The Villain Loaded My System

Chapter 36

The results of letting the Great Demon kiss him without resisting were clear; the risk value dropped straight to 40 points.

This world was much smoother than the last one.

Gu Xiyu raised his head to look at the person who was gazing at him with downcast eyes and said in a calm tone: ” Your father would definitely be very angry if he found out what you’ve done.”

Lu Ziqing’s fingers brushed against his cheek, then he lowered his head and gave Gu Xiyu’s lips a feathery kiss before he asked with curved eyes, “Why would he get angry?”

“Since he found me a little mom, that little mom… is of course up for stealing.”

Gu Xiyu couldn’t hold back anymore, he slapped him on the head, and after lifting his foot to kick him away, he asked, “What strange things have you been reading lately?”

Lu Ziqing fell on Gu Xiyu’s bed, so he wasn’t hurt. He remained sitting on the bed and said, “It’s nothing; I just searched some ‘Little Mom literature’ and gained some insight into the many things I can do with my little mother. ”

*Little Mom literature are novels in which the male protagonist’s father marries a young and beautiful young mother (stepmother), and then the male protagonist develops feelings for the young mother and eventually steals her.

“……” It didn’t sound like something educational.

Lu Ziqing added: “It’s a pity that Little Mom doesn’t sleep in the same room as my father, otherwise, I could try sleeping between you and my father in the middle of the night……”

Gu Xiyu couldn’t stand listening any further. He just threw him out of his room this time and locked the door to prevent him from entering.

He should have just killed the rebellious boy on the first day he crossed over.

Lu Ziqing was kicked out, but he was all smiles, and only after returning to his room did he pick up his phone to reply to his teammates who had been texting him for a while.

Big GG: [@azuresky, hurry up and explain, or report that your account has been hacked! ]

Azuresky: […]

MUTE: [link]

MUTE: [Guess what I saw?]

The group was quiet for a few minutes.

Then there were a bunch more messages.

Pancakes and fruits are super delicious: [ah, he really must have been hacked. ]

The wolf-herding sheep: [ also think the account has been hacked. ]

Big CG: [I’ll call customer service right now.]

Azuresky: […]

Azuresky: [I’m on.]

Big GG: [?]

The group members lined up with a bunch of question marks before finally speaking up. [The one who usually kills randomly, never says a word in the whole round, never buffs his teammates, and doesn’t care if his teammates die, the ruthless wild king, @azuresky, why don’t you explain your weird behavior to that anchor ]

Big GG: [ Even if you say you have been possessed, I can accept it. ]

Azuresky: [What is there to explain?]

Azuresky: [That’s my brother, can’t I treat him well?]

Jie:[ If you hadn’t said he was your brother, I would have thought he was your girlfriend.]

A few seconds later, Lu Ziqing typed down a final sentence: [Why not a boyfriend?]

BIG GG: [?]

MUTE: [?]

Sheep herding wolves: [?]

Jie: [……?]

Lu Ziqing exited the chat interface with satisfaction.

———

In the evening, the family had just finished their dinner when an unexpected guest came to the house.

Gu Xiyu looked at the middle-aged man dressed in a suit that Lu Mingren greeted and escorted to the living room, and asked the system in his mind, “Who is this?”

[Lu Ziqing’s uncle, called Zhou Ci.]

Zhou Tianyi’s brother? Why did he suddenly visit?

Both Lu Mingren and Lu Ziqing reacted calmly, being neither cold nor warm towards him, and Auntie Zhang skillfully brought cups of tea and placed them in front of them.

Zhou Ci sat down with a few bags of things and smiled, “It’s Auntie Zhang who understands my preferences.”

Auntie Zhang stood at the side, smiling coyly.

Gu Xiyu asked the system again, “Does Zhou Ci come over often?”

“Sort of, he has business dealings with… Lu Mingren and the Lu family. So even though Lu Mingren and Zhou Tianyi separated, his friendship with the Lu family is still intact.” The system’s voice was still mechanical, devoid of emotion.

The Zhou family, from which Zhou Tianyi came, was originally considered to be a powerful family, and was close to the Lu family. Lu Mingren and Zhou Tianyi were close to each other when they were growing up, which is why a marriage was forcibly arranged in the first place. Zhou Tianyi was unhappy in her marriage, especially since she was set up by the Lu family mainly to have a child with Lu Mingren, and she became even more depressed after giving birth.

