I Can’t Be This Protagonist

When he received Yan Shuang’s text, Wei Yichen was having a meal with a local supplier.

“Gege, I don’t have any money for lunch, :crying:” I5jHGt

A short, nine-word text was enough for Wei Yichen to see a sly face hidden under a mask. His smile was sweet, but his eyes were filled with evil intentions. He was like a natural born little devil who took pleasure in toying with people’s hearts.

“Mr. Wei…”The supplier company’s boss was frightened by the sight of him absentmindedly looking at his phone. “Is the food unpalatable?”

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“No.” Wei Yichen took a sip from his wine glass. “A friend is looking for me…excuse me for a moment.” Wei Yichen nodded lightly to the man before moving his chair back and getting up. The entire table stood up with him and sent him off. When they glanced at each other, they could see the sweat dotting everyone else’s forehead.

They knew it was going to be bad once this person showed up. jiCYdd

What was Wei Yichen here for? He was a big shot specifically here to take out the trash.

They had already accompanied Wei Yichen all morning for a tour. Wei Yichen’s attitude remained ambiguous, he seemed to have accepted them at their words, yet not at the same time. It left everyone’s hearts suspended on a tightrope. It seemed like they were in deep trouble this time.

“Hey.” Wei Yichen immediately said after the call went through. “Where is he?”

Before coming to Shangnan, he had already done as Qin Yubai had requested and found a reliable person to keep an eye on Yan Shuang.

QKrsbW

“He’s been at the hotel since 11:03. After asking the front desk for the buns leftover from this morning, he went upstairs and hasn’t come out yet.”

Wei Yichen was silent for a while. “Buns?”

“Buns, rolls and a bunch of other things, ba. I couldn’t get a clear look.”

The person watching Yan Shuang was on the second floor of the cafe opposite the hotel. He was using binoculars. wE5MWX

“Got it. Keep an eye on him.”

“Understood, Mr. Wei.”

Wei Yichen hung up the phone.

There was another cell phone in the inner pocket of his suit. Xm7tk2

What used to be a brand new, almost unused phone now had traces of another person.

On it were his phone number, his texts and the PowerPoints he had downloaded.

Who would’ve thought he was holding onto the phone all day to study?

Wei Yichen lowered his eyes, opened his suit, and took out his personal mobile phone. He downloaded a food delivery app. n3UaSK

And manually entered the delivery address.

Wei Yichen lit a cigarette at the end of the corridor outside the compartment.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

He never smoked or drank alcohol when he was in the city.

The best butler should be like a lifeless tool. As close to the family’s robot vacuum as possible. KbQfjV

Tobacco and alcohol were both unsuitable substances.

A light blue smoke came out from the corner of his mouth. Wei Yichen looked up, letting the smell of tobacco drift up into his nose.

Nicotine was addictive.

Yet despite knowing it was harmful, despite knowing there was no coming back from this, he still couldn’t help but indulge in private, when there was no one around. Nap2qf

The more he endured, the stronger the urge grew.

After finishing off the cigarette, Wei Yichen called again. “What’s the situation?”

The person on surveillance was surprised that Wei Yichen called back so soon, but he reported faithfully since this was his boss who paid the money, “Just now…um. He came down and picked up a food delivery from the front desk.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

The corner of his lips quirking up slightly, Wei Yichen opened the cigarette box and took out another cigarette to pass under his nose. “You said just now. What just happened?” CuF a3

“Tbecu Zjrafg Al mjwf ys pera cbk. Ktf akb bo atfw wfa lc atf ibyys yfobgf tfjvlcu eqrajlgr abufatfg.”

“Sluta wlceafr jub, Tbecu Zjrafg Al mjwf vbkc jibcf.”

“Zg. Qfl, jgf sbe ralii atfgf?”

“Tfr.” Qfl Tlmtfc rjlv ilutais jr tf obivfv atf mlujgfaaf lc akb klat j olcufg. “Jbcalcef ab xffq j mibrf fsf bc tlw jcv gfqbga yjmx ja jcs alwf.” jxdwn7

The other phone in his pocket vibrated.

Wei Yichen lazily took it out.

“Did you order?”

Wei Yichen didn’t reply. He just stared at the three words and a question mark. tem8oW

Who knows, maybe he sent this message to everyone.

Including the last text.

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Wei Yichen was amused by this idea of his. Both corners of his mouth rose before slowly falling down again.”

“Mr. Wei…” imdAWl

Wei Yichen had left the compartment for so long that the supplier person inside couldn’t help but come out to find him. The sight of him staring at the phone blankly made his legs tremble. He was genuinely afraid that this notorious butler would tell him to fuck off soon.

Wei Yichen put away his phone and tossed what remained of the cigarette away. He schooled his face into one appropriate for business affairs. “Let’s go.”

Yan Shuang didn’t eat that luxurious Japanese-style bento. He stored it in the refrigerator at the front desk.

There was only one class in the afternoon, but Yan Shuang had made sure his schedule was packed. Tl9b2F

Two hours of part-time work, followed by class, followed by naughty things. Then he would go back to the hotel to do homework, and finally wait for Little Ji to come and deliver the check.

How fulfilling.

In addition to the convenience store, Yan Shuang was also working part-time distributing flyers at a gas station.

It also allowed him to get familiar with the real estate market in the city. vSD56K

After two hours of handing out flyers, sweat poured down his back and his bangs were sticking to his forehead.

The auntie at the gas station was very nice. She brought him a disposable cup full of water. “Little Yan, drink some water.”

