Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The meeting Wei Jinchuan was covering for his brother was scheduled for the next afternoon. Since he had bumped into Shen Yue, he naturally canceled his hotel reservation and decided to travel with him.

After the persistent pestering of the past few days, Shen Yue had long since grown accustomed to Wei Jinchuan's rogue behavior. Moreover, with some progress on the matter of the World's Will, Shen Yue didn't want to stir up any more trouble at this point, so he simply indulged him.

"You can follow me," he warned Wei Jinchuan just before getting into the car, "but if you're by my side, you have to follow my arrangements. Otherwise, go back where you came from, and our previous agreement is void—do you understand?"

Although Wei Jinchuan was unhappy with his tone, he knew when to yield and agreed on the spot.

Shen Yue had arranged to meet "Constant Reader" at a cake shop.

The cake shop was located at the quiet end of the bustling downtown district. While the surroundings were busy, this particular spot had few pedestrians. The occasional curious onlooker would glance inside, and distant sounds of car horns and chatter from the main street filtered in now and then—present but not intrusive, creating a sense of tranquility within the hustle and bustle.

Constant Reader had a last-minute obligation and said he would arrive a bit late, so Shen Yue found a seat and ordered one of the shop's seasonal specials.

He was wearing a pink shirt today, with the top button loosely undone, revealing his delicate, fair collarbones with a pinkish glow. He and Wei Jinchuan sat by the street-side glass window, where the bright sunlight streamed in diagonally, illuminating the lower half of Shen Yue's face. It highlighted his elegant bearing and refined aura, attracting lingering stares from passersby.

The strawberry cake Shen Yue had ordered for himself arrived quickly. The color of the cake curiously matched his outfit that day. Wei Jinchuan, sitting across from him, felt as though the person before him and the cake were harmonizing. The sweetness of the cake in Shen Yue's mouth seemed to radiate from him, exuding an irresistible allure.

After staring at him for too long, Shen Yue noticed and glanced over. Wei Jinchuan quickly lowered his head to take a sip of water, hiding his intent as he asked, "I didn't know you had a sweet tooth?"

He hadn't expected such a modest-looking cake shop to have such skill. Cutting another piece, Shen Yue replied with a wry smile, "I told you, don't assume you know me well."

Wei Jinchuan recalled the last time Shen Yue had said something like this, and his strained smile vanished.

Pursing his lips, he asked, "Who are you meeting today? This isn't your usual attire for meeting a client."

Although Shen Yue played around in private, he always kept work and personal life separate. He would never wear such a gaudy shirt in a professional setting, especially with buttons undone—it simply wasn't his style.

This outfit… he had worn it once before when he came to deliver flowers to him.

Shen Yue didn't evade the question, raising an eyebrow as he replied, "When did I say I was meeting a client?"

Wei Jinchuan paused, his gaze turning more scrutinizing.

He didn't have to wonder for long. Soon, someone else walked in. The sound of the door opening was particularly noticeable in the sparsely populated cake shop. Both of them looked up simultaneously. Before Wei Jinchuan could get a clear look, a figure walked gracefully over to their table, blocking most of the light.

Wei Jinchuan focused his eyes—it was a man in casual wear.

The man had refined features, a head of fluffy black hair, and a few strands of bangs covering his forehead, giving him an air of alertness and innocence. A warm smile graced his face as his eyes shifted between Shen Yue and Wei Jinchuan before settling back on Shen Yue. "Are you Mr. Shen?"

Shen Yue inexplicably found the man familiar but couldn't place him. Leaning back in his chair, he studied the man and asked tentatively, "Constant Reader?"

"That's me," Meng Shishu replied with a sheepish smile. "My boss had a last-minute meeting, so I waited for him and ended up running late. Have you been waiting long?"

Shen Yue was asking a favor of him and didn't want to pressure the other party too much. "I just arrived."

He still had some doubts about the other's identity. Although this "Constant Reader" had mentioned online that his leader had experienced something similar, actually asking one's direct superior and bringing one's boss to meet an online acquaintance over such a supernatural topic… it sounded like a pretext.

