The Photos

Jimo and Jiang Wangshu had just stepped out of the villa when someone stopped them.

Jimo frowned, assuming He Zhenglin had gone back on his word again. He took Jiang Wangshu and tried to leave.

But the man blocked their path again, speaking with great courtesy. "Gentlemen, please wait. Allow me to say a few words."

"No need. Go back and tell your young master that he should accept his loss."

"What?" The man looked bewildered, but quickly recovered. "You may have misunderstood. I'm here to confirm a few things with this gentleman."

He raised a hand toward Jiang Wangshu.

Jiang Wangshu exchanged a glance with Jimo and asked in confusion, "Me?"

"Yes."

At school, apart from Jimo, his teachers, and a few coworkers from his part-time job, hardly anyone ever came looking for Jiang Wangshu.

He said, "You must have the wrong person."

The man wore a black suit and stood ramrod straight, his manner utterly respectful. "No. Please, you must come with us. It won't take long, and we'll take you both safely back to the academy afterward."

Jimo looked around and spotted a black van parked not far away. If anyone was hiding inside, it could hold a considerable number of people.

He asked, "What do you want with Xiao Shu?"

The man avoided a direct answer. "You'll know when we reach our destination. We can't be sure yet."

"Sure of what?"

It made no sense.

They wanted someone to come with them, yet refused to say why.

It was late at night, and a man and a black vehicle had suddenly appeared, asking them to come along. No matter how they looked at it, it was highly suspicious.

Jiang Wangshu shook his head and tugged at Jimo. "Brother, let's go. Ignore him."

"Okay."

They walked around him. Surprisingly, the man didn't stop them again. He stayed where he was, silently watching them leave.

Jiang Wangshu took Jimo's hand, his eyes dark and deep. "Brother, your hand is red."

He Zhenglin had gripped it too hard earlier, leaving several nail marks on the back of his hand.

Jimo glanced at it. "It's fine. They'll fade in a bit."

He was about to pull his hand away, but Jiang Wangshu held it in place. His grip was light, and Jimo could pull away whenever he wanted.

Two dimples appeared on Jiang Wangshu's face, making him look adorable. He rubbed the marks with his fingertips. "I'll rub it for you, and it won't hurt anymore."

Jimo let him.

They had walked a long way when Jimo looked back and saw that the man was still standing under the streetlight, silently watching in their direction.

Sure enough, after He Zhenglin's birthday party, it made the forum's trending list again. The top few posts were all discussing the party.

Jimo browsed through them and saw himself in several photos. They showed either his back or his profile and had clearly been taken without his knowledge.

Although some people on the forum were still calling him a green tea, their voices had grown much quieter, and a different opinion had emerged.

[Don't you think the nouveau riche is pretty loyal to his friends?]

[+1. I was at the party that day too. That special-class student whose surname starts with J looked miserable, and someone almost groped him. Honestly, I felt a little sorry for him. Nobody went over to help him, but then the nouveau riche suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pinned the guy to the ground and beat him up. Honestly, it was satisfying to watch.]

[Seriously? When you put it that way, I think I'm starting to see him differently. Looks like their relationship isn't as fake as we thought.]

[It's true. If you ignore that clueless face... he really did look pretty cool then. He's strong too. Several people couldn't hold him down. I almost wanted to applaud him.]

But someone jumped in to spoil the mood.

[You're all so naive. You've fallen for that green tea's tricks, haven't you? If the nouveau riche wanted to pursue you, I bet he could reel in a whole bunch of you. Did he really want to save someone? No! He did it to get the F4's attention and show off his compassion, truth, goodness, and beauty. You've all been fooled!]

Whether people praised him or smeared him, Jimo wore the same expression the entire time he browsed the forum.

Farther down, he found several high-resolution close-ups of him beating someone up at the bottom of a post.

Jimo opened them and thought they were good, with comprehensive coverage, so he saved them.

He would use them as comparison photos and take another picture every month to see when he would develop muscle definition.

After doing that, Jimo was about to exit when he suddenly paused. He felt as though something wasn't quite right.

He went back into the forum and quickly scrolled through the pictures until one appeared that made him stop.

