Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
Poker

The little photo-sending encounter gave Zhou Li an inspiration. He realised that there were no pictures of Ji Shaoyan in his photo library.

Thus, when the evening came about, he left the school grounds to head home, returning to the neighbourhood. Halfway back, he asked Ji Shaoyan to get out of his car, dragging the other somewhere with a beautiful setting and taking a few sets of photos.

Ji Shaoyan readily cooperated throughout the whole process, standing still as he watched the other boy unbutton his shirt and asking with a smile, “What are you up to?”

Zhou Li said, “Getting a new wallpaper for my phone.”

The grin on Ji Shaoyan’s face grew even wider. He had a feeling that this silly fool will always have the ability to surprise him.

He pulled the boy towards himself and wrapped him in a hug, then let Zhou Li take as many photos to his heart’s content.

After the photos were done, he began fiddling with the filters. 

He selected five good-looking portraits, setting each one up as a wallpaper then taking screenshots of the default screen afterwards. He copied the four photos he received from the unknown contacts earlier that the day and compiled the nine photos to post in his Moments. He pulled all the anonymous numbers into this group with the ‘read only’ permission, typed out a sentence, then pressed send. 

And so, when the unknown contacts were scrolling through WeChat, they spotted a new notification——

Zhou Li: If you want to send me photos in the future, please follow my standards. Don’t learn from the first four. Each photo from them was uglier than the last.

Because of the obstruction from the apps, the background wallpaper couldn’t be seen fully in the five photos after the first set.

But even so, it was clear that any one of these photos was enough to send a brain-dead fan into frantic licking-frenzy on their screen. It’s a pity that the poster had directly screenshotted their phone display; even if they used photoshop to remove those apps, the resulting image will still be full of holes.

On purpose, this bastard must’ve done this on purpose.

He was absolutely unwilling to give them the chance to collect photos of their school idol! 

They all exited the circle of friends in a fit of fury..

As for why Zhou Li would pull something like this, it was simply because he didn’t want the remaining crowd of unknown numbers to send him these hard-on-the-eyes images, thus he struck first to gain the upper hand.

He steadily gathered a wave of hatred and exited WeChat contentedly. His only regret was that no one liked his post, which made him feel a bit lonely.

Ji Shaoyan took this display of emotions into his eyes and asked for the reason behind this mood swing, showing a handsome smile.

Zhou Li glanced at his expression and said, “They’re all little stinking brats*, it’s not worth paying attention to. You can leave them alone, I haven’t had my fill of fun yet.”

[T/N: literally, little naked children (kids with their butts out); means disobedient]

Ji Shaoyan also knew that those people weren’t troublesome enough* for Zhou Li to stress over even if they all acted together, so he nodded reluctantly. Feeling like his surprise earlier on didn’t meet his expectations, he asked, “You took photos of me just to piss them off?”

[T/N: literally, something stuck in his (Zhou Li’s) teeth; an annoyance]

“How can it be?” Zhou Li said, “I wanted to make myself happy.”

Ji Shaoyan said, “Same result either way.”

Zhou Li seriously corrected, “Not the same. Using your photo as my wallpaper can also make me happy.”

Ji Shaoyan was stumped for a while. Although he knew that Zhou Li was coaxing him, he was still willing to bite the hook, so he happily followed Zhou Li to the Zhou family’s house for dinner, then expressed his desire to stay for the night.

He previously had a foot injury and he didn’t want to bother others so he never stayed overnight, but that wasn’t the case anymore.

Zhou Li looked at him. “You want to sleep here?”

Ji Shaoyan smiled and promised, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you.”

Zhou Li commented, “When a man says this, nine out of ten men will break their promise.”

Ji Shaoyan declined to follow up on that comment. “Can I sleep here?”

Zhou Li had no objections. He took some fruit for snacks and herded them back to his bedroom to do his homework. When he completed his work and sat through a movie together, it was already past ten o’clock. After washing up, the two sat on the bed looking at each other, neither of them feeling drowsy.

Zhou Li thought about what activities couples usually do and suggested, “Let’s play card games ba!”

Ji Shaoyan raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Li left to find a deck of playing cards, then returned to the room and locked the door, shuffling the cards while saying, “Any card game, whoever loses has to take off an article of clothing. Wanna play?”

This was a game with a little bit of color*. Ji Shaoyan naturally did not refuse, asking, “What happens to the one who loses all his clothes first?”

[T/N: colour, as in yellow (slightly perverted)]

Zhou Li said, “He has to obey the winner’s wishes.”

Ji Shaoyan’s lips curled up at the corners. “Any wish?”

Zhou Li: “Correct.”

Ji Shaoyan smiled and said, “Let’s play.”

Zhou Li placed the cards down and climbed off the bed to open a pair of new socks to slip on his feet. Then he saw a stray tie in the closet and took it to hang around his neck before slipping himself into a jacket, then taking his seat on the bed once more. 

“……” Ji Shaoyan, with a pair of pajamas and his underwear that brought his total number of clothing to three, gazed at him lovingly. “Why don’t you go on and give yourself a hat, scarf and gloves?”

Zhou Li: “Too hot.”

Oh, it turns out that it wasn’t because someone didn’t think about it, but because he gave up.

Young Master Ji looked at him with an even more loving gaze.

Zhou Li: “Do you want socks? With just those, it’s a little useless to play.”

Ji Shaoyan immediately became as shameless as him. “Yes.”

With that, Zhou Li found him a pair of socks, and even kindly gave him a denim jacket. During this process, he scavenged several wrist guards and baseball caps, so he secured the cap on his head and strapped the wrist guards on.

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

How long will this game last? He asked accordingly, “Is this too much?”

Zhou Li: “It’s not ah.”

Ji Shaoyan was rendered speechless and could only follow the other’s wishes.

The two were wrapped tightly in accessories and sat face to face on the bed before starting the game.

They were both intelligent people and their card skills were basically at the same level, so they could only rely on their little amounts of luck. Zhou Li thought that he could not best the protagonist himself, but he didn’t expect to have such good luck tonight. He took the lead in out-stripping Ji Shaoyan, while he himself only had a pair of underwear left on his body.

Ji Shaoyan glanced at the time and found that it was almost midnight, thinking to himself that it was finally over.

He leaned against the headboard, saying rather calmly, “What do you want me to do?”

Zhou Li gave him two glances, then got out of bed and grabbed a newly bought brick-of-a-book titled 《Ancient History of China》to hand over.

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li laid down on the bed and said, “I used to sing and tell many stories to you, now it’s your turn. Any interesting historical events you guys had here, read them out as you please.”

Teacher Ji, who wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, clocked into work temporarily, holding the book to tell him stories.

Zhou Li rolled on his side, quietly observing.

Under the warm light, Young Master Ji’s face took on a softer edge, but even the room was brightly lit, it still would not affect this divine school grass’ temperament.

When he wasn’t in his yandere-mode, he was incredibly considerate and tolerant. Zhou Li had never felt it to be unpleasant when they were together during these days. It was as if he could say everything and do anything he wanted whenever they were together. The old roots that could never ground themselves before seemed to have finally caught hold of a home.

He couldn’t help stretching out his hand, hooking a finger around one of Ji Shaoyan’s.

Ji Shaoyan paused in his narrations and looked down at him.

Zhou Li said, “It’s nothing, you can continue.”

Ji Shaoyan stopped his storytelling, placing the book down to lean over and giving him a kiss.

This kiss went on for a little too long. When they broke away, the two people’s breathing were a little unstable. Ji Shaoyan looked at him, both their faces close together, and whispered, “I will give you another chance to choose.”

Zhou Li insisted, “Keep reading, the one you were on just now sounded pretty good, you should finish it.”

Ji Shaoyan straightened up and continued narrating. After a while, he noticed that the other person on the bed hadn’t moved in a while. At closer inspection, it turned out he was asleep.

“……” He has lost count of how many times he has been rendered speechless by this silly fool. After a brief silence, he simply arranged the blankets on the big bed then gave Zhou Li a goodnight kiss before turning off the lights. Enduring the urge to take a bite of the other boy, he brought Zhou Li into his embrace then promptly fell asleep. 

The next day was a Saturday. Grandpa Wei’s dinner invite was set for noon.

Zhou Li got up early and went out with Ji Shaoyan after breakfast. One went home while the other went to meet with a driving instructor.

He had read up on the test content here in advance and found that it was basically the same as the one in his world, so he entered into a boasting mode once again, claiming that he could directly take the test on the spot.

The driving coach had met many people with this kind of self-confidence. At the sight of this young boy, he simply chuckled, thinking that the boy was far too simple-minded.

Zhou Li didn’t offer any explanation. He invited the coach to the passenger seat, where it took him five minutes before the instructor started screaming ‘ao ao’ at him, and was immediately kicked back to wait for further notice.

He happily ran through the morning before going to the meal invitation with Zhou Luwen and the others.

Ten people had cleared customs; a total of five groups.

In addition to Zhou Li and Ji Shaoyan, the remaining ones were Song Yingshi and Dan Yalan, Zhou Luwen and Zheng San, Ji Tianyang and his little cousin, along with a group of study tyrants from outside the school.

Zhou Li realised that Dan Yalan was Su Ya, who hadn’t appeared for a long time, and was quite surprised.

In the original novel, Song Yingshi’s teammate was Ji Shaoyan. After the plot was twisted by him, he did not expect that she would form a team with another female side-character.

But when he thought about it, it’s not like this occurrence came out of nowhere.

He was a cannon fodder, and the author made sure to use everything they had to their advantage, so the female rival who appeared early in the plot will naturally not be there for decoration. Su Ya also went to the study tyrant exchange meeting that day, and it seems that she also received the flyer. She and Song Yingshi worked in the same shopping mall and during one of their brief conversations, they found that they were both playing the same game, and so they formed a team.

Ji Shaoyan said, “What are you looking at?”

Zhou Li replied in a low voice, “The female love rival.”

After hearing this introduction, Ji Shaoyan said, “She isn’t that anymore.”

Zhou Li knew this was the truth.

In the original novel, Su Ya and Song Yingshi met during the summer vacation and entered the same game. Depending on the situation, the chances of clearing a level was still high. In the later stages, after pretending to be a good friend and coming into contact with Song Yingshi, it is easy to make some small moves.

But now Ji Shaoyan and him are together. She and Song Yingshi no longer had conflicts of interest. They will be plastic friends if they are destined, and separate if they are not destined. They really weren’t something like love rivals.

As for him… Su Ya won’t become an obstacle in front of him*, so there was no need to worry.

[T/N: stuck in his teeth (same idiom used earlier in chapter)]

This was also true. He and Su Ya have only exchanged a few words and are completely unfamiliar, so they basically will have no further communication.

Su Ya and Ji Shaoyan were in the same class. Whilst she would like nothing more than to talk with Ji Shaoyan, it was a pity that Ji Shaoyan was far too skilled in deflecting unwanted people*. After simply distracting her from the topic with a few words, he would proceed to ignore her afterwards.

[T/N: 四两拨千斤: a martial art idiom I don’t get]

While the small group of tenagers were talking, they saw the door of the private room open. Grandpa Wei had finally arrived.

He was wearing a loose Tang suit*. Although his hair was all white, he was full of energy and wore a smile. “I apologise, that doctor of mine just kept going on and on, I made you all wait for me.”

[T/N: 唐装]

Zhou Li and the others all understood the intricacies of societal interactions, and immediately followed up with a quick “It’s us who arrived early”.

Grandpa Wei sat down with a smile, requesting for their preferences and promptly ordered some dishes, then brought up today’s topic of discussion.

He was getting old in age but refusing to give in to nature’s course. He paid attention to whatever young people enjoyed to play. He felt that mobile games would become popular in the future so he wanted to make one himself. After more than half a year of design, the final product was the one they played with.

Everyone became silent.

Amazing. Half a year in the workshop could result in such a rubbish product. 

Grandpa Wei said, “You are the first batch of players, I wanted to ask for your opinions. Was it fun?”

Everyone smiled and said, “It’s very interesting.”

Grandpa Wei said, “I want to hear the truth.”

He turned to Zhou Li. “Child, what do you have to say.”

Zhou Li: “You really want to hear the truth?”

Grandpa Wei: “Of course, just say how you feel.”

Thus, Zhou Li said, “The design sucks, the gameplay is hard as hell, and it’s pointless.”

Grandpa Wei instantly stared at him.

Everyone’s faces were covered with a black shadow.

You don’t like to hear lies, yet you are angry when you hear the truth; is it possible to ever please you?

Grandpa Wei didn’t care for what others thought.

He had a weird personality without the appearance of an elder at all, quickly jumping into an argument with Zhou Li, “How is it hard to play, it’s super creative!”

Zhou Li replied, “Mobile games also count as businesses. For a game that can be passed in one week, you’re just gonna lose money.”

Grandpa Wei: “I am willing to pay.”

Zhou Li: “The main point is that it’s difficult to play.”

Grandpa Wei glared at him again. “The controls are so simple, how can it be difficult to play?”

Zhou Li explained, “Simple controls does not mean it is fun ah.”

Grandpa Wei said, “Then you design one, let me see.”

Seeing him so earnest, Zhou Li changed his mind and smiled, “Sure ah, I will tell you about a game I designed.”

[T/N: ZL uses polite ‘you’]

The development of mobile games in this world was slower than that of their counterparts in his world, even more so with the time differences. While they were still at the level of chopping fruits, his side already had bloomed flowers.*

[T/N: not sure what this comparison means]

When he was sick and hospitalised, the only joy he experienced was when he played games and he had thought about starting a game company after he recovered. There was a big brother who attended university in the same hospital as him, who happened to be studying game development. They often met in the garden and became acquainted as time went on. Both of them wanted to design a game, so they got together and put forward a lot of ideas, although it was regrettable that he could never wait for the day when their game was completed. He didn’t know if that big brother could wait for that day either.

He chose an escape game he designed with that big brother and put forward the general framework.

A flash of light appeared in Ji Tianyang’s eyes.

It wasn’t possible to come up with such a detailed concept overnight. He guessed right. Zhou Li was most likely an outsider, so why hasn’t he come forward to ‘acquaint himself’? Was it because he didn’t want to expose his identity as a transmigrator?

Zheng San and Zhou Luwen were also taken aback.

Zheng San said, “I think you can ah, you have what it takes to start a game company.”

Zhou Li smiled and said, “I plan to do so.”

What could not be achieved in his previous life must naturally be attained in this life.

Grandpa Wei held his tea cup and said nothing. After a few seconds, he put the cup down and said, “If that’s the case, don’t eat anymore. Come to the company with me.”

Zhou Li paused, then said, “The company will be too formal and impersonal. How about this, I’ll head to your house with you and cook some dishes for you. Let’s discuss over some food.”

Grandpa Wei immediately finalised his decision, “Great, let’s go!”

Zheng San and the others: “……”

What do we do? The food hasn’t even been served yet!

No matter how weird he was, it was not possible for Grandpa Wei to actively drive away the guests he invited, so he left one of his assistants and had him greet the guests, then he grabbed Zhou Li to head outside, only to see that Zhou Li had also grabbed hold of Ji Shaoyan. Clearly unhappy, he questioned, “Why are you bringing him?”

Zhou Li’s hand was tightly grasped in Ji Shaoyan’s. “He is my boyfriend, without him, I will not go anywhere.”

Everyone: “……”

Grandpa Wei: “……”

The old man glanced at the pair of clasped hands, surrendering and taking the two out of the restaurant, heading straight to the Wei family’s residence to have a good chat about mobile games with Zhou Li.

But Zhou Li didn’t want to talk about the game. He said, “Before we talk, may I borrow a book from you?”

Grandpa Wei said, “What?”

Zhou Li briefly explained that he wanted to study the origin of the jade pendant and expressed his interest.

To have the recipient of a gift you sent express his liking towards said gift will bring anyone joy. Even Grandpa Wei could not avoid this.

With a flourishing wave of his hand, he ordered another assistant to find the book and come back to translate the contents for them.

Zhou Li was pleasantly surprised. “This can be translated on the spot?”

Grandpa Wei proudly bragged, “If not, then what? You think any person off the streets can become my assistant?”

Zhou Li instantly complimented, “As expected of Grandpa Wei, how powerful.”

Grandpa Wei received his praise and said, “Alright, you go on to cook some dishes first.”

Zhou Li was very happy. He borrowed the kitchen to fry up two plates of stir fry vegetables and put them on the table.

Grandpa Wei looked at the colour of the food, then at the calm emotion on his face, then tried a bite. He instantly regretted it.

Ji Shaoyan also picked up a pair of chopsticks, slowly swallowing his bite, and stared at Zhou Li, wondering why in the world would he propose to cook the dishes himself.

Zhou Li understood the meaning in his eyes and sighed in his heart.

He was just speaking whatever came to mind, who could’ve known that Grandpa Wei had this unique of a character, to actually make his guests cook.

He silently picked up a piece of vegetable and chewed it, then blinked, wondering whether the Wei family’s ingredients were fresher or if the seasoning was of higher-quality; it turned out to be better than what he made in the past. He picked up another piece and found that it was not an illusion, and was a little moved emotionally. “I think my cooking skills have improved.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Grandpa Wei: “……”

Grandpa Wei watched as he proceeded to each three more bites in a row, feeling that this display was not a pretense. Thinking about how this boy from the Zhou family lived in the past, he sighed, then called the chef over and told him to cook a table-full of good dishes. “Prepare what you are best at, remember to put some more meat in ah… Ai, how pitiful.”

Zhou Li: “……”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li put down his chopsticks in silence, not bothering to explain.

He looked up and saw that the assistant finally found the book, walking towards them with it in hand.

The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: Whoever comes across Silly Fool will undergo a personality transformation.

For Su Ya, see chapter 18. There is nothing exciting, just thought that since it is, after all, still related to the original novel, I’ll give a simple explanation in two sentences.