Chapter 5

The system sounded delighted. [Host, this is great! The target's attitude has changed. That's good for the mission!]

Qin You asked, [How much energy will that get me?]

[Huh?] The system paused for a second, then explained, [Ordinary progress doesn't earn any energy, Host.]

Qin You hadn't expected anything from it in the first place. He asked instead, [What about last night's mission? How much did I get?]

[The energy has been assessed as sufficient to carry out one command.]

The system asked at just the right moment, [Would you like to continue unlocking information about the target?]

Qin You asked, [How much information can I unlock? All of it?]

The system replied, [Sorry, unlocking all information about the target requires a large amount of energy. You need to get through an important plot point, Host. You don't have enough energy at present.]

Qin You was opening the door. [Forget it, then. Send out the video you recorded earlier.]

Any further information he unlocked would only come in fragments. There was no need to bother.

He had met the man already, so the amount of information he had didn't matter that much.

The system grew anxious. [Host, energy is crucial in the early stages of the mission. Are you going to waste a command on something so unnecessary—]

Qin You cut it off. [Do as I say.]

[...] The system immediately gave in without a shred of backbone. [All right, Host.]

"Young Mr. Qin."

When the door opened, the two men outside both looked over. The one who spoke wasn't Cui Ling.

Qin You looked toward the man standing beside Cui Ling and gave him a slight nod. He was just about to speak—

[Your character!] the system reminded him. [Host, don't be too charming to your romantic rival!]

"..." Qin You merely turned and waved to the target on the sofa, then went straight back into the hospital room ahead of the others.

In the original plot, the original body's owner had treated Yan Tingshen abominably out of jealousy and resentment. He had been a prime example of someone who had grown tired of living.

Qin You really couldn't bring himself to go that far.

Ignoring him for now would have to do. That counted as rude too.

Cui Ling watched him walk past and stood there in a daze for a moment. Then he hurriedly said "Sorry" to Pei Sheng and chased after Qin You.

"Young Mr. Qin, just now..."

Qin You could tell this loyal subordinate wanted to offer some advice, so he changed the subject at once. "Wasn't I supposed to have a blood test? Where's the nurse?"

Cui Ling looked at him again and understood what he meant. "They're all inside," he said.

The two then entered the hospital room. Sure enough, the doctors and nurses were waiting by the bed, and they hurried over when they saw them approach.

Cui Ling stopped by the door and watched everyone work, glancing at Qin You's expression several times.

He still couldn't figure it out.

Ever since they had first met last night, other things aside, Qin You's basic social skills might not have been flawless, but at least he hadn't put a foot wrong.

Only with Pei Sheng, the newly favored man at Yan Tingshen's side, had he first bluntly ordered him to leave, then been so cold just now that he hadn't even greeted him.

Could the second-generation heir have some grudge against Pei Sheng?

That didn't seem right. Qin You appeared to want to deal with Yan Tingshen, so why would he offend someone close to him?

Cui Ling frowned and pondered it for quite a while.

He could only hope Qin You wouldn't make the situation too ugly.

Pei Sheng might not be Yan Tingshen's equal, but he was no pushover either. The second-generation heir still had a pile of internal troubles to resolve. How could he afford to provoke trouble from outside...

Suddenly.

A phone rang.

Cui Ling came back to his senses, pulled his phone from his pocket, and answered it.

The voice from the receiver made him instinctively straighten up. "Chairman?"

"Where's Qin You?"

Cui Ling quickly said, "Young Mr. Qin just had blood drawn. It's being sent for testing."

The line was quiet for two seconds. Then the chairman asked, "How is he?"

Cui Ling looked at the second-generation heir, who had made a nurse blush with a casual, smiling thank-you. There was no telling he was in the hospital recovering from an injury. Feeling conflicted, he said, "Young Mr. Qin... is recovering well."

"Put him on the phone."

"All right." Cui Ling waved for the medical staff to leave and walked to the bedside. "Young Mr. Qin, it's the chairman."

Seeing that Qin You was holding a glass of water in his uninjured hand and drinking, with no intention of taking the phone, he took a deep breath, restrained himself, and took another two steps forward. He held the phone up to Qin You's ear.

"..."

Qin You had no interest in the Qin Household's belated show of concern.

The system was still pestering him as well.

[Host, the mission is important. You need to continue making contact with the target...]

Qin You said, [I just finished doing that.]

[But the mission still hasn't triggered!]

The system grew anxious again. [This isn't normal. According to the procedure, after the first mission ends, the target's favorability toward the host should increase, and the second mission should have triggered long ago!]

Qin You said, [Then there's something wrong with your procedure. It has nothing to do with me.]

The system had no answer.

But the next moment, it suddenly remembered something. [Right, I can initiate an emergency contingency mission!]

