Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends From the Trash Bin

With this in mind, Zhou Kai was slightly reassured.

He stroked Shen Changqing’s jaw, “You’ve done very well.”

Chi Xiaochi thought, thank you, seeing how you’ve fallen to this kind of state, I also think I’ve done very well.

Zhou Kai then said, “In a few days, it’ll be the mid-year gathering. When the time comes, I’ll take you with me. Behave yourself.”

After saying this, he bent down and kissed that trembling little rabbit on the forehead, gave his tense body a satisfied look, and left the room.

Chi Xiaochi sat on the bed, and asked 061 with a calm look on his face, “Has he left?”

061, “He’s left. He’s not listening in.”

Chi Xiaochi, “He went downstairs?”

061, “He went downstairs.”

Only then did Chi Xiaochi rush to the bathroom, bracing himself against the sink as he vomited until his entire body trembled.

Shen Changqing spent many years stuck in the house, cultivating a body of bloodlessly pale skin. The intense vomiting tinged his eyes with a little red. After he was done vomiting, he’d nearly lost all strength, slowly sliding down along the counter into a kneeling position.

Seeing his appearance, 061 felt a kind of unspeakable pain.

He hadn’t felt this kind of emotion in a long time.

After being wiped of his memories, 061 had become a little abnormal.

He was always re-learning how to be a person, but everything he knew about people had been erased, leaving behind only memories that could be broken down into 0s and 1s, from after he’d become mechanical.

He wanted to know what he had been like before, but all he’d gotten were hazy concepts that couldn’t be more vague.

……Gentle, good-tempered, and kind to others.

061 had always been mimicking these concepts in the way he conducted himself, mimicking them very successfully, but in the end, it was just pretend. The emotional fluctuations he could autonomously produce were getting fewer and fewer.

Before meeting Chi Xiaochi, he’d already decided to be a cold, emotionless system.

But after meeting Chi Xiaochi, he was finally able to return to the world of humans.

After he was finished vomiting, Chi Xiaochi simply sat on the ground, and began to remove his chest brace, “Zhou Kai’s become suspicious.”

061, “It’s already a time like this, how can you still be thinking about that?”

Chi Xiaochi removed the chest brace, only then feeling the burden on his chest lessen slightly. He let out a huge sigh of relief, “At a time like this, it’s all the more important to think more.”

Inwardly, 061 said, that’s true.

It had indeed been incredibly dangerous just now.

No matter whether Zhou Kai wanted to hit people on the spur of the moment, or if he wanted to heiheihei on the spur of the moment, he was incredibly disgusting.

061 asked, “If he really suspects you, and wants to make a move against you, what are you going to do?”

Chi Xiaochi replied in deadly earnest, “Then he’ll become a damn eunuch, united in spirit and flesh.”

061 wanted to laugh. Pursing his lips, he let out a gentle cough, “Don’t fuss.”

Chi Xiaochi stripped off all his clothes and climbed into the bathtub. He turned the water temperature up to its highest.

As hot water poured onto his face, Chi Xiaochi said, “I’m not joking. Have you forgotten the time I ate mangosteens? I never used any of the multi-functional knives Yi Song brought over.”

061, “……”

Chi Xiaochi, “……Oh, seems like I didn’t tell you.”

He moved to pick up the chest brace he’d placed by the side of the bathtub, and turned it inside-out.

Attached with transparent tape on the inside, was a finger-long, thin-edged knife.

He said, “……When Yi Song took everything back, he didn’t notice this one was missing.”

Chi Xiaochi flipped the chest brace back, then placed it back beside the tub, “My plan C wasn’t made in vain.”

061 didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t even know when Chi Xiaochi had covertly hidden a knife on his body.

061 remembered, when they first entered the first world, Chi Xiaochi had planned on gaining the glorious achievement of driving a car into Yang Baihua. For a time, he’d even had doubts about whether Chi Xiaochi had violent tendencies.

Thinking of this, 061 confirmed with him, “If there’s a need, you’ll really make a move?”

Chi Xiaochi asked, “Why wouldn’t I?”

061 went quiet.

He still remembered that his tenth host, or also Chi Xiaochi’s predecessor, when completing his first task, had entered the body of a straight male, who’d met an absolute scum with the moronic thinking of “if I love him, I’ll rape him” who actually carried it out.

After reading up to this part, Old Ten had made a firm resolution to not lose his virginity like that.

In his words, I haven’t yet been in a relationship, I can’t just hand it out like that.

However, when the scum gong was about to force himself onto him, Old Ten couldn’t bring himself to bring down the knife he’d hidden in his clothes, just screaming out “help me” at the top of his lungs. In the end, it was 061 who had to materialize and knock him out.

Afterwards, 061 had asked him, “Weren’t you armed?”

Old Ten had been on the verge of tears, “But he’s a person, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

061 brought out this question to ask Chi Xiaochi.

