do you want more?”

Pei Yi shook his head and stared at him for a moment. 

Bo Yueming felt burning hot under his focused gaze, and said a little uneasily, “What are you looking at?”

Pei Yi shook his head without speaking, then swallowed.

He poked Bo Yueming’s cheek with his fingertip, and also pinched it courageously. “You’re so good-looking.”

It was not the first time Bo Yueming had heard such a compliment, but each time Pei Yi praised him like this, he was always inexplicably pleased.

He didn’t reject the nonsense of this person in front of him, but clasped his warm hands behind the other’s back and asked impulsively, “Am I more good-looking or is Yan Cen?”

“Huh?”

Pei Yi blinked in bewilderment, and for a moment, he couldn’t remember which character “Yan Cen” was.

Bo Yueming thought of all the “subtleties” this person had toward Yan Cen, and with jealousy that he didn’t even notice himself, he persisted in asking, “Pei Yi, am I good-looking or is Yan Cen?”

Pei Yi slowly filtered the information in this sentence, and suddenly remembered the identity of the person in front of him.

He returned to Bo Yueming’s arms. “Er-ge is good-looking.”

Bo Yueming raised his eyebrows, continuing to ask, “What about between me and Li Yuan?”

Pei Yi frowned and didn’t care who the other party was talking about. Frankly and warmly, he said, “Er-ge is the best-looking! You are the one I like best—”

Out of all the book characters.

“Hic!”

Pei Yi hiccuped a little and stopped the unfinished sentence.

Bo Yueming was naturally unaware of the deeper meaning behind these words, but the smile in the depths of his eyes resurfaced. “Really?”

Pei Yi nodded vigorously. “En!”

Bo Yueming clasped his hands together and didn’t let go. WIth a little careful probing that he didn’t realize, he asked, “What do you like about me? I have bad eyes, my situation in the Bo family isn’t good, and I haven’t been likable since I was a child.”

“Hm……”

It took a little longer for Pei Yi to react, but he still comforted him, “Er-ge is, is the best person in this world!”

So what if he was the “villain of the original text?” So far, no one he had met could compare to Bo Yueming.

The other party would protect him, block injuries for him, and feed him delicious things, except…..except for not letting him drink.

“Er-ge.”

“En?”

Pei Yi’s eyes were blurred by the alcohol, but he replied firmly, “Don’t be afraid!”

“…….”

Afraid?

Bo Yueming’s hands loosened suddenly, distracted by these three words of comfort.

Pei Yi leaned closer again, and took the initiative to put his hands on the other’s face, close enough to breathe each other in. “Your, your eyes will be alright. Everything……will be alright..”

Bo Yueming couldn’t tell what kind of impulse he had, but he grasped the back of Pei Yi’s neck. “Will you accompany me to get better?”

“En, wu……”

Pei Yi flinched sensitively, and uttered a soft whimper, like a coquettish reply.

His mental state had been completely paralyzed by the alcohol, and he yawned a little, then rubbed against Bo Yueming’s shoulder and stopped talking.

---

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Chapter Thirty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Six

T/N: A big thank you goes out to FistFullOfDollars and Yanyanchan for their kind Kofi donations. Thank you so much, and here’s each of your bonus chapters in addition to the usual one.

Ke Ming’s expression suddenly changed, and he looked at the plainly dressed Lou Yang in disbelief.

At that time, Lin Zhong found the relevant user information and said, “Mr. Bo, it looks like this user whose ID is “Dehydration” registered an account two years ago, and the earliest modeling screenshot was posted in August last year.”

“There are currently 306 followers, and the most popular one only has just over one hundred views. Gender—” Lin Zhong paused for a second, looking at Lin Zhong on the stage. “The gender shows as male.”

Knowing that his friend’s eyesight was inconvenient, Yan Cen took the tablet from the side. “Show me.”

Listening to Lin Zhong’s reporting of the user profile trap, Ke Ming regained a bit of confidence.

Yes, that’s right!

That was an overseas account and showed as “male.” How could it be Lu Yang who had suddenly appeared here?!

Regarding “Dehydration’s” fans and popularity, being discovered by him could be considered an accident. Where could there be a double coincidence in this world?

Bo Yueming didn’t pay attention to Ke Ming’s change of expression, lowering his eyes calmly. “Director Lou, how will you prove that this account belongs to you?”

“It’s easy, I will log in publicly.”

Lou Yang took out her laptop and quickly connected to the large projection screen. While opening the Youtu forum, she logged into her account with ease.

Soon, the personal homepage unique to “Dehydration” appeared on the big screen.

Lin Zhong wasn’t aware of the condition of Bo Yueming’s eyes, so he whispered, “Mr. Bo, you were right.”

“En.”

Bo Yueming gave a slight nod.

“This, this is impossible!” 

Ke Ming’s face turned red, and he was unwilling to admit his mistakes. “The modeling techniques in the gaming circle have always been dominated by men. You are a woman……”

“What is wrong with me being a woman?” Lou Yang interrupted loudly with a sneer. “Mr. Ke, I know you have doubts, but I can tell you the truth—”

“There are such coincidences in this world! It is time for me to expose the bad behavior of you and your studio!”

Lou Yang had graduated from a prestigious overseas school, majoring in design. After graduation, she worked at a special effects film and television company with her boyfriend at the time, and led the team responsible for the post-design of special effects.

In the behind-the-scenes circles of foreign film and television, the special effects team led by Lou Yang was also well-known.

But over the years, Lou Yang had never forgotten her original intention to work on games.

She designed some original game models in her spare time, and when she could, she would post relevant screenshots on the Youtu forum. The initial personal information of the account was the default, and she hadn’t changed it at all.

It should be known that Youtu’s copyright control had always been excellent.

For Lou Yang, these uploads were not for gaining attention or popularity, and were just for backup purposes. She didn’t expect them to come in handy one day.

Lou Yang continued to explain, “Young Boss Li did not reveal much. He also has a partner who is the chief architect of the world of “The Last Fog.” Ten days ago, he was the one who took the initiative to contact me by private message.”

When Lou Yang uploaded modeling screenshots, she never added any visible tags, and reprinting and downloading were not allowed. Therefore, her popularity had not been high on a game forum full of talents.

And due to the time difference between home and abroad, Lou Yang’s upload time was basically around three or four in the morning in China. Other than the “update page” that came with the game forum, there was pretty much no exposure at all.

But coincidentally, Pei Yi was a night owl. He often stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, or even all night, because of his game script creation.

As early as when Pei Yi decided to continue making money in this world through games, he had made up his mind to re-establish his own game company.

Since he wanted to start a company, he must recruit troops—

During these days of staying in the bedroom, Pei Yi was either writing or creating, or using the Youtu forum to find “great gods.” And he would pay attention to these talented accounts – thinking that there may be a chance to send them cooperation invitations in the future.

Last Wednesday, Pei Yi contacted Lou Yang immediately after confirming the news brought by Li Yuan.

Firstly to verify the possible “imitation” situation, and secondly to issue an invitation for partnership.

Two months ago, Lou Yang and her boyfriend, who had been in love for many years, chose to break up peacefully. However, there was no way to continue to work together in the same team, not to mention that her parents in China missed her very much.

Little by little, she intended to change her environment and start over again.

After three days of effective communication and sincere invitation by Pei Yi, Lou Yang finally agreed to go back to China and find out the truth, and the purpose of keeping it secret before was to get a final confirmation.

After all, before Ke Ming and the others showed their modeling, they did not have full evidence.

As for Lou Yang’s refusal to say that she was “Dehydration” at the beginning, it was entirely Pei Yi’s suggestion, and they deliberately set up a trap.

If Ke Ming continued to lie and jumped into the pit by himself, then they would have one more piece of evidence.

This was good—

Everything was as Pei Yi expected.

If Ke Ming and Youming Studios competed normally, no matter what the result was, Pei Yi and Li Yuan were willing to accept everything in due course. But since the other party used abnormal means, they didn’t mind being the “villains.”

Lou Yang stared down the guilty Ke Ming and exposed his lies one by one.

“Mr. Ke, what you call originality is plagiarizing my design. What you call the account of a studio employee is actually my personal account.”

“Youtu has very thorough proof of the copyright timeline. I am confident that my design is original and was created earlier than Youming Studios,’ so I would like to carefully ask—”

“Was the inspiration for the modeling of ‘Alien Beasts’ obtained by Mr. Ke after looking at my screenshots?” Lou Yang looked at Pei Huan with the same suspicion and disgust. “Or Pei Huan, did you unethically plagiarize my design?”

“……”

An unwarranted pot suddenly fell on his head.

Pei Huan’s face flushed with embarrassment, and the insecurity in his heart became inexplicably real at this moment!

He wanted to explain, but found that he would be wrong no matter what he said! If he now hurried to rid himself of the relationship with the modeling and design, didn’t that prove that he was acting out of selfishness just now?

After a brief hesitation, Pei Huan suddenly met Yan Cen’s gaze—

The other party’s originally gentle eyes behind those glasses were now filled with unfamiliar scrutiny.

Pei Huan wanted to find a hole to crawl into, and had no choice but to throw the pot back on Ke Ming. “Mr. Ke, you had better explain the problem clearly! If Youming really has behaved badly, I must reconsider our cooperation.”

Didn’t this person say there were no problems?

How was this handling affairs!

Ke Ming tried hard to keep his composure. “Boss Bo, Boss Yan, it’s not surprising for there to be some similar inspirations. What can this screenshot of Ms. Lou’s show?”

“The key point is the level of crafting. The modeling display of our studio is genuine, and we have the ability and the technology.”

“As for the individual similar designs, I can ask the art and technical departments to overturn and start over.”

“On the contrary, I still have doubts about Ms. Lou. Even if she can log into the account, there is no way to directly prove that she has this level of design! What if she hijacked a friend’s account?”

Lou Yang ignored his ridiculous excuses and brought up the photos taken during the demonstration one by one, comparing them to the previous modeling screenshots—

Pei Yi pretended to stare at the big screen for a moment, tilted his head, and quickly pierced the facade. “The same!”

His unaccusative voice directly pointed out the facts.

Bo Yueming caught a glimpse of the cowlick on the back of his head. He unexpectedly felt itchy and wanted to tease it, but had to hold back due to the occasion, so he squeezed his fingertips secretly.

The staff members of the project team sitting in the back row began to discuss in low voices, and their original admiration for the modeling of Youming Studios changed to contempt—

This, ah!

How could they not understand what even a “little fool” could see? Even if it was Lou Yang’s “friend’s” designs, wouldn’t they still be stolen?

Use such a “secondary product” to attract their G.M.’s investment?

What a beautiful idea!

Ke Ming looked at the disdainful eyes of the audience, and vented to Pei Yi angrily, “What are you talking about, you fool? I…..”

“Mr. Ke!”

Bo Yueming interrupted with a deep voice, and was protective to the end. “Pei Yi is the person I brought here, and you are not qualified to criticize him on my territory!”

“…….”

Pei Yi’s heart warmed, and he unconsciously turned his head to look at Bo Yueming.

There was a thin sheen of hostility in those deep eyes, and it was for him.

At this moment, it seemed that his acting was also a real impulse.

Pei Yi purposely drew closer to Bo Yueming and returned a toffee to the other’s palm beneath the table, coaxing, “Er-ge, don’t be angry.”

This kind of person wasn’t worth it.

Bo Yueming hooked his wrist with his fingertip. “Okay.”

“All right, I’ll vote for ‘The Last Fog’ instead.” The next second, Song Ci to the side changed her vote, looking directly at Ke Ming with disgust.

“Mr. Ke, what year is it? Yet people like you practice workplace discrimination against women?”

“Apologies, but even if the other two executives agree today, I, Song Ci, will never agree to cooperate with you!” She walked up to the stage in high heels, with an inviolable proudness all over her body. “In that case, get your game out of G.M. now!”

“……”

Get out.

Ke Ming’s face turned livid.

Entirely ignoring his expression, Song Ci turned around to face Lou Yang, holding the greatest admiration and recognition for the woman. “Director Lou, nice to meet you. You are very outstanding.”

Lou Yang replied with a calm smile. “Thank you. You as well.”

Song Ci had changed her vote, and adding Bo Yueming’s first vote, the result had already been decided.

Yan Cen simply closed the corresponding materials and gave his original answer, “I also vote for The Last Fog. Wishing Young Boss Li a happy cooperation.”

There was joy on his face, but Li Yuan nodded restrainedly. “Thank you.”

Yan Cen returned a smile to him, and then repeated solemnly, “Mr. Ke, please take your personnel and leave.”

His words contained other implications, and he didn’t spare Pei Huan a glance.

“…….”

Pei Huan couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere of being ignored and shunned. If he had known this would be the result, he wouldn’t have listened to Ke Ming’s encouragement to come and influence the situation.

Well, look at him now!

He was inexplicably stained with a stench! And he couldn’t even wash it clean!

Pei Huan was ashamed and indignant at this thought, and left the conference room quickly.

The matter had been settled, and Xiang Nansheng was the only one who didn’t speak. He didn’t avert his eyes, and took off his black-rimmed glasses to walk around Ke Ming to the front of the room, then bowed calmly but sincerely.

“Director Lou, I apologize to you personally.”

Xiang Nansheng and Ke Ming had started their business together during their college years. At first, they had the same ideals and goals, but the latter gained more benefits and there was gradually a lot of estrangement that was difficult to speak about.

During the past year in particular, almost all right to have a voice in the studio was held by Ke Ming.

The design concept of “Alien Beasts” was proposed by Ke Ming, and Xiang Nansheng had vaguely felt that something was wrong. When he learned the truth from the other party half a month ago, he tried to deter him, but was unfortunately blocked by the other party.

Xiang Nansheng kept this matter in his thoughts, but he also worried about tearing up these years of friendship.

He didn’t dare say that he was not at fault for not reporting what he knew. Now that it had been revealed — he must express his apology from a personal standpoint.

Xiang Nansheng expressed his straightforward appreciation as a technician, “Director Lou, your image design and modeling skills are excellent, and I hope to have the opportunity to communicate with you in the future.”

Lou Yang responded briefly, “Thank you.”

Pei Yi gazed from his seat after Xiang Nansheng’s departing back, and a thought flashed in his eyes. His focus shifted to the documents on Bo Yueming’s desk, and then he looked down for a moment.

More footsteps gradually moved away.

Only Ke Ming was left standing there, his expression still incredibly ugly. His feet seemed to be filled with iron and lead, and he was unable to move half a step outside.

“Everyone who is irrelevant, please leave.”

Bo Yueming took a sip of his coffee and tranquilly issued the eviction order.

“Wait a minute!”

Li Yuan spoke out first. He stood up from his seat and double-checked, “Boss Yan, Boss Bo, and Boss Song, the result of the competition has been confirmed and will not be changed, correct?”

“Of course.”

Yan Cen replied, “If Young Boss Li is not in a hurry this afternoon, we can conduct in-depth discussions on the upcoming investment cooperation.”

The big rock in Li Yuan’s heart fell to the ground, and he politely gestured to everyone, “Apologies, please wait a moment.”

After speaking, he turned and pointed at Ke Ming on the stage, who was destined to be the “loser,” and his eyes finally recovered the arrogance of the past. 

“Mr. Ke, on behalf of Dawn Games, I would like to officially demand that you kindly stop all infringements by your studio on the work of our company’s Director Lou Yang!”

“If similar elements of references, plagiarism, and imitation appear in the market in the future, I will sue you and Youming Studios according to the law. Shape up your behavior.”

A smile flickered in Pei Yi’s eyes.

He finished speaking on behalf of others who were still hiding in the dark.

Li Yuan approached Ke Ming step by step, speaking softly but venomously, “Mr. Ke, that coffee could wake you up, but it couldn’t wash away pig-headedness, hm?”

“…….”

Ke Ming was so angry that his breaths shook.

He had originally wanted to watch the scene of Li Yuan failing to compete for the investment and leaving in dismay. Unexpectedly, the person being ridiculed now had become himself, and he had also become the person who should leave the scene in despair!

After working in the industry so long, it was the first time Ke Ming had failed so shamefully.

The shreds of calculations that filled him had already bubbled away. He pretended to forcefully straighten his collar, and left quickly while holding onto a mouthful of self-esteem.

. . . . . . .

The bidding for investment had finally come to an end.

Seeing that it was still early, Yan Cen gestured for Li Yuan to stay and discuss the details of the investment cooperation in advance.

As one of the shareholders, Bo Yueming did not reject this proposal.

Pei Yi was not a person who enjoyed meetings. He had lasted an hour on sweets and juice, and got his outcome. Now the patience that he had accumulated with great difficulty was quickly exhausted.

After drinking such a large glass of juice and sitting for so long, it made sense to go to the bathroom again, right?

He thought about it, but was too embarrassed to say it loudly, so he leaned toward Bo Yueming’s ear and whispered, “Er-ge, going to bathroom.”

“……..”

His ear tingled from the warm breath.

Bo Yueming’s breathing became tight, and he didn’t dare to look directly at the other party.

Knowing that it was more of an excuse than the truth, he still acquiesced to the kitten’s presumptuousness. “Okay, let Lin Zhong follow.”

In any case, he wouldn’t worry that Pei Yi would act on his own, even if this was his company.

Pei Yi feared that a refusal would make the other party suspicious, so he agreed.

Three minutes later.

Pei Yi turned into the innermost part of the men’s bathroom and quickly locked the compartment door.

He took out his cell phone and entered a string of numbers that he had noted down long before in the message interface, and edited the content: Hello, is this Xiang Nansheng, Mr. Xiang?

Although Bo Yueming’s eyes were inconvenient, as a high-level shareholder involved in the decision making, he still had the basic information on his laptop, including the contact information of the participants on both sides.

Pei Yi’s memory was not bad, and he noted down Xiang Nansheng’s contact information.

The phone vibrated as a reply came in: “Excuse me?”

Pei Yi stared at the message, remembering the pre-investigation he had done—

Although Ke Ming was not worth much, his partner Xiang Nansheng was very skilled. Since the establishment of Youming Studios, almost all of the hit games had been built by the latter.

Today’s upfront apology was enough to show Xiang Nansheng’s true nature.

As a human being, it was not a bad thing to correct a mistake once you knew about it.

The thought of poaching had come as soon as he spoke. Pei Yi quickly typed a line of words with his fingertips:

“Hello, I’m Will, and I sincerely invite you to join our “The Last Fog” game project team. Will you think about it?”

He clicked send, and it went through successfully.

. . . . . .

An hour later, the door of the conference room reopened.

Bo Yueming, Yan Cen, and the others stepped through it one after another. It seemed that the initial investment negotiations for “The Last Fog” had temporarily come to an end.

Pei Yi, who had snuck into the lounge in a daze, walked over at once and called casually, “Er-ge.”

