When the final class of the afternoon dismissed, Qi Zhi returned to the dormitory supported by Li Jian. Lan An was already waiting at the door. “Has the editor contacted you?”
Qi Zhi was not surprised at all. “Yes, they contacted me.”
Early this morning, he had received a message from his editor informing him that someone had taken a fancy to this book featuring Lan An as the protagonist and was willing to pay a high price to buy out all the copyrights.
One didn’t even need to think to know it was Lan An’s doing.
Qi Zhi said, “I’ve already signed the contract. Once the procedures are completed, this book will belong entirely to you.”
From this day forward, the book would no longer belong to Qi Zhi the author, but rather to Lan An the villain.
Entering the dormitory and opening his laptop, Qi Zhi clicked open the document while saying, “I’ve thought it over, and I still feel I shouldn’t alter anything prior to your awakening, including your life background and family history.”
Lan An had already awakened and was no longer a puppet pulled along by strings. If he modified things recklessly, what if it caused the future Lan An to have fragmented memories upon returning to the book, or worse, caused the entire story world to collapse?
Qi Zhi continued, “Therefore, I want to start changing things from the moment you get injured and enter the hospital. That way, when you return, it would be best if you can live exactly as you please. But even if you still cannot resist the rules of the story world, you can still live your life the way you want to.”
Whatever kind of life Lan An desired, he could just say it now, and Qi Zhi would write it into the book.
“That works,” Lan An also felt this approach was quite sound.
“Then what thoughts do you have? You can tell me right now.” Qi Zhi did not intend to drastically alter the main plotline; he only wanted to modify the romantic plot and Lan An’s personal arc.
Leaning sideways against Qi Zhi’s desk with his arms crossed, Lan An said in a cold voice, “Delete Tang Mianmian and his childhood sweetheart male lead, Dan Laiyun, for me. Looking at them vexes me.”
Qi Zhi: “…”
He just knew it.
Qi Zhi adopted an almost painstakingly earnest tone: “They are the main leads; erasing them directly is not a wise move. In the event that it causes the story world to collapse and you disappear along with it, what then? Wouldn’t it be better to just modify the details of how things play out?”
The main leads?
Speaking of this, Lan An grew even more incensed. “You still have the nerve to say that. What right do Dan Laiyun and Tang Mianmian have to be the main leads? In terms of looks, physique, background, family standing, capability, or methods, where do I fall short compared to them? On what basis am I the villain?”
“…”
“…”
Good question, don’t ask it next time.
Qi Zhi explained, “The main lead top belongs to the main lead bottom, while the villain belongs to the readers. Naturally, a character needs to be beautiful, powerful, and tragic to be alluring. Look at the final ending: didn’t Tang Mianmian fall in love with you?”
Even though Lan An was already dead by then.
“After your death, Tang Mianmian didn’t end up with Dan Laiyun either; instead, they remained friends for the rest of their lives. The guy literally observed widowhood for you for a lifetime what else could you possibly be dissatisfied with?”
He forgot to mention that this happened to be a “Bad Ending” novel.
Among the two male leads and one villain in the text, one died, and the other two grew old in solitude.
Back when the novel concluded, if he hadn’t kowtowed every single day in the author’s notes to beg for forgiveness, the readers would have mailed him actual razor blades.
Lan An: “…”
It would have been better not to mention the ending; the moment the ending was brought up, he became even more furious.
He, the grand Ninth Young Master of the Lan family and the reincarnation of the Demon King, had everything he could ever want, yet he ultimately died just to save Tang Mianmian, reduced to a mere handful of ashes.
Although the side stories wrote that his soul was summoned back to the Demon Realm after his death to continue serving as the supreme and matchless Demon King, he nevertheless lost all his memories from after his reincarnation.
Doesn’t losing one’s memory equate to becoming an entirely different person?
What the hell did the Demon King Lan An have to do with him, the Ninth Young Master of the Lan family?
Lan An demanded, “No way. You absolutely must change it.”
Seeing his huffing and puffed-up appearance, Qi Zhi found it rather amusing. Just as the corners of his lips curled up, the back of his neck his literal throat of destiny was fiercely gripped by Lan An.
“Try laughing if you dare,” Lan An said, his voice like a demon’s whisper.
Qi Zhi: “…”
I don’t dare, I don’t dare. I’m afraid, I’m afraid.
“Oh, right.”
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Lan An. “How about we bring the novel to a swift conclusion? Since I’ve already awakened, once the text is finished, won’t I be able to live according to my own ideas?”
