70 : First string of code

 The atmosphere suddenly became... awkward.

Yin Luo didn't know what words to use to describe it, because his mind was so blank that it wouldn't allow him to think about such things.

Finally, Duan Muze broke the silence first: "Then I'll work harder in the future."

Yin Luo: "..."

He seemed even more embarrassed.

"You guys...why, why are you here?" He couldn't let this awkwardness continue, so Yin Luo forced himself to greet the two people outside the door, while frantically searching his mind for the system to reprimand him.

The system probably knew it was going to get scolded and voluntarily hid in the mosaic-covered room.

Yin Luo had nowhere to vent his frustration.

"The meeting's over." The meeting room was cold, and Lu Ran was still wearing a light jacket. He had his hands in his pockets, his face dark with anger, but he still managed to answer Yin Luo's question, "It's only been a short while, and there's already someone else here?"

Yin Luo ignored him and looked at Shang Chengning beside her: "Why did you go out today?"

"Someone's keeping watch outside the wall. If I didn't go out, the flowers at home would be ruined." Shang Chengning's tone was indifferent, and then he went into the room. Seeing him come in, Lu Ran followed him in, afraid of being left behind.

Yin Luo's headache worsened.

Duan Muze's expression naturally turned sour when he saw the two of them enter. Since learning that Yin Luo had returned last night, and then calling Shen Qing to follow her to the film set, he had finally found an opportunity to be alone with Yin Luo, only to have it ruined by these two.

However, their conversation had gone quite well, and Yin Luo had admitted that kissing him was very comfortable.

Duan Muze straightened his back, like a victorious lion, and looked contemptuously at the other two disgruntled losers.

Lu Ran naturally received the mockery from his rival. He sat down next to Yin Luo, the youngest among them, still retaining a youthful spirit, and would speak his mind if he was unhappy.

"Isn't kissing me uncomfortable? You even kissed me first time, so why did you kiss me if you weren't comfortable?"

After saying that, he was somewhat annoyed, wondering why he wasn't in the same high school as Yin Luo. That way, he might have been the one to force a kiss on him.

Yin Luo was so ashamed by these words that he couldn't lift his head.

Then he heard Duan Muze sneer in his ear, his tone extremely contemptuous and disdainful, completely consistent with the Duan Muze of the past: "Initially kissed you? You must be dreaming."

Lu Ran was enraged: "It's on the school swimming pool's surveillance footage, or you can check it! Unlike some

people, who have never been kissed first, how pathetic."

Yin Luo: "..."

...I've never kissed you first either.

After a moment, Shang Chengnin, who hadn't spoken until now, said: "Please don't say these things in front of my wife. That's all in the past. From now on, only I can kiss her."

Yin Luo was almost numb.

In their descriptions, he was portrayed as a wanton woman who seduced men, doing nothing but thinking about how to kiss them and climb into bed.

He felt a headache coming on, his ears turning red as he said, "Stop talking..."

Although the three didn't look at each other, they all listened to Yin Luo, or perhaps they felt it was embarrassing for such grown adults to argue like elementary school students. So they quieted down.

Yin Luo breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little hot as his tension eased.

System: [They're all surrounding you, of course you're hot.]

Yin Luo then realized he was surrounded by the three.

He had been sitting in the middle of the sofa, slightly to the right of the door. Duan Muze had come to find him first and naturally sat on his left, while Lu Ran had squeezed to his right, his legs pressed against Yin Luo's, the heat radiating from him.

Yin Luo's cheeks flushed red from the pressure. He tried to move forward a little, but Shang Chengning was sitting in the chair in front of him.

...This was too difficult.

Yin Luo silently retracted his curled toes and moved his bottom back a little.

Just then, Lu Ran's other assistant, Lin Jia, came looking for Yin Luo. He stopped at the door of Lu Ran's lounge, about to call out, but saw no one.

Only three tall, burly men were huddled together, seemingly doing something.

Lin Jia stared for a while before finally catching a glimpse of a small patch of fair, pinkish skin through the gap in the wall. "...Yin Luo?" he exclaimed in surprise.