Just as Bo Yueming was about to respond, he saw Pei Yi walk straight in front of him and rush to Li Yuan with a smile.

“……”

Bo Yueming’s heart itched with dissatisfaction.

He immediately saw the kitten reach out to Li Yuan. “Huh?”

Puzzled, Bo Yueming frowned, but he had to pretend not to notice Pei Yi’s perfunctory treatment of him. “Pei Yi?”

Li Yuan caught Pei Yi’s meaning first. He was in a good mood after successfully winning the bidding, and gave a rare smile. “Boss Bo, I promised Little Young Master Pei that I would treat him to dinner.”

Pei Yi nodded.

After all, the two of them were also partners, and although the vest had not been completely removed, today there must be a wave of celebration.

Li Yuan thought of the relationship between Pei Yi and Bo Yueming, so he still asked for consent, “It’s still early, if Boss Bo has no objections, shall I take Little Young Master Pei to have some afternoon tea? And I’ll send him home later?”

Pei Yi took the lead. “Want!”

If he could avoid Bo Yueming, it was okay to have a little wine today!

Standing to the side, Lin Zhong thought of something and said in a whisper, “Mr. Bo, Little Sir and Mr. Li met when he was waiting for you in the coffee shop last time.”

“…….”

Once at the banquet, once at the coffee shop, and once today.

They had only met three times in total, and their relationship was good enough to make an appointment for a meal?

Bo Yueming felt a little complicated. It seemed that during his period of blindness, Pei Yi secretly attracted a lot of people’s affection?

Bo Yueming had no reason to object to Pei Yi’s personal willingness to make friends. “All right, would you mind letting him bring his family? I happen to be hungry as well.”

F-family?

Hearing this word again, Pei Yi’s heart still felt a little numb.

As the “hosting party,” Li Yuan considered Pei Yi’s situation. He got stuck for a moment and then responded, “Of course.”

Seeing this, Yan Cen next to him expressed his opinion, “How about adding me as well? It just so happens that I know a good afternoon tea restaurant nearby.”

Now, it was Li Yuan who was in a daze.

Pei Yi noticed a brief flash of nervousness from the other party, and seemed to realize something. His gaze fell right on Yan Cen’s face, and he answered with a smile, “En!”

Seeing Pei Yi’s sudden smile, Bo Yueming narrowed his eyes under his lenses for a moment.

He pretended not to see clearly and turned his body away, successfully blocking Pei Yi’s view of his friend, then changed the subject nonchalantly, “Let’s go, then.”

. . . . . .

Half an hour later.

Several exquisite desserts were placed on a long dining table near the window. Pei Yi and Bo Yueming sat on one side, with Li Yuan and Yan Cen on the other.

Song Ci had strict requirements about her figure, while Lou Yang rushed back to the hotel to rest, so neither of them followed.

Li Yuan was still a little reluctant to relax at first.

No matter how you put it, two of the other three were senior executives of G.M. After leaving the company and breaking away from the intended partner relationship, he didn’t know what attitude to use to get along with them.

With a deliberately cold face? That didn’t seem good.

A deliberate smile to cater to them? That wasn’t his style either.

Yan Cen seemed to notice his concerns, and took the initiative to move the topic back to “The Last Fog.”

Back in the field he was familiar with, Li Yuan unknowingly relaxed a lot. As for Bo Yueming, he was simply indifferent, and his mind was completely on Pei Yi beside him.

He didn’t know how much the kitten’s stomach had grown.

He didn’t eat much of the three meals per day at home, but when it came to his favorite sweets, he wanted a bite here and a mouthful there, and it seemed that he would never grow tired of eating.

In the blink of an eye, Pei Yi finished another small souffle and pursed his lips, a little bit dissatisfied.

The taste of this tea restaurant’s food was good, but the food was too “delicate,” and was gone after a bite or two.

Li Yuan, who was sitting opposite, noticed this. “This souffle tastes good? Has Pei Yi not eaten enough?”

How could Bo Yueming not see? 

But he pretended to understand Pei Yi’s love of food after hearing this, and called the waiter, “Add another.”

Immediately after, Yan Cen added, “Two more, ba. I see Mr. Li can’t take his eyes off them.”

Li Yuan’s cheeks became hot, and he argued, “No, I don’t like those.”

Pei Yi heard his duplicity, and deliberately nodded to tease him, “En, en, en, only little friends like it.”

“…….”

Li Yuan’s ears turned red in an instant, and he wished he could stand up and block Pei Yi’s mouth—

The other party not only remembered the arrogant words he said casually in the coffee shop last time, but actually teased him in reverse!

Where was this person stupid? He was white on the surface and black underneath!

Soon, the waiter brought up two ready-made desserts. “This is the souffle you ordered. Please enjoy.”

Pei Yi took the initiative to take one of them, and his anticipation was not reduced at all.

Bo Yueming noticed the light in Pei Yi’s eyes and the lightly shifting hair as he lowered his head.

For some reason, a hint of teasing appeared, but he pretended to be calm and said, “Little friend, eat slowly, don’t choke.”

---

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Chapter Thirty Three <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Five

Outside Sanshui City, there were still many refugees gathered. They formed a meandering procession, making a lot of noise with their families in tow. The main gate of the city was tightly closed, and only a side door next to it was open, with several rebels asking for registration one by one. A slow hour passed, and the group didn’t see much forward movement.

A plainly dressed teenager ran to the front for a look, and then ran back, saying: “Ge, they’re dawdling a lot. It will take at least two hours for us to wait in line. You should drink some water first.”

“Tell me, what are they asking, why are they so slow?” Others in the procession heard it too, and complained one after another. The scene was immediately abuzz. One became ten, and ten became thirty, and a leader of the rebel army came over to reprimand loudly: “All of you, behave a little! Do you think we don’t want to hurry up? If we don’t check carefully and end up allowing Liang Yu’s lackeys to sneak in, who will be responsible for the safety of the city? It is our new emperor who is benevolent and can’t bear the poor people living outside, so he ordered the city to be opened. Now after only two days in line, you are so dissatisfied. The dog officials of the Yan Dynasty have locked up one city after another, why don’t you go make trouble for them?”

The procession was silent, no one daring to say anything. Only one young man said bitterly: “Those dog officials hoarded a whole city of food, but they couldn’t bear to release even a grain of millet. Pei!”

“That’s right! That’s why we came to join General Huang!”

“What General Huang, it’s ‘Emperor!’”

The crowd was astir, everyone shouting with arms raised. Naturally, the rebel leader would not stop them this time, but instead shouted a few slogans. Everyone around was shouting, so the boy from earlier had no choice but to raise his arms to also put on an act and say a few words. He was A-Ning, and together with Liu Xian’an and the other three guards, they had masked their identities with disguises. After living in the refugee camp for a few days, they had just received a number plate to enter the city.

Liu Xian’an was wrapped in a dirty gray robe, and his hair was also in a mess. He squatted on the ground with his back bent, hands clasped together, looking like he was so hungry that he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t until the voices condemning the Liang family gradually died down that he stood up feebly and stretched out his neck to look forward.

If not for the fact that Second Young Master Liu had washed up and changed his appearance this morning, the three guards would almost have thought they were following the wrong person. He played a timid country youth too realistically. While queuing up, there was a sudden commotion at the front, and someone seemed to be yelling for a doctor. A-Ning hurriedly raised his hand: “My brother and I are both doctors!”

The people made way for the two brothers, saying that someone seemed to have fainted. Liu Xian’an jogged all the way, and the rebels also gathered around to take a look. The unconscious person was an old woman. Her eyes were closed tightly, her whole body hot and convulsing. Liu Xian’an took out a silver needle to temporarily put a halt to her thrashing, saying afterwards, “I need a quiet and ventilated place quickly. What kind of medicine is there in the city?”

“You few, come to the front.” Although this leader of the rebel army looked ferocious, he didn’t make too much trouble, and ordered them to be inserted at the front of the line. After asking a few more questions, they were released into the city and told to make up for the registration after giving treatment.

Upon entering the city, A-Ning was taken aback. Among the three guards, Zhou Yi saw the dilapidated scenery before him and said: “I thought the city was a good place, but now it seems that it is no different from a refugee camp.”

There were people lying on both sides of the street, under the eaves, and even in the middle of the lane. Liu Xian’an said: “There is still one difference. They have food to eat.”

A few little children were holding cornbread in their hands, and were gnawing big mouthfuls. The adults around were greedy, but didn’t grab it, which was already much better than those outside the city.

The old woman was sent to an empty temple. Liu Xian’an continued acupuncture for her, and the rebels arranged for them to reside there. Not long after, someone brought a bag of rice and some old bedding. In the afternoon, the refugees who had just arrived in the city continued to be arranged, and by the time it got dark, the temple was almost too crowded to walk.

Many people ran to the street to breathe, and Liu Xian’an also walked around. A-Ning said: “This city is so messy.” There were so many people that it was like an old account book with yellowed curls, with all kinds of bad debts in it. It smelled musty, and anyone who opened it would feel dizzy.

“The refugees outside the city are still gathering, and there will only be more and more people here, and more and more chaos,” Liu Xian’an said. “Fortunately, the weather has turned cool. Otherwise, the summer heat and dirty environment, coupled with rampant mosquitos, rats, and ants, plague would breed sooner or later.”

“When I went to get medicine, there was a lot of chaos,” A-Ning said. “The medicinal herbs and food are piled up together, and should be the ones that the rebels stole before. There are too many to use up, and I could see that several packages of honeysuckle had begun to rot.”

Huang Wangxiang’s method for managing the city seemed to be simply sending out troops and letting them maintain order. And then, with a philanthropic attitude and lack of planning, all the displaced people in the world would be included under their command, relying on the food that was plundered everywhere before to create a temporary illusion of stability. Sewage flowed across the street, and many people crouched together with sallow faces. Liu Xian’an asked: “Did you encounter any difficulties when you went to gather the medicine today?”

“No, those people are mainly looking for food, and the medicinal herbs were piled up randomly,” A-Ning said. “I searched for it all myself, and no one cared. I also met another doctor on the way who was gathering medicine for himself too.”

“Then starting tomorrow, let’s build a medical shack in the temple,” Liu Xian’an said. “You and Brother Wang can just find some clear tables, chairs, and benches.”

“Okay,” A-Ning agreed. “I’ll go search.”

Liu Xian’an asked strangely: “What are you happy about?”

A-Ning smiled and said: “I was thinking that if the Village Master, Furen, and the First Young Master knew about this, how shocked they must be. Everyone must think that the Young Master is traveling with the prince at this time.”

But Liu Xian’an thought, it would be great to travel with the prince. That’s so great, ah, I want to go sightseeing.

A-Ning held his arm, and the two continued walking together: “But what we’re doing now is very meaningful.”

Liu Xian’an felt that traveling with Liang Shu was also very meaningful, not only meaningful, but interesting. He said to A-Ning: “When the world is stable, I will go to all the places from north to south, and east to west, with the prince.”

A-Ning was quite surprised. He thought that if the world was stable, the young master would definitely turn back into the precious lazy bastard he was before, but he didn’t expect that he had a plan to travel thousands of li.

Liu Xian’an continued to describe with great interest which mountains they would go to the first year, which rivers to go to the second year, and in the third year, they must climb a precipice and dangerous peak of more than 2,000 zhang. A-Ning’s legs and feet went weak, and he couldn’t help but interrupt at the tenth year to ask him: “Has the prince agreed?”

“I haven’t had time to tell the prince yet.”

“But the young master’s plan is so long, it will take almost half a lifetime,” A-Ning reminded him. “Even if the prince no longer needs to be stationed in the Northwest in the future, and becomes a rich and noble idler, he will still need to get married. If he gets married, how can he climb mountains and rivers all over the world with the young master?”

Liu Xian’an wondered, does he still want to get married?

He said: “But I think the prince seems to be the same as me, and has no interest in marrying.”

A-Ning shook his head: “The prince will definitely marry. Even if it is not the Third Young Lady, it will definitely be another princess or noble lady, and the emperor will grant a marriage.”

Liu Xian’an thought to himself, why does the emperor have so many things to worry about, like whether people get married or not, but my father doesn’t care about me.

A-Ning was still counting on his fingers the merits of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Although the prince had a very fierce and poor reputation, and may frighten some people away, he had a high position and authority, with countless military achievements at a young age, and was so tall and handsome. A-Ning said: “Right, Young Master, even among all the people in Dayan, the prince’s appearance can be ranked in the top one hundred.”

Liu Xian’an was dissatisfied: “Why in the top one hundred?”

A-Ning wondered, is the top one hundred not enough? Dayan had more than sixty million people. Liu Xian’an thought that he had to be at least number one.

“……Number one is also at least something.”

“Anyway, it’s number one.”

Just like that, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was pushed to the height of the most attractive man in Dayang.

A-Ning didn’t continue to argue, and just took the opportunity to answer, yes, the prince is the most good-looking in the world. Then there are even more people who will want to marry him, and the young master should change his plan to travel the world, ba. How about we go out and make more friends, which can also solve part of the problem.

Liu Xian’an reached out a hand to pinch his mouth shut, unwilling to discuss this matter any more: “I have to think about the prince’s marriage again.”

A-Ning was at a loss upon hearing this. What does the prince’s marriage have to do with us, why should we consider it? The young master should consider his own marriage. When we go back this time, the Furen will definitely bring it up again.

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to think about his own marriage, so he said seriously: “I also need to discuss this with the prince.”

This time, A-Ning didn’t ask, and directly went to test the temperature of his forehead. The two chased about on the street for a while, before they ran unknowingly to a brightly lit manor. Many soldiers patrolled back and forth with swords, and defenses were tight. When they saw someone approaching, they immediately shouted and signaled for them to leave quickly.

Liu Xian’an tugged at A-Ning’s sleeve and hastened to the other side of the alley. A-Ning said softly: “That’s where the rebel leader lives, right?”

“Yes, haven’t you noticed that there are still the words “Jinluan Palace’ hanging on the door?” Liu Xian’an said, “The city gate is up ahead. Look at that, the oil pots are burning and the whole sky is bright. I heard that in the beginning, there were no such tough defenses. Because the Yan army was gradually advancing, more and more sentries were set up on the city walls.”

“In that case, we had better go back first,” A-Ning said. “It took a lot of effort to sneak in, and hiding in an alley at night, it would be easy to be regarded as a thief—”

Before he could finish speaking, a chiding voice came from behind: “Who are you, what are you doing sneaking around here?”

A-Ning: “…….”

Liu Xian’an caught another important point.

If what you say comes true, then in the future, don’t casually mention that the prince has to marry someone else.

---

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Chapter Forty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Seven

The conference room was quickly filled with the relevant personnel.

In the four main seats in the front row were Song Ci, Yan Cen, Bo Yueming and Pei Yi. Ke Ming and Li Yuan led their respective teams to sit on the left and right sides of the second row.

Yan Cen’s assistant, Shen Na, was in charge of the competition process. After she confirmed that the relevant projection equipment had been turned on, she asked the people in charge of both project teams, “Which side wants to go first?”

Ke Ming raised his hand to gesture, giving up the initiative in a seemingly friendly way, “Young Boss Li, will you go first?”

Li Yuan didn’t care about the order. The sooner he finished speaking, the sooner he could relieve his inner tension.

He exchanged glances with Lou Yang next to him, but didn’t bother to pay attention to Ke Ming. he just looked at Shen Na and said, “We’ll go first.”

“All right.”

The neglected Ke Ming did not show much displeasure. During more than one week of preparation time, he once sent people to Dawn Games to covertly investigate it—-

Li Yuan’s “The Last Fog” project seemed to be a game of partnership with outsiders, and the company had not made any preparations for this.

Judging from the previous preliminary screening, they currently only had conceptual plots, and they had not even established character images or game models.

They dared to take out such an immature game to attract investment? Wasn’t this just trying to gain benefits with nothing in hand?

Ke Ming was very confident that the “Alien Beasts” produced by their Youming Studios was the highlight, so it was natural to put it in the later spot.

Only when there was a comparison could the advantages and disadvantages be reflected. This game must steamroll them!

Ke Ming seemed to have seen the result of this doomed competition, and there was a hint of carefreeness in his eyes.

Suddenly, he met an unexpected gaze—

Pei Yi rested his chin on his hand with one elbow on the table and stared at him with a slight tilt to his head. Those innocent and harmless eyes seemed to have insight into everything, and a cold light flashed through them, aimed at him.

“…….”

Ke Ming’s heart suddenly trembled.

When he was able to react, Pei Yi was sitting there obediently, using his fingertips to count the snacks on the table with a silly smile on his face.

It seemed that the brief eye contact just now was only his own illusion.

“Fuck.”

Thinking that he had been intimidated by a look from a fool, Ke Ming gritted his teeth and cursed very softly.

At his side, Pei Huan noticed his abnormality and asked in a whisper, “What’s wrong?”

Ke Ming leaned in and whispered, “Weren’t your foolish cousin and Bo Yueming just married? Why did the other party bring him along on such a serious occasion?”

Just now in the lounge, he got a rough understanding of the identities and relationship between Bo Yueming and Pei Yi.

Pei Huan shook his head and looked toward the head row.

He didn’t know how to describe it. The moment he left the elevator and saw Bo Yueming and Pei Yi, he felt a little uneasy inside.

“Ke Ming, tell me the truth, is there any problem with this competition?”

Ke Ming affirmed, “No problems. I’ve been developing Youming Studios for so long, when have I lost?”

Sitting on the far side, Xiang Nansheng listened silently to the discussion between the two. A moment of hesitation flickered in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

Pei Yi, who was sitting in his seat, ignored the movement on Ke Ming’s side. He glanced at Li Yuan, who was distributing materials and setting up his presentation, and actually thought that going first was very good.

After all, in the case of similar background settings, the first impression was the strongest. As for the creature models that the other party wanted to highlight, there may be “unexpected surprises” waiting to be revealed.

As he thought, Pei Yi took a sip of juice.

Sweet and sour~

Although it wasn’t as good as his favorite red wine, wasn’t it better than coffee? Very good!

Bo Yueming watched Pei Yi’s every move from the corner of his eyes. After hearing the sipping noise, he couldn’t help being distracted, and asked in a low voice, “Is it tasty?”

Pei Yi nodded slowly. He recalled the glass of juice that Bo Yueming drank in the restaurant last time, and pretended to protect his drink nervously. “Won’t, won’t give to Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming cooperated with his act. “En, you can have all of it.”

In less than half a minute, Li Yuan, having finished his preparations, gave his opening remarks. “Good afternoon, everyone. I am Li Yuan, the project leader of the game ‘The Last Fog.’”

“Next, I will elaborate on the core competitiveness of ‘The Last Fog’ and market advancement planning, and also touch upon investment channels that may be involved in the future.”

