Chapter 4

The doctor was still asking questions. "I don't know the details, Young Mr. Qin. Would you like me to call the doctor in charge?"

Qin You said, "No need."

[Host, most role-playing missions fail because the host acts out of character. So until the mission is over, you need to stay as close to the original person's character as possible in this world. Having one personality in public and another in private is absolutely unacceptable.] Realizing that the host it had bound itself to might slack off on the job, the system had no choice but to remind him again.

Qin You said, [Get to the point.]

[The point is, you need to act like you care more about the target. For example, the way you addressed him just now—you got it wrong again...]

For the sake of the mission, the system swallowed its pride. [...I'm begging you, host, at least make your act a little more convincing. Besides, ignoring him like this is out of character too. A whole night has passed; you should at least pay him a visit...]

"..." Resigned, Qin You got out of bed.

After dismissing the doctor, he walked out of the ward.

As it happened, he ran into Cui Ling, who was hurrying toward him.

When Cui Ling saw Qin You, he said, "Young Mr. Qin, you're awake. You were already asleep when I arrived last night. About the car accident—"

One problem at a time.

Qin You cut him off. "The car accident can wait. I'm going next door to check on someone first."

Cui Ling opened his mouth, only to see Qin You walk straight past him without slowing down.

Next door?

Wasn't that Yan Tingshen's ward?

Last night, the hospital director had told him that Qin You himself had specifically instructed them to put Yan Tingshen next door.

And now he was visiting first thing in the morning?

What on earth was this second-generation heir up to?

Cui Ling couldn't figure it out all the way to the open door of Yan Tingshen's ward. He was about to knock politely when he saw that Qin You had already gone in.

Cui Ling took a breath, stopped dwelling on the little details, and followed him in with resignation.

But he never could have imagined what came next.

He had barely stepped through the door and hadn't even had a chance to greet the two people inside when he saw Qin You smile at Yan Tingshen on the sofa—

"A-Sheng, are you feeling better?"

"..." Cui Ling froze in his tracks.

He noticed that Yan Tingshen was expressionless on the sofa, while Pei Sheng, in the wheelchair, frowned—

Then he looked back at Qin You, who was acting as if nothing were amiss, and his vision suddenly went dark.

That tall, straight figure, which had clearly been enough to change his impression, suddenly seemed all frivolous and unrestrained again.

A-Shen?

Big brother, are you really that close to him...?

Chapter 4

In the ward.

The air was still.

Cui Ling held his breath.

Maybe the person the second-generation heir was greeting wasn't Yan Tingshen, but—

"Thank you for your concern, President Qin. I'm much better now."

Cui Ling watched Yan Tingshen speak, his face as cool as ever, and felt as though his feet were rooted to the floor, unable to take another step.

"President Qin."

I knew it.

Judging by Yan Tingshen's reaction, he and Qin You weren't close at all.

Besides, there was hardly any contact between the younger members of the Qin and Yan families. Qin You had been abroad since he was four and had only returned to the country three days ago. How could he possibly have had close dealings with Yan Tingshen, close enough to call him "A-Shen"?

And yet the second-generation heir had gone and called him that...

Cui Ling turned to look at Qin You and saw that he still wore a smile, as if the cold response to his warm greeting hadn't fazed him in the slightest.

He really is thick-skinned.

So Cui Ling thought. He really couldn't read the room, either.

Couldn't he tell that Yan Tingshen had no intention of keeping an uninvited guest around?

As for the other one—

Cui Ling looked at Pei Sheng again.

The frown on his face might only have been a momentary reaction to the surprise; it had already smoothed away.

Hearing how Yan Tingshen had addressed him, he gave Qin You a brief look and spoke up. "So you're Young Mr. Qin. Sorry, things were so rushed last night that I didn't get a chance to thank you."

Cui Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness.

At least one person was willing to smooth things over.

That made sense, too. After all, he had saved their lives—

"No need to thank me. Now, sorry for the trouble,"

Qin You said, "but could you step out for a moment? A-Sheng and I have something to discuss."

Cui Ling: "..."

He clenched his fists.

What was wrong with this second-generation heir? He brushed aside Pei Sheng, who was willing to be pleasant to him, yet beamed at Yan Tingshen, who made even Cui Ling nervous just looking at him.

As he puzzled over it, he saw Qin You turn toward him.

"You should go back too. Don't disturb us unless it's important."

Cui Ling: "..."

He stole a glance at Yan Tingshen's unchanged expression.

Big brother, aren't you the one disturbing him most right now...?

But in the end, he was only Qin You's assistant. He had no authority to interfere with his boss's decisions, so he could only do as he was told and leave, looking back every few steps.

By the sofa.

Hearing Qin You address him that way a second time, Pei Sheng pressed his lips together.

When Qin You spoke, his voice was low, unhurried, and magnetic, with a faint, distinctive drawl. The two syllables slipped from his mouth like an affectionate nickname between friends. He didn't sound as though he was forcing it, nor did he say it very clearly; it was a little indistinct, but that hardly mattered, because it was already intimate enough.

