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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, verywronganswer, aroma

nTaking advantage of his precious time away from Yang Baihua, Chi Xiaochi finished arranging the official demos of 《Innermost Feelings》, 《Love You》, and《Autumn Thoughts》one by one.

nCheng Yuan had come up with the song names after much careful deliberation. If he were to distribute them, they had to have, and could only have, these three names.

nCheng Yuan’s golden finger was incredibly useful. As long as Chi Xiaochi thought of creating music, innumerable melodies would surface in his mind, thus, such work wasn’t very difficult for him.

nAfter he finished recording the last song, Chi Xiaochi laid down in bed and expressed in his user review, “It makes me feel as if I’m an artist.”

n061 laughed, “Weren’t you already one before?”

nDue to the suspension bridge effect after spending a night watching horror movies together, the bond between the two “brothers-in-arms” was strengthened, so their conversations went much smoother.

nChi Xiaochi said, “Before, I was a slag student with only high school qualifications, but now in the blink of an eye, I’ve gotten a bachelor’s degree.”

n061 said, “… …So a student who was awarded year-long scholarships for three years in a row can be called a slag student.”

nChi Xiaochi said faintly, “So you even know my grades. Which one of my interviews did you learn that from?”

n061, “… …” It’s become routine.

nChi Xiaochi sighed, “Watching my movies and now even searching up my interviews. Brainless fans are really scary.”

n061, “… …” I’m not, I didn’t, really, I’m a proper system.

nIn a deathbed struggle, 061 argued, “I just wanted to understand you, to optimise task efficiency.”

nChi Xiaochi rolled over onto his back so that he faced the ceiling and didn’t reply.

nHis silence made 061 suddenly feel a little flustered. He realised that he hadn’t phrased his previous words very nicely, and tried to correct himself, “……You’re not just a task to me.”

nThese were words from his heart.

nChi Xiaochi was his eleventh host.

nBut to the hosts, in these unfamiliar worlds where they were utterly lost and alone, their system was the only thing they could rely on.

nEven though he had been reformatted once before, 061 still had a lingering feeling. He knew that every time he had to part from a host was never a very pleasant experience.

n061 had wanted to be a cold, unfeeling system, exactly because he didn’t want to feel the sadness of parting anymore.

nBut it seemed like he still couldn’t do it.

nChi Xiaochi said, “You don’t need to explain anymore.”

n061, “I……”

nChi Xiaochi said faintly, “I actually lost your love and affection so quickly.”

n061, “&#k2026;&#k2026;”

nChi Xiaochi sighed, “I’m no longer that Mister Chi whom you loved so much.”

n061, “……” I shouldn’t have bothered worrying about you.

nHowever, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

nChi Xiaochi wasn’t quite the same as the rest of hosts he’d taken on before. Even though he spoke childishly, he acted independently and calmly.

nAs this kind of person, even though he came up with a lot of weird ideas, he was very capable of understanding the pros and cons of his actions.

nHis will to return to his original world was very strong. Even if they had to say goodbye in the future, it wouldn’t be too hard on them.

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nAfter fulfilling his desire for drama, Chi Xiaochi fell back into his “silent sage mode”.

nHe reached out a hand and groped around the head of the bed for his sleeping pills before realising that the bottle was empty.

nChi Xiaochi got up, preparing to change his clothes.

n061, “Where are you going? All the pharmacies are closed by now.”

nChi Xiaochi said, “Then I’ll find a club to dance at. Dance until the pharmacies open again.”

n061, “……”

nCheng Yuan’s body wasn’t made of iron. In order to finish the demos, he hadn’t slept for three consecutive days. Now he was going out to play. What if he danced himself to death? If that happened, how was he going to fill in his work report? “The host died from playing too hard”?

n061 felt helpless. He said, “Lie down.”

nChi Xiaochi said delightedly, “Liuliu, are you going to give me a free Hypnosis card?”

n061, “……” Who’s Liuliu.

nChi Xiaochi guessed what 061 was thinking, “I’ve been mulling it over for a while, calling you Zero or One wouldn’t be very good since it would cause misunderstandings.”

