Lin Zhi had been listless these past couple of days, but he stuck to Song Mian even more closely, and with perfectly valid reasons—Song Mian had sprayed on that carrot-scented cologne to tempt him! Song Mian didn’t tease Lin Zhi about it at all and paid extra attention to his mood, taking him everywhere. He even brought Lin Zhi along when he went to Song Corporation.
Lin Zhi was somewhat familiar with Song Corporation, but the people inside weren’t familiar with him.
Song Mian was chatting with someone about the same age as his grandfather. Once they finished discussing work matters, Lin Zhi furtively spoke up. “That guy—back when you went to the company, he challenged you, saying you made Grandpa pass out from anger and that you were unfilial! So why are you still letting him help you with that land deal and giving him benefits?”
Song Mian glanced at the righteously indignant Lin Zhi.
“You’re really angry?”
Lin Zhi was extremely angry.
Song Mian suddenly said, “His son has a farm abroad. Those imported carrots you ate that time? His family grew them.”
Lin Zhi lowered his head.
“Pretend I didn’t say anything. Don’t burn bridges.”
Song Mian couldn’t help but pinch Lin Zhi. “All you know how to do is eat.”
Sigh.
Lin Zhi declared righteously, “All pregnant husbands are like this.”
Pregnant husbands weren’t necessarily like this—Lin Zhi was.
Song Mian held no official position at the company, but his mother had cultivated a lot of people on the board of directors. Plus, Song Corporation was already riddled with problems internally, so when Song Mian came to poach talent, half of them were willing to follow him.
Lin Zhi was utterly shocked!
He knew that if he hadn’t died, Song Mian would have gone off to start his own thing, but he hadn’t expected Song Mian to poach people from his family’s old stomping grounds!
Song Mian talked with them about things Lin Zhi couldn’t understand, except for two phrases: “my boyfriend” and “nothing much, just came to keep me company.”
Lin Zhi’s face turned red, and he didn’t dare refute it. He was famously tough only at home.
Lin Zhi sat in Song Mian’s chair while Song Mian discussed work on the sofa. Lin Zhi dozed off sprawled over the desk, then woke up bored and scrolled through videos.
When a young man knocked on the door, Lin Zhi looked over.
The young man delivered two exquisitely packaged gift boxes, which he handed to Lin Zhi after Song Mian signed for them. Lin Zhi had already propped himself up on the desk to stand. He recognized the packaging at a glance!
Inside were foreign carrots!
Lin Zhi happily munched through two carrots, his good mood lasting a little while before he wilted again.
Song Mian noticed Lin Zhi sighing at him again, his gaze incredibly complicated, but when asked, he said nothing. Song Mian even threatened to kiss him senseless, prompting Lin Zhi to grumble, “Why haven’t you been scolding me lately?”
Song Mian looked baffled. “Flare-up again?”
Lin Zhi said, “No. Don’t change the subject—why aren’t you scolding me?”
Song Mian straightened Lin Zhi’s crooked collar. “You’re a pregnant husband.”
Lin Zhi’s eyes gleamed with wisdom. “What if I wasn’t?”
“I still wouldn’t scold you.”
Lin Zhi pressed, “Why?”
Song Mian switched to pinching his cheek. “Why would I scold you? What have you done to deserve it?”
Nothing, really.
Song Mian asked, “Still think you’re a rabbit stand-in?”
“No.” Lin Zhi’s expression grew grave, and he was stubbornly tight-lipped. “Don’t think you can pry anything out of me! Even if you mess with me, I won’t say a word.”
Song Mian: “……”
“Don’t let me find out.”
Lin Zhi declared tragically, “If you investigate, I’ll just die!”
Song Mian fell silent.
Song Mian cautioned, “Don’t overthink it. Stay emotionally stable. I’ll keep watching your condition.”
Lin Zhi nodded. “Got it!”
No one cared more about his own health than he did.
There was a reason Lin Zhi was like this. He suspected… he was turning gay!
After verification from multiple sources, everyone had told him he was gay, even presenting irrefutable evidence. But couldn’t it just be an earth-shattering bromance?
[Sis-Con Dog]: Using “bromance” as an excuse does make it more thrilling.
Lin Zhi’s face burned red as he immediately deleted “earth-shattering bromance.”
[Lonely Sunday Zero]: If it’s all bros, would you kiss Tong Xu on the lips?
Lin Zhi freaked out!
That evening, Lin Zhi wilted as he returned to the dorm with Song Mian.
Tong Xu couldn’t take it anymore. Seizing the moment when Song Mian was out of the dorm, he rapidly knocked on Lin Zhi’s bunk. “Stop playing dead! You still haven’t replied to me. My friend says you did it with Song Mian—is that true?”
Holy crap!
Gays sure couldn’t keep their mouths shut!
Even though it was just him and Tong Xu in the dorm, Lin Zhi still paranoically peeked around to shush him. “Keep it down! I was forced into it!”
Tong Xu frowned. “Song Mian forced you?”
“No.”
Tong Xu, whose blood had boiled at the thought of avenging Lin Zhi, suddenly calmed down. He guessed, “Drunk and rolled into bed together?”
Lin Zhi shook his head.
Tong Xu looked suspicious. “Not drunk, not forced—that means you initiated?”
