"System." Yu Tang said, "Close your eyes."
system:"?"
Yu Tang raised his hand in time to cover the system camera.
The next second, an ear-piercing alarm sounded sharply.
The system was so frightened that the whole screen was dotted with snow. It was nervous but also wanted to see, so it circled around in Yu Tang's palm twice and carefully moved the camera closer through the gaps between its fingers.
The picture on the screen was in chaos.
Some people were shouting, some were busy making phone calls, and an ambulance came in with sirens blaring and glaring lights on.
Ke Ming hung his head and was helped up limply by someone. His right hand loosened and a piece of sharp broken glass stained with blood fell down.
His face was pale, half of his arm was covered in blood, and his left hand was hanging at a weird angle.
"Host..." the system asked hesitantly, "Does Ke Ming want to use this method to keep Sui Si?"
The system has also learned a lot recently. It opened the Black Lotus Guide and said, "Using this method, you can effectively increase the other party's sense of guilt, thereby improving their favorability. For example, we had a strange mistake before..."
Yu Tang shook his head.
If he just wanted to use suicide as a way to force Sui Si to feel guilty and agree to marry him, he could have just used a razor blade.
But after trying to compare, Ke Ming did not use a blade, but directly smashed the glass.
What Ke Ming wanted was just Sui Si's guilt.
The system was stunned: "Really?"
"Ke Ming is smart enough," Yu Tang said, "He knows Sui Si very well."
Sui Si certainly did not feel without guilt.
He will feel guilty, blame himself, and apologize for the pain he has brought to others. He may even feel more regretful and ashamed than the average person when encountering such a thing.
—But some of the guilt, apology and shame will not translate into any actual action.
He just immersed himself in such guilt, and then "I am already extremely painful because of this matter". The incident itself would become a reason for him to forgive himself.
Ke Ming also wanted to express Sui Si's pain and guilt. These things could not be spent as money, nor could they solve any difficulties they faced.
As for love, which is an illusory thing, it is stable enough, reliable enough, and can generate benefits. There is nothing that Ke Ming needs...
System explanation: "So what exactly does he want to do?"
"Is there anything else that is worth him spending so much money on?"
The system flipped through Ke Ming's settings: "His stage type is locking in funkdance, which requires a lot of hand movements. Once the ligament is cut—"
"The ligament must have been severed."
Yu Tang took a screenshot and clicked on it to take a look: "If he wanted to commit suicide by cutting his ankle, that would be too weird. He should have preferred to choose his Achilles tendon."
system:"… ?"
Yu Tang tapped the system twice and cut out another light screen, preparing it on the side.
Ke Ming thought very clearly.
He is almost 27 years old. Even if there is no shock that can destroy his career and future, the stage time left for him is already too much.
Rather than waiting for your strength and physical condition to decline little by little, and holding on amidst countless ridicules until you can no longer hold on and then change your career, it is better to stay at the peak state.
The script they received only ended with the two getting married, and there was no further plot. But Yu Tang roughly guessed that even if there hadn't been this accident, in a year or so, Ke Ming would find a chance to get himself hurt, so that he would have to bid farewell to the stage with "regret" and transform in a new direction.
... Not to mention this fleeting opportunity.
"Rescuing him will only make things worse."
Yu Tang said: "Ke Ming's agent resigned. The agency was involved in the new labor law and an inspection team was sent in to conduct a comprehensive investigation. There is not much spare energy left to deal with him."
If Ke Ming does nothing, after seven days, when everything is settled, it will be too late to do anything.
The system thought hard and said, "So he has to go out... He wants to be released on medical parole so that he can go out early?"
Yu Tang: "Still."
"What else?" The system couldn't think of anything. "At this point, will anyone believe what he says—"
Yu Tang reached for the remote control and turned on the backup screen.
In the picture, not long after Ke Ming was rushed to the hospital, he was accidentally stopped by gossip reporters and paparazzi.
