Su Jingyang didn't expect that after helping Ah-Yuan apply some medicine, he would unexpectedly receive a wave of energy. But it was too little, he didn't see the progress bar budging at all.

Su Jingyang sat in his place gloomily and sighed deeply.

He raised his hand and stared at the red mole that was still unchanged, and the ambivalence in his heart became deeper and deeper.

It wasn't good for any changes because he didn't want to have a baby, but it wasn't good to have no change because he'll become an old man long before the progress bar becomes full. Even if he became an old wrinkly man, he'll never see the mysterious man's face and will never know whether he's beautiful or ugly. The system wouldn't let him go.

He and that man were basically two controlled puppets, and it was the system's grievances that forced them to unite. Su Jingyang thought that the five day mark would be two days later. He was already a little numb to it, he only felt that it was absurb. He was tired, he really didn't want to continue, but was there any other way?

Would it be the same as last time, vomiting blood and being forcibly withdrawn? Or could he damage his body to avoid it?

Su Jingyang rejected this idea as soon as it appeared. The idea of intentionally damaging his body was too stupid. Even if he could escape through this a few times, the system would definitely not let him go. When its anger reaches its peak, no one would be able to guess what crazy stuff it'll do again, not taking the risk was also good.

Su Jingyang leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, the thought of leaving for Jincheng in his mind grew firmer. Approaching the protagonist of this book to collect energy was the most foolproof way to fight the system!

Of course, he still had to stay a while to ensure Lin Ji Pavilion gets on the right track before he could leave with confidence.

When evening came, a carriage suddenly stopped at the door of the bookstore, Liang Lu poked his head out from the inside and called Su Jingyang's name. Su Jingyang stood up and walked out. Liang Lu looked at his face and found that he had already applied medicine, he was a little relieved. "Listen to what the doctor says, doesn't your face matter?"

"It doesn't matter." Su Jingyang replied casually and then asked curiously: "The old lady, what did the government officials do?"

"She?" Liang Lu said with a cold sigh: "We let her have the chance to only lose money, she clamped up and said she had no money. She'll be locked up for ten and a half months if she doesn't speak, I think her old bones can survive a few days in a cell. Dared to offend me without inquiring about who I am."

Su Jingyang nodded and said nothing.

Seeing him looking thoughtful, Liang Lu paused and said, "Jingyang, you don't want to let me let her go, do you? She's very old, but a shameless old bastard isn't half as good as my shop. Not to mention, she made your face look like this, you're too soft-hearted. I won't let her go, how could I keep face otherwise¹."

"Why let her go? Don't let her go. She tore up so many books, she has to lose money." Su Jingyang certainly wouldn't be soft-hearted, but he couldn't help but feel that, no matter whether ancient and modern, there were still people who could speak up with ease. If there was no Liang Lu, Su Jingyang knew that things wouldn't be solved so simply.

Su Jingyang sincerely said thank you to Liang Lu. Liang Lu waved his hand, he said, "Alright, there should be no need for thanks between you and me. Get in the carriage, I'll take you home."

Su Jingyang didn't agree, saying that he would just walk back.

Liang Lu raised his eyes to look at him deeply and finally chuckled softly, "Are you afraid I'll harass you after knowing where you live, or... is there a secret that you don't want me to discover?"

Su Jingyang said solemnly: "Its both."

"Good, good." Liang Lu's tone was helpless, he changed his tone: "I won't send you off specially. I'll head home and drop you off along the way. Is this fine?"

Su Jingyang thought for a while and finally didn’t refuse. He boarded in and the two shared a carriage. On the way, Liang Lu and Su Jingyang chatted when Liang Lu suddenly said: "Jingyang, if you have any problems in the future, you can still come to me. I promise to help you solve it. For example, manpower..."

Manpower? Su Jingyang's body swayed gently with the rocking of carriage, he looked at the secretive smile on Liang Lu's lips and a strange feeling suddenly appeared in his heart.

Su Jingyang told Liang Lu before that because of the small size of the shop, he was going to be the shopkeeper himself and that the cook had already been hired, no one else was needed for the time being.

It was true that Ah-Xuan needed a reliable person to take care of him, but he had never mentioned that to Liang Lu.

Liang Lu said something like this, did he happen to know something?

The more Su Jingyang thought about it, the more he thought that it was possible. After all, this guy was actually smart, even though he looked a bit slouchy on normal days. It wouldn't be uncharacteristic for him to find out that he lived with Ling Li...

Su Jingyang had some doubts in his heart, but didn't ask him anything specifically. The carriage stopped by a tea stand at a fork in the road and Su Jingyang got out of the car.

Liang Lu opened the curtain with the fan handle, showing his face, and said to Su Jingyang: "Take your identification card tomorrow and go straight to your Lin Ji Pavilion."

"Alright." Su Jingyang nodded in response. Liang Lu smiled at him, he then lowered the curtains and asked the driver to drive the car away in the other direction.

