The Scum Gong Refuses the Crematorium [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 28

Xie Qingyao finally left in anger. Facing the cold words and insults from Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue, he truly did not know what else to say to face them.

Once he was gone, Sheng Yan looked at Lu Mingyue, confused. “What tutorials?”

How come he didn’t know about this?

“These.” Lu Mingyue didn’t hide it. He turned off the sound on his phone and showed Sheng Yan the things Xie Qingyao had sent him earlier. He smiled and said, “I heard these are things you used to like very much.”

Sheng Yan took the phone and watched the videos one by one. Hearing Lu Mingyue’s laughter, he didn’t deny it: “Yes, I like them all. Why don’t we go back and try them one by one tonight?”

Try them… one by one!

“Ahem—” Lu Mingyue was afraid that at his age, he wouldn’t be able to handle even one. “Maybe not tonight. I have other plans for tonight.”

Not tonight.

Sheng Yan was good at catching key words. So, that meant it was okay for later?

“What plans?” He skipped the first topic and asked about the second.

“Dinner?” Lu Mingyue said.

Sheng Yan asked again, “Just the two of us?”

Lu Mingyue nodded. “Yes.”

Sheng Yan corrected him: “That is not called dinner. That is called a date.”

Lu Mingyue felt a sudden spark in his heart from the flirting. He agreed: “Yes, a date.”

The two of them finished the auction normally and arrived at the restaurant Lu Mingyue had booked around 9:00 PM.

It was in a skyscraper in Jinghai.

Not only could they see the night view of the city, but Lu Mingyue had also arranged a grand fireworks display.

The fireworks were at the same height as the restaurant. Sitting by the window, they could clearly see the beautiful colors blooming outside.

“Do you like it?” Lu Mingyue asked Sheng Yan.

“I like it.” Sheng Yan nodded. He liked all beautiful things.

“I originally wanted to show this to you on New Year’s Eve,” Lu Mingyue said while looking at the fireworks. “But you said you would be busy then, so I’m showing it to you early.”

Sheng Yan lightly clinked his wine glass against Lu Mingyue’s. He asked, “So, are you really not going to try those tutorials tonight?”

“Ahem—” Lu Mingyue felt like he had dug a hole for himself. Why wouldn’t this topic go away?

“After all, one shouldn’t lie,” Sheng Yan added. “If we never try, how will I know if our life is harmonious?”

Lu Mingyue suddenly understood.

He had been acting moody because of this.

Thinking about his promise to have a real “married life,” Lu Mingyue stood up, walked to Sheng Yan’s side, leaned down, and kissed his lips. “When we get home, okay?”

“Let’s eat.” Sheng Yan was immediately calmed. He pointed to the food to change the subject, neither accepting nor refusing.

“Okay.” Lu Mingyue smiled and served him some of his favorite dishes.

During the meal, they talked normally about other things. They left the restaurant laughing and got into the car to go home, looking perfectly normal.

But as soon as they got home and closed the bedroom door, Lu Mingyue couldn’t stop himself from kissing Sheng Yan.

It was a very passionate kiss.

They stood by the door and kissed for half an hour.

“Just kissing?” Sheng Yan asked during a break for air.

Lu Mingyue panted and laughed. “Are you in such a hurry?”

Sheng Yan rubbed against him with his leg. “I’m not the one in a hurry. You are.”

“Yes, I am.” Lu Mingyue didn’t deny it. While kissing Sheng Yan’s lips, he moved down and used his teeth to unbutton Sheng Yan’s shirt. “Sheng Yan, I missed you so much. I missed you so much I almost went crazy.”

“Almost crazy, yet you could wait so many days?” Sheng Yan tilted his head back, letting Lu Mingyue kiss him and take off his clothes.

Lu Mingyue paused. He had accidentally said what was in his heart.

But he didn’t deny it: “Yes, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have waited. I should have kissed you the moment we met. I should have done this on our wedding night. No, I should have taken you home the first time I saw you.”

They were married anyway.

What was the point of holding back?

It was better to do what he wanted and not waste any more time.

Lu Mingyue felt he was completely crazy, like a piece of burning wood. He had no thoughts other than burning into ashes with Sheng Yan.

“It’s good that you understand.” Sheng Yan held Lu Mingyue’s chin and continued the deep kiss.

They kissed from the door to the bathroom, and back out again. It felt like they could never get enough. Even though neither had done this before, being together felt like they had memories from a past life. They naturally knew what to do.

It was like two wild animals in the room refused to give up to the other. They wrestled and moved until the sun came up. Only then did they stop and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

When Sheng Yan woke up, it was night again. No one was in the bed. Even the messy sheets from the night before were gone. He was sleeping on clean, fresh sheets.

