章 21: 1-8

"Oi, Fu Zhiren. FU ZHIREN! Wake up, for the fuck's sake!" Jiang Lu kept violently shaking Yu Qingyu's shoulders with an annoyed expression on his face.

However, it had absolutely no effect. Yu Qingyu just let out a quiet groan, and continued sleeping on the table, dead drunk.

Seeing this, Jiang Lu clicked his tongue, his frown deepening. "If you don't wake up, I'm just gonna leave you here!" he threatened, his almost non-existent patience wearing thin.

Tang Zixin put a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from tormenting their unconscious friend. "He's too drunk, let him be. We should just call him a taxi or something."

"But what will that do?" Jiang Lu snapped. "Even if we stuff him in a taxi, how will he get out if he's still asleep? I'm tired too, I don't wanna babysit him the whole way home! Unless you want to volunteer-"

"I can take him home."

"Hmm?" Jiang Lu turned around, surprised. Right behind him stood Ye Chaodan. When did he even get there? Jiang Lu didn't notice him come over at all!

"I can take him home," Ye Chaodan repeated with a light smile on his face. "I don't mind."

"Is that so?" Hearing his offer, Jiang Lu relaxed a bit. He didn't want to go out of his way to send Yu Qingyu home safely, but despite his threats, he also wasn't that much of a jerk to just leave his unconscious friend behind on his own. But Ye Chaodan was someone they'd known for years, after all, so there should be no issue with leaving Yu Qingyu in his hands. "Great, then you do that," he agreed, finally letting go of Yu Qingyu's shoulders.

"Mn," Ye Chaodan nodded, bent down, and lifted Yu Qingyu up in his arms.

As he turned around, he felt everyone's bewildered stares focused on him.

"What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"…Why are you holding him like that?" Jiang Lu uttered, his eyebrows raised even higher than Ye Chaodan's.

Ye Chaodan tilted his head in confusion, casting a quick glance at the sleeping Yu Qingyu in his arms, before looking back at the rest of his company. "What's wrong with that?"

All of his teammates' jaws dropped on the floor in shock. Was he seriously asking?

"Wouldn't it be better to carry him on him on your back, or… Nevermind." Jiang Lu sighed, rubbing his furrowed brows. He was too drunk and tired to deal with that. If Ye Chaodan wanted to carry another guy like a princess, and saw nothing wrong with that, then who was he to stop him? As long as he wasn't the guy being carried, he didn't care about it at all!

"Alright, let's just go!" Xiao Guan threw a last few amused glances at Ye Chaodan, before shaking his head lightly and turning around with a smile. He might have just witnessed something interesting… He was curious to know more, but it was too late now. He would try to find out more next time!

None of them suspected that Ye Chaodan really had no clue as to why they found the situation so unusual. But he really did have no idea. Because the real Ye Chaodan was no more, and the person who replaced him spent most of his life in isolation from society, and thus was quite blind to any sort of cultural clues or societal norms…

He was, however, not an idiot. He realized that it must have been something he was supposed to know, so instead of questioning his teammates about it, he just followed them outside silently. A moment later, his eyes suddenly twitched, and he threw a quick, cold glance at the unconscious man in his arms, but a gentle, although perhaps a bit fake-looking smile returned on his face before anyone else could notice.

Soon, everyone else walked their separate ways, either to catch a taxi or take a subway, and Ye Chaodan was left on his own. As soon as he was alone, his expression darkened. He took a sharp turn, and marched in the direction of a small park nearby.

It was late at night, and the place was dark and deserted. There were voices of two people chatting coming from a different part of the park, but they were too far away to be seen, so they shouldn't cause him any problems. Ye Chaodan took a quick glance around, scouting his surroundings, and let go of Yu Qingyu without a second thought.

Hitting the ground with a thud, Yu Qingyu let out a groan out of pain from the impact. His features twisted, as he struggled to open his eyes, still completely befuddled. He had absolutely no idea where he was, or what was going on.

"Awake?" Ye Chaodan's, or rather Liu Wei's, usually mellow voice sounded extremely cold and harsh, as he nudged Yu Qingyu curled on the ground with his foot.

"Mn…" Yu Qingyu tried lifting his eyes, but with only faint streetlights coming from behind the man towering over him, he was unable to see his features. All of his senses were dulled from the alcohol, and his mind was hazy, making it impossible for him to think.

"So, tell me. What exactly are you trying to do? What is your mission in this world?" Liu Wei tried questioning him.

But to no avail. Yu Qingyu's head just dropped back on the ground, as he curled up even more, his arms wrapped around his stomach, looking sick.

"Tsk." Liu Wei clicked his tongue, annoyed. He reached into his pocket, where he had hidden a pocket knife…

But a moment later, his eyes twitched, and he paused, frozen in place. "But-!" he uttered with deep dissatisfaction, his brows furrowing,

A mix of changing emotions flashed on his face, as if he was having a lot of conflicted thoughts… Or arguing with a system in his mind.

Finally, he took a deep breath, with his nostrils flaring, teeth tightly clenched, and let go of the knife. "Fine," he barked out loud. "Whatever."

He threw one final dark glance at the unconscious Yu Qingyu and kicked his body, before turning around sharply and walking away, leaving the man alone in the middle of a pathway.