Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Zhang Xueya, you’re pregnant.”
The slower members of the crowd were still bewildered. The quicker ones were already shouting, “Holy shit!”
“Didn’t he say he’d never touched her? Then how’d she get pregnant?”
“How do you think? Didn’t the guy just say it? He’s innocent. They set him up together.”
“Plot twist! Plot twist!”
Someone was puzzled. “Seriously? If they weren’t right for each other, why not just break up? Why did she have to make such a big scene?”
Zhao Xiuming searched his memories, his expression growing stranger. “Zhang Xueya and I are neighbors. Her family wouldn’t let her go to university. I’ve been paying her tuition and living expenses.”
He tilted his head and smiled at her. “Have you been deliberately making yourself out to be the victim?”
“Spreading rumors, too. Lies about me hitting people and treating you badly.”
Zhang Xueya’s face was deathly pale, but she still denied it. “No.”
Zhao Xiuming looked at her in a way he never had before. It wasn’t hatred or anger. “Every time your best friend sees me, she tells me to treat you better.”
“But in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never even held your hand.”
“And as far as I remember, we’re not engaged. We’ve never even been a couple.”
He lowered his head to smile at her, his eyes full of confusion. “Xueya, are you my girlfriend?”
“Your family didn’t want to owe me money, so they said you’d be my wife.” Zhao Xiuming smiled awkwardly. “But we both know that wasn’t real.”
“Tell me. What are you thinking right now?”
“I…” Zhang Xueya had no words. Her face was full of disbelief, with no guilt in it, only astonishment.
She even reached out, grabbed his cheek, and pinched it hard, as if checking something.
Unable to bear the pain, Zhao Xiuming flinched back from her hand.
The System gave a quiet click of his tongue, so brief Zhao Xiuming thought he might have imagined it.
For someone caught in the middle of this farce, Zhao Xiuming felt remarkably little.
The diners watching saw it differently. They thought he was pitiful. His heart must be breaking. The only reason he wasn’t flying into a rage was that he was already dead inside.
“I thought we were watching a cheater get what he deserved. Turns out they were stabbing a decent guy in the back.”
“Poor guy. Seriously, that poor guy.”
“They weren’t even together. What cheating were they supposed to have caught him at?”
“They really weren’t dating? Then why did Zhang Xueya say they were?”
“Look, she pinched his cheek red. He looks so fragile, he’s about to cry. Enough already! I feel awful for him!”
Zhao Xiuming touched the corner of his eye. He wasn’t crying.
The crowd immediately chimed in, “Look! He’s wiping away his tears again!”
The hot pot restaurant erupted. Seeing that things were going the wrong way, the manager finally appeared.
He exchanged a look with Li Zhehan and announced for everyone to hear, “Zhao Xiuming, your troublemaking is affecting our business. We don’t employ people like you. Get out!”
The manager was plainly taking sides, trying to put a stop to the scene.
The System in Zhao Xiuming’s head sounded displeased, malice threading through his boyish voice. [Let’s see. Manager Sun Yan.]
[Ha. You’ve pissed off our future all-conquering hero. You’re dead. You’re absolutely dead.]
Zhao Xiuming was looking above the manager’s head, even more astonished than when he had seen Zhang Xueya’s stomach.
If the thing on her stomach was an anomaly, what hovered above this manager’s head was actually text:
[Character: Sun Yan.
Occupation: Hot pot restaurant manager.
Status: Available for login.
Hidden data: Sun Yan keeps parts of his beloved wife in the restaurant’s freezer!]
Parts of his wife? The freezer?
Wait. Zhao Xiuming realized his situation was rather complicated.
First, he had bonded with a System, received a plot, and learned that he was cannon fodder in a novel. But parts of that plot didn’t match what he had experienced.
Second, something had happened to his eyes. He could see the anomaly on Zhang Xueya’s belly, as well as information above the manager’s head that looked like a game character’s profile.
So now, he knew not only that Zhang Xueya was carrying a ghost fetus, but also that Sun Yan might be a murderer who dismembered his victims!
Did any of this belong in a melodramatic romance novel?