“But what if the rules suppress you?”
Qi Zhi felt it was inappropriate. “If the romantic line and the story line are a total mess, what if it ripples out and affects you? Rather than taking a risk, it’s better to write everything out clearly. Plus, since you already know the plot direction in advance, won’t dealing with matters and people be a breeze?”
That was true!
Lan An was persuaded.
Releasing his grip, he dragged a chair over and sat down right next to Qi Zhi. “Then I’ll speak and you record. We’ll start right from after the hospital surgery.”
He had to keep his eyes glued to every single word, absolutely refusing to give Qi Zhi any opportunity to muck things up.
Writing out the narrative in full detail wasted too much time, and Qi Zhi couldn’t bring himself to type out chapters right in front of Lan An anyway. Thus, he merely recorded a detailed outline based on Lan An’s requirements, planning to flesh it out slowly later on.
With one speaking and the other typing, their progress was considerably rapid.
As time slipped away minute by minute, dinner time was fast approaching when Lan An’s phone suddenly rang. Making no attempt to avoid Qi Zhi, he answered it directly.
“Young Master Lan,” once the call connected, a soft and gentle male voice sounded from the other end, his tone carrying a hint of ambiguity. “We agreed to have dinner together. Where are you? Shall I come over and find you?”
“No need, I’ll come find you.”
Lan An hung up the phone, stood up, and said to Qi Zhi, “That’s about enough for today. Go have dinner yourself too. I’m heading out first.”
Without even lifting his head, Qi Zhi replied, “Go ahead. I’ll type out a bit more and show it to you once it’s modified.”
Just from hearing the voice, he knew the relationship was far from ordinary. He hadn’t expected that Lan An wouldn’t care for green-tea beauties like Tang Mianmian, but preferred gentle young boys instead?
Not long afterward, Qi Ran and Zhang Dong returned, carrying large and small bags filled with toiletries.
Seeing that Qi Zhi was also there, Qi Ran set his things down and sat in his own seat, asking in a sarcastic tone, “Qi Zhi, you don’t actually think Lan An is pursuing you, do you?”
Since Qi Zhennan wasn’t around, he didn’t need to put on a display of being kind and magnanimous anymore.
Qi Zhi paid him no heed.
Qi Ran spoke up again: “You don’t know yet, do you? This Lan An is incredibly formidable; he’s already started playing around the moment he arrived.”
“What do you mean?” Qi Zhi was genuinely a bit curious about the awakened Lan An, so he turned around to ask.
With his arms crossed, Qi Ran let out a cold snort. “Someone in our club just happens to have seen him. I heard he’s very rich and exceptionally generous with his money. A lot of people are willing to play around with him, and since he’s handsome to boot, plenty of girls and effeminate guys like him.”
But it was all superficial; absolutely no one knew his concrete identity.
“Just that?”
Qi Zhi was somewhat disappointed. Wasn’t this exactly the setting he had given Lan An in the book? He had thought there would be something fresh.
Boring.
He turned back around to continue typing.
Qi Ran pressed on: “Dongdong and I just ran into him at the school gate. We even saw two very pretty boys get into his sports car, looking extremely intimate.”
“Oh. And so?” Qi Zhi gave a perfunctory response, thinking to himself that Lan An truly lived up to being a passionate and dissolute big villain he certainly played around in a flashy manner, even doing two at once.
Qi Ran wanted to see a desolate expression on Qi Zhi’s face, and felt a bit disappointed when he didn’t see it. “What are you putting on an act for? There’ll be a time for you to cry.”
Qi Zhi ignored him, focusing his mind back onto the novel.
…
The Next Day at Noon
Haicheng University was extremely vast and possessed four cafeterias located in the east, west, south, and north directions respectively. The one closest to Qi Zhi’s dormitory building was the South Cafeteria, which also happened to be the best one. Aside from self-serve mass-produced dishes, one could also order small stir-fries and desserts.
At peak lunch hour, Qi Zhi came over to eat supported by Li Jian. The moment he stepped through the door, he spotted Lan An sitting in a seat by the window. Opposite him was a young boy with fair skin and a pretty appearance who looked obedient and proper; currently, he was peeling shrimp, feeding them into Lan An’s mouth one by one as soon as they were peeled.
Seated beside Lan An was a slender guy with shoulder-length hair who possessed an exotic, foreign flair to his appearance; he was currently picking out the chopped green onions from a bowl of soup.
