The triple-decker dining cart drove silently across the red carpet, arriving in front of the room where breakfast had been ordered.
The attendant in white gloves straightened his posture and raised his hand to ring the doorbell.
“Ding dong—”
“Hello, guest, your breakfast is here.”
He waited about two minutes.
The room was still silent.
The slightly puzzled waiter rang the room bell again.
“Hello, guest, your breakfast—”
The door opened before he finished.
Li Shuoxing opened the door, picked up the breakfast plate from the dining cart with both hands, turned around and closed the door with his heel, all in one fluid motion that took less than two seconds.
The attendant silently withdrew his hand ready to serve the plate and closed his mouth ready to warn of burning the hand.
He pushed the food cart lonesomely, and, as he had come, left soundlessly.
In the room, Li Shuoxing put the plate down on the table, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and began to eat.
The hotel breakfast had just that taste.
Nothing worthy of surprise.
Most of Li Shuoxing’s attention was focused on the game on his phone screen.
Didn’t I just forget the credit card bill for a moment?
The reason I forgot is ultimately because of you, the system, for wretchedly trying to get me to spend more money by not putting the credit card bill directly into the contribution pool calculation!
I ended up spending the money, but you still had the nerve to send the bill to my little person?
He looks so grave, so resentful.
System, you’ve changed.
You’re no longer the mother system that favours the lover.
You’ve become a stepmother system that controls the lover and threatens the player!
“Isn’t it just money?” Li Shuoxing spoke through gritted teeth, eating the flag he’d set ten days ago. “I’ll give it to you!”
This oath didn’t summon the system, but Su Mingqian in the game heard it.
Su Mingqian, who’d been so sleepy that he was nodding off, suddenly came back to his senses. He asked, “Ximu, what did you just say?”
Li Shuoxing replied carelessly, “I said cub, you don’t have to work so hard. I’ll pay the bill.”
Just as he finished.
Light -5.
The little person wasn’t happy and put down his chopsticks.
Li Shuoxing: “???”
Did I say something wrong?
Su Mingqian didn’t let anyone guess what he was thinking. He spoke bluntly, “Ximu, I’m happy you’re willing to pay the bill. But I’ll be happier if you’re willing to help me make things to cover the bill instead of giving me money directly. After all, I can’t rely on you for everything.”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
He figured out the reason the favourability was deducted.
Su Mingqian added, “I’ve made a lot of things the past few days. The items are in the production workshop, the food is stored in the fridge, and the pumpkins in the ground are ready to be harvested. Ximu, why don’t you sell them all and see how much they can sell for.”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
I can’t believe I got such a large deposit unknowingly.
Su Mingqian spoke again, “If the price isn’t a lot, I can speed it up a bit more in the remaining three days…” He lowered his head, deep in thought. “At least one pumpkin will sell for 1 yuan, and the courtyard can be filled with 500 pumpkins, which can harvest 500 yuan…”
When Li Shuoxing heard this, he didn’t dare remain silent.
Although he wanted to collect 100 pumpkin fragments to exchange for a Halloween skin, he never thought of enslaving the little person to plant a courtyard of pumpkins!
He said cautiously, “Cub, are you a little mistaken?”
Su Mingqian was puzzled. “Mistaken on what?”
Li Shuoxing: “You see, I’m the one who bought the things, and I’m the one who swiped the credit card… So, why do I need you to pay it back?”
Su Mingqian said naturally, “But I’m the one who uses these things.”
You… you make a good point.
I can’t even refute it for a moment?
Li Shuoxing was rendered speechless, not knowing how to respond.
He even felt a little strange.
He had an illusion that he had accidentally let the cub raise him when he should be the one spending money to raise the cub.
A subtle bruising of male pride.
But there was a feeling of happiness.
Li Shuoxing was silent, but Su Mingqian wasn’t.
He urged again, very concerned, “Ximu, sell the stuff and tell me the price, so I can arrange the remaining time. The repayment date is approaching.”
Li Shuoxing had to follow Su Mingqian’s instructions. He started clearing the stored goods in the game one by one.
Among them, the food in the fridge gave him 452 contribution points, the stuff in the production workshop was 389 contribution points, and the ripe pumpkins in the ground were collected together, getting 48 pumpkin fragments in addition to 232 contribution points.
All together, there were 1073 contribution points, plus the original 1200, for a total of 2273 contribution points.
…Don’t mention it. Give the cub three more days, and he’ll not only pay off the credit card, but also make some riches.
Li Shuoxing: “Cub, I sold the stuff for a total of…”
He was going to tell Su Mingqian the exact amount.
But mid-sentence, Li Shuoxing’s heart suddenly moved.
Wait, the cub can make things, but he can’t sell them. In other words, he can’t possibly know exactly how much money the things he’s made are worth. If I lie that the things he’s made are enough to repay the debt, then he won’t insist on working hard anymore…
Li Shuoxing: “A total of 3060 yuan—”
Suddenly -5.
Su Mingqian said faintly, “Ximu, you’re lying to me.”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Su Mingqian continued faintly, “Even someone brainless can see how low the chances are of making these things and selling them for just enough to cover the bill.”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Su Mingqian said tactfully, “Ximu, you’re an author, not too suited for other things.”
