Chapter 99: You Promised Me

Chapter 99: You Promised Me

Gazing at the smile on Ye Leyao's lips, Bai Yu blinked and asked, "What do you plan to do next?"

Ye Leyao didn't answer Bai Yu but instead asked, "Did you exchange your voice with the Time and Space Bureau?"

Bai Yu smiled slightly and nodded.

The Time and Space Bureau's supervision over systems wasn't particularly strict; one could even say they were exceptionally well-treated.

Not only did they have fixed rest days every week, but there were also various holidays.

Even when a system wanted to detach from the main system and venture into the human world, it was permitted.

However, in return, the system had to pay a certain price—

Firstly, the main system would strip the system of all its abilities. After all, for most of the human world, systems represented absolute advanced civilizations.

This regulation by the main system was to maintain peace and stability in the small worlds.

Secondly, it would reclaim all the system's points.

But this was secondary. Since they had decided to live as humans, they indeed shouldn't possess extraordinary items beyond this world anymore.

Lastly, it would recover one system ability.

The main system created the systems, and now that a system could no longer serve him, he would reclaim an ability from the system.

During his long career, Ye Leyao had encountered several systems whose abilities had been reclaimed.

Some chose their arms, others their memories, but the majority of systems didn't choose their sight.

Bai Yu gestured, "The inability to speak is really nothing. As long as I can stay by my host's side, I feel quite happy."

Ye Leyao recalled the man he had met several times before and sincerely nodded.

Seeing this, Bai Yu asked again, "So you will succeed this time, right?"

Ye Leyao smiled and said, "Yes."

It had to work.

Throughout the long years of working for the Time and Space Bureau, Ye Leyao had never stopped, even when utterly exhausted.

He had been waiting for today.

And before this, Ye Leyao had made ample preparations; this was his last chance.

To make the main system recognize Ye Leyao as "Qin Yao," Ye Leyao chose to reset the timeline thirteen years ago for the fourth time.

Ye Leyao used shrinking potion to transform himself into a five-year-old child and implanted memories into the Huo family, becoming their adopted son, Ye Leyao.

Moreover, to minimize the impact of the previous three resets on the Huo family and Qin Yao and prevent Qin Yao from recognizing him, Ye Leyao sealed off part of Qin Yao's memory, blurring his recollection of Ye Leyao's appearance.

Following that, Ye Leyao wrote two programs.

One program was to seal his own memory, leaving only a program key for Bai Yu to find in the future.

The other program was the "Heart Voice Program." Once the critical plot of the small world was triggered, Ye Leyao would "suddenly recall" a segment of the "memory" he had written beforehand.

At the moment Ye Leyao possessed the "memory of crossing novels," the story of the fourth time reset began.

The raindrops that had been hanging heavy in the air finally fell, and a few people nearby let out small exclamations as they were caught off guard by the sudden downpour.

Everything proceeded according to Ye Leyao's plan, but there were always unexpected occurrences.

Ye Leyao's gaze fell on Huo Yan, who was hurrying over under an umbrella in the distance, and the corner of his mouth curved. "Bai Yu, thank you."

Bai Yu shook his head and gestured, "Then I'll be going first."

His lover had already arrived.

Ye Leyao nodded and watched the two figures leave.

Huo Yan strode into the pavilion and frowned upon entering. "You saw it was about to rain, why didn't you come back earlier?"

Ye Leyao tilted his head and blinked. "I just wanted to wait for Second Brother to pick me up."

Huo Yan snorted. "Were you waiting for me to pick you up or for Qin Yao to pick you up?"

Ye Leyao smiled without answering.

Huo Yan didn't say anything more and shook off the water droplets from the umbrella. "Let's go. Qin Yao is still busy."

Actually, Qin Yao had finished his work, but Huo Yan simply didn't like Qin Yao. Seeing the torrential rain, he felt increasingly uneasy for some reason, so he stopped Qin Yao and personally came to fetch Ye Leyao.

