Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Soft music played quietly in the black car.

Xiang Yanming occasionally glanced at the mother and son sitting side by side in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

The woman was strikingly beautiful; her simple, elegant clothes only enhanced her charm.

Though nearing forty, her face showed no signs of aging; the faint lines around her eyes only added to her gentle appearance.

The woman held a nine or ten-year-old boy close to her, who sat silently in his seat, looking like a delicate doll in a shop window when expressionless.

He clutched a small backpack with cartoon designs he didn’t recognize, which the woman had picked out for him.

Luo Zhishu caught her new husband’s gaze in the rearview mirror again and smiled, "Yanming, keep your eyes on the road."

Xiang Yanming coughed, "Alright."

After a brief silence, he casually mentioned, "I own a place in S City. When the weather gets warmer, how about you come with me to take a look?"

With the child there, Xiang Yanming didn’t want to be too direct.

But Luo Zhishu understood.

Xiang Yanming and Luo Zhishu had met during their student days and were each other's first love. Separated early due to external reasons, they each married and had children, only to coincidentally meet again after their respective divorces.

It was hard to deny that this was a twist of fate.

After rekindling their love, Xiang Yanming was eager to have some alone time with his wife.

Luo Zhishu pressed her lips together and held the boy closer. "...Luo Ye’s still so young; I’m a little concerned."

"Auntie Lin and Xiang Nian are at home. Xiang Nian’s in high school now; he can look after his brother."

"Yanming, let’s wait a little longer. The boys haven’t bonded yet; I’d like to see them get closer first..."

Xiang Yanming smiled, "Alright, it's up to you. I also meant to wait a bit longer."

"Speaking of Nian, what does he like to eat? Any hobbies?" Luo Zhishu asked.

"..." Xiang Yanming couldn’t answer for a while.

Over the years, he’d been busy with work, showering Xiang Nian with money and the best of everything... but he couldn’t recall what Xiang Nian liked to eat.

Luo Zhishu shot her husband a disapproving look and sighed, "Honestly, you..."

Luo Ye, nestled in Luo Zhishu’s arms, glanced at them, then lowered his long lashes, hiding his calm, dark eyes, and stayed quiet.

...

The car soon pulled into an upscale neighborhood.

They stepped into a duplex.

"Welcome back, sir and madam," said a slightly plump woman, neatly dressed and with a warm, gentle demeanor.

Xiang Yanming nodded cheerfully, "Auntie Lin, where’s Nian? It’s Sunday—why isn’t he here?"

"He’s upstairs," Auntie Lin replied, heading for the spiral staircase. "I’ll fetch him."

Before long, a teenager made his way down the spiral staircase at a leisurely pace.

The boy was strikingly handsome, inheriting his mother's refined and icy features, radiating a frost-like aloofness.

Unfortunately, an unsettling arrogance lingered in his expression, and his short, dyed reddish-brown hair seemed to disrupt his otherwise flawless face. It wasn’t tacky, but overly flashy and menacing, cutting his icy elegance in half.

He walked at a deliberately slow pace, clearly aiming to make the mother and son waiting below uncomfortable.

"Niannian, this is Aunt Luo," Xiang Yanming said, gently placing his hand on Luo Zhishu's shoulder.

Calling her 'Aunt' was Luo Zhishu's idea, agreed upon after discussing it with Xiang Yanming.

Xiang Nian was now fourteen, relatively mature in many ways but also in the rebellious throes of adolescence. Calling a stranger 'Mom' would naturally be met with resistance.

Luo Zhishu figured they could change the title later if Xiang Nian was willing.

Xiang Nian stood a bit taller than Luo Zhishu, even in her heels. At this, he let out a soft scoff, his eyes scanning Luo Zhishu's face, a faint hint of disdain in his expression.

No one noticed the panic lurking beneath his arrogance.

"Turn up the arrogance!" the system urged Ji Mian.

Ji Mian muttered, "...This is as far as I can go."

The system sounded confused: "Didn’t your acting get way better in the last world?"

It wasn’t about his acting skills; Ji Mian just couldn’t overcome the mental block. He was constantly worried about hurting the new lady of the house.

Luo Zhishu froze for a moment at this.

Xiang Yanming, noticing his wife’s reaction, frowned and called out, "Xiang Nian."

Ji Mian reluctantly curled his lips and muttered, "Aunt Luo."

"Yes," Luo Zhishu replied softly, nudging Luo Ye forward.

"Xiao Ye, this is your brother," she told Luo Ye.

Xiang Yanming added, "Niannian, this is your brother, Luo Ye."

"This time, your mission target is Luo Ye," the system informed him.