The detention center had enough accompanying staff, and was able to completely disperse the gathered crowd, which was surrounded tightly.
Under the camera of countless cameras, Ke Ming buried his head, his wrists still bandaged, and spoke in a very low voice: "I apologize to everyone on behalf of Teacher Sui."
…
In the detention room, Sui Si stood up suddenly and looked at the scene on the screen in disbelief.
Ke Ming told everything.
Ke Ming admitted their secret love affair over the years and admitted that Sui Si had a fake marriage with Yu Tang in order to protect him and distract the public from their hostility towards him.
And the reason why Yu Tang suffered from the cold violence from Sui Si in recent years was all because Ke Ming had always been jealous of Yu Tang. It was because of him that Sui Si treated Yu Tang coldly.
Ke Ming admitted that Yu Tang had indeed only received the lowest assistant salary in recent years, and admitted that Yu Tang had always lived in the studio. He had always known about it, but had never reminded Sui Si.
Ke Ming said that he had noticed that Yu Tang was in an abnormal state a long time ago and knew that Yu Tang needed to secretly take medicine to maintain his working condition, but because of selfishness, he did not help.
Ke Ming buried his head deeply. He almost died once, as if he was completely overwhelmed by guilt. He admitted in a low voice and intermittently that he went to see Yu Tang on behalf of Sui Si because he knew that Yu Tang would feel pain when seeing him, and he wanted to use this pain to force Yu Tang to remember.
Once Yu Tang remembers it, he can come back to help Sui Si.
Ke Ming said that he brought the electric shock device with him on purpose.
The electric shocks that Yu Tang received were always instigated by others.
It was Ke Ming who asked Qian Bin to embarrass Yu Tang in secret, and it was also Ke Ming who had someone spread rumors about Yu Tang's messy private life in bars a few months ago, which caused Yu Tang to be stimulated and accidentally fall into the water when he was drunk late at night...
"When did he fall into the water late at night?" The gossip-remembering nerve was indeed keenly pulled. "Was it last December when Yu Tang was suddenly hospitalized? Wasn't it Sui Si who sent him to the hospital that time?"
It’s not that there was no news about that incident, but Yu Tang was not yet completely ill enough to work at that time.
Before Yu Tang left, Sui Si Studio was still the top studio in the industry. They were resolute and swift, and any media tabloid that dared to go against the wind would be ruthlessly eliminated.
"You don't know?" Ke Ming was obviously a little flustered, "Yes, I'm sorry-"
He seemed to be panicked, looked back, and suddenly became incoherent.
There were finally enough people to maintain order. The detention center staff stepped forward during a break and forcibly separated Ke Ming and the reporters and paparazzi who were still not satisfied.
These interview videos were circulated everywhere, and the comments below quickly grew to several pages.
At first, everyone was shocked by the truth told by Ke Ming, and some people condemned Ke Ming for being inhumane, but after a short period of discussion, the wind direction began to change.
"Strange, what he said makes sense, but why does it sound so weird..."
"Of course it's awkward. Ke Ming is inhumane, but does Sui Si have any? Because Ke Ming is jealous, he uses cold violence against Yu Tang both in marriage and at work. What did Yu Tang do wrong?"
"Who would believe me if I told you this? Ke Ming knew everything about Yu Tang's salary and where he lived, and he noticed that Yu Tang was sick and taking medicine. But Emperor Sui sees his assistant every day, and he didn't know anything about it."
"Maybe he already knew it, but he just didn't say it."
"Perhaps Sui Si asked him to go see Yu Tang. Ke Ming is a popular figure after all. He risked being exposed and went to threaten someone in person. Is there something wrong with his brain?"
"Electric shock, too. What kind of new way of taking the blame is this? Can Ke Ming instruct the agency to assign an agent to Sui Si? It's too awkward to take the blame for someone else."