Pretext or not, Shen Yue wanted to determine this person's intentions first.

"My boss is parking the car. Could you wait a little longer?" Meng Shishu said as he moved to sit across from Shen Yue, smiling as he introduced himself. "My name is Meng—"

"Meng Shishu."

Wei Jinchuan, who had fallen silent since Meng Shishu entered, suddenly spoke up. His voice was icy, carrying a tone of contempt and hostility. "It's you."

Meng Shishu widened his eyes in surprise. He didn't catch the edge in Wei Jinchuan's words and even forgot to sit down. "You know me?"

"Probably not just me. You should know him too," Wei Jinchuan didn't respond to Meng Shishu but instead turned to Shen Yue. His voice trembled with barely controlled fury. "Why are you here to see him?"

Meng Shishu was bewildered by the exchange, his expression completely innocent. He turned his gaze to Shen Yue, curious. "Mr. Shen, you know me too?"

He appeared genuinely not to remember either of them, and neither his expression nor his tone sounded feigned.

Prompted by Wei Jinchuan, Shen Yue finally remembered why Meng Shishu looked familiar.

About four years ago, right after graduating from university, he went on a graduation trip with Zhao Lian and others. One of their stops was Jiangcheng—back then, he wasn't as smooth and experienced as he is now; one could even say he was green. Hearing that Jiangcheng had a club called "Fengyue" that catered specifically to same-sex patrons, he curiously went inside for a look and happened to run into someone who was attracted to him at first sight and tried to drug him.

As luck would have it, that very person was now standing right in front of him.

A lot of time had passed, and Shen Yue could no longer recall the details. He only remembered that the Meng family held moderate influence in Jiangcheng. But as the saying goes, a powerful outsider is no match for a local snake. After all, it was someone else's territory, and since nothing had actually happened, Shen Yue had let it go. However, the incident left him with a very poor impression of Jiangcheng, and he had left in a hurry back then. He never expected to see this person again.

Very few people knew about this. Although Zhao Lian could be big-mouthed at times, he wasn't so irresponsible as to spread this kind of thing around.

…Then how did Wei Jinchuan know?

Shen Yue shot him a discreet glance, but the latter was completely unaware of his thoughts, silently fuming over the fact that Shen Yue would meet Meng Shishu privately after what he had done, while he himself was treated so differently. He felt worlds apart and wished he could tear to shreds everyone who coveted Shen Yue.

Yet Meng Shishu genuinely didn't seem to recognize Shen Yue, and his demeanor was entirely different from back then. Shen Yue's mind raced with questions. Before he could figure out how to handle Meng Shishu, another set of footsteps approached.

He calmly looked up, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes when he saw the last person who should have been there.

Fu Jingbie walked in, clad in a black suit that starkly contrasted with the cake shop's cozy decor. With sharp eyebrows and piercing eyes, his facial lines were strong and profound. He strode directly to Meng Shishu's side.

Noticing Meng Shishu standing by the table, his brows knitted slightly and he naturally pulled out a chair for him. "Why aren't you sitting?"

"Ah, I got too caught up in the conversation earlier." Meng Shishu smiled and naturally took the inner seat, leaving room for Fu Jingbie.

He glanced at Fu Jingbie and said in a curious tone, "You know, Mr. Shen and his friend both know me. Pretty impressive, right?"

Fu Jingbie smiled gently, his gaze drifting lightly to the opposite side as if surprised to see them there. He paused for a moment.

Shen Yue and Wei Jinchuan were equally stunned to learn that Meng Shishu's boss was Fu Jingbie.

But Fu Jingbie showed no intention of acknowledging their prior acquaintance, so Shen Yue decided to treat this as their first meeting.

Meng Shishu introduced him, "This is my boss. He's the one who told me many of the things I mentioned to you before."

Shen Yue was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected someone as serious as Fu Jingbie to privately believe in something as fantastical as a "system."

He could tell that the relationship between Meng Shishu and Fu Jingbie went beyond that of ordinary superior and subordinate. Recalling how he had hosted Fu Jingbie in Haicheng before and the two small cakes Fu Jingbie had brought out, that sense of incongruity grew stronger.