The skin trembled slightly, followed by a muffled, damp voice: "I'm here..."

Yin Luo stood up, glancing at the men surrounding him, looking hesitant.

His intention to leave was clear, but none of them moved.

Lu Ran sat at the far end of the sofa: "Is there something you need from Yin Luo?"

Lin Jia knew how stubborn he was, so he immediately explained, "The costume and props department said someone needs to come and collect Brother Lu's clothes. I came to ask Yin Luo for a favor."

Lu Ran stood up: "I'll go over there."

Wouldn't that cause a huge uproar? And why was Lu Ran suddenly willing to do his assistant's work? Lin Jia glanced at Yin Luo, who was pulling Lu Ran along

: "Don't go, this is what I'm supposed to do."

Lu Ran: "Isn't it good for me to stay with you?"

Lin Jia felt his eyelid twitch.

Why did Lu Ran's voice sound a little aggrieved? Was he being coquettish?

He felt a chill run down his spine and immediately dismissed the thought, awkwardly laughing twice to smooth things over: "Brother Lu, Director Shen might still be looking for you."

Yin Luo: "Did you hear that? Stay here obediently."

Lu Ran reluctantly sat back down.

Another man offered Yin Luo his seat, and only then did Lin Jia see his face clearly. His eyes widened when he recognized him—wasn't this the former Best Actor Duan, who retired from the entertainment industry a few years ago? He'd disappeared for years, what was he doing on set today?

Lin Jia had worked as an assistant to various celebrities in the entertainment industry for two years and had seen all sorts of people. Clearly, the former Best Actor's gaze towards Yin Luo had a very clear meaning.

Alas, it seemed to be a love rival.

And the one sitting in the chair… although he didn't recognize him, his appearance, clothing, and demeanor all suggested that he was someone who had long held a high position.

The way she looked at Yinluo...tsk.

Ugh, another rival in love.

Lin Jia inwardly screamed, "Let's fight! Let's fight!" but outwardly smiled and waited for Yinluo to come over.

"Sorry..." Yinluo looked very hot, her cheeks flushed and covered in a thin layer of sweat. A sweet fragrance wafted over as she ran over.

So beautiful.

But thinking of the formidable rivals in the room, Lin Jia immediately suppressed her romantic thoughts and went with Yinluo to the costume and prop room next door.

*

Yinluo's task was to sort and organize Lu Ran's clothes. Since it was a campus drama, there weren't many outfits, and she finished quickly.

Back in the dressing room, she chased away Duan Muze and Shang Chengnin, telling them not to disturb her work. The two didn't seem willing to leave, and finally Lu Ran spoke up sarcastically: "Don't you two have your own careers? How old are you, still unemployed?"

The two: "..."

Lu Ran wasn't wrong; he was the only one here with a legitimate career.

Coupled with Yin Luo's gaze… the two didn't say a word and immediately drove away to prepare for their return to the company.

Shang Chengning, in particular, was even more motivated.

He couldn't let his fair and soft little wife earn money to support the family, could he?

After seeing the two off, Yin Luo felt much calmer, and his brainwaves stopped beating. For the next three days, he

lived a regular life, working on the film set during the day and returning to Shang Chengning's place at night. Perhaps stimulated, apart from Lu Ran occasionally asking for a hug, the other two men didn't make any excessive demands.

Filming officially began three days later.

To help the lead actors better immerse themselves in their roles, Shen Qing specifically chose Lu Ran's high school as the filming location. They had communicated with the school in advance, and a teaching building was available for filming.

However, the location was in a neighboring city, and given Shen Qing's dedication to filming, he probably wouldn't have many opportunities to return to Wucheng during the filming period.

Yin Luo was going to join the filming, so he packed his luggage at home in advance.

He had just pulled out his suitcase, opened the wardrobe, and was about to stuff all his clothes inside when a maid's greeting came from downstairs.

"Mr. Shang, you're back."

Then came the man's deep voice: "Hmm."

Yin Luo put down the clothes in his hands and peeked out the door. Shang Chengnin was coming upstairs.

