Seeing the message fly out, Pei Yisheng’s heart gave a heavy thud. His finger hovered over the recall button, yet he hesitated.
The message was already sent; recalling it would leave a trace, and trying to cover it up would only make it harder to explain. In the few seconds he spent hesitating and reflecting, new messages pushed their way up the chat box.
It’s snowing in City A, it’s so heavy.
Shengsheng, remember to add more clothes, don’t get sick.
Mom and Dad are both doing well.
Pei Yuchuan was picking through photos on his phone, scrolling back and forth without satisfaction. In this one, he was drenched in sweat and looked haggard; in that one, Lin Xuerong looked too weak and gaunt after her treatment. None of them were photos he could show Pei Yisheng to let him focus on his studies in peace.
The man who usually spent his days sitting in an office now found his spine abruptly slumped. Hands that once only used a pen to sign documents were now covered in thick callouses, even sporting cracks that refused to heal.
Lin Xuerong coughed twice and steadied Pei Yuchuan’s arm. “Go get my phone. There are photos on mine.”
They were “beautified” photos of Lin Xuerong lying in her hospital bed during treatment. She knew Pei Yisheng was a good child. It was precisely because their child was so good that they couldn’t let him sink into this family a family destined to drag him down.
Lin Xuerong hoped that seeing their photos would give Pei Yisheng more peace of mind and more energy to focus on himself.
Pei Yuchuan stood up to get it. The small rental house wasn’t large; he returned in just a few steps. Lin Xuerong helped him choose. “Pick one and send it to Shengsheng.”
Looking at their familiar yet changed reflections in the photo, a wave of indescribable bitterness welled up in Pei Yuchuan’s heart. If he hadn’t been so trusting of an old friend, their family wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
As if sensing the stifling atmosphere of the small room, the whistling wind outside died down significantly, allowing this middle-aged couple clinging to one another to find a brief moment of strength to keep going.
At the very least, they had to persist. At the very least, they had to keep working hard to secure a better life for their family.
After parting ways with Su Yiyi and entering the dormitory, Pei Yisheng finally took out the phone he had kept warm in his pocket the entire way, even though it had only vibrated once in between.
Opening WeChat, it was still on the screen he had closed. As the photos loaded, Pei Yisheng gently touched the two smiling faces on the screen. After staring for a while, he pouted his lips and complained, “The door frame is all warped from the editing; it would’ve been better to just send the original.”
His eyes felt swollen and uncomfortable.
Pei Yuchuan’s collar was crooked, and Lin Xuerong’s hair wasn’t quite neat. Their days abroad were no easier than his days back home.
He exited WeChat and transferred a sum of money via the bank app.
Pei Yuchuan’s reply came quickly, consisting of nothing but a refusal, telling him to keep it for himself. Pei Yisheng gave the usual response: how much could he possibly spend at school? He told them to buy good medicine for Mom, see the doctor more often to try new technologies, and once winter break came, he would…
Pei Yisheng’s typing finger paused. Round-trip tickets cost a lot of money. Better to just video call… but they shared a tacit understanding: they would never video call unless absolutely necessary.
Lin Xuerong didn’t want her child to see her haggard, chemo-ridden appearance, and Pei Yuchuan didn’t want Pei Yisheng to worry. As for Pei Yisheng he was afraid.
He was afraid he wasn’t the child in their hearts. He was afraid he was a fake who had occupied another’s place.
After transmigrating into this erotic manga, Pei Yisheng had a family for the first time—even if this family consisted of a sick mom, a bankrupt dad, a stray cat, and an unlucky him.
Despite this, Pei Yisheng cherished the rare, lingering warmth of this household. During those days that felt like a loop where he could do nothing but passively wait for the plot to descend, the Pei parents had cared for him and doted on him day after day. He was their treasure the treasure they would sacrifice themselves to uplift.
Pei Yisheng had suffered alone for a long time. It wasn’t until just before school started, when the plot advanced and he had those messy dreams, that he realized his arrival might not have made things worse, and he might not have usurped anyone’s place after all.
From that day on, he made up his mind to stay away from the protagonist group and fade out of the story.
Even though things were currently going against his wishes, Pei Yisheng would not give up on his original plan.