He leaned up, letting his long hair fall over his back. He looked around the room but saw no one.

Just as he was about to get up to find clothes, he heard a click. The bedroom door opened.

He paused and looked toward the door. He saw Lu Mingyue looking handsome in a sharp suit, so he continued moving.

Lu Mingyue didn’t expect to see Sheng Yan looking for clothes the moment he walked in. He turned his head away, not quite daring to look at the other’s body. Looking at him made him think of how they kissed every inch of each other last night. His face felt hot, but he tried to stay calm. “You’re awake?”

“Yes.” After a night of “exercise,” Sheng Yan’s voice was dry. He went to the closet and quickly put on some clothes.

When he came out, Lu Mingyue had already poured a glass of water for him. “Here.”

He drank the water in two gulps. His throat felt better. He asked, “Where did you go?”

Didn’t he say he had no work? Did he go to the office again?

“I went to handle something,” Lu Mingyue said. “You wanted to know if Xie Qingyao really saved you back then. I sent people to find those two kidnappers.”

Lu Mingyue never claimed to be a “good person.” Good people don’t survive in business. For years, his rule was to not bother others unless they bothered him. But if someone crossed him, he wouldn’t back down.

Xie Qingyao had bothered him many times, and he was losing patience.

Before, he did nothing because he thought Xie Qingyao had saved Sheng Yan’s life. But since Sheng Yan said those things yesterday, he suspected there was a secret. He wouldn’t be at peace until he knew the truth.

Sheng Yan paused.

Last night, when he realized Xie Qingyao was acting strange, he thought about using the kidnappers to find the truth and get real evidence.

He didn’t expect Lu Mingyue to be one step ahead of him.

Waking up to find that someone had already thought of what he wanted was a very comfortable feeling.

Sheng Yan was pleased once again.

But looking at Lu Mingyue in his neat suit, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you always in such a hurry?”

Lu Mingyue leaned in and gave Sheng Yan a kiss. He was getting very good at kissing Sheng Yan. He smiled and said, “I’m afraid someone else will try to take advantage of you again.”

When has anyone ever taken advantage of me?

Sheng Yan wanted to talk back, but he remembered how he had laughed and talked with Xie Qingyao yesterday on purpose. He couldn’t help but smile.

Lu Mingyue was such a jealous man. He was still sour about yesterday.

“I’m already tied to you, so why are you afraid?” Sheng Yan kissed him back and asked.

“Of course I am,” Lu Mingyue said meaningfully. “Even though you are married, you are still very attractive.”

A jealous man is truly scary.

Sheng Yan tilted his head and smiled. “Then we just have to deal with him.”

He said “we,” not “I.”

Lu Mingyue was happy that Sheng Yan wanted to include him in everything. “Okay.”

The kidnapping happened many years ago. The two kidnappers had already finished their prison time. They moved away after getting out, and System 766 had helped hide them. If Lu Mingyue weren’t so rich, he might not have found them.

At first, the two men were terrified, thinking Sheng Yan wanted revenge. Once they realized he just wanted to ask questions, they relaxed and told him everything.

With the kidnappers’ statements, Sheng Yan finished his performance for Jinghai TV on New Year’s Eve and asked Xie Qingyao to meet. “Are you free? Let’s talk.”

Xie Qingyao was so happy to get a message from Sheng Yan, even though it was New Year’s Eve and he was busy painting.

After the auction, he thought he could never get close to Sheng Yan again.

The atmosphere between Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue was too good; there was no room for a third person. Also, Sheng Yan had used the kidnapping story to scare him away. If he kept pushing, he would only be annoying.

So, he had decided to leave Sheng Yan alone for a while and focus on his other system task: becoming a famous painter.

But that task would take years. Winning Sheng Yan over seemed easier.

So, when Sheng Yan messaged him, he dressed up and went out.

New Year’s Eve, late at night, and his ex-fiancé wanted to talk.

What did that mean?

It meant Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue probably had a fight!

It made sense. They lived together every day, and their age gap was big. At first, they might be nice to each other, but over time, the “generation gap” would cause problems.

Tonight, he just needed to be a good listener and leave a good impression. When they fought again, Sheng Yan would come to him for comfort. After a few times, Sheng Yan would come back to him.

By the time Xie Qingyao reached the cafe, he had already imagined a scene where Sheng Yan divorced Lu Mingyue and chased him while he acted cool and ignored him.

He pushed open the cafe door and saw Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue sitting together, laughing. Forget about a fight—it looked like they hadn’t had enough love at home and wanted to show it off here too!