In order to get rid of her miserable life, she would threaten Lu Mingren with the child in exchange for a divorce. Lu Mingren loved her, but seeing how miserable she was, he finally chose to let her go. The Zhou family also told Zhou Tianyi that if she insisted on being with Xu Guangyuan, who was from an ordinary family, they would have to break off their relationship with her.

Zhou Tianyi resolutely chose the latter and never went back to the Zhou family, even though her life was ordinary and difficult.

As things stand now, her relationship with Xu Guangyuan was quite stable, so the person who suffered the most from this divorce was probably the innocent Lu Ziqing.

“I haven’t come over for a while, and Ziqing has grown quite taller.” Zhou Ci smiled as he placed a pile of gifts on the coffee table in the living room, “Uncle doesn’t know what kids your age like, so I could only prepare a few red envelopes for you, I hope you don’t mind the small amount, haha.”

Lu Ziqing didn’t refuse, and he reached out to take them, saying, “Thank you, uncle.”

After a pause, he added, “Kids my age just like older brothers.”

Gu Xiyu: “……”

Zhou Ci froze at these words and subconsciously looked at Gu Xiyu beside him before laughing and saying, “Hey, I forgot that your family had a happy occasion recently. I was worried that the atmosphere in your family wouldn’t be too good, but looking at Ziqing’s reaction, your relationship should be okay, haha.”

A business smile curled up on Lu Mingren’s lips: “Mr Gu and Ziqing are close in age, so they get along well.”

Zhou Ci was warm towards Gu Xiyu: “I’ve just returned from abroad and brought you some food as a token of my appreciation. In fact, I’ve more or less heard about you, and no matter how I put it, we’ve wronged you.”

Gu Xiyu wanted to say that it was okay and that he was now divorced from Lu Mingren. But the matter could not be said, Zhou Ci was simply too enthusiastic that he could not even bring it up, and in the end, it was Lu Ziqing who took over, saying, “My uncle runs a big company and also has more money than he can spend, so don’t be polite with him.”

“…… thanks.” Was this the daily life of a rich family?

Zhou Ci and Lu Mingren’s conversation was mostly related to their business cooperation, which neither he nor Lu Ziqing could understand nor were interested in, but because Zhou Ci was a guest, they had to stay and keep him company.

They happened to be talking about some kind of resort and commercial street development, and Zhou Ci’s expression suddenly became helpless: “Yes, we are now considering that piece of land on the edge of the city. It’s the perfect place to combine a resort with a commercial street, but I heard that the land has been passed down for several years. Someone tried to negotiate before, but unfortunately, the other party didn’t agree. Whoever can take that piece of land first will be able to develop this project steadily.”

Lu Mingren frowned: “But if you want to buy that piece of land, isn’t it expensive?”

“Oh, yes, that’s why everyone is waiting, and watching. That land is in a strategic location, perfect for a big project, so many want to take advantage of the situation.”

Gu Xiyu sat silently on the sofa, listening to their conversation, while Lu Ziqing was playing with his phone next to him.

Lu Ziqing was looking up computer accessories like keyboards and headphones, and every now and then, he would pass the screen to him and ask, “Does Little Mom think it looks good?”

Gu Xiyu’s reply was perfunctory.

“It’s okay.”

“Not bad.”

“Quite good.”

In the end, Lu Ziqing picked a cold-looking keyboard, saying, “I think it’s quite similar to Little Mom.”

“It looks a bit dull compared to the other fancy ones,” Lu Ziqing said, leaning towards him again and continuing in a low voice, “but when you use it, you’ll find that it’s actually quite good in terms of performance.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Zhou Tianyi and Lu were still around, Gu Xiyu would have kicked Lu Ziqing and then punched him in the face.

This rebellious teenager’s mouth was really flaring up.

Lu Ziqing teased Gu Xiyu so much that Saturday and even managed to eat his tofu, so on Sunday he was miserably pinned to his desk and the amount of work he had to review doubled. The frightening thing was that even though Gu Xiyu didn’t seem to know much about the workings of the world at times, he could always answer questions as if he had a library inside his head, so Lu Ziqing couldn’t even find a chance to mess with him.

However, thanks to Gu Xiyu’s blessing, Lu Ziqing did perform much better at school, and even improved his results in the test exam, taking the top spot in his class.

Although it was the top place in the worst class, Gu Xiyu estimated that his ranking should be in the top two hundred based on his results.

Because Lu Ziqing’s grades had improved, Gu Xiyu gave him more leisure time to play games and would invite him whenever he was live streaming on Saturdays and Sundays.

This day, Lu Ziqing came back from school with a piece of paper, and simply told him, “The school is having a parent-teacher meeting next week.”

