52 : Get engaged to me

 First Floor.

"Apply the ointment twice a day, rest well, and avoid getting it wet," the doctor instructed after bandaging the wound of the accidentally injured maid.

"Thank you," the maid replied. She had cut herself on glass while making breakfast that morning, which Duan Muze had witnessed. Unexpectedly, he didn't ignore it; instead, he called the doctor.

The maid suddenly felt that Duan Muze had become more humane.

Perhaps he was nourished by love.

The young doctor packed up his medical kit, his gaze sweeping across the living room, but he didn't see the figure he wanted to see.

He carried his kit towards the door, but couldn't help looking back.

The second floor was quiet.

The room door was tightly closed.

He finally put aside his thoughts and left the villa.

Meanwhile, behind the door he had been staring at for so long, the scene was exceptionally erotic.

*

The system had spent the entire night in the mosaic.

It almost had a mental breakdown, feeling like it would spend its retirement there. However, after dawn, it was finally released completely.

Duan Muze wasn't in the room.

Yin Luo was drowsy and couldn't sleep soundly because his body ached. In his hazy state, he heard the system crying in his mind.

It sounded so pitiful. Yin Luo kindly comforted it: "Baby, what's wrong...?"

System: "Waaaaah, host, you look like a rag doll, waaaaah."

Yin Luo: [...]

Actually, the system's description was quite accurate. Yin Luo's lip was broken, and there were bite marks on his mouth. Every exposed skin was covered in deep red marks.

Broken yet vibrant.

Duan Muze hadn't spared him much.

However, it only looked gruesome with its bruises; it didn't hurt much. Compared to the time in the wardrobe, apart from his lower back and weak legs, he didn't feel any major discomfort.

Duan Muze even learned this very quickly.

Yin Luo's mind wandered. He closed his eyes, still thinking before falling asleep, hoping the doctor would be alright.

After all, he had suffered all that.

Duan Muze shouldn't be angry anymore, right?

His eyelids grew heavy, and in his drowsy state, he felt a gentle touch on his forehead.

"Yinyin."

"Do you like me?"

Yinluo was very sleepy, so he pushed him away, his voice muffled: "I want to sleep..."

*

He woke up again when he felt someone calling him.

"Yinyin."

"Yinyin."

A deep male voice.

Yinluo was so sleepy, hiding under the covers, thinking that Duan Muze wanted it again, so he pleaded with a drawn-out tone: "It's already happened so many times last night, please stop, okay?"

Yin Yuzhou, who hadn't slept for many days and had finally found his way here, froze after hearing these words.

Clearly, Yinluo mistook him for some beast surnamed Duan, and judging from the fluency of these pleas, this wasn't the first time his brother had been treated this way.

Shang Chengnin and Lu Ran followed closely behind. Someone had given them the address last night, so the group rushed over overnight.

Having not seen each other for many days, both men were a little agitated. After entering the room, they were about to speak to the small ball of blankets curled up on the bed when Yin Yuzhou stopped them.

Yin Yuzhou's face paled with heartache, his voice even gentler: "Yinyin, it's me.

" "Brother's here."

Yin Luo, too sleepy to hear anything he was saying, only found it noisy and kicked him.

He had been tormented all night, so his kick was weak, only knocking the blanket off.

His slender leg was covered in dark hickeys, especially around the ankle, densely packed.

There was even a thin silver chain there.

Lavish, thick, like the most beautiful rose in the world, crushed into juice, rich and intoxicating.

Of course, it was obvious what the person in bed had gone through.

The three men standing by the bed stared intently, their eyes surging, but they dared not show any anger, afraid of disturbing the young man in bed.

"Yinyin." Yin Yuzhou patiently called to Yin Luo until the other finally opened his eyes, peeking his head out from under the blanket with a surprised expression.

"Brother..." Yin Luo was wide awake, his gaze falling on Yin Yuzhou's back, "And you guys... why are you all here?"

His voice was nasal, his eyes were red at the corners, and his eyelids were pink. His

voice was hoarse, clearly from crying.

The three men all looked distressed, but remembering that Yin Luo was the victim and must be suffering even more than them, they suppressed their emotions and pretended nothing was wrong.

Yin Yuzhou hugged the frail young man through the blanket: "Brother is late."

