CH 14

Chapter 14: What can you do to me? 

After watching the evening performance and having dinner, the recording for the day was over.

The guests with tight schedules had to catch their flights and leave E Island after the recording, but most of them were not in a hurry and stayed at the hotel arranged by the program group.

However, Bian Yi did not go back to the hotel with them. He went to the private residence on the island with Kou Li and their child.

Bian Yi didn’t know Kou Li had a house on the island, but it was not important. Moreover, it was a private residence and even the police who followed Bian Yi could not enter.

Although they were there to protect him, there was still an element of surveillance. However, this situation should not last long, as Bian Yi was not a suspect.

As soon as they arrived, the villa door opened and a person came out with a bright smile. He greeted Kou Li first and then introduced himself to Bian Yi, “Hi, I’m Jian Yi, Kou Li’s old friend.”

“Bian Yi.” Bian Yi nodded and prepared to take the Xiao Shu inside, but the child seemed to be familiar with this uncle and stuck his tongue out at him when Bian Yi led him.

Bian Yi also looked back and saw Jian Yi chatting with Kou Li.

Bian Yi had some impression of this person. He had come to Kou Li’s wedding, but that was all. At least, Bian Yi had not seen him play with Kou Li before, so he did not seem like an “old friend.”

In Bian Yi’s memory, Kou Li did not have many friends. The only one he could confide in and trust seemed to be himself.

Only one, heh. How easy it was to get caught up in those three words.

Bian Yi withdrew his gaze and walked into the house without looking back.

“Oh, that’s so sad. Your wife doesn’t trust you anymore,” Jian Yi said with a smile on his face, a little teasing.

Their conversation was not loud, and the police who had not left yet could only see Jian Yi as he appeared during the day and came to fulfill a promise to a good friend.

Kou Li took off his glasses and wiped the lenses, his tone without any ups and downs, “Let’s go.”

Jian Yi shrugged and followed him, speaking in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “So, now that you see him, do you feel like you can’t do it anymore, or do you want to lock him up?”

Kou Li looked at the figure in front of him entering the house and did not answer.

Jian Yi sighed lightly and shook his head.

He couldn’t guess the answer either.

In the past, Kou Li supported Bian Yi’s dreams and hobbies, watching him shine under the spotlight and being loved by countless people. He pretended to be a perfect husband in front of Bian Yi, unwilling to clip his wings or see any sadness on his face, thus constantly suppressing his paranoid possessiveness.

At that time, Jian Yi could definitely say that Kou Li loved his partner very much.

But now, after who knows how long of separation, Kou Li had become even more paranoid. It’s hard to say whether he would completely lose his mind one day.

He may lock Bian Yi up forever. He probably wouldn’t use the basement, a dirty and lightless place. Instead, he might create an island piled with everything Bian Yi needs, but only Kou Li can step on it, and only Bian Yi can see Kou Li.

Or perhaps, at some point, he won’t be able to bear Bian Yi’s disgusted and hateful gaze and will kill him, guarding his body for the rest of his life. This way, he won’t have to worry about whether Bian Yi will leave him again or be taken away silently by someone else.

Or maybe it would be simpler to die together.

Jianyi sighed and tossed the rope tied to the tree lightly toward Kou Li, who was standing on the cliff edge.

He patted Kou Li’s shoulder. “Don’t forget, you have a son to raise. I’m not a good person, and your wife’s parents aren’t reliable either.”

Kou Li hesitated for a moment. “I know.”

Then he added, “I have already started treatment, and the medicine was prescribed by you.”

“You’re using moral coercion? My medicine isn’t poisonous. If something happens, it’s not my fault.” Jianyi rolled his eyes and left him behind.

Kou Li looked at the building in front of him, lit with warm colors, and walked inside step by step.

The door opened to reveal a dazzling light.

He wondered if anyone liked the dark. Perhaps they just got used to it. The light in front of him was real. Even though he couldn’t touch it, it was right in front of him.

If it were destroyed, he wouldn’t see such a bright light again.

He hated that darkness, which represented only endless loneliness.

On the other side, a few guests who were still in the hotel set up another game. They weren’t too excessive, just eating some barbecue, drinking some wine, and playing some board games together.

Jiang Shi was also called out. He had just turned 18, and his seniors gave him some fruit juice. His agent looked at the situation, feeling quite disgusted. The game wasn’t “dirty,” but rather it was the hearts of these adults. They called Xiao Shi out just for his koi-like constitution. It seemed whoever teamed up with him would have a higher chance of winning.

But in the end, it was just a regular gathering, and there were people watching, so there was no need to refuse.

Although Jiang Shi had only debuted for a year, he wasn’t introverted. He was generous and cute, very likable to the older generation.

He greeted everyone one by one after arriving and found that besides those who were leaving the island tonight, Bian Yi and Xu Rui hadn’t come.

He volunteered, “I’ll go ask Mister Bian!”