He didn’t directly ask him to go, but Gu Xiyu instantly understood.

Given Lu Ziqing’s family situation, it was likely that no one had ever attended the parent-teacher meetings during his school years.

Gu Xiyu read the content on the paper and returned it to him, saying, “Okay, I will go.”

Lu Ziqing smiled brightly, then suddenly lowered his head and kissed him on the mouth before he could react, saying afterward, “Sure enough, little mom tastes great.”

Gu Xiyu stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

Not only did Lu Ziqing not flinch, he even asked, “Little mom, when can I do something more outrageous to you?”

“?”

Gu Xiyu pondered for a moment before he probably understood what he meant by this statement and replied with a frown, “I am now your elder and your guardian, don’t even think about it.”

Lu Ziqing, however, always managed to grasp the point of another angle in his reply, and there was a glimmer in his eyes: “So you mean that as long as you are no longer my nominal guardian, I can do that?”

Gu Xiyu went silent and did not answer.

He was thinking about things. Thinking about why he suddenly had to negotiate with his target while on his mission.

[Didn’t you already divorce Lu Mingren?]

Gu Xiyu paused and answered the system, “We divorced, but I don’t want the target to know for now.”

“Have you seen how much he can get away with even before knowing something like that?”

[…]

Lu Ziqing was reassured, and his heart was finally at ease.

“Good night, little mom.”

Gu Xiyu sighed helplessly as he watched Lu Ziqing suddenly become well-behaved and exit the room.

Forget it, with the Great Demon’s personality, it was useless even if he refused, it might even lead to the risk value increasing again. He’ll just take one step at a time for now.

After Lu Ziqing left, Gu Xiyu began to prepare for his class assignment. When he was sorting out his materials, he accidentally found the brochure about studying abroad in his school bag. He held them for a while, but finally put them at the bottom of the drawer.

It was just as well, it would be after Lu Ziqing had finished his college entrance exams.

After all, it was the original owner’s wish, and something that Xie Chunhua would want to see. He had to work hard to grasp this opportunity no matter what.

This was another reason why he didn’t want Lu Ziqing to know that he and Lu Mingren had divorced. If they did develop any additional relationship, Lu Ziqing would probably throw a tantrum if he knew he had to leave him behind to study abroad.

It would be even more difficult if Lu Ziqing tried to stop him, he didn’t want the situation to develop to that point.

——

The day of the parents’ meeting arrived in a flash. Gu Xiyu had a class that morning, so he first rushed to the university and didn’t follow Lu Ziqing directly to his school.

There were many students accompanied by their parents at the school gate, and they were even touring around the campus. In previous years, Lu Ziqing would have felt bitter upon seeing such scenes and would either have skipped the event or run to some corner of the school to play games.

It felt …… pretty good to have someone with him this year.

This kind of mood made the usual sound of birds chirping, which sounded particularly disturbing when he was wandering around the school, pleasant to the ear.

It wasn’t until he checked the time on his phone for the nth time, thinking that Gu Xiyu should have finished class and was about to pick him up at the front door, that his phone suddenly received a text message.

It was one of his fox friends that he hadn’t hung out with for some time.

[Big brother, are you under a lot of pressure from being forced to study recently? A few of us brothers have a surprise for you!]

This message was immediately followed by a few pictures.

Lu Ziqing clicked on them and was stunned on the spot.

The person in the picture was Xu Chengxuan, who looked like he was stuck in the school’s utility room. His neat and clean clothes were already covered in dirt and dust, and his whole body looked extremely wretched. The expression on his face was fierce, even though he had received many injuries, his eyes still carried a natural coldness and murderous aura, full of arrogance and defiance.

[Haven’t you always hated this kid, Xu Chengxuan? We just happened to meet him, the number one student in the grade is so arrogant that we wanted to teach him a lesson.]

Lu Ziqing’s face instantly sank as he turned on his heels and ran towards the place in the photo.

“Fuck! This bunch of bogeymen!”

When Lu Ziqing arrived at the utility room, he grabbed the short, skinny boy who had sent him the message, raised his hand, and punched him in the stomach.

He tugged at the other guy’s collar and asked in a deep voice, “Who told you to make your own decisions?”

Technically speaking, this friend was somewhat related to him. His father was his uncle, and he was born a few months after him, so they were cousins. He didn’t like to study, and he liked to flaunt his status as a child of the Lu family and laze around every day.

To rebel against his father and mother, he followed their style and didn’t care much about what they did. After Gu Xiyu appeared, he stayed away from them because of the gradual adjustment of his routine. He never thought that this group of people would pick today to cause trouble.

