Where Did This Shoddy System Come From? How Dare It Steal My Home?

"Um..." Sun Ying sensed that the atmosphere was not very friendly and said quietly, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back first? I'm still on vacation..."

Chu Lan nodded. "Then go on back."

"Okay. Qingqing, remember to apply your medicine these next few days." She picked up her small bag. "Goodbye, Qingqing-gege."

Xia Yu waved. "Bye."

Only three people and two cats remained in the living room, and the atmosphere grew somewhat stagnant.

Chu Lan awkwardly stretched his legs and asked stiffly, "Why did Xiaoyu come back?"

Xia Yu tilted his head. "Is Brother unhappy that I came back? I thought Brother would be very happy to see me."

"Hehe, happy..." Happy, my ass! Four years ago, to celebrate finally being rid of this black-hearted bastard, he had even bought a huge firework to set off. Of course, he had sneaked out to do it in the middle of the night.

"I'm happy to see Brother too. And now I have another little brother, so I'm even happier."

"..." That was obviously sarcasm.

He kept saying "Brother" this and "Brother" that, making Xia Wanqing very uncomfortable. He tugged at Chu Lan's sleeve. "Lan-ge, I want to go to your place and discuss the demo for our next album's title track."

"Let's go!" Chu Lan could not wait to leave. In front of Xia Yu, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

"Hm?" Xia Yu frowned slightly. "Brother, little brother, are you going to isolate me?"

Chu Lan shuddered all over. That was far too serious an accusation for him to bear! "No! Absolutely not! We really are preparing an album, and time is tight, so every second counts. Xiaoyu, stay home and adjust to the time difference. We'll invite you over for dinner tonight. My mom will definitely be happy when she finds out you're back."

"I've already adjusted to the time difference. I want to play with you too."

"This is our group's album. What does it have to do with you?" Xia Wanqing spoke with obvious displeasure. "Lan-ge, let's go."

"Brother..."

Did Chu Lan dare move? He did not. "How about... Xiaoyu comes over and listens too? He can give us some suggestions?"

"Lan-ge!" Was he crazy? This was the album's title track, their most important song. They had begged that genius songwriter for ages before finally getting the demo. It had to be kept confidential! How could they let just anyone hear it? And give suggestions? Did Xia Yu even understand music?!

"Sure." Xia Yu was satisfied. He reached for his phone. "I'll just go listen. I definitely won't disturb you... Hm?"

When he saw the ongoing call on the screen, the smile on his lips vanished instantly. He cast a chilly glance at Tangerine, who was rolling around on the floor.

"Meow..." Tangerine had no idea what he had done wrong. All he felt was his owner's murderous gaze, frightening his fur nearly upright as he hurriedly burrowed beneath the sofa.

Chu Lan keenly sensed the change in his mood and asked tentatively, "Xiaoyu, are you still coming with us?"

Xia Yu ended the call, got up, and headed upstairs. "No."

Phew... Chu Lan breathed a sigh of relief. That was wonderful!

"Lan-ge..." Xia Wanqing pursed his lips, his heart aching slightly. "You're so good to Xia Yu. You indulge him no matter what he says..."

"Hehe... He has a bad temper. You'd better stay away from him." Otherwise, it was easy to get killed. That was a lesson learned in blood and tears.

But to Xia Wanqing's ears, it sounded like Chu Lan was warning him not to make Xia Yu unhappy. Xia Yu had only just returned and had already caused him so much misery, yet no one cared about him. They only knew how to placate Xia Yu. Xia Lang was like that, and so was Chu Lan!

Xia Yu returned to his room, and another call came in. He had put his phone on silent last night, so there had been no ringtone. That was why he had not noticed the call earlier; Tangerine had accidentally answered it by pressing the screen.

The screen stayed lit for quite a while. Only when it was about to disconnect automatically did he answer. "Hello..."

"Where are you?" A deep, icy male voice came from the other end, carrying a faint hint of anger.

"I'm dancing on your grave."

"Who were you calling just now?"

"I was holding your funeral."

"Xia Yu! Get back here immediately!"

He sneered. "Go back to visit your grave? Qingming Festival was ages ago. Wait until next year."

"Don't make me angry."

"Can you get so angry you rise from the dead?"

"..." Chi Yan took a deep breath and suppressed the irritation in his heart. His voice softened slightly. "Xiaxia, be good. Come back first, and I'll explain..."

"Hehe, you're about to get engaged. What is there to explain? Don't worry, I'll send you a funeral wreath. Hope you drop dead soon."

"There's no engagement!"

"Pah! Liar!"

Xia Yu hung up and fell onto the bed with a dark expression. Damn it, straight men pretending to be gay to trick people into sex deserved divine punishment!

"Host!" The system, finally able to speak again after its mute restriction expired, wailed, "We're really finished! Why did you deliberately knock over that cup and frame the protagonist shou?! You even admitted it right in front of him! Do you know he recorded everything?! You said all those things to humiliate him, and you—you—you were being so intimate with the protagonist gong right in front of him! What are we supposed to do now?! Waaah... I can't save you anymore! I'm going to be erased! I don't want to die! I was just born, I just started doing missions, I still want to level up and become the best system in the entire Administration!"

His mind was filled with the system's awful sobbing. He had already been in a bad mood, and now he was even more irritated. "Shut up! You're so damn noisy!"

"Wuwuwu..." The system kept crying. "What kind of fate is this? Other hosts carry their systems straight to victory, but I had to end up with you, someone who can make tea and court death at the same time. Wuu... Dad... I want a refund. I want a different host..."

"You fucking... Didn't you hear me tell you to shut up? If you want to cry, go back to your Spacetime Administration and cry!"

It only got worse, howling wildly, "Waaah!!! Do you think I don't want to go back?! I can't go back!"

"Ding! Cute and charming Host, your kind little Tongtong is back from vacation!" Suddenly, another cheerful electronic voice rang out.

"?????" The system that had been wailing abruptly stopped crying. What was that?

Xia Yu pressed his throbbing temples and said in a low voice, "I don't know where it came from. Hurry up and get rid of it."

The bewildered system in his consciousness slowly looked up. It saw a round thing with wings gradually appear. It looked like a flying electronic eye, with a glittering LV9999 floating above its head. Its eyes widened in shock. "Th-this-this..."

"Eh?" Little Flying Ball circled it twice. "LV1? Where did this shoddy system come from? How dare it steal my home?"

Faced with absolute level suppression, the system trembled. "S-senior... I... I'm a newly manufactured Male Supporting Character Rescue System..."

"You dare steal my home right after being manufactured? You've got some nerve."

"Wuu..." It was frightened into tears. "I didn't know... The moment I was manufactured, I was assigned here and bound to this host..."

Little Flying Ball sat on its head. "Oh... Was there a bug?"

It did not dare move. "Maybe..."

Help! Can someone tell it why it had been assigned to a host who was already bound to a high-level system?! Wasn't each system only supposed to bind to one host?! This bug was way too outrageous!