The trip to the mall took 20 minutes with the bus. Rong XingLi conversed with Jing Yi the whole time. Actually, he tried to get Jing Yi used to his nickname, but every time he called him “Yi-er”, Rong XingLi was ignored until he would call Jing Yi with his proper name. Of course, acting cute was also taboo. 

“Ding—Host has reached the destination. The male lead and female lead are currently on the first floor,” reported Jing Yi.  

“En. By the way, can you not make this ‘Ding—‘ tune every single time?” inquired Rong XingLi. 

“Ding— Negative. Current system level has no customization function,” replied Jing Yi. 

Why did that sound so familiar?  

Wasn’t Jing Yi able to talk some sentences like a human, when he persuaded me into this whole affair? 

Beside this inconsistency, Rong XingLi also discovered, that not all his thoughts could be read. As long as he wished for it, he could block Jing Yi’s mind-reading. He suspected, that Jing Yi, contrary to what was told, had a personality. But for whatever reason whatsoever he insisted to be just a program without emotions. Rong XingLi was curious, but prying into other people’s secrets, was not his style. Moreover, Jing Yi was his partner and without him, he’d be long gone. 

“Jing Yi, when and where will those pursuers appear?” asked Rong XingLi. 

“Ding— Host has 1 h 42 min 18 sec until the incident on the upper floor in front of the bookstore,” while saying so a countdown appeared in the right upper corner of his vision. A system capable of dimension traveling was quite handy. 

Rong XingLi also let Jing Yi report him the location of Ruo Chen and Li Mengyao in real-time, so that he could follow them without being discovered. 

In the meantime, unlike the original timeline, the air between the main characters was rather awkward. Every chivalry gesture of Ruo Chen was dismissed for flirty behavior, while he was totally absent-minded towards Li Mengyao. Thus, they seemed like a couple, but actually were more like strangers sharing the same way by chance. 

They continued in this manner for an hour, until Li Mengyao got hungry and they sat down at one of the cafés there. The atmosphere changed to a relaxed and strangely harmonious one, as they minded their own business. 

Sometime earlier, Rong XingLi was giving his best to trail them, but soon discovered a very grave problem: money! 

Yes, the former film emperor, who had his own studio and many profitable side businesses, is now poor as a pauper! It was truly tragic. Forget entering one of those designer boutiques. Just standing on the floor, where all luxury brands were located, was impossible for him, because on this particular day was a “member only” event shopping day with limited edition items. Of course, one could sign up for a membership immediately, but the fee was as unimaginable with his budget as a gorilla having a candlelight dinner with a beauty. 

Being abandoned by the god of fortune, Rong XingLi had to think for a solution to this problem. If he couldn’t get near the male and female lead, because of different social classes, how is he supposed to pair them off with someone different? They were twins, yet the difference in treatment made one heart bleed. 

Thus, he contacted his family’s system, “Jing Yi, do you have some hacking skills?” 

“Ding—Yes.” 

“Is it possible to hack into Ruo Chen’s phone and send some messages and calls to his flirts, also to get me a part-time job?” 

“Ding—It’s possible. Does host have particular requirements?” 

“En, make sure, that Ruo Chen will answer his phone, when the incident will happen. Don’t let him be near Li Mengyao! And get me one or two high paid jobs, I can’t compete with these worn-out clothes.” 

Jing Yi confirmed the content of the fake messages with Rong XingLi and disappeared into the background. 

Meanwhile he made his way to the bookstore and pretended to read, but in reality, he looked out for the persistent bugs. 

Time was nearing for the hero saves the beauty event and the main actors just strode towards the designated bookstore, when Ruo Chen’s smartphone began to ring nonstop. He looked at the caller ID and his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Why did his girlfriend have to call at this time? Moreover, many of his other women send him seductive messages with lewd pictures attached! He excused himself to answer the phone and clear this mess. 

Hehe, serves you right! How about you are the one to satisfy the sexual desires of others. Those bitches are willing to be yours, so let your hands off my sister! 

Li Junyao’s pretty face showed a width grin. With his long emo bangs, he looked quite sinister as he felt schadenfreude over Ruo Chen’s misery. It was unknown, whether those were Rong XingLi’s or Li Junyao’s feeling. But right now, Rong XingLi totally immersed himself into the role of Li Junyao. 

Jing Yi silently lit a candle for Ruo Chen. His host was quite black-bellied. 

Rong XingLi ran like a little puppy to Li Mengyao as soon as he spotted her.  

“Big sis! You were also here? But where is the young master-sama? Leaving you all alone, I knew he didn’t come voluntarily ba!” exclaimed Rong XingLi disdainful. 

Li Mengyao smiled wryly. Of course, she already sensed, that Ruo Chen wasn’t interested in her. But their parents would nag nonstop her, if she didn’t play along. 