Lu Ziyan, who was caught and punched, was dumbfounded and asked back with some irritation, “What? It was you who said that you didn’t like Xu Chengxuan and said we should beat him up once we see him!”

Lu Ziqing had indeed said this, but now-

“Later, didn’t I say you should leave him alone?” He pushed the boy away in annoyance and looked back at Xu Chengxuan, who was standing silently in the corner staring at him, his heart full of frustration.

The matter inevitably ended up in the Academic Affairs Office.

Zhou Tianyi accompanied Xu Chengxuan to the school early in the morning, so when she arrived at the school office and saw his miserable state and found that Lu Ziqing was also there, she rushed forward and pushed him without saying a word.

Her eyes were slightly red: “If you have any grievances, just come at me; Chengxuan is innocent too; why do you have to do this to him?”

Lu Ziqing’s eyelids trembled a few times, but his mind was not on Zhou Tianyi, but on Gu Xiyu, who had followed her into the faculty office not far behind her.

When he and Gu Xiyu first met, he had seen him bully Xu Chengxuan and knew that he didn’t like him.

Would he be the same as Zhou Tianyi, who assumed it was his idea straight away and became so disappointed with him?

For no apparent reason, Lu Ziqing felt the fear of losing something for the first time. Even when Gu Xiyu walked up to him, he, who was usually as clever-tongued, suddenly didn’t know how to speak.

Until Gu Xiyu asked him, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Lu Ziqing pursed his lips and clenched his hands into fists at his side. “Would you believe me if I told you?”

Because of his image, it was not the first time he had been slandered. At first, he would defend himself until he realized that no one, including his relatives, would believe him, and then when something like that happened again, he would simply keep quiet, not minding the fact that he had such unfair charges against him.

Gu Xiyu said back, “I just know that if you don’t say anything, I can’t even believe it, even if I wanted to.”

Lu Ziqing was silent for a long time before he said, in a hoarse voice, “I didn’t ask them to do those things.”

“I admit that I did have a grievance against Xu Chengxuan in the past, and I did bully him. Although I still don’t see eye to eye with him now, I haven’t targeted him since you appeared.”

Lu Ziqing didn’t raise his head to look at Gu Xiyu the whole time, and whispered, “I have always listened to …… Brother.”

Xu Chengxuan stood a short distance away looking at him, then his eyes fell back on Zhou Tianyi, who was gazing at Lu Ziqing in a daze, and a flash of doubt passed through his lowered eyes.

Lu Ziqing waited for a while without getting Gu Xiyu’s answer, and just when he couldn’t resist the urge to look up at his expression, he was suddenly patted lightly on the head.

Gu Xiyu’s expression was still indifferent, like that of a robot with little emotion, but there was a very light smile under his eyes, every trace of it full of gentleness toward him alone.

“Got it.” Gu Xiyu’s voice was very soft, but when it fell on Lu Ziqing’s ears, it was heavier than all the words of comfort he could have said.

From the time he was born until he grew up, he lived a lonely life, as if he were abandoned by the whole world. Even though companions would appear in his life, they could not erase the feeling at the bottom of his heart.

It was only now that he felt that he had finally found the light that could dispel this loneliness in the long darkness.

He once again felt as if he had been stabbed deep into his heart, but it was different from the suffocating pain he had felt the last time.

It was as if the wait was over, or rather….had found what he had been looking for for so long.

He could not help but feel aggrieved, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

[[Target’s risk value is -5, the current risk value is 35.]]

The automatic notification from the system passed by in a flash, and Gu Xiyu only noticed Lu Ziqing reaching out to hug him as he unconsciously murmured in his ear, “Why did you only come now ……”

These words were like a key, unlocking a shackle that bound his soul and giving him a great shock.

[[Warning!! Signs of fluctuation have been detected in the host’s soul state. The host’s mission has not yet been completed, in order to re-stabilize the host’s soul, mandatory hibernation protection has been activated –]]

A moment before Gu Xiyu lost consciousness, he saw an image that had appeared countless times in the fragmented memories of his dreams.

He was bathed in blood, and could not feel the pain of the wounds on his body.

In front of him was a high wall that carried a high degree of danger. But his attention was always on a more distant place, separated by the high wall and the smoke and fire of the explosion. No matter how many times he experienced such dreams, his consciousness was always fixed on what looked like a special prison.

He never understood why.

And this time, he heard a voice coming from there.

It was a voice desperately screaming out his name.