The plot had completely fallen apart; the system said that the rescue was indeed

done by that doctor.

Yin Luo didn't care about any of that anymore; as long as Yin Yuzhou came to save him, it wasn't a violation of the plot. He quickly hugged Yin Yuzhou back, like clinging to a lifeline.

Yin Yuzhou felt even more guilty; he blamed himself for not protecting his younger brother properly, for searching for so long and letting Yin Luo suffer these terrible things.

Releasing the thin man in his arms, Yin Yuzhou pretended not to see the bite marks on Yin Luo's lip and neck, took off his coat, and covered Yin Luo with it.

"Let's go, let's go home."

*

Perhaps because the villa was located in such a remote area, it was already quite dark when they arrived home.

All the way, Shang Chengnin and Lu Ran's eyes were glued to Yin Luo, but the young man was too exhausted and slept the whole

time, so they didn't get a chance to speak. Upon arriving at the Yin family home, Yin Luo was taken to his room by his parents. His mother, worried, held him and cried. The two outsiders naturally couldn't say anything, so they simply said goodbye, promising to visit him again when he felt better.

After being trapped for almost a month, Yin Luo was finally back in his warm little bed.

After comforting his parents and eating a little something, he lay back down.

In the eyes of the Yin family… During the month Duan Muze took him away, he must have suffered some inhuman abuse, but actually… it was alright.

Yin Luo rested at home for a few days. Things were peaceful here, but outside, a fierce battle raged.

Duan Muze's energy was mostly diverted to work. Of course, the main reason was also that he himself didn't want to keep Yin Luo trapped anymore.

After being trapped for so long, Duan Muze hadn't heard a single word he wanted to hear; on the contrary, it had backfired, making Yin Luo increasingly afraid of him.

He thought that perhaps Yin Luo didn't want to see him.

And during these days of waiting, the issues the system reported to its superiors were still going through the process, and Yin Luo didn't know whether he should continue with the tasks according to the plot, after all, the whole book had already fallen apart.

The system performed a self-check, and several hours later, it finally spoke: 【Host! I'm back!】

Yinlu put down the game in his hand: 【How was it?】

System: 【There's a very small bug…】

Yinlu had a bad feeling.

System: 【Your character isn't a villainous cannon fodder character, but…】

【You yourself.】

Yinlu: [...]

He didn't understand, and whispered: 【But I've always played cannon fodder characters

.】

Although some parts weren't quite right, he often lost his temper.

The system wanted to say that you might have a charmer body that attracts men, but it was afraid that the host would be scared and go on strike to return to the original world: 【Let's wait for the superior's reply for now. You don't need to do the mission anymore.】

Yinlu said "Oh".

In other words, he was trying to survive for now.

Yinlu suddenly remembered: 【What if Duan Muze comes looking for me again? Can I tell the truth?】

System: 【If you tell the truth, this world will collapse. Don't worry, the male lead is very busy lately and won't come looking for you for the time being. 】 Yin

Luo: [What about the second and third male leads?]

System: [They no longer have any ill intentions towards you. Just cooperate as needed.]

Yin Luo understood and suddenly sighed: [Suddenly not being a villain anymore, I'm still a little unaccustomed to it.]

System: [...You don't look like a villain either.]

No more tasks to do, Yin Luo instantly felt relieved and spent his days hiding in his room as a happy homebody, unaware that the men outside, locked in a life-or-death struggle, were suffering from lovesickness.

Lately, Yin Yuzhou had been coming home very late, and Yin Luo, who stayed up late playing games, could hear him coming home.

Ever since Yin Yuzhou rescued him from Duan Muze, he'd been like an obsessive-compulsive, coming to his room every day, sometimes just to glance at him, sometimes to chat for a bit. The two brothers' relationship had become quite close.

So this time, when Yin Luo heard the noise, he immediately stopped playing games and jumped out of bed.

Upon opening the door, sure enough, Yin Yuzhou's arm was hanging in mid-air, seemingly about to knock.

Yin Luo's gaze fell on the bag in Yin Yuzhou's hand: "Brother, did you buy me food again?"

Yin Yuzhou smiled and handed it over: "Try a bite tonight, and eat the rest tomorrow."

Yin Luo took the bag; it contained a bag of roasted chestnuts.

He looked up and saw the dark circles under Yin Yuzhou's eyes deepen, and asked worriedly, "Brother, have you been very busy lately?"