Li Yuan’s voice leaned toward being cold, and after being rendered by the microphone, it had a detached seriousness that was very suitable for such occasions.

The background setting of “The Last Fog” had not changed much, but in order to increase the player’s choices, as the world architect, Pei Yi had expanded the “game protagonist” from a single character to six characters with different backgrounds—

There was a retired special forces officer, serious and capable, familiar with various terrains, firefights, and close combat.

A talented scientist, rigid and rigorous, familiar with the composition and power of various types of chemical ammunition.

A sassy accountant, smart and courageous, who possessed the most powerful mental arithmetic ability and logical power.

There was a cute child, pure and friendly, who could easily communicate with any creature without being attacked.

And also a rich man who was timid and cowardly when things happened, but was well-informed and had the most accurate sixth sense.

The most mysterious character was a human zombie who had been recruited. With red eyes, white skin, and green blood, he was bloodthirsty but restrained. He maintained the basic thinking ability of a human, but forgot his memories before his “death.”

These six different game characters had different attributes, but they would start at the same point, and their first goal remained the same—

Arrive at China No.1 Underground City before June 16th.

“The Last Fog 1.0” was a single-player, multi-level game. All kinds of tools could be obtained and used in the form of cards, and the adventure dungeons were divided into six levels.

Generally speaking, the production difficulty would be far lower than that of general mobile games and web games, and the initial investment would not require much start-up capital, the server requirements were not high, and the focus would be on broadening the market channels.

Of course, if version 1.0 went well, various extensions and refinements could be made in version 2.0 within two or three months. And after the internal testing, public testing, and official launch—

Players could choose to integrate their achievements in version 1.0 into version 2.0.

Li Yuan prepared well in advance, and even if there were loopholes, they had been tightly plugged by Pei Yi’s “Will” vest.

He gave full play to being an investment major in university. When it came to the external expansion and internal upgrades of the game, he attached the most clear and concise investment amounts as auxiliary content.

Although their momentarily inadequate technical level was brushed over, it was almost perfect in all other aspects.

When Li Yuan finished and stepped down, Pei Yi used his “playing the fool” mask to applaud especially enthusiastically.

Although he couldn’t provide help on the surface, he at least couldn’t fall behind in action.

“…….”

Bo Yueming heard the kitten beside him clapping, and deliberately teased him, “You understand the game? Clapping so loud, be careful of your hands hurting later.”

On the surface, Pei Yi shook his head and said nothing, but inwardly, he held his head high—

As the master of the game and plot, how could he not understand it?

It was simply amazing!

Pei Yi had no problem with soliciting votes for his game, so he tugged at the corner of Bo Yueming’s clothes, trying to sneak through the ‘back door.’ “Er-ge, this one is good.”

Bo Yueming had his own considerations in mind. 

But after all, this was company business, and he couldn’t be too decisive before the comparison between the two was formally presented.

“I know, be good.”

The last two words were spoken very lightly, as if there was a trace of pampering in them.

Pei Yi’s ears reddened. He took a sip of juice at once and obediently stopped talking.

Yan Cen got up again and gestured, “Mr. Ke, it is your studio’s turn.”

Ke Ming smiled and nodded, motioning for Xiang Nansheng next to him to go on stage together. Before leaving his seat, he also patted his friend Pei Huan on the shoulder with a calm and confident expression.

After some preparations, Ke Ming spoke first as the general manager of the project. “Hello, everyone. First, allow me to briefly explain the basic concept and plot of the game ‘Alien Beasts.’”

Ke Ming adjusted his collar and put on a serious expression as he confidently explained, and it was just as Pei Yi had predicted—

“The Last Fog” and “Alien Beasts” had similar background settings, and the latter even had nearly the same game setup.

Thus, after Ke Ming finished explaining, Bo Yueming and the other high-level executives appeared calm, and even the project team staff who were listening from the sidelines gave no extraneous reactions.

In order to reduce the burden on his eyes, Bo Yueming had them closed. He tapped on the table twice. “Continue.”

The single word had no emotional fluctuations.

“…….”

There was a crack in the confidence on Ke Ming’s face, but he quickly suppressed it. “All right, next, Director Xiang Nansheng of our studio will explain one of the core features of ‘Alien Beasts’ to everyone.”

Xiang Nansheng pushed up his thick black-rimmed glasses and took over the task.

The core of “Alien Beasts” lay in the modeling of various creatures. Compared with the flat display at the initial screening, this time, various three-dimensional models and animations were directly put on display.

There was the alien butterfly with its sharp-bladed wings, a fat rat with tusks, a giant anaconda drenched in venom, and a monstrous combination of hybrids.

The alien monsters flying in the sky, crawling on the ground, and swimming in the water were vividly displayed before everyone.

The modeling displayed in the animations was obviously more intuitive and stunning than a flat print on paper.

The staff members of the project team sitting in the back row were all surprised.

Standing on stage, Ke Ming took in everyone’s expressions and regained his confidence. He couldn’t help but interject, “Our studio’s art team and technical team have devoted themselves to research and design for more than half a year. Up to now, we have created twenty animal models.”

“Of course, they are all original designs.”

When he heard Ke Ming’s interjection, Xiang Nansheng’s eyes flashed unnaturally under his dark glasses.

Pei Yi listened to the whispered exclamations from the staff behind. He deliberately “dropped” two of the toffees in his pocket to the ground and bent over to pick them up, taking a quick glance to the side—

Li Yuan silently held the documents in his hands, and his expression that had smoothed out once again showed a trace of graveness.

He had always known that the opponent’s greatest advantage was their modeling, but it happened to be at a technical level that Dawn Games couldn’t reach in a short period of time.

In Li Yuan’s view, Will’s game setting was already in line with the basic plot elements of the release, and if this competition failed, the fault must lie with himself.

In the corner where no one was paying attention, Lou Yang stared at the modeling display on the screen. Her eyes had completely changed.

. . . . . .

The investment competition between the two groups came to an end.

Assistant Shen Na glanced at the time. “Let’s end here today. When the executive discussions come to an end, our company will notify you by email……”

Before the echo of her voice stopped, Bo Yueming opened his mouth and said, “There is no need to engage in those detours. We should just choose one of the two and vote directly on the spot.”

As the top shareholding executive of G.M., Bo Yueming always had the right to speak. Taking advantage of no one being able to refute, he directly stated his choice.

“I am more interested in the background setting of “The Last Fog” I think that the architect of this game world is more creative, and the control of the market audience is also very precise.”

Pei Yi at the side heard Bo Yueming’s praise and took a mouthful of pudding, smiling happily.

For every architect of a game world, there was nothing more gratifying than affirmation of one’s work.

Sure enough, he was the villain he was looking for. Not only handsome, but also with great aesthetic tastes!

Bo Yueming didn’t know what Pei Yi was thinking, and cast his vote after some consideration—

On the surface, this was because the story logic and sense of creativity in “The Last Fog’ were generally strong, and the “stepping stone” development style was more conducive to the expansion of the Chinese market.

Privately, it was also because Pei Huan had joined the main creative team of “Alien Beasts.” Regardless of whether the other party’s position in the studio was real or not, Bo Yueming didn’t want to have anything to do with this sort of calculating person. Besides, the other party even had a superficial business arrangement with Bo Guancheng.

Hearing that Bo Yueming was the first to stand in line for “The Last Fog,” Ke Ming frowned briefly, but due to the occasion and the identity of the other party, he only dared to complain silently in his heart—

Sure enough, he was a blind man.

Their studio’s modeling was unbelievably excellent!

Was this kind of person worthy of sitting at the top of the company? He should resign himself to his fate and stay at home to continue to be blind!

Upon thinking about it, Song Ci, who was the chief operations officer and a shareholder of G.M., also expressed her views. “From a publicity point of view, I am more inclined toward ‘Alien Beasts.’”

“Their creature modeling is outstanding and mature, and can be used as a highlight to attract game audiences in the future. As for “The Last Fog,” the setting is very good, but the text is far more conceptual than the currently visible content.”

From the perspective of marketing promotion, Son Ci’s words were very pertinent.

Both Pei Yi and Li Yuan knew the current shortcomings of their game, and respected her choice.

After Ke Ming heard Song Ci’s choice, the downturned corners of his mouth started to rise again. He had originally felt—

Making an on-site decision in front of both competing parties was too aggressive and bold. But after thinking about it, the more straightforward the result, the more it could highlight his success and Li Yuan’s failure on the spot.

Why not do it?

Ke Ming glanced at Pei Huan, who he had called in to listen and make connections, “Yes, Pei Huan of our studio also considered this aspect of publicity.”

“Moreover, a large part of the models for the twenty creatures we’ve created were actually derived from his suggestions.”

As he said this, he glanced specifically at Yan Cen, who went to the same school as Pei Huan.

“…….”

Seeing the gazes coming from all directions, Pei Huan, who had never received such information, paused in thought.

How could he understand such things?

But on this sort of occasion, he was temporarily unable to dismantle the other party’s stage, and if the competition was successful, his nominal title could also be a little more resounding.

Following Ke Ming’s confident fabrication, Pei Huan smiled and acquiesced to the rhetoric.

“It is a one-to-one vote right now.” Ke Ming took the initiative to start the process, and looked at Yan Cen, who was the only one who hadn’t made a decision yet. “Boss Yan, what do you think?”

“……”

This person was really shrewd to the bone, calculating all possible interpersonal relationships.

The cream-stained corners of Pei Yi’s mouth curved into a sneer, and after pursing his lips, he maintained his dazed expression.

Bo Yueming noticed Pei Yi’s short-lived true emotions, and his desire to investigate burned even hotter. Before he could think deeply, a slow but firm voice came from the far right.

“Before the result of this competition is officially released, may I express some personal thoughts first?”

Yan Cen, who was about to vote for “The Last Fog,” was taken aback when he heard this.

Bo Yueming spoke up instead, “Ms. Lou? Please speak.”

Lou Yang glanced at Li Yuan and then said, “Frankly speaking, the reason why “The Last Fog” should reach an investment partnership with G.M.—”

“Is because although the current funds are limited, that doesn’t mean there is no modeling ability and design innovation, and the marketing is not the only entry point. Ms. Song’s choice is understandable, but not necessarily right.”

When he heard his vote of support being denounced, Ke Ming asked first, “Ms. Lou, in what capacity are you saying this?”

She was just an employee who hadn’t experienced much of life and was recruited into the company by Li Yuan, yet she dared to spew such bullshit for Dawn Games?

What a big joke!

Lou Yang stood up. “Let me introduce myself again. I am the newly appointed project director of the “Last Fog” project.

“In the future, I will be responsible for image design and part of the modeling for the game characters and various NPCs in ‘The Last Fog.’”

Hearing this series of self-introductions, Ke Ming’s voice was like a needle hidden in cotton, “Ms. Lou, it’s not easy to hold two positions. Forgive me for my ignorance. It seems that our Chinese game circle has not had a project director who is a woman?”

When Song Ci in the front row heard this, a trace of disapproval flashed across her face, but then she heard Lou Yang respond confidently.

“Really? Then there is now.”

Hearing Lou Yang gradually revealing her sharpness, Pei Yi unconsciously sat up straight and began to look forward to the next developments. He was confident—

Since Lou Yang chose to stand forward at this moment, it seemed that his previous guess was true!

Ke Ming took in Lou Yang’s image and attire, still disdainful, but it was difficult to express it freely due to the occasion.

As one of the executive shareholders in the office with the right to speak, Bo Yueming directly controlled the audience, “Director Lou, what did you want to say just now? Hurry up.”

The tone sounded stern and indifferent, but he changed her title from “Ms. Lou” to “Director Lou,” clearly recognizing Lou Yang’s self-reported identity.

Li Yuan realized something and called out, “Sister Yang?”

Lou Yang patted him on the shoulder, picked up the backpack she was carrying, and walked to the center of the conference room step by step. “Your company’s investment cooperation, in addition to the pure capability of the partner, should also consider moral integrity, right?”

Song Ci responded, “Of course.”

“Since this is the case, I will report on my own behalf. Youming Studios has borrowed, imitated, and even plagiarized the modeling of “Alien Beasts.” If the game is launched, there will easily be negative effects.”

“Nonsense!”

Ke Ming heard these words and the color of his face changed, then he quickly stabilized his mind. 

He looked at Li Yuan, who was still sitting quietly in his seat, and opened his mouth to ask, “Li Yuan, I still give you the respect of calling you Young Boss Li.”

“Even if we had a little bit of trouble over game copyrights before, you shouldn’t find a woman of unknown background and deliberately have her talk nonsense about investment! You are destroying the fairness of this competition!”

Pei Yi scoffed coldly in his heart, seeing everything clearly.

When a dog got desperate, it would jump over a wall.

If he didn’t have a guilty conscience, why such a big reaction?

Lou Yang put her backpack on the computer table and warded off Ke Ming’s questioning on Li Yuan’s behalf. “Mr. Ke, whoever speaks the loudest does not necessarily have the advantage.”

“The largest game forum in China, Youtu – as a game producer, you should have heard of it, right? There is a user whose ID is “Dehydration,” and your design modeling is highly consistent with the design screenshots uploaded by Dehydration.”

As Lou Yang spoke, her eyes swept across Ke Ming, Xiang Nansheng, and Pei Huan in turn, and finally asked them together, “May I ask, is this the original that you all swear by?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience collectively fell into silence.

A crack burst in Ke Ming’s solemn and trustworthy expression.

Sitting in his seat, Pei Huan realized that he was going to be forcefully implicated in a possible plagiarism incident, and embarrassment and annoyance suddenly rose in his eyes.

What irritated Bo Yueming most was this kind of dispute that touched upon the bottom line of morality, and his aura instantly cooled. “Lin Zhong, check this website and the related account immediately.”

Lin Zhong picked up the tablet at once. “Yes.”

Yan Cen, who was also sitting in a decision-making position, restrained his gentle expression with a frown and asked, “Mr. Ke, are Director Lou’s words true?”

Ke Ming’s pupils shook for a moment.

That “Dehydration” was a small account he accidentally discovered on the Youtu forum, and the address showed the registration as overseas. The number of fans was less than one hundred, and the popularity of various modeling screenshots was also very low, but the designs had a sense of spirit and innovation.

Ke Ming admitted that he got inspiration for the game from it, and privately asked the art and technical departments to more or less draw on it. 

He had originally wanted to wait until the investment was in his hands and before the game was launched to find a reason to change the modeling in order to cover up this matter, and he didn’t expect it to leak out at this critical moment!

Ke Ming saw the questioning eyes of the audience and lied desperately, “How is this possible? As for the user you mentioned, it might be an employee of my studio who uploaded the modeling screenshots privately without telling me.”

Pei Yi drank the last mouthful of sweet and sour juice and cursed silently: You idiot.

Hadn’t he realized that he had fallen into a “language trap?”

“Studio employee?”

Lou Yang also caught the loophole, and her tone became firmer. “Mr. Ke, wasn’t my self-introduction clear enough? May I ask, when did I become your employee?”

The firm and forceful rhetorical question turned into a slap, which instantly landed on Ke Ming’s face!

T/N: Ke Ming, no, you…..you don’t just present your face to the face-slapping king. Or queen. Can I just say that I love this new lady?

---

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Chapter Thirty-Two <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Four

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

The elevator doors opened and Bo Yueming walked out in formal attire, holding a walking cane in his hand. Pei Yi followed him out obediently.

With assistant Lin Zhong as a guide, the two slowly walked to the main entrance of the G.M. company floor.

The new receptionist was surprised when she saw Bo Yueming’s “blind man” accessories, and didn’t realize Bo Yueming’s identity for a moment.

Then Yan Cen’s assistant hurried out and said respectfully, “Boss Bo.”

Her eyes fell on the familiar assistant Lin Zhong, and then on the face of the completely unfamiliar Pei Yi—

The person before her had a cute and innocent face, and the casual clothes on his frame were designed by famous niche brands. He didn’t look like a person capable of blending into the workplace.

A little taken aback, the assistant subconsciously asked Lin Zhong, who had the same status, “Assistant Lin, who is this?”

As soon as she spoke, Bo Yueming took the initiative to say, “He is my……family member.”

The term “family member” was very special.

Not only the two assistants, but even Pei Yi himself was surprised for a moment. But when he thought about it, this term was indeed more appropriate than “marriage partner,” “companion,” and so on.

Pei Yi seemed to want to prove his identity, so he called out in a well-behaved manner, “Er-ge.”

The assistant had a good sense of propriety. Although she was bewildered, she didn’t ask any more questions.

Bo Yueming changed the subject. “Where is Yan Cen? Is he here?”

The assistant replied, “I just called to inquire. Boss Yan is already in the underground parking lot, and will be here soon.”

Speak of the devil and he will arrive.

The elevator doors opened again, and Yan Cen took the lead to step through them. In addition, there were two other people in the elevator—

They were Li Yuan, who had come to participate in the competition, and an unfamiliar woman with short hair.

Pei Yi stared slightly, secretly observing everything.

Yan Cen had not changed much since the previous two meetings. Superior and refined, he wore the familiar gold-rimmed glasses on his face, but compared to the previous two occasions, with his “working status” today, he had the extra calm aura of a boss.

Li Yuan, who was standing diagonally behind, had donned a new blue suit with a gray pattern for today’s official selection. He also seemed to have taken extra care of his hairstyle, and the wolf tail was cut a bit shorter, the little fluff on the upper part curling.

With his deliberately indifferent expression, there was a faint sense of lovely contrast.

As for the short-haired woman next to Li Yuan, she was dressed even more simply, with a plain white T-shirt and jeans and a black bag over one shoulder.

It looked as if she had followed the wrong person and strayed into this area, but she was calm and without stage fright.

Pei Yi stared at her for a moment, and then his lips curved indistinctly.

“Hello, Boss Yan.”

Yan Cen’s assistant was the first to react, and at the same time recognized Li Yuan from the competition materials. “And Mr. Li, did you come here together?”

“N-no.”

Li Yuan got stuck for a moment, and his voice was slightly tense. “I happened to meet Boss Yan in the elevator.”

“En, I came up from the underground parking lot, and when the elevator stopped on the first floor, I met Mr. Li and……” Yan Cen glanced sideways at the relatively unfamiliar woman, and inquired politely with his eyes.

“Lou Yang.”

The woman met his gaze and introduced herself calmly and naturally. “I came here with Mr. Li, and can be regarded as one of the staff participating in the competition for “The Last Fog.”

Li Yuan was silent for a moment. “En.”

He had just picked up Lou Yang at the airport an hour ago. As for the complicated relationship, it was not easy to explain for the time being.

Yan Cen looked at Pei Yi, who was following along, and teased for a rare moment, “Mr. Bo, you really brought a “family member” to the company? Violation of company regulations will result in fines.”