n061, “……”

nChi Xiaochi, “So in the end Liuliu sounds the best.”

n061 let out a deep sigh.

nFine, Liuliu it is then.

nHe said, “You’re very dependent on pills, and it’s not good for your body. How about this, every night before you sleep, I’ll read to you. Who knows, it might help a bit. Even if you can’t fall asleep, listening to me read won’t be boring.”

nThis time, Chi Xiaochi was truly silent.

n061 asked, “Is this okay?”

nChi Xiaochi placed the coat he picked up back into the wardrobe and sat back down on the bed. “This is some really good service. Have all your previous hosts enjoyed this kind of treatment?”

n061 answered mildly, “You’re the only one I’ve met who can’t fall asleep.”

nChi Xiaochi lay down on the bed, one hand behind his head. He said, “……Alright.”

n“What book do you want to listen to? I’ll go back to the system lobby to download it and be back in five minutes.”

n“《Harry Potter》.” After saying the title of the book, Chi Xiaochi hesitated, “No, not 《Harry Potter》.”

nThe system patiently waited for his response.

nSoon, Chi Xiaochi confidently articulated his book of choice, “People’s Education Press’ Senior Ideology and Politics for Students of China.”

n061, “……Wait a moment.”

nThe system left for five minutes, before returning on time.

nHe opened up the book, lightly coughed twice, and started reading out loud.

n061’s voice was originally a very pleasant, youthful voice. His carefully softened voice was more like fresh vines coiled around a tree, its leaves and branches, lightly warmed by the light of the sun, forming a gentle embrace, wrapping up Chi Xiaochi’s consciousness.

nChi Xiaochi closed his eyes, curling up into the blanket, “Teacher, which high school do you work at? If you teach me politics, I promise I won’t fall asleep.”

n061 smiled softly, “You really won’t sleep?” Chi Xiaochi didn’t look at all like a well-behaved student.

nChi Xiaochi smiled along with him, “Only if you can control me.”

n“How can I control you?”

nChi Xiaochi said, “You just need to be good-looking.”

n061 gently smiled.

nHe himself didn’t know what he looked like. Systems’ self-perception abilities were shut off all year round. Even if he looked into a mirror, he would only be able to see a sheet of mosaic.

nFurthermore, he didn’t want to control Chi Xiaochi. As long as he was happy and the task was completed quickly, the progress on his side would also be accelerated.

n——After completing 200 tasks, he would be able to terminate his contract with the main system.

nWhen that time came, he could finally catch that appointment.

nBut it seemed like he was already late, many years late, late to the point that he had an accident and had his memories reformatted.

nHowever, it didn’t matter. As long as he returned to his original world, he would probably be able to remember.

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n061 connected to the indoor lighting system, dimmed the lights in the room, and corrected Chi Xiaochi’s sleeping posture, “Close your eyes and put your hand down, if you keep propping yourself up, you won’t be able to sleep well.”

nChi Xiaochi closed his eyes, but his hand still stayed behind his head under the pillow.

nIn a small voice, he said, “If it’s Lou Ying, that also works.”

n——If someone wanted to control him, they needed to be good-looking or be Lou Ying, nothing else.

n061 didn’t quite hear him and asked, “What?”

nChi Xiaochi didn’t speak any further, and 061 just continued reading until Chi Xiaochi’s breathing slowly evened out and a slight flush returned to his pale, bloodless face.

n061 didn’t disturb him. By checking his body data, he confirmed that Chi Xiaochi was indeed asleep.

nGratified, 061 thought, seems like it works.

nThree seconds later, the lights went out.

nThe next day, the well-rested Chi Xiaochi placed the master demos he’d recorded into a paper bag, prepared a meal, and brought them to Cheng Jian’s office.

nSeeing Chi Xiaochi with an apron tied neatly around his waist, expertly beating eggs in a bowl and pouring them into a pan, 061 was shocked.

n……He really did know how to cook.

nCheng Jian, after seeing his secretary lead his younger brother who was carrying a lunchbox into his office, was just as shocked as 061.

nHearing that the egg fried rice had been made by Cheng Yuan, he was even more shocked.

