Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The system awkwardly shook its head, then, seeing Shen Muyun's volatile expression, bravely ventured, "Host, well, this isn't a side quest—it's the main quest. That means you *must* romance Lu Huainan."

Shen Muyun was instantly stunned. The half-orange segment he'd just swallowed caught in his throat, forcing him into a series of involuntary, harsh coughs. "I—I mean, System, what the hell? You're telling me to romance someone?"

"Yes, that's what it says here. The system hasn't slept for a full day and night and is now shutting down. Dear Host, talk tomorrow."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't run off! What do you mean by this? Hey! Come back here! System! You bastard!"

Without a trace of hesitation, the system vanished into thin air, leaving only an invitation on the bedside table. The cover featured a pair of coiled snakes, and inside were the details of Lu Huainan's birthday party—date, time, and venue—edged in gold. There was still some time before the event.

With the system gone, Shen Muyun found it all rather absurd. He mulled over the word "romance." Hadn't it previously stated that Lu Huainan was extremely difficult to conquer? Was it now contradicting itself?

Shen Muyun lay in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. From time to time, he felt a presence nearby—a shadowy figure pacing back and forth. But it was as if he were paralyzed, utterly unable to move. Who was it? His mind was a jumble, yet the presence felt somewhat familiar, like...

When he finally awoke completely, the sunlight was beautiful, streaming through the window and falling directly onto his blanket. The gloom of the previous day had long vanished. Although his sleep had been neither good nor bad, his body felt much more relaxed. The figure in his dream seemed somewhat familiar, and a faint, almost imperceptible scent lingered in the air.

Shen Muyun's phone screen blinked incessantly with a blue light—messages were coming in. But his brain instructed his hand to ignore them. He stretched his arms and legs; nothing felt uncomfortable. There were no issues. It was better not to linger in the hospital.

After changing back into his own clothes, Shen Muyun decided to go out for a walk. He was still worried about Himi, after all—the horse had been injured because of him.

Shen Muyun looked up at the sun, then toward the distant stables. Following his memory, he should be nearby. As he walked further, he could hear the distant neighing of horses.

Approaching the stables, Shen Muyun saw Himi happily running around in the pen.

"Second Young Master Shen."

An employee cleaning the stables noticed him and paused his work.

"How is he doing?"

"Recovering well. Surprisingly, in just a day or two, he's back to his lively self. But he seems a bit afraid of people—probably still affected by what happened."

Shen Muyun glanced at the mango in his hand and handed it directly to the employee. "You feed it to him. He probably doesn't want to see me. As long as he's healthy, that's what matters."

A phone call suddenly interrupted their conversation.

Shen Muyun answered. Shen Liuyun's voice came through.

"Muyun, it's me. Dr. Qi just notified me. I'm at the stable entrance to pick you up. Have you packed your things?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm nearby; I'll be right there."

Shen Muyun followed the path outward and just spotted Shen Liuyun's car.

"Muyun, over here."

Hearing Shen Liuyun's voice, he hung up the phone, leaned sideways, and looked through the half-open car window.

"Brother, I could've gone back on my own. I could've just taken a taxi."

Shen Liuyun instructed Shen Muyun, "Fasten your seatbelt. I happen to have a business meeting nearby this afternoon. Since you're being discharged, it worked out perfectly for me to pick you up."

Shen Muyun got into the car.

"A contract? Has the company been busy lately?"

Shen Liuyun glanced at the navigation. "It's pretty much the same as always. The company is always busy. The Lu family's land in the north side of the city still doesn't have a partner. But what about you? Why have you been so concerned about the company lately?"

"Well, it might just be a passing phase. Brother, you know how I am—a three-minute attention span."

Shen Liuyun chuckled softly. "That's true. Remember the project in the southern part of the city? It went sideways on your watch. I told you to keep an eye on it, but you took off abroad in the blink of an eye."

Shen Muyun's mind flashed back to the original host's memories. There was such an incident. At the time, he was busy partying abroad—he hadn't been worried about these matters. Besides, he had no control over things in Jiangcheng. Everyone in that circle had long excluded him.

"Muyun, I feel like, ever since the cruise incident, your temperament has changed. It's like you're a different person."

Shen Liuyun casually fiddled with the car's air freshener, releasing a sudden burst of cedar scent. He glanced at Shen Muyun, who showed no reaction.

"Not really. Maybe my mood is just different now. Besides, the Zhou family is breathing down our necks—we can't just let things slide."

"If you have the intention, applying yourself wouldn’t hurt. The company has been incredibly busy lately. Your second degree was in economics, right? It might be worth trying."