Among the four, only Wei Jinchuan was unaware of the purpose of their meeting today. Since this trip was ultimately related to him, Shen Yue absolutely couldn't let Wei Jinchuan find out about the World's Will. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Can you wait outside for me?"

This was the first time since their fallout that Shen Yue had spoken to Wei Jinchuan so gently. Yet Wei Jinchuan felt no joy, instead retorting gloomily, "You want me to leave?"

"You promised you'd listen to me," Shen Yue noted his hesitation and chuckled. "Besides, after what you said earlier, even if I were up to something, I wouldn't do it right under your nose. Don't worry."

Wei Jinchuan didn't know what he had to be reassured about. He stared at Shen Yue for a long moment before reluctantly leaving.

Before going, he didn't forget to shoot a fierce glare at Meng Shishu.

Meng Shishu remained completely oblivious to his hostility, fully focused on Shen Yue as he asked curiously, "You really don't have a system?"

Shen Yue answered truthfully, "No."

"That's strange," Meng Shishu mused thoughtfully before turning to Fu Jingbie, bossing him around with an extremely familiar tone. "Jingbie, you explain it to him."

He said this so casually, with zero sense of being a subordinate, as if it were his birthright for Fu Jingbie to do his bidding. Shen Yue had interacted with Fu Jingbie before and knew he wasn't the easygoing type. Just when he thought Fu Jingbie might fly into a rage or even storm out, the man remained right where he was, perfectly composed, and actually began to explain.

Of course, he didn’t clarify the meaning of "system," only telling him the so-called "truth" about how this world operates. It sounded similar to the novels Shen Yue had been cramming on recently, but even more profound. Shen Yue was left in a complete fog and didn’t fully understand by the end.

He collected his thoughts: "So you’re saying that to escape my current predicament, I have to complete the so-called 'plot'?"

Fu Jingbie said, "Theoretically, yes."

"Then what if my plot requires me to die?" Shen Yue’s composure cracked. Originally, he had distanced himself from Wei Jinchuan to avoid the original outcome. But if, because of his "awakening," the world’s will forced him to follow the plot from his dream... then what was the point of his "awakening"?

He might as well have never had that dream; he might as well have remained blissfully ignorant and kept making mistakes!

Shen Yue’s knuckles whitened from his grip on the fork. The sweet cake in front of him suddenly lost all appeal. He recalled the thread of that dream, thought of Wei Jinchuan, and for the first time felt a despairing sense of powerlessness.

Fu Jingbie remarked dismissively, "Then you just 'die'."

"Jingbie," Meng Shishu hurriedly nudged him as the atmosphere was about to freeze over, "Stop scaring people. You’re even scaring me."

"I’m not scaring anyone," Fu Jingbie said, though he still reached out to pat Meng Shishu’s back reassuringly. "I don’t know much, but when it comes to the world’s will, even a system can hardly defy it."

Shen Yue stared at him fixedly, the light in his eyes gradually dimming: "Is there really no other way?"

Coming to Haicheng this time, Shen Yue had actually been fully expecting to be scammed. But given Fu Jingbie’s status, it was clear he wouldn’t lie about something like this. In other words, he wasn’t being deceived, but he also hadn’t found a solution...

He was the one who would end up being "resolved."

Shen Yue mocked himself inwardly, feeling increasingly helpless.

"There is still a way. You just need to comply with it."

Fu Jingbie said, "Whether it wants you to follow the plot or to die, none of that matters. What matters is..."

Shen Yue looked up, unsure why Fu Jingbie was bringing up a story about a father stealing his son’s wife at this moment.

"There’s a folk legend that Yang Guifei didn’t actually die at Mawei Slope, but instead faked her death and fled to Japan, where she lived on. Of course, after thousands of years, no one knows whether this is true history or just a romantic anecdote fabricated by later generations."

Fu Jingbie looked at him, his pitch-black pupils seeming to swallow the light: "But regardless of the truth, she had already 'died,' and it’s impossible to verify."

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