The man, receiving his younger brother's concern, paused for a moment, then relaxed his brows: "It's alright. As long as you're okay, it's fine if I'm a little busy."

Yin Luo gave a muffled "Mmm."

Yin Yuzhou patted his head and returned to his study to handle official business.

The aroma of roasted chestnuts wafted from the paper bag, and Yin Luo lowered his head. These past few days, he had overheard his parents talking about the company while eating. Since

Yin Yuzhou had brought him back, Duan Muze would definitely not let the Yin family off the hook.

The Yin family's fate in the original story wasn't good either—the company went bankrupt, Yin Yuzhou's parents suffered the pain of losing their son, and Yin Yuzhou was ridiculed because of the family's bankruptcy, making his personality increasingly gloomy.

But now, the plot has changed, so perhaps it's time to change things?

Since transmigrating here, Yin Luo has received a lot of kindness from this family, and over the years, he's developed feelings for them.

So, at least before leaving, he hopes this family is alright.

But Duan Muze's methods are becoming increasingly ruthless, and the Yin family is currently no match for the protagonist's halo; their business is repeatedly hindered and they're in a slump.

Yin Luo even considered going to Duan Muze's side, but after thinking about what happened that night, he hesitated.

While he was hesitating, Shang Chengnin suddenly came to visit the Yin family.

He was quite formal.

Yin Luo was too embarrassed to wear his pajamas, so he changed his clothes, and as soon as he came downstairs, he felt the other person's gaze on him.

Shang Chengnin's glasses frames had changed; they were still metal, but with chains, making him look more like a cultured university professor than a businessman.

He was dressed in understated black, looking noble and aloof.

The man's gaze followed the young man as he descended the stairs. Once the young man reached the living room, he slowly spoke, "Yinyin."

Yinlu hummed in response.

He had assumed Shang Chengnin was visiting, but Yin's parents and Yin Yuzhou were all sitting on the sofa with serious expressions.

There were no seats left in that row,

so Yinlu had to sit next to Shang Chengnin.

No one spoke first, and Yinlu instinctively felt something was wrong.

Was something unexpected about to happen?

His fingers nervously twisted together, and the next moment, the man gently patted his head.

Shang Chengnin said, "Don't be afraid."

He then turned to the two elders and asked, "Uncle and Aunt, what do you think of this idea?"

Yin's mother sighed and said, "We can't sacrifice our child for the company. It's too cruel for him. I'm sorry, although I know you mean well, we don't agree."

Although Yinlu was a little slow-witted, he understood some of it.

He said to Yinlu, "Mom, what is it? You haven't even asked for my opinion yet."

As long as it wasn't going back to Duan Muze's place, he was okay with it.

"Yinyin...

" Yin's mother hesitated for a moment before telling Yinluo everything.

After listening, Yinluo glanced at the man beside her: "So... I'm going to get engaged to you?"

Shang Chengning stared into those light-colored eyes.

The scene of finding Yinluo that day reappeared before his eyes: broken lips, body covered in hickeys... The man's eyes darkened; he would never let Yinluo be hurt again.

"Just pretend to be engaged to me." "If

you're engaged to me, the Duan family will shift the blame to me. But Yinyin, don't worry, the Shang family is the only one in Wucheng with the resources to stand up to them." "

Your uncle, aunt, and brother can also take this opportunity to catch their breath."

"After the engagement, you'll stay with me for three months. Once your family business recovers, we'll cancel the engagement."

"Yinyin, what do you think?"

Shang Chengning's voice was calm; even his arrogant words didn't sound haughty coming from him. Instead, they made one feel very safe.

Yin's parents had been overwhelmed with work lately, so Shang Chengnin's proposal was a timely help and a true favor to the Yin family. Given their generally positive impression of Shang Chengnin, they were willing to participate even if it wasn't a fake engagement.

However, Yin Luo was their child, and having recently suffered such trauma, they didn't want her to leave their side again or have any further involvement with other men.

After careful consideration, Yin's father was about to formally refuse Shang Chengnin when the young man sitting quietly on the sofa suddenly spoke up.

"I agree."

Everyone was stunned and looked at Yin Luo.

Yin Luo repeated, "I agree to be engaged to Shang Chengnin!"

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →