Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Liang Jingxiu and the others chose a spot with an excellent view, where one could enjoy both the scenery and people wandering outside.

But right now, except for one Yan Yunhui who was eating ice cream, everyone else had no intention of appreciating the view outside.

Yan Yunhui was not romantic and suave like Liang Jingxiu, attracting both cats and dogs*, nor was he charming like Ji Shaoyan, who was at the centre of everyone’s attention. Probably because of some reasons related to his congenital heart disease, he was a very quiet and peaceful person, incredibly tolerant towards people and unexpected happenings. He was an authentic glass of warm water*, unlike Ji Shaoyan, who only put in effort to maintain his superficial appearance, where a single sip is poisonous.

[T/N: 招猫逗狗/beckoning cats and dogs: basically the same as 拈花惹草/flirting with both flowers and grass (both pretty girls and handsome boys)]
[T/N: not sure what this comparison is like, maybe because warm water always goes down the throat smoothly? Because drinking warm water on a cold day is comforting?]

Zhou Li covertly glanced at his figure and asked, “Yan-shao likes to eat ice cream?”

Yan Yunhui replied, “It’s okay.”

Knowing A-Yan’s thoughts, he guessed that this person will be part of their group sooner or later, so he smiled and amended, “You don’t have to call me Yan-shao, just Xiao-Yan is fine.”

Zhou Li happily agreed, “Okay, then you also can’t call me Zhou-shao from now on, call me Xiao-Li.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Liang Jingxiu: “……”

Yan Yunhui had no complaints, gently nodding at his offer.

Zhou Li felt that he had successfully taken the first step towards making friends. Floating in happiness for a short while, he followed up, “I know how to make ice cream. When I have the opportunity some day I’ll make some for you guys to try.”

Yan Yunhui was a little taken aback. “Really?”

Zhou Li confirmed, “En, I can also make desserts. My craftsmanship is comparable to that of a patissiere. If you’re interested, you guys can come over to my house to play when you have the time. It’s a nice place for us to do homework together, play games or something else.”

Ji Shaoyan suddenly smiled very handsomely.

Liang Jingxiu almost spat out the sip of coffee in his mouth and quickly forced himself to swallow it.

He had an ominous inkling that if things went on like this, he would be unable to hold down A-Yan’s hand and the knife that was gripped in it, so he looked at his close friend, “Didn’t you say you needed to ask our class monitor something? I just saw him walk past.”

Yan Yunhui was currently thinking that Zhou Li’s proposal sounded pretty good, and if done properly, could create plenty of opportunities for A-Yan. Hearing this interruption, he shifted to look at Liang Jingxiu.

They’ve been together since they were young and had a good understanding of each other. Seeing that each other was also looking at him, he knew something had come up, so he simply said “en“, then got up and left.

Liang Jingxiu followed closely behind, finding a random excuse to withdraw himself then met up with Xiao-Yan outside. He asked, “Don’t you think he was a little interested in you?”

Yan Yunhui was surprised. “Was he?”

This was only their second contact.

The last time, they were at the get-together. When it came time to eat, Zheng San had pulled Zhou Li over to chat with him and during the karaoke parts, the group of people were all desperately trying to block Zhou Li from holding a concert. They never said anything to each other at all.

Liang Jingxiu said, “He was. When I asked him about something last time, his condition was for me to convince you to sing. I didn’t tell you.”

Yan Yunhui was speechless for a few seconds. “…then what about A-Yan?”

“I didn’t tell him either. I just assumed I was making something out of nothing.” Liang Jingxiu thought back to a certain person’s handsome smile and said, “By now, A-Yan must know about it as well.”

The two of them shifted their sights in the direction of the cafe and quickly moved away from the soon-to-be accident zone.

Ji Shaoyan knew about this, naturally.

He gazed at Zhou Li with incredibly gentle eyes.

Zhou Li: “……”

Right. He was so focused on making friends, he had completely forgotten about this thing*.

[T/N: ZL refers to JSY as ‘the goods’]

For some reason, the words from his little sister mysteriously flashed in his mind for a short instance——if he misunderstands, I just need to give him a kiss.

He couldn’t help but release a sigh in his heart, deciding to work hard tonight to send his little sister a dream, tell her to study hard and not wander around in a confused state all day, thinking about such messy things.

Ji Shaoyan took a sip of coffee then placed the cup aside. “Zhou Li, let me ask you something.”

Zhou Li said, “I don’t want to answer.”

Ji Shaoyan turned a deaf ear and went straight to the point. “You’ve read the book and you knew how the game will turn out. More importantly, you know the people playing in the game. Why did you gift Xiao-Yan a rose on the first day?”

Zhou Li: “……”

Sure enough, there was nothing he could hide from him.

Ji Shaoyan maintained his handsome smile and took the initiative to analyse things further. “Other than me, you only gave two flowers to other people; one for Zhou-er, the other for Xiao-Yan. For Zhou-er, your circumstances were not optimistic at the time, I can understand. As for Xiao-Yan…it seems to be a personal preference?”

Zhou Li simply admitted the truth and confessed with two words: “Book fan.”

Ji Shaoyan smiled. “You don’t like the male lead, so you go for the supporting role?”

Zhou Li: “You said it yourself; this is a personal preference.”

After a pause, he stuck on an additional explanation, “It’s because, he is in poor health, and my body is also sick, just…do you understand that feeling?”

Ji Shaoyan continued to smile. “I don’t understand.”

Zhou Li pointed out the window. “See the two people standing next to the basketball hoop? Do you know them?”

Ji Shaoyan glanced over briefly. “Don’t know them. Could be first years.”

Zhou Li was very satisfied with this discovery. “As long as you don’t know, it’s fine. Look at the boy wearing white sneakers. If you find out that he was transformed into a cat and was beaten by others, meeting all kinds of misery along the way but was stubborn enough to have never given up on himself, always planning to find a way back before finally succeeding in changing back into a human being, compared with the one next to him, wouldn’t you have a stronger affinity towards him?”

Ji Shaoyan calmly stated. “No. Even if he had turned into a dog, there is no difference between those two in my eyes.”

“……” Zhou Li internally complained that this pervert’s brain circuits were really different from that of a mortal, saying aloud, “Then there is no other way.”

He stood up and went over to sit on the single sofa next to Ji Shaoyan, sincerely and affectionately declaring, “I can only sing you a song. It is called 《Happy Breakup》.”

[T/N: 分手快乐 by Guo Wenxian, Yao Ruolong, Liang Jingru]

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li followed through with his promise. “Break up happily, I wish you happiness, you can find someone better~”

Ji Shaoyan stared at him silently, patiently waiting for him to finish singing before speaking up. “We haven’t started yet, where did the breakup come from?”

Zhou Li said, “Basically the equivalent, you know how it is.”

Ji Shaoyan slowly came to a realisation and blinked at Zhou Li twice, thinking that this was a round-about way to tell him the conclusion of his ‘proposal’. Did this round-about lead to ‘success’? 

He immediately threw away the messy thoughts concerning Xiao-Yan and was just about to confirm his hypothesis again when he was interrupted by the notifications from WeChat.

Zhou Li picked up his phone and turned it on, seeing a short report from the little brothers.

They have finished the process of renting the house and their jobs have been finalised; they will officially go to work tomorrow. The boys finished cleaning up the house and bought some beer, sending over a photo of them clinking glasses together to share with him the joy of relocation and pledging an oath alongside the photo, claiming their actions towards changing their fates begins today.

Zhou Li encouraged: En, I have good feelings about your futures.

Er-ge: That’s a given, when us brothers get serious, we can do anything!

Lao San: You just sit back and wait for our good news!

Xiao Liu: Takeaway Alliance, dominate the world!

Very good. They’re all very cheerful.

Zhou Li grinned and played along cooperatively, blowing rainbow farts*.

[T/N: spouting praise from his a** haha]

Left out in the cold, the dissatisfied Ji Shaoyan leaned over to peek at the screen. “They still aren’t working?”

“They’ll be on shift tomorrow, my dad…” Zhou Li turned his phone off and said, “He arranged it for them.”

Ji Shaoyan picked up on the subtle pause and considered his personality, speculating, “You want to tell them about the jade?”

Zhou Li said, “I’m still thinking about it.”

He looked at Ji Shaoyan. “Do you have any suggestions?”

Ji Shaoyan, “It goes without saying, you shouldn’t tell them. Besides, you’re still their son, just from another world.”

Zhou Li thought to himself that this phrase was really beautiful to hear. He said, “But not necessarily. They could be strangers in a parallel world. They may not even know each other, let alone getting married and having children.”

“And who knows how accurate this guess is?” Ji Shaoyan smiled and assured, “Even if they aren’t, they are still your family in this world. This can’t be refuted.”

He slipped on that layer of gentle skin and reasoned comfortingly, “Not everything has to be out in the open. I know you think they have the right to know, but you have to think about whether they can accept it. Once you finish telling them the truth, what will you do if you make the entire family feel uncomfortable?”

Zhou Li also had concerns in this regard, hence the hesitation.

“You don’t understand how much pressure they are under. Only a handful of families are as rich as the Zhou family. A child taken home by the wrong family, with better luck on their side, can lead an ordinary or well-off life, but it’s far from being raised in the Zhou family. They can’t even be placed on the same plane of comparison. On the other hand, if their luck is even just a little worse off, it’s hard to say what kind of mess they’ve thrown themselves into now; for example, the hooligan Qian Liye.” Ji Shaoyan continued, “So in the beginning, when news of such a situation breaks out, the outside world will generally look down on them. But you, you were able to blend in naturally, making friends and being recognised by us so quickly. It may not show on their faces, but in their hearts, they are actually very happy.”

Zhou Li became silent.

Ji Shaoyan had a point. He could feel how the Zhou family’s initial caution and care have now changed into a more relaxed attitude towards him.

“Thinking about it from another angle, you are the second personality, which can almost be considered as ‘another son’. They know Qian Liye exists, and that is good enough. Whether you tell them or not, Qian Liye can’t return. Compared to Qian Liye being sent to another world, a personality who is in deep sleep is easier for them to accept.” Ji Shaoyan finally concluded, “White lies are sometimes necessary. My advice is, don’t destroy the family who has finally managed to calm down.”

Zhou Li stared at him.

Ji Shaoyan asked, “What?”

Zhou Li: “And the truth?”

Ji Shaoyan understood the second he heard this question and no longer concealed his thoughts, calmly saying with a smile, “Rationally, that would be my advice. Emotionally, my only wish is for you to break off all relations with that family. So helpless and alone in this world, I will be able to hold you in the palm of my hand.” 

Zhou Li nodded, feeling at ease.

This was Young Master Ji’s style.

Ji Shaoyan glanced at him and said with his ever-present smile, “Zhou Li, just admit it ba. You actually care about me.”

Zhou Li raised his eyebrows, wondering where in the world did he find this idea.

Ji Shaoyan clarified, “You knew it was me from the beginning, and your attention was purely on me. After I changed back, you wanted to see what I thought of you, so your attention was still solely on me. You’ve always had your own set of morals and never liked discussing with others on some principled matters, but now, you seek me out to ask about my views and won’t let go until you’ve heard me say my true thoughts. You have to hear me tell the truth. Think about it yourself.”

Zhou Li reminded, “…this is because we’ve reached the root of all knowledge*. There’s no way I can talk to others about this.”

[T/N: 知根知底/have a deeper understanding (about the dog and about the jade)]

Ji Shaoyan interjected, “The precondition for ‘sharing the same root’ is that you must trust me. That is why you are willing to tell me everything.”

Zhou Li was rendered speechless for a good while.

Ji Shaoyan felt this was a good opportunity to take advantage of a certain someone’s weakness.

He didn’t want to give Zhou Li’s thoughts a chance to retaliate and proposed with a smile, “Then, shall we give it a try first?”

Zhou Li refused, “No way. Others can return the product during the trial period. Your offer is littered with unconscionable clauses*.”

[T/N: 霸王条款/overlord clauses: unfair contracts hated by consumers]

Ji Shaoyan prompted, “Such as?”

Zhou Li: “Prohibited from getting too close to others.”

Ji Shaoyan explained his reasons in good temper, “This applies to normal couples as well. If one side gets too close to an outsider, there’s bound to be issues.”

Zhou Li: “Oh, then let’s move on to the next one: Banned from being a fan.”

Ji Shaoyan’s lips curled faintly. “If you want to be a fan, I will allow you to be a fan.”

Zhou Li: “Are those the sincere words from your heart?”

“Yes.” Ji Shaoyan leaned closer on the armrest of the wheelchair and kindly educated him, “Keep in mind to not to learn from those disgusting stalker fans; stay far away from him in every aspect.”

Zhou Li: “……”

Ji Shaoyan: “Anything else?”

Zhou Li: “Yes. The most unconscionable one of them all: he can not be returned.”

Ji Shaoyan became silent.

Zhou Li’s face displayed his evident surprise. This reaction didn’t fit in with the style of this character.

Judging from Young Master Ji’s temperament, he can definitely come up with a plethora of retorts in an instant, such as “people fall in love knowing they are in for a lifetime”, or something like “I will work hard to be a good lover, your heart will never experience the want of returning goods”. However, this young master didn’t say anything at all.

They sat in this silence for a long while before Ji Shaoyan finally spoke up, putting away his smiling disguise of the past and leveling him with a solemn look. “Zhou Li, if you want, I will let you go.”

[T/N: 我让你退/I will let you return (me): same ‘return’ as what they used before (as in returning goods) but I’m not sure if it works well with the tone. They use ‘returning goods’ in the following convo but it’s a bit weird in context. Thoughts?]

Zhou Li was suddenly taken aback.

Ji Shaoyan said, “Before the end of high school, you have one chance to push me away. You can seriously consider whether I am suitable. If you think it’ll work out, I don’t believe I will be so horrible that it will make your feelings for me fade over time. So, once we graduate, you will never be able to run away.”

He didn’t want to scheme, nor persuade the other with his hypnotic flowery words, and most of all, he didn’t want to whitewash his intense possessiveness.

Right now, all he wanted was to expose every inch of his beating heart for Zhou Li to see. He said, “If you retreat during this period, I promise you, before I lose control of my desire to lock you up, I will destroy myself first.” 

The author has something to say:

Yan Yunhui: Listen to him, stay away from the idol life.