Li Shuoxing had a bit of a heart attack. All sorts of excuses flew through his head… Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea!
Li Shuoxing hurriedly spoke up, first admitting his mistake, “Cub, I did just misreport the number. The total value of the items you made is 1073, and now we have a total of 2273. But I’m trying to repay the debt not just for you, but more for myself.”
Su Mingqian: “?”
Li Shuoxing: “Everyone’s time is limited. We have to use the limited time to do the most valuable things. Only then is that time spent appropriately and reasonably. But making items to pay off debt is just as inefficient and of little value as planting pumpkins.”
Su Mingqian: “Then what has more value?”
Li Shuoxing was righteous. “Urging me to write.”
Su Mingqian: “…”
Learning his lesson, Li Shuoxing said what he was familiar with, “Cub, I’m officially hiring you to urge me to write. As long as you can get me to write a little more each month, even if it’s just two or three chapters, this has more value than you doing a month’s worth of manual labour.”
Su Mingqian: “…”
Li Shuoxing continued, and he said it seriously, “Cub, I’ll give you a sum of money every month. You’re responsible for my writing work. Just…”
The number 1888 came to Li Shuoxing’s lips, which was one of the game’s currency amounts.
But on second thought, he quickly swallowed back the words in his mouth.
How is this poor number worthy of my noble cub!
So he staked everything against the system and took the initiative to raise the price to 1888 Ă— 2!
“3776! I’ll pay you 3776 a month!”
Isn’t it just money?
Trash system, take the money and get out.
Let go of my cute cub!
When he said that, Li Shuoxing was a little worried that Su Mingqian would refuse him again.
So he racked his brains and spoke with great emotion, “Cub, you have no idea how much you’ve done. Since I’ve had you, my life has completely changed. My routine is stable, my life is healthy, and I come to see you every day with anticipation. Is this bit of money me helping you? Of course not, it’s you helping me! Your company is priceless.”
He said affectionately, “So cub, promise me, let’s be together every day~”
Su Mingqian: “…”
The little person in the game didn’t talk.
The time he didn’t talk was a bit long.
Li Shuoxing felt a little strange. “Cub?”
Su Mingqian coughed.
This confession is a little overly passionate and romantic. Maybe it’s an author’s gift.
It turns out Ximu still has feelings for me.
It turns out I’m really important to Ximu.
He felt a hint of embarrassment, but the embarrassment fluttered and wasn’t very easy to grasp.
Although Ximu likes pink…
When I think about it, it’s actually another kind of cute…
Su Mingqian’s eyes drifted. He didn’t directly agree, but he didn’t directly refuse either. His heart was wavering. He had to think it over. “If you think so…”
But anyway, it wasn’t disagreement.
A +5 jumped out.
Another +5 jumped out.
A string of +5’s jumped out, not fast, but steady, swaying slightly with Su Mingqian’s head turning movement, pleasant and rippling.
Su Mingqian said that half-heartedly, but thinking that he really didn’t know what to say, he changed the subject and confirmed to Ximu again, “Ximu, do you seriously want me to urge you?”
Li Shuoxing quickly affirmed, “Of course!”
Su Mingqian reminded, “I’m very strict.”
Li Shuoxing: “I’m not afraid!”
Su Mingqian was glad. “You told me before that you update two chapters a day with a word count of about 4500. Then for our first step, let’s aim to update 6000 words a day.”
Silence.
A suffocating silence.
Fear.
A sudden fear.
Li Shuoxing negotiated, “…Cub, how about we don’t be so strict?”
Su Mingqian smiled. “Ximu, efficiency is key. You need to increase your core competitiveness.”
The conversation that’d cooled Li Shuoxing’s breakfast finally ended when Li Shuoxing urged the little person to go back to bed to sleep in.
After finishing breakfast, the little person went into the bathroom to take off the “Hoe the harvest at noon” clothes and put on comfortable pyjamas. His head was clearly full of +1’s, but his small face was taut, pretending he didn’t feel anything.
Li Shuoxing’s heart melted at his cuteness.
He watched the little person get into bed, pulled up the small blanket for him, then gently patted him through the blanket. After watching him bury his head in sleep, he sat alone on the couch, deep in thought.
The favourability pool on the game screen had become -130, and the little person sleeping in bed still had +1’s.
Li Shuoxing’s mood was a little turbulent.
A moment of joy, a moment of sadness.
A moment of satisfaction, a moment of hesitation.
It always felt like a pit had appeared in front of him, or he had consciously dug it for love.
“Just…” While Li Shuoxing talked to himself, he casually paid 1888, then continued to linger. “It should be okay. There’re always measures to counter these policies. If I really can’t finish writing, can’t I just inflate the word count? The cub won’t find out… right?”
He didn’t know why.
When Li Shuoxing said that, a strong feeling of uncertainty emerged.
He couldn’t help but steal another glance at the little person in bed.
As this glance passed, a wisp of light mist flickered and appeared out of thin air, lingering around the head of the bed.
As if echoing each other, the same light appeared on the leather book on the bookshelf.