11 1.11

While Chen Yu was enjoying the concert and Zhao Cui was enjoying holding Shao Li, Madam Liu was in her car, barely suppressing her frenzy. As soon as she caught her breath, she called her older brother, He Qiang.

After Madam Liu defied her family to marry her husband, her disappointed parents gradually became distant and reticent, but her older brother continued to dote on her. It was also He Qiang who usually helped her to get rid of her husband's mistresses.

"Meimei, why are you on the phone? Aren't you at the concert?"

Hearing the warm voice, Madam Liu sobbed, "Qiang-ge..."

He Qiang startled and pushed his wife away to sit up in bed. His sister had always maintained her composure, she rarely displayed any emotions even when handling her slag husband's affairs. What could have upset her so much?

"Is it your husband? Did he make trouble outside again?" He Qiang clenched his fists. If it was that worthless trash, he'd teach him a lesson this time no matter what his sister wanted.

Madam Liu glanced around the parking lot furtively before lowering her voice. "Qiang-ge, you've heard about what happened to Yaoyao, right?"

Confused, He Qiang grunted in acknowledgment.

"I ran into the one who was behind what happened, that Sh-Shao Li, and—" Madam Liu shuddered.

"And what? Did he do something to you?"

Whispering, Madam Liu finished, "And he looked exactly like that child we dealt with long ago! That five-year-old child!"

He Qiang reflexively shook his head. "Meimei, that boy died so many years ago. Remember how we have the film of how the car hit him? There's no way this Shao Li is the same person."

Afraid that her brother wouldn't believe her, Madam Liu restrained her panic and calmly said, "Qiang-ge, we have to make sure that they both died on the spot. After all, we didn't take care of the bodies ourselves, right?"

He Qiang still didn't believe such a coincidence could happen, but to reassure his sister, he promised, "Alright, well, I'll see if it's possible from Shao Li's orphanage records and then talk to someone in the mercenary team we used that time."

Relieved, Madam Liu's suppressed tears burst out. She choked out, "Thank you Qiang-ge. And...if it turns out that boy managed to stay alive..."

He Qiang chuckled. "It goes without saying that if the job wasn't finished, we should get it done."

---

Several hours later, Shao Li swayed out of the concert hall, drunk on the music. Zhao Cui carefully guided the boy into the passenger seat of his car, smiling at the dreamy, glittering eyes. His baby really couldn't be left alone.

By the time Chen Yu woke up from his daze, they had arrived in front of his apartment.

Recollecting that Madam Liu had probably made some trouble out of agitation, he grew eager to check, so he casually pecked Zhao Cui's chin again and leapt out of the car.

Abandoned by his Shao Shao, Zhao Cui's brooding stare followed after the cheerfully disappearing figure, but he comforted himself with the thought that tonight the boy had voluntarily kissed him twice.

Anticipating the day he could coax Shao Li into being hidden from any prying eyes, Zhao Cui rushed back to his hotel to watch what Shao Li was doing.

But a marvellous concern arose along the way. What if his baby agreed to live with him but his habitat wasn't ready for him?

As expected, the problem rebounded to the hapless assistant. "Ming Wu, has a house with a music room been prepared?"

The bewildered childhood friend who couldn't understand what this tyrant was thinking: "...Almost done, just waiting for the soundproofing."

The memory of Shao Shao being embarrassed in front of his driver flashed across Zhao Cui's mind. "Insulate every room. And make sure the instruments are the best out there."

"Soundproof all the rooms..." Ming Wu mouthed speechlessly. Was his boss trying to make him quit?

Zhao Cui nodded, issued a terse "keep everything running for a few more days," and hung up.

Ming Wu flailed around on his bed. What 'keep everything running'? He wanted to quit!

In the meantime, Chen Yu had effortlessly routed Zhao Cui's spy cameras to show a video loop of himself playing the pieces he'd heard tonight so that he could freely examine what he'd caught.

En, the phone call between the siblings was recorded, He Qiang had obtained the orphanage documents Chen Yu had previously modified to hint at Shao Li's origins, and the argument between He Qiang and the mercenary leader about what happened to the boy's corpse was progressing nicely.

Fast-forwarding through He Qiang and Madam Liu's conversation, Chen Yu was somewhat surprised. Hm, this He Qiang truly cared for his sister. Oh well, he shrugged. It was a pity he'd made the mistake of trying to kill Chen Yu.

Satisfied that the game could finally progress, Chen Yu turned to Zhao Cui's files. When he'd hacked in last time, he'd noticed that Zhao Cui seemed to be moving to crush the Liu family slowly and painfully.

Madam Liu had thought that other people were distancing themselves because of Liu Yao's scandal, but the more critical reason was that Zhao Jia had signalled that the Liu family should be cut down. Unbeknownst to Madam Liu or her husband, all their business partners had already found replacements for them.

Chen Yu actually didn't have any bad feelings towards Shao Li's biological father.

In his opinion, the intermittent care the original owner had received until he was five years old and the nonchalance towards his ostensible death balanced out rather well.

To this man's indifference, Chen Yu would only respond in kind. Of course, this also meant that he wouldn't step in regardless of what actions Zhao Cui took.

