I Can Still Salvage It

Although those last five minutes felt extraordinarily long, they finally passed.

Shen Mian heard a beep in his mind again, and the system promptly announced, “Hand-holding task completed, host awarded 2 points.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as his fair and slender hand slipped away from Pei Zhiyi’s palm, leaving a faint dot on the math paper where Pei Zhiyi’s pen paused.

“I’m so hot,” Shen Mian complained in a low voice to Pei Zhiyi. “My palms are all sweaty.”

But before he could say anything more, he heard the Chinese teacher call his name.

“Shen Mian, stand up and answer the first reading comprehension question.”

Shen Mian stood up, looking confused, and lowered his head to look at his paper.

His paper was clean and almost reflective in its whiteness.

Fortunately, a paper filled with standard answers was quickly passed to him from the side. The font was bold and easily recognizable.

“…This paragraph reflects the author’s psychology…” Shen Mian recited mechanically according to the answers, successfully passing the scrutiny of the teacher’s gaze.

After sitting down, Shen Mian whispered to Pei Zhiyi with genuine emotion, “What would I do without you?”

Pei Zhiyi was immune to such words from him, not even raising an eyebrow, and smoothly finished the last math problem.

For the rest of the day, the system remained quiet, not assigning any further tasks.

Shen Mian felt relieved but also somewhat regretful. While it was good not to be forced into physical contact, earning an extra point in that task was still desirable as it affected his life. However, he pondered for a moment and gave up. After all, he had no control over the tasks, and there were still six months left.

By the time school was over, the teacher seemed to have shown some mercy, understanding that they were brought in for extra classes before the official start of school. They didn’t assign too much homework, allowing them to have a smooth transition.

Shen Mian was packing his bag when Han Chao, the sports representative sitting next to him, asked, “Shen Mian, want to play basketball?”

“Not today,” Shen Mian swung his backpack onto his shoulder. “I’m going to my brother’s place, so I won’t be able to play with you guys.”

His “brother” referred to Pei Zhiyi. Everyone in the class knew that Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi had grown up together like childhood friends, even closer than real brothers. It was common for them to visit each other’s homes.

But Han Chao still teased him, “You’re always talking about your brother, are you still not detached?”

Shen Mian made an obscene gesture at him, ignoring him, and followed Pei Zhiyi.

Both of them were good-looking. Pei Zhiyi was tall, cool, and handsome, while Shen Mian had handsome features. Walking side by side, they were a sight to behold. After school, there were often girls from other classes intentionally lingering near their classroom, just to catch a glimpse of the two of them.

Shen Mian was not sensitive to other people’s gaze and often didn’t mind it, but Pei Zhiyi didn’t really like it. He grabbed Shen Mian’s hand and walked a bit faster.

After leaving the school gate, Pei Zhiyi’s driver was already waiting at the entrance. Shen Mian climbed into the car familiarly and smiled at the driver, saying, “Hello, Uncle Chen.”

The driver also smiled at Shen Mian and chatted with him all the way, asking if he was tired from studying and what happened that day.

Shen Mian’s relationship with Pei Zhiyi’s family was even closer than their classmates could imagine.

Shen Mian’s mom and Pei Zhiyi’s mom were close friends, and their dads were college classmates and friends. They even bought their first houses together, two small courtyards facing each other on Nanhu Lane. One could see the other just by opening the door.

Although Pei Zhiyi’s parents divorced later, it didn’t affect the relationship between the two families.

On the contrary, because Pei Zhiyi’s dad was always too busy with his career and his mom went abroad, Pei Zhiyi was often at Shen’s house. He spent half of his childhood at Shen’s house.

When Shen Mian was young, he thought Pei Zhiyi already belonged to his family. When Pei Zhiyi’s dad came to pick him up, Shen Mian would cry loudly, refusing to let go of him. In the end, it was Pei Zhiyi who comforted him.

However, after entering junior high school, Pei Zhiyi moved back to his own house, and Shen Mian often came to Pei’s house to keep him company.

Shen Mian chatted with the driver all the way, and they quickly arrived at Pei’s villa.

Pei Zhiyi’s dad was still not home as usual, and only the nanny had prepared dinner for the two of them. The nanny had also watched Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi grow up, and when she knew that Shen Mian was coming, she specially made red bean paste, which Shen Mian liked.

After dinner, the two of them went back to their rooms to do homework together.

For Pei Zhiyi, the amount of homework was nothing at all, and he quickly started preparing an essay for an English competition.

On the other hand, Shen Mian, as a genuine underachiever, was as slow as a turtle and couldn’t focus on his homework. While doing his homework, he bothered Pei Zhiyi with questions, “Bro, for the ‘Sharing a Bed’ task, do we just need to sleep on the same bed? Or is there something else we have to do?”

Shen Mian came home with Pei Zhiyi that day  because the new basic tasks assigned by the system included “Sharing a Bed,” which could be done every week, and he didn’t want to miss out on those points.

He asked with a clear mind, like an innocent child, purely afraid that the system would be too perverse and make it hard for them.

But Pei Zhiyi looked at him strangely.

What can you do on a bed?

If someone other than Shen Mian asked that question, it would be considered sexual harassment.

“What do you want to do?” Pei Zhiyi asked calmly.

Shen Mian still continued pondering, “Do we need to hold hands and hug each other?”

He rested his face on the end of the pen, and his fair and soft cheek created a small dimple.

