Chapter 91, the final chapter: I knew everything.

"Mom," Ye Chuying winked playfully at Ye Qingdai, "I did a good job on my mission, didn't I..."

Ye Qingdai tapped her head, "Stop being cheeky, or you'll let something slip."

“I know,” Ye Chuying said, her eyes widening as she defended herself, “I’m not an unreliable person like my brother…”

“What do you mean unreliable…” Fu Yanli gritted his teeth. As soon as he entered the room, he heard Ye Chuying complaining about him, but he still held Xu Wenci’s hand tightly, their fingers intertwined.

Xu Wenci seemed a little embarrassed and gently poked Fu Yanli's shoulder, meaning to tell Fu Yanli to shut up.

Fu Yanli pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow, but his eyes were still defiant towards Ye Chuying: If Xu Wenci hadn't told me to be quiet, I wouldn't have let you go.

Ye Chuying wasn't going to let Fu Yanli off the hook either, "If you were reliable, how could Brother Xu Wenci not agree to go public with you..."

Amused, Xu Wenci tugged at Fu Yanli's sleeve, then lowered his head and smiled.

Before I could even react, I was suddenly embraced by an unexpected hug.

He looked up, his pupils contracted instantly, and his heart skipped a beat.

It's his mother.

"Xihe..." Ye Qingdai greeted Li Xihe with a smile, and specially set up a special seat for Li Xihe next to her own seat.

"Here you are." After greeting her son, Li Xihe immediately sat down next to her best friend and continued their recent conversation.

Xu Wenci was completely bewildered again.

He winked at Fu Yanli: What's going on? What on earth is happening in this world?

Fu Yanli spread his hands: I just woke up too, I don't know.

Yes, his diary.

He must have a diary.

Fu Yanli: After we finish eating, I'll definitely remember these things clearly in my diary.

"Brother, your secret relationship has lasted for four months, and you haven't kept it from anyone, not even your aunt abroad." Ye Chuying suddenly mocked Fu Yanli.

Fu Yanli's face twisted with anger.

His sister has been at odds with him since they were little!

That's really good.

Everyone is here.

He finally got everything he wanted.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting interplay of light and shadow on the floor, freezing the lively warmth of the living room into a warm-toned oil painting.

Xu Wenci sat on the sofa, watching Fu Yanli and Ye Chuying bicker childishly, watching the two mothers whisper and laugh together, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of the slightly warm teacup.

A sense of almost illusory satisfaction enveloped him, like being immersed in perfectly warm spring water, with even his fingertips feeling a lazy warmth.

Everything from before seemed to have been completely sealed away, leaving only a calm yet enduring emotion.

Within easy reach.

In the kitchen, the range hood hummed softly, drowning out the rustling sounds of chopping vegetables.

"Mom, what about Grandpa Qiao..." Ye Chuying stood in the corner as if being punished, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. The playfulness she had shown in the living room was gone, replaced by a seriousness that seemed out of place for her age. "Shouldn't we tell my brother?"

"This world..." Ye Qingdai paused in her chopping, lowering her voice, "is easy to solve. There's no need to trouble them. Without the system's influence, the Qiao family and the Fu family won't affect them either."

Ye Chuying nodded.

Clearly, neither she nor her mother should carry the memories of that world.

But...

She opened her palm, and there lay a small, rough-edged piece of building block in her hand.

Its color was dull, and it was nothing but useless trash in anyone's eyes.

This was the only souvenir she had secretly brought from that collapsed order.

but……

However... she gripped the shards tightly, the sharp edges digging painfully into her palm.

There will be no more surprises in this world.

Fu Yanli thought so too; there shouldn't be any more surprises in this world.

But this idea became less certain the moment Fu Yanli saw Yi Lou.

His eyelids twitched involuntarily as he waited for Yi Lou to speak first.

“You’ve been keeping this from me all along,” Yi Lou grinned, offering his blessing as if he were simply expressing his well wishes to a friend. “My gift was prepared in a hurry. Please don’t be offended.”

"No," Xu Wenci replied with a smile.

Fu Yanli, however, frowned and stared at Yi Lou with a look of utter disbelief.

"I might not be able to attend your wedding, since I'm going abroad soon..." Yi Lou muttered, looking quite pleased.

Fu Yanli frowned even more deeply.

Yi Lou's reaction was clearly wrong.

Yi Lou and the others disappeared into this world in the same space, so he must have retained his memories as well.

However, he still couldn't find his brother in this world.

"I'm leaving!" Yi Lou waved goodbye to the two of them with a flourish.

After Yi Lou left, a brief silence fell over the corner of the coffee shop.

Sunlight streamed through the glass window, casting dappled shadows on the wooden tabletop. The air was filled with the rich aroma of coffee beans, yet it couldn't dispel the heavy doubt etched on Fu Yanli's brow.

Xu Wenci gently pressed his fingers on the back of his hand, as if to soothe him.

“He chose his path.” Xu Wenci’s voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing Fu Yanli, and he just murmured, “With his memories, he probably doesn’t feel much pain.”

Fu Yanli withdrew his gaze from the doorway and instead stared intently at Xu Wenci.

Xu Wenci's amber eyes flickered slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

He understood what Xu Wenci meant.

Yi Lou still couldn't choose to be happy with someone.

He still couldn't forget Yi Zhi.

"Um."

Fu Yanli responded softly, then turned and completely enveloped Xu Wenci's hand in his palm. The warm touch felt incredibly real, dispelling the last trace of gloom in his heart caused by Yi Lou.

Everything... will be alright.

Today, Yi Lou, president of the Yi Group, donated 500 million yuan in the name of his late brother Yi Zhi to build a Hope Primary School...

Everything is fine.

In this world, what is easy to know will always be easy to know.

