In the darkness, Shen Ci silently clenched his palms.

He clenched them so tightly that his nails almost sank into his flesh, pinching crescent-shaped marks into his palms, but he felt nothing.

Xie Yu lay right next to him. Heat radiated continuously through the quilt. As long as Shen Ci wanted to, he could roll into Xie Yu's arms with just a slight turn.

The sleeping Young Master Xie was very easy to talk to, letting others shape and mold him. If told to hug, he would hug; if told to let go, he would let go. However, Shen Ci merely gazed at him quietly. His dark tea-colored eyes lowered, hiding all his emotions beneath his eyelids.

The hotel had the air conditioning on, making the bedroom as warm as a lit charcoal stove. The quilt covering them was made of premium down, the clusters plucked from white geese on the Siberian tundra. It had an extremely high fill power and was exceptionally warm.

But Shen Ci still felt cold.

Early the next morning, when Xie Yu woke up, Shen Ci had already left.

Spitting out toothpaste foam, he mumbled indistinctly to the System: "Why didn't he wait for me to have breakfast?"

Shen Ci used to leave right away at the very beginning, then he waited for him to have breakfast for a period of time, and now he was leaving straight away again.

The System, which shut down as soon as it finished running the plot, was even more clueless than Xie Yu: "What's the situation? I don't know."

Xie Yu waved his hand: "Forget it, it's not a big deal."

He ate his meals as usual, went out for strolls, and played the part of a wealthy second-generation heir spending money like water. The System also fell silent for a long time. It wasn't until more than half a month later that it quietly surfaced beside Xie Yu.

"Two pieces of news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Xie Yu: "Whatever."

System: "This past half month, Shen Ci went to the hospital ward to see Lin Yin again."

Xie Yu gave an "Mhm." The Shen Ci in the original text was no ordinary person and was best at seizing opportunities, so he wasn't surprised.

"And the other?"

"Also, Xie Yuanshan found out about your investment. He threw a huge temper tantrum in the company conference room in Los Angeles, bought a plane ticket back to the country, and is rushing here right now."

Xie Yu casually opened a shopping website and tried to pay with his credit card. The screen displayed that the payment had failed.

His card had already been frozen.

Xie Yu wasn't panicked at all. Xu Qingshan had helped him set up an overseas account with a few million in cash inside, enough for him to live freely for several years.

Sure enough, that night, his phone ringtone blared. He pressed answer, and Xie Yuanshan's gloomy voice came through. Suppressing boundless fury, it carried a hint of gnashing teeth: "Xie Yu, get your ass back home right now."

Xie Yu hummed a string of "Mhms" and perfunctorily agreed.

He was eating small wontons at a street stall at the time. After hanging up the phone, he unhurriedly finished his wontons, drank a couple of mouthfuls of soup, and only then got into his car and cruised back home.

Xie Yuanshan was infuriated. Upon seeing him, he immediately wanted to get physical. However, Xie Yu was no longer a frail and powerless child. Standing at over 1.8 meters tall, he was a full head taller than Xie Yuanshan. If the older man wanted to slap him, he would have to stand on his tiptoes to do so.

Xie Yuanshan scrutinized him. Xie Yu stood in the shadow of the corner between the walls, his dark tea-colored eyes also hidden in the darkness, cold and indifferent. It seemed that as long as Xie Yuanshan dared to strike, he would not hesitate to strike back.

"..."

Xie Yuanshan withdrew his gaze, giving up on his plan to get physical. He spoke stiffly: "Fooling around with your bad crowd all day, look what you've become. Hurry up and pack your luggage. Get your ass over to City C."

Xie Yu kept his hands in his pockets, not taking his punishment seriously at all: "What time is the flight?"

Xie Yuanshan was thoroughly sick of Xie Yu and wished he could throw him abroad on the spot. The secretary checked the system and booked him a flight for tomorrow afternoon.

Xie Yu had been prepared for this and accepted it well. He packed all his luggage that night, and then, in accordance with the plot and character requirements, called He Zhiyuan and Zhou Yang one by one. He tearfully complained about his miserable experience and invited them to get together the next morning as a farewell banquet.

Of course, Xie Yu couldn't actually cry. He pinched his nose and forcefully squeezed out two choked sobs: "Brothers, I won't be able to see you guys for a long time."

The System accompanied him by the side, clicking its tongue in pain.

It was a bit disgusting.

Ever since the incident with Lin Yin last time, He Zhiyuan had felt embarrassed and returned to live in his ancestral home in the Capital City. He hadn't come to Jiang City for a long time. Currently, his movements were restricted by his family, so he wouldn't be able to make it tomorrow.

Zhou Yang, however, agreed readily. After a brief chat, the two chose a bar they often went to by the riverside.

According to the original text, Shen Ci was hospitalized at this time. No matter how wildly Young Master Xie liked to play, he was still afraid of causing a death. Therefore, tomorrow's gathering had nothing to do with Shen Ci and became a two-person meetup between Xie Yu and Zhou Yang.

Xie Yu hated He Zhiyuan and had an average impression of Zhou Yang—he couldn't say he liked him much, but he didn't hate him either. The two of them drank a few cocktails at the bar and then went for a walk along the riverside.

Zhou Yang asked him: "Are you really going for five years without coming back even once?"

Xie Yu smiled: "Really going."

Zhou Yang smoked, blowing smoke rings towards the river water: "Your biological dad is truly a piece of work... By the way, I heard he froze your cards. Are you short on money? Do you want your bro to give you some?"

Xie Yu shook his head: "No need, I'm not short on money, but there is indeed something I need your help with."