“As you say.” Bo Yueming answered lightly, “I’ll watch him, he won’t cause trouble.”

Yan Cen nodded slightly, and asked his assistant, “It starts at two o’clock?”

“Yes, there is still another half hour, and the other group of investment competitors hasn’t arrived yet.” The assistant accurately reported the current situation and asked, “Do I need to call to confirm their situation?”

Bo Yueming was decisive. “No need. If they don’t show up at the end, it will be regarded as an automatic waiver. Our G.M. never seeks out cooperation from project parties.”

Yan Cen agreed.

As soon as his voice fell, the elevator opened for the third time.

Everyone from Youming Studios had arrived. Ke Ming looked at the group of people gathered at the front desk, and after some brief surprise, showed a polite smile. “What a coincidence, why is everyone gathered here?”

Ke Ming identified Yan Cen and took the initiative to greet him. “Boss Yan, I am Ke Ming, the head of Youming Studios. I’ve admired you for a long time.”

Yan Cen pushed his glasses up lightly and gave a polite, “Mr. Ke.”

Compared with Li Yuan’s indifference and restraint, Ke Ming obviously knew how to make friends with others. He took the initiative to move to the side and introduce two people, “Boss Yan, this is the program technical director of our “Alien Beasts” project, Xiang Nansheng.”

“And our project operator, Pei Huan.”

When the name of the latter person was mentioned, aside from Bo Yueming, who was pretending to be blind, everyone looked toward the back in unison.

“…….”

Only then did Pei Huan, who was blocked by Xiang Nansheng, come forward. When he saw Bo Yueming and Pei Yi standing in front of him, the smile on his face froze slightly, but it quickly returned to normal.

Yan Cen glanced at Bo Yueming and Pei Yi beside him and asked in surprise, “Pei Huan? You’re involved in Youming Studios’ project? Why wasn’t this mentioned in the prior information?”

“Boss Yan, you don’t know that Pei Huan is a newcomer, but I have been lobbying him since the beginning of the project and finally managed to persuade him two days ago.”

Hearing Ke Ming’s false claims, Pei Huan smiled and did not refute.

In fact, he had no substantive relationship with the “Alien Beasts” project, and the so-called “project operator” was just a temporary name.

Pei Huan and Ke Ming had met at an “excellent student exchange meeting” organized during university. Although they came from different schools, they became friends over time due to having the same hobbies and interests.

A week ago, Ke Ming suddenly contacted Pei Huan and put the “Alien Beasts” project in front of his eyes, saying—

If Pei Huan was interested in the project, he could transfer part of his personal equity to the other party. Although it took a long time to wait for the initial investment, once the follow-up game was successfully released, they would definitely earn a lot of money back.

The real power of the Pei family was still in the hands of Pei Ruzhang for the time being. With the failure of the partnership project with the Bo family, Pei Huan had originally planned to start an investment on the side, and Ke Ming’s invitation was very warm.

After some consideration, Pei Huan accepted the idea.

Ke Ming invited him to participate in today’s competition as a chance for him to learn more about the project, but he didn’t expect to meet so many acquaintances here.

Ke Ming’s voice continued, “Boss Yan, Pei Huan and I met in college. The original concept of “Alien Beasts,” including the biological prototypes, were also discussed by us over drinks.”

When fabricating this layer of lies, Ke Ming’s pupils flickered momentarily.

It was just that these calculations couldn’t escape the notice of Bo Yueming and Pei Yi. The former was inwardly suspicious, while the latter saw through everything directly—

Ke Ming must have learned about the relationship between Pei Huan and Yan Cen in university, so he pulled this trick on purpose.

After all was said and done, wasn’t this just counting on Yan Cen seeing the face of a “student from the same school” so that in the competition between the two parties, they would be favored and given preferential treatment?

Pei Huan already realized the true purpose of Ke Ming’s invitation for him to join him, but didn’t have hard feelings about being “used” at all.

To be honest, Yan Cen was indeed the only person he had a crush on during university, but there were few opportunities to meet him at school.

So long after graduation, the two could still meet again. If he could use this opportunity to gain impression points in front of the other party and improve their relationship and communication a bit, then he was perfectly willing.

“Senior, that’s not right…..” Pei Huan paused slightly, and then changed his words with a smile, “Boss Yan, I look forward to future exchanges with your company.”

“…….”

Exchanges?

Was the result of this competition already confirmed?

Li Yuan, who had remained silent the whole time, heard this term of address and involuntarily took half a step back.

Pei Yi noticed the other party’s retreat, and his disdain for Pei Huan and Ke Ming rose to another level.

He was thinking about how to “play the fool” to frustrate the other party’s inexplicable confidence and drive, but Bo Yueming beside him spoke in a resonating voice—

“G.M. has always valued capability. As for things other than work, there is no need to communicate more about them.”

In a word, he pretty much shoved those hidden words onto the surface.

Pei Yi suppressed his smile for an instant, and raised his eyes to look at Bo Yueming who was much taller than himself. The more he looked at him, the more he felt that the other party was incredibly handsome, and he wished he could directly give this person a thumbs-up.

Exactly.

This game competition only depended on pure prowess, what were these dishonest means!

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

Ke Ming looked at Bo Yueming, who was “dressed up as a blind man,” with a hint of inner displeasure. “May I ask who this gentleman is?”

Yan Cen introduced the identity of his friend, “Mr. Bo is my partner, the highest-level shareholder of G.M., and one of the decision makers for today’s investment.”

“…….”

“…….”

When these words were spoken, the astonishment of Ke Ming and Pei Huan almost reached their faces.

Ke Ming’s inner displeasure suddenly dissipated, and he regretted at once the contempt in his question just now. When he researched the company before, why didn’t he know that there was such a person as Bo Yueming?

Thank goodness he was being polite when he spoke just now, otherwise he would have offended him terribly!

Pei Huan attempted to stabilize his complexion, but there was a sudden and indescribable panic in his heart.

Last time, he and Bo Guancheng had tried to send Pei Yi to Sun Yelong’s bed in exchange for greater cooperation, and as a result, Qin Yishun severely denounced and accused him first, and then he suffered a huge loss after the cooperation failed. If Bo Yueming knew about his shady business, would he still give him a fair chance in this competition?

What about Yan Cen?

Did he also know what he did to Pei Yi? Would his perception of him change?

The next moment, Yan Cen calmly spoke, “Shen Na, please take both parties to sit down in the lounge. We will start on time at two o’clock in the conference room.”

After speaking, he patted his friend on the shoulder lightly. “Yueming, let’s go.”

Bo Yueming gave a slight nod and accurately held Pei Yi’s wrist under the cover of the guide sunglasses in order to prevent the kitten beside him from running around. “Let’s go.”

Pei Yi had originally wanted to stay and take a look at Li Yuan’s situation, but then thought of how he had agreed to Bo Yueming’s request, so he had no choice but to honestly let the other party lead him away. The group of people left first.

Pei Huan looked after Yan Cen’s departing figure, and then at Pei Yi, who was always at Bo Yueming’s side on such occasions. His perpetually bright smile gradually stiffened and weakened, and finally disappeared.

. . . . . .

The lounge was fairly bright and spacious.

Each of the competing parties chose to sit on one side, and Li Yuan tried hard to break free from his subtle and complicated emotions.

He took out the documents and materials he had organized from his backpack, and planned to take the last bit of time to sort out the content of his speech and check for omissions and gaps.

Lou Yang next to him asked  in a whisper, “Young Boss Li, do you have any backup documents? Show me.”

“Sister Yang, you are older than me, you can just call me by name. You don’t need to be bound by that term of address.”

While speaking calmly, Li Yuan took out the documents belonging to Lou Yang and purposely tapped on a line above. “Will asked me to prepare this for you.”

— It was the character roles and NPC images for “The Last Fog 1.0.”

Lou Yang looked at his line of title text, and then at this thick stack of text settings, and a carefree smile flashed in her eyes. “This person didn’t come, but it is very clear that he wanted to.”

As soon as she spoke, there was a faint laugh from across the room. “Young Boss Li, I haven’t seen you for a few days, why is there an extra assistant by your side? Is this lady your partner?”

Li Yuan’s fingertips tightened as he held the documents, and his expression didn’t look very good.

Lou Yang heard the unkind “greeting,” and raised her eyes to look back at Ke Ming. “I’m just a staff member who came to observe, there’s no need for Boss Ke to trouble himself.”

“That’s true.”

Ke Ming examined Lou Yang from head to toe.

Wearing ordinary and unremarkable clothing, how could she look like a capable person in the workplace? He brought such trash to attend? Wasn’t this just putting the big characters “Dawn Company is incapable” on the table?

And of course, Bo Yueming, one of the decision makers, was blind.

They really didn’t need to spend time on attire, and could really only speak through their capability.

Ke Ming slandered in his mind, his eyes still stained with contempt. “Mr. Li, did you really not think about what I said last time? It’s better to abstain now than to lose shamefully in the end.”

In public, they had the foundation, capability, and momentum of technology and development; in private, Pei Huan and Yan Cen, the Executive Director of G.M., were still university brothers.

Ke Ming didn’t know the relationship between Pei Huan, Bo Yueming, and Pei Yi for the time being, but he was still sure of victory and full of confidence.

Li Yuan looked at Ke Ming, who had a “victorious” expression. From the corner of his eye, he saw Pei Huan’s figure again, and a trace of indescribable uneasiness swayed in his heart.

He didn’t want to show timidity in front of the other party, and put up a front of cold arrogance. “Mr Ke, worry about yourself.”

Ke Ming gave a smug laugh. “Mr. Li, your stubborn temper really needs to be adjusted.”

Li Yuan ignored him. He glanced at the time on the phone and disclosed in a low voice, “Sister Yang, I’m going out to get some air.”

Lou Yang nodded, comforting him quietly, “Don’t lose confidence because of this villain. Don’t you remember my purpose for being here?”

Of course Li Yuan remembered. His eyes flickered slightly. “En.”

. . . . . .

Inside the Executive Director’s office.

In addition to Bo Yueming and Yan Cen, there was also Song Ci, who had just returned to China. The three of them would jointly come to a decision on one of the two game projects—

Whether in the overseas market or the Chinese market, this was the first time for G.M. to contact and invest in the game industry, so they were more cautious in making a choice.

Pei Yi listened to their analysis and discussion on the first four rounds of investment projects, and wanted to interrupt but was unable to speak. Bored, he could only cast his gaze on the glass door with anti-peeping protection.

Not long after, he glimpsed a person walking out of the nearby lounge. It was Li Yuan.

Pei Yi thought of Li Yuan’s silent reaction when they were at the front desk just now, and was still a little worried.

Most of the “Last Fog” project relied on Li Yuan to drive forward alone. The more critical the moment, the more he should find a way to stabilize the other party’s mind.

Pei Yi lowered his eyes and hesitated for a second, then turned his head and gently tugged twice at the corner of Bo Yueming’s clothes. “Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming was constantly paying attention to Pei Yi from the corner of his eyes hidden under the lenses, and knew something was up when he felt him tugging. “En?”

“I, I’m going to the bathroom.”

Pei Yi quickly glanced at the “outsiders” around him and spoke softly, a blush of embarrassment spreading across his cheeks.

A person in his twenties had to report when he went out to use the bathroom!

It was true that it was only an excuse, but his embarrassment was also real!

Bo Yueming saw through him but didn’t say anything, deliberately letting his gaze wander. “Alight, let Lin Zhong outside take you there.”

He wanted to follow personally and see what “bad things” this kitten was going to do behind his back, only it would be a bit of overkill for a dignified company executive to accompany him to the bathroom.

Before coming, Lin Zhong had already been notified—

Where he was unable to personally see, the other party had to help “supervise” Pei Yi’s every move.

Pei Yi was unaware of this, and after obtaining Bo Yueming’s consent with a blushing face, he maintained his cute appearance and slipped out.

It didn’t take one minute.

Under Lin Zhong’s considerate guidance, Pei Yi entered the restroom alone. Sure enough, he ran into Li Yuan standing silently at the outside washstand.

Li Yuan’s face was covered with a lot of water. He had likely washed his face just now, and the watery light gathered on his face magnified his exposed fragility and anxiety.

Glimpsing Pei Yi through the mirror, he hastily pulled out a tissue from the side and wiped his face, trying to restore that cold and arrogant outward appearance. “Little Young Master Pei, I didn’t expect to meet you here today.”

Pei Yi saw through him but said nothing.

He knew that Li Yuan still needed time to “organize himself,” and wouldn’t leave here for a while, so he slowly advanced into a private stall.

The small door was tightly locked.

Li Yuan let out a sigh of relief when he heard the sound.

He grabbed the cigarette case he carried with him from his pocket and took one out to hold at the tip of his nose and inhaled lightly, trying to calm down his inner restlessness.

Footsteps from outside sounded again, and another tall figure walked in.

Li Yuan automatically opened his eyes and turned around, and unexpectedly caught Yan Cen’s gaze. “M-Mr. Yan.”

“Young Boss Li.”

Yan Cen’s gaze rested on the cigarette for a moment.

Li Yuan noticed and subconsciously held the cigarette in his palm. “I……I know you can’t smoke indoors. I was just picking it up to sniff it.”

After speaking, he felt that he sounded stupid, and went silent again.

“It’s fine.”

Yan Cen raised his right hand. “I got some ink on my hand, I came to wash it.”

He walked to the sink and rinsed his hands slowly.

Li Yuan glanced at Yan Cen, who was only a short distance away, from the corner of his eye. He didn’t know whether to stay or leave for a moment.

“Young Boss Li, are you nervous, or are you not confident?”

“Ah?”

Yan Cen rubbed some hand sanitizer onto his hands and offered, “I’ve read the basic information of Dawn Games and the game “The Last Fog.” In fact, your plot settings are very good, and the structure is incredibly complete.”

“G.M. has always valued the capability of its partners, and no ‘back doors’ or ‘sentimentality’ will be found here.”

Li Yuan was stunned. “I……”

“I thought you might be worried that Youming would take advantage of my and Pei Huan’s relationship as university brothers to pull ahead.”

Yan Cen smiled lightly at him through the reflection in the mirror. “If that is the case, then shouldn’t you and I also be regarded as brothers who are directly affiliated through university?”

“…….”

Li Yuan held the cigarette tightly in his palm, not knowing how to answer.

Be regarded as university brothers?

The two had little extraneous contact in university.

Yan Cen wiped his hands clean, then motioned to him from the side. “Open your hand.”

“What?”

Li Yuan was a beat slow. His bodily instincts were greater than his rationality, and he spread his right hand uncertainly.

“You’re right, it is G.M.’s policy that no smoking is allowed inside the company. So I’ll take that on the company’s behalf.”

Yan Cen took the crumpled cigarette and instead placed a toffee in his palm. “It looks like your lips are a little pale. If you have low blood sugar, it is better to eat one.”

“Pay attention to the time, you can’t be late for the meeting.”

After speaking, Yan Cen neatly left the bathroom.

The footsteps gradually faded away.

Li Yuan looked at the toffee in his palm and couldn’t recover for a while. 

Then there was a noise in a stall and Pei Yi, who had secretly heard the entire process, came out.

He observed Li Yuan’s expression again and suddenly felt that he didn’t need to rack his brains for a way to persuade him, so he only let out a profound—

“Oh~”

This sudden sound made Li Yuan feel awkward for a moment. “L-Little Young Master Pei, what did you see me doing?”

In order to completely suppress Li Yuan’s anxiety that might make a comeback, Pei Yi deliberately reached out to tease him. “Candy, give me. Kid stuff.”

“…….”

Li Yuan’s ears gradually turned red.

He used this term to “rebuke” Pei Yi in the coffee shop, but the other party used it to “laugh” at him.

Li Yuan quickly placed the toffee into his suit pocket and pretended to dislike and avoid him, “What’s the point of one candy? If you like it, have your Boss Bo buy it for you.”

Pei Yi hummed. He took out a package of small bread from his pocket that he had just bought at the company’s snack bar and handed it to the other party.

Others may not know, but Pei Yi, who was Will, knew very well—

Li Yuan had been re-examining all the documents and materials early in the morning, and had taken time to pick up Lou Yang at noon. He likely hadn’t had time to eat, otherwise his lip color wouldn’t have faded like this.

“Give. Not hungry.”

“……..”

Li Yuan stared at the bread delivered to him, and his affection for Pei Yi rose rapidly.

He slowly accepted this kindness and then gave an awkward cough, changing his words, “How about this, ba. If I succeed in the competition today, how about I treat you to cake?”

Anyhow, last time in the coffee shop, the other party listened quietly to his distress and even bought him a glass of juice and a piece of cake when he was on his deathbed.

Li Yuan had a good impression of Pei Yi, and also didn’t want to owe him such a small favor.

Pei Yi raised his outstretched palm, and with real affection for cake and this ally, he gave a real smile, “Wish you success.”

Li Yuan’s heart was no longer anxious now, and knowing that the other party was a “little fool,” he was still willing to treat him as a friend.

He stretched out his hand to shake it back, and gave a rare smile. “It’s a deal. I’ll borrow your blessing.”

. . . . . . .

In a flash, it was two o’clock.

Pei Yi obediently followed Bo Yueming to the exclusive conference room and sat down.

Relevant personnel came in one after another, carrying notebooks and materials.

Then assistant Lin Zhong opened the door and entered the room, walking up to Pei Yi with three exquisite bags of food. “Little Sir, look! Juice, pudding, and egg tarts—”

As Lin Zhong spoke, he placed the desserts in front of Pei Yi one by one like treasures, and didn’t forget to say a sentence at the end.

“Boss Bo asked me to buy it for you.”

“…….”

Pei Yi looked at the row of his favored desserts before him and was ready to make a move on them, but was at the same time in disbelief—

Such a serious occasion?

Messed up by a bunch of food for him to eat?

Was this appropriate? This was not appropriate, ba!

While thinking about it, Pei Yi looked at Bo Yueming beside him and blinked in confusion. “Er-ge?”

Bo Yueming took in this cute look and pretended to be serious, “Eat quietly later, and don’t make trouble when you shouldn’t talk.”

“…….”

Fine, ba.

It turned out that he was afraid his “little fool” would talk nonsense, so he stuffed his mouth with sweets in advance.

Pei Yi accepted the order, and deliberately didn’t react for a long time before behaving well. “Oh.”

Bo Yueming motioned and said in a low voice, “Stretch out your hand.”

“Ah?”

Bo Yueming repeated, “Stretch out your hand.”

Pei Yi was unclear, so he glanced at the gradually arriving staff and slowly spread his hand under the cover of the table.

Bo Yueming reached over with his clenched right hand and pretended that he couldn’t find the location of his palm. “You come over here.”

“……”

Becoming increasingly puzzled, Pei Yi spread his palm toward Bo Yueming’s fist like a kitten probing with its claws, and lightly touched it with his fingertips.

