Chapter 13

Qin Hengzhong said, "But when your mother went abroad to live with you, no one expected an accident to happen. Your father wanted to bring you back to the country several times, but he was too busy with company business, so he kept putting it off."

Qin You could tell he had something more to say and did not respond.

"Then, unexpectedly, he had an accident himself."

Qin Hengzhong turned to look at Qin You. "The Qin Group couldn't be left without a leader, so I had no choice but to send someone to bring you back. To be honest, Qin You, I was very disappointed in the way you behaved those first few days."

Qin You did not take his disappointment in the original owner to heart.

Qin Hengzhong said, "To be honest with myself, I don't want to hand the family business your father and I built with our own hands over to you as you were then."

Qin You sat up a little straighter.

To be honest with himself, he had no intention of taking over the family business either.

"But—"

Qin You felt helpless.

"—your younger paternal aunt has no great ambitions, and your younger paternal uncle is beyond help. Only you are still young, with limitless possibilities ahead of you."

Qin Hengzhong continued, "I also admit that my previous impression of you was prejudiced. During this time, I've watched you grow more outstanding by the day. Not only have you come through several crises unscathed and devised plans on your own, but you also completed every test I gave you so brilliantly."

Tests?

Qin You reconsidered and immediately thought of the documents the target had finished handling for him.

A miscalculation.

He had not expected Qin Hengzhong's expectations of him to be so low that even those trivial matters counted as tests, or that he would send them over under Cui Ling's name. Otherwise, how could he have casually handed them to the target?

"In any case, you did very well."

Qin Hengzhong looked at Qin You, gratification in his weathered eyes. "I was wrong before. I didn't bring you back to the country early enough to give you proper guidance. I hope it isn't too late."

"..."

Qin You: "..."

He sat on the sofa and listened to Qin Hengzhong's reflections and hopes, which were destined to come too late.

Afterward, seeing it was still early and that going back meant being alone with the target, he decided to take a look around the company instead.

It was not until two o'clock that he used discomfort from his wound as an excuse and took a car back to Zeshui Bay.

On the way, he sent Yan Tingshen a message.

Qin: I'm leaving the company now. I'll be home in an hour.

Unexpectedly, the reply came quickly too.

.: I'm at the hospital. I'll probably be half an hour late.

Qin: The hospital? What happened?

.: My injury is fine. Don't worry.

Qin: Then use your own judgment. I'll wait for you at home.

Looking at the message, Yan Tingshen held his fingertips poised over the screen before replying.

.: Okay.

The notification sound did not go off again.

Yan Tingshen put away his phone and looked at Pei Sheng in the hospital bed.

Pei Sheng was also gazing at Yan Tingshen, lost in thought.

Seeing Yan Tingshen move, he composed his absent expression.

If he had not been seriously injured saving someone at the banquet this time, Tingshen might not have come to visit. And this visit was also prompted by some work that only he had been following up on.

As far as he could remember, Yan Tingshen never made small talk.

Yan Tingshen only needed concise, precise, useful information. Everything else, whether concern or everyday matters, was probably meaningless nonsense in Yan Tingshen's eyes.

Even in a face-to-face conversation like this, Yan Tingshen would not allow any digressions, much less during a remote call, and even less so in the more troublesome form of text messages.

Pei Sheng could also guess who was on the other end of those messages.

Qin You.

This man, whom Tingshen had known for less than ten days, possessed an appeal he could hardly hope to match.

Clearly, as a friend, Qin You could reach Tingshen's heart far more easily than he could, despite his friendship with Tingshen of over twenty years.

Yet despite such a brutal contrast, he could not muster any bitterness or indignation at the setback. He only felt powerless and thought it was only natural.

After all, even he himself had twice received immense kindness from Qin You.

"Did he..." Pei Sheng could not help asking, "not come out with you? I remember he was always very worried about you."

Yan Tingshen looked at him.

Meeting those deep eyes that could always see through people so easily, Pei Sheng still felt uncomfortable, even after all these years.

His hands resting on the blanket unconsciously clenched as he explained, "I don't mean anything else. It's just that I haven't thanked him in person yet."

Yan Tingshen said mildly, "If he wants your thanks, he'll come see you."

Pei Sheng's hands tightened further.

He knew Qin You did not like him.

He could guess what had happened that day.

Qin You might have saved him because he saw him as Tingshen's subordinate. But that could not dispel his gratitude toward Qin You.

He thought back to that day.

The pitch-black, freezing night amid the ice and snow.

That warm embrace, like a shackle—

Pei Sheng lowered his gaze.