nToday’s weather was the lowest it had been since winter began. Cheng Yuan’s nose was red from the cold. The moment he entered, he pulled out a thermos of water and eagerly gulped it down.

nCheng Jian opened up the lunchbox. Inside was rice and soup, pork trotter soybean soup and egg fried rice. Each grain of the fried rice was coated in golden yellow egg, and the ham was chopped into fine, even pieces. The pig trotters were stewed to perfection, soft and delicate, and with a gentle poke of the chopsticks, the meat would easily slide off the bone, piping hot and fresh, the fragrance of meat filling his nostrils.

nCheng Yuan breathed on his hands, “Ge, it’s for you. It’s hot. This insulated lunchbox I bought is really good at retaining heat.”

n……A simple look at the substantial portion size showed that it wasn’t takeout from a restaurant.

nCheng Jian said sourly, “You make such a good wife and loving mother. You took such good care of your precious, piano-playing fingers for so many years, was it just for you to use them for stir-frying?”

nCheng Yuan smiled widely, “Stir-frying food for my brother makes me happy. Ge, aren’t you happy?”

nCheng Jian, “……Hmph.”

nThen he ate the lunchbox clean in one go.

nAfter waiting for him to finish his food, Cheng Yuan clearly let him know his intentions in coming.

nCheng Jian pushed the lunchbox away, “You’re planning on sending out your songs?”

nCheng Yuan hugged the paper bag to himself, his face full of anticipation, “Does ge know where I can send them?”

n“I have a few classmates working in entertainment companies, I’ll help you ask,” Cheng Jian didn’t know much about this field and naturally wouldn’t make any promises, “What are your own goals?”

nCheng Yuan obediently shook his head.

nCheng Jian hated iron for not becoming steel, “……You’re like a stupid deer, not aware of anything.”

nCheng Yuan smiled foolishly.

n“Still smiling,” Cheng Jian’s expression changed, “I have two friends who heard you sing before and asked me to ask you if you had any intentions of debuting as a singer but you refused. Right now one of them is working in Yundu Entertainment, and the other is in Xingyun Entertainment, which one do you want to try out? Or are both alright?”

nCheng Yuan thought over it seriously, “Xingyun.”

nCheng Jian, “……You’re just choosing blindly, aren’t you?”

nCheng Yuan, “The name Xingyun sounds nice.”

nCheng Jian, “……” He’s actually a stupid deer.

nCheng Jian got up, took the paper bag from him, and opened it up to take a look inside, “Is this urgent?”

nCheng Yuan lowered his head in embarrassment, “It’s a little urgent…… We need to pay the rent for Old Yang’s apartment soon.”

nCheng Jian, “……”

nHe telegraphed a kick towards the butt of this younger brother of his who had basically become the Yang family maid.

nCheng Yuan immediately wrapped his arms around Cheng Jian’s arm, an anxious look in his eyes as he whined, “Ge.”

nCheng Jian was confused, having never thought that his younger brother, who was always beaten down even faster than a rabbit, would actually take initiative to get close to him. When he finally reacted, his face was a little hot, “What are you doing rubbing up against me, your face is so thick.”

nAfter Cheng Yuan ambled out of the office with the lunchbox, Cheng Jian took out the CD and inserted it into his computer.

nHe didn’t know anything about music, but just as the song started up, a proud smile appeared on his face.

n……This was written by Cheng Yuan.

nHowever, when the melody moved forward a little and the chorus began, Cheng Jian was stunned.

nHe hadn’t majored in music and couldn’t carry even a simple rhythm, but at least he knew what sounded good.

nAfter they left Cheng Jian’s office, 061 asked him, “Why did you choose Xingyun?”

nChi Xiaochi answered, “Because I don’t want to enter Yundu.”

nUnlike Cheng Yuan, when Chi Xiaochi wanted to do something, he would definitely do some prior research.

nGiving Cheng Yuan’s songs to a little company to produce was really too much of a waste. But in his last life, he’d had no experience. In addition, given his older brother Cheng Jian’s widespread connections, including many contacts among the higher-ups of many big entertainment companies, if he sent his songs to those companies, his older brother would definitely hear about it.