Ye Leyao didn't hesitate, nodded, and stood up. "Okay."

Huo Yan held the umbrella and led Ye Leyao towards the villa, asking as they walked, "The boy you were chatting with just now, is he the one we met at the resort before?"

"It's him," Ye Leyao said.

Huo Yan asked again, "Did you ask him what he wanted from you that day?"

Ye Leyao replied, "I did. He said he's my fan, and the note he wrote that day was also a line from an anime..."

Huo Yan understood. He wasn't very interested in this topic, so he changed the subject. "It's not early anymore. Mom and Dad just finished talking with Uncle Qin. It's time for us to go back."

Ye Leyao looked at him. "Isn't it raining heavily? Are we leaving now?"

"Of course." As Huo Yan said this, his brows furrowed slightly.

His intuition told him that they had to leave, and he had to take Ye Le Yao with him immediately.

Ye Le Yao nodded, not saying anything further.

It was Huo Yan who, after waiting for a long time, realized that Ye Le Yao beside him remained quiet. He looked at him in surprise, "Why are you so...?"

Ye Le Yao's face was all smiles. Hearing this, he tilted his head slightly, "Hmm? What is it, Second Brother?"

Huo Yan's brows knitted together.

Something wasn't right.

No, something was off.

Normally, wasn't Ye Le Yao always the one who loved to go against him?

Why was he silent today?

Huo Yan felt that something was amiss but couldn't pinpoint the issue for the moment. All he could do was frown and remain silent.

Looking at Ye Le Yao again, his expression seemed normal, showing no signs of abnormality.

Could it be that he was overthinking things?

While Huo Yan pondered, they had already returned to the villa.

Seeing the two enter, Qin Yao and the Huo family quickly approached them.

Upon seeing Qin Yao again, the corners of Ye Le Yao's mouth involuntarily curled up. Without thinking, he directly wrapped his arms around Qin Yao's neck and jumped onto him.

Qin Yao almost instinctively caught Ye Le Yao with his hands, then looked at him in surprise, "Yao Yao?"

Ye Le Yao chuckled softly, "What's wrong? Don't you want to hold me?"

Everyone present, including Huo Yan, the Huo family, and the surrounding guests, turned their gazes toward the two.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Qin Yao's ears visibly reddened at an alarming speed. He coughed awkwardly, "Yao Yao?"

Ye Le Yao found it amusing inside but refused to let go of Qin Yao.

Huo Yan's eyelids twitched as he watched, but Huo Ze held him back just in time, preventing him from stepping forward.

Huo Mama also spoke up at the right moment, "Their relationship is truly wonderful, it's really enviable."

The guests around them laughed upon hearing this.

"Yes."

"Well, well, let's leave this place to the young ones. Let's move to another spot and continue our chat."

The guests quickly dispersed, and Huo Papa and Huo Mama left hand in hand.

Huo Ze pulled on Huo Yan, who glared fiercely at Qin Yao before turning to Ye Le Yao, "I'll give you five more minutes. Hurry up and come over. We're leaving."

Ye Le Yao nodded repeatedly, "Got it, Second Brother, you can go ahead."

His time was limited, and he wanted to use this opportunity to have a good talk with Qin Yao.

Huo Yan finally started walking, but he kept looking back every few steps. It took him a full minute to cover the short distance before he finally left.

But just as he saw Huo Papa and Huo Mama, he heard Huo Papa say, "Alright, everyone's here. Let's go."

Huo Yan's eyes instantly widened, "Go where?"

Huo Papa replied, "Home, didn't you say we should hurry back? I've already asked the driver to bring the car around."

Huo Yan hastily explained, "When I said home, I meant going back with Ye Le Yao. How can we just leave him here?"

"What do you mean 'just leave him'?" Huo Mama glanced at Huo Yan, utterly speechless, "When you went to pick up Yao Yao earlier, Little Qin told me that he would send Yao Yao back later. He said we should just go back first."

