CH 59

“he finding out won’t change a thing,” xiao zhenyun heartlessly comforted the administrator. “si di can’t produce evidence to take down that mole. don’t think too highly of him. s-level sentinels are, at best, proficient in their field. administrative skills and interpersonal relationships might not be their strong suits.”

si di opened his mouth but couldn’t find a rebuttal, so he silently shut up again.

“besides, three years from now, si chu will discover that the mole mp planted within the union. there’s no guarantee that the person has been instigated yet,” xiao zhenyun added. “he might still be an upstanding young man.”

“as long as mp doesn’t go under, eliminating this mole just means another one will pop up, possibly even more cunning and dangerous,” xiao nian warned. “don’t mess with the plotline.”

si di nodded seriously, “i understand your point. instead of alarming the enemy, it’s better to wait and see. when conditions aren’t ripe, it’s wise to learn to bide our time. at least, we can identify the mole when the time is right.”

the three discussed into the late night, while xiao jiali waited quietly in the living room until the wee hours.

xiao nian came out of the room and saw a drowsy xiao jiali on the couch, and an indescribable feeling washed over him. xiao jiali noticed him and rubbed his eyes, “how did it go? did you make up?… there was no fighting, right?”

there was indeed a fight, but not the kind you might be imagining…

xiao nian certainly wouldn’t reveal the existence of the script to xiao jiali. despite the casual confession xiao zhenyun made to si di earlier, xiao nian had jokingly considered it but quickly dismissed the idea.

the fundamental difference between si di and xiao jiali lies in the fact that sentinel guides are permanently linked, their fates intertwined. with a high compatibility, they could even share thoughts after establishing a spiritual connection. xiao zhenyun could truly understand and control si di. however, xiao jiali remained uncontrollable.

without the stabilizing force of a permanent bond, xiao zhenyun wouldn’t have readily shared the truth with si di.

“they made up,” xiao nian said. “stop pretending to be a mushroom here and go to sleep.”

“…”

the union of xiao zhenyun and si di was half impulsive, half premeditated.

but for si di’s father, si qiaorong, it was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

early the next day, si di informed this news to si chu, who listened with wide-eyed disbelief, almost thinking he had not slept for just a night but a whole year, unable to keep up with the pace of developments.

“uni… united?” si chu couldn’t believe it. “but you two aren’t even engaged… uh, does dad know about this?”

“he doesn’t know yet. you’re the first one.”

“no, i don’t want to be the first in this,” si chu, who had just handed over a month’s gift, suffered from uncle-brother relationship ptsd. “can i pretend i didn’t hear anything?”

si chu claimed he was deaf! yet, not even ten minutes had passed since he ended the call, and xiao zhenyun felt like the entire world knew.

first, si qiaorong angrily confronted si di, ready to wage war. then, xiao jingfeng, with a playful tone, sent a video invitation, “zhenyun, you and si di have marked each other? young people… they just can’t contain the excitement. you two have combined without registering with the union first. such behavior isn’t commendable. come this afternoon for the formalities and provide a situation report.”

xiao zhenyun decided to counter magic with magic, “uncle, you toil tirelessly every day, with no sentinel of your own by your side. look, your nephew has already found his other half, but you remain alone. i genuinely feel sorry for you.”

“no, no, no,” xiao jingfeng had a bad feeling about this, “you’re not going to set me up on a blind date next, are you?”

xiao zhenyun raised his lips and smiled, “oh yes, uncle, what kind of sentinel do you like?”

“i like young sentinels,” xiao jingfeng, with a thousand years of experience in being cheeky, easily matched xiao zhenyun in banter. “you’re working as an assistant in the white tower, right? keep an eye out for young s-level sentinels in the tower. the narrower their spiritual thresholds, the better. i’m too lazy to do spiritual grooming for them.”

“…”

“zhenyun,” si di popped out from behind the door, “my dad is calling us for dinner at home. is the chairman coming too? is he free tonight? he can join us.”