Rustle.

Seven or eight toffees fell heavily into his palm.

“…….”

Pei Yi was dumbfounded. He had no idea how Bo Yueming had conjured up these candies.

Bo Yueming looked at Pei Yi’s small head with a “question mark” on top, and his eyes hidden under the glasses smiled a little more.

He seemed to relax, and closed his hand, explaining in a low voice, “Put them away. If you want to eat them in the future, don’t ask for them from others.”

Ah?

Had he said he wanted candy?

Pei Yi forgot his casual teasing in the bathroom for a moment, but still honestly put these toffees in his pocket. He wouldn’t turn away candies given for free.

Lin Zhong, who was sitting in the back as an assistant, watched this scene and silently shook his head—

As he was “supervising” outside the bathroom just now, he heard Pei Yi fail in his request for toffee from Li Yuan, so he secretly reported the matter to Bo Yueming when he returned. 

As a result?

When Mr. Bo heard about this, he went directly to Mr. Yan’s water bar and took away all the toffee used for coffee!

Yes! There was not one left!

---

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Chapter Thirty-One <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Three

T/N: Thank you to VC3 and Allison for the Kofi donations! Here is the regularly scheduled chapter, along with two bonus chapters, one for each of you.

The 16th floor of the Jinmao Building in the Imperial Capital’s top central business district, where the Chinese G.M. branch was located.

Li Yuan came out of the main entrance of the building. He lowered his eyes and carefully looked at the tentative contract in his hands that had been through preliminary screening, and the anxiety in his heart was at last relieved for good.

He grabbed a bottle of mineral water from a vending machine and quickly drained half the bottle, sitting in the open-air rest area outside.

Li Yuan’s thoughts turned, and he couldn’t wait to share the news with his collaborator, Will. He opened the Youtu app interface—

“Will, are you there? I just came out of G.M. Our game project has passed the first round of screening!”

The status displayed on the chat page was “Logged In,” and within half a minute, the other party sent a reply: “The first round of preliminary screening? Is there another competitor shortlisted?”

Li Yuan had guessed that Will would ask this question, so he simply typed the answer by voice, “En, they plan to invest in and track five projects in the second half of the year. We were a little late in delivery, so now there is only one place left.”

He paused, and a glimmer of light flickered in his eyes. “Their Executive Director was not there today. I just took the project material book and explained briefly……”

G.M. intended to get involved with the game industry in China, so at the end of the screening, Li Yuan and another game studio group were left, and the two sides would have a second round of competition next Friday.

At that time, it would not only be the Executive Director, but the company’s Chief Operating Officer and high-level shareholders behind the scenes would also be present at the venue to give their opinions.

In other words, next Friday was the key node that would determine whether their “The Last Fog” could bring in investment.

Li Yuan was both nervous and looking forward to it. If he could really get the support of a large venture capital company like G.M, it would be much better than the small investments he received in the past!

On the other side, Will learned of the situation and asked another essential question, “What is the name of the other game studio? How much do you know about them?”

There was a fitting old saying — know your enemy and yourself, and you can win a hundred battles.

When it came to the competitor, Li Yuan’s expression was joyous. But before he could explain to Will on the other end, a light greeting came from in front of him.

“Hey, Mr. Li, you haven’t left yet?”

Li Yuan raised his head, and his expression returned to the indifferent and arrogant attitude that only appeared to the outside world. “En, just sitting casually. President Ke and Director Xiang have just come down?”

The two young men standing before him were Ke Ming and Xiang Nansheng from Youming Studios. The former was responsible for the game project structure and the external operations of the studio, and the latter was in charge of game development.

They had co-founded “Youming Studios” when they were in college. Over the years, they had developed six or seven small games with explosive style, and could be regarded as an emerging game studio with relatively good momentum in the circle. They had also successively recruited many employees with excellent skills.

Li Yuan had searched for good original mini game IPs, and there was a brief confrontation with Ke Ming. Of course, the process was not very pleasant—

The other party had twice snatched the mini game projects that Li Yuan was interested in at a higher purchase price.

“Young Boss Li, how can you only drink this kind of mineral water?”

Ke Ming sat opposite Li Yuan without waiting for an invitation, and told the person next to him, “Nansheng, go buy two cups of coffee. It’s rare to meet Mr. Li, let’s chat.”

“…….”

Xiang Nansheng pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and walked away resignedly.

In the fairly spacious open-air rest area, only Li Yuan and Ke Ming were left there.

Ke Ming crossed his legs, leaning leisurely on the lounge chair. His contemptuous gaze swung from Li Yuan’s face to the contract of intent on the table. “I haven’t seen you in three or four months, Mr. Li’s skills have improved a lot, ah.”

He had actually created another original game, and even got a contract of intent from a large venture capital firm like G.M.

Li Yuan took out his cigarettes and a lighter with a pear-shaped metal casing from his pocket, and pressed heavily on the contract of intent. He didn’t have time to go around in circles with him. “If Mr. Ke has anything to say, he might as well say it directly.”

“Young Boss Li, since you’re being direct, I won’t talk nonsense.” Ke Ming sat up slightly and proposed, “How about giving up this competition and giving me the copyright of this game?”

Li Yuan gave an indifferent smile. “Mr. Ke, what nonsense are you speaking?”

Ke Ming’s eyes shifted slightly, and he was no longer polite. “Young Boss Li, my proposal is for your own good. Your ‘Dawn’ has no chance of winning against my ‘Youming.’ No matter how good the project in your hands is—”

He paused for two seconds, and the words he spoke were bordered with dark thorns.

“Either it will make a very small splash, or it will simply rot.”

“Otherwise, why do you think those game makers in the past gave up working with you and came to me instead?”

Li Yuan lowered his head and silently took out a cigarette.

He played with the lighter and circled it around his fingertips, then clicked and lit the cigarette in the end.

Ke Ming watched his movements, and the calculation and shrewdness of a businessman flashed in his eyes. He continued to lobby, “You came here alone to attract investment and maintain the small, broken company of ‘Dawn.’ I’m tired just looking at you. Why don’t you change your career and spend your energy on other things?”

“Why not just bring this game to Youming? I will give you the best treatment.”

Li Yuan let out a snort.

Watching the embers of the cigarette burn little by little, he said, “Boss Ke, the future of the game in my hands, the fate of my company, and the fact that I am attracting investment alone, I won’t bother you to worry about these things. Do you know why?”

“Because—”

Li Yuan took a drag of his cigarette and stood up, picked up the contract of intent, and walked around the table in front of Ke Ming. He bent down slightly and slowly blew the smoke into the other’s face.

Then, he threw out three words arrogantly, “You’re not worthy.”

Ke Ming was choked by the smoke, and his expression changed. “You!”

Li Yuan turned around and left without giving his opponent a chance to fight back.

He bumped into Xiang Nansheng, who was coming back from buying coffee, and did not forget to sting with his poisonous tongue, “Director Xiang, let your boss drink these two cups of coffee at once so as to wake himself up, lest he continue to dream and talk nonsense during the day.”

“…….”

Ke Ming’s face turned green when he heard this, but he could only watch Li Yuan walk away.

. . . . . .

“Meow-wu~”

Inspector, who was sleeping in the cat nest, turned over and let out a soft whine.

Pei Yi finished docking the last game copy of “Joyful Spirit.” Looking at the settlement payment that Party A made on Youtu’s back end, he finally breathed a sigh of relief—

The two games “Joyful Spirit” and “Cloud Realm” sold one after another and added a sum of money to his account. However, he still had to make persistent efforts and continue to develop and write new mini-game projects.

Pei Yi turned back from his short-term work and re-opened the chat interface in the background.

The chat between him and Li Yuan was interrupted fifteen minutes ago. Could the other party have been delayed by something?

As the developer of “The Last Fog,” Pei Yi naturally valued this project, so he sent another message, “Why haven’t you responded? Did something come up?”

Three minutes later, Li Yuan continued the conversation that had dropped off—

“Next Friday’s competitor is Youming Studios. This studio has always stayed in the mini-game circle, but is more well-known. This time, it should be the same as us and also intends to develop a large game series.”

Although it was a preliminary screening, the people in charge that included Li Yuan and Ke Ming still needed to explain the core of their projects.

When the screening was conducted in the afternoon, Ke Ming ranked first.

Perhaps because he had extra confidence in his own game project, he spoke in detail before everyone.

Pei Yi clicked on Li Yuan’s fifty-nine second recording and listened to the relevant news the other party had received. The game project Ke Ming and Youming Studios had as the core of their recruitment and investment was called “Alien Beasts,” and the concept could also be considered applause-worthy—

Due to the improper operation of a xenobiotic experiment in Country X, a large number of mutated organism samples were scattered around, which shortly affected humans and spread to the entire world.

The “protagonist” in the game was the only normal person known so far who was affected without mutating.

Not only that, but his blood could also attract many strange beasts to submit to him. Based on this setting, every time the protagonist of the game broke through a level, he needed to domesticate or destroy the alien beasts inside.

To put it simply, you must fight monsters to get through dungeons, and then approach the original research base step by step to discover the ultimate secret of the mutations.

The voice explanation soon came to an end, and Pei Yi’s eyes flickered when he heard the game setting.

In the next second, Li Yuan questioned from the other side, “Will, do you feel that the background of this game is similar to our ‘The Last Fog?’”

Pei Yi had long noticed the similarity of the background setting, but there would be differences in the gameplay of the two games in the later stages.

However, it should be for this reason that G.M.’s project department considered choosing one of the two.

Yet the background setting was not what Pei Yi cared about the most. At this moment, he felt that there was a sort of indescribable subtlety to the game “Alien Beasts,” but he couldn’t figure out where this feeling came from.

Pei Yi continued to ask, “What are the highlights of their game? Have they been revealed?”

Li Yuan replied on the other side, “It should be the game modeling of various animal shapes. I have seen their print media photos that they provided, and although there is no way to know the effect of the three dimensional imaging, the printed designs were very unusual.”

Pei Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Be more specific.”

“For example, in the designs of the creatures such as butterflies, the thickness of the specially-shaped wings was much more than that of normal ones, and the edges were sharp blades. Other parts of the wings had chewing mouths of various sizes, with fangs when they were opened.”

Li Yuan truthfully told what he knew, “The design drafts of the other beasts were in the hands of the person in charge of the screening. I couldn’t see clearly.”

“…….”

Pei Yi stared at the string of messages sent by Li Yuan, and at once found the reason for the subtle feeling in his mind.

Using his memory, he found an ID nickname on his watch list – Dehydrated.

After finding the corresponding user avatar, he immediately clicked in. His fingers flew down the keyboard quickly as he took a screenshot and sent it to Li Yuan.

“The butterfly model you mentioned, is it similar to this one?”

On the other side, Li Yuan slowed down for several seconds. “Yes! It’s pretty much the same, how did you know, Will?”

Pei Yi scoffed and made up his mind.

“We don’t have enough funds now, and we can’t compete in the modeling and procedural technologies in the short term. The focus of next Friday will still be on the plot structure and the market audience that can be developed by future series updates.”

Li Yuan: “En, I understand.”

“Don’t worry about the rest, I will keep an eye on everything.”

Pei Yi didn’t want to put too much psychological pressure on Li Yuan, who was on the front lines. He added, “As for next week’s two-choice competition, we just need to do our best, there’s no need to force a good result.”

After all, if they couldn’t get investment from G.M., they could also seek other partners.

The precise and powerful sentence was enough to establish a sense of security among cooperative allies.

Li Yuan on the other side did not mention his experience of being belittled and inconvenienced by Ke Ming, but also firmly replied, “Okay.”

The short but productive chat ended.

Pei Yi clicked into the “Dehydrated” personal interface again, and after carefully examining it from top to bottom for a long period of time, he opened the chat box with the other party and took the initiative to send a message:

“Great God, are you there? I have something I want to check with you about.”

. . . . . .

There was a rustling movement from the cat nest.

Inspector, who had finally awoke, walked to Pei Yi’s feet and rubbed back and forth coquettishly, making a continuous comfortable purr.

Pei Yi lifted it into his arms and stroked his pet’s head twice. “Come on, shall we go downstairs and play for a while?”

“Meow!”

Pei Yi deliberately messed up his hair, and then led Inspector downstairs.

He turned the corner of the stairs and unexpectedly found that Bo Yueming and Uncle Kai were in the living room at the moment.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, Bo Yueming promptly located Pei Yi on the stairs, but quickly realized something and shifted his eyes away from the other party’s gaze.

As usual, he asked uncertainly, “Pei Yi?”

Inspector slid down from Pei Yi’s arms and quickly ran to Bo Yueming’s side, then continued to act coquettishly~

Bo Yueming’s hand first touched the sofa next to him, and after trial and error, he touched Inspector’s soft fur and asked Uncle Kai, “Did Pei Yi come down?”

Uncle Kai looked at Pei Yi, who was slowly walking down the stairs and pretending not to understand anything. “Little Sir, why are you just standing on the stairs? Are you tired from your nap? Come down quickly.”

Pei Yi nodded with messy hair, not forgetting to give a small just-woken-up yawn, and walked down with a sleepy expression.

It wasn’t until he approached the living room that he realized that there was a brand new pair of guide glasses on the coffee table. The exterior frame was stylishly designed as always, but the color had been changed to tea black.

It looked like a pair of high-end sunglasses.

Pei Yi stared at the new glasses for a moment, properly showing confusion on his face.

“Little Sir, the doctor said that the Second Young Master’s eyes cannot be stimulated by strong light, so he ordered another pair.”

Uncle Kai immediately gave an explanation, and asked with a smile, “Are they good-looking?”

Pei Yi pretended to earnestly study Bo Yueming’s face. “Good-looking.”

With this mixed-race face, what part of it didn’t look good, where did it not look attractive?

Bo Yueming lowered his eyes and rubbed Inspector’s head, hiding the clarity and smile in his eyes.

After nearly a week of adaptation and examinations, his eyes had basically recovered. Shadows and dizziness would only occasionally occur, and his eyes would be sore and tired if he used them for too long.

Of course, these were not big problems. He just needed to combine work and rest, and slowly recuperate to return to his best condition.

Bo Yueming no longer needed the so-called guide glasses. 

As for the fact that his eyes were sensitive to the light, which could easily prolong his illness, that was just his excuse to the outside world.

Bo Yueming needed to take advantage of his “eye disease” and make everyone, including Bo Guancheng, completely relax their vigilance against him, then wait for the opportunity to pay back the pain he suffered some time ago — and more.

The reason why he needed another pair of glasses was because he feared that his “seeing ability” would sometimes be underdeveloped and uncontrolled in front of Bo Guancheng and others, and he might accidentally expose his secret. The black lenses were more likely to cover up his actual situation.

“Uncle Kai, put them away first, ba.”

Other than Uncle Kai, Bo Yueming didn’t mention the recovery of his eyesight to anyone.

The more people who knew, the more likely it would cause unnecessary trouble.

As for Pei Yi, Bo Yueming purely wanted to accompany him to act, and see just what kind of medicine the other was selling in his “playing the fool” gourd.

Uncle Kai suppressed the joy in his heart and put them away properly.

In the next second, assistant Lin Zhong walked in with a tablet.

He stood at the edge of the sofa and seriously reported the next work arrangement. “Mr. Bo, I just received a call from G.M.”

“They said that there will be a final selection for the game project next Friday. As a high-level shareholder, are you going to participate in the voting?”

“…….”

Game project? Final selection?

When Pei Yi heard this, he couldn’t help casting his gaze over.

Bo Yueming caught this “abnormal” movement from the corner of his eye, but didn’t expose it. “En, Yan Cen told me. Let’s arrange it.”

Now that he had temporarily lost his position in Bo Group, he naturally wanted to pay more attention to G.M.’s investments.

Lin Zhong nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll put it in the itinerary.”

As soon as the words fell, everyone heard Pei Yi suddenly call, “Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming tilted his head, continuing to control the degree of eye contact. “En?”

Pei Yi moved closer to Bo Yueming, saying cautiously and with implicit expectation, “I, I go too. Play games.”

“Play games?”

Bo Yueming responded after a few seconds, following Pei Yi’s way of speaking in the past. “I’m going to the company to work seriously, not to play.”

Facing that explanation, Pei Yi continued pretending to be confused. “I go! Play!”

The game project “The Last Fog” was equally important to Pei Yi. Not to mention that their competitor, Youming Studios, still had some strength and standards.

Pei Yi’s thoughts at the moment were very simple and clear—

If Bo Yueming was personally going to the G.M. branch to vote next Friday, then he’d better take this opportunity to follow by his side to take a look and know the final result as soon as possible.

Bo Yueming reconfirmed, “You want to follow me to the company?”

Pei Yi nodded hastily, and kept using the words “play games” as an excuse for his foolishness.

“…….”

Bo Yueming frowned slightly.

Since his eyesight had recovered, he had become increasingly certain that Pei Yi was “playing the fool,” but the other party’s performance in the past had been measured, and he never messed around with this kind of business.

Besides, he had never mentioned G.M. in front of Pei Yi, so why did the other party suddenly want to go? For whom?

Bo Yueming suddenly remembered his answer to Lin Zhong, and his heart felt sour again. “Do you want to play games, or meet Yan Cen?”

Pei Yi, who was pretending to be silly, was stunned. He said slowly, “Huh?”

Why was Yan Cen involved?

Uncle Kai and Lin Zhong looked at each other tacitly, and simultaneously chose to leave the room so that the two could have some private space to talk.

Pei Yi shook his head in incomprehension, then continued to hum, “I, I want to play.”

Bo Yueming refused. “No.”

G.M. was a business, not a place to mess around.

“…….”

Hearing Bo Yueming’s resolute refusal, Pei Yi sighed deeply inside.

Playing the fool didn’t work, and being good also didn’t work!

The villain was indeed the most difficult to attack!

It seemed that he still needed to find another way to follow up on this investment competition, which would be difficult.

The atmosphere gradually became silent.

Pei Yi was discouraged and resigned to his fate, but finally struggled a bit, “I want, want to accompany Er-ge.”

“……..”

Bo Yueming’s steadfast thoughts suddenly cracked, and then silently disintegrated in an instant. He glanced at Pei Yi, and then quickly looked away, his heart feeling a little itchy—

His mouth was aggrieved and coquettish, and he didn’t forget to stroke the cat in his hand?

So he was bullying a “person who couldn’t see,” but dared to put all his thoughts on his face when there was no third person! He didn’t know how to play the fool even a little bit!

Why did he want to accompany him?

Who would believe such a lie?

Bo Yueming thought about it silently, then looked at the frustrated kitten who was gradually lowering his head, and changed his tone. “You can.”

“But since you said you want to accompany me, you have to obediently follow the whole time, and you are not allowed to run around without my permission. Can you do that?”