Huo Yan immediately protested, "No way, we can't go back without him. We must take Ye Le Yao with us..."

Huo Mama couldn't bear to listen any longer and quickly turned to Huo Ze, "Quickly, take your second brother away before he really starts a fight with Little Qin..."

Huo Ze immediately agreed, "Okay!"

He then pushed Huo Yan, "Come on, come on, Second Brother, let's go back!"

"What am I going back for!" Huo Yan tried to walk away, "I'm taking Ye Le Yao with me..."

But Huo Papa and Huo Jing were quick to react, each grabbing one of his arms.

"I've already told you not to meddle in Little Yao's love life," Huo Papa said sternly. "You're like a stubborn bull! You never listen!"

Huo Jing also劝aded, "Little Yao will be reporting to school soon. He hasn't seen Qin Yao for quite some time. Give them some private space."

Huo Yan retorted, "How am I being stubborn? Wait... don't drag me away!"

Regardless of how much Huo Yan struggled, Huo Papa and Huo Jing wouldn't let go. Huo Ze even helped out from behind.

Huo Yan was truly outnumbered, and the remaining three men of the Huo family dragged him into the car.

The others quickly followed suit and got into the car. Then, Huo Mama gave the order, "Drive!"

Ignoring Huo Yan's objections, the extended luxury car of the Huo family slowly drove out of the Qin family villa.

On the other side, after all the guests had left, only Ye Le Yao and Qin Yao remained in the hall.

At that moment, Ye Leyao had buried his head in Qin Yao's embrace, but the storm outside grew fiercer, the pitter-patter of raindrops unceasing against the ground.

Ye Leyao wanted to cover his ears but didn't want to release his arms around Qin Yao, so he could only nuzzle against his neck to express his discontent.

Qin Yao sensed Ye Leyao's subtle mood and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like rainy days?"

Ye Leyao mumbled an affirmative response.

Qin Yao gently stroked Ye Leyao's hair before covering his ears with his warm palms.

Ye Leyao was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Qin Yao smiled without a word.

They nestled together, and Ye Leyao called out, "President Qin."

"Hmm?" Qin Yao responded softly, "What is it?"

Ye Leyao laughed. "Nothing, I just wanted to call out to you."

Qin Yao: "Hmm, so what was bothering you earlier?"

Ye Leyao hadn't expected Qin Yao to be so perceptive. He slightly pulled away from his embrace, tilted his head up, and scrutinized Qin Yao closely.

Qin Yao lowered his head slightly, his gaze falling into Ye Leyao's sparkling eyes.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he whispered, "Can't you tell me?"

Ye Leyao remained silent, merely gazing at Qin Yao quietly, as if by doing so, he could engrave every detail of him into his programming.

In truth, Ye Leyao was capable of achieving this level of detail.

During the long years of working at the Time and Space Bureau, whenever Ye Leyao missed Qin Yao, he would create a model of him using data.

As the most outstanding system at the bureau, the models he casually crafted were naturally flawless.

Unfortunately, the models were never truly Qin Yao.

So Ye Leyao had only done it once. In the centuries that followed, he never created another model, instead revisiting the data about Qin Yao repeatedly whenever he missed him.

Ye Leyao's data was vast.

Yet the portion related to Qin Yao was very small.

Ye Leyao couldn't recall how many times he had reviewed it, but thankfully, he no longer needed to look at the data.

Because at that very moment, Qin Yao was right beside him.

Even if they would temporarily part ways again, it would only be for a short while.

After a long wait for Ye Leyao's response, Qin Yao wasn't impatient; he simply gazed at Ye Leyao quietly.

Suddenly, Ye Leyao tilted his head up slightly, his lips touching Qin Yao's.

Qin Yao's eyes widened momentarily. "Yao Yao..."

"President Qin," Ye Leyao withdrew his gaze, contentedly released Qin Yao, and swayed his hand. "I'm happy to have met you."

