No, It Was Me

The sky gradually darkened, and lights sprang on in every household. The long tube lights in the Qian Family dispelled the gloom in the living room.

With one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup, the Qian Family's standard of living was quite decent. The ingredients weren't particularly expensive, but the food was still delicious.

Le Yu used his chopsticks to cut off a small piece of preserved-vegetable meat patty. The savory saltiness of the preserved vegetables and the rich fragrance of the mushrooms had completely seeped into the meat patty, making it perfect with rice.

The fried tofu and blanched cabbage were also quite good. The cabbage was crisp and slightly sweet, while the fried tofu was bursting with the rich aroma of sauce.

The soup was seaweed and egg drop soup. Since Star Engraving Prefecture was near a harbor, seaweed was considered cheap here. Although the soup was slightly bland due to the small amount of salt, it felt just right after eating the saucy fried tofu and preserved-vegetable meat patty. His stomach seemed to feel more comfortable, too.

Le Yu was very satisfied with the meal.

The only problem was that Qian Yuya had been staring at him the whole time.

Unable to bear Qian Yuya's stare any longer, Le Yu said helplessly, "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Your friend probably ran away because she was scared off by my reputation."

Le Yu had a pretty good idea why Li Ying had suddenly fled, but it couldn't be blamed on him. He had already done his best. Who could blame him when Qian Yuliu's reputation was so terrible? He was simply impossible to carry.

Le Yu sighed. "People outside have misunderstood me far too deeply."

Qian Yuya stared at Le Yu for a long while before saying, "You've seemed different lately."

"Yeah, some things happened recently, and people are always changing." Le Yu smoothly picked up the conversation. "Is Li Ying a close friend of yours? I don't want your relationship to grow distant because of me... How about inviting her over to our house more often? Once everyone spends more time together and gets familiar with one another, she naturally won't be afraid of me anymore."

Le Yu meant those words sincerely. He knew that the close friends young men and women had were among the few precious things in their lives, so he naturally didn't want to ruin someone else's relationship.

Li Ying now knew that Qian Yuliu and Qian Yuya were family living under the same roof. It was hard to say whether that would cause her to view Qian Yuya differently—people growing distant from their friends because of their friends' families was hardly uncommon.

When Le Yu was a child, he had gradually distanced himself from a friend after discovering that the friend's mother was excessively strict and overbearing. This was partly because the friend's mother was too controlling, and partly because he himself had been afraid.

Friendship was not something especially solid. It was even beautiful like glass, yet fragile and easily shattered. Perhaps some friendships could withstand trials, but... before a true trial arrived, there was no need to test a friendship unnecessarily. If it could be repaired, repair it; if it could be cherished, cherish it.

Perhaps some people thought such friendships were "fake" and not worth cherishing at all, but most things in this world were just about having a bit of fun. Who could guarantee that all their emotional relationships were unbreakable and eternal? Before a relationship reached its end, enjoying its beauty as much as possible was simply how most people lived.

Besides, Le Yu wasn't Qian Yuya. Who knew whether Qian Yuya regarded Li Ying as her true sister despite having different parents? To avoid Qian Yuya resenting him and refusing to eat with him ever again, Le Yu offered his own solution. In any case, he would first shift the blame elsewhere.

"That's only treating the symptoms, not the cause." Qian Yuya spoke calmly. "Li Ying is afraid of you not because of your appearance or manner of speaking, but because of what you've done. As long as what you've done doesn't change, Li Ying will always fear you to some extent."

"As long as you're a bad person, people will hate you."

The air suddenly fell silent.

After a moment, Le Yu gave an awkward laugh. "Perhaps I can become a charming villain?"

His clumsy attempt at humor failed to move Qian Yuya. She suddenly opened her palm toward Le Yu, folding back one finger each time she spoke:

"Did you directly kill members of the Anti-Light Faction without a trial, simply under orders?"

"Did you personally kill your former teacher, Lin Jinyao?"