“i won’t par…,”

“come,” xiao zhenyun interrupted xiao jingfeng, “this is obviously a not-so-friendly banquet. uncle, shouldn’t you accompany your only blood relative in this world on such an occasion?”

“…” xiao jingfeng sighed helplessly, “is it that exaggerated?”

xiao zhenyun took the hot tea delivered by the robotic arm and turned to look at si di. the latter’s eyes were wandering, and he remained silent. i’m afraid that si qiaorong’s angry voice just now was heard clearly even by xiao jiali, who was in the room wearing a five-sense suppressor.

xiao jingfeng kept laughing, “okay, okay… since you said so, how can i not come?”

satisfied, xiao zhenyun ended the call, and at this moment, si di approached, “when my dad asks, just say i used courtship pheromones to force you. as a physically frail and sickly c-level guide, you were utterly defenseless against my advances.”

tian lu hung its head on the balcony window, blinking its eyes peering inside the room like a massive deer head ornament. tai ji, next to it, squinted its eyes and nudged against it. after a couple of nudges, it also raised its front paws and hooked them onto the window, curiously following the gaze of the deer.

si di smiled at them, then, at the third window, saw xiao nian’s expressionless face.

“…”

“sorry to disturb you,” xiao nian walked in from the balcony, holding a hardcover book, “going to the si family banquet tonight, right? xiao zhenyun, let’s catch up on the missed plot mission.”

“you’re sure you want me to do a mission during the official announcement of si di and me at the banquet?” xiao zhenyun was like a king who didn’t want to attend court early, lazily leaning in his wheelchair with a cup in hand and a blanket draped over his legs. his speech was languid, and by his side was his enchanting concubine, capable of bringing disaster to a country, muscular enough to knock out three of him with a single punch.

“what mission?” the demon concubine asked.

“something like giving si chu a deeply affectionate look,” xiao zhenyun explained, “anyway, it won’t be a good mission; the good ones never come my way.”

“you’ve done that mission before?” si di’s mood was extremely delicate.

“otherwise, did you really think i liked those blind boxes at the airport so much?”

si di was surprised, “that’s also a mission?”

“there’s also the one at the wedding where i joined some blind date game because si chu wanted a terminal frame.”

“…are these all mission requirements?” si di began to feel that he, who had always been hurt by xiao zhenyun’s boundless tolerance and concern for si chu was… quite stupid.

if he was tossed around by the plot like this, not to mention liking it, the fact that he did not kill si chu with a knife one night was the result of cultivating his moral character, practicing fasting, and chanting buddha’s name in recent years.

“some of them are not.” xiao zhenyun slyly smiled, “the terminal frame i got for you was my own idea.”

“…”

seeing a noticeable change in si di’s expression, xiao nian immediately roared, “no pda! listen to the whole plot first, xiao zhenyun. this time, you went to si chu’s room because si’s mother said she had photos of si chu when he was a child. then, you left a bit later, picked up the half-eaten chocolate si chu had left on the table, and with a very enjoyable expression, put it in your mouth. this happened to be seen by ye feiran, who was very surprised, but he didn’t mention anything at the dinner table.”

xiao zhenyun: “…”

si di: “…”

si di felt like he had heard something very dirty and couldn’t help but rub his wolf ears on his head, “do we have to do this? it feels very… disharmonious.”

xiao nian sighed, “it’s not that i want to make it difficult for you. these plotlines related to the protagonist are mandatory. unless you want this newborn world to collapse due to excessive deviation from the plotline and eventually be reclaimed by the world management company.”

he glanced meaningfully at xiao zhenyun, “you could disregard it before, can you still do that now?”

“…manipulated.” xiao zhenyun closed his eyes, “i know, the cost of getting a second life. i’ll do it.”

seeing him restless yet having to endure, si di couldn’t help but lift the corners of his lips. he lightly pressed his fingertip on xiao zhenyun’s eyelashes, as if caressing a feather, slowly scratching left and right. “…how long does he have to do these missions? there must be an end, right?”