Tuning back into He Qiang's discussion with the underground group head, Chen Yu found that they'd settled on having the boy being handled as per the original deal. Considering that this Shao Li was in the public eye right now, they decided to wait a few weeks so that his death wouldn't cause a fuss. At that time, they'd send someone in.

Chen Yu grinned and stopped listening before the details of the attack were finalized.

Being informed would let him defend himself, but that would make this play so boring.

Setting aside the computer, Chen Yu contacted the system for the first time since the plotline was transmitted.

[Please be aware that, as in previous missions, the system cannot interfere very much in the task worlds.]

Lounging in bed, Chen Yu waved his hand. "Don't worry, I don't need you to do anything except answer a few questions. First of all, how's the task progress?"

The system calculated for a few seconds. [Task progress is at 73%. Would the host like a breakdown?]

"No," Chen Yu rolled his eyes. "Obviously it's mostly from Liu Yao's hatred and the popularity of Xiao BaoBao."

[...The system wishes the host happy travels as always.]

"Yes yes okay. One more question. If I fill the mission quota, how long can I stay in this world?"

Following a brief search, the system recited, [According to regulations, the host may choose to leave the task world at any time once the mission quota has been met. If the host chooses to stay, he is able to live out the natural lifespan in that world.]

Satisfied, Chen Yu shooed the system away and rolled over.

Meanwhile, Zhao Cui sat in his hotel suite anxiously gazing at the monitor which showed his baby playing music ceaselessly, not realizing that Shao Li had long fallen asleep.

Chen Yu passed the next few weeks comfortably.

With his identity as Xiao BaoBao revealed, Shao Li bashfully received praise from everyone in the academy, indulged in music, and frequently talked on the phone with Zhao Cui, who had eventually returned to Z Country to manage the backlog of work.

Occasionally, Chen Yu would amuse himself by observing Liu Yao hiding in her home and Feng Min failing to find a new job.

He Qiang had told Madam Liu of the plan to kill Shao Li, and, apprehensive that her daughter would stupidly cause trouble and bring on suspicion if she wasn't informed, Madam Liu had in turn relayed the information to Liu Yao. Needless to say, Chen Yu had obligingly preserved these exchanges.

Watching Liu Yao throwing things and cursing Shao Li, Chen Yu's lips curled. Since Liu Yao was so impatient, he'd take her out of there soon.

As for the former headmaster, he had long been deserted by Liu Yao, so there was no communication between the two to incriminate Feng Min in this murder attempt.

But Chen Yu hadn't intended to use the law on the second male lead anyway.

For a self-made man like Feng Min who didn't have a strong family, his pride depended on his talent and willpower. If he was sent to jail, he could convince himself that his inability to recover was because he didn't have the opportunity. But if he was free to look for a position in the outside world, every rejection and dismissal would chip away at his self-esteem and leave him with no excuse.

As for how Chen Yu could guarantee that this tolerably shrewd person wouldn't be able to rise again, it was because he'd planted a virus that automatically informed any prospective employers Feng Min was interested in of his past. The positions Feng Min applied for had plenty of candidates, so one with a flaw like this would be directly disregarded.

Since the news broke disclosing who Xiao BaoBao was, several media and entertainment companies had been reaching out to Shao Li for interviews, contracts, and so on, but Chen Yu consistently declined.

To begin with, the original owner had aspired not to be famous but to teach and share his love of music. Combined with Chen Yu's laziness and Zhao Cui's possessiveness, it was simply too much trouble to develop as a celebrity if there was no use for it.

To brush up Xiao BaoBao's popularity and make the upcoming murder attempt newsworthy, however, Chen Yu did post one more music video under his anonymous account three days before the scheduled assault.

As expected, He Qiang, unable to delay anymore, ordered the mercenary group to continue despite the risk.

The evening before the day of the attack, Zhao Cui leaned against his office desk with a shot of whiskey and pulled up the surveillance monitor to confirm that Shao Shao was awake.

When the phone flashed Zhao Cui's name, the boy nervously rubbed his hands on his pants and sat up straight, a faint blush rising from his delicate collarbones to his cheeks. Picking up the phone, he cleared his throat, showed a shy smile and softly answered, "Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Cui's heart nearly burst from his baby's cuteness, and he reached out to stroke the image on the computer.

In a low, hoarse voice, he asked, "Shao Shao, how can you call your lover Mr. Zhao? Why don't you try addressing me as gege?"

On the screen, Shao Li's eyes widened, and he curled his petite body around a pillow, hiding his red little face in the cushion.

Zhao Cui smiled at his embarrassment, but he insisted, "Shao Shao, let me hear you, baby."

Seeming to struggle, the boy peeked out between his silky hair. After some hesitation, a watery voice whispered, "G-gege," then Shao Li immediately buried his face back into the pillow.

Out of sight, Chen Yu gritted his teeth and bit his tongue. What 'gege,' he'd lived tens of thousands of years more than Zhao Cui, okay?

Zhao Cui laughed happily. "En, Shao Shao, that's good. Make sure you address me like that, I won't answer to anything else."

The two spoke for a while, then Zhao Cui noticed the time and said, "Alright baby, I'll see you in a couple days, tell me if you want to go anywhere. Don't play any more and go to bed now, alright?"

Shao Li agreed obediently and ended the call.

Well, they'd probably meet sooner than Zhao Cui expected.