During this time, Shang Chengnin had begun to take over some of the company's affairs. Originally, his younger brother, who loved art, was supposed to take over the president's position. However, after being forced to take over, he was suffering from the 996 work schedule every day. Seeing that Shang Chengnin had been trying to come back these past few days, he couldn't wait to dump the company on him and run away.

So he usually wouldn't be back at this time.

When Yin Luo saw that he had already come up, he asked, "Why are you back?"

Shang Chengnin ruffled his fluffy head and glanced at the messy suitcase: "I was afraid you would pack like this, so I came back."

Yin Luo pursed his lips at his words.

Shang Chengnin didn't say anything more. He took off his coat, loosened his tie, and began to help Yin Luo pack his suitcase. He took out the clothes that Yin Luo had stuffed in, ironed them, folded them neatly, put them in vacuum bags, and sorted them into different categories.

Besides clothes, he also packed toiletries, a blanket, medicine, a data cable… and finally, he tucked a pair of fluffy rabbit slippers into a gap.

Yin Luo suddenly remembered a popular term from recent years—"dad-type boyfriend."

He indulges you, spoils you, and respects you at the same time.

Shang Chengnin perfectly embodied this term; no wonder Yin Luo always saw fatherly love in him when they were together before.

This was perhaps why he had once felt dependent on this person.

Just as he finished packing, Lu Ran called. Yin Luo answered the phone: "Lu Ran is waiting for me outside, I have to go."

He looked up at Shang Chengnin's somewhat forlorn expression, and his own mood sank as well

: "Thank you for helping me pack, I'll call you often."

Shang Chengnin smiled slightly, carried the suitcase downstairs, and then saw it to the door.

System: [Why does he seem like a stay-at-home dad sending his child off to university?]

Yin Luo: [...]

The system's words lessened Yin Luo's sadness. After waving goodbye to Shang Chengnin, he got into Lu Ran's car and went to the film set.

*

Lu Ran is the male lead in this movie, with many scenes and a long filming period. However, considering the students' classes, they tried to squeeze the scenes requiring campus scenes into three weeks.

The weather was hot, making filming arduous, but Lu Ran treated Yin Luo very well, spending almost all his time with him, even when he wasn't filming.

With so many people on set, it was inevitable that some would gossip behind his back, seeing such high treatment for an ordinary assistant.

"Looks like that, doesn't do any work, must have hooked up with a big shot."

"He's got the guts of Lu Ran, impressive!"

"Guess why he could, probably because he's incredibly good in bed."

"Yeah, what man is that handsome..."

At first, they only talked behind his back, but as time went on, seeing Yin Luo's good temper and lack of connections, they became more audacious, no longer bothering to hide, discussing him directly in front of him.

The system was furious: [Don't you even look at yourself?]

[I can say anything else, but I can't tolerate you saying the host is good in bed.]

[We did work, okay?] Every time Lu Ran finishes filming, he comes over to kiss and hug us. Don't we put in any effort? 】

Yin Luo: "..."

For a moment, he couldn't tell if the system was speaking up for him or criticizing him.

【Let them say what they want. They can talk. Anyway, I'll talk about them behind their backs too.】

Yin Luo has a bad temper, but he never gets angry at these people. He grew up amidst gossip since middle school and is used to it.

Besides, Lu Ran did give him special privileges, and apart from some excessive remarks, he wasn't wrong.

He continued preparing mung bean soup to cool Lu Ran down, adding some ice cubes, when suddenly the table was slammed.

Yin Luo was so startled that his hand trembled, and the water spilled out.

He looked up and saw Lu Ran grabbing someone's collar, pressing his head against the table, and saying expressionlessly, "What did you just say?"

Yin Luo was stunned.

This person had just been saying that he was "clinging to someone's coattails."

Lu Ran: "I'm offering to suck up to him, is that wrong? If you have any complaints,

just say them to his face." "No...no..." The man didn't expect to be caught gossiping behind his back by Lu Ran, who then shamelessly pushed him over. He also guessed Yin Luo's status with Lu Ran, so he immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you."