“Thank you.” Yan Shuang thanked her as he brushed back his sweat-soaked bangs and downed the water in one go. He crumpled the disposable cup and narrowed his eyes at a trash can several meters away. His aim was true.

“Nice.” f EOzb

Yan Shuang allowed himself to be pleased with his accuracy for a moment.

“Auntie, I’m going.”

Yan Shuang loudly said goodbye and waved to the people in the gas station before rushing to the bus station with his torn canvas bag.

These three scenes were captured in image and text and sent to Wei Yichen’s phone. osFv3e

His thumb slid over the first picture, where Yan Shuang had his head down and his arms lobster red from the sun, and stopped on the second picture.

The person who took this shot probably thought nothing of it. The way he shot it was also very amateur.

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He just happened to capture this scene.

Drenched bangs being smoothed back to reveal a smooth and full forehead. A slender body casually leaned back against the wall, his arms at ease and his expression brilliantly open. HlPLef

Another different face.

Wei Yichen’s eyes became slightly distant.

Just which one was the real him?

Yan Shuang sensed something off during the afternoon class. VRGZ0Q

Someone in the classroom was staring at him.

Which was more than strange.

As a practically invisible person in school, why was anyone staring at him before he implemented his plan C to debut?

He was 80 to 90 percent sure this was Qin Yubai’s doing. pwsQxZ

How frustrating!  Did that man have more money than sense?

Why didn’t he just ask if he wanted to know something?

Why waste the money when they were already one family.

Sigh. GTtxgU

To this, Yan Shuang would like to say that you could monitor him all you want, just don’t get in his way.

When class was over, Yan Shuang followed everyone else out of the classroom.

He hadn’t been paying attention before, but now that he was being careful, he could indeed feel a seemingly non-existent pair of eyes on his back.

Yan Shuang quietly walked out of the school building towards a remote biology building elsewhere on school property. td13Is

This building and the facilities inside were quite dated. It was said that the place would be refurbished soon. Hardly any classes took place inside, and most students only came here to use the washroom.

Yan Shuang walked into the men’s bathroom.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

And opened all the stall doors.

They were all empty. fYlTiG

Very good.

Yan Shuang walked into one of them and waited quietly.

After about ten minutes or so, someone came in.

Their footsteps were especially crisp on the porcelain floor. NsXqx0

Sounded like they were wearing leather shoes.

Yan Shuang immediately pushed open the stall door. The man who had followed him unexpectedly crossed gazes with the target he was monitoring.

The man quickly looked away and undid his zipper, pretending to have come to use the urinal.

Yan Shuang just leaned back on the stall door and casually said, “Don’t take it out, friend. I’m afraid your love life from now on will take a turn for the worse if Qin Yubai finds out I’ve seen your lucky charm.” vuz4oZ

The man closed his zipper without a moment’s hesitation. He turned and bowed to Yan Shuang. “Hello, Mr. Yan.”

“It’s not convenient here. Let’s find a place to talk.”

The convenient place turned out to be– the anatomy room.

The cabinets were filled with various organs soaked in formalin. Yan Shuang sat amidst the jars and asked curiously, “When did you start monitoring me?” 58adRw

“At noon.”

“So what did you see?”

“I saw Young Master Ji come find you and you going downstairs to collect a food delivery.”

“Did you report it?” ekXUNO

“I’ve reported everything until you went to class.”

“Why are you so forthcoming?” Yan Shuang couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you should be telling me everything I ask?”

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The man raised his head. “Mr. Wei said to be honest with you if you discovered me and to not resist.”

Yan Shuang was slightly taken aback. Then he laughed quietly. Propping up his face with one hand, he smiled sweetly in the middle of a bunch of entrails. “How smart of him.” WgkumT

The man followed Wei Yichen’s instructions and looked down.

–“If you’re discovered by him, answer whatever he asks. Don’t get into any conflicts with him and retreat as soon as possible.”

That’s what Wei Yichen told him.

It was like the target he was monitoring was a vicious criminal instead of an ordinary university student. m7YFaz

Yan Shuang hopped off the counter.

The jars on the counter shook slightly, the liquid within sloshing.

“I’m going to do some naughty things for the next hour. Don’t follow me.”

Light footsteps quickly approached the door. fAdGZ2

“I’ll explain things to Wei Yichen.”

The stalker stood helplessly in place. He could only send Wei Yichen a text first.

“Mr. Wei, I was discovered.”

Wei Yichen had already ended the inhumane mental vivisection of the supplier and was now working in a hotel. He was about to reply to the text when his other phone vibrated. pautFe

It was a call from ‘Pre-order Lover’.

Wei Yichen answered the phone calmly, “Hello?”

“Was it you who ordered lunch?”

“No.” 42rLHo

The person on the other end laughed.

“I guess if you say so.”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“I’m going to an internet cafe to rent a computer so I can anonymously disseminate photos of Ji Yao opening a hotel room with me. It’ll take about an hour. Could you tell that person to pretend I was studying at the hotel during this time?”

Yan Shuang said all that in a normal-paced, gentle voice. Wei Yichen was free to interrupt him at any time, but he listened to everything without a change in expression. tfdd P

The blue light from the laptop was reflected on his face, illuminating the faint light in his eyes.

“There’s surveillance in internet cafes.” Wei Yichen slowly analyzed the potential points of failure for him. “And the IP of the poster can be traced.”

“Don’t worry, I already have a plan. I’m going to go dressed as a girl. That way it wouldn’t matter if I get caught on surveillance.”

Wei Yichen swallowed dryly. He was unconsciously rubbing the pen in his hand. drzA1Q

“Promise me, ba.”

A low voice came from the other end of the phone.

“I’ll wear a little dress for you.