“Person?” Chi Xiaochi asked in response, “Liu-laoshi, you’re talking about that thing that was just standing by the side of Shen Changqing’s bed like a ghost while he was sleeping?”

061 told Chi Xiaochi about the problem Old Ten had encountered.

Perhaps as a result of his fixed thinking, he felt that although Old Ten had been weak in his actions, his words were reasonable.

After all, the other person was a living, breathing, human being. If one borrowed someone else’s body and used it to wantonly do harm, it really didn’t seem very appropriate.

After listening to 061’s misgivings, Chi Xiaochi wasn’t in a rush to explain himself, rather, responding to 061 with another question.

“Liu-laoshi, let me ask you, if you were that original host who’d been on the verge of being raped, if you were immediately about to be raped, and you had a knife with a sharp edge hidden in your clothes, would you grab the knife and kill that bastard, or would you still just lie there peacefully?”

061, “……”

Chi Xiaochi sank down into the steaming hot water, “People who think like that, aren’t at all thinking of themselves as the original host, they’re just thinking of themselves as visitors. Since he’s just a passer-by, of course he can be a good person. But what if the original host was still there? Who’s going to have to live the rest of their life as a rape victim? Is it that big-hearted, tolerant good person?”

061 was somewhat shaken, “You……”

Chi Xiaochi said, “I’ve said before, when wanting to complete an A-grade task, you’ll naturally have to sacrifice a little something. But that’s only limited to a limited range of harm. Me reliving Shen Changqing’s life for him is to help him do the things he never dared to do, or the things he hadn’t thought to do. Not to make him suffer through the same things yet again.”

Chi Xiaochi touched a hand to the wounds on his chest. “At the very least, even if the original host isn’t here, I’m an actor. Acting out a character’s life well is my professional ethics, and it’s my way of showing respect to the character.

“If I act well, that’s my ability; If I don’t act well, I’d fear the character spitting in my face.”

……061 understood Chi Xiaochi’s way of thinking, and approved of Chi Xiaochi’s viewpoint.

But he still couldn’t help but worry.

061 wasn’t good at hiding his thoughts, so he simply chose to candidly express his thoughts to Chi Xiaochi, “I just think that if we were to use the original host’s hands to personally hurt someone who has hurt them, to the original host, wouldn’t that just form another kind of shadow in their heart?”

Chi Xiaochi dipped a towel in hot water and scrubbed Shen Changqing’s clear, fair face until it was red, especially the places where Zhou Kai had touched.

He didn’t answer, just asked in response, “Liu-laoshi, have you ever truly hated someone from the bottom of your heart?”

061 thought for a moment, “……No.” Even if he had, he didn’t remember anymore.

“I have,” Chi Xiaochi said calmly, “And I’ve also taken my revenge. When I was 14. I took revenge on a man who ruined my life. That was the first time I’d ever taken revenge on someone in my entire life.

“A lot of people will say that after taking revenge, you’ll just feel more empty. If you hate someone, you should ignore them, tolerate them, let them be, and then look at them again after a few years. But when I went and took my revenge, do you know what I was thinking?”

061 shook his head.

Chi Xiaochi leaned against the side of the bathtub, and let out a long breath, “……Feels damn fucking good.”

061 didn’t speak for a long time.

Chi Xiaochi crossed his legs, “What, do you think I’m very strange?”

061, “No.”

……He just suddenly wanted to pat him on the head.

He didn’t have access to Chi Xiaochi’s memories, and could only gain an understanding of him through materials such as his variety shows, interviews, movies, and so on.

He didn’t know what Chi Xiaochi had been through, but 061 had a kind of feeling.

—— Whatever had happened to Chi Xiaochi when he was 14, had changed his entire life.

Thinking up to here, 061 himself found it a little funny.

He’d actually recovered his ability to feel “heartache” and his “intuition” all in the span of one night, it was truly worthy of celebration.

Chi Xiaochi sank himself deeper into the tub, only leaving his face above the water, “Even if you think of me that way, that’s fine. Everyone who knows me all says that the way I think is strange.”

061 immediately explained, “I don’t think you’re strange. ……Maybe it’s because I’m also very strange.”

061 let out a laugh, and honestly admitted his wrongs, saying, “Lack of strict teaching is the fault of this teacher.”

Chi Xiaochi was stunned for a moment, and then followed in laughing.

061 adjusted the water to be a little cooler, and changed the subject, “Don’t be so quick to soak yourself in hot water. Your body hasn’t recovered yet, and your foundation is still a little weak. If you soak yourself in water that’s this hot, you’ll faint.”

Chi Xiaochi responded quite confidently, “It’s alright. It’s not like I’m a child, I know my limits.”

Ten minutes later, he leaned his entire body, now flushed pink, against the edge of the tub, so dizzy he couldn’t even raise his head.

061, “……” Sigh.

In the haze, Chi Xiaochi felt himself being pulled out of the hot water. His body was covered by a warm, dry towel, and was wiped down.

He was a little resistant to such close contact.

