Chapter 8 Impossible

Chapter 8 Impossible

"Impossible," 001 stated flatly.

"A system can only bind to one host. It lacks the surplus energy to bind others or carry them, and certainly has no ability to contend with reincarnation."

"The power of soul reincarnation is immense. The system's binding opportunity arises when the soul departs the body after death, before the force of reincarnation has locked onto it. If that moment is missed, the person will simply enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn."

Song Shimu thoughtfully hummed, then asked, "May I ask why the protagonist of this world disappeared?"

"Uncertain. In this world, I only detected that the chosen one's soul was missing. The remnants of the soul, supported by the world's consciousness, sustained them until age 25. The soul had already dissipated by the time you arrived."

"What!"

"The original host is dead," 001 patiently repeated.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"What could you have done if I had? You're just a nobody," 001 said dismissively.

"...Handle the aftermath, and while I'm at it, my own affairs too. In my original world, it seems there wasn't even anyone to collect my body."

"............"

Yu Hua looked at Song Shimu. "Actually, we all thought you recommended it... but hearing you say Qin Xu doesn't care for you, it didn't seem like it."

Song Shimu encouraged, "Go if you want to. Qinfeng inviting you shows they have good judgment."

"It really wasn't you who recommended me?"

Song Shimu shook his head. "I mentioned it yesterday, but you said you received the invitation a few days ago. It seems they've had their eyes on you for a while, waiting for the right moment to poach you."

"Ah..." Yu Hua felt that receiving the invitation must have had something to do with Song Shimu, but—

"Actually, I'm still hesitating. From what I've heard, Qinfeng's president, Qin Xu, arrives earlier and leaves later than everyone else. Employees feel too awkward to clock out on time." Yu Hua frowned and continued:

"When the boss leads the charge in overworking, who can keep up? I used to consider joining Qinfeng, but the overtime was so excessive that just hearing about it now makes me nauseous."

"Are you taking a dig at me?" Song Shimu eyed him.

"Wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare," Yu Hua said with an awkward laugh.

Song Shimu chuckled. "Then sleep on it some more." With Yu Hua's capabilities, job offers weren't hard to come by—it just depended on where he wanted to go.

Yu Hua nodded.

Just then, the server brought the hot pot and dishes. While the food was being served, Yu Hua calculated that eight days had passed since Song Shimu was recognized by his family. After the server left, he asked,

"Speaking of which, you've been around Qin Xu for a while now. What do you think of him?"

"Not bad." Although he disliked Song Shimu, he hadn't done anything particularly annoying.

"Then do you think he likes men or women?" Yu Hua suddenly turned gossipy.

The sudden shift in topic caught Song Shimu off guard for a couple of seconds. "Why the sudden question?"

"Well, the employees at his company are all guessing Qin Xu likes men. He's so rich and handsome, with so many admirers, yet he never became a playboy and has stayed single all this time. Does that seem reasonable to you?"

"What if he just doesn't want to date?" In the original story, the antagonist's core trait was his focus on interests. Anyone who threatened his interests, he would sabotage.

There was nothing written about his love life; in fact, the antagonist remained single until his death.

"Impossible. As long as someone is human, they have desires in that area. If he's stayed single all this time, it's highly likely he's into men. He can't perform with women, and dating men would be hard to explain to his elders, worrying it might affect his position at Qinfeng." Yu Hua analyzed it logically, convinced he made perfect sense.

Following his logic, Song Shimu retorted, "Then I must like men too, right?"

"?... Huh?!" Yu Hua first looked at Song Shimu in confusion, then, as if realizing something, leaned back abruptly, crossed his arms over his chest, and adopted a defensive, wary expression.

"...You really dare to think? I have eyes," Song Shimu said, exasperated.

Yu Hua laughed. "Mu-ge, ouch, that hurts."

Song Shimu smiled faintly and picked up a plate of beef to add to the pot.

Behind the screen, Qin Xu's dark eyes were fixed on his assistant.

The assistant's gaze shifted uneasily. He had just started to explain when Qin Xu shot him a sharp glare, making him close his mouth sheepishly.

The assistant glanced at the freshly served, bright red hot pot in front of him, sensing intuitively that this free meal might not bring him any benefits—in fact, it might turn out to be his *Hongmen banquet* (a figurative 'setup' or 'trap').

"Last week’s call about Qin Xu wasn’t finished. Let me continue, so you don’t accidentally offend him and make him target you," Yu Hua said.

Song Shimu thought to himself that he was already being targeted, but said aloud, "Alright."

"Well, I heard from an employee, who heard it from Qin Xu’s assistant, that Qin Xu is extremely hard to please—not just at work, but in daily life too!"

"For example, he only drinks pour-over coffee. If the coffee beans are poor quality and affect the taste, he blows up. If the beans aren’t ground properly, he loses it. If the temperature isn’t right—too hot or too cold—he gets angry too."

Qin Xu: "..."

Across from him, the assistant wildly gestured and shook his head, his expression full of the frustration of being wronged.

Could he beg that person to stop talking? Even though he wasn’t the one being badmouthed, he felt more desperate than the actual subject!