“…….”

Why did he suddenly agree?

Another small question mark appeared on Pei Yi’s head.

But he had been waiting for this opportunity to “accompany” him, and would go as long as he was allowed. He didn’t care about what rules and regulations there were!

At this thought, Pei Yi quickly nodded. The frustration in his eyes vanished, and there was even a faint glint of success.

Bo Yueming had a panoramic view of this scene. He held back his helpless smile, and sat on the side while pretending not to see it.

The two had their own thoughts and tried their best to hide them.

Uncle Kai returned after putting away the glasses. “Little Sir, there is still some time before dinner. Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

Pei Yi remembered that his purpose for going downstairs was to look for something to eat since he was hungry after working long hours.

Uncle Kai met Pei Yi’s expectant eyes and offered, “There is freshly made pudding and honey cake in the kitchen. Which would you like to eat?”

Pei Yi felt sweetness on the tip of his tongue when he heard it, and with the firm idea of ‘adults don’t have to choose,’ he pretended to be well-behaved and raised his head to answer—-

“Want both!”

The expected answer appeared.

It was only when eating sweets that the kitten did not wear the slightest disguise.

Bo Yueming let out a short laugh, then quickly restrained himself before Pei Yi could notice the flaw.

He coughed and motioned to Uncle Kai calmly. “En, get him a little of both.”

---

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Chapter Thirty <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Two

Liu Xian’an actually didn’t know the specific situation in Sanshui City right now, but he knew which situations might occur, and for each possibility, the corresponding treatment methods were carefully listed. This was why the whole plan seemed so long. However, because the plan was so long, it couldn’t be helped – after speaking, he could only use his arms to gesture as far as possible, trying to convince His Royal Highness Xiao Wang through visual effects.

The result was of course useless.

Liang Shu said: “You’re not going.”

“But this can reduce the casualties of war, which is good for both the common people and the Yan army,” Liu Xian’an said. “And even if A-Ning and I do not succeed in persuading one person after sneaking into the city, it will at least save the prince a few days’ rations.” Thus, no matter how you looked at it, this was a good business that could make money rather than losing money.

Liang Shu didn’t expect that the entire plan could be cut from this angle. He naturally knew that due to Lu Xiang’s corruption, there was a serious shortage of food in the army. This was also one of the reasons that Sanshui City must be captured quickly. But no matter how short of food they were, the reason for going to the enemy camp in order to save a mouthful of food was too bizarre.

He asked: “Do you know what sort of life a refugee lives?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “I know. Unkempt, deprived of food all day long, filthy and smelly. But the prince can send a few more people with me. This can somewhat act as a deterrent, and I will not be bullied easily.”

“What if someone asks about your identity?”

“I’ll just say that I’m from Yayue Village, and I’m going to Qingyang City to join relatives,” Liu Xian’an said. “Although Yayue Village was also affected by the floods this time, because it is very close to Wanhe City, the local officials moved the entire village there early, and none of them drifted abroad, so no one will expose me.”

“You’re a villager, and A-Ning can be considered a younger brother, but what about the guards?”

“There used to be many villagers living in Yayue Village, which is a village of doctors,” Liu Xian’an said. “I’ll pretend to be an ordinary doctor from a wealthy family. Bringing my younger brother and assistants with me won’t be out of place, and the prince doesn’t need to send too many people with me.” He calculated, “Three will do.”

Liang Shu couldn’t laugh or cry: “I haven’t agreed yet, but you have clearly arranged the number of people.”

“But the prince will definitely agree with me after weighing the pros and cons.” Liu Xian’an mentioned that he was thirsty, and before he could look for water, Liang Shu had already handed over the cup. 

“On the march, there is only the one.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Liu Xian’an said. “When the sages lie drunk in the bamboo forest, they don’t know which wine cup is which. I often drink with them.” He bowed his neck to drink water, and his neck was as smooth and graceful as a crane’s. Liang Shu, as the lead commander, naturally knew that if at this time someone could infiltrate Sanshui City and instigate a rebellion, it would be beneficial and without drawbacks for the whole war. And Liu Xian’an was indeed capable of doing all this.

However, it was one thing to know, and another thing to personally send him to the refugees and to Sanshui City. Liang Shu looked at Liu Xian’an, and waited until he finished drinking the water before asking: “Is there no better way?”

Liu Xian’an shook his head: “There is not.”

Liang Shu was familiar with the art of war, and knew that there was not. This was already the best way to defeat the enemy that he could think of right now, but he still frowned with dissatisfaction: “You are forty-eight thousand years old, why can’t you think of a better way?”

Liu Xian’an thought that this person could really make trouble out of nothing, but he still dealt with it with a good attitude. Yes, ah, yes, ah.

Liang Shu laughed angrily and stretched out his hand, calling to him, “Come here.”

Liu Xian’an set down the water cup and walked over. Liang Shu grasped his waist with both hands, wanting to get closer to him in this moment where the candlelight was restless and people’s hearts were anxious. But the tenderness and worry in his heart hadn’t had time to ripple out when his fingers seemed to be pierced by the sharp teeth of a kitten: “Hiss!”

Liu Xian’an swiftly moved his hand away: “There is a needle. I didn’t have time to get it just now.”

Liang Shu stretched out his hand: “It’s bleeding.”

A round drop of blood hung on his fingertip, only slightly worse than a mosquito bite, but Liu Xian’an still helped him bandage it very cooperatively, using his own handkerchief to tie a grand knot.

Liang Shu asked: “Can you protect yourself?”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “En.”

Liang Shu sighed: “I will dispatch three masters to protect you. If there is any danger, don’t worry about anything, and come back as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” Liu Xian’an said.

After a moment, he spoke again: “While I’m not around, the prince must take his medicine on time.”

In fact, he didn’t really want to go to Sanshui City. It had nothing to do with whether he would suffer or not, and nothing to do with the danger. Rather, it was mixed with the emotion named “reluctance to part” in many poems. In short, at this moment, there was no trace of the solemnity of defeating the enemy alone between the two. On the contrary, there was a bittersweet farewell, an inch of tenderness and a little parting tune. Liu Xian’an exhaled slightly. Although as far as he was concerned, there was always a Royal Highness Xiao Wang in the three thousand worlds and he could see him any time he wanted, that was different from the one in front of him, after all.

The night was already very deep.

At this time, it was not appropriate to talk about love. Even if it was necessary to pull the Sleeping Immortal from the sky and clouds back into the world of mortals, Liang Shu also wanted to catch him steadily with a beautiful and prosperous country, instead of the devastated and suffering territory in front of him, so he swallowed his words back.

A-Ning was taking a nap in the tent. When he heard movement outside, he ran to have a look, and just happened to meet the prince sending his young master back.

“Rest early,” Liang Shu said. “I will send you into the city after I arrange the manpower.”

Liu Xian’an nodded, watched Liang Shu leave, and returned to the tent with A-Ning.

A-Ning asked: “The prince promised to let the young master go to Sanshui City?”

“Yes,” Liu Xian’an said.

“Then why doesn’t the young master look happy at all?”

“Because I don’t want to go to Sanshui City, but I must go.” Liu Xian’an wiped his face with a handkerchief. “And I don’t want to be separated from the prince.”

A-Ning commented: “The second half of the young master’s sentence sounds a bit strange.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t think it was strange. After hastily washing, he lay back under the blanket and calculated the days with A-Ning. If everything went according to plan, under the smoothest circumstances, it would take at least half a month for the Yan army to break through the city.

Half a month was really too long.

A-Ning wondered: “A long time? Even in the history books, fighting a battle in half a month is considered very fast and capable. Moreover, when the young master was in a daze before, he often stayed that way for half a month and then shook his head and said after recovering that it was only a short while.”

Liu Xian’an said: “It’s not the same.”

A-Ning got to the heart of the matter. What is the difference?

Liu Xian’an couldn’t tell what was different. It seemed that the only difference was that there was now a Liang Shu. He pondered for a while and then said to A-Ning: “His Royal Highness Xiao Wang has many injuries on his body.”

“When marching and fighting, everyone gets hurt,” A-Ning said. “Once, the prince was stabbed in the ribs with a scimitar, and it is said that he fell into a coma for ten days. The military doctors were at a loss, and Lieutenant General Gao was so anxious that he went to the desert to find a witch to help.”

“How do you know so much?”

“Because the young master always rides a horse with the prince recently, and I have nothing to do, so I go chat with others.”

Everyone liked A-Ning very much. They felt that he was clever, hard-working, and capable, and he looked very fair, so they told him many things about marching and fighting. Liu Xian’an exhorted: “Then write it down first, don’t forget. When you are free, tell me all about the prince.”

A-Ning asked: “You only want to hear about the prince? But the stories of other people are also very interesting.”

Second Young Master Liu flatly refused: “I don’t want to hear about other people.”

A-Ning choked for a moment. That…..that is also fine, ba.

He put out the candle, got under another blanket, and soon fell asleep. He wasn’t nervous about entering Sanshui City, and slept soundly and peacefully until the next morning. It wasn’t until there was a rustling sound outside the tent that he opened his eyes and gently lifted the corner of the blanket, planning to wake his young master after preparing the washing utensils.

As a result, he was halfway up when he heard a faint voice behind him: “I didn’t fall asleep last night.”

A-Ning was unprepared, and almost jumped up in fright: “Young Master!”

Wrapped in a blanket, Liu Xian’an squeezed out a nasal “En.”

A-Ning’s heart was beating wildly and hadn’t slowed down yet, but the fact that it didn’t slow down didn’t delay his shock: “Insomnia?”

Liu Xian’an nodded slowly.

A-Ning’s eyes widened, and he asked again uncertainly. The young master would actually suffer from insomnia? He was someone who could fall asleep when walking by the edge of the pond, ah! He was very worried, and grabbed his wrist, testing it for a long time, but found nothing unusual. Then he dragged him to a bright area outside the tent and checked him over and over again. Gao Lin saw this from a distance, and asked the prince wonderingly, “What are they doing?”

Liang Shu glanced to the side. “Why don’t you ask them yourself?”

“Then I’ll ask.” Gao Lin started to leave, but Liang Shu said, “Get back here.”

Gao Lin folded his arms. Look, ba, I just knew it. I must avoid arousing suspicion in the future.

Liang Shu was unwilling to talk nonsense: “Go and find Wang Fan, Wang Guan, and Zhou Yi.”

“The three of them?” Gao Lin stored away his teasing. “What, is something the matter?”

“It’s not a big matter, nor a small matter.” Liang Shu glanced in Liu Xian’an’s direction. “He’s going to Sanshui City.”

Gao Lin was taken aback for a moment. When he could react, he said in disbelief: “The prince agreed? That is no place to take a rest. Although the Wang family brothers and Zhou Yi are all first-class masters, there are tens of thousands of rebels inside the city. They hate the Yan army deeply, and are rather careless…..well, never mind, ba.”

“Then you go and persuade him,” Liang Shu said. “Persuade him to stay, and I will note your first-class merit and give you as many mansions and fields as you want.”

Gao Lin: “…….”

He still remembered the other’s sonorous and forceful speech when he went back to find A-Ning, “Will the disciples of Baihe Mountain Village retreat because of difficulties?” It was like he was stepping on the moral high ground while he himself was stepping in mud. To this day, the feeling of shame still lingered for a long time, and he could hear echoes of it when he dozed off. So he promptly changed the subject and asked: “What will he do in Sanshui City, instigate a rebellion?”

Liang Shu nodded.

“That’s one method,” Gao Lin said. “I think Second Young Master Liu is really capable of subduing others without fighting. That man surnamed Huang is cruel and arrogant, and he doesn’t have any brains, so he should be easy to clean up. Maybe we won’t even have to fight in this battle, and the other party will take the initiative to surrender.”

Liang Shu said, “What, you don’t think it’s dangerous, so you won’t go to persuade him?”

Gao Lin said, there is still danger, it’s only that even the prince couldn’t persuade him.

If I go, but can’t persuade him, it’s equal to not going at all.

Is it okay if I just seem like I’m going to persuade him?

---

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Chapter Forty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Six

T/N: Thank you to Jackile for the Kofi donation! Here’s a double update for you.

Since His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was born, he had continuously seen all kinds of things in this world and cultivated a heart like a dead pool. Even in times of the greatest crisis or change, he could still remain calm, but at this moment, an undercurrent was stirred up by the drawing in front of him. Gao Lin in particular didn’t know what was going through his mind, so he added a sentence to sweeten the deal – A-Ning said that this was the landscape painted by Second Young Master Liu.

What landscape, it must be worthy of careful appreciation and taste, refreshing and full of beauty, heart, and infatuation.

All of this towered above a landscape. Gao Lin felt that it was too late to return to the royal city. If he changed his status as a prince into a wandering cavalier, without the burden of royal responsibilities, they could make their bows tomorrow.

He poked his head forward, wanting to look at it again, but Liang Shu closed the drawing calmly. But all in all, Lieutenant General Gao’s eagle eyes could keenly spot wolves in the depths of the desert. He still caught a trace of something extraordinary, and thought in shock, what did I see, is that the prince half dressed?

Second Young Master Liu is so unruly!

Liang Shu asked: “What expression are you wearing?”

Gao Lin adjusted his facial features slightly and called attention to it again, but the prince remained calm in the midst of chaos, smiling anew like a person bewitched.

Liang Shu was in a good mood and was disinclined to fuss. He pressed his slender fingers onto the stack of rice paper and felt the remaining warmth of the embers, the touch making his heart feel equally warm. Gao Lin’s matchmaking business had been a great success. He had already sketched in his heart his future plans and the leisurely day when he returned to his hometown to specialize in the business of love. The corners of his mouth lifted in a grin – it was only that before he could fully smile, a vanguard officer limped over to him, and said that Sanshui City was currently shouting slogans and practicing drills day and night, torches blazing in the sky. It seemed that the common people throughout the city had joined the ranks of the rebels.

Gao Lin let out a deep breath. All the festive thoughts that had been accumulated just now were wiped out in one moment. Liang Shu handed the portraits to Gao Lin and took the military report himself. The vanguard officer snuck a look at the prince’s expression and boldly said: “Rumors have spread everywhere in Sanshui City, and the common people have been deluded, thinking that since they are all dead anyway, they might as well…..”

He didn’t dare to continue talking, but Gao Lin knew that the rumors spreading around were nothing more than using the tragedy of Qingyang City as Gu worms, moving the time of the city’s slaughter from before the city was conquered to afterward, and changing the murderers from the desperate rebels to the Yan army. As soon as people of Sanshui City heard this, they felt that they would die if they could not defend the city, so they had no choice but to take up swords and spears and fight to the death.

He said: “All right, be careful on the road next time, look at you falling down like a grandson.”

“…….Yes.” The vanguard officer was a little puzzled. Why didn’t Lieutenant General Gao sound like he was angry at all? However, he didn’t have the guts to take a closer look, so he hurriedly retreated.

Liu Xia’nan was lying in the grain cart sleeping, when he was abruptly jolted awake. He stuck his head out and asked sleepily: “Uncle Li?”

The coachman explained rather embarrassedly: “Sorry, ah, Second Young Master Liu. The prince has commanded us to travel twice as fast as before, so I must not slow down. You should use more hay as padding, so as not to hit your head.”

Why speed up all of a sudden? Liu Xian’an got out of the grain cart and rode to find A-Ning. He happened to have just finished dealing the the vanguard officer’s fall injury, and heard him say what had happened in Sanshui City.

“It seems that women and children are already soldiers there,” A-Ning said. “The fire oil at the gate of the city is burning, and everyone’s hatred reaches the sky.”

“Put yourself in someone’s shoes. If you were living life and suddenly encountered a natural disaster, and after finally taking refuge in a city you thought was safe, you learned that the Imperial court was going to send troops to slaughter everyone, you should be full of hatred.” Liu Xian’an said, “The common people are just easily bewitched and in fear for their lives, they don’t really want to kill all the officers and soldiers.”

“Then what do we do now?” A-Ning asked.

Liu Xian’an also didn’t know. The generals in the history books all had their own personalities and styles of play, so he rode his horse and asked Liang Shu how to fight in this situation.

Liang Shu replied: “We’ll fight using our previous plan.”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “Okay.”

Liang Shu stretched out a hand and pulled him onto his horse: “I thought you were here to persuade me that the people in the city are innocent, so it is best to be conciliatory and convince them to surrender.”

“The common people are innocent, but when marching and fighting, everyone should listen to the general,” Liu Xian’an said. “I also listen to the general.”

Liang Shu asked: “If the general was a fatuous fool, would you listen?”

Liu Xian’an ignored his assumption: “Your Highness is not.”

Regarding this question, although he could start from the causal cycle of destiny and talk about it all day, he was too lazy to talk about it now. He was still thinking about the upcoming battle and fighting according to the previous plan, which was to attack and break through the city. Sanshui City could not be compared with Qingyang City. Its terrain was extremely open, and was an important town with roads open in all directions. This was considered an advantage in peace and prosperity, but a disadvantage in wartime, because there were no natural barriers.

The Yan army could smoothly advance through Sanshui City all the way, no matter how large the number of rebels in the city was, and refugees could never be the opponents of a standard army. Not to mention the leaders on both sides. One was half a bandit, and the other was the general who led hundreds of thousands of Dayan’s troops.

Liu Xian’an gave a slight sigh.

Liang Shu said: “I will give orders before the battle to avoid casualties as much as possible.”

“To avoid casualties, you must be merciful, and if you are merciful, you will be hurt yourself.” Liu Xian’an turned his head. “The prince loves the soldiers like his sons, so would he give such an order?”

Liang Shu smiled: “You do understand me. However, as long as one has a normal mind, one’s attitude will always be different when facing common people in distress and facing an actual enemy army, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

Liu Xian’an placed his fingers on the saddle and thought for a while, then asked again: “Did the prince send someone to release the news?”

Liang Shu tightened the reins, reducing Xuan Jiao’s speed a little: “What?”

“The news of the city’s massacre was sent out by the prince on purpose, right? Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to spread so fast.” Liu Xian’an spoke again, “The people in Qingyang City were massacred because they refused to join the rebel army and just wanted to live in hiding. For the rebels, they had no value and could only become fish on the chopping board. So if all the common people in Sanshui City spontaneously take up arms and join the rebels out of fear, becoming Huang Wangxiang’s helpers, at least they won’t be massacred by Huang Wangxiang again.”

“The people in Qingyang City were unarmed, so the people in Sanshui City must at least have a knife in their hands for self-defense. I can’t give them away, so I must let Huang Wangxiang do it,” Liang Shu said. “Although I have caused more trouble for myself, this is the fastest way to solve the problem right now. The battle of Sanshui City must be resolved quickly. Otherwise, the longer it drags on, the more people will defect to the third city occupied by the rebels, and momentary hesitation will inevitably bring greater casualties.” He straightened Liu Xian’an’s wind-strewn hair. “Stop thinking about these bloody things. Go to your avenues and find a few pleasing old men to play chess with and listen to music, all right?”