Qin Yao's grip on Ye Leyao's hand tightened slightly. Just as he was about to say something, Chu Cheng's voice suddenly interrupted, "Brother! Grandpa...!"

Qin Yao turned abruptly.

Chu Cheng rushed over, panting heavily. "Grandpa...he's not doing well..."

Qin Yao quickly looked at Ye Leyao. "Yao Yao, I..."

"President Qin, go ahead," said Ye Leyao.

Qin Yao frowned slightly. "The rain outside is too heavy. Why don't I send you back first, or..."

"The driver can take me," Ye Leyao looked at Qin Yao, his gaze almost greedily roving over his face. "President Qin, hurry and go."

Qin Yao stared at Ye Leyao. The young man before him hadn't changed in appearance, nor had the way he looked at him altered in the slightest.

But for some reason, Qin Yao felt that Ye Leyao had changed.

He couldn't pinpoint where this change originated, but it left him somewhat uneasy.

Qin Yao didn't want to leave Ye Leyao. "Yao Yao..."

Before Ye Leyao could respond, Qin Hongxi approached them hastily. "Qin Yao, the hospital sent news, your grandfather..."

As he spoke, Qin Hongxi glanced at Ye Leyao and flashed him a smile. "It's fine if you don't want to go."

But Ye Leyao said, "Qin Yao, go."

This was the first time since their acquaintance that Qin Yao heard Ye Leyao call his name.

Qin Yao's eyes softened. He said softly, "Wait for me here. When I return from the hospital, I'll send you back, alright?"

Ye Leyao nodded, smiling. "Alright."

Chu Cheng urged Qin Yao again.

Only then did Qin Yao follow Qin Hongxi and Chu Cheng away.

Watching the trio depart, Ye Leyao's lips slowly curved upward.

After regaining his memories, Ye Leyao's abilities had also been restored, so he had long known that the Huo family had already left.

At this moment, the Qin family's master was also preparing to leave, and naturally, the guests present began to disperse.

Ye Leyao then went upstairs to Qin Yao's room.

Raindrops pattered down, battering the roses until they swayed in all directions.

Ye Leyao walked out onto the balcony, picked up a pair of scissors, and cut a bouquet of flowers. With practiced ease, he found a vase in Qin Yao's room and placed the fresh blooms inside.

He then proceeded to the fridge to retrieve the remaining oat milk.

Qin Yao knew he liked it, so he had prepared plenty for him.

Sipping the oat milk slowly, Ye Leyao finished it and went to the kitchen to rinse the cup clean.

Then he made his way to Qin Yao's study.

Qin Yao's computer was still on, and after some thought, Ye Leyao installed a small program on it.

He then took out a notepad beside him and wrote a few lines on it.

Having completed these tasks, the time was about right.

Ye Leyao got up and descended the stairs, then grabbed an umbrella that was set aside for the guests, ready to step out.

At that moment, the Qin family's butler suddenly approached, "Young Master Ye? What are you...?"

Ye Leyao flashed him a smile, "My parents just called me, saying they're waiting for me outside. I'll be heading back now."

The butler's brows furrowed slightly, "I'll escort you out."

Ye Leyao shook his head, "No need, I can manage on my own."

Declining the butler's offer, Ye Leyao held up the umbrella and walked alone into the rain.

In mere seconds, he had already covered several dozen meters.

The butler's frown deepened; something didn't feel right to him.

But before he could ponder further, he suddenly froze.

Wait...

Why was he standing here, lost in thought?

Confused, the butler shook his head and hurried back to his duties.

Qin Hongxi had to rush to the hospital, leaving no time to entertain the remaining guests who hadn't left yet, so this important task fell upon the butler.

There were still quite a number of guests who hadn't departed, and the butler couldn't afford to be negligent.

Luxurious cars left the Qin family villa one by one, passing by Ye Leyao, but none managed to catch a clear glimpse of him.

Under the heavy rain, Ye Leyao's figure quickened its pace.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Leyao had reached the crossroads.