“Manager, I actually know a secret about you, too.” Zhao Xiuming hesitated over whether to say it.
“Stop stalling and get the hell out,” Sun Yan snapped. Surely he could handle one poor student with no power or connections?
Zhao Xiuming ventured, “It’s about the unidentified frozen meat in the freezer.”
Li Zhehan found that laughable. He’d thought it would be something serious, but it was only a few pieces of frozen meat. Sun Yan had been the manager for so long. Would a trivial matter like that frighten him?
Contempt showed in Li Zhehan’s eyes. “You’re trying to threaten us over food safety? Is there something wrong with your–”
“What did you say?!”
Before Li Zhehan could finish, Sun Yan cut him off. The manager’s expression changed drastically, turning ugly, his eyes fierce.
Realizing he’d lost control, Sun Yan hastily tried to cover for himself. “What frozen meat? I mean, who the fuck told you to go poking around the storeroom?”
Having confirmed that the hidden information was true, Zhao Xiuming smiled with sheer delight.
Sun Yan’s breathing quickened. He pulled the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile. “What do you know?”
At the same time, the text above his head began flickering, turning a glaring red. [Abnormality! Abnormality! Abnormality detected!]
The hot pot restaurant was still full of steam and noisy voices, yet to Zhao Xiuming, it had changed completely.
Unknown patterns radiated from Sun Yan, covering every visible part of the interior in the blink of an eye.
Blue-green symbols invaded the walls, ceiling, tables, and chairs, flickering constantly like the screen of a glitching game.
Tiny numbers even floated in the air he breathed. The pitch-black thing on Zhang Xueya’s belly began writhing, trying to escape.
But both Zhang Xueya and Li Zhehan were covered in a faint golden light. The light around Zhang Xueya in particular formed something like a protective shield, separating the blue code from the black anomaly.
The anomaly seemed to notice this, too. It wrapped itself ever more tightly around her waist, letting out piercing screeches.
Everyone else in the restaurant was oblivious, absorbed in the couple’s melodramatic romantic entanglements.
As the code drew close to him, Zhao Xiuming took off his restaurant apron, gave Sun Yan a long look, and turned to leave.
Sun Yan reacted as though he’d suffered a terrible shock. “What do you mean by that? Explain yourself! Come back!”
He tried to chase after Zhao Xiuming, but Li Zhehan stopped him. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”
Gone was Sun Yan’s usual meekness. Red-eyed, he swung a hand at Li Zhehan’s face. The slap rang out, leaving Li Zhehan staring in disbelief.
“Fuck off, you little bastard!” Sun Yan swore. “Stay out of my way!”
But by the time he rushed outside, Zhao Xiuming was nowhere to be seen.
The video from the hot pot restaurant spread like wildfire around campus. The messy relationship drama was too sensational to resist. No matter which group chat he opened, someone was calling for Zhao Xiuming to explain what had happened.
He knew he’d be the subject of stares and gossip if he went back now. Besides, he and Li Zhehan shared a dorm room. That would be troublesome.
So he decided to rent a place off campus and stay there for a while.
The System sounded relaxed and cheerful as he drawled, [Calmed down a little? Aren’t you curious what kind of System I am?]
Zhao Xiuming searched rental listings on his phone. [I’m perfectly calm.]
The System announced generously, [All right, I’ll stop teasing you. I’m actually a… uh…]
As the System faltered, Zhao Xiuming pressed him. [What kind?]
The System’s voice dropped very low. [A ** Cuddling System.]
Zhao Xiuming said, [What? Speak up. Say it with your chest. Haven’t you eaten?]
The System said, [A Widow Cuddling System!]
Zhao Xiuming said, […I dare you to say that again.]
The System said, [Gladly! I’m a Widow System.]
Zhao Xiuming raised his phone, then lowered it. He wanted to say something, but in the end he made his peace with it and said nothing.
The System deliberately prodded him. [How about you find a widow to cuddle today, and I’ll take care of Li Zhehan’s retaliation for you?]
Hearing those… shameless words in the System’s cool, clear boyish voice, Zhao Xiuming fell silent for a moment. [No.]