Liu Xian’an thought, that’s no good, because I’m not in the mood.

Liang Shu turned to look at him.

Liu Xian’an slightly turned his head to the other side.

Liang Shu continued sideways.

Liu Xian’an continued to twist.

Thus, Lieutenant General Gao watched for a long while his own family’s prince flirting with another family’s young master in broad daylight, in front of the army.

He gave a troubled sigh.

Although our Xiao Wang Palace has always been undignified, this is too undignified.

We at least have to try to look like it, ba.

When resting that night, A-Ning asked while grabbing the needles: “Why does the young master also have a headache?”

Liu Xian’an sat upright under a tree. Why can’t I have a headache? Not only does it hurt, but it hurts so badly.

A-Ning stuffed a cushion behind his waist: “After the battle, the people in Sanshui City will know that the massacre of the city was not done by the prince, and that it was all a misunderstanding.”

“But that will also be after the battle.” Liu Xian’an supported his chin to prevent his neck from being too stiff. “Before the battle and during the battle, the common people will regard the Imperial army as the real enemy.”

“There is no other way.” A-Ning turned the needle. “If the common people are unarmed and only consume food but refuse to fight the Imperial army, then in Huang Wangxiang’s eyes, being slaughtered is their only value. It is safer to join the rebels, and of the two powers, the prince will cause less harm.”

Liu Xian’an thought for a while, then made up his mind and said: “How about you go to Sanshui City with me.”

Without hesitation, A-Ning said, “okay,” without asking why.

Liu Xian’an stood up and went to look for Liang Shu.

“Young Master, Young Master!” A-Ning chased after him anxiously. “You haven’t taken the needle out yet!”

Liu Xian’an took it from the top of his head and hastily inserted it into his belt.

Liang Shu had managed to go to bed early tonight, and before he could fall asleep, he heard the soldiers outside whispering: “Second Young Master Liu, the prince has already gone to rest.”

The words “Second Young Master Liu” were nearly equivalent to ten pots of strong tea for His Royal Highness Xiao Wang today, capable of instantly refreshing his mind. He put on his clothes and went out: “What is the matter?”

“Nothing, Your Highness, you go to bed first. I’ll – ai?”

Liang Shu carried him into the tent and poured a cup of water: “Speak.”

Liu Xian’an’s gaze unconsciously fell on his open robes, and he felt that it was different from the dreams. But due to the intensity of the light and shadows, he couldn’t see clearly, so he simply squinted his eyes.

Liang Shu invited: “Why don’t I take it off for you to see?”

Liu Xian’an accepted: “That’s fine.”

Liang Shu gathered up his robes to cover up all of the old and new scars: “Never mind, it’s closed today, no spectators. Let’s talk about business.”

Liu Xian’an moved a chair over and sat down: “I want to go to Sanshui City with A-Ning.”

Liang Shu’s hand holding the water cup paused for a moment: “Your reasoning.”

“I’ll go take a look at the situation there,” Liu Xian’an said. “Sanshui City is still accepting refugees in a steady stream, and it shouldn’t be difficult to get in.”

“It’s not difficult, but you also don’t have to,” Liang Shu said. “I have sent people in to spread rumors, and they will send back news regularly.”

“But they can only spread rumors, not convince people,” Liu Xian’an said. “I want to try. Even if I can only persuade ten or twenty people, it will be beneficial to the Imperial army.”

“Not to mention ten or twenty people, even if it is one or two hundred people, I will not allow you to go to the city to take risks.” 

Liang Shu placed the water cup back on the table. “Stop thinking about these things, drink the water and go back to sleep.”

Liu Xian’an fought to win him over: “But I already have a very long plan.”

Liang Shu asked: “How long?”

From one end to the other, Liu Xian’an drew a distance of about ten feet.

For a plan, that was very long.

---

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Chapter Forty-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Five

Qin Yishun got off work early, and it was only six o’clock when the two arrived at the restaurant’s parking lot.

Pei Yi looked at the cup of coffee that Qin Yishun had put into the vehicle’s small refrigerator, and looked at him in a daze.

Qin Yishun said, “Let’s eat first, Brother will drink it later.”

This cup of coffee was the first “gift” that Pei Yi had given him after many years. Qin Yishun regarded it as very important, and didn’t want to just treat it casually and drink it up.

Pei Yi nodded and let Qin Yishun make his own arrangements.

Seeing his obedient and well-behaved appearance, the always restrained Qin Yishun couldn’t help but reach out and rub Pei Yi’s head. The soft and delicate hair touched his palm, and the tickle brought by it softened the bottom of his heart.

Qin Yishun’s stern indifference, which he couldn’t lose in thousands of years, only vanished in front of his little brother. “Let’s get out of the car and eat.”

Because Pei Yi had come so suddenly, Qin Yishun was unprepared and could only temporarily book a high-scoring restaurant through his friends. The name was quite literary: “Desert Rose.”

Qin Yishun reported his relevant information, and after the manager confirmed it, he personally led the two of them to a private room upstairs.

“Mr. Qin, it is like this, because your reservation was last minute, we could only arrange the spare box at the end of the second floor for the time being, and the space will be slightly smaller.”

“I’ll arrange for the waiters to move your seats as soon as another guest box becomes available, is that all right?”

“It is.”

Qin Yishun was rightfully direct. He had heard that the food in this restaurant was good, so he wanted to bring Pei Yi to try something new.

As for the location, it was only the two of them. As long as the environment of the spare room wasn’t outrageous, then there was no problem.

The three of them took the elevator to the private box area on the second floor.

On both sides of the corridor was a “desert kiln” design, but the walls were covered with blooming roses of various colors, and the doors of the boxes were arranged in a staggered manner and named after the different names of various roses.

The overall atmosphere was the same as the name of the establishment, especially literary and artistic.

Pei Yi followed Qin Yishun, quietly observing the layout.

Suddenly, somebody stopped him from behind. “Little Mister Pei?”

This familiar voice reached his ears, and Pei Yi paused. He could only turn around—

Yan Cen, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, was standing at the corner. The light from behind was fragmented, casting a layer of gentle light and shadow across his profile and making his aura even more like untainted moonlight, especially outstanding.

There was a hint of surprise in the eyes hidden under gold-rimmed glasses, and Yan Cen walked steadily toward Pei Yi. “It’s really you, ah? Why is Little Mister Pei here tonight?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he met Qin Yishun, who had stopped as well.

The gazes of the two sides collided midair, seemingly calm but with completely different thoughts.

Yan Cen pushed his glasses up lightly and took the lead to break the deadlock. “Little Mister Pei wouldn’t have come to this restaurant alone. May I ask who you are?”

“Qin Yishun, Pei Y’s cousin.” Qin Yishun made the introduction cleanly, his eyes questioning him back.

“It’s the first time we’ve met. My name is Yan Cen. I’m Yueming’s good friend, and I met Little Mister Pei at a banquet before.” Yan Cen paused, and his eyes fell back on Pei Yi again. “By the way, Yueming shouldn’t know that Little Mister Pei is here, right?”

“……..”

Pei Yi dropped his eyes, feeling a bit guilty.

After he found Qin Yishun, in order to avoid making any mistakes, he only asked Uncle Kai to briefly explain the situation to the other party, and naturally didn’t know if the latter had conveyed it in his place.

Yan Cen had some understanding of Pei Yi’s situation. Seeing that he was silent, he could only look at Qin Yishun again. “Mr. Qin, is it just you two?”

Qin Yishun gave a slight nod.

Yan Cen took two steps forward and bypassed them, then simply pushed open the door of a box to the side. “It just so happens that Yueming is here tonight. How about we get together in the same box?”

When these words came out, Pei Yi’s heart skipped a beat.

In the exquisite private box, Bo Yueming and a bright and beautiful-looking woman with long hair were alerted by the sound outside at the same time.

“Yan Cen, didn’t you say you were going to make a call? Why did you hang around for so long?” The long-haired woman at the door got up and walked closer to investigate, and saw the people outside. “Who are these two?”

Yan Cen smiled and notified his friend with impaired vision, “Yueming, I happened to meet Pei Yi and his cousin, who also came to this restaurant for dinner.”

A trace of surprise flashed across Bo Yueming’s face, and he got up to approach with his weak eyesight and sense of direction. “Pei Yi?”

“…….”

God!

The world was a little too small!

How could they meet by chance while having a meal!

Pei Yi, who was called out, shrank his neck unnoticeably and said nothing.

Qin Yishun obviously had not expected this situation. He turned slightly to block his little brother. “Second Young Master Bo, shouldn’t you have known about Xiao Yi coming to see me?”

After all, with Pei Yi’s ability alone, he definitely couldn’t run out to find him independently, so he could only rely on the Bo family’s driver to pick him up.

When Bo Yueming heard that sentence, there was a trace of something subtle in his eyes.

Yes?

Shouldn’t he have known?

Qin Yishun didn’t know what Bo Yueming was thinking, and his gaze remained on the faces of Yan Cen and the long-haired woman for a moment. “It seems that Second Young Master Bo, Mr. Yan, and this lady have something important to discuss? Xiao Yi and I won’t bother you.”

“It isn’t a bother.”

Bo Yueming intercepted in time and didn’t forget to introduce, “Song Ci is our business partner, and she is also responsible for dealing with Sun Yelong’s affairs. Tonight, I’m specially hosting a dinner to thank her for what happened before.”

“Other than that, there are no other matters.”

There was a bit of weight to the last half of the sentence, which seemed to deliberately emphasize the explanation.

When Pei Yi heard this fairly familiar name, he remembered something from the original text.

Song Ci’s appearance in the book was very minor, but the few descriptions were brilliant. She was an absolutely independent career-oriented strong woman, and was currently the chief operating officer of G.M.

Song Ci’s parents were both doing business in Germany, and the family had some connections.

Not long ago, Yan Cen got in touch with her when she was still abroad. After finding the right contacts and probing them again and again, Sun Yelong’s “criminal evidence” was in hand.

Yan Cen pushed up his glasses, hiding a smile without saying anything.

Song Ci slightly restrained the curve of her lips and silently watched Pei Yi behind Qin Yishun—

She knew a little about Bo Yueming’s “forced” marriage, and at first she felt angry and helpless for her friend. 

But Pei Yi’s face in front of her was cute and fair, his actions and words were nothing out of the ordinary, and he was nothing at all like the fools and lunatics she had seen before.

Song Si revealed a smile again, and helped to certify, “Yes, I just returned to China today, and in addition to Bo Yueming’s thanks, this dinner can be regarded as the two of them welcoming me back. If you two don’t mind, let’s sit together?”

Qin Yishun calmly refused. “No.”

After finally getting the opportunity to have dinner with his little brother, he was unwilling to send Pei Yi to Bo Yueming.

Bo Yueming seemed to have expected Bo Yueming’s refusal, so he suddenly said, “Pei Yi, what time did you go out today? Who sent you out?”

“……..”

The thing that should not be said was said! He was done for.

Pei Yi, who had snuck out of the house, did not dare to answer. He feared that if Bo Yueming asked any further questions, even Qin Yishun would become suspicious.

Thus, he quickly walked to Bo Yueming’s side, grabbed his wrist, and shook it, playing the fool to change the topic, “Eat tasty things. Er-ge, I’m hungry.”

His voice was soft, and the last three words were a little coquettish.

Bo Yueming set aside his questions and took the initiative to hold his wrist. “Mr. Qin, since Pei Yi wants to stay here, what about you?”

Qin Yishun gave another cold internal scoff.

He didn’t know why, but he felt that Bo Yueming’s question stunk like he was showing off! He actually abducted his little brother with just a few words!

Qin Yishun maintained his expression. “Then let’s eat together.”

Unsurprised by his answer, Bo Yueming lightly tapped Pei Yi’s wrist with his fingertips, gesturing, “Come, sit with me.”

In the room was a square dining table surrounded by four sofas, so that apart from Pei Yi and Bo Yueming, the other three people could each occupy a spacious seat.

But unexpectedly—

Qin Yishun approached directly and then took up a generous space to the left on Pei Yi’s seat. “Second Young Master Bo, I’ll squeeze in here. I’m afraid it will be inconvenient for Pei Yi to eat alone, he needs to be taken care of.”

The implication was that he looked upon Bo Yueming with disdain for not being able to help him.

Bo Yueming didn’t refuse due to the other party’s status as an older brother. “Mr. Qin, feel free. There’s no need to squeeze.”

The formerly spacious sofa was filled by three people. Pei Yi, who was caught in the middle, looked left and then right. With an extremely guilty conscience, he became more honest and well-behaved, not daring to move.

Yan Cen took an electronic menu from the manager and handed it to Qin Yishun. “Mr. Qin, we ordered before. Can you see if anything needs to be added?”

Qin Yishun was straightforward, and added after a quick glance, “I’ll take a seafood platter, and add an extra serving of shrimp. Pei Yi likes it.”

The manager had a good eye.

He knew that the guests in this box were not common people, and noticed Pei Yi’s special behavior. “Then, would you like something to drink? We have orange, mango, and other freshly squeezed juices, and Mr. Yan just ordered a bottle of champagne.”

Upon hearing that there was alcohol, a glint of anticipation shone in the depths of Pei Yi’s eyes, and then was extinguished from the left and right.

Qin Yishun said, “Water is fine.”

Bo Yueming immediately replied, “Freshly squeezed orange juice, Pei Yi is allergic to mangoes.”

“…….”

Angry.

But he couldn’t speak.

Pei Yi, who was deprived of champagne once more, dared not speak out, and let the ones on the left and right decide for him.

The dishes were promptly served.

Qin Yishun himself was in no hurry to eat, and while wearing gloves, he peeled the fresh shrimp and crabs on the platter and put them into his little brother’s bowl one by one. “Xiao Yi, eat more.”

Pei Yi really liked to eat seafood, and it was a rare time when he didn’t have to peel it himself. He looked at the bowl that was filled with seafood in a short while, and the depression from not being able to drink disappeared.

“En!”

It was a simple one-word answer, with joy in the rising tone.

There was a hint of a smile in Qin Yishun’s voice as he continued to communicate with him patiently. “Eat quickly, I’ll peel as much as you want.”

Seeing the bowl full of crab and shrimp meat, Pei Yi thought that he shouldn’t be so heartless, so he picked up a peeled piece of shrimp and brought it to Qin Yishun’s mouth.

“Ah—”

“For me?”

Qin Yishun could hardly restrain his smile, completely forgetting that this shrimp was peeled by himself.

Recalling this, Pei Yi was obviously embarrassed, so he just picked up a few more shrimp and put them back into the other party’s bowl. He didn’t speak, but his clear meaning was—

Brother, you eat too.

Qin Yishun glanced at the “neglected” Bo Yueming on the right, and suddenly had a bit more of an urge to show off. “En, our family’s good Xiao Yi still knows how to treat his brother.”

Bo Yueming listened to the simple brotherly interaction, and the line of his jaw seemed to tense.

Having worked with him for many years, Yan Cen noticed this and met the eyes of Song Ci, who raised her glass knowingly. “Yueming, let’s have a drink together?”

“No, I need to drink less for the sake of my eyes.”

Bo Yueming came up with a suitable reason, then fumbled blankly to pick up the cup on the table. “I’ll drink juice like Pei Yi.”

As he spoke, he took two sips.

“……..”

Pei Yi watched helplessly as Bo Yueming picked up his cup, and even stopped eating the shrimp in his hand. “Huh?”

Bo Yueming asked, “What’s the matter?”

Pei Yi hesitated for a second. “Wrong. It’s mine.”

“Hm? I took your cup?” Bo Yueming asked back, only there was no obvious surprise on his face. “Then you drink my cup.”

Pei Yi hadn’t drank from this cup yet, so he nodded. “D-doesn’t matter.”

A gleam of light flashed in the depths of Bo Yueming’s eyes, and he suddenly mentioned, “You don’t seem to care about this sort of thing. You used the same spoon to feed me pudding last time.”

“…….”

Fed pudding with the same spoon?

How was that different from an indirect kiss?

The strength of Qin Yishun’s grip increased, instantly crushing a shrimp’s head.

On the sidelines, Yan Cen silently watched the confrontation and took a sip of champagne, his guess further confirmed. His friend had actually fallen in love with Pei Yi?

Where was the eating in this situation before him, ah, it was obviously a silent exchange between brother-in-law and brother-in-law!

Looking at it, Qin Yishun was rather partial to protecting Pei Yi, his little brother. It would definitely not be easy for Bo Yueming to gain the approval of his “brother-in-law” in the future.

. . . . . .

This improvised dinner came to an end before nine o’clock. Yan Cen and Song Ci had both drunk liquor, so they called for drivers to go back.

At the side entrance of the restaurant.

Qin Yishun looked at Pei Yi in front of him, and before he could speak, he heard Bo Yueming see the guests off first. “Mr. Qin, please go back. Pei Yi can just leave with me.”

Qin Yishun didn’t give in. “Young Master Bo is being courteous. Rest assured, I will send him back myself.”

“Brother.”

Pei Yi looked at Qin Yishun and said simply and clearly, “Bye-bye~”

“…….”

Qin Yishun was stunned for a moment, and felt a little depressed. “Xiao Yi, why don’t you want Brother to take you home?”

Pei Yi sucked the last mouthful of double layer milk custard brought out from the table into his stomach, then looked contently at Qin Yishun and advised, “Too far, going to bed late isn’t good.”

The Bo family manor was a bit far from here, and even father from where Qin Yishun lived. If the other party insisted on sending him back, it would take nearly two hours at least.

Anyway, he and Bo Yueming were going to the same place, so why should Qin Yishun have to go back and forth?

After spending this period of time together, Bo Yueming already understood Pei Yi’s way of thinking. “Mr. Qin, Pei Yi feels that the journey back and forth is too long and would waste time and energy, and that going home too late will affect your rest.”

He paused for a moment, and said as if to assuage him, “Pei Yi is thinking of you.”

Qin Yishun naturally understood this point. When he heard this sentence, his severe expression smoothed out a little. “Of course I know Xiao Yi is thinking of me.”

Pei Yi had already felt the full force of Qin Yishun’s “brother complex,” and said with a smile, “Bye-bye~”

Qin Yishun was infected by his little brother’s smile. Despite how serious his face was, he couldn’t hold back anymore and gave a faint smile, rubbing Pei Yi’s head. “Okay, I’ll listen to Xiao Yi.”

After speaking, he looked at Bo Yueming again. “Second Young Master Bo, I will trouble you.”

Bo Yueming gave a faint nod. “It’s no trouble.”