"Another example is the work environment. His office must be spotless. The first thing Qin Xu does every day isn’t to open the door but to check if there’s any dust on the doorknob!"

Qin Xu smiled.

The assistant clasped his hands in prayer. It really wasn’t him who said it, I swear!

"He’s also very picky about food! Something like... let me see how he put it," Yu Hua said, pausing mid-sentence to pick up his phone and scroll through the chat history. Song Shimu slowed his eating; he wanted to see just how picky Qin Xu was.

"Ah, found it! It says his tastes change in phases. He might prefer bland food for a few days, then crave bold flavors a couple of days later. The key is that bold flavors can’t be too oily, too spicy, or too salty! He doesn’t eat any animal organs, no animal skin, and seeing things like large or small intestines makes him vomit. For vegetables, he only eats the leaves, not the stems. No ginger, no garlic, no cilantro. He can eat chopped scallions but not the whole stalks. For fruit, he prefers crispy-sweet or crispy-tart types, but they can’t be too sweet, too sour, or astringent. No dragon fruit, mango, or durian..."

Yu Hua rattled off a long list. Song Shimu laughed. "These preferences are longer than a menu."

"Right? Longer than the love letter I wrote my girlfriend!" Yu Hua agreed.

Next door, Qin Xu gave his assistant a thumbs-up.

The assistant wanted to cry but had no tears. He started frantically messaging his boss to save himself.

His intuition was always accurate—unfortunately, by the time he had these intuitions, he was already in the middle of the situation...

On the table, Song Shimu’s phone lit up, showing a woman’s lovely face—Tan Manjing was calling via video call.

Song Shimu signaled to Yu Hua that he had a call, backed against a wall, and answered. "Mom?"

Because of his broken bone, his family strictly controlled his diet, forbidding spicy or heavy foods to avoid affecting his recovery. So Song Shimu was a bit afraid that Tan Manjing would see he was eating hot pot.

"How's it going, Shi Mu?" Tan Manjing smiled gently on the screen; the background looked like a mall lounge.

"It's great, we're eating now," Song Shimu replied.

"Where are you eating? Is it good?" Tan Manjing asked casually.

"Ah... what’s the name again?" Song Shimu, having just arrived, hadn’t had time to learn about the local food scene, so he turned to Yu Hua for help.

Yu Hua told him the name of a Cantonese restaurant. Song Shimu repeated it, though he was slightly worried Tan Manjing might ask to see the dishes.

But his worries soon faded as Tan Manjing didn’t press further. Instead, she said, "Shi Mu, this store just released a few new outfits available for pre-order. Take a look and see if any catch your eye."

Song Shimu was surprised. "Didn’t we buy clothes yesterday?"

"Those were formal wear. These are casual outfits—totally different. Let me have the staff bring them in front of the camera so you can take your time picking." With that, Tan Manjing directed a group of employees to come on screen one by one, holding up the clothes.

Yu Hua silently gave a thumbs-up. Rich people really are something else.

Song Shimu kept his cool and picked two sets. Tan Manjing smiled as he made his choices. "Just two? Not going to pick a few more? I noticed your wardrobe doesn’t have many clothes."

Song Shimu shook his head. "I have enough to wear."

Tan Manjing paused, immediately thinking it was because of his past frugal life. Even now, with money, he hesitated to splurge. "Alright then. I'll let you two get back to your date. Have fun. I’ll give Qin Xu a video call to see if he wants to buy anything."

"Okay," Song Shimu nodded.

After hanging up, Yu Hua couldn’t help but marvel, "No wonder you’re so handsome—your mom is an absolute stunner!"

Song Shimu laughed. "You shouldn’t be telling me that. You should tell her that to her face—"

Before he could finish, Song Shimu caught sight of a text notification: a bank transfer for a million yuan. He was speechless, and soon Tan Manjing’s message popped up:

"Have fun. Happiness is what matters most."

"What’s wrong?"

Having never experienced such treatment before, Song Shimu wasn’t sure how to describe it. "It’s nothing," he said.

He opened Tan Manjing’s chat window, started typing a thank-you, when a phone rang nearby.

Song Shimu instinctively glanced toward the source of the sound—and his eyes locked on the source.

Qin Xu had followed them, suspecting Song Shimu and Yu Hua were plotting to sabotage or take over Qinfeng. He’d been eavesdropping, hoping to catch their plans and prepare accordingly.

But after over ten minutes of listening, all he'd heard was gossip about himself—and not a single word about any plot. Worse, he’d been accused of being unable to get it up for women???

If he’d been furious at first, by the end he just found it funny.

His only other thought was that it was a waste of time. Qin Xu considered leaving but feared they’d start discussing their plans the moment he left, so he forced himself to stay and keep listening.

Just as he’d mustered the patience to endure it, a phone call exposed him.

The moment the ringtone sounded, Qin Xu immediately hung up. He turned his head and met pale-colored eyes.

"…………"

Even through the sheer screen divider, those bright amber, honey-colored eyes were strikingly beautiful.

The panic in them was the cherry on top.

Qin Xu stared into those eyes and quirked his lips. "I like women."