“if the progress is normal… four months?” xiao nian said. “after si chu and ye feiran’s wedding ceremony, he’ll finish the last mission and exit.”

“isn’t that ending quite soon?” si di pinched the deer ears on xiao zhenyun’s head; he had wanted to do this a long time ago. “is it because he found himself completely hopeless during the wedding ceremony of the two and decided to let go in pain? it seems this ‘xiao zhenyun’ also knows when to advance and when to retreat.”

xiao zhenyun and xiao nian exchanged a glance, maintaining silent agreement.

si di keenly sensed something unusual and said skeptically, “tell me it’s true.”

“…”

at 4 p.m., xiao zhenyun, si di, and the two accompanying companions appeared outside the si family’s gate. the reason xiao jiali also came was entirely due to the instructions of si di’s mother. she learned about xiao jiali’s difficult experience from si chu and nearly shed tears, constantly lamenting the poor child, how could fate be so cruel?

this time, si qiaorong was infuriated by the rebellious si di, so he hastily put together a family feast. without delay, he had xiao zhenyun also invite xiao jiali .

as the group entered, si qiaorong stood at the entrance with a stern expression, casting a scrutinizing gaze at xiao zhenyun and si di standing side by side.

si di, aware of his father’s stern but soft-hearted nature, smiled and called out, “dad.” xiao zhenyun had no particular reaction; after all, he had already slept with the guy’s son. no matter how much si qiaorong put on airs later on, it would be like, ‘you call me daughter-in-law, i call you cousin. let’s keep our own terms.’

it was the sensitive-minded xiao jiali, living under someone else’s roof, who was startled by this questioning stance. before si qiaorong’s brewing anger could erupt, si’s mother, holding a shovel, appeared from behind, scooped up xiao nian with her left hand and xiao jiali with her right, and said with a smile, “come, go eat something delicious with auntie. don’t mind this grumpy guy who does nothing but break people’s relationships.”

si qiaorong: “???”

“auntie, hello!” xiao nian greeted cheerfully, then turned back and gave xiao zhenyun a look that said, ‘do your missions well.’

xiao jiali, feeling favored, took a handful of melons and fruits and sweets, feeling like sitting on pins and needles under si’s mother’s enthusiastic hospitality.

due to the impromptu family banquet tonight, si chu, ye feiran, and xiao jingfeng all left early, arriving one after another around 4:30 p.m. as soon as xiao jingfeng sat down, he launched another wave of emotional output to si qiaorong, extensively discussing xiao zhenyun’s parents. this left si qiaorong helpless, saying, “i don’t mean not to support them. i have never stopped them from interacting. moreover, both of them have already bonded. what else can i do…”

“well, that’s good then. cheer up, my man!” xiao jingfeng patted si qiaorong’s shoulder, laughing heartily. he then winked at the silently sipping tea xiao zhenyun, who responded with a thumbs up. this uncle-nephew interaction didn’t avoid the onlookers and further infuriated si qiaorong.

while xiao jingfeng and si qiaorong went to the study to play chess, xiao zhenyun finally began his plot mission. “sister-in-law,” he called si’s mother, “si di said that when he was studying at the tower, he once kept shoulder-length hair for a whole school year. i haven’t seen him with long hair. do you have any photos from back then?”

si’s mother giggled, “oh, you mean those times… si di, don’t you have photos in your room?”

“i don’t,” si di cooperatively shook his head.

“i have them, i do.” si chu immediately walked into the trap, “they are in the photo album in my room.”

si di deliberately looked dissatisfied, tearing open a small bag of chocolate as if intending to block si chu’s mouth, “you talk too much.”

watching these two coordinated individuals, xiao nian regretted not recruiting si di earlier. seeing how skilled the sentinel was, he sighed with emotion…

unexpectedly, a twist occurred. si chu actually dodged his brother’s attempt to feed him, covering his mouth and saying, “dogs can’t eat chocolate.”

xiao nian, xiao zhenyun, and si di: “…”

can we stop playing this joke? it’s getting old.

hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). i hope you enjoyed the story! if you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