Chapter 8 (continued)

Discomfort.

Displeasure.

Unfamiliarity.

Qin You could roughly understand how the target felt at the moment, but the training had to be done. The target could only overcome those feelings himself.

Yan Tingshen didn't think much of it, either.

Once he had made a decision, wavering would only waste time. Besides, Qin You's movements were steady and precise; he was clearly serious about helping him.

When the only sounds left in the room were the soft rustles of movement, he became absorbed in the exercises. It didn't feel like long before the entire rehabilitation session was over.

Only when he raised his wrist to check his watch did he realize that nearly an hour had passed.

Qin You didn't notice his expression. He handed him some warm water. "Take a break."

Only after watching the target wipe off his sweat did he continue, "Exercising at night affects your rest. Starting tomorrow, let's move it to the afternoon. Three o'clock."

Yan Tingshen didn't refuse. "Mm."

Qin You waited for his breathing to settle.

After he had rested, Qin You escorted him back to his room, finally completing his task and taking his leave.

Back in the bedroom, the system watched its host, who felt no sense of urgency whatsoever, wash up and go to sleep again. It finally couldn't hold back.

[Host, there were so many good opportunities before, and you didn't make the most of them...]

It said dejectedly, [The target's favorability hasn't increased, and everything you did today was for nothing!]

Qin You paused as he lay down.

Every time the target completed a rehabilitation session, he came one step closer to recovery. Although today was only the first session, it was a start.

It was the beginning of the target's recovery from his injuries.

And the beginning of Qin You repaying his debt of gratitude.

By that measure, he had accomplished quite a lot. There was no way it could be called working for nothing.

Early the next morning.

Qin You went downstairs and had breakfast with Yan Tingshen again, then didn't see him for the rest of the morning.

That afternoon, however, Cui Ling, who hadn't appeared in two days, showed up.

"Young Mr. Qin."

Seeing Qin You leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed, Cui Ling paused at the steps before continuing forward. "These are the materials the chairman mentioned at the meeting."

Without looking at him, Qin You rested his injured left arm on the armrest and lifted a finger in a small gesture. "Sit."

Cui Ling paused again.

He took another look ahead.

That was right. The spoiled heir was still playing a game, and his tone was as casual as ever.

But the smile was gone from his face. His deep-set eyes were slightly lowered behind his glasses, lending his sharply defined profile a sudden edge. His low, unhurried voice also carried a calm composure that somehow made Cui Ling feel twice as much pressure.

"...Young Mr. Qin, I really can't do anything about that proposal."

The game sounds stopped.

Qin You looked up at Cui Ling, who had brought it up of his own accord, and closed the game. The page that appeared was an email.

Its subject line read "Proposal."

The email contained only five Chinese characters.

Haste makes waste.

It had been sent at 1:45 a.m. the previous day.

If Cui Ling had stayed up until the early hours and could only come up with those five characters, he could never have reached his current position.

Moreover, the words not only showed that he could do nothing about it, but also indicated that the deadline was too short and the task simply couldn't be done.

Judging by the task's current progress, he wasn't wrong.

Cui Ling's eyelid twitched when he saw the email as well.

Unable to tell what Qin You meant, he gritted his teeth. "Young Mr. Qin, I can work with you to complete the proposal the chairman assigned."

He knew the spoiled heir had no interest whatsoever in inheriting the family business and certainly wouldn't take the chairman's assignment seriously. Otherwise, he wouldn't have played games during a meeting on his very first official day at work.

To his utter surprise, however, Qin You actually rejected his offer.

"No need." To avoid trouble, Qin You didn't intend to hand over the proposal before the week-long deadline was up. He merely said, "Don't worry. I won't pursue the matter of the proposal."

Surprised as he was, Cui Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

He placed the folder he had brought on the table, then pulled an invitation from inside his jacket.

"Besides the materials, there's also this charity banquet."

As Cui Ling spoke, he handed the invitation to Qin You.

Then he watched Qin You casually toss it aside.

"..." Cui Ling clenched his fist. "It's at eight on Sunday evening. The chairman instructed me to ask you to be there on time."

Before Qin You could speak, the system notification sounded.

[Plot event triggered.]

[The target will find himself in a difficult situation in two days. Please arrive in time and find a way to rescue the target and get him away from the scene.]

A plot event?

Qin You couldn't help being surprised. [Can this event replace the emergency task too?]

[...No.]

The system's voice sounded strangely unsteady as it explained in meticulous detail, [Event tasks are fixed tasks triggered by the plot. Mainline Favorability Tasks, on the other hand, can only be triggered after favorability accumulates to a certain level. On top of the fixed tasks, they can further advance the conquest progress before the plot begins, serving the same purpose as Emergency Contingency Missions.]

Qin You asked it, [Since the plot can be triggered normally, what was the purpose of initiating the emergency contingency?]

[...] The system suddenly began to stammer. [...I'm sorry. I... I thought the favorability wasn't high enough...]

Qin You fell silent at that.