"Did you capture many of your former classmates and bring them back to the Statistics Department?"

"Did you carry out the Statistics Department's utterly unreasonable orders to slaughter people?"

Qian Yuya folded back her last finger and clenched her right hand into a tight fist.

She took a deep breath and asked her final question: "Are all the rumors about you true? Or is there some other explanation?"

So that's what this was about...

Only then did Le Yu understand why Qian Yuya had been acting so strangely today—she had heard the rumors about Qian Yuliu, but Qian Yuliu hadn't given her any warning beforehand!

He hadn't merely failed to tell his family that he was about to begin his "life as a mole from scratch." He hadn't even offered a single comforting word like, "Little sister, don't believe the rumors outside. Your brother is a good person."

For Qian Yuya to suddenly explode and question him only now was already the result of Qian Yuliu hiding things exceptionally well.

But Le Yu wasn't like Qian Yuliu, keeping everything bottled up. He was also on edge from guarding this secret. He had shot Lin Jinyao dead, yet he didn't even have anyone to confide in. Since Qian Yuya had taken the initiative to ask, he would benevolently give her some explosive information!

However, just as Le Yu opened his mouth, fragments of memory violently slammed into his mind:

Lin Jinyao: "Yuliu, think this through carefully. Entering the Statistics Department and becoming White Night's spy is an extremely dangerous task. You don't have to make an impulsive decision. You must understand that this matter concerns not only you, but your family as well."

Qian Yuliu: "My parents died a long time ago. My only family now is Yuya. Sir, can you arrange for Yuya to live somewhere safe?"

Lin Jinyao: "Your little sister will reach the age to enter the National Academy in another two years, won't she? I can notify the organization and arrange for your sister to continue her studies at the Yan Jing Royal Academy."

Qian Yuliu: "In that case, I have no problem with it."

Lin Jinyao: "Yuliu, you can think about it some more. Also, you can't tell anyone that you're a spy—including your family. Star-Picker and I can both guarantee that we'll take this secret to our graves, but others may not have our resolve. The more your sister knows, and the more she cares about you, the more dangerous she'll be."

Qian Yuliu: "So, as long as I don't reveal the secret and become distant from Yuya, I can protect her?"

Lin Jinyao: "That's right. But if your sister knows nothing about the situation, she may be influenced by information from outside. She could grow distant from you, despise you, or even regard you as an enemy... Yuliu, even if you refuse this mission, we can understand. Many people can accept becoming heroes who sacrifice their lives, but they can't accept becoming cowards despised by everyone."

Qian Yuliu: "It's fine."

"Besides, Yuya doesn't like me anyway."

Le Yu rubbed his temples and let out a long sigh. The words in his throat were swallowed back down.

Seeing that Le Yu wanted to speak but stopped himself, Qian Yuya grew anxious. She slammed her fist hard onto the table, sending the bowls and plates bouncing into the air. Forcing down her emotions, she demanded in a trembling voice, "Why aren't you answering me?"

Le Yu stared into Qian Yuya's eyes.

He saw worry, unease, and anger hidden in those clear, bright eyes.

And Le Yu finally discovered that he had one attribute that surpassed Qian Yuliu's—at the very least, his emotional intelligence was far greater than Qian Yuliu's.

Qian Yuliu, Qian Yuliu... How could your sister not like you? She clearly cared about you so much.

But why did you have to play the villain and make me clean up your mess? It's not like I'm①...

Although Le Yu was filled with resentment toward Qian Yuliu, when faced with Qian Yuya's pleading, even imploring, gaze, he smiled and nodded.

"What you said is all true."

"The person sitting before you is the nemesis of the Anti-Light Faction, the Star Engraving Master Killer, the Classmate Crusher, the butcher of the Statistics Department—Qian Yuliu."

PS: Congratulations to "Microwave Doomsday Pie" for becoming the first ship captain of this book. Thank you, everyone, for your rewards!

I never expected the Qidian readers to be so enthusiastic. This newbie is so touched—sob, sob.