nHe was young and inexperienced, and under Yang Baihua’s encouragement he had drawn a clear line between him and his family. He thought that it would be inappropriate to, after having just broken ties with his family, come back and depend on the care of his family to make money.

nThis time, Chi Xiaochi directly found Cheng Jian and unabashedly walked through the backdoor.

nHe planned on entering a big entertainment company, but had no plans on entering Yundu Entertainment.

nYundu was Tang Huan’s company, so entering it would be inconvenient for his plans.

n061 still wanted to say something, but suddenly stopped, “……He’s coming.”

n“Who?”

n061 said, “Yang Baihua.”

nChi Xiaochi, “……En?”

n061 said, “I connected to your new car’s inbuilt GPS. Just now, someone entered your new address into the GPS. It should be Yang Baihua coming to find you.”

n“His parents are here for the week. He’s not spending time with them?”

n061 said, “It’s noon.” His parents might be taking a noon nap.

n……After giving him the cold shoulder for so many days, finally, he couldn’t sit still any longer?

nIn these few days, Yang Baihua’s goodwill level had been constantly fluctuating, completely unstable. It was clear that his emotions were in utter turmoil and that he was quite concerned about that childhood friend “Lou Ying” that “Cheng Yuan” had told him about.

nChi Xiaochi shrugged, “I’m not at home, he’ll just be wasting his time.”

nAfter that, he then added regretfully, “But it’d be great if there was really a Lou-ge at home. He’s so concerned about Lou-ge that he even made a trip over specifically to take a look. Letting him go back empty-handed would be such a pity.”

n061, “……That’s possible.”

nChi XIaochi raised an eyebrow, “Ha?”

n061 said, “I can make a copy of a physical body which will look exactly the same as any other person and can be tangible for a short period of time. Even though the main system bans us from using a physical body to interact with the outside world, but as long as hosts don’t report it to the main system, there’ll be no problem. ……I can pretend to be Lou Ying.”

nChi Xiaochi thought for a moment, “Alright.”

n061, “En.”

nChi Xiaochi, “Make it a little more handsome.”

n061, “……En.”

n061 thought of if he should make an image based of a movie star, but firstly, it would be troublesome, and secondly, his original appearance had been constantly praised as handsome by a system co-worker.

nHe thought for a moment, before deciding on using his own appearance after all.

nSoon, a 061 appeared in the apartment.

nHe quietly sat on the bed. He looked at his hands and feet, then looked into the mirror, but all he could see was a big sheet of mosaic.

nAs expected.

nSince he had nothing to do, he busied himself by neatly folding the clothes Chi Xiaochi had just tossed on the bed, and arranged them back into the wardrobe.

nAfter about half an hour, the door phone rang. It was the security guard, saying that there was a visitor here for Mister Cheng.

n061 answered, “Here. Is it a Mister Yang? Let him in, please.”

nAfter five minutes, the doorbell rang. He got up and opened the door.

nStanding in the doorway was unmistakably Yang Baihua. 061 smiled and nodded at the stunned Yang Baihua, “Mister Yang? Xiao Yuan told me you’d be coming.”

nHowever, Yang Baihua, who had always been considerate when handling matters, just stood there stunned for quite a while after seeing 061’s face, and even ignored 061’s greeting.

n“……Mister Yang?”

nHe had no idea what Yang Baihua was seeing.

nThe person in front of him was dressed in a white shirt and black pants, had an upright posture, and was taller than him by several centimeters. However, his clean temperament, especially his facial features, were actually not much different from Yang Baihua’s!

nThe author has something to say:

nI edited some of the earlier chapters qwq

nChi Xiaochi, who’s messed around in the entertainment industry for so long and seen all kinds of handsome men, was stunned when he first saw Yang Baihua√

nScum Yang immediately entered the self-doubt of “I’m a **ing replacement?”

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nsere: yeet YBH gets upped

nbaum: yaas it’s so nice to see him suffer for once. also, i think it’s cool that the author does foreshadowing, even if the foreshadowing is added after the fact haha

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