"Looking back at the timeline, Ke Ming had no reaction when he was arrested, no reaction when he was questioned, and no reaction when the entire network attacked him. But not long after the news of Sui Si being temporarily detained by the police came out, Ke Ming committed suicide in the detention center. Why did he commit suicide? Because he wanted to take the blame and take all the blame on himself, so that he could exonerate Sui Si from the new labor law case."
"I even feel a little sympathetic towards Ke Ming..."
"What's there to sympathize with? He's also an accomplice. He's just been brainwashed and is helping the evildoer."
"Don't forget, if the psychologist had arrived in time, Yu Tang would have been tortured to death by these two people. It's jealousy, it's murder."
"Neither of them is a good person, but Sui Si is indeed more serious. I suggest that this kind of scum should be banned directly and not be allowed to endanger society."
The last comment received more and more likes and was soon pushed to the top of the comment section.
…
Sui Si stood there in a daze.
He held the phone and slowly scrolled through the pages mechanically, as if he had suddenly lost the ability to understand words.
"Is this the person you love to death?"
Opposite him sat a gray-haired old lady: "You divorced the child surnamed Yu just for him?"
Sui Si opened his mouth, but all his strength disappeared in an instant. He looked at his grandfather in front of him, unable to utter a word.
Just half an hour ago, Sui Yingshi, the former head of the Sui family who had already resigned, suddenly appeared in the detention center with Nie Chi and showed him the video and the comments below.
Tonight was supposed to be Sui Yingshi's birthday banquet, but it was urgently cancelled due to some special reasons and changed to a ceremony to announce the new heir.
Naturally, this kind of news could not be announced to the outside world. The ceremony was only open to families at the same level or higher. Ke Ming had no way of knowing this.
Sui Si held the pen, his palms were cold. He exerted force several times before he slowly signed his name on the document spread out on the table.
After signing these documents, he will no longer have any relationship with the Sui family.
"The reason why I indulge you is because your father was supposed to take over as the head of the family, but he and your mother both died in the last electronic storm. You are their only descendant."
Sui Yingshi looked at him, his old and sharp eyes full of disappointment: "The Sui family will be responsible for the mistakes made over the years."
“…Yes.” Sui Si closed his eyes and whispered, “I have been deprived of all my assets and shares, which can be transferred to Yu Tang as compensation for these years—”
Sui Yingshi said: "You must be wrong."
Sui Si was stunned.
"Mr. Sui, you and Mr. Yu are legal spouses. When you became spouses, you only gave up your inheritance rights, and you have not been deprived of the corresponding assets and shares."
Nie Chi took the documents and said, "As of now, you still haven't terminated your marriage."
"According to the rules of the Sui family," Nie Chi said, "During the continuation of the marriage relationship, if the family members have the right to completely sever ties, the assets and shares will automatically be inherited by the spouse."
Sui Si's breathing was choking.
His face was pale, like a fish that was extremely short of oxygen: "What...what do you mean?"
Nie Chi showed him the document: "It means that now these assets and shares belong to Mr. Yu, but they are yours, and they can be used as compensation for him."
Sui Si sat there in a daze, staring at Nie Chi with wide eyes, as if he was looking at a monster.
Can... as compensation
Where would he get the money for Yu Tang
The case he brought was the first infringement case since the implementation of the new labor law. It was to serve as a warning to others and would definitely be dealt with severely. He had nothing left now. How was he going to get the compensation he was sentenced to
The Sui family no longer cared about this matter. Sui Yingshi was helped to stand up by Nie Chi. He walked out of the detention room without even looking at Sui Si who was standing there.
"Mr. Sui."
Nie Chi sent the old man to the car and returned to the detention room: "There is another recording, do you want to listen to it?"
Sui Si stood there blankly, and asked in a low voice: "What recording?"
"When Mr. Yu called the police, he provided what Ke Ming said to him in the coffee shop."
Nie Chi said: "We listened to a recording and conducted some investigation based on the recording... and confirmed the authenticity of the content."
Nie Chi asked, "Did you know that Mr. Yu and Ke Ming came from the same orphanage?"