The system felt a pang of guilt.

Favorability records could only be generated after the first Affection Mission or Emergency Contingency Mission. How could it have known that the host could meet the requirement by completing the fixed tasks alone...?

But it quickly found a reason to defend itself. [Right! The host's favorability was only nine percent before the task. If the task hadn't required it, you wouldn't have helped the target drive away his family. I helped too...]

Qin You raised a hand and pressed the bridge of his nose.

What was done was done. There was no point saying more, and blaming the system wasn't a way to solve the problem.

In front of the sofa, the sudden silence made Cui Ling uncomfortable all over.

He didn't know what Qin You was thinking, but he was afraid Qin You was plotting how to pursue a romance with Yan Tingshen again. Now that he had delivered everything, he immediately spoke up to take his leave.

"Young Mr. Qin, there's still work to do at the company, so I'll head back first."

After saying that, Cui Ling added, "I'll come pick you up on Sunday evening."

Quite a few prominent people would be attending the banquet. He knew that was also part of the chairman's reason for sending Qin You there. To make absolutely sure nothing went wrong, it was better for him to take Qin You there personally, so the chairman's efforts wouldn't go to waste.

Qin You easily saw through his thoughts. "Wait."

Cui Ling looked at him.

Qin You said, "Since you can't do the proposal—"

Hearing those words made Cui Ling's scalp tingle.

He would rather work overtime at the company than hear that from the spoiled heir.

Qin You said, "Help me find out what A-Sheng likes."

"What he likes?"

Thinking of Yan Tingshen, Cui Ling asked cautiously, "What specifically do you mean?"

Qin You said, "Everything, no matter how small: his preferred cuisines, the works he usually follows, whether he has any hobbies, even what colors he likes. As long as you can find it, don't overlook anything."

When he finished, he glanced at Cui Ling. "Assistant Cui, have you really been in a relationship?"

"..." Cui Ling was about to speak when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yan Tingshen walking slowly past behind Qin You. He didn't know when he had appeared.

As though he had heard something, Yan Tingshen glanced over too.

Cui Ling was pinned in place by those invariably cold eyes. He had meant to greet him, but couldn't open his mouth. By the time he finally found his voice, Yan Tingshen's gaze had swept over Qin You, and he had already turned and left.

Cui Ling felt awkward and a little uneasy.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Yan Tingshen had deliberately looked at him, his gaze lingering on him even longer than it had on Qin You.

Had he done something to offend Yan Tingshen without realizing it? That couldn't be right...

Cui Ling racked his brains but found no answer.

Those two really were well suited to each other. They even had such similar flaws: neither could stand the other's assistant.

It was one thing for the spoiled heir to take an inexplicable dislike to Pei Sheng; Cui Ling had never understood the way Qin You did things anyway.

But he and Yan Tingshen rarely had anything to do with each other. It would have been hard to offend him even if he had wanted to, so how had he ended up among the people Yan Tingshen couldn't stand?

Across from him, Qin You noticed his reaction and turned to see Yan Tingshen. He raised his wrist to check his watch and realized it was already three o'clock.

"All right, you can go back now."

Cui Ling looked at Qin You and saw him rise. He was just about to leave as instructed when he heard him speak again.

"Whatever you find out about what I asked you to investigate, give me an answer tonight."

Cui Ling said, "..."

Qin You had already walked over to Yan Tingshen and was heading upstairs beside him. "It's time. Why didn't you call me?"

Yan Tingshen glanced downstairs and said quietly, "You had private business to discuss. Why would I come over?"

Qin You paused. "You heard?"

Having someone investigate the target's private affairs behind his back was hardly honorable.

If the situation hadn't been urgent, and if the target didn't always refuse to answer such questions directly, he wouldn't have done it.

Yan Tingshen said, "I overheard enough without meaning to."

That one sentence alone wasn't enough to determine Qin You's relationship with Cui Ling. But the matter concerned Qin You's privacy, and his unusual reaction also showed that he didn't want Yan Tingshen to know, so Yan Tingshen didn't ask further.

Realizing that he hadn't heard the crucial part, Qin You said with a smile, "It doesn't matter. From now on, whether it's business or personal, I can put it aside for the time being whenever you need me."

Yan Tingshen looked at him but said nothing more.

As they spoke, the two returned to the rehabilitation room.

Qin You said, "Get ready. Let's begin."

Doing the same exercises for the second time, both he and the target were gradually getting the hang of them.

Ignoring the system's reminders urging him to complete the task, Qin You handed over warm water as usual when the full hour was over.

When it came to recovering from an injury, he still shouldn't let distractions affect the results.

The system didn't dare urge him anymore.

Ever since realizing it had made a mistake despite its good intentions, it had been feeling rather unsure of itself.

But when it saw that the training had ended and the host and target had returned to their respective rooms again, wave after wave of anxiety washed over it.

That evening, the supporting character surnamed Cui sent the host an email saying he had found nothing, yet the host still took no action. He even slept so well through the night that the system couldn't understand it.