"..."

Ji Mian’s role this time was to play a twisted older brother who falls for his stepbrother.

His mission target, Luo Ye, was one of this world’s antagonists.

Luo Ye’s mother, Luo Zhishu, had divorced early, and the two had leaned on each other for six years. They’d hoped life would get better after meeting Xiang Yanming, but Xiang Nian’s presence shattered that.

Xiang Yanming and his ex-wife, Xiang Nian's biological mother, had no emotional foundation. Their marriage was purely due to family pressure, a business alliance. They had no feelings for each other, and after giving birth to Xiang Nian, both were too busy with work to properly raise him, though they never skimped on material things. This led to Xiang Nian's increasingly distorted values.

From a young age, everything he wanted was within easy reach, and the children around him flattered him to gain some small benefits. Over time, this fostered Xiang Nian's spoiled, arrogant, and disdainful personality.

After Xiang Yanming remarried, Xiang Nian tormented the gentle and simple stepmother in every way, including her "burden," Luo Ye, whom he also looked down upon.

Since Luo Ye came to the Xiang family at the age of ten, he had never received any kindness from Xiang Nian. When Xiang Yanming and Luo Zhishu were not around, Xiang Nian would belittle him countless times, using the most cutting and malicious words to insult Luo Ye.

He’d brought it up with Luo Zhishu before, but she naively believed Xiang Nian could change, urging Luo Ye to keep enduring it.

For his mother's sake, Luo Ye had to constantly suppress his emotions, sharing her hope that Xiang Nian would one day truly change as she had said.

By the time Luo Ye entered middle school and adolescence, his face, which had inherited his mother's beauty, became even more exquisite. To his astonishment, Xiang Nian, who had always despised him, completely changed his attitude. Not only was he kind to Luo Ye, but he also acted affectionately towards him, like a brother.

This transformation lasted for two years.

At that time, both Luo Zhishu and Xiang Yanming thought that Xiang Nian had matured and become more reasonable. Even Luo Ye himself believed so.

Until one day when he was seventeen, he accidentally wandered into Xiang Nian's art studio and discovered that in the numerous paintings filling the room, the bodies in lewd poses all bore his own face.

Recalling all the affectionate gestures Xiang Nian had shown him after the transformation, Luo Ye threw up right then and there.

But Luo Ye did not expose Xiang Nian; he didn't even mention the paintings to anyone.

He was smart enough to know that to ruin Xiang Nian's reputation, a room full of paintings was far from enough. He set himself as bait to trap Xiang Nian, ultimately getting him sentenced to two years in prison for the molestation of a minor.

Xiang Nian's image among his parents and friends was completely shattered.

However, due to his experiences during his teenage years, he became extremely unstable as an adult, with slight antisocial tendencies, leading him to become a villain.

As for how Luo Ye clashed with the protagonists of this world and ultimately became a villain, Ji Mian didn't need to worry about that. By then, he'd probably already be in jail.

Ji Mian didn't quite understand: "Can Xiang Nian's feelings be considered deep love?"

"...My program says it does. It just means that the original host's feelings for Luo Ye were genuine, not just twisted desires as others might think. Even a perverted love... might still be love."

Ji Mian glanced down at Luo Ye.

Big eyes, long eyelashes, clutching a cartoon backpack.

"..."

Ji Mian hadn't even started his mission yet, but guilt was already overwhelming him.

"Can I... at least wait until he's an adult?"

System: "Would you be brave enough after he grows up?"

It felt a bit sad. Headquarters randomly assigned tasks. If it could choose, it definitely wouldn't pick such a chaotic world.

The system pondered how much Ji Mian could handle, finally concluding that its host might not even be able to glare at the villain.

"This is a virtual world," the system tried its best to comfort him. "You don't need to feel guilty; your actions won't affect the real world."

This is a virtual world... Ji Mian felt a bit reassured by the system's words.

"Xiao Ye, say 'brother,'" Luo Zhishu crouched down and gently pushed Luo Ye, who was holding the backpack, towards Ji Mian.

Luo Ye blinked.

His black pupils, like obsidian, had a calmness beyond his years, yet still carried some childishness.

Luo Ye's eyes only reached Ji Mian's waist. To him now, Ji Mian's height of over 1.7 meters seemed like a small mountain, requiring him to tilt his head back to see his face.

He slowly looked up, meeting Ji Mian's face.

The boy who was about to become his brother was now frowning at him, his face full of arrogance, with the disdain in his eyes well hidden.

But children seem to be particularly sensitive to malice.

Almost instantly, Luo Ye judged: he didn't like this lofty "brother" in front of him.