Wei Chen carried Volume 3 of the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (AB Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) and read engrossed. Up front, a servant led the way, while another servant at his side held a lantern giving him quite the flair of a young master in ancient times.
In truth, he didn’t really need the lantern light. Ever since becoming this so-called successor, he could clearly feel that his eyesight had improved beyond normal human physiological limits. Even under dim, lightless conditions, he could read and recognize words with perfect clarity.
“Why are you back so late?”
Emerging from between the lines of his book, he looked forward. Beneath the branches of a osmanthus tree, the youth stood dashing like an autumn breeze. The corners of his brows and eyes radiated youthful swagger, and his charming smile could enchant anyone.
Perhaps the cool, serene moonlight served as the perfect softener for his deep facial features.
Rubbing his temples, Wei Chen felt a strange sensation in his heart even though his eyesight had enhanced, he felt as if he were experiencing a filter-induced hallucination.
“Why are you ignoring me?”
An object tossed toward him cut through the cold wind with a faint, audible sound. Wei Chen caught it effortlessly, cradling it in his arms before catching the fragrant aroma of wine an elegant, sweet-and-sour scent.
“Where did you get this wine?”
Gu Liang immediately trotted over, brimming with pride: “Your father gave it to me! He said it’s called Pan Lang Di a wine that every underage child in your family gets to drink. The alcohol content is low so it doesn’t get you drunk easily, so I asked for a pot.”
Wei Chen frowned: “Pan Lang Di?”
“Yeah, what a strange name.”
Gu Liang leaned in and took a deep breath, “But it’s pretty fragrant though.”
He was wearing only a thin short-sleeved shirt on top and knee-length shorts below, looking as if he had just taken a shower. With the autumn wind blowing cold, Wei Chen thought he looked chilly, so he stuffed the wine into Gu Liang’s arms and pushed him into the room.
“Why are you only wearing pajamas without throwing on a coat?”
“I’m not cold anyway.” Gu Liang sat down on the Luohan daybed holding the wine, grabbed two porcelain cups from the small table, and began pouring. “Why are you acting like my mom, always thinking I’ll catch a cold? Wei Chen, you’re only fourteen, why are you so old-fashioned and solemn?”
“If caring about you means my thinking is rusty, then cursing at you must make me cutting-edge and modern.”
Wei Chen took a cup of wine. Rather than drinking it in big gulps, he took a gentle sip. The cool liquid glided across the tastebuds on his tongue mostly sour and tart, followed by a sweet aftertaste. It felt quite similar to the RIO / fruit cocktails that female friends loved to drink at bars in his past life.
Gu Liang: “Don’t twist words around.”
Wei Chen set his glass down after finishing one cup, losing interest in this so-called Pan Lang Di. He still preferred strong, burning liquor, though this wine suited Gu Liang quite well.
He remembered that in the novel, Gu Liang had a rather low alcohol tolerance, often getting drunk and getting into scandalous plotlines with the female lead.
“Hmm, drinks like fruit juice.” Gu Liang scowled, “Feels weak.”
“Then don’t drink any more. It’s late, go to sleep.”
Wei Chen snatched the cup from his hand and tried to usher him into the neighboring room, only for Gu Liang to turn around, pounce on him, and tumble to the floor together with him.
“Young Master!”
“What happened? Is everything alright?”
The two servants hadn’t left yet. Wei Chen slapped his forehead, looking at Gu Liang who was hugging his waist tightly and refusing to let go, feeling deeply astonished.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to come in.”
Looking down, he saw soft, warm light covering the flushed ears of the person in his arms unable to hide it even if he tried. Gu Liang simply looked up with hazy, misty eyes, making a confused sound: “Ah Chen, my ears are so hot.”
Wei Chen was rendered speechless for a moment, unable to figure out what was going on.
That wine couldn’t have been more than 8% ABV at most could he really have gotten drunk off just one cup?
Wei Chen half-guided and half-carried him up, placing him onto the bed. Before he could let out a sigh of relief, Gu Liang rolled over and pinned him underneath.
A mechanical voice that didn’t belong to 2002 suddenly resounded in his head:
“Warning: Plot anomaly detected!”
“Romantic plotline deviation! The other protagonist is NOT detected as having the status of a future protagonist harem member.”
System 2002: “Fuck… It’s the middle of the night, what did you do instead of sleeping? Even yellow warnings have popped up!”
Wei Chen was utterly bewildered. Whether it was the situation right in front of his eyes or the chatter inside his brain, he didn’t know how to deal with either.