Su Jingyang turned around and walked home, thinking about how he should explain his face injury to Ling Li when he arrived. Suddenly he felt as if there were footsteps behind him, it seemed to have started following him from the tea stand.

Su Jingyang's body tensed, he looked back abruptly but was shocked to find that the person only five steps away from him turned out to be Ah-Yi.

Ah-Yi seemed to have been staring at him like for quite a while, as soon as he turned his head, their eyes meet.

Ah-Yi's dark eyes flickered slightly, and his expression was cold and silent.

Su Jingyang didn't speak, he frowned and turned his head back, wondering why he happened to run into him twice in a single day, but then he quickly realized that this was the way home, Ah-Yi lived next door to him, it was normal to run into him.

Although Ah-Yi helped him today, Su Jingyang still subconsciously wanted to stay away from this guy. He didn't want to be scolded by him for no reason.

Su Jingyang thought so, and the steps of his feet sped up unconsciously. As a result of walking briskly and sneaking glances behind from time to time, he stepped on something slippery and unsuspectingly threw himself on the ground.

Su Jingyang quickly got up from the ground, patted the dust on his body, h found that what he had just stepped on was a melon peel that was thrown in the middle of the road. He secretly gritted his teeth and cursed its evil owner, he then kicked the melon peel to a corner.

Ah-Yi walked using his long legs and stopped next to him, he turned his head slightly and said to him in a cool voice: "You were just sent off only a while ago, are you really so excited? If you were sent home directly, will you be excited to the point where you'll be unable to sleep for the next ten days?"

After hearing this, Su Jingyang realized that this guy must've seen Liang Lu sending him back.

Su Jingyang widened his eyes, raised his head, and said: "Who's excited! Who can't sleep with excitement! What's up with you!"

"It's really none of my business." Ah-Yi glanced at him coldly, withdrew his gaze, looked ahead and said nothing.

Su Jingyang stood there for a moment, staring at him coldly, he then suddenly rushed forward, as if whoever got ahead would win.

He had already dashed away for a while when Ah-Yi suddenly said, "Wait a minute..."

Why should I wait for you! Su Jingyang never looked back.

Ah-Yi seemed to have followed him, he called, "Su Jingyang..."

Su Jingyang didn't care about him, he speed up his pace and continued to run forward.

He soon arrived home, Su Jingyang quickly opened the courtyard gate and glanced aside before entering, he found that Ah-Yi had also reached his destination next door. When he pushed open the gate, he looked towards his side with a smile before entering.

Little shit! Pretending to be cool!

Su Jingyang walked into the yard, Ling Li was sorting out the baskets he had made, when he heard voices he turned back. He was startled when he saw the long red marks on Su Jingyang's face. He wiped his hands and stood up to walk over. Su Jingyang didn't want him to worry, so he explained that he was only accidentally injured. Ling Li frowned and was silent for a while, he obviously he didn't seem to believe it but he didn't continue to ask.

Before going to bed at night, Ling Li helped Su Jingyang carefully put on medicine again. Ling Li was putting the medicine bottle away, as soon as he turned around he saw Su Jingyang was sticking out his butt in a pile of coats that he had just taken off on the bed, hurriedly rummaging for something. Ling Li approached him and asked him what was wrong, Su Jingyang shook all of his clothes, sure enough there was nothing. He said: "My identity card is lost!"

Signing the agreement tomorrow will still require that thing, what should he do if he had dropped it! It would take a few more months to get one again.

Su Jingyang put on his clothes and planned to go out to look for it. Ling Li wanted to go out with him, but he couldn't leave Ah-Xuan alone.

Ling Li lighted a rabbit lantern for Su Jingyang, which was something he picked up from the streets for Ah-Xuan to play with after a certain year of a lantern festival.

Ling Li put on his clothes and sent Su Jingyang to the gate of the yard, still not at ease: "It's a dim lamp, can you go out alone? You can wait until tomorrow morning, I'll go with you to find it then."

"It should be nearby." Su Jingyang fixed his hair, he carried the rabbit lantern that was warm and bright and said to Ling Li: "You go in, I'll look for it where I think I dropped it, I'll come back if I can't find it."

Ling Li still didn't go in, he watched him leave by the door until his figure melted into the darkness and he couldn't see him clearly anymore, he sighed silently and closed the gate gently.

As soon as Ling Li turned around he found a figure standing in the yard, he was startled and his face turned pale, "Who?!"

"It's me." The slender black figure approached, bearing a clear and familiar voice. Ling Li recognised that it was Ah-Yi. He was still a bit surprised in his heart. He didn't know why he suddenly appeared in his yard.

Ah-Yi walked in front of Ling Li, the young man's picturesque outline looked a little blurry under the moonlight, Ling Li noticed that he was turning his head and looking around, he hesitatingly asked: "You..."

"I just heard your conversation, where did he go? Where's Su Jingyang?"

Ling Li froze for a while because of his phrase 'I heard your conversation', "He lost his identity card and went out to look for it."