Zhou Yang raised his eyebrows: "We've been friends for over a decade, just say it."

Xie Yu: "Keep an eye on He Zhiyuan and tell him to stay away from Shen Ci."

Zhou Yang's hand that was smoking paused.

In the original text, He Zhiyuan wanted to mess with Shen Ci, and he did. The guy had an attention span of three minutes; once he got what he wanted, he no longer cherished it, and he never pestered Shen Ci afterward. But this time, Xie Yu had strictly guarded against him and absolutely didn't let him touch Shen Ci. He Zhiyuan was itching for it, and heaven only knew what he might do.

Zhou Yang was stunned: "This is the first time I've seen you care this much... Alright, I'll cover him. Before you come back, He Zhiyuan won't even be able to lay a finger on him."

"Thanks."

"Small matter, no need to thank me." Zhou Yang teased: "But Young Master Xie, since you like him so much, aren't you going to leave him some more money?"

Xie Yu: "I did."

Given the original owner's character setting, it was impossible for him to leave money for Shen Ci. So Xie Yu had sought out Xu Qingshan, asking him to set aside a portion from the psychiatric hospital's donations as a reserve. In case Shen Ci's grandmother had an emergency and needed money urgently, it could be allocated from there. If Shen Ci asked about it when the time came, they would just say it was a charitable donation and his family's number had been drawn.

Shen Ci didn't know that Xu Qingshan had anything to do with him, nor would he associate it with Xie Yu.

The two talked about some random things and then went their separate ways.

Xie Yu lugged his luggage out of the hotel—two large suitcases in total. He checked his important items one by one. The small kraft paper bag he had dug out earlier was safely tucked away in the inner lining of the suitcase, cushioned by a layer of lining paper.

The System looked at it curiously: "What exactly is this?"

Xie Yu pushed it aside, latched the suitcase shut, and carried it downstairs.

He got into the secretary's car and drove all the way to the airport. After passing security and taking a seat at the boarding gate, he finally brought up the System screen and opened the novel's page.

Before Xie Yu went abroad, there was one last plot point.

He took a deep breath and dialed the number.

The default phone ringtone sounded. After three seconds, the call connected, and Shen Ci kept his voice low: "Xie Yu?"

He seemed to be in a laboratory, keeping his volume very light. In the background, there was the clinking of glass test tubes and the rustling sound of a pen tip sliding across scratch paper... These sounds were very peaceful, like the sleep-inducing white noise in ASMR.

Xie Yu held the phone, seemingly entranced, and didn't speak for a long while.

"Xie Yu?" The other side called out again. Shen Ci must have stepped outside. The receiver transmitted the friction of fabric as a white lab coat was folded, followed by the swiping of a card, footsteps, and finally the sounds of birds chirping.

The prolonged silence made Shen Ci feel slightly uneasy. He hesitated for a moment and asked: "...What's wrong? Did something happen? Should I come to the hotel to find you?"

"No need." Xie Yu heard his own calm voice: "From now on, you don't need to come look for me either."

"..."

A long silence.

It was completely quiet on the other end of the receiver; besides the noisy background sounds of the campus, there was nothing else.

After a long time, Shen Ci finally asked very softly: "What do you mean?"

Xie Yu: "I'm going abroad. My flight is this afternoon. I won't be back for five years. The agreement is voided."

Pausing for a moment, he let out a laugh again, putting on the cynical tone of a playboy: "Congratulations to you, Teaching Assistant Shen. You are free."

These were the lines from the original text. Right before going abroad, Eldest Young Master Xie hadn't forgotten to mock his pitiful canary. The tone was supposed to be sinister and twisted, but Xie Yu was being serious.

He was very seriously congratulating Shen Ci on breaking free from his confinement and regaining his freedom.

"..."

It was yet another lengthy silence.

After quite a while, Shen Ci finally spoke. His clear voice carried through the receiver, sounding a bit muffled: "What time is your flight? I'll see you off."

Xie Yu: "No need. I'm already at the security checkpoint."

This part was not in the original text's dialogue; he had already added it in. But after thinking for a moment, Xie Yu added: "Goodbye."

Xie Yu hung up the phone.

The next time they met, he would have to go to the psychiatric hospital.

The phone screen went completely black, reflecting Xie Yu's face. The youth's brow ridge and nasal bone formed a beautiful curve, and his pair of eyes were hidden in the shadows, dark and faint.

"Passengers traveling to City C, please note. Flight JC5845 is now boarding. Please proceed to..."

As the broadcast sounded, Xie Yu looked up, shoved his phone into his pocket, took his plane ticket, and boarded the plane.

The flight time was up to twenty hours. Xie Yu leaned against the plane window. The retractable screen showed that they had flown over Japan, passed through the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, and as they crossed the Pacific Ocean, looking down from the window, the azure surface of the sea was distant and profound, meeting the sky at the horizon.

The System silently poked him: "Aren't you happy, Host? We can travel all over the world now!"

It was a newborn System that hadn't seen much of the world. It immediately pulled up hundreds of travel guides from the internet, spreading them out in front of Xie Yu, and excitedly said: "Look at this one, a seven-day, six-night independent tour of Iceland, the itinerary includes the ice blue caves and the Blue Lagoon hot springs! And this one, a first-time experience at a Las Vegas casino, featuring beautiful dealers in uniform..."

Xie Yu lazily pushed it aside: "We're on a plane. Can you even connect to the internet right now?"

System: "...Gah?"

Xie Yu: "Shut down."

System: "."

It tried to explain that as a high-tech system, its internet connection wouldn't interfere with communications, but Xie Yu had already spread a magazine over his face, refusing to communicate any further.