After saying so, he was about to go and find him.

Someone called out to him, “Hey, you little kid, why are you so ignorant? Why are you running to someone’s door late at night?”

“I…I…” Jiang Shi’s face turned red instantly.

“Hahaha,” someone else said, “Lao Zhang is teasing you. Bian Yi came with his family, and he didn’t go back to the hotel.”

“Oh, I see…” Jiang Shi was visibly disappointed.

“I heard that we’re shooting on the island owned by Bian Yi’s husband and his family. They’re a family of three, so why would they go back to the hotel? Did you see how the director was flattering Bian Yi’s husband today?”

“Maybe it’s because of this that Bian Yi was kidnapped. The fake one had a lot of courage to pretend to be Bian Yi for a whole year… when I remember working with the fake one before I get goosebumps.”

“Do you think his husband can tell who is who? What about when they sleep at night…”

“Okay, okay, there are children around, be quiet.”

Jiang Shi took a sip of juice and pretended not to understand what they were talking about.

He was a bit frustrated. Although he wasn’t particularly smart, he considered himself clever. He could tell that Bian Yi was on guard against him during dinner.

He thought Bian Yi would come to play, but he didn’t.

These middle-aged men were either beer-bellied or greasy-faced, and none of them looked as good as Bian Yi.

The game didn’t last too long, and everyone left after playing for a while.

Jiang Shi was ready to go back to his room to rest after washing up, but he bumped into Xu Rui just as he stepped out of the elevator.

He greeted Xu Rui politely, but Xu Rui avoided eye contact, nodded coldly, and quickly entered the elevator.

Jiang Shi maintained his polite smile until Xu Rui was out of sight, then rolled his eyes, avoiding the corridor surveillance camera.

Jiang Shi wasn’t one to gossip, and he hadn’t met Xu Rui before. It was only after today that he realized why Xu Rui had been making strange expressions all day.

It made him sick – not because of anything else, but because of the book that suddenly popped into his head.

Jiang Shi suspected that he had read a pirated version of a book. The logic was chaotic, the characters were crumbling, and the plot was bloody and fantastical.

He wondered if he had awakened some kind of superpower and if this pirated text was written by some hater.

First of all, the logic was chaotic.

The book described him as becoming the lover of Kou Li, and they performed a dog-blood drama of “I love you, but you don’t love me, and you love me, but I don’t love you.”

Let’s talk about being the lover first. Jiang Shi was a lecher – yes, despite his youth and innocent looks, he really was a lecher. He liked to hang out with good-looking people, but this was only in the literal sense. He had just come of age, so what love were they talking about?

And Jiang Shi considered himself to be of good quality. How could he have fallen so low as to become someone else’s lover? His parents didn’t have any bad habits, and even if they really went bankrupt, how could they need him…

In this text, Jiang Shi is portrayed as a filial son who sacrifices his own body to save his bankrupt parents. However, he ends up falling in love with an older man who pays for his body, and, to make matters worse, the older man has another person in his heart.

When Jiang Shi initially read that part, he could not hide his pained expression. He wondered if he had a mental problem because why would he love a man who paid to use his body and who also has feelings for someone else?

Moreover, before falling for the older man, he had a crush on Xu Rui. Jiang Shi can’t believe how blind he was to be infatuated with someone who is having an extramarital affair.

As for the fantasy aspect, the text explains that his nickname “Jiang Zhong Jin Li” (meaning the golden koi of Jiang) comes from the fact that he is the protagonist, and therefore has a halo of the protagonist. However, if he really had such a halo, why would he be sold by his parents, used for money, and go through so many hardships with that scumbag for the rest of his life? This is not a golden koi halo, but bad luck.

Because this novel is too far from reality and frequently mentions the name of Bian Yi, Jiang Shi couldn’t help but keep looking at him during dinner. However, Bian Yi caught on and didn’t even look at him all night. Jiang Shi is so upset that he regrets reading the book. He went to bed with a sigh, while Bian Yi and his family were sleeping in the same bed.

…

Jian Yi visited Kou Li’s house and sat in the glass room, stirring a cup of coffee. He took a few sips and then greeted the system in Guan Xi’s mind warmly, inviting it to stay with him. 

“My friend, that useless trash on the bed is of no use. Why don’t you stay with me for a while?”

“Come on, don’t be afraid. Is it because you can only control the weak-willed idiots, but not those with strong willpower as not only can they not be controlled but will also bite back at you?”

Jianyi sighed in disappointment again. “Tsk…”

The system was almost at its breaking point.

However, it can never admit its existence to anyone in this world, or it will be expelled and destroyed. 

The system sneered, thinking, even if they tear this waste apart, they will not find its existence. Besides, did they think they can just catch this idiot and everything will be fine? Once this waste dies, the system will have a new host. 

Greedy humans cannot resist temptation. What can these humans do to the system?