"He's went out at this hour?!" Ah-Yi's expression suddenly sank after hearing his words, as if he couldn't believe it. He gritted his teeth silently: "He went out in the middle of the night to find an identification card? Is his brain functioning? Is he so eager to attract misfortune?"

"He said it might've fallen nearby, so..."

"I've already told him he's stupid, yet he's still not convinced." Ah-Yi sneered, he reached out and handed a rectangular bronze medal to Ling Li. Ling Li was stunned after receiving it. The lighting wasn't very good, but he still vaguely saw the word "Su" engraved on it.

This should be Su Jingyang's identity card, but how could it be in this person's hands?

Ling Li didn't have time to think so much at the moment. He gripped it in his hands tightly, ready to call Su Jingyang back, but Ah-Yi stopped him: "You should watch Ah-Xuan at home, I'll go."

After that, without waiting for any reaction from Ling Li, he strode out with the wind.

Ah-Yi used qinggong² and soon arrived at the place where Su Jingyang fell earlier. This was where he picked up Su Jingyang's identity card, he had probably dropped it during his fall.

At that time, he called out Su Jingyang and wanted to give it back, but the bastard who couldn't differentiate between good or bad had oiled the soles of his feet and ran faster than anyone else!

"Where could've he gone to find this stupid thing?" Ah-Yi was a martial artist and vision at night was much better than ordinary people, but even though he looked around, he still didn't even see Su Jingyang's figure. His brows frowned, a kind of unspeakable irritability and depression gradually rose in his heart.

Nothing should've happened, right?

That guy had a wooden head, he probably didn't even think of the possibility that it had been picked up by him, right? And he was stubborn, bad-tempered, and hard-headed. He would definitely not give up on finding it until dawn, he had just had to run around in the middle of the night! The more Ah-Yi searched, the more irritable he got, and the more he searched, the more hostile he felt. He even went over the walls of several houses to check for any unusual movements.

In the end he found a tall drunk man in an alley, the drunkard leaned against the wall, holding an azure shirt tightly in his arms, it was exactly the same as the one Su Jingyang wore in the daytime. It was originally neat and tidy, but not it was crumpled and messy.

When Ah-Yi saw this scene, he only felt his brain exploded. His eyes were fierce and he kicked the drunk man's body with a lift of his foot. His voice was gloomy and icy, "——The owner of this dress, where are they?!"

The drunkard groaned painfully when he was kicked, but he was so drunk that he couldn't even open his eyes.

Ah-Yi was upset and kicked him again. This time he didn't show mercy. The drunkard was kicked from a sleep to a coma. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth and his body fell limply.

Ah-Yi glanced coldly at him for a while, there was still no traces of Su Jingyang nearby. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and his breath became heavier.

He just felt that something was being squeezed heavily in his chest and he was about to burst open. Where did you go? ?

Ah-Yi finally found Su Jingyang by a small lake. Su Jingyang was washing the clothes on his upper body while cursing. Under the hazy moonlight, his shortish black hair fell on his shoulders and his white and thin back seemed to be coated with a layer of soft light. There was also a rabbit lantern with its fire extinguished beside him.

The corners of Ah-Yi's mouth were tight, and the light in his eyes was frightening. He gritted his teeth and stared at his back, he felt so mad when he saw him still acting so stupidly! He'd been looking for him for so long, but he's just here just rubbing his clothes leisurely! ! !

Su Jingyang still washed his dirty clothes without realizing anything. He originally came out and looked around the place where he fell during the day and was ready to go home if he didn't find it, but he didn't expect to be so unlucky. He just happened to run into a drunkard who chased him desperately to molest him. The guy was tall and his strength was commendable. Su Jingyang was robbed of his clothes, his butt touched, and tossed all over! ! !

His base coat was made by Ling Li, Su Jingyang couldn't bear to lose it, but when he got it back Su Jingyang was afraid of making the house smell, so he searched for a while and found this small lake, ready to wash it before going back. He shivered with cold while washing his clothes, and at the same time he remembered the disgusting touch of drunkard who touched his buttocks. He wanted to wash his buttocks as well.

Although he had given up because he was afraid of the cold, he still felt very panicked. Damn, Su Jingyang tilted his nose, how come he's always encountering such awkward situations since coming to this world!

After washing up, Su Jingyang held his wet clothes and stood up with the rabbit lantern in one hand, he wanted to run home quickly to get into a warm bed.

As a result, when he turned his head, Su Jingyang saw a black-clothed young man who looked to have been standing there for quite a while. His face was originally handsome with white teeth and red lips. At this time, there was a cold sullen gloom in his expression, his lips were pressed and he didn't say a word. He just stared at him. With the cold environment by the lake in the middle of the night, it was like a ghost suddenly appeared, Su Jingyang's body shivered suddenly and his soul almost flew away. He shouted out several times, waiting for the person to react. When he saw that it was Ah-Yi, he widened his eyes and exclaimed: "Y-y-you, why are you here??!!!"

_______

Notes:

1- He's taking about if he let the person who made him lose money and injured his employee go without a scratch, his reputation would plummet

2- A martial art technique that can make you fly really high/far really fast