Chi Xiaochi struggled for a little while, “Don’t touch me, I’m already clean.”

061’s gentle voice sounded by his ear, “It’s me.”

Chi Xiaochi thought for a moment, then didn’t speak anymore, but was still instinctually a little resistant. He curled his body slightly, turning his back towards 061.

061 laughed helplessly.

……This person really didn’t even have a slight sense of security.

He also didn’t make it any harder on him. He pressed his hands down on Chi Xiaochi’s shoulders, digitalising all the droplets of water constantly rolling down his body. With a wave of his hand, those 1s and 0s flew upwards, revolving around him in midair.

With another flick of his fingers, the 1s and 0s turned back into water, falling into the now-cooling bathwater like rain.

061 helped Chi Xiaochi put on his chest brace, took him out of the bathroom, found a soft woolen blanket and laid it on the bed.

He placed Chi Xiaochi down on one end of the wool blanket, and, with a hand on his waist, rolled him into a big sushi roll with the blanket bit by bit.

061 remembered, Chi Xiaochi had rolled himself up to sleep like this in Cheng Jian’s car.

……Really cute.

He picked up the Chi Xiaochi-brand sushi roll, trying his best to not put pressure on his wounds, placed him down onto the bed, and then lowered the temperature of the air-conditioning.

Chi Xiaochi just laid there dizzily as 061 moved him around. In the haze, he was only aware of the sound of the air rushing out of the air conditioner. He was peacefully curled up in a comfortable blanket, his limbs tired and feeble, making him too lazy to move. By his ear, there was the faint sound of someone reading to him. He was reading a short story he’d read to Chi Xiaochi before. He knew the ending, so he didn’t need to expend effort to listen.

He only felt his body and mind settle down. Without a word, he fell into a deep sleep.

After that night, 061 felt like he understood Chi Xiaochi a little better.

He was at times rational, indifferent, at times unorthodox, childish, but always with a clear bottom line.

Right, he was also a qualified actor.

He sat by the head of the bed, rows and rows of code flashing through his left eye. Soon, through Shen Changqing’s sleeping face, he saw another face entirely.

Chi Xiaochi had fallen asleep comfortably in Shen Changqing’s body. His face was peaceful, making his facial features seem even more defined and handsome beyond compare. There was a little mole by the end of his eyebrow. His eyelashes were extremely long. His slightly long hair fanned out across the pillow. He was truly like what 061 had seen all those love-struck fans of his say, a beauty.

But when 061 looked at him, he would always have the slight urge to smile.

Maybe it was in him, that he could effortlessly recapture the feeling of being human.

The next day, when he woke up, everything was as usual.

Zhou Kai was preparing for his return, and the mid-year gathering was the soonest opportunity he could find. The longer it took, the harder it would be for him to regain power.

He needed to make everyone in the company know that no matter what outsiders thought, the only one who could be at the helm behind this entire company was him, Zhou Kai.

As such, in the following few days, he cultivated his spirit, shaved, cleaned up his face, adjusting his state, and in his spare time, he would take out his treasured stamp collection and flip through it to relax his mind and body.

He had no time to bother himself with Shen Changqing. Even if he wanted to make trouble for him, it needed to be after the mid-year gathering was over.

Soon, the mid-year gathering he’d been looking forward to for so long was here.

Dressed to the nines, he arrived at the company he’d been kept away from for so long. Zhou Kai was originally delighted in both body and mind, but who knew the moment he got off the car, the few reporters who’d been staking out the company would scuttle out of their hiding places.

With a look from Sam who’d come to welcome them at the door after receiving the notification, a few security guards surrounded Zhou Kai and Shen Changqing standing next to him, and quickly ushered Zhou Kai in.

Zhou Kai, who was caught in the middle, caught off guard, staggered along. He didn’t even have the time to say a single word. It could be said they weren’t going even the slightest bit easy on him.

While Sam, left outside, was one step too slow, and was surrounded by the reporters.

“Why is Mister Zhou Kai still coming to participate in the mid-year gathering? Isn’t he sick?”

Sam answered gently, “This is a mid-year gathering, but it’s also a farewell party. After this, Mister Zhou will be officially stepping down, and will be going abroad to recover from his illness. Thank you for your concern.”

Another reporter asked, “Mister Zhou and Mister Shen have already reconciled? Could it be that the cheating incident had no impact on the feelings between them?”

Sam, as appropriate, let out a slight smile, but inwardly, he thought of those mysterious emails.

He’d previously asked the sender, after you give me what I want, what do you want in return.

That person hadn’t given him an answer.

But when visiting Shen Changqing’s home, seeing the brace on his body, and hearing his speech at the conference, Sam already had a vague guess as to what he really needed.

Thus, Sam let out a slightly pitying expression and said, “Regarding the relationship between Mister Zhou and Mister Shen, I am unable to make an accurate assessment. I can only say that in order to take care of Mister Zhou, Mister Shen has paid an unimaginable price.”