I Snatched the Overbearing President’s Canary [Transmigration] - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Punishment

Shenyu, of course, did not answer him; he simply kept his eyes closed, sleeping soundly.

Ning Chen watched him silently before pulling him back into an embrace.

As evening drew near and time felt still, Ning Chen smiled, thinking it would be quite nice if they could stay in this moment forever.

A moment later, he shook his head to himself—no, that wasn’t right. He wanted He Shenyu to get better.

He planted a kiss on the small red mole on He Shenyu’s earlobe and whispered softly, “Wifey, get well soon. I still want to keep seducing you…”

Shenyu remained unresponsive. His light, shallow breaths brushed rhythmically against Ning Chen’s arm, like a gentle breeze fluttering through the heart.

Ning Chen stared at him instinctively, as if he could never grow tired of the sight.

…

For some unknown reason, when He Shenyu woke up the next day, his illness had significantly improved. He felt much more energetic than before. Perhaps it had finally reached its final stage? It was about time it got better…

Shenyu had a faint feeling there was a reason he wasn’t aware of, but what could it be that even he—the “transmigrator”—didn’t know?

Could Fu Hengzhan have done something behind his back?

However, this kind of physical influence could only be the handiwork of the “God of the Plot.” Could Fu Hengzhan directly influence the Plot God?

And how could it affect He Shenyu?

If it were because he was tearing the leads apart, he should have been punished on the first day he arrived. Back then, he had ruined the protagonists’ first meeting, yet he hadn’t felt any repercussions…

And he hadn’t done anything lately.

Shenyu couldn’t figure it out. The God of the Plot was too mysterious; he had no way of obtaining such esoteric information.

Furthermore, as the transmigrator, he was the one with the most information, and even he couldn’t make sense of it.

The other people in this world likely understood even less; Fu Hengzhan hadn’t even realized he was being influenced.

Could it be Ning Chen?

Shenyu frowned at the thought. Logically speaking, Ning Chen should also be able to influence the Plot God.

But Ning Chen was with him every day, and he hadn’t noticed any change in their interactions. He really couldn’t find anything strange.

Come to think of it, the God of the Plot didn’t seem to have influenced Ning Chen much—at least, not that He Shenyu had noticed.

Shenyu reviewed the timeline of the original novel. During this early period, Ning Chen was supposed to be under Fu Hengzhan’s control, his daily routine identical every day: school, then back to the villa. There was nothing special about it.

So, during this time, Ning Chen’s character was a passive existence.

According to his previous deduction, the next plot point—Ning Chen’s first argument with Fu Hengzhan—was approaching. Did that mean Ning Chen would regain his subjectivity from then on and start being influenced as well?

The thought gave He Shenyu a headache. Although he was a science student, most of his time had been spent studying medicine. He rarely watched brain-burning movies in his spare time. Honestly, dealing with this made him feel like his brain wasn’t quite up to the task.

He climbed out of bed, grabbed his laptop, and opened the document where he recorded the plot to review the timeline once more.

He also jotted down his doubts and theories. His mind wasn’t clear yet; he’d think it through properly once he was fully recovered…

“Shenyu, why are you working? Aren’t you still sick?” Ning Chen pushed the door open and entered. He set down the tray in his hand and took the laptop away from He Shenyu.

Panicked, He Shenyu hurriedly saved and closed the document. By the time Ning Chen reached him, only the desktop was visible. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, I wasn’t working. Just browsing the web,” He Shenyu said.

Ning Chen was curious. He had clearly seen He Shenyu close a page when he walked in. He asked, “Really? Weren’t you typing just now? What were you writing?”

“Nothing, nothing,” He Shenyu felt a bit overwhelmed. Ning Chen absolutely could not see that document; it touched upon the “underlying rules” of the world. He was afraid the Plot God might just kill him outright. “I was just arguing with someone online.”

“Arguing?” Ning Chen picked up the tray and continued, “What does that mean? Have you washed up yet? It’s time to eat.”

“Yeah, I got up a moment ago,” He Shenyu nodded before answering, “Arguing online means… exchanging insults with people in the comments.”

“Insulting them over what?” Ning Chen was surprised. To him, He Shenyu had always been very gentle; it was hard to imagine him cursing at people.

Shenyu felt awkward—one lie really did require another to cover it up. He recalled a famous online feud from his college days and replied, “Someone was being a ‘regional hater,’ so I traded a few words with him.”

“Oh.” Ning Chen wasn’t interested in that. He placed the tray on He Shenyu’s lap and asked, “Are you feeling better today?”

“Mhm,” He Shenyu took a spoonful of porridge and nodded. “Much better. I’m even in the mood for an online fight, aren’t I?”

Ning Chen smiled. “That’s good.” He turned to leave to prepare the medicine and warm water.

As soon as he left, He Shenyu quickly opened the laptop and set a password for the document. Only then did he feel at ease.

…

Two days later, He Shenyu had completely recovered. He finally regained his vitality and sent Ning Chen back to class.

Since Ning Chen had missed so many days, when He Shenyu returned to work, he didn’t expect Fu Hengzhan to show up at the hospital near closing time, claiming he needed to make up for last week’s routine check-up.

Shenyu realized that Fu Hengzhan probably had a touch of OCD.

But wait!

Shenyu suddenly realized this might also be one of Fu Hengzhan’s character traits.

Would a normal person really care about such odd details? Especially a CEO who was busy with a thousand things every day.

Was he this robotic because his character setting demanded it?

It was very likely…

Fu Hengzhan was practically a collection of every “overbearing CEO” stereotype. He could imagine how many arbitrary settings the original author had piled onto him.

So, this was likely one of the subtle influences of the Plot God.

Thinking of this, He Shenyu actually found him a bit pitiable…

But would Ning Chen be influenced too?

In the early stages of the original novel, Ning Chen was the image of a well-behaved student. Shenyu thought about it—Ning Chen still seemed to fit that image, didn’t he?

He was a bit more lively than in the original, but that was probably because He Shenyu was an easygoing benefactor. Shenyu figured that was a normal development.

Honestly, it was hard to tell.

The plot had changed so much. Since Ning Chen was with a transmigrator every day, it was only natural he’d change the most. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be under the direct influence of the Plot God yet.

Shenyu would rather all the punishments for changing the plot fall on himself; he didn’t want Ning Chen to get hurt every other day like in the original…

“I heard your parents have set you up on a few blind dates lately, and you weren’t satisfied with any of them?” Fu Hengzhan asked seemingly casually.

His tone sounded like gossip, but He Shenyu immediately made the connection. Good grief, he had wondered why Fu Hengzhan had been so well-behaved lately; it turned out he was manipulating He Shenyu’s parents into making trouble instead…

Shenyu immediately stopped feeling sorry for him. He didn’t believe the Plot God could completely control a person—at least half of these actions were Fu Hengzhan’s own will.

Sometimes he felt like telling Fu Hengzhan the truth just to see the look on his face…

But he could only daydream about that for now. Shenyu sighed and said, “Doesn’t President Fu know I have a boyfriend? We have a very good relationship, so naturally, I wouldn’t be interested in anyone else.”

Fu Hengzhan seemed surprised. He asked, “Do you really plan to marry him?”

Oh, so he thought “Dr. He” would eventually find a woman to marry?

That was definitely Fu Hengzhan’s way of thinking; he never truly believed He Shenyu would be serious about a man.

Shenyu looked at him and said, “I do. Once he graduates, I’ll take him abroad to get married. Will President Fu attend our wedding? Perhaps you could help convince my parents? They listen to you; I think you could be of help.”

Fu Hengzhan was stunned for a rare moment. After a while, he smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll mention it to them.”

“Thank you, President Fu.” Shenyu picked up his case and stood up to leave.

Fu Hengzhan said, “If you’re serious, then that’s good. I wish you—”

“Argh…” Fu Hengzhan pinched his temples. “No… Ning Chen… it hurts, my head hurts so much…”

He looked up, seemingly recovering for a long time before saying, “Dr. He, I’ve been having sudden headaches lately. I’ve had check-ups at the hospital, but they couldn’t find anything. Do you know what the cause might be?”

Shenyu knew about this, of course; the hospital had even held meetings about it, but no one could find a cause.

Only He Shenyu knew it was because of the Plot God. Just now, what Fu Hengzhan wanted to say likely violated his character setting, so the Plot God erased his thoughts.

But He Shenyu couldn’t say that. He looked at Fu Hengzhan with pity and said, “President Fu, I don’t know either. Perhaps you should fly abroad for a check-up?”

Fu Hengzhan nodded. “Perhaps.”

It seemed other doctors had suggested the same.

After Fu Hengzhan left, He Shenyu opened his laptop in his office and recorded this newly observed phenomenon.

He didn’t know what to do; he was just worried. If Ning Chen ever violated his character setting, would he be punished too? What would happen then?

Shenyu returned home with a heavy heart. Ning Chen had a class tonight and wasn’t back yet.

He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, quietly watching the outside. It had started snowing…

It was snowing so hard, yet he hadn’t noticed earlier. In the short time since he returned, the ground had already turned white.

He was a bit worried about Ning Chen and was about to call him when the door lock clicked.

“Shenyu, I’m back. It’s freezing out there.” Ning Chen walked in with the wind and snow, his hair damp from the snowflakes.

Shenyu walked over to him, taking his hands to warm them. “Hurry and take a hot shower. Change your clothes.”

“Okay.” Ning Chen nodded and let go of his hands. “My hands are freezing. You just recovered from your cold, don’t touch me right now.”

“Mhm…” When his hands were released, He Shenyu felt a strange sensation.

He thought about it—it was probably because Ning Chen had been so clingy lately that he felt unaccustomed to the sudden lack of contact…

He didn’t dwell on it and sat back on the sofa.

The snowflakes looked beautiful under the lights. Shenyu took a photo with his phone and even took the time to edit it.

As he was admiring the edited photo, Ning Chen’s voice suddenly came from the room:

“Shenyu, come here for a second…”

Shenyu put down his phone, walked into the room, and stood outside the bathroom door. “What’s wrong? I’m here.”

Ning Chen cracked the bathroom door open slightly, steam drifting out from the gap. He said, “I forgot to grab my pajamas. Could you get them for me?”

“Sure, wait a second.” Shenyu turned to the wardrobe and found Ning Chen’s pajamas. He smiled; he occasionally did the same thing—forgetting a towel or clothes while showering. Ning Chen must have been in a rush today.

“Ning Chen, I’ve got them. Open the door.” Shenyu knocked on the bathroom door.

Ning Chen’s voice came from inside: “Can you put them inside for me? I’m covered in soap suds…”

“This…” Shenyu hesitated. “How about I just leave them at the door?”

To this day, he remembered the scene of Ning Chen suddenly stripping in front of him vividly. He was a bit afraid to go in.

Ning Chen suddenly pushed the door open, leaning half his body out. He was indeed covered in suds. He looked at He Shenyu pleadingly and said, “Haven’t you seen it all already? What are you afraid of? I really just finished soaping up. Just help me put the clothes on the rack…”

Shenyu flushed. He was in a difficult position now. After all, what Ning Chen said wasn’t wrong. He hesitated for a moment before walking in.

Whatever, let’s just get this over with.

He deliberately avoided looking at Ning Chen, keeping his back turned as he placed the clothes on the rack. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to leave the way he came, he suddenly heard a cry from Ning Chen behind him: “Ah—!”

He turned back urgently, only to see Ning Chen losing his balance and crashing toward him.

The two were pinned together. Shenyu was slammed against the wall, his only knit sweater already soaked. The suds on Ning Chen’s body were smeared all over him, and the jade Buddha pendant pressed between them was a bit uncomfortable.

Shenyu’s face burned instantly. He didn’t even know where to put his hands. He could only say with a trembling voice, “Get up, quickly, Ning Chen.”

But Ning Chen reached out and forced his face toward him. His grip was strong, though his expression was aggrieved: “Shenyu, I accidentally slipped. You won’t blame me, will you?”

“No, I don’t blame you,” He Shenyu said anxiously, even reaching out to push his shoulders, only to get a handful of slippery suds. “You… hurry and get up…”

Ning Chen looked at him even more piteously, as if he might cry at any moment. He said, “My leg is numb, I can’t move. How about you check it for me, Shenyu?”