Too Good-Looking

Tong Zhao cursed himself for being so careless. Shu Sizhuo was burning up, yet he hadn't noticed when the boy slept with his head on his lap in the taxi!

What kind of job was I doing looking after a child?!

Tong Zhao was frantic. He rushed out of the inn and ran through several unfamiliar streets before finding a twenty-four-hour pharmacy. He bought a thermometer and fever medicine, and asked the pharmacy for two paper cups.

He ran back drenched in sweat and found Shu Sizhuo lying in bed with his eyes tightly shut, breathing out scorching breaths through his slightly parted lips. He seemed to be in great discomfort.

Tong Zhao hurriedly tucked the thermometer into his armpit, then wrapped an arm around him for fear he might move.

Tong Zhao had nothing else to do during the five minutes it took to measure his temperature, so he stared at Shu Sizhuo's fever-flushed face. Although he really shouldn't have been thinking such things while the boy was sick, he still thought an eleven-year-old boy's face had no business being this good-looking.

He could become a child star.

With such long legs, he could be a model too.

But becoming a big CEO someday would also suit Little Sizhuo's bearing.

Tong Zhao wondered what Little Sizhuo would look like when he grew up.

He suddenly felt a pang of regret that he wouldn't get to see Little Sizhuo grow up.

"But you'll grow up just fine. You'll have everything, and you'll be happy forever."

Tong Zhao took out the thermometer and saw that his temperature was over thirty-nine degrees. He hurriedly gave Shu Sizhuo some fever medicine and wrapped him snugly in the blanket.

Fortunately, Tong Zhao had slept so long in the vehicle that he still had plenty of energy to look after Little Sizhuo.

He kept giving Shu Sizhuo boiled water to drink, wiping away his sweat and placing a cloth against his back.

When his fever was at its worst and he was delirious, Shu Sizhuo cried out for his mother. Tong Zhao climbed into bed, held him in his arms, and comforted him. He also sang children's songs, going over "Little Donkey," "The Painter," and "Pulling Up the Radish" again and again until Shu Sizhuo cried himself into a deep sleep. Tong Zhao didn't know when he fell asleep himself.

When Tong Zhao woke up in the morning, he found himself looking into Shu Sizhuo's dark, bright eyes.

"When did you wake up?" He immediately felt Shu Sizhuo's temperature and smiled in relief. "Your fever's gone down. Baby, you really put me through it."

"Did I have a fever?" Children's illnesses came and went quickly. Shu Sizhuo sat up, looking quite energetic.

"Yes, it was over thirty-nine degrees. You scared me to death." Tong Zhao brushed a finger down his nose and climbed out of bed. "Hungry? Should I buy you breakfast and bring it back, or should we go out to eat?"

"Let's go out!" Shu Sizhuo sat up straight.

Grinding Cloud City was a long way from City A, and for once, the two of them could walk down the street completely relaxed. They found a popular breakfast shop and ate steamed buns, thin-skinned shaomai, and fried dough sticks, and drank soy milk.

After paying the bill, Tong Zhao checked his balance and fell into thought.

The bus would be crowded, and the road to the orphanage was bumpy. Shu Sizhuo had only just recovered, so he should rest another day and set off tomorrow.

Having made up his mind, Tong Zhao put an arm around Shu Sizhuo. "I heard there's an open-air children's park nearby. Want to go play?"

Shu Sizhuo was tempted, but still asked considerately, "Aren't we traveling today?"

"What's the hurry? We'll leave tomorrow."

"Won't that delay us?"

"No."

Only then did Shu Sizhuo break into a smile. "Okay."

The children's park had plenty of play equipment. Shu Sizhuo wandered around, watching the innocent, childish kids swing high into the air, watching them come laughing down the spiral slide in groups, and even watching two little kids in diapers fight and cry...

Shu Sizhuo suddenly found it all rather boring. He no longer liked playing with kids who were only just losing their baby teeth.

He returned to Tong Zhao and saw him looking down, idly stepping on fallen leaves. He wore a mid-length trench coat, and his hair and eyes were black. He was very handsome.

Shu Sizhuo thought Tong Zhao was childish too, but stepping on fallen leaves seemed more fun than swinging.