"Lu Ran." Yin Luo saw that Lu Ran's eyes were red and he wouldn't let go of him, "Director Chen is still over there."

Hearing Yin Luo speak, Lu Ran let go.

He was still wearing his school uniform, obviously having just finished filming and hadn't had time to change. There were bloodstains from his makeup on his face, making him look fierce and gloomy.

Like a delinquent.

Lu Ran's appearance reminded Yin Luo of two things.

One was that she admired this kind of person a lot in high school. Once, when her classmates were talking about an older student, they all scoffed, but he said, "I think he's cool," and was then ridiculed by everyone.

The other was that once, several classmates who usually liked to hang out took leave together, supposedly because they had been in a fight and had injuries on their faces, and were afraid of being punished by the school. Because Yinluo was often called effeminate or girlish by them, he had a deep impression of these people. During the time they weren't at school, Yinluo had a particularly easy time.

At the time, Yinluo thought it was just a coincidence that it was those people, but now he thought—

maybe it wasn't an accident.

Yinluo turned around and stared at Lu Ran's profile.

He thought he seemed to know the reason for this split personality

.

That afternoon, this person didn't appear on set again. After that, everyone kept quiet and didn't dare to gossip about Yin Luo anymore.

Filming wrapped up smoothly very quickly.

Yin Luo didn't have time to go back home during the filming, so Shang Chengnin and Duan Muze came to see him, but they didn't dare to come too often, afraid that Yin Luo would think they lacked ambition and looked down on them.

On the night of the wrap-up, the two men who had been widowed in Wucheng City for many days couldn't wait to drive to the set, wanting to take Yin Luo back. Yin Luo was a little embarrassed

. Lu Ran stood by, expressionless.

During his time on set, Yin Luo's attitude towards him was unbelievably good. She took good care of him and didn't reject any intimate gestures.

Of course, he didn't dare to do anything too outrageous.

But why was this happening? Had Yin Luo started to like him too?

If only she could like him.

Lu Ran's head suddenly started to ache, and then the pain grew stronger and stronger, almost overwhelming him.

System: [Host! Warning!!! Lu Ran's brainwaves began to fluctuate wildly, showing signs of consciousness taking over the main personality. Please obtain his code tonight.] Yin

Luo asked in a panic, "Tonight? Is it that urgent? What if we can't get it?"

The system replied, "The real Duan Muze will suffer brain death."

Yin Luo paused for a moment.

He composed himself and first refused Duan Muze and Shang Chengnin, saying, "I'm Lu Ran's assistant. I have work to do. I'll go back after I finish."

After the two left, he noticed that Lu Ran's face was a little pale and immediately asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No..." The sweat on Lu Ran's forehead had already cooled down. "I wasn't feeling well just now, but I'm fine now."

Yin Luo frowned, "How about we skip the wrap party tonight and go back to rest? I'll go talk to the director."

Lu Ran immediately grabbed his hand, his voice urgent, "Don't leave my side."

Yin Luo's fingers paused, and he turned to look at him.

Lu Ran, so tall, was now bending down and nuzzling his palm, acting like a spoiled child: "I'm not going to the wrap party, but I'm not going back to rest either."

Yin Luo paused for a moment: "...Then where do you want to go?"

Lu Ran: "A date with you."

*

It was called a date, but it was really just wandering around Lu Ran's alma mater.

The two walked aimlessly and slowly, with students passing by them. Because it was late and the streetlights were dim, no one noticed Lu Ran.

Because the system's warning kept ringing, Yin Luo was a little absent-minded, her gaze drifting to the distance.

Lu Ran noticed and followed his gaze, assuming he was captivated by the high school students playing basketball. He said with displeasure, "They're playing so badly, why are you watching?"

Yin Luo snapped out of his daze, hesitating, "I didn't..."

Lu Ran: "You keep staring at others. What's so interesting about them being so bad?"

Yin Luo smiled, "Are you very good?"

"I've won awards, okay?" Lu Ran took Yin Luo's hand, leading him through the alley towards the teaching building. "If you went to the same high school as me, you'd definitely be smitten with me."