"That orphanage has had a long-term partnership with the Sui family, but we recently discovered that the leadership has seriously embezzled donations."
Nie Chi said: "It has been handled according to the law. In order to strive for a chance of commutation of sentence, the dean provided us with some information."
Sui Si shook slightly.
He thought he would be more surprised by something, but it was as if his throat was clamped by these words, and he almost gasped: "... What?"
Nie Chi didn't speak immediately, but looked at the video on the table that was still playing automatically.
During the brief period when he was led away by the detention center staff, Ke Ming actually took advantage of the time to say a few more words.
Ke Ming was surrounded by microphones and told others that he knew Teacher Sui and that Teacher Sui really knew some things and it was not intentional.
Ke Ming lowered his head and told the person behind him who was constantly talking on the microphone that he still liked Teacher Sui.
Ke Ming said that he accepted all the judgments of the law against Sui Si, and that he would stay with Sui Si as his new legal spouse, and would bear all the compensation and reparations that should be made together with Sui Si.
"Do you want to listen?" Nie Chi said, "The information and recording..."
"… Need not!"
Sui Si's eyes suddenly shrank, and he took a few steps back, saying loudly: "I also want to hear, Xiao Ming he-"
Nie Chi nodded: "Xiao Ming was innocent and kind, so he couldn't stand the reporters who he had been dealing with so easily, and confessed everything. I'm afraid I'll completely cut off your last retreat."
Sui Si's chest heaved violently, he was gasping for breath, his heart and lungs almost exploded, he looked at Nie Chi in disbelief.
A professional manager who is always cold and machine-like... is mocking him
Why did Nie Chi mock him
Sui Si was so provoked that he almost lost his mind and pounced on Nie Chi.
"Please respect yourself." Nie Chi took a half step back. "You have to appear in court in six days. Please remember the date. It is very important."
Sui Si's legs were so weak that he staggered to the ground, half kneeling, with a buzzing sound in his ears.
Court appearance time... is important
Of course, court appearance time is important.
The divorce case comes before the new labor law infringement case. If he and Ke Ming get married immediately after the divorce is decided, then all the compensation awarded thereafter... will be debts that the legal spouses need to bear together.
Even if Ke Ming regretted it later, he would still have to shoulder some debts with him.
Sui Si lowered his head. He was frightened by his own embarrassing thoughts. Amid the sharp tinnitus, deeper memories came to his mind.
Many years ago, he once joked with Ke Ming and asked Ke Ming what kind of person he was.
That day was Ke Ming's 24th birthday. Ke Ming drank a lot of wine, his eyes were full of moisture, and the corners of his eyes were red, but he sat far away from him.
Ke Ming looked at him with a smile and said to him, Brother, you are a person who only loves yourself.
Ke Ming said, people like you...if they want to keep you forever one day, they have to leave you with nothing.
I have nothing, nothing left, I can only rely on others to support me and live.
Sui Si knew that he had drunk too much, so he just laughed it off and didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just the drunken talk of a child.
At that time, the studio was thriving thanks to Yu Tang's hard work, Sui Si was enjoying great success, top scripts and production crews took turns working in the studio, and he could easily get resources that made others envious.
Sui Si couldn't help but wonder, when did Ke Ming find out about this
When Ke Ming did these things, he thought in his heart, "I have nothing, nothing left", including that as the heir of the Sui family, as long as he figured it out and lowered his head one day, he could return to the Sui family and inherit a large amount of assets and shares
... But these are no longer important.
Sui Si raised his head amidst the pain that almost exploded in his chest.
He had severe tinnitus, and his whole body seemed to be drained of moisture. His throat was dry and sore, but he could still hear Ke Ming's words in the video intermittently.
Ke Ming is saying... Are you willing to help him pay off his debts
"I wish you a happy wedding in advance."
Nie Chi said: "These materials and recordings will be in the form of a video as the end of your wedding with Mr. Ke."