Qin You said, [A contingency mission?]

Before the system could answer, Cui Ling coughed in front of him, trying to draw Qin You's attention back.

The person on the other end of the call was still speaking.

"...Since you're not seriously hurt, get ready immediately. The driver will pick you up in ten minutes and take you to the company."

Qin You laughed.

Go to the company while injured?

By the system's reasoning, devoting himself so diligently to his work was out of character and bad for the mission. As for him personally, he wasn't going to do it again in this lifetime either.

"I—"

The system's delighted voice suddenly rang out. [Got it!]

[Emergency contingency mission unlocked.]

[Increase favorability and make intimate contact with the target. Intimate acts include, but are not limited to, kissing—]

"..." Without a change in expression, Qin You gave his answer into the phone. "I'll leave right away."

Author's note:

System: Great, Host, it's a perk!

Qin You: ...

Chapter 5

[?] The system was baffled. [Host, the mission has been unlocked. Why are you leaving?]

Qin You remained perfectly at ease. [Are you saying I should ignore the plot? If the chairman gets angry and strips me of my eligibility as heir, and I can't help the target, that won't be my fault.]

The system was immediately alarmed. [...That's not what I meant!]

Qin You said, [Don't rush. Let's follow the plot and get things settled first.]

The system only half understood. [All right...]

Qin You ended the call, rose from beside the bed, and gestured to Cui Ling. "Clothes."

Cui Ling was astonished too.

The second-generation heir had actually agreed to go work at the company so readily?

As he fetched a spare suit from the wardrobe and handed it to Qin You, he looked at the wound on Qin You's arm.

The doctor had told him all about it.

The knife wound wasn't particularly serious, but it had needed stitches, so it wasn't minor either. It had still been bleeding when Qin You was brought to the hospital, putting considerable strain on his body.

On top of that, there had been both a car accident and an attack last night. Even the mental toll alone would be hard to ease with one night's rest.

Besides, Qin You had led a smooth, sheltered life since childhood. This was most likely the worst injury he had ever suffered.

Told to report straight to the company instead of recovering from his injury, a young master like him would surely throw a fit. Cui Ling had been prepared to put up with it and then forcibly take him back to the company.

He had never expected that he had been judging a gentleman by his own petty standards.

Despite all his physical discomfort, Qin You had agreed to the chairman's demand without hesitation or a word of complaint.

Cui Ling watched Qin You walk into the bathroom and couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.

Before they had formally met, what he had heard from others had left him with no good impression of Qin You. Their several phone calls had also been less than pleasant.

Now that he thought about it carefully, Qin You hadn't held things up once since last night. Cui Ling, on the other hand, had always judged him through tinted glasses, harboring prejudice against him.

The fact that he was concerned about the company even while injured was enough to show that this successor wasn't as incapable of shouldering the responsibility as the reports had made him out to be.

He had been too one-sided.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late. He still had a chance to get to know him properly.

Thinking this, Cui Ling made arrangements for the trip. When Qin You came out of the bathroom, he stepped forward and offered reassurance. "Young Mr. Qin, it's not that the chairman doesn't care about you. He has his reasons for doing this."

To make sure the young master, who had spent his time abroad idling away, understood the deeper meaning, he patiently explained, "Your appointment was only announced at last night's birthday banquet. Countless eyes will be on your movements today. If you don't even show your face, the chairman will be in a difficult position too."

Qin You glanced at him.

Cui Ling followed him toward the door and continued his earnest advice. "You're still injured. Once you get to the company, aside from the meetings you have to attend, you can handle everything else in your office. Don't worry, a doctor will accompany you on the trip there and back—"

The assistant's concern had come out of nowhere.

Several times, Qin You thought he was finally done, only for Cui Ling to continue from upstairs to downstairs. He didn't finish listing his precautions until they were in the car.

The system found it strange too. [Host, why has this supporting character's attitude toward you suddenly improved so much?]

Qin You gave a perfunctory answer. [Maybe he's possessed.]

[...] The system took the opportunity to bring up the matter again. [Host, do you have a plan for the newly unlocked mission?]

Qin You fell silent.

[Generally speaking, the most important part of an Affection Mission is to develop feelings first. But because you're an overbearing villain, Host, the mission you received skips that prerequisite. You can make intimate contact directly to make the target see the light.]

Having finished its explanation, the system spoke in a congratulatory tone. [You're so lucky, Host. This makes the mission much easier. You can complete it with intimate contact alone.]

It had thought the host would be just as happy as it was. To its surprise, the next second, it heard him speak.

[This mission can't be done.]

The system was shocked. [Why!]

Qin You said, [In the original story, the attempt failed because the person forced the target. If we want to rewrite the ending, we naturally need to change how the mission is done.]

The system suddenly understood. [That makes sense. We should change it...]