The heavy downpour meant there were very few people at the intersection, only the swift flow of passing vehicles.

The Qin family's car was steadily cruising along the road to the left.

Suddenly, the car came to an abrupt halt without warning.

Qin Hongxi was taken aback, "What happened?"

The driver explained, "It suddenly stalled, please wait a moment, sir. I'll check it out."

Chu Cheng, seated next to Qin Yao, frowned, "Why did it suddenly stall?"

At that instant, Qin Yao's heart suddenly raced, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Chu Cheng turned around and froze, "Cousin, what's wrong with you?"

Qin Hongxi looked back, "Qin Yao?"

Meanwhile, in the car belonging to the Huo family.

Huo Yan, who had been quietly accepting reality, suddenly sat up straight, "Something's not right... Stop the car! Stop the car!"

The entire family turned to look at him in surprise, "What's the matter?"

Huo Dad and Huo Mom were filled with confusion.

Huo Yan's eyes were bloodshot, "I can't hear it anymore!"

Huo Mom was stunned, "You mean..."

Huo Yan, with red eyes, exclaimed, "I can't hear Ye Leyao's thoughts anymore. Something's wrong! Go back! To that fork in the road! Quickly! Quickly! We have to go now—otherwise, it will be too late!"

The family suddenly snapped to attention.

Indeed.

When exactly did it start?

Why hadn't they heard Ye Leyao's thoughts for so long?

An inexplicable panic enveloped the entire Huo family, and this time, they couldn't utter any objections.

"Go back," said Huo Dad, "Reverse the car! Head to that fork in the road!"

They were heading for that fork in the road.

They had to go, and they had to go now.

...

"Qin Yao!"

A series of sharp honks sounded as Qin Yao had already jumped out of the car.

Chu Cheng looked at the unusual behavior of Qin Yao, puzzled. "What's wrong with my brother? Why did he suddenly get off the car?"

Qin Hongxi was even more confused, but he didn't ask further, merely taking an umbrella and following him out of the car.

The car was left with only the driver and Chu Cheng, who exchanged a glance.

Chu Cheng said, "I'll go check it out too!"

He took an umbrella and got out of the car, quickly following after them.

Qin Yao ran fast, and as he drew closer, he finally saw the person standing at that intersection - Ye Leyao.

"Yao Yao!"

Raindrops fell recklessly, drenching him thoroughly.

But Qin Yao was oblivious, running desperately towards Ye Leyao.

He didn't know why he was running, he only knew that he had to run over there.

Because he had to protect Ye Leyao...

But what would happen next?

Ye Leyao turned around in surprise, seeing Qin Yao rushing towards him without any regard for his own safety.

He suddenly remembered that during the third timeline reset, Qin Yao had acted similarly.

Even though Ye Leyao had prepared everything.

He had managed to send Qin Yao away and arrived at this crossroad ahead of time.

But just as the large truck was about to hit him, Qin Yao appeared from behind and pushed Ye Leyao out of the way.

It wasn't until much later, when Ye Leyao started looking through his data to find records related to Qin Yao, that he realized Qin Yao had known all along.

On the day Ye Leyao talked with He Yan, Qin Yao was outside the door.

But at that time, Ye Leyao had sealed most of his abilities, so he never noticed when Qin Yao came.

But today was different.

Qin Yao lunged forward, his body soaked as he hugged Ye Leyao tightly, his voice trembling. "Yao Yao... how could you, why..."

Ye Leyao hated water.

He hated rain even more.

But he didn't hate the wet Qin Yao hugging him tightly right now.

The umbrella slipped from Ye Leyao's hand, and he held Qin Yao tightly, almost reverently placing a kiss on the corner of Qin Yao's lips. "Qin Yao, can you promise me one thing?"

Qin Yao's whole body trembled. His memories were sealed by Ye Leyao, he didn't know what was about to happen, but his intuition told him he couldn't agree.