For a second, Xie Qingyao wanted to turn around and leave. But he thought maybe it was important since Sheng Yan asked to meet.

He gathered his courage and walked in.

“You’re here.” Sheng Yan was laughing with Lu Mingyue. He looked up and nodded at Xie Qingyao.

“Did you need something?” Xie Qingyao sat across from them, feeling nervous.

It was New Year. Why would this couple meet their ex-fiancé who wanted to ruin their marriage? Were they going to hit him to let out their anger?

“I want to show you something.” Luckily he didn’t say that out loud, or Sheng Yan would think he didn’t know that breaking up a marriage was wrong. Sheng Yan pushed a video of the kidnappers’ statements toward him.

This was Sheng Yan’s private business. Lu Mingyue guessed Xie Qingyao wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of him. He stood up and pointed to the car outside. “I’ll wait in the car.”

“Okay.” Sheng Yan nodded.

After Lu Mingyue left, Xie Qingyao took the phone and played the video.

As soon as he saw a dark, rough face in the video, he slammed the phone face-down on the table with a thwack. In his mind, he screamed: “766! 766! 766!”

Didn’t 766 say this was handled?!

Why did Sheng Yan find this person?!

System 766, which usually answered immediately, was silent today. No matter how much he called, it didn’t appear.

Xie Qingyao began to panic, unable to sit still.

“Don’t count on your system.” Sheng Yan watched him stir his coffee and spoke slowly. “It is on vacation today.”

Like humans, systems need vacations too. Their vacations are short, and they usually pick times when the host is with family or lovers so that no one notices they are gone. Most “taskers” never know the systems have holidays.

But Sheng Yan was different.

Sheng Yan’s system was System No. 1. This meant he was the first in line after System No. 0.

Furthermore, his System No. 1 was personally created by that person from his own system.

Except for System No. 0, he had the highest command over all the numbered systems.

He had the right to know everything about systems.

So, he knew 766 was on vacation today.

“…Huh?” Xie Qingyao was busy calling 766 and was scared out of his mind when he heard the word “system.”

How did he know about the system?

Was he lying? Or talking about the phone’s operating system?

Xie Qingyao pretended he didn’t hear and asked, “What are you saying?”

“I said,” Sheng Yan looked up at him, “don’t ask the system in your head for help. It is on vacation today.”

“How do you know?!”

Xie Qingyao didn’t even think; the words just came out.

The fact that Sheng Yan knew about the system—and its vacation—was terrifying.

Xie Qingyao realized what he had said and quickly covered his mouth.

“Don’t worry about how I know.” Sheng Yan didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked, “Do you want to keep being a puppet for the system?”

“A puppet?” Xie Qingyao was confused.

Sheng Yan said, “It tells you to do tasks, and you must do them. If you aren’t its puppet, what are you?”

Xie Qingyao disagreed. “But it gives me rewards.”

He thought their relationship was a fair trade, not a puppet situation.

“But do you dare to disobey its orders?” Sheng Yan asked sharply.

Xie Qingyao thought about what the system told him. Once bound, if he disobeyed or was lazy, the system would punish him with electric shocks. In serious cases, he could be “deleted.”

“Even workers can quit their jobs. But you are bound to a system, and if you fail, you die. Do you still think its small favors are a fair trade?”

People are like that; they always think they are the lucky “chosen one,” not knowing they are just a game piece.

Sheng Yan added, “Besides, it seems your system’s favors weren’t very successful anyway.”

Xie Qingyao’s face turned white.

It was true. 766 told him the old tapes and the kidnappers were gone, but Sheng Yan found them anyway. The system wasn’t being honest.

Sheng Yan was right. From the start, he was just a puppet the system used to finish tasks. It only cared about the mission, not the host.

Realizing he had been tricked, Xie Qingyao turned pale. He said to Sheng Yan, “But I am already bound to it. I can’t unbind.”

The system said once bound, only death could separate them.

Xie Qingyao was only 22. He was in the prime of his life. Except for what he did at age 8, his life was perfect. He didn’t want to die.

“You can’t unbind, but you can block it,” Sheng Yan told him generously.

Xie Qingyao, who had been lost, suddenly felt he found hope. He looked at Sheng Yan like a drowning man grabbing a rope. “How do I block it?”

“Use system points to buy the ‘Permanent Solitary Confinement’ function. It will lock the system in a dark room forever until you die.” Sheng Yan asked, “Once you are dead, you won’t have to care about it anymore, right?”

“Of course.” Xie Qingyao nodded. If he were dead and being cremated, he wouldn’t feel anything. He wouldn’t care if the system shocked him or hit his body.