While washing up, he remained immersed in his own world, thinking about how to make his parents’ lives easier. Perhaps he should update his short videos more frequently? His current income from short videos was already higher than the salary his senior offered.
Stepping out in a daze, he was met with Wen Xiuyun covering his face with a tissue. “How can you come out without even wiping your face? Your collar is all wet.”
His tone was gentle, showing no trace of his previous madness.
Pei Yisheng snapped back to reality instantly. He pressed the tissue down himself and took a half-step back, his eyes shifting nervously as he wiped. “Thanks… I guess I just didn’t notice…”
Glancing past Wen Xiuyun, he saw Qin Zhou with a cold face, arms crossed, staring intently at him.
As soon as Qin Zhou opened his mouth, it was a mockery. “You forgot to wipe your face? Is there anything you can remember?”
Pei Yisheng felt a strange sense of guilt bubble up from nowhere. Clutching the crumpled tissue, he bypassed Wen Xiuyun and retorted to Qin Zhou in a stubborn, low voice, “As a human, remembering to eat and sleep is enough.”
“Heh,” Qin Zhou sneered.
This idiot!
Originally, Qin Zhou hadn’t intended to return to the dorm. After all, Pei Yisheng had asked such an awkward question yesterday; staying in the same room would inevitably cause distress. But as Qin Zhou walked, he somehow led Lin Jiayu back toward the dormitory.
When Lin Jiayu questioned him, he thought for a long time before saying he was testing his luck maybe he could find the person himself without waiting for the surveillance footage to be repaired. Naturally, this earned him a massive eye-roll from Lin Jiayu.
Upon pushing open the dorm door, he didn’t see Pei Yisheng. Instead, he saw that “fake” from the Wen family sitting in Pei Yisheng’s seat, holding something and sniffing it like a total pervert.
Qin Zhou made quite a bit of noise, but Wen Xiuyun acted as if he heard nothing, ignoring him entirely. He continued to fiddle with the items on Pei Yisheng’s desk with a leisurely posture, as if they belonged to him.
Wen Xiuyun did this intentionally for Qin Zhou to see. He wanted Qin Zhou to know that he was the person closest to Pei Yisheng.
Using every means necessary to strike at the enemy was the key to winning, wasn’t it? He would seize every opportunity to squeeze Qin Zhou and Song Wen out of the game. Pei Yisheng would eventually open his eyes and realize he was the only choice.
Unfortunately, in Qin Zhou’s eyes, all of this was “throwing pearls before swine.” He was certain that Pei Yisheng had a crush on him. Although he liked girls with long hair and couldn’t reciprocate, there was nothing wrong with Pei Yisheng liking him. He felt an obligation to make Pei Yisheng give up on him while ensuring the boy didn’t get hurt by others.
Especially Wen Xiuyun. Those with the surname Wen were experts at “sugar-coated bullets.” He had to explain things clearly to Pei Yisheng and tell him to be on guard. Just as Wen Xiuyun was wary of him, he was equally wary of Wen Xiuyun.
If Lin Jiayu heard Qin Zhou’s thoughts, his eyeballs would probably fall out. He would surely cry out for justice on behalf of everyone Qin Zhou had rejected why did Pei Yisheng’s crush get such meticulous “soul protection,” while their crushes were pierced by cold arrows? The heavens were truly unfair!
Regrettably, the person involved had no idea he was being given special treatment.
Pei Yisheng only knew he had a wolf in front and a tiger behind he was stuck between a rock and a hard place!
The pre-sleep atmosphere that night was indescribably eerie. Wen Xiuyun and Qin Zhou loathed the sight of each other. If one spoke to Pei Yisheng, the other would interrupt. Cold sarcasm and mockery were just the beginning; it felt like a full-blown brawl could break out at any moment, leaving Pei Yisheng mentally exhausted.
The melancholy from his earlier washing-up session was gone, replaced entirely by a need for restraint. He clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly.
“I’m tired! Going to sleep now! Goodnight, goodnight!”
With a pull of the bed curtain, the world was finally quiet.
Qin Zhou and Wen Xiuyun glanced at each other, their eyes both shouting the same thought:
Pei Yisheng’s first “goodnight” was said to me.