“He really did find two at once. Aren’t you afraid of grinding an iron bar down into a needle? Tsk, tsk, tsk~~~”
Qi Zhi shook his head, feeling a tiny shred of worry for his own “son” playing around quite so flashily.
Sensing Qi Zhi’s gaze, Lan An turned his head and gave a slight tilt of his chin, counting it as a greeting.
Qi Zhi waved his hand casually and found a place to sit down, while Li Jian went to help him get his food.
Not far away, Qi Zhennan was currently eating with Zhuang Yuexiang. Seeing this scene, he let out a light snort. Lan An’s appearance was simply too supernatural and alluring; he had indeed worried that Qi Zhi might shift his affections elsewhere.
Now it was fine. Qi Zhi detested messing-around gay men the most, and Lan An had stepped right onto that landmine.
Zhuang Yuexiang saw it too and asked Qi Zhennan in a low voice, “When are you going to tell him? Human hearts are made of flesh; aren’t you afraid he really won’t ever look back?”
Would Qi Zhi truly understand Qi Zhennan’s way of doing things and forgive him?
Zhuang Yuexiang had never dared to say it aloud, but he had known Qi Zhi for several years. Based on his understanding, Qi Zhi was simply not that kind of person; Qi Zhennan’s calculations would most likely fall through.
“He won’t,” since Qi Ran wasn’t present, Qi Zhennan safely and boldly stared at Qi Zhi’s back. “I understand him; he will definitely make allowances for me.”
Or rather, he would have no choice but to make allowances?
The Qi family had given Qi Zhi’s gambler biological father a sum of money, which was why the gambler hadn’t come to harrass him for the time being. Once Qi Dawei spent all the money, would a gambler who had tasted sweetness ever let go of a piece of fat meat like Qi Zhi?
When that time came, the only person Qi Zhi could turn to would be himself.
When that time came, Qi Zhi would understand what it meant to have your hand forced.
“As long as you’re certain,” seeing how definitive Qi Zhennan was, Zhuang Yuexiang refrained from being overly talkative.
…
“Achoo! Achoo—”
Holding his chopsticks, Qi Zhi sneezed twice in a row. Rubbing his nose, he looked in Qi Zhennan’s direction and spoke through gritted teeth: “That bastard must be cursing me again.”
Sitting opposite him, Li Jian ate with him. “Are you sure you haven’t caught a cold?”
Qi Zhi did indeed feel a bit uncomfortable, his head feeling quite dizzy. It was all Qi Ran’s fault; the weather was only in the twenties, yet he absolutely insisted on turning on the air conditioning. Qi Zhi hadn’t switched to a thick quilt yet, so he had been chilled for the entire night.
However, his constitution had always been quite good, and he had taken a few seasonal cold tablets in the morning, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
“I’m fine. It’s absolutely that bastard cursing me, or else it’s Qi Ran.”
…
In the afternoon, there was a swimming class held for practice in the school’s indoor pool. Because of his leg injury, Qi Zhi couldn’t go into the water, so the teacher specially permitted him to sit by the side to rest.
Lan An had just sent him a few more thoughts, which worked out perfectly for him to modify the novel for a bit.
Meanwhile, inside the pool, Qi Zhennan had mixed together with Qi Ran once again. Qi Ran was a bit afraid of water and grew nervous the moment he stepped into it; even after learning for a semester, he still only knew how to dog-paddle.
Qi Zhennan had known how to swim since childhood and had even won awards, so he was currently providing guidance.
Supporting Qi Ran’s waist, he explained the key points while casting sidelong glances toward Qi Zhi on the shore, yet he could never manage to catch a single lift of Qi Zhi’s head.
Just what on earth is Qi Zhi doing?
Why does he keep tapping away on his phone non-stop?
Could he be texting Lan An? Was the scene at noon not enough to let him see Lan An’s true colors clearly?
While splashing through his movements, Qi Ran kept his eyes fixed on Qi Zhennan. Seeing that his gaze was constantly placed upon Qi Zhi, the tiny flame in his heart couldn’t stop surging upward.
“I’ll practice by myself for a bit. Brother Zhennan, do you want to take a break?” he said intentionally.
“Alright.”
This was exactly what Qi Zhennan wanted. Releasing Qi Ran, he prepared to head ashore.
Qi Ran: “…”
He originally thought Qi Zhennan would notice that he was unhappy, but he never expected…
Qi Ran was furious. He slapped the water fiercely, completely losing the mood to learn swimming anymore. Just as he was about to paddle ashore behind Qi Zhennan, his calf suddenly experienced a burst of spasms.
Oh no, my leg is cramping.