"No, I won't agree, Yao Yao... I won't agree to anything you say, you can't..." Qin Yao's voice was hoarse, tears streaming down his face before he could speak, "you can't leave me... I..."

"Qin Yao," Ye Leyao interrupted him, burying his face tightly in his chest, "you have to promise me, you have to wait for me, Qin Yao. You have to wait for me to come back, do you understand..."

Qin Yao shook his head, shaking it repeatedly, his eyes bloodshot, slightly pushing Ye Leyao away to look straight into his eyes. "Yao Yao, what am I waiting for?" He chuckled lightly, "aren't you right here by my side, why would I..."

Ye Leyao shook his head, reaching out to wipe away the tears at the corners of his eyes, smiling. "Wait for me, Qin Yao, it won't be long, I will definitely come back to you, didn't I promise you before?"

With that, Ye Leyao pushed Qin Yao away.

No matter how hard Qin Yao tried, he couldn't hold onto Ye Leyao anymore.

As if an invisible hand kept pushing Qin Yao backwards.

Qin Yao was separated from Ye Leyao, still being pushed back.

A huge panic enveloped Qin Yao, nearly driving him to the brink of collapse: "Yao Yao! What are you doing... what are you trying to do!"

Sss—

The sound of tires screeching against the road rang out, an out-of-control large truck speeding uncontrollably toward Ye Leyao—

Qin Yao's eyes were filled with terror, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Yao Yao! Get out of the way! Quickly—"

Before the last word was out, there was a loud bang.

Qin Yao watched helplessly as Ye Leyao's body flew up like a light butterfly, then quickly fell—

"No—" Qin Yao roared.

The hand that had been holding him back finally let go, and Qin Yao roared as he rushed towards Ye Leyao.

"Yao Yao! Yao Yao—"

Ye Leyao's body was cradled in his arms, large patches of blood spreading across the rainy ground.

Ye Leyao suddenly felt a warmth envelop him; he struggled to open his eyes, meeting Qin Yao's bloodshot gaze.

"Yao Yao!"

"Qin Yao..." Ye Leyao's voice was soft, as if it came from the farthest reaches of the sky. He looked at him with a warm smile, enunciating each word, "Qin Yao, you have to wait for me. Wait for me, okay?"

Qin Yao held Ye Leyao tightly, weeping like a child. He said, "Yes, I promise you, Yao Yao. You also promise me that nothing will happen to you, that nothing can happen to you..."

But before he could finish his words, Qin Yao suddenly felt a lightness on his body.

Ye Leyao's body began to turn transparent all at once, as if it were foam about to be dispersed by the rain that filled the sky.

"Yao... Yao?"

Qin Yao's voice trembled. First the feet, then the body, and finally even Ye Leyao's fingers became transparent until they vanished from sight.

Ye Leyao had disappeared.

"Yao Yao?" Qin Yao called out in panic, repeating Ye Leyao's name over and over again.

But there was no response except for the sound of the rain.

In the next moment, the sealed memory suddenly loosened its grip.

Qin Yao remembered.

It was Ye Leyao after all.

The person who carried him home through the snow-covered sky was Ye Leyao.

But...

Why would Ye Leyao disappear?

Qin Hongxi and Chu Cheng arrived one after the other in haste.

"Qin Yao!"

"Cousin—"

Raindrops pounded on Qin Yao, causing pain throughout his entire body.

Qin Yao heard nothing but maintained the embrace, kneeling on the ground and breaking down in tears.

Gone.

The person he had waited eighteen years for had vanished before his eyes once again.

At the same time, at the Time and Space Bureau.

Qiu and L2 hastily stuffed a bundle of data into a massive computer.

L2, panting heavily, the entire orange cat out of breath, asked, "I-Is this enough?"

Qiu let out a long sigh. "Yes, now we just have to wait."

L1 had worked for centuries, finally accumulating enough points to synchronize the time flow rate of World A20231007 with the main system's time flow rate.

Now, it was up to see if this human named Qin Yao would honor his promise and wait with them for L1's awakening once more.