Even if it had only been a momentary act of kindness, Qin You had indeed saved his life again...

[Wow!]

In the quiet car, the system's exuberant voice was especially clear.

[Host, the target's favorability! Look, it's broken through twenty!]

Broken through?

Qin You shifted his gaze from his tablet to the system panel.

Favorability: 19% → 20%

The next second, the system issued a notification.

[Mainline Favorability Task unlocked.]

[Host, please find a suitable opportunity to make a forceful confession to the target. Time limit: seventy-two hours.]

[You're amazing, Host! Even the favorability task is this easy!]

The system was overjoyed. [It's just a confession. You only have to go up to the target and say "I love you"!]

Qin You: "..."

What?

Author's note:

Qin You: My target has been diagnosed with masochistic tendencies.

Yan Tingshen: ...

Chapter 13

The system had its own brand of obliviousness and continued to flatter him. [Host, you really live up to your reputation! You don't even need to be by the target's side to raise his favorability. You broke through the twenty-point mark with ease!]

Qin You said, [His favorability can rise even when I'm not around the target?]

The system said, [I've never encountered this situation either, but the facts are right in front of us, which means it's possible.]

Qin You said, [What caused the increase?]

The system answered without hesitation, [I don't know.]

Then it tried to flatter him. [That just shows how amazing you are, Host!]

Qin You: "..."

What on earth is going on with the target?

These past few days, apart from meals and training, they had barely even seen each other. How had his favorability risen?

He skipped over the brand-new task on the panel and calmly analyzed the situation.

Saving someone once equaled nine to ten percent favorability.

Having gone through it once before, he was not surprised that the target's favorability had risen to nineteen percent after the banquet.

The system had also mentioned that the target's favorability had dropped after he saved someone the first time. That was proof enough that although the target was grateful for being saved, he kept personal and professional matters separate and was rational enough not to develop any special feelings for him because of it.

So during that period, when he helped the target resolve a problem, his favorability only rose by one percent.

That was reasonable enough.

Things had been progressing step by step.

This time, however, they had not even seen each other. Given the target's personality, how could he suddenly have a better impression of him for no reason?

That did not fit the pattern.

There was no sense to the way things had developed.

Even if the accumulation of lives saved had brought about a qualitative change, there should have been some warning.

He had eaten breakfast with the target before going out today, and everything had been perfectly normal.

Other than that, the only thing was that the target had gone to the hospital—

Wait.

Qin You realized what was wrong.

It was not yet time for a follow-up examination, so the target had clearly gone to the hospital for another reason.

He had already guessed as much when he received the message earlier.

Other than Yan Tingshen, who was still hospitalized, the target had no reason to go out while he had trouble walking.

Yan Tingshen.

The source of this one point of favorability had to have something to do with the protagonist.

Qin You glanced at the task list on the panel.

Even though neither occasion had been his intention, on the surface, he had saved Yan Tingshen twice.

And both the target and the protagonist had been involved in those two incidents. There was a good chance the two childhood friends had discussed the subject, deliberately or otherwise, when they met.

No matter how cold and ruthless Yan Tingshen was in the story, being saved twice by the same person would surely bring some change in his attitude.

The target was close to him, so it was only natural that he would stand on the same side as his friend and be somewhat influenced by his feelings.

In other words, this was the butterfly effect of saving the wrong person during the last task.

If Yan Tingshen had not changed his opinion of him, today's chain reaction would not have happened.

[Host, why aren't you saying anything?]

The system asked curiously, [Do you have a plan for this task?]

Qin You said, [You're an auxiliary system. Can't you generate a plan yourself?]

The system answered unabashedly, [My capabilities are limited, Host. I don't have such an advanced function.]

Qin You said, [At the plot point, you couldn't even identify the person I saved as the protagonist. Is that an advanced function too?]

If the system had warned him in time, the target's favorability would still have been within his plan, without the slightest mistake.

[...] The system stammered for a while, then said guiltily, [Boo-hoo, I'm useless, Host. I can only provide information in text form. Who knew the protagonist was also near the coordinates? Why don't you hit me a couple of times, or scold me...]

Qin You took off his glasses and pressed the bridge of his nose. [...All right, I'm not blaming you.]

The system immediately brightened. [Hehe, Host, my being useless also shows how amazing you are!]

Qin You closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat.

At this point, dwelling on it excessively would do nothing to change the facts and would only waste time and energy.

Now that he had found the cause, he could also try to prevent the same situation from happening again.

Moreover, although it was outside his plan, befriending the protagonist without acting out of character offered relatively greater security for his free life after completing the task.