"Huh? Ah, brother, well, I think—you know how I am. I was a slacker in college, just barely passing. I even had to retake advanced math several times. Running a business... I really can’t do it."

Shen Liuyun made a turn and checked a message on his phone. "The contract meeting this afternoon is canceled. We can go straight home."

"That’s great. Let’s go home then."

"Actually, there’s something else I wanted to discuss with you. How about coming to the company to help me out?"

Shen Muyun was so surprised that he accidentally spilled the perfume he was holding onto his pants, leaving a small, perfectly centered stain.

"Ah, brother, what did you say?"

"I said, how about helping me manage some of the company’s affairs?"

Shen Liuyun—what did he mean by this? Could he actually be serious?

"Brother, I..."

Shen Liuyun made another turn and parked the car in the underground garage. The butler was already waiting nearby. Shen Liuyun casually gave a few instructions.

"I think you’re capable. I already asked the butler to prepare your favorite stuffed pumpkin. Don’t you love desserts?"

"Well, thank you, brother. I think I’ll take a walk around first and come back by dinnertime."

Shen Liuyun smiled and agreed.

Shen Muyun immediately left the living room, found his way to his room from memory, and closed the door behind him. Shen Liuyun was setting him up—there must be more to this.

He checked the time. The system should have finished charging by now. "System, system, are you there?"

"Beep boop! I’m here! Feels so good!"

Seeing the system’s cheerful demeanor, Shen Muyun couldn’t help but feel irritated. "You’re sounding cheerful!"

"Me? I’m doing great! So, do you still have doubts about romancing Lu Huainan? I take back what I said before—Lu Huainan is an eligible bachelor. His family is harmonious, and even his sister is polite and sensible. You don't see many characters like him in novels."

"Stop, stop, stop! I don’t want to hear another word about romancing Lu Huainan today. Right now, I feel like something’s off with Shen Liuyun, so..."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Shen Muyun squeezed the fox plushie on his bedside. Huh, so the original host liked this kind of thing.

"Well, it’s just... today he said he wants me to help with company matters. It feels fishy."

The system sighed. Its screen glowed blue, like a surveillance monitor, displaying Shen Liuyun and Lu Huainan.

"Huainan, don't you feel Muyun's personality has changed a bit?"

Lu Huainan put down the contract in his hand and looked up at Shen Liuyun pacing around in front of him.

"So what? He's your brother—you should know him best."

"Know him? Muyun was away from Jiangcheng for a while and just came back. Who knows what kind of trouble he got up to outside? Besides, he's physically weak. Last time he fell into the water, I thought about helping him, but surprisingly, he pulled himself out on his own."

"You saw it yourself—last time he fell into the water. My brother has been frail since childhood. Under those circumstances, he shouldn’t have been able to get out. I originally intended to give him a hand."

Lu Huainan took a sip of tea, picked up the contract that had been set aside, and flipped to the last page.

"Liuyun, people are complicated."

"I plan to bring him into the company, give him a cushy job to try out. It’s better than him messing around like now."

Lu Huainan signed his name on the contract. "Well, as long as you're happy. I’ve signed the contract for the horse ranch. Pleasure doing business with you."

The display screen ended at this point.

Shen Muyun was stunned. What was the relationship between these two? When did they become so close? Besides, Lu Huainan grew up in the U.S.—no way, no way, were these two working together? If that’s the case, then what about the main mission?!

"System, the previous info said Lu Huainan never came back. Why is their relationship so good?"

The system extended its little wing and gently poked the small fox on Shen Muyun’s bed, seeming quite fond of it.

"You’re from families that go way back—your relationship was already good to begin with. You’re all in the same circle, pretty much. Besides, you were previously engaged to Lu Huainan’s sister. Building good relations in advance—isn’t that how you guys operate?"

Shen Muyun still had doubts about this. It felt strangely off, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But since things were as they were now, he might as well just go with it.

"System, do you have any books on business management? I don’t know anything about it."

"Ding dong! You’ve asked the right person. The Human Market is now open."

"What’s that?"

"Take a look and you’ll see. A library card costs 500 tokens. There’s a 5% discount now—you can read any book you want anytime."

"Alright, sign me up then."

Shen Muyun never imagined he’d have to study business management books again. This sucked. There’d been zero progress on the main mission, and now he had company management on top of it.

"Ding dong! Your library card has been successfully issued. Dear Host, you must step it up! The system shows your main mission progress is slow. As your system, I’m quite concerned about your emotional state and main mission progress. So, I’ve privately designed some mini-games to help add some spark between you and Lu Huainan."

"What games?"

"Well, Host, that’s a secret."