Pei Zhiyi’s gaze swept over that little dimple, and he patted Shen Mian’s head. “Stop overthinking and focus on your homework. Question three is -2, and you got it wrong.”

It wasn’t until evening that System 007 came back online and announced the additional condition for “Sharing a Bed ” — the distance between the two people should not exceed 20cm.

Shen Mian didn’t protest against it.

That task was easy for him. He and Pei Zhiyi  had slept together countless times before. When he was young and scared of thunderstorms, he would crawl into Pei Zhiyi’s embrace and ask him to hold him while sleeping.

That score was simply a giveaway.

Shen Mian finished his homework at nine o’clock, and when Pei Zhiyi was helping him check it, he went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Halfway through the shower, he remembered that he forgot to bring his pajamas. But since there were only the two of them in the house, there was no need to feel embarrassed. He walked out with a big towel wrapped around him, still with water droplets on his body.

Pei Zhiyi was frowning as he looked at Shen Mian’s paper full of errors. When he lifted his head, he happened to see Shen Mian putting on his clothes. He wore an oversized black t-shirt as his sleepwear, with two long and straight legs underneath, almost reflective in their whiteness.

But Shen Mian was completely unaware. He walked over and sat next to Pei Zhiyi, and the scent of his shower gel, a subtle fig fragrance, wafted into Pei Zhiyi’s nose.

Feeling good about himself, he asked Pei Zhiyi, “I think I did pretty well in math today. Did I make many mistakes?”

In an instant, Pei Zhiyi burst his bubble. “You made mistakes in almost half of it.”

Shen Mian’s face immediately fell.

He wondered why he was so slow in school. Both his parents were highly educated, and even his younger sister always ranked at the top of her class. How did the genetic factors twist around when it came to him? He didn’t inherit a single bit of intelligence.

And Pei Zhiyi was undoubtedly a top student, the kind that made the headmaster smile whenever he saw him.

Living among high achievers while being a study underachiever was truly difficult.

Fortunately, his moments of sadness didn’t last long. After casually correcting a few mistakes, he dashed off to the mini fridge to get ice cream. It was the one he bought last time and left at Pei Zhiyi’s place, all in his favorite flavors.

Pei Zhiyi didn’t like sweets, but Shen Mian always wanted to share everything with him. He took a bite of the creamy ice cream and subconsciously offered it to Pei Zhiyi’s lips. “Want some?”

Pei Zhiyi stared at the crescent-shaped indentation on the ice cream, rare to see, and took a bite as well.

“The milk flavor is too strong,” Pei Zhiyi commented.

But Shen Mian actually liked things with a strong milk flavor and happily finished it.

By the time the two of them climbed into bed, it was already ten o’clock.

The blanket was newly washed, lightweight, and soft. Shen Mian got into bed and snuggled up to Pei Zhiyi.

He still couldn’t fall asleep, but Pei Zhiyi had already closed his eyes, and Shen Mian didn’t want to disturb his sleep by chatting.

He played with his phone for a while, then turned his head to look at Pei Zhiyi.

To be precise, he was looking at Pei Zhiyi’s lips.

Those lips were beautifully shaped, so perfect they could even be used in advertisements.

But Shen Mian stared at them, his brows furrowed with bitterness.

He hadn’t forgotten the most crucial part of the basic task announced by System 007: kissing, worth 2 points.

During the day, Shen Mian could escape from reality amidst the lively atmosphere of the classroom. But once night fell, the voice of the system assigning the task would emerge like a nightmare, making him wish he could bury himself in the bed and suffocate.

Although Pei Zhiyi was willing to stand up for him and comfort him, telling him not to feel pressured, to treat it as acting.

But Shen Mian found it difficult not to feel guilty.

His first kiss, which should have been dedicated to a beautiful and gentle girl, was now going to be sacrificed for him.

Isn’t it tragic?

It’s too tragic!

Shen Mian even felt sorry for Pei Zhiyi.

There were plenty of girls in school who secretly admired Pei Zhiyi, and love letters were as abundant as snowflakes in his drawer.

But now, all those secret admirers seemed to be in vain.

Shen Mian buried his face in the blanket and let out a low whimper.

He felt like he was betraying Pei Zhiyi.

Perhaps his gaze was too intense, as Pei Zhiyi couldn’t fall asleep. He opened his eyes and looked at Shen Mian, asking, “What are you doing awake?”

Shen Mian’s face emerged from the blanket, his eyes blinking as he looked at Pei Zhiyi, pure like Bambi.

He asked Pei Zhiyi with a guilty conscience, “Brother, do you have a girl you like… or have a crush on?”

Pei Zhiyi asked, “Why are you asking this?”

Shen Mian hesitated to bring up the kiss and vaguely said, “You’re doing all these things with me now, these messy tasks. If you have a girl you like, then I…”

He spoke with a dejected tone, unable to express his thoughts clearly.

But Pei Zhiyi understood instantly.

“No, I don’t.”

Pei Zhiyi denied it decisively.

He pulled Shen Mian from his half of the bed into his embrace, pressing him against his chest, and his hand covered the back of Shen Mian’s head.

“Sleep, stop thinking too much about it”

Shen Mian rubbed against Pei Zhiyi’s chest and obediently responded, “Oh.”

The fact that Pei Zhiyi didn’t have a girl he liked made Shen Mian feel slightly relieved.

However, after Pei Zhiyi fell asleep, it took a long time for Shen Mian to drift off.

The moonlight outside was distant and elongated, casting a small pure white concern on the window.