It's not Yi Pei, and it's definitely not some white moonlight.

“I showed you my diary, but you’ve never shown me yours…” Fu Yanli sat on the edge of the bed, diligently drying Xu Wenci’s hair after his bath, while complaining incessantly.

Xu Wenci remained silent, only lowering his head and stroking the cover of his diary.

Fu Yanli took out the old-looking hard-cover notebook from the deepest part of the locked desk drawer. The dark purple cover matched the color of Fu Yanli's eyes, and the corners were somewhat worn.

Finally, my hair is dry.

Xu Wenci's fingertips twitched slightly, and he finally turned to the first page.

The handwriting was familiar, belonging to Fu Yanli, with sharp strokes yet restrained and understated.

The date is four months ago.

It was probably when he and Fu Yanli first met according to the script.

He came for the job interview in the morning.

Highly capable, but dangerous.

The next line shows a simple sketch of a dinosaur getting angry.

Xu Wenci frowned. How come he didn't know that Fu Yanli's painting skills had become so good?

He beat someone; it was brutal.

The image is followed by a simple line drawing of a dinosaur stepping on a person spitting blood.

Xu Wenci was speechless.

Is he really that fierce in Fu Yanli's eyes?

Fu Yanli chuckled and explained, "Look, I'm being a bit ungrateful in this world. How could I say that about you?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Wenci fell silent.

Fu Yanli's incessant chatter came to an abrupt halt.

The hairdryer had stopped sometime earlier, leaving only the two people's somewhat disordered breathing in the room.

Xu Wenci kept his head down, his thick eyelashes drooping down, casting a small shadow under his eyelids, obscuring the turbulent emotions in his eyes.

His slender fingers unconsciously tightened, almost tearing the cover of the deep purple diary.

Fu Yanli looked at his taut profile and his slightly trembling fingertips, and his heart felt as if something had suddenly clenched it.

He put down the hairdryer, reached out, and wanted to touch Xu Wenci as usual, but his fingertips hesitated and paused in mid-air just before touching the other's shoulder.

Xu Wenci raised his head at this moment.

He didn't look at Fu Yanli; his gaze was unfocused, resting on a point in the air. His voice was soft, yet carried an almost cruel calmness, each word distinct:

"Xu Wenci, do you know that the reason I approached you in the first place was because I wanted to pledge allegiance to Old Master Qiao?"

Fu Yanli's breath hitched for a moment. He looked into Xu Wenci's amber eyes, which seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze, his throat tightened, and in the end he could only answer in a hoarse voice, "I know."

Xu Wenci's lips twitched very slightly, like a self-deprecating laugh at a failure.

He also knew that Fu Yanli had always been tolerant of him.

He continued, speaking steadily:

"Do you know that if it weren't for the plan to kill you, I would never have had any interaction with you at all?"

Fu Yanli's hand clenched into a fist silently, his knuckles turning white.

He looked intently at Xu Wenci, trying to find a trace of familiar warmth in the haze, his voice lower: "I know."

"Do you know that in the beginning I only wanted to use you to find my mother, and then kill you when you were no longer useful?"

This time, Xu Wenci's voice trembled slightly, though he tried his best to suppress it, the subtle tremor still betrayed the panic in his heart.

He finally turned his gaze to Fu Yanli, his eyes no longer holding their usual coldness or gentleness, but only a trace of... bewilderment.

Fu Yanli met Xu Wenci's gaze without flinching, his voice calm yet unwavering: "I know."

Xu Wenci stared at him intently for a long time. Then, as if he had exhausted all his strength, he gently closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the gray haze in his eyes seemed even heavier.

He asked one last question, his voice so soft it almost seemed to dissipate into the air:

"So you also know... that I'm only with you so that I can live a better life?"

After asking that question, he seemed to have completed a task, and his whole body relaxed, his shoulders slumped slightly, revealing a deep weariness.

He stopped looking at Fu Yanli, lowered his head again, and stared at his hands, which were slightly curled up on his knees.

Fu Yanli did not answer immediately.

He silently watched Xu Wenci's unusually soft and fragile neck, his taut jawline, and his knuckles that had turned white from straining.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the faint sound of traffic coming from outside the window.

Then, Fu Yanli made a move.

He didn't speak, but instead reached out and, instead of touching Xu Wenci's shoulder, directly enveloped his tightly curled hand in his own palm.

His palms were warm and dry, and the warmth reached Xu Wenci's cold fingertips.

Xu Wenci's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but he did not break free.

Fu Yanli lowered his eyes, and Xu Wenci's eyes were a little red, but he stubbornly refused to let any tears appear.

There was no blame or surprise in Fu Yanli's deep purple eyes, only a kind of understanding and heartache that seemed to encompass everything.

“I know,” Fu Yanli finally spoke, his voice gentle. “I know all that you’ve said.”

Xu Wenci froze in his arms, and after a long while, she finally raised her arms and hugged him back.

The force was very light, very light.

It was as if the person in front of me would scatter with a gust of wind.

The hazy moonlight outside the window gently enveloped their embracing figures.

The open diary lay quietly by the bedside. On the first page, next to the simple line drawing of an angry dinosaur, a small, red apple had been added at some point.

Xu Wenci blinked.

Although Fu Yanli knew a lot.

But there's one thing Fu Yanli definitely doesn't know.

In fact, the day he stabbed himself in the heart with a dagger, he genuinely wanted to use his own life to corrupt the operating system clone.

At that time, he never imagined that he, as the vessel, could actually live.

He didn't gamble.

He didn't intend to live at that time.

But luckily, he survived.

Now, Fu Yanli is telling him to quit smoking.

—The End—

Author's note: I've finally finished updating the main text.

I was planning to update tomorrow, but I've been a bit busy these past few days, so I'll just stay up all night and update it all at once. [Heart emoji]