Lin Zhi earnestly replied, “Something pushed our heads together, me and Song Mian.”
The Romance Survival System’s electronic voice sounded deeply puzzled: [I’m that something?]
Tong Xu: “……”
As Tong Xu opened his mouth, Lin Zhi clamped his hands over his ears. “Don’t say it! I’m troubled enough as it is!”
Tong Xu delivered his verdict airily. “You’re gay. Read up on tycoon tropes—don’t drag Song Mian down to dumpster diving with you.”
As if!
That night, Lin Zhi munched on the carrots Song Mian had bought while propping his legs up on his bed, pondering life.
Romance Survival System: [Host, why can’t I detect your thinking?]
Lin Zhi was stingy about it. “Because I don’t want you to know.”
Romance Survival System emitted a speechless electronic tone: [Then what are you thinking with? You’re just spacing out!]
Lin Zhi: “My toe.”
System: [……]
After finishing the carrots, Lin Zhi patted his belly. His empty brain finally sparked to life, and he started fantasizing again: if Song Mian got pregnant, he could summon his soul and take over.
If Song Mian carried his kid, he’d be way more responsible than Song Mian. He’d help Song Mian up and down stairs. Unlike Song Mian, who didn’t worry about him bumping into things—not even at night, when he proactively bought ice cream. How could he eat something cold?
But Lin Zhi had eaten it anyway. He was an unqualified dad! The other dad was super unqualified too!
So he definitely wouldn’t let Song Mian eat ice cream! Song Mian wouldn’t die, and his soul-summoning skill would never come into play. But if it did, he’d… Lin Zhi chuckled evilly.
The Romance Survival System interrupted his sweet dream: [Host, you can’t swap with the Male Lead.]
Lin Zhi sulked. “I’m just imagining! Can’t I even fantasize about soul-summoning after the Male Lead gets pregnant?”
The system’s electronic voice grew heavy: [Not that. The Male Lead’s soul-summoning technique—you can’t learn it anytime soon. Host, I’ve never told you this: after that failed system reset, the Male Lead witnessed your death and awakened to the novel’s memories from the trauma. The boss had to point it out before I realized.]
Suddenly, the Romance Survival System dropped a bombshell.
Lin Zhi bolted upright on the bed, then realized his motion was too big and quickly patted his belly.
So Song Mian had the novel’s memories now too
“Song Mian awakened on his own?” Lin Zhi was still a bit skeptical.
Romance Survival System: [Yes. We least wanted the Male Lead to awaken—he was triggered by your death! Lin Zhi, I told you, you’re super important to him!]
Lin Zhi’s face flushed red. He flipped onto his stomach on the bed, then lay back on his back.
“So when I was that doll, that’s when Song Mian awakened?”
System: [Yes, Host.]
That made sense. They’d known each other for three years, and Song Mian had never been superstitious—why would he suddenly know soul-summoning? If he had the novel’s memories, it wasn’t weird. In the book, Song Mian lived way longer than him and went through plenty of plot.
But that didn’t add up either!
Why would a Male Lead upgrade novel have supernatural elements?
Romance Survival System explained: [Because your awakened memories cut off last month. As a cannon fodder who didn’t participate, you don’t get the full novel. The later plot you saw was a boss-condensed summary he generously let you peek at.]
Holy crap!
Cheapskate!
No wonder the plot flew by like a rocket—he’d thought the author was half-assing it.
Now, a new question: why did Song Mian have the soul-summoning skill?
Could it be… to resurrect him? No, no—in the novel, he died early. If he really wanted to resurrect him, his soul wasn’t even in the cheapskate later plots.
Whose soul was Song Mian trying to summon?
Lin Zhi pondered, and after much thought, his heart soured. Finally, at the system’s words: [Host, the Male Lead is trying to resurrect you! Don’t secretly mope—don’t believe me, go ask him yourself. You don’t want to birth a crybaby, do you?]
Lin Zhi finally peeked at Song Mian. Song Mian was reading that pink book Hugging Straight Guys again.
Lin Zhi climbed down and sat next to Song Mian, bumping him with his shoulder.
Without even looking at Lin Zhi, Song Mian asked, “What do you want to eat?”
Lin Zhi’s tone was heavy. “Not food.”
Song Mian sensed something off, his brows furrowing slightly as he turned his head. Lin Zhi pointed to the balcony, his eyelids drooping. “Can we talk out there?”
Song Mian draped a thick robe over Lin Zhi before following him to the balcony. His gaze fixed on Lin Zhi’s wrinkled face, but he didn’t speak.
Lin Zhi looked up. “I know your secret.”
Song Mian showed no reaction. “What secret?”
Lin Zhi was direct. “You know our world is a novel too, right?”
Song Mian’s furrowed brows relaxed a bit. This secret wasn’t some earth-shattering revelation. Lin Zhi must be overthinking again.
“Yeah.”
Lin Zhi’s tone held a hint of envy. “You’re the Male Lead.”
Song Mian’s eye twitched. “Don’t tell me you’re dragging me out here for that. I’d rather be a random NPC.”
Lin Zhi shook his head.
“Of course not.” He let out a heavy sigh, leaned on the balcony railing, and let the cold wind blow, trying to look more mature.
“Got a smoke?”
No sooner had Lin Zhi spoken than Song Mian pinched his face, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. “Want what?”