Were Qin You and Tingshen that close?

Pei Sheng gripped the armrests.

The Yan Tingshen he remembered had never had such a close friend, nor would he ever let anyone get that close.

Was this Young Mr. Qin an exception?

Pei Sheng turned and saw Yan Tingshen give a slight nod. He lowered his eyes, operated his wheelchair, and rolled toward the door.

"Goodbye." As he passed Qin You, he offered a perfunctory farewell and looked up to take another careful look at the unfamiliar man before him.

He had a face that had undoubtedly received extra favor from the heavens, and he was tall and well-built. Though dressed in a hospital gown, he showed no sign of weakness or illness.

Beneath his casually rolled-up sleeves were visibly firm, strong forearms, and his left arm was wrapped in bandages.

That must be the wound he got taking the knife for Tingshen.

"Goodbye."

The voice beside him brought Pei Sheng back to his senses, and he instinctively followed the sound to look at Qin You's face again.

He wore glasses.

But the minimalist, square silver wire frames gave him no scholarly air. They had only a slight effect, softening some of the natural aggressiveness of his handsome face and making his smiling expression look almost gentle and refined.

His naturally amorous peach blossom eyes moved behind the lenses, seeming genuinely full of laughter.

A man like that was hard to ignore.

He seemed courteous, yet his words and actions carried the forcefulness of someone who did as he pleased. Those two clashing qualities appeared in the same person, and the result was a strange harmony.

Noticing that the other man's gaze had only swept over him before settling on something behind him, Pei Sheng looked away.

He knew who Qin You was looking at, and he also knew that Tingshen wouldn't let him stay...

Click.

The ward door closed behind him.

Qin You had already walked over to the sofa and sat down.

He hadn't paid much attention to the other person in the ward.

As for this nominal "love rival," he had decided it would be better to keep contact to a minimum.

First, to avoid making an enemy of him.

Second, unplanned work was unpaid overtime, and he didn't have that much time to spare.

Besides, perhaps because of poor health, or perhaps because he had been more badly injured than the target last night, this Yan Tingshen seemed nothing like the ruthless man the original Qin You remembered when they first met.

At their brief encounter just now, Qin You couldn't make much of the other man's build because he was sitting in a wheelchair. He could only tell that the man was thinner and weaker than the target, with a relatively pale complexion. There was no hint that someone capable of stirring up storms lay behind that face.

His expression, however, was similar to the target's.

Which was to say, he had no expression.

Still, even with an expressionless face, a frail patient lacked a little of that effect.

Thinking this, Qin You turned to look at the target.

Yan Tingshen was looking at him too. "What would you like to discuss, President Qin?"

A smile curved Qin You's lips as he glanced at the waist covered by Yan Tingshen's hospital gown. "Your injury hasn't healed yet. Why did you get out of bed?"

Yan Tingshen said, "My injury isn't that serious."

Qin You raised an eyebrow. "But I heard your spinal cord was damaged last night. If you don't rest properly with an injury like that, you could be left with lasting effects."

Yan Tingshen fell briefly silent.

Qin You could more or less guess what he was thinking.

After all, from the target's point of view, he and the original Qin You had never had any dealings. When it came to personal matters like his injury and recovery, a couple of superficial pleasantries would have sufficed. Concern that dug into every detail was a poor fit for a relationship between people who had been strangers until recently.

Given the target's coldness inside and out, it was a good thing Qin You had "saved his life." Otherwise, the man might not even have bothered to talk to him.

But there was no helping it.

He had been bound to a Villain System, and his role was an overbearing villain. Doing unpleasant things was part of the job.

Come to think of it, just how "overbearing" could a villain be if he spent all day neglecting proper business and chasing after a man, trying to win his favor?

From what he knew so far, the character he had to play was defined more by one-sided devotion that he fancied was profound love.

Put nicely, it was persistence.

In reality, it was relentless pestering.

And what about the target's wishes?

Those didn't matter.

That was what came of being bound to a Villain System.

*[...]* The system finally couldn't take it anymore. [Host, I'm not a Villain System. I'm a system sprite from the Emergency Rescue Division's Emotional Rescue Division. I'm an Emotional Rescue System!]

Qin You had already turned toward the untouched breakfast on the coffee table in front of him. "You haven't eaten yet?"

Yan Tingshen said, "No."

Qin You glanced at his right arm, which was in a sling, and offered a word of concern. "Is it inconvenient? Want me to help you?"

"No need." Yan Tingshen glanced at Qin You's left arm, which was also suspended in front of him, then changed the subject. "I haven't asked yet, President Qin. How is your injury? Is it serious?"

Hearing that he was deliberately changing the subject, Qin You chuckled but went along with it. "The bone wasn't hurt. A few days' rest and I'll be fine."

Yan Tingshen's gaze lingered briefly on his face before he looked away. "I never had a chance to thank you properly last night, President Qin. Thank you for your consideration. If you ever run into any trouble and need my help, I'll do everything I can."