Qin Yishun didn’t procrastinate any longer. He turned around and walked toward the parking lot.

It wasn’t until he sat back in the vehicle that he remembered the undrunk coffee in the refrigerator, and quickly took it out with the dome light on.

Qin Yishun, who never liked to drink coffee, raised the cup and took a sip. The bitter liquid instantly filled his mouth, making him frown uncontrollably.

This coffee was worse than traditional Chinese medicine! The mouth was bitter, but the heart was sweet!

When the coffee was held in his big hand, it looked like just a small cup. Qin Yishun inexplicably thought of Pei Yi’s small figure, and suddenly felt that the cup in his hand looked a little cute.

En, his little brother gave it to him, and he really liked it the more he looked at it.

This cup of coffee must be commemorated!

The cup sleeve was soaked with water. Qin Yishun took a paper towel and wiped the outer wall of the cup until it shone, then picked up the phone—

Using his amateur camera technique, he took several pictures in a row and then selected the most satisfactory one.

He clicked on his circle of friends, where he had never posted any updates, then uploaded the photo and typed while smiling:

“Coffee from my little brother. Good night.”

—Whoosh!

Not long after it was sent out to his circle of friends, he received likes and replies from former comrades-in-arms, friends, and company subordinates, and the first comment was extremely mocking—

“Captain Qin, is the sun rising in the west today? Drinking coffee late at night? You call that a good night?”

Qin Yishun replied solemnly: En, I’m saying goodnight to my brother.

After replying, he forcefully “liked” and continued to drink the coffee.

. . . . . .

Forty minutes later, the car parked in the villa’s garage.

Driver Lao Fu turned around and reminded, “Mr. Bo, Little Sir, we’re home.”

Bo Yueming opened his eyes and ordered, “Understood. Lao Fu, you get out of the car first, and tell Uncle Kai that he doesn’t need to come down and wait. Pei Yi and I will come up later.”

Pei Yi was taken aback, and paused halfway through taking off his seatbelt.

For some reason, he suddenly senses the oppression of a coming storm.

Driver Lao Fu glanced at Pei Yi, but still obeyed his boss’s orders and got out of the car, leaving without looking back.

The car door slammed, making Pei Yi’s heart jump.

“……”

Pei Yi looked at Bo Yueming, who was slowly turning toward him, and planned to strike first, “Er-ge, I’m sleepy.”

“Sleepy?”

Bo Yueming located Pei Yi’s figure with the help of the dim dome light. “I’ll ask you two questions, and I’ll let you go to sleep after asking them.”

Pei Yi was struck silent, and accepted his fate.

Contriving this and that, he was able to coax Qin Yishun, who was a brother-protecting madman, but he still couldn’t escape the keen mind of the “villain” Bo Yueming.

Who would have thought there would be such a coincidence? They met at every meal.

Pei Yi cursed his luck and lowered his head, quietly awaiting Bo Yueming’s response, and hummed in affirmation.

Hearing his reluctant tone, Bo Yueming suppressed his helplessness and inwardly set up his questions. “You ran out secretly today. It wasn’t your elder brother who picked you up, isn’t that right?”

“……”

Pei Yi silently admitted it.

Bo Yueming asked again, “Where did you get the money?”

Pei Yi shook his head and said nothing.

He had some spare change on WeChat, so he secretly applied for a bank card when he went out today for convenience.

Bo Yueming allowed the silence to spread, and the suspicion in his heart was gradually confirmed—

Pei Yi was not a “fool.” He at least had the ability to go out and find someone independently.

Or he had just pretended from the beginning. That was why when dealing with Bo Guancheng, Bo Wang, and others, he always used the most “foolish” and blunt remarks to stab them.

As for why he was pretending to be a fool? Bo Yueming had no way of knowing for now.

However, Pei Yi had never done anything to hurt the Bo family since entering the Bo residence, and even gave him timely comfort when his heart’s defenses were weak.

Bo Yueming carefully distinguished his drooping little head, and suddenly didn’t want to poke at Pei Yi like this.

His eyesight was gradually recovering.

Since Pei Yi loved to play and act for a “certain purpose,” Bo Yueming wanted to act with him. He would see what this little cat wanted to do in the end.

“……..”

Pei Yi, who thought he had done something wrong, felt his heart beating like a drum.

He did not fear the heavens or the earth, but he was afraid of the unspeaking villain.

Glancing covertly at Bo Yueming, he gave an uncertain hum, “Er-ge?”

“In the future, don’t run around without telling me. Whether you want to find Mr. Qin or your mother and sister, you must tell me. I will have driver Lao Fu take you there with bodyguards.”

No matter whether Pei Yi was intentionally pretending or not, no matter if he had the ability to protect himself, Bo Yueming didn’t want him to be in danger, and he didn’t want to have a repeat of what happened at the celebration banquet.

Not only did Bo Yueming not blame him, but he even explained himself patiently and considerately.

Pei Yi tried hard to distinguish Bo Yueming’s tone, and after confirming that the other party didn’t notice his loopholes or investigate deeply, the big rock on his heart was dropped again.

To be honest, it was very comfortable to stay with the Bo family. He was just on the right track to make money now, and he couldn’t leave yet.

At this thought, Pei Yi nodded honestly. “En.”

When Bo Yueming heard his honest and well-behaved voice, he said with deep implications, “If I find you sneaking away again, you will be punished.”

“…….”

It went in Pei Yi’s right ear and out his left. He was not afraid of Bo Yueming’s “warning” at all, and was even thinking up countermeasures.

Anyway, Bo Yueming hadn’t reached his time of recovery yet. If he could run the first time, he could run the second time. It was just that he couldn’t take risks like today before the necessary time.

The light of the headlights was extremely dim, and Bo Yueming only felt that his vision was going dark and then bright again.

Suddenly, the area he was concentrating on became clear, and Bo Yueming captured a face that couldn’t be fairer, far more cute and good-looking than he had imagined.

At this moment, Pei Yi had his head lowered and was secretly playing with the seatbelt with his fingertips.

“……”

When they met for the first time, it turned out that the kitten looked like this.

Bo Yueming was stunned for a few seconds. The corners of his mouth rose. “Pei Yi, did you hear that?”

As soon as he spoke, the person in front of him yawned a bit and nodded like a chicken pecking rice, saying perfunctorily, “En, en, en!”

*

T/N: Ah, Qin Yishun is my ideal man. Strong, capable, and kind.

---

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Chapter Twenty-Nine <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-One

The stars were a little sparse this night, but it was fortunate that the moon was surprisingly large, shining brightly in the sky and illuminating the surrounding fields in silvery-white light. It was rather romantic.

Xuan Jiao was eating dry grass leisurely at the side. Liu Xian’an found a flat stone and sat down with Liang Shu. He was capable of watching the moon for a whole night without speaking, but His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was not. The prince’s shameful spring love was originally like a flame, but was at this moment further strengthened by the night and the moonlight, expanding to the point of boundlessness. Not to mention thinking, even sitting was precarious.

And at this precarious moment, Liu Xian’an took the initiative to grasp his hand. Liang Shu’s heart stopped beating. The soft, cool touch from the dream overlapped with reality, and he turned his hand almost without thinking, taking all of the other party’s thin, white fingers into his palm.

“…….” Liu Xian’an was puzzled. “I want to test His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s pulse.”

He hadn’t had time to reveal his tenderness when, bang, he was jabbed with a pole. Liang Shu released his hand and said expressionlessly: “Don’t test it.”

Liu Xian’an let out an “oh” and didn’t insist. He continued to look at the moon on his own and ignore him.

A while later, Liang Shu handed over his wrist.

Liu Xian’an pursed his lips, placed his fingers on the other party’s veins, and tested for a while before saying: “There is nothing serious, but you are too tired and need a good rest.”

Liang Shu asked: “Then why did you let me go out in the middle of the night?”

Liu Xian’an retracted his hands into his sleeves: “Since sedatives are useless, you might as well do something you enjoy. Otherwise, lying in bed all the time worrying will not benefit your body. If you adjust your mood, your sleep will naturally become more regular.

Liang Shu turned his eyes back toward the distant mountains: “Can getting married cure insomnia?”

Liu Xian’an was decisive: “It cannot.”

“Is that written in a book?”

“I’ve witnessed it myself.”

Not to mention elsewhere, there were living examples in Baihe Mountain Village. Since his uncle married, he had been suffering from serious and minor illnesses. He quarreled with auntie every day, red in the face, and hurt from head to toe. He took several cylinders of tranquilizing medicine, showing that getting married couldn’t cure any disease, and that it was very likely to aggravate previous symptoms.

Liu Xian’an said: “Besides, one attribute of love is that it always makes people toss and turn. How could it make people sleep peacefully?”

Liang Shu grasped the back of his neck: “Speak logically, you’ve never been in ‘love’ before.”

Liu Xian’an was massaged very nicely, both sore and comfortable: “It’s all written in books.”

Liang Shu moved his hands lightly: “Let’s hear how it is written in the books.”

Liu Xian’an thought about those stories and poems that had been passed down through the ages. Almost none of them were not full of sadness, or how long it took for love to become hate. He frowned as he thought about it, and didn’t want to elaborate, so he just gave a perfunctory: “It’s troublesome anyway.”

Liang Shu asked: “So you’re not going to like anyone, and even when getting married, ‘anyone is fine?’”

Liu Xian’an replied, that’s about it.

Liang Shu knocked his head in dissatisfaction.

Liu Xian’an dodged sideways: “What about the prince?”

Liang Shu replied: “Anyone is fine.”

“The Fei Kingdom princess?”

“No.”

“Princesses of other countries?”

“Also no.”

Liu Xian’an thought, so what kind of ‘anyone’ is this, you obviously have a lot of requirements.

Liang Shu continued to massage his neck for him: “Did those white-bearded old men come out again?”

“No, I’ve been too busy lately to take care of them.” Liu Xian’an moved on the stone. “I only think about them occasionally before going to sleep at night.”

But because His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was always on guard there with a sword, the Three Thousand Worlds were safe and secure. He could organize his thoughts without any distractions and without rush, and when encountering problems that he didn’t understand, he wouldn’t waste time on insignificant problems. This was because His Royal Highness Xiao Wang would always appear in a while, then say impatiently with a fierce expression: “Don’t think about it if you don’t understand it.”

So Second Young Master Liu really didn’t try to. He allowed him to lead him around by his sleeve to go look at the trees, look at the palace, ride a white crane, and fly around every world freely.

The moonlight was beautiful tonight, so he selectively picked out some of these dreams and told them to Liang Shu in reality, where they were both wearing clothes. In the dao, the two would travel together or drink, and sleep next to each other under the peach blossom trees when drunk, leisurely and indulgent.

Liang Shu nodded: “All right. When the war is over, I’ll take you to drink with me, get drunk, and do all the things in your dreams.” As for the white-bearded old men destined to be repeatedly scolded, there was also a group of ready-made ones in the Imperial court, which were not difficult to find.

But Liu Xian’an figured that he still couldn’t do “all of them,” because in his dreams, besides the peach trees, there was also a hot spring beneath a waterfall. He actually welcomed His Royal Highness Xiao Wang to relax and bathe in the Three Thousand Worlds when he was tired, but he really didn’t want to dream up too many details. Therefore, every time he awoke from the dream, he would feel slightly distressed for a while, not knowing how he himself had become more and more wild and disrespectful. In order to solve this problem, Second Young Master Liu had no choice but to think desperately when he was awake. He could fill the hot springs with dense white mist, build a circle of screens, construct a wall reaching the sky. He even drew a lot of pictures of His Royal Highness in bathrobes, and would look at them before going to bed, but it was no use. Once the big dream struck, the areas that should be meticulous and detailed were still meticulous and detailed.

How distressing.

Liang Shu felt that the way he was sighing with his hands clasped together looked like the frowning cat in the Imperial gardens, so he stretched out his hand to pet him.

Liu Xian’an didn’t hide either. Instead, he was so sleepy that he yawned.

Liang Shu called Xuan Jiao and took him back to camp.

Gao Lin also didn’t sleep, and when he heard the news, he snuck into the commander’s tent: “How did it go?”

Liang Shu sat on the bed: “Letting you be a lieutenant general is really a waste of talent.”

Gao Lin hastened to be modest, he was only average, ba. He never would have thought he would have such amazing potential in the field of matchmaking. He dragged a cushion over and sat cross-legged: “What did Second Young Master Liu say?”

Liang Shu said: “That he is too lazy to get married, and he has no intention of marrying anyone.”

Gao Lin’s smile froze for a moment, and then he promptly stood up and tried to slip away, but failed, so he could only complain: “Why, though. I asked A-Ning, and Second Young Master Liu has never cared about other people’s preferences before. It seems he doesn’t even know the preferences of Master Liu, and has never prepared sugar for other patients.”

Such was the case that the amount of sweet root and dried hawthorn was very limited during the march, and even those thirteen or fourteen-year-old soldiers couldn’t get a bite of sweet and sour from Doctor Liu. At most, they could get a philosophical muddled speech, such as, “If you think that the medicine in front of you is sweet, then it will be sweet.” It was simply dull and drowsy, with double the pain.

Gao Lin said: “The prince’s medicine is so delicious that it can be savored, does this not count as deliberate? A-Ning said that in order to make the bitter taste less bitter, he would taste it every time and personally decoct it. Anyway, if he cares so much about a person, they are either his actual father or he loves them to death and must marry them.”

Liang Shu felt that today was the day he had heard the most from Gao Lin since meeting him.

But frankly speaking, he himself didn’t think that Liu Xian’an’s “neither love nor desire” tonight would definitely last forever. After all, he was a Sleeping Immortal who had been floating alone in the sky for forty-eight thousand years. It would take him a lot of effort to return to the world with a clear mind and learn about love.

Thus, he had mercy and didn’t continue to find fault. He waved Gao Lin out of the room, lay down on the bed alone, and fell asleep peacefully.

Liu Xian’an didn’t sleep, but A-Ning had rested before and was not sleepy now, so he asked him: “What are you thinking, Young Master?”

“I’m not thinking about anything.” Liu Xian’an lay on his back under the blanket, propping up his upper body slightly. “I’ve been dreaming about the prince lately.”

A-Ning thought this was normal, because they saw the prince every day. 

Liu Xian’an stretched out his hand and gestured for him to lean his ear closer to the side of the bed, then lowered his voice: “I dreamed that the prince was bathing.”

A-Ning also didn’t think this was too strange, and was puzzled at most. It seemed that at the very beginning, the young master dreamed that the prince was bathing, yet after knowing each other for so long, the prince had not yet come out of the pool.

Liu Xian’an drew a picture in the air with his finger: “He stood in front of me with no clothes on.”

A-Ning took a breath of cold air this time: “Scary!”

Liu Xian’an sat up: “Aiya, it’s really not scary, it’s just……I don’t want to dream, but drinking calming soup doesn’t seem to help.”

“But why do you dream of this?” A-Ning also climbed onto the bed and sat down. “People say that dreams are things we think about day and night, but the young master has never thought about the prince not wearing clothes. It’s so strange.”

Liu Xian’an replied innocently: “En, I haven’t.”

A-Ning patted the pillow: “Then lie down, Young Master. Let me tell you some other stories. Listening to them as you fall asleep, maybe you won’t dream of the prince again.”

Liu Xian’an lay down according to his words. A-Ning took out the soothing ointment and massaged his temples, then picked out a rather boring and hypnotic story written by a pedantic scholar, about a fox fairy repaying a favor.

Repaying a favor was nothing more than getting married and having a child. Liu Xian’an yawned and soon fell asleep. A-Ning’s voice continued into the dream, and the scholar and the fox fairy played the gongs, drums, and trumpets so that the whole village came out to watch. Red silk paved the floor and colorful lanterns hung outside the door, but he had no time to watch the excitement. He ran all the way to the waterfall, just in time for His Royal Highness Xiao Wang to step out of the hot spring, holding an eye-catching three feet of red silk in his hand.

And the surrounding green mountains and water had already turned into a wedding hall decorated with lights and festoons. Liu Xian’an thought in a daze, could it be that the prince wants to get married?

He turned his head and looked around, wanting to see where the welcoming team was, but the white mist rose again. The sound of trumpets became louder and louder. Liu Xian’an couldn’t bear the noise, so he simply rode on Xuan Jiao and ran away. As he ran, there was suddenly another person behind him. 

Therefore, he woke up from the dream covered in cold sweat, his heart beating extremely fast.

A-Ning hadn’t gone to sleep yet, and was taken aback: “Young Master dreamed of the prince again?”

Liu Xian’an looked at him for a moment, pulled the blanket to cover his head, and said faintly: “Stop telling stories in the future.”

If a story wasn’t told, he would just stand on the shore at most. After telling the story, they stuck together and rode a horse for a long time. Liu Xian’an sighed silently and buried his face deeply into the pillow, feeling extremely sorry for His Royal Highness Xiao Wang.

He didn’t have a good rest all night, and couldn’t walk steadily the next day. Liang Shu rode over: “Shall I take you for a ride?”

Liu Xian’an was listless at first, but when he heard this sentence, he immediately shivered: “No need.”

“No need?” Liang Shu wondered, “Why aren’t you lazy?”

Liu Xian’an pointed casually: “I’m going to sleep in the carriage.”

Liang Shu watched helplessly all the way as he climbed in the grain cart. He ran very fast and almost fell in the middle, so he called Gao Lin over.

Gao Lin went to ask A-Ning.

A-Ning was sorting out the drawings done by his young master, a stack of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang wearing a bathrobe. When a person suddenly broke into the tent, he was startled and quickly put his hands behind his back: “Lieutenant General Gao.”

Gao Lin glanced at his hands: “What is that?”

“Nothing.” A-Ning took two steps back. “It’s a landscape painting done by my young master. He won’t allow others to see it, so I’m burning it.”

Gao Lin nodded: “So it’s a landscape.”

After asking a few more casual questions, he turned around and left the big tent. At this time, the army outside had already departed. This tent had to be dismantled immediately, so A-Ning hurriedly stuffed the paintings into the fire, picked up his luggage, and chased after them.

As he walked forward, Gao Lin picked up the spark-covered ball of paper behind his back and went to offer the treasure to his prince.

Liang Shu asked: “What is it?”

Gao Lin replied: “How could I dare look?”

Liang Shu opened a drawing, and Lieutenant General Gao, who didn’t dare to look, immediately stretched his neck closer. After seeing it clearly, he was shocked on the spot: “Isn’t this you, Your Highness?”

The drawing turned out to be true, neat, and attentive, but it was burned to a mess. Gao Lin had originally just stolen it back as a landscape painting, intending to comfort his prince in his lovesickness, but he never expected that he had picked up a basket of gold. What too lazy to get married? Why don’t you hurry back to Wangcheng to prepare for the happy event?

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Chapter Forty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Four