Sui Si closed his eyes. He no longer had the energy to be angry. He leaned his head against the corner of the table and said, "Is this your revenge? You have also been trapped in the studio for so long..."
"Yes." Nie Chi said, "It was arranged by the Sui family."
The corner of Sui Si's eye twitched slightly.
"Please understand the anger of the Sui family."
Nie Chi bowed slightly to him: "Because of Mr. Ke Ming, the Sui family not only lost an heir, but also lost a very young partner with unlimited talent forever."
Sui Si raised his head.
He almost struggled, using his arms to move over: "Where did Yu Tang go? Is Yu Tang still working at W&P? What happened to him? He—"
"Mr. Yu is fine, but because of this incident, there are more stable factors in his condition."
Nie Chi said: "According to the psychological counselor's advice, he will leave the imperial capital forever."
"Through remote networking, he is still fully capable of working at W&P. In fact, there are quite a few W&P executives who do not live in the capital."
"Before leaving, he said goodbye to me personally."
"Unfortunately, Mr. Yu no longer wants to have anything to do with the Sui family. All assets and shares have been transferred to him, and at his request and entrustment, a public welfare fund for student aid has been established."
Nie Chi seemed to know what Sui Si wanted to ask: "All the compensation you give in the future will also be included in this fund, and the Sui family will assign someone to supervise it."
Nie Chi said: "Mr. Yu said that he hopes this fund can be indiscriminate and without any inside information, and it can be open to anyone who has dropped out of school for some reason but still wants to study hard."
Sui Si hung his head and lay motionless. The detention room was dark and the video screen cast changing light and shadows on him.
Nie Chi left the detention room.
Sui Si began to tremble. He raised his hand with difficulty and took the phone.
In his phone... there were still those messages that Yu Tang had sent him.
Those very trivial, no matter how big or small, messages that once made him particularly impatient - memos, and more memos. Sometimes when Yu Tang was able to be with him, he would write countless memos, and the new assistant teased him many times.
And those photos. Sui Si never took a photo with Yu Tang on purpose, but Yu Tang was always by his side, and Yu Tang's shadow could be found in many photos.
Sui Si seemed to have grasped the last straw. He turned on his phone almost anxiously and opened the hidden folder skillfully. The expression that had just relaxed suddenly froze on his face.
On the phone's screen, there was only a reminder that "the file cannot be opened because the disk is damaged."
Sui Si didn't understand what was going on. He frantically opened one folder after another, opened his eyes wide, and searched carefully page by page.
He sat on the ground, leaning crookedly against the corner of the table, and kept flipping until the battery of his phone was completely exhausted and the screen dimmed.
An extremely familiar feeling suddenly enveloped him.
On Ke Ming's birthday, he stood in front of the window, feeling as if something was being taken away from his body silently.
That time, the feeling was very weak, just making people feel relaxed and inexplicably empty. This time, it was like completely and thoroughly emptying a person, all emotions and memories, all, the only thing left for him -
Sui Si's eyes widened, he cried out, and hugged his head desperately and silently.
He still remembers Yu Tang, but he may have forgotten Yu Tang.
But no matter how hard he tried to recall, no matter how he searched every corner of his mind, he could not remember what Yu Tang looked like.
Public bathhouse.
"The card has been issued. It can be used in all the leisure clubs provided by the Chuanshu Bureau to its employees."
The staff member took the Black Gold membership card and handed it to Yu Tang with both hands: "According to your request, we have extracted all the positive emotions related to you from the target person. The balance on the card is 100 points."
Yu Tang thanked him, took it and put it away for the system.
He was supposed to stay in this book for a while, until the protagonists officially got married and walked into the palace of marriage together, but he happened to receive a notice that there was a warning of plot line fluctuations in the second book.
In the second book, his name is Luo Ran. It's a cool name and his job is exciting. He is a professional "storm chaser".
Amateur storm chasers capture extreme weather phenomena such as tornadoes, hail, and lightning. They enter the center of the storm and use their cameras to record the most shocking natural scenes.
Luo Ran settled in Star City and had his own scientific research work. After work, he would drive to various parts of the alliance to chase extreme weather according to the global weather forecast.
He is a natural adventurist who loves excitement and adventure. He would fly through storms in pursuit of lightning that pierces the clouds. He is a long-term contributor to the league's top photography journals.
The protagonist of this book is the youngest research institute director in the alliance at the Xingcheng Research Institute where Luo Ran works.
This time, he realized that the protagonist wanted to imprison him, so he found an excuse to escape in advance.
Yu Tang actually wanted to go see the kind dolphins in the first book, but the plot line was more important, and he had to go back as soon as possible. He was locked up in a new manor of 1,000 square meters by the blackened protagonist.
Yu Tang took advantage of the time and took a nice hot spring bath. He completely relaxed and had a good sleep. He then logged out of the system in high spirits: "Okay, let's go."
The system flashed a small red light.
Yu Tang closed his eyes.
…
After a few seconds, Yu Tang opened his eyes: "You can start transmitting now."
"… Host."
The system hesitated for a moment, wondering how to tell him that night. Holding the bubble gum, it said confidently, "Because Luo Ran has not appeared in the book for a long time, he was cleared as redundant storage data..."
Yu Tang: “… ?”
The system rubbed his shoulder carefully.
"Can I be reborn as one?"
Yu Tang had never encountered this situation before: "As long as there is initial data—"
System: "The initial data has also been cleaned up."
Yu Tang: “…”
"But we still have a way!" The system flashed a small red light, "The host's body data in this world is still there. We can modify it a little bit and find a way to go directly..."
After all, the four books are in the same world. If you want to go to another book, the only way is to import the data.
Yu Tang felt vaguely that this was right: "Is there any other way?"
The system flew in front of him, leading him out of the employee leisure club and out of the public bathhouse that served as a cover.
Yu Tang stood at the street corner, silently catching the key that fell from the sky, and looked at the SUV in front of him.
Yu Tang: “…system.”
"Yes." The system asked happily, "Host, what's wrong?"
Yu Tang was in mixed emotions. He opened the car door, got in, inserted the key, and started the off-road vehicle that was out of tune with the surroundings.
He also remembered a fiery red SUV.
Luo Ran's favorite car. Luo Ran drove it to chase the hurricane and passed through the broken canyon of the earth vein. The storm roared on the roof of the car and almost blew the whole car away.
A person who is arrogant and unrestrained, and passionate about freedom.
"Come up." Yu Tang said, "Sit tight."
The system flew to his shoulders and grabbed Yu Tang's clothes tightly.
"Ask first."
Yu Tang's right foot hovered on the accelerator: "When I come back to attend Sui Si's wedding, do I have to drive a car back too?"
The system hadn't considered this question yet, and was a little hesitant when asked by him. It flashed its light: "We can buy a first-class plane ticket..."
Yu Tang held his forehead.
Originally, he only used his spirit body to travel through the four books, and he didn't have any clear feelings. Now that he was rushing through them, he finally realized one thing clearly.
The four books are based on the same world view.
"system."
Yu Tang called it: "Let me confirm, the protagonists of the four books will not meet each other, right?"
The system is full of confidence: "Host, rest assured, it will never happen. We are all trained!"
Yu Tang nodded.
The off-road vehicle roared across the asphalt road, skillfully passed through the alleys under the surprised gazes of pedestrians, drove onto the wide main road, and headed towards the intercity highway.
The scenery was rapidly receding on both sides.
Yu Tang closed the window a little, and the wind rushed in through the cracks, whistling past his ears and making it impossible to hear any other sounds.
Yu Tang sighed and closed the car window.
The system managed to avoid being blown away and hung on the back seat: "Host, host, what's wrong?"
"Am I traveling through a book?"
Yu Tang put on sunglasses and turned on the car rock CD: "I'm just on a business trip."