"I have good grades, I'm good at basketball, and lots of people like to be my friend."

"But don't worry, I'll only ever like you."

Lu Ran's confession made Yin Luo's face flush.

Then, neither of them spoke again. Lu Ran led him to a dimly lit teaching building.

"This building used to be in use, but it's recently been converted into a study room." Lu Ran pointed to one of the doors. "That's where I studied in my senior year."

Since it was a study room, no one was watching, and the two easily went upstairs.

The classroom Lu Ran mentioned was at the far end of the third floor, dark and empty.

Once inside, Lu Ran turned on the light and pointed to the middle door seat by the window: "My seat is over there, where's yours?"

Yin Luo thought for a moment: "It seems to be the same seat as yours."

Lu Ran was surprised: "What a coincidence."

The seats were very clean, probably because they were cleaned daily. They sat down, and Lu Ran smiled, lazily propping his head up: "Hello, deskmate."

Yin Luo smiled slightly.

They stayed for a while, the atmosphere relatively quiet and harmonious, but soon, the warning sound in Yin Luo's head rang again.

It was so loud it made his temples throb.

Yin Luo got up, walking towards the window to try and relieve his headache, while wondering what to do next.

He looked out the window for a moment, surprised to find that the view was the same as what he saw in high school:

a narrow alley, dim streetlights.

What was going on?

Before he could figure it out, a group of people suddenly appeared from the alley, pinning a boy against the wall and beating him mercilessly, countless fists pounding his body…

Yin Luo's heart nearly leaped into his throat. He was about to turn around and call out to Lu Ran when the boy looked up—

it was Duan Muze.

To be precise, it was Duan Muze in his youth.

Yin Luo: [What's going on?]

The system didn't answer.

The next moment, the group of people suddenly disappeared again. Yin Luo's eyes widened, and his hand was suddenly grabbed by Lu Ran.

"I lied to you," Lu Ran said. "I lied to you about everything except my good grades."

Yin Luo's heart skipped a beat.

He didn't know if it was the night breeze, but he felt that Lu Ran's hand was a little cold.

Lu Ran's eyes were lowered, the light casting shadows of his hair that obscured them. "I'm bad at basketball, I'm terrible at sports, and I often feel dizzy because I'm always hungry."

"I don't have any friends either, because I don't smile much, and they don't like me."

"So, when I confronted this group, I couldn't beat them. They were only

injured, but I ended up in the hospital."

"But..."

"I don't regret it at all."

"Because they bullied you." Lu Ran's voice was soft, but it sounded incredibly heartbreaking. "But I couldn't protect you, Yin Yin."

Yin Luo's throat was dry, and it took him a while to find his voice: "So..."

Was this the reason for the formation of his personality?

Because he possessed these qualities, he was able to protect him?

Yin Luo's heart pounded, his nose began to sting, and his vision began to blur. Soon, large tears began to fall.

"But you... you don't have to do this."

Yin Luo didn't know that because he couldn't help him vent his anger, Duan Muze had split off into Lu Ran.

Lu Ran reached out his other hand and wiped away his tears: "You're going to leave me, aren't you?"

Yin Luo didn't speak, but looked up at him.

"I know, I'll definitely be the first one left behind." Lu Ran was extremely unwilling, "But I was born for you, Yin Luo."

Because I wanted to protect you, I came into being.

"My existence is all about you."

Yin Luo stammered, "Lu Ran..."

His lips parted and closed, but he couldn't utter the last word.

"Never mind." Lu Ran's tone softened. "As long as you remember me for a lifetime... Anyway, don't forget me."

"Don't cry."

Yin Luo felt his palm growing colder and colder. He immediately tried to grab Lu Ran's hand, but grasped only air.

Lu Ran disappeared.

A long time passed.

System: [Host, Lu Ran's brainwaves have merged with Duan Muze's.]

Yin Luo felt a void in his heart.

He sniffed, his body limp as he sat back down.

Then, he looked down—

the first string of code was etched into the empty desk drawer. !

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →