Chapter 6 The Apocalypse 5

“…That’s it.” Lu Xuejin explained the whole story from beginning to end. He omitted the specific job details, only saying that Cheng Ce provided him with the sales performance of alcoholic beverages.

Cheng Ce stood to his left, his hair disheveled and a noticeable red mark on his jaw, yet he did not appear disheveled at all. He exuded the composure of an adult, a stark contrast to Luo Mingchuan to Lu Xuejin's right.

The tall young man deliberately dressed all in black, his dark pupils beneath the brim of his hat deep and cold, making him appear like a murderer who had just left a crime scene. He had just used violence against Cheng Ce without mercy, his actions ruthless, as if possessed by a demon. Even now, as he took a half step back, the gloomy and chilling aura emanating from him was still terrifying.

Noticing Lu Xuejin's fingers tremble slightly, Luo Mingchuan's expression softened, and he explained stiffly in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood."

But the look in his eyes as he looked at Cheng Ce still carried an undeniable hostility. He reached out and grabbed Lu Xuejin's shoulder, pulling her forcefully toward him: "Come with me."

His tall figure almost completely enveloped Lu Xuejin.

Cheng Ce watched the two walk to the alley entrance, his eyes slightly narrowed.

So this is the "child" from Lu Xuejin's family. It's quite unexpected.

He originally thought it was Lu Xuejin's child from his previous marriage, at most seven or eight years old. He didn't like children, but if it was Lu Xuejin's child, with his blood flowing through it, it wasn't unbearable.

The result wasn't seven or eight years old, but seventeen or eighteen, and he had grown into a broad-shouldered, burly boy with hard fists.

With such a large age difference, they don't look like father and son, and their completely different appearances don't suggest any blood relation.

If they were brothers or uncle and nephew, it would be fine, but if they had no blood relation at all... Judging from the boy's strong protectiveness and possessiveness towards Lu Xuejin, Cheng Ce couldn't help but suspect that the other party had ulterior motives.

The entrance to the alley.

Luo Mingchuan gripped Lu Xuejin's shoulders with both hands, bent down slightly, stared intently at him, and warned, "He's no good, stay away from him."

This posture was full of restraint. In the shadows, their hair touched, and their breaths were filled with the cold, slightly rusty scent emanating from Luo Mingchuan.

Lu Xuejin turned her head away and did not respond.

Luo Mingchuan's brow furrowed deeply. He suppressed the heat in his heart and explained to his naive brother that Cheng Ce's actions, once dissected, revealed his malicious nature. He then softened his voice, saying, "So don't have any contact with him."

I thought Lu Xuejin was just being fooled by Cheng Ce, and that once things were explained, she would run away like a startled rabbit avoiding its predator.

“…But.” Lu Xuejin finally looked up at him, her long, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes trembling slightly, her voice weak. In front of Luo Mingchuan, he rarely dared to be assertive and exercise his authority as an elder, but this time, Lu Xuejin insisted in her soft voice, “Mingchuan, I want to make money.”

“I’ll need money for college, and the bar job won’t be enough. I’ll save as much as I can while I’m still young. When I’m unemployed and need your brother, I’ll have to rely on you to support me.” Lu Xuejin calculated each item, her innocent eyes looking up at Luo Mingchuan, her vulnerable Adam’s apple exposed beneath the beast’s claws, a hidden, pleading posture.

Luo Mingchuan released his grip abruptly, as if pricked by a needle.

Lu Xuejin explained softly, "It's okay. Mr. Cheng didn't do anything to me. He just... thinks I'm good at bartending."

But when you suddenly become so resistant to men's advances, so sensitive, anyone can tell what you've been through!

Luo Mingchuan's chest heaved violently as he swallowed back the words that were about to spill from his mouth. He didn't want to embarrass Lu Xuejin.

The weak older brother struggled to maintain a facade of peace, unaware that the truth had already been seen through. He naively believed he could shield his younger brother from the wind and rain with his frail and deformed wings, but little did he know that his younger brother had already sensed everything from his disheveled feathers, his increasingly late return to the nest, and his plump yet sensitive tail.

For the first time, Luo Mingchuan hated his own incompetence. Wasn't everything Lu Xuejin did all for him?

[Dedication Points +10]

Dongyao: [? What happened?]

It was confused; could fighting between two fragments really increase contribution points?

The fact that the host understood the scoring mechanism better than the system itself made Dongyao feel ashamed.

Lu Xuejin naturally reached out and patted Luo Mingchuan's head, smoothing the short hair that was pressed down by the brim of his hat: "I have to work tonight, so I won't be going back. You should go back and get some rest early, don't stay up late, you have to attend tutoring classes tomorrow."

He stepped out of Luo Mingchuan's shadow and back into the lamplight.

Luo Mingchuan: "..."

[Dedication Points +5]

Is it really just work?

Luo Mingchuan was stiff all over, suddenly feeling powerless for some reason. He could only watch helplessly as Lu Xuejin got into that expensive car. Cheng Ce waved to him calmly. The wheels rolled over the dust, the window rolled down, and Lu Xuejin's beautiful eyes flashed in the dim light, like a pair of pearls deep in the mud.

Dongyao: [Wow!! 80 contribution points! You're awesome, baby!]

Dongyao: [But in the next phase, the rate at which dedication points increase will be much slower. Don't worry, we'll take it slow QWQ]

The little robot tumbled around, setting off fireworks to celebrate the successful completion of the mission.

After the fireworks were finished, he secretly glanced at Lu Xuejin twice with his big, beady eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lu Xuejin asked casually, gazing at the flowing night view outside the car.

Dongyao: [Baby, how did you do that? Why is the male lead still giving me dedication points?]

The system has too many questions that cannot be answered.

Lu Xuejin smiled slightly: "Because he misunderstood. He thought I was selling my body for his tuition and living expenses, and that he was powerless to help me. So even if he hates me for taking matters into my own hands, he will also feel pain, guilt, and self-loathing."

"That kind of awkward personality, he wished that no one in the world would pay attention to him, but there was one person who almost gave everything for him..." Lu Xuejin lifted her eyelids, her smile containing a strange meaning.

【!! So that's how it is!】 Dong Yao finally understood the purpose of Lu Xuejin's relationship with Cheng Ce, but her excitement quickly turned into worry. 【Actually, even without Cheng Ce, if she just took care of the male lead's life step by step, and sent him to the base after the apocalypse, her contribution points would still reach 100. Baby doesn't need to wrong herself by dealing with Cheng Ce; that's too dangerous. What if Cheng Ce is a monster in human form? What if he locks her up?】

Like Luo Mingchuan, the system couldn't stand Cheng Ce no matter what.

Wouldn't that be too boring?

Lu Xue thought to herself.

Although it was a bit troublesome, it was really interesting to see Luo Mingchuan make that kind of expression.

It's a pity I couldn't record it with my phone.

Lu Xuejin did not tell Dong Yao her true thoughts, but simply said, "It's my first mission, and I'm afraid something might go wrong. I'll just earn as many contribution points as I can at this stage."

Half a month later, Lu Xuejin stepped into Cheng Ce's house once again.

He noticed that there were significant changes compared to the last time—

The cool gray walls were painted a warm off-white, and soft cushions and blankets were everywhere. Cheng Ce had turned on the air conditioner in advance, and as soon as he entered the room, the heat on his body was swept away.

On the beige round dining table sat a bowl of chilled mung bean soup and a plate of fruit slices. Cheng Ce's voice came from behind: "Take a break. You've been working for a long time, you must be very tired."

He didn't seem to be in any hurry to make a deal.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, as if Lu Xuejin were a friend he had invited as a guest.

Lu Xuejin said, "Mr. Cheng, let's... finish our work first."

He turned around, his eyes timid.

After the second transaction ended, Cheng Ce went to the bathroom to wash off the traces. Lu Xuejin sank into the soft sofa, grabbed a cushion, and rested her chin on it, looking like a student who was still in school.

The television was broadcasting the day's news; the anchor, with a serious expression, was reporting on a new type of virus. This was a harbinger of the apocalypse.

Dongyao secretly took out its camera, wanting to take another picture of its host, when Lu Xuejin suddenly picked it up. Dongyao abruptly held its breath, stunned by the magnified beauty, and it took a while to react, realizing that Lu Xuejin had just asked it a question.

"...Do Luo Mingchuan and Cheng Ce really have my husband's soul inside them?" Lu Xuejin's lips turned down slightly, revealing a hint of melancholy.

“Aside from their similar appearances, they are nothing like Chen Mo. Let’s not even mention Luo Mingchuan, but Cheng Ce…” Lu Xuejin’s ears turned red as she said somewhat shyly, “Chen Mo doesn’t have that kind of hobby.”

When Dongyao and Lu Xuejin were bound together, Chenmo was already a corpse. Dongyao didn't have much time to get to know Chenmo. It asked, "Baby, what kind of person is your husband?"

Mentioning Chen Mo, Lu Xuejin's face unconsciously lit up with a smile: "Chen Mo is erudite, gentle, gentlemanly, very outstanding, and loves me very much, always considering my needs."

It sounds so perfect it's almost unreal.

Dong Yao guessed that the dead man was definitely putting on a facade in front of Lu Xuejin, never revealing his dark side, making Lu Xuejin believe he was upright and honest. After all, just looking at Luo Mingchuan and Cheng Ce, it was clear that silence was not associated with erudition and gentleness.

“Baby, in our healing world, characters will be generated along with the main storyline and will be automatically adjusted. For example, if you cause the male protagonist to misunderstand something and his thoughts change, the world may automatically fill in the background and generate one or two ‘guests’ of you in other places.” Dong Yao explained tactfully, “Like Luo Mingchuan and Cheng Ce, they only have a little bit of the Silent Soul fragment in them, and the majority of their personalities are influenced by the plot, so they may be different from the Silent One himself.”

"Besides, maybe he subconsciously liked the way you treated him? He was just too proud to let you know, and it only came out after he died," Dongyao added. "Think about it, when he was with you, didn't he enjoy being told what to do?"

Lu Xuejin thought for a moment: "He's too busy and rarely comes home. But he does listen to me completely. He happily complies with any request I make."

Dongyao found it a bit strange. It thought Lu Xuejin and Shen Mo were a newlywed couple deeply in love, but they didn't seem to know each other very well.

It must be an illusion.

Lu Xuejin was willing to bind herself to a system with unknown dangers and complete tedious tasks of sacrifice for the sake of silence, which shows how much she loves silence. And the character generated from Shen Mo's soul also had such a high initial affection for Lu Xuejin, recognizing her as his wife at first glance, and even without his memory, he was still in love with her instinctively.

These two people don't love each other deeply?

How could that be?