Everything will be as you wish

Lu Xingchen could not fathom the director's taste. "Especially the male lead. He looks like a big toe. Only the fourth male lead looks halfway decent."

Huo Chuyun speared a piece of apple with a toothpick and held it to Lu Xingchen's lips.

Lu Xingchen opened his mouth slightly, his cheeks puffing up like a little squirrel's as he ate and complained, "If you ask me, the fourth male lead deserves one slap, the second and third deserve two each, and the male lead deserves the full Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms."

Huo Chuyun laughed and handed him a small, square black box. "A present."

"What is it?"

Lu Xingchen accepted the gift with the delight of someone receiving a precious treasure and eagerly opened the box.

Inside lay a black-and-gold card as dazzling as a black gemstone, along with a car key that seemed to give off a mysterious glow.

Lu Xingchen picked up the car key, his eyes sparkling with delighted surprise, and jumped onto the sofa in his excitement.

"You bought me a sports car? And a Lykan at that! What color is it? Honey, you're too good to me!"

No boy could resist cars, and Lu Xingchen was no exception.

"Don't fall." Huo Chuyun wrapped his arms around Lu Xingchen, who was bouncing all over the place in excitement.

"I picked up a blue one. It's in the garage downstairs. If you don't like it, you can get a different color."

"Blue is exactly what I like!" Lu Xingchen happily hugged Huo Chuyun's head and planted a big, firm kiss on him. "Huo Chuyun, you still remember what I said that first time at the hotel?"

"You were so cocky back then, getting all handsy with me. I couldn't forget even if I wanted to." Huo Chuyun pinched Lu Xingchen's fair, soft cheek in exasperation, though he could not bear to use any force.

"Keep the black card safe too. Buy whatever you want."

Lu Xingchen looked at Huo Chuyun, touched. "Looks like I'll have to work hard to earn money."

Huo Chuyun held Lu Xingchen by the waist and rested his forehead against his, coaxing him softly.

"Baby, don't feel burdened. You're my partner. Isn't it only right for me to give you presents? Just stay by my side."

Lu Xingchen wrapped his arms around Huo Chuyun's neck, and they shared a lingering kiss.

Breathing heavily, Huo Chuyun held Lu Xingchen in his arms and buried his forehead against his collarbone. "Baby, would you like to move in with me?"

Huo Chuyun's hair tickled Lu Xingchen, who laughed and squirmed away. "Huo Chuyun, I suspect this was why you gave me those presents."

"Mm." Huo Chuyun did not deny it. "Baby, would you?"

Lu Xingchen sat astride Huo Chuyun's lap, playing with his hair. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke with a hint of relief.

"Huo Chuyun, I heard from Uncle Huo that you went to live with the Song family after finishing middle school. I'm really glad."

"As I remembered it, you never escaped the Huo family. Those people kept feeding off you and exploiting you. My heart ached for you. I always felt I'd come too late."

"You're so clever. You must have figured out long ago that I'm not the original Lu Xingchen, right?"

Huo Chuyun kissed Lu Xingchen's earlobe and said in a low voice, "Yes. I was waiting for you to tell me."

Lu Xingchen began to explain slowly. "I'm not from this world. I was in a car accident, and I came here after I died."

Huo Chuyun suddenly pulled Lu Xingchen tightly into his arms, his voice trembling. "Baby..."

"I'm fine."

Lu Xingchen gently patted Huo Chuyun's back, soothing him. "Whatever happened, I got a second chance at life, and I got to meet you. I'm very content."

"This is the world of a novel. Lu Yichen and Huo Junchi are its protagonists, and their plot armor is incredibly strong."

"You're the main villain. Because you stood in Huo Junchi's way, the author gave you a miserable fate. You lost both legs and went blind in one eye. You took revenge on everyone and ended up burning yourself to death, but that Shitty Author wrote all those people back to life."

"The original Lu Xingchen was cannon fodder in the book. He was drugged that day, and the drugs had rat poison mixed into them. He died of poisoning that night. After he died, I transmigrated here, and then I met you."

Huo Chuyun did not question the truth of Lu Xingchen's words. He merely said in sudden realization, "No wonder... no wonder they all showed up alive again in the end."

A flicker of understanding crossed Lu Xingchen's eyes, and he wore a little expression that said he had seen through everything all along.

"I was wondering why the story from before I arrived had suddenly changed course. So you changed it after you were reborn, right?"

Huo Chuyun nodded.

Understanding dawned on Lu Xingchen's face.

"Chuyun, you remember everything from before. That's why you're always plagued by nightmares. It all makes sense now. When were you reborn, then?"

Huo Chuyun explained, "I only remembered my past life after Song Zhihua slashed me with a knife that time in middle school."

"I also set things up to acquire the shares Huo Junchi held. How could someone that stupid be a protagonist?"

"I kept wondering how, when I'd killed every one of them in my last life, they all showed up alive and completely unharmed after I died and became a wandering ghost."

His heart aching, Lu Xingchen stroked the vicious scar around Huo Chuyun's brow and eye. "That Shitty Author made Lu Yichen and Huo Junchi's plot armor utterly absurd."

"You must be curious why I expressed my love the moment I saw you. You might have found it sudden and had doubts about me, but this was something I'd been looking forward to for a long time."

"Huo Chuyun, when I was reading the book, my heart ached for you, and I liked you so much."

"I tried contacting the author. I wanted to pay to have your ending rewritten, but nothing came of it, which left me furious all the time. But now I'm here."

Huo Chuyun affectionately nuzzled Lu Xingchen's hair and kissed him, moved. "Baby, thank you for everything you've done for me."

An idea suddenly flashed through Huo Chuyun's mind. Like a whirlwind, he gently set Lu Xingchen down on the sofa, then shot into the room like an arrow from a bow before rushing back out at lightning speed.

As though presenting a precious treasure, he held out the Peace Talisman in his hand, vivid as blood, to Lu Xingchen and asked with delighted surprise all over his face.

"Baby, is this yours?"

Lu Xingchen stared blankly at the protection charm before him. Before his car accident, he had gone to a temple to pray for it for Huo Chuyun. He had even made a special visit to the abbot.

The abbot had merely said cryptically, "All that you hope for, benefactor, will be as you wish."

Lu Xingchen covered his mouth in belated realization. He finally understood.

He had wondered how the Peace Talisman could suddenly disappear when he kept it tucked securely on him every day, and why he could not find it anywhere.

Over this, Lu Xingchen had pestered the abbot for a long time before finally receiving another answer. "The Peace Talisman has gone to the person who needs it."

Lu Xingchen wanted to ask more, but the next moment, the abbot was nowhere to be seen. When Lu Xingchen returned to the temple the following day, he was told that the abbot had left on a pilgrimage.

"It's the Peace Talisman I prayed for on your behalf." Lu Xingchen explained what had happened to Huo Chuyun, then asked.

"Chuyun, when did the Peace Talisman come into your hands?"