Tong Zhao was surprised to see Shu Sizhuo back so soon. "What is it? You don't like it?"

"Yeah, it's boring." He slipped his hand naturally into Tong Zhao's palm. "Tang Xu, let's take a walk in the park."

"Boring?" Tong Zhao laughed. "You're only ten, and you want to take a walk in the park like an old man."

"I'm turning eleven soon." Shu Sizhuo looked up at Tong Zhao and said very seriously, "On the sixteenth of next month."

"May sixteenth?" Tong Zhao repeated just as seriously, then nodded. "I'll remember. I'll buy you a present."

Only then did Shu Sizhuo smile in satisfaction. After some thought, he added, "It doesn't have to be expensive."

Tong Zhao was delighted and ruffled Shu Sizhuo's hair a couple of times.

So cute.

That night, Tong Zhao had just finished showering and was halfway through putting on his shirt when a bzzzt sounded in his head.

He froze and focused on the sensation.

Bzzzt—

Bzzzt—

"07... mission... bzzzt—"

Tong Zhao sprang to his feet. "System!!!"

As he jumped, he knocked over the cabinet beside him, sending toiletries clattering to the floor.

Soon, the bathroom door was pushed open from outside. Shu Sizhuo's little face was full of alarm. "Tang Xu! What's wrong?!"

Since they were both male and Shu Sizhuo was still a child, Tong Zhao wasn't in the habit of locking the door when he showered.

Tong Zhao could feel the frequencies in his head going haywire. He hurriedly pushed Shu Sizhuo out. "It's okay, it's okay. I'll clean it up right away. I still need to use the toilet, so be good and go read on the bed."

During the day, Tong Zhao had let Shu Sizhuo choose some books at the park's newsstand to pass the time if he got bored at night. Shu Sizhuo had chosen a military magazine and a book on finance. Tong Zhao had given him a couple of looks, at a loss for words, before silently paying.

As expected of a future big CEO. When Tong Zhao thought about how he'd still been watching Ultraman fight monsters at ten, while Shu Sizhuo was already reading about military affairs and finance, the gap between people was truly enormous.

But he was the one saving the big CEO. With that thought, Tong Zhao instantly felt his own stature grow imposing.

After shooing Shu Sizhuo out, Tong Zhao locked the door.

"System? System?" Tong Zhao called softly. "One only regrets not having read enough when the time comes to use it. System—"

[Password correct. Tasker 07166, please speak]

"Speak, speak, speak! Speak, my ass!" The weight lifted from Tong Zhao's heart, but at the same time, a surge of anger rushed to his head. "What the hell happened to you?! Where did you disappear to for a whole month while you were down?! Do you have any idea what I've been through this past month? I nearly got hacked to death! I only just started the job, and I don't even know if the General Institute bought insurance for me! If I'd died just like that, and Shu Sizhuo had been captured and dragged back to suffer, I'd like to see how every one of you would answer for having a death on your hands!"

The system listened silently until he finished. [We're very sorry, Tasker 07166. A hacker infiltrated the General Institute and unleashed a virus, paralyzing the entire network. The General Institute worked nonstop against the clock to make repairs and finally eliminated the virus.]

"Doesn't the General Institute have national-level white hats? It took a month to get rid of one virus?" Tong Zhao asked skeptically.

[Yes. We're very sorry]

The system quietly wiped away its cold sweat. The truth was that the General Institute had eliminated the virus in three days and changed all the keys and communications. The systems then relayed the information to the chips in the taskers' brains.

But Tong Zhao was a new recruit, and for some reason, something had gone wrong with his employee information in the backend. As a result, his system had gone dormant, and the chip in his brain hadn't received the information.

In short, it was all the General Institute's fault, but the General Institute wouldn't admit it.

Tong Zhao wasn't easy to fob off, though. He narrowed his eyes. "The General Institute is a respectable establishment. After something like this, if you don't give me some compensation for emotional distress, I won't let the matter rest."

The system, which wasn't afraid of Tong Zhao refusing to let the matter rest, still asked, [How much would you like?]

Tong Zhao's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the system to be so agreeable this time. "Twenty thousand. I want to buy the contact information for Shu Sizhuo's maternal uncle!"