“Ah Jun, don’t say that. Brother Chen had an important call to take,” said Li Mengyao. Both twins didn’t believe that white lie at all. After all, Ruo Chen was infamous for his loose relationships. 

An arm swung around Li Mengyao’s shoulder and Rong XingLi dragged her towards the bookstore. 

Suddenly, three guys stood before them and blocked the way. 

“Yo, sweetheart, why not leave this emo behind and play with this big brother ba.” 

The twins took a bee way around them with a firm “No, thanks.” 

“Come on, he’s right. A beauty like you shouldn’t mingle with a beggar like him,” chipped another bean sprout in. 

This time Li Mengyao was angered, her younger brother always had to deal with such groundless insults and juxtaposition since they were small children. 

“This beggar is my brother! Since you deem the poor as unpleasant, we will gladly distance ourselves from you lot. Don’t block the way!” 

Since they were at the entrance of the bookstore with a width range of genres, the dispute created a not so small commotion. 

The wannabe womanizers realized their mistake. But bugs wouldn’t be bugs, if not persistent! 

“My bad, my bad. I was just joking. But you look even cuter so arrogant,” apologized the first guy. His face was so thick, even the 40+ years old award winner felt embarrassed. 

Of course, this didn’t make him forget to play his role. “How dare you make a move on my sister?! She isn’t interested. Get lost!” 

The pickup trio wanted to retaliate. Just when Rong XingLi was about to call the security, an overbearing, deep voice spat out, “Get lost!” 

Five people turned their head in unison to the root of the command. The trio sucked in the words, that were on the tip of their tongues, the twins were frozen on the spot. Ruo Chen handsome face was so black even Enma¹(watch hoozuki no reiteitetsu and will know how enma should NOT look like, lol) , the king of hell would pale in comparison. 

Aiya, aiya. This kid sure has a bad temper. It was just a little prank, yet he looks like the world has turned its back to him. Not gonna prank him again, never again. 

Contrary to his scared witless appearance, Rong XingLi was as calm as a grandfather watching his grandchild throw a tantrum. Ruo Chen would be angered to death, if he knew. 

He didn’t know why, but Ruo Chen’s fit, made Rong XingLi reminiscent his time with Huang YaoYang and him… 

The until quiet observer Jing Yi silently lit a candle for the two.  

“Ding—Host please concentrate on acting.” 

Jing Yi’s reminder woke Rong XingLi up from his daydreaming.  

The trio where nowhere to be seen and Ruo Chen took three decisive steps towards them. His long legs covered the distance with ease. With each inch closer, the intimidating aura drew nearer and cold sweat covered Li Junyao’s back. Rong XingLi mentally cursed this body’s non-existent stress resistance and those dummies that ran away with their tail between their legs.  

Why was the reaction to his and the male lead’s “Get lost!” so different?! He suspected, that this poor kid, he’s navigating now, was just a pitiful cannon fodder with a bad ending. No importance to the plot or the male lead at all!! 

190cm male lead material towered the twins. His icy glare stabbed into Rong XingLi. Ruo Chen was indicating for him to leave too. However, he couldn’t leave Li Mengyao with this rascal alone as a responsible adult. Thus, he played the willful young master. 

“Humph, look who is there! If I wasn’t here coincidentally, then those persistent guys would have harassed big sis! Who do you keep lying for? You don’t want to be here at all!” accused Rong XingLi with determined eyes. 

Ruo Chen sneered. “Who would believe that crap? Didn’t I drive them away just now, they didn’t put you in their eyes at all!” 

This imbecile clearly planned to be here. He didn’t know how he did it, but a dozen of his flings got fake mails from his phone, asking for photos, text messages and calls of unspeakable things to be sent at exactly this time. Even his girlfriend, who he was going to meet later for some fun, got a picture of his unfaithfulness and made a fuss. To placate her, he had to make some empty promises. Either way, only her body was likable, everything else was rotten to the core. He would have dumped her sooner or later, when he got tired of her anyway. But being played by a loser like Li Junyao was unforgivable. 

Li Mengyao wondered if she sinned in her past life, to have so many unfortunate events in one day! Her fiancé and younger brother were on such bad terms, it gave her a headache. 

“Now, now, Ah Jun don’t be so rude to Ruo Chen, he just helped us there. Brother Chen don’t misunderstand, Ah Jun is really just here by chance, after all this store has the best selection for his mayor!” explained she with a clean smile. 

Before the other two could react, she ended the meeting and bid her farewell with Ruo Chen. Dragging her puppy brother behind, they returned to the university by taxi. 

Seriously, nowadays she felt more like a nanny than a university freshman. Where was her carefree campus life, ah!