In the photo, people crowded together and moved back and forth. Without a close look, it was easy to overlook the tiny red figure in the corner.

The back of a bunny girl had accidentally been caught in the shot.

Jimo finally realized what was wrong.

There were no photos of Jiang Wangshu on the forum.

No, to be precise, there were no photos of Jiang Wangshu dressed as a bunny girl.

There were still photos of him in formal clothes.

The photos from the party were so comprehensive that almost the entire event could be seen on the forum. Even the members of the F4 had been caught on camera.

Besides, the bunny girls' entrance had caused quite a stir. It was impossible that no one had taken photos. Jimo himself had seen several people snapping pictures of Jiang Wangshu nonstop at the party.

He didn't believe those people would be kind enough to consider Jiang Wangshu's feelings and refrain from posting them for the forum's entertainment.

It seemed someone had deliberately deleted all those pictures from the forum.

Jimo kept that in mind, put down his phone, and sat up. He had one more thing to do.

[System, are you there?]

The system answered promptly this time. [Host, what is it?]

Good, it was there.

Jimo asked, [What happened last time?]

The system let out an "Ah." [Host, what are you talking about...]

Jimo reminded it in a fairly gentle tone. [At the birthday party, Song Wenxi of the F4 had already appeared, but your alert came even later than he did. Didn't you detect him?]

Hearing that the matter still hadn't been dropped, the system stammered in its childish voice, still trying to play dumb. [I just didn't get the news in time. Didn't I alert you when he appeared afterward?]

Jimo could tell at once that it wasn't telling the truth. The mission had only just begun, and he had to prevent similar problems, or they would make it much harder for him to complete it later.

[009.]

Hearing its full name called so suddenly, the system jolted. When its boss called it that, he was about to single it out for criticism, and it had developed a stress response.

[We're partners. I hope you'll tell me the truth.]

The system fell silent for a while before speaking in an aggrieved tone. [Host, actually, I had something to do then, so I left for a little while.]

They weren't allowed to leave their posts without their hosts' permission. Both of them knew that rule.

[Was it something important?]

Judging by Jimo's tone, the system thought he didn't sound very angry, so it told the truth.

Jimo listened quietly, then fell silent for a long time.

He realized something.

His system was actually a simp.

[You're saying your goddess 005 had a date with the man of her dreams and specifically asked you to take her there? And you actually did it!]

[So that's why you didn't detect the mission?]

The system was a little ashamed too. [Yes, but I came back as soon as I dropped her off.]

He really didn't know what to say to it. Was that the point?

Jimo thought for a moment, then asked, [Do you want your goddess to fall for you?]

Its childish voice turned a little shy. [Yes.]

[Then listen to me. Don't do anything that stupid again. The more you act like that, the less your goddess will take you seriously.]

The system knew it was in the wrong and murmured an acknowledgment.

Perhaps still unconvinced after thinking it over, it added, [She does take me seriously. We're very close. I just don't really like 001.]

001 was the man of her dreams.

Jimo was at a loss for words. It was hard for him to imagine the system simping for its goddess in that childish voice.

[Anyway, tell me next time you need to go out. If your goddess comes to you again, do as I say. I guarantee she'll treat you much better than she does now.]

[All right, host, I promise.]

The system didn't seem very bright, but at least he was obedient.

Jimo said nothing more. He put on his uniform and headed out with his pencil case.

The medical school's department transfer exam was that day, and Jimo thought he was reasonably well prepared.

An elderly professor from the medical school had set the paper. Since the candidates weren't students in the department, the exam was only meant to gauge their general level. There was just one comprehensive fundamentals test that day.

By the time Jimo reached the exam room, quite a few candidates were already seated. He found his place using the number on his exam admission ticket. There probably weren't many people from the school of management who had signed up for this exam.

When the bell rang, Jimo received his paper and gave it a quick scan. He found that many of the questions covered key points Jiang Wangshu had marked out for him.

He bent over the paper and began writing.

Just past the halfway point of the exam, Jimo had nearly finished. He gave his answers a quick check, then raised his hand to indicate that he was ready to turn in his paper.