Sheng Yan nodded.

“Is it that simple?” Xie Qingyao waited. When Sheng Yan didn’t say more, he realized Sheng Yan had given him this secret for nothing in return.

“It’s that simple.” Sheng Yan shrugged. No matter how powerful a system is, it was made by humans. It can control humans, but humans can also control it back. It just depends on who is smarter.

Xie Qingyao became silent.

He didn’t know why he was quiet. Maybe he was ashamed of himself. Sheng Yan never asked for anything in return, but he was always using Sheng Yan.

He had even been mean enough to try to break up his marriage and want Sheng Yan to chase him like a dog.

“I’m sorry.” Thinking about the past, Xie Qingyao lowered his head.

This was Sheng Yan. If it were someone else, with Lu Mingyue’s help, they would have posted his actions online and ruined his life instantly.

But Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue never did that. He was only safe now because they were kind and forgiving.

“You really should apologize to me,” Sheng Yan said plainly. “For what happened as a child and for what you did recently, I deserve this apology.”

“I was so scared back then. I’m sorry, Sheng Yan. I shouldn’t have framed you.” Speaking of this, Xie Qingyao was still afraid. He didn’t know where the kidnappers would have taken him if Sheng Yan hadn’t been there, or if his parents would have saved him. He had always felt a mix of gratitude and guilt.

Slowly, those feelings changed into something bad, which led him to be tricked by the system into making more mistakes.

He knew now that making a mistake isn’t the scary part; the scary part is not changing and making the same mistake again.

“I… I will never bother you again.” Xie Qingyao knew Sheng Yan wouldn’t forgive him, but he promised anyway. “I will block the system as soon as I get home. I will never try to break up your marriage with Mr. Lu again.”

“I hope you keep your word. He is waiting for me. Goodbye.” Sheng Yan nodded, stood up, and walked toward the door of the cafe.

He had said enough. What Xie Qingyao did next was his own choice.

If he really blocked the system, that was good. If he didn’t, it wouldn’t change much for Sheng Yan; it would just mean one more person to deal with during the final cleanup.

As soon as Sheng Yan pushed open the cafe door, Lu Mingyue got out of the car. He was holding Sheng Yan’s scarf. “Are you finished talking?”

“Yes.” Sheng Yan waited for him to put the scarf on him and smiled. “He said he will never bother us again. Are you happy?”

“Hmm… yes.” Lu Mingyue paused on purpose before smiling and nodding.

“Time to go home?” Sheng Yan started walking toward the car, but Lu Mingyue pulled him back. “Wait, I have a gift for you.”

“What is it?” Sheng Yan looked at his hands; they were empty.

“It’s not on me.” Lu Mingyue looked up at the sky above the cafe. “It’s in the sky.”

“Huh?”

Sheng Yan looked up. Suddenly, fireworks filled the sky across the city. New Year’s Eve had passed; it was now a new year. It was a quiet time for the city, so the bright fireworks woke everyone up.

People went to their windows or stepped outside to look up. They enjoyed this romantic moment with Sheng Yan.

“Didn’t you say you showed them to me early?” Under the fireworks, Sheng Yan turned to ask Lu Mingyue.

“No one said I couldn’t do it again,” Lu Mingyue laughed. “Do you like it?”

“I like it.” Fireworks across the city were truly romantic.

Lu Mingyue suddenly said, “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” Sheng Yan replied. Then he asked, “And?”

He didn’t believe such a romantic moment would only end with “Happy New Year.”

“And I like you,” Lu Mingyue said immediately. The words he didn’t get to say twenty years ago finally came out. “I like you very, very much.”

Sheng Yan looked at him and the beautiful fireworks in his eyes. He asked, “Only ‘like’?”

“More than that.” Lu Mingyue moved closer until his lips were right next to Sheng Yan’s. “I also love you.”

“The ‘very, very much’ kind of love?” Sheng Yan smiled.

“Yes.” Lu Mingyue didn’t deny it and kissed Sheng Yan’s lips.

Outside, people were watching the fireworks. The cafe waiter ran out too, and so did Xie Qingyao. But the first thing Xie Qingyao saw wasn’t the fireworks.

He saw two people kissing deeply in the city light, by the car and the streetlamp.

Even though there was a fifteen-year age gap, anyone who saw them would say they were a perfect match.

A match that no one could break.

Xie Qingyao suddenly felt very silly. He thought making Sheng Yan leave Lu Mingyue was for his own good.

He didn’t realize.

Love can cross time, space, and age.

As long as there is love, a desert can grow trees, and a dry hill can have birds and flowers.

May all those who wait find their own fireworks and beautiful flowers one day.