Chapter 15 (continued)

After hearing him out, Qi Yan had no choice but to say to the two men, "I can't finish this meal. Something's come up, and I have to go over there. You two eat without me."

Yan Tingshen said, "Mm."

Pei Sheng also put down his chopsticks and stood. "Business comes first."

Now, that was a good attitude.

Qi Yan looked again at Yan Tingshen, who took ordering him around for granted, and found him even harder to understand.

How could a dictatorial tyrant like him have friends?

With that thought, Qi Yan tossed aside the napkin he had used to wipe his hands, deliberately took a roundabout route, and walked over to Qin You's table.

Seeing that the two were nearly finished eating, he signaled for the manager to place two gold cards on the table. "Hello, Young Mr. Qin. On Tingshen's behalf, I hope you've enjoyed your meal here."

With that, he smiled and nodded to them. Only after he turned away did he disgruntledly curl his lip.

Fine.

He did carry himself well.

As for his looks... damn it, he really was a little better-looking than Qi Yan...

At the table.

Qin You withdrew his gaze and glanced over the VIP cards on the table.

Miss Liu came to her senses and hurriedly explained, "Mr. Qin, that was Qi Yan, the president of the Runxi Consortium."

Qin You simply smiled at her. "Put it away."

Miss Liu hesitated, but reached out and took one of the gold cards. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

Qin You gave a faint smile without speaking.

He looked in the direction Qi Yan had come from, his gaze passing over the protagonist and settling on the target.

The other man seemed to sense it and looked over as well.

But when their eyes met, he quickly looked away.

Qin You chuckled.

[Host, stop smiling!]

The system said, [Look at the favorability! You came on a blind date, but the target's favorability hasn't dropped at all!]

Seeing the number on the panel, Qin You's smile did fade slightly.

Then he remembered the key point and smiled again. [It's good that it hasn't dropped.]

The system was incredulous. [Host, you're confused! Why?]

Qin You said, [If his favorability dropped when he saw me on a blind date, it would mean he had special feelings for me. Since it hasn't dropped, we can be sure he only sees me as an ordinary friend.]

Listening to him, the system suddenly saw the light. [Oh my god, host, you're so smart! Right, right, that's exactly it!]

It asked, [In that case, don't we need to lower the target's favorability anymore? He hasn't fallen in love with you, anyway.]

Qin You said, [Of course we still need to lower it. Prepare for danger in times of peace, understand?]

The system only half understood. [I understand...]

As they talked, Qin You saw Yan Tingshen stand up out of the corner of his eye, so he said to Miss Liu, "Shall we go?"

Miss Liu nodded.

By the time Qin You reached the elevator, Yan Tingshen and Pei Sheng were already inside.

Miss Liu was still a few steps behind him. Qin You looked at Yan Tingshen. "Hold it for me."

Yan Tingshen glanced at him and did raise his hand to press the button.

Pei Sheng couldn't help looking surprised.

The next second, the elevator doors slowly closed.

Looking at Yan Tingshen's unchanged, indifferent expression through the doors, Qin You laughed. "Childish."

Miss Liu reached his side just then and saw Yan Tingshen. Meeting those deep, dark, merciless eyes, she tightened her grip on her clutch again. She really couldn't understand why Mr. Qin had called him childish.

Qin You didn't press her.

With one elevator going down, he pressed the button for the next.

Not much time passed between them, and when he went downstairs, he could still see Yan Tingshen's retreating figure.

[Host, get ready! The countdown's about to end!]

Qin You glanced around the hotel lobby. He couldn't see where any danger might come from until he spotted the large crystal chandelier overhead suddenly swaying. He stopped in his tracks.

[Three—]

Qin You looked again at Yan Tingshen ahead of him and called out in a low voice, "A-Sheng, get out of the way!"

Hearing his voice, Yan Tingshen was about to turn around when a crash came from overhead.

Pei Sheng looked up and saw it too. His breath caught, and he hurriedly shoved Yan Tingshen aside. "Watch out!"

His push barely got Yan Tingshen out of the way, but left him off balance.

Suddenly, a familiar figure closed in from his left rear in the blink of an eye, arriving even more promptly than the previous two times—

Qin You had gone around several people who happened to be in his way and was a step too late. Seeing this, he wrapped an arm around Yan Tingshen's waist, only to be pulled down by his momentum.

Frowning, he gripped the back of Yan Tingshen's head. His right side hit the floor, and he was about to roll to absorb the impact when he saw that Yan Tingshen had planted his bent left elbow against the floor, taking the rest of the impact.

Seeing up close that his face had gone pale, Qin You asked, "How are you?"

Yan Tingshen looked down and saw no blood on Qin You's arm. He slowly relaxed his strength, but almost immediately collapsed onto him.

Qin You's expression darkened slightly. "A-Sheng?"

Yan Tingshen remained silent.