System 2002: “Holy shit, what’s going on? Why were you tackled by your filthy-rich good buddy? Did you just drink Pan Lang Di? Isn’t this the female lead’s plotline? How did it get triggered so many years in advance?”
Ah, so in his book, Gu Liang was set up with this kind of persona.
In Wei Chen’s mind, Gu Liang’s well-being was more important. He calmly reached out to rub Gu Liang’s ears, asking softly: “Feeling uncomfortable?”
Gu Liang’s health report naturally popped up in his mind: Liver and heart functions were both normal, meaning getting drunk off one cup shouldn’t exist physiologically. However, according to what the system said earlier, this drunkenness was likely the plot’s doing.
“Mm.” Gu Liang slumped down, pressing his face into the nook of Wei Chen’s neck.
His body temperature was indeed scalding hot. Even though his clothes were thin and his normal body temperature wasn’t high, right now he was like a little furnace—as if he were here to warm the bed for him.
“You’ll be fine after a sleep.”
Although the furnishings in the room were rustic and ancient-styled, everything was fully equipped. Gu Liang’s room was separated from his by just a single wall, so he could just sleep next door.
Yet when he tried to pull away, he was held tightly. Gu Liang kicked off his shoes and blatantly wrapped himself around Wei Chen like an octopus.
“I’m scared… sleep with me.”
Even when drunk, a person remains conscious and knows clearly what they are doing it’s just that their courage becomes bigger than usual, which is how “in vino veritas” came to be.
Wei Chen naturally understood, but he could only humor him as if comforting a child. Besides, Gu Liang was afraid of the dark a habit left behind from that kidnapping incident in their childhood.
He had heard from family elders later that Gu Liang had been separated from him back then and tied up alone in the trunk for three hours.
Wei Chen pulled the blanket, kicked off his shoes, and climbed inside together with Gu Liang.
“I haven’t taken a shower yet. Aren’t you a total neat freak?”
Gu Liang slowly shook his head, mumbling: “Don’t mind you.”
“Alright then, go to sleep.”
The room gradually quieted down. Only after Gu Liang fell sound asleep did Wei Chen reach out to turn off the light.
The breathing of the person in his arms grew steady and peaceful. Wei Chen sighed inwardly it was rare for Gu Liang to be this obedient, going to sleep as soon as he said so.
After a while, he finally remembered that he had tossed System 2002 to the back of his mind.
He didn’t care about Gu Liang stealing the female lead’s plotline or anything like that since nothing major had happened. But the words “harem” were truly hard to ignore.
Feeling complex, Wei Chen asked: “2002, what did you mean by what you said earlier? Is this actually a stallion / harem novel?”
System 2002: “Mr. Wei Chen, I forgot to introduce myself properly all this time.” The system’s tone wasn’t proud, but rather somewhat odd: “I am the top-performing ‘Playboy/Harem’ graduate of our class. So working together, you could also say I am your Harem System.”
Wei Chen: “There’s actually such a system? Are you sure this isn’t a female-oriented novel?” Wei Chen loved reading web novels in his past life across a wide range of genres. As long as it was a satisfying power-fantasy novel, he loved reading it. Reading The Delicate Wife Runs Away with the Baby: President Gu’s Priceless Pampering, however, was purely an accident.
System 2002: “I wasn’t originally assigned to system tasks. It’s just that the Rebirth Department was short-staffed with too many characters, so I came over to help. Besides, my field of study aligns with your future. According to records, you will have eighteen wives in the future, oh wait, rather, one principal wife and multiple concubines.”
“What era is it to still have one wife and multiple concubines? Why don’t you guys make it 108 wives and march straight up Mount Liang?” Wei Chen criticized helplessly.
System 2002: “If you don’t like it, you can just reject them in the future. As long as it doesn’t affect the main face-slap progression plotline, it’s fine.”
Wei Chen: “So the romantic plotline with the female lead can be skipped too?”
System 2002: “Your romantic plotline with the female lead intersects with the main face-slap progression plotline, so those intersecting plot points must be completed.”
“Oh.” Wei Chen curled his lips, mocking: “Live-in son-in-law, I get it.”
He felt that all these messy things were still far away, so he simply threw them all to the back of his mind, cuddling up with the freshly showered, sweet-smelling Gu Liang to sleep.
As for whether he would get kicked off the bed by Gu Liang tomorrow morning for sleeping with him without showering after Gu Liang sobered up that was completely outside his current scope of concern.