Qin You felt the left hand pressed against his side trembling from the exertion. Then he saw the cold sweat seeping out on Yan Tingshen's forehead. He immediately helped him up and scooped him into his arms.

Yan Tingshen didn't struggle free of his grasp. He only said, "I'm fine..."

Qin You drew him close and looked down at him. "Do you think you look fine right now?"

Just then, Cui Ling pushed through the crowd and came over.

He had been waiting nearby all along. He had heard Qin You's warning and seen what had just happened.

"Young Mr. Qin, I've already called—"

Qin You interrupted him. "I'm taking A-Sheng to the hospital. Stay here and watch him. He's passed out, so don't move him. Wait for the paramedics."

Cui Ling had been given his instructions before he could finish speaking. Before he could even react, there was a blur before his eyes, and all he could see was Qin You striding out of the crowd.

Wait.

Him?

Cui Ling looked in the direction Qin You had just glanced.

Pei Sheng, unconscious once again, lay on his side beside the chandelier fragments scattered across the floor.

Fortunately, the chandelier hadn't hit him, and there was no blood on the floor.

With feelings he couldn't quite describe, Cui Ling walked a couple of steps over to him. Looking at his unconscious face, he felt a measure of sympathy.

He'd fainted again?

This Assistant Pei really had suffered one misfortune after another.

How many times had he fainted now?

On the road.

The car was speeding along.

[Host, you really didn't need to rush the target to the hospital. He'll be fine,] the system said.

Qin You looked at Yan Tingshen, who had insisted on sitting upright by himself beside him. [The plot point was for him to get hurt?]

Seeing his expression, the system carefully explained, [That's right, host. These plot points in the book were originally prepared for the target and the protagonist. At each one, the target would help the protagonist escape danger, creating an opportunity for their feelings to grow.]

Qin You said, [One is injured and the other is unconscious. You call that escaping danger?]

[But... these are necessary hardships on the road to love. Only after getting hurt can the protagonist realize how much risk the target took to save him, and only then can their feelings develop...]

The system said quietly, [Unfortunately, the protagonist didn't know how to appreciate him. Even after the target helped him so many times, he was still hard-hearted at the end and didn't have any special feelings for the target... So there was no other choice but to transfer part of this opportunity to you, host, and let you save the target and unlock his special feelings first.]

Qin You said nothing more.

He had seen it clearly just now: the target had forced himself to hold on so that rolling over wouldn't cause further injury to his right arm.

That night, merely falling from the bedside onto the bed had taken the target half an hour to recover from.

Although nearly a week had passed since that night, this episode was clearly more serious.

The car was silent.

The system said, [Host, I know you think this is underhanded, but don't worry. At every plot point, both the target and the protagonist come through unharmed. Even if you didn't save them, they lived just fine in the original text.]

[That's enough.]

The system still wanted to say something, but hearing that, it fell quiet. [Okay...]

The car soon arrived at the hospital.

The emergency staff, who had received word earlier, were waiting in front of the familiar inpatient building. As soon as the car door opened, they brought a wheelchair over.

Ignoring Yan Tingshen's refusal, Qin You carried him straight into the wheelchair and pushed him into the hospital room.

After the examination, it turned out, fortunately, that his injury had not worsened. It was purely nerve pain, and aside from taking medication to ease it, the patient would have to overcome it himself.

Qin You looked at the target, who was sitting propped up in the hospital bed and must have been well versed in dealing with this.

The other man had taken his medicine, and color had returned to his face. He looked like his usual self again.

Yan Tingshen avoided his gaze and looked at the sunlit window. "Thank you," he said mildly.

"Thank you?"

Qin You walked to the bed and sat casually on its edge. "Haven't you been exercising lately?"

If his nerves weren't recovering properly, there was no other possible reason.

Yan Tingshen said, "It has nothing to do with you."

Qin You sighed softly. "For your sake, it seems my wound has opened up again. I didn't expect such a cold attitude in return."

Yan Tingshen frowned and glanced at his left arm, but saw no sign of injury.

Suddenly.

Another soft chuckle came from in front of him.

Yan Tingshen's expression cooled slightly. When he raised his eyes, he saw that Qin You's face was perfectly serious.

Only his eyes, hidden behind lenses reflecting the sunlight outside the window, still held a trace of amusement.

Qin You said, "You're that easy to fool?"

Yan Tingshen turned toward the window.

A moment later, he looked away again and swept his gaze over Qin You from head to toe. "Childish."

Qin You laughed. "You hold a grudge that easily?"

As the words left his mouth, a ringtone interrupted their conversation.

Seeing Qin Hengzhong's name on the screen, Qin You gave Yan Tingshen a brief gesture and answered.

"Qin You, I heard something happened at Tongsheng. How are you? Are you hurt?"

Qin You said, "I'm fine."

"That's good. Have you gone back already? You met Miss Liu, didn't you? Did you get along?"

At the sound of that name, Qin You paused.

The accident had happened so suddenly that he had forgotten Miss Liu at the hotel.