When the Villainous Boss Acts as the Protagonist (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 43

When Time Flows Backward

Li Yanzhe’s pupils shook in disbelief, as if he had not understood Zhou Luoluo’s words. Every word was familiar, but how could they be so incomprehensible when put together?

When did Zhou Luoluo get involved with the national Research Institute?

While it was true that he had gone abroad for a two-year master’s degree, that was only to give him a bit of prestige before the Zhou family went bankrupt. He had studied art, a major that had absolutely nothing to do with any department of the Research Institute. After all, those were national-level secret organizations. They could not possibly have opened an entertainment department just so researchers could relax by listening to songs, watching dances, or having their portraits painted after work, could they? That was too ridiculous!

Therefore, after letting his thoughts wander for a moment, Li Yanzhe dismissed the idea that the Institute was looking for Zhou Luoluo to hire him. Why else would they invite him? Aside from his abilities, the only thing left was his heart-voice.

Instinctively, Li Yanzhe looked up at Chu Sicheng. The boy had been ready to leave, but for some reason, he had stopped moving after the call came in. Li Yanzhe saw a clear look of wanting to watch the drama on that beautiful yet hateful face.

Li Yanzhe suddenly felt a bit exhausted. This was not only because of Zhou Luoluo’s miraculous heart-voice ability, but also because of Song Le’an, whose personality and style of doing things had undergone a 180-degree turn.

The boy from before was never this gossipy. Back when he was taking care of Li Yanzhe in the hospital, even if someone outside was shouting about someone falling off a wall and landing on their most fragile part, Song Le’an would not show a hint of interest. Li Yanzhe had curiously asked him about it then. The answer he received was that in the time it took to go out and gossip, he would rather quietly help Li Yanzhe peel an apple. The boy had leaned beside his hospital bed, looking at the IV drip, and smiled shyly at him.

“I don’t have much interest in those things. No matter how shocking it is, it’s someone else’s life and has nothing to do with me. Even if I know, it’s useless. I might as well use that time to do something useful.”

Yet now, he was not only watching the drama, but he was watching Li Yanzhe’s drama.

His fingers instinctively tightened around his phone. Looking at Chu Sicheng’s interested gaze, Li Yanzhe seemed to figure something out in a flash of insight. He stared tightly into Chu Sicheng’s eyes, and when he spoke again, his voice was somewhat hoarse.

“You did this!” He said sharply. “You reported Luoluo to the Research Institute!”

“It wasn’t me,” Chu Sicheng said, pausing as he thought of something before adding, “But it could be considered me. You can think of it that way if you like.”

As someone who played villains for years, Chu Sicheng was usually more accustomed to shifting blame than taking it. However, he realized mid-sentence that Shen Ci had sent Zhou Luoluo in for his sake. Moreover, claiming it might increase Zhou Luoluo’s anger and Li Yanzhe’s heartbreak value. So, he pulled the blame back to himself.

He smiled at Li Yanzhe, his face full of provocation. “After all, spirits are not allowed to attain human form after the founding of the country. Encountering such a supernatural event, as a red-blooded successor of socialism, I naturally had to report this to the state!”

Chu Sicheng spoke with such righteous conviction that one might have wanted to edit a glowing red inspirational background behind him. But Li Yanzhe was not among those people. He was nearly dying of anger. Could a normal person really think of reporting someone to the state?

Furthermore, Zhou Luoluo’s ability was so unique that once he was taken into the Institute, it would not be as simple as an investigation. He would likely be kept there and vanish from the public eye forever.

Although Li Yanzhe’s affection for Zhou Luoluo had dropped significantly because of the lies and the framing of Song Le’an, his heart had softened after Zhou Luoluo’s deep confession. Now that the boy was about to be taken away and they faced the prospect of never seeing each other again, Li Yanzhe’s emotional need for Zhou Luoluo exploded.

“Why would you do this?” He looked at Chu Sicheng, his eyes filled with the same incomprehension and resentment he had shown Zhou Luoluo two days ago. “Even if he did harm you, aren’t you standing here perfectly fine? Why did you contact the Institute? Do you have to revenge yourself to this extent? Can you really not tolerate him at all?”

Facing Li Yanzhe’s hysterical questioning, Chu Sicheng felt no guilt. He only felt that this guy had mental issues. In just a short time, Li Yanzhe had first acted as if he could not let go of Chu Sicheng, even using Father Song to achieve his goals. Then, upon learning of the investigation into Zhou Luoluo, he stared at Chu Sicheng with hatred, as if the boy were the Queen Mother breaking up his romance.

A person’s love being this fickle was actually quite impressive.

Chu Sicheng put a candy given to him by the shop manager into his mouth. Tasting the faint orange flavor, he barely resisted the urge to kick Li Yanzhe. He had to hold back. There were surveillance cameras here; it would not be easy to explain if he actually killed him.

With his tongue pressing against the orange candy, Chu Sicheng looked at the impotently raging Li Yanzhe and said softly, “Instead of spending time asking questions here, you should hurry home. You might still make it in time to see Zhou Luoluo one last time.”

Couldn’t tolerate him? Did he think he was playing some palace intrigue game where every man in the world was fighting for his favor? This was a novel world, not a dating sim; he was on the wrong set.

Chu Sicheng curled his lips in annoyance, no longer bothered to deal with the carbon-based life form who could not understand human speech, and turned to leave. He had watched enough drama; it was time to eat.

However, though he wanted to leave, the actor remaining on the stage was unwilling to let him go.

“Le’an!” Father Song, wanting to add more scenes for himself, saw that Chu Sicheng was really leaving and immediately scrambled up from the ground to run toward him. “Don’t go, Le’an! If you really don’t want to be with President Li, that’s fine, but at least give me some money! I am your biological father after all!”

He reached out to grab the boy’s clean white sleeve, but just as his fingertips were about to touch him, he was lightly struck by the paper bag in the boy’s hand. The force used was very light, only making a soft thud as it hit Father Song’s hand, but Father Song felt a sharp pain accompanied by an intense burning sensation travel from the point of contact through his nerves and back to his brain.

The pain was so great he could not even scream. His right hand hung down at a ninety-degree angle as if the bone had been shattered by a single blow from Chu Sicheng.

“You,” Father Song gasped.

“I told you, didn’t I? I am a germaphobe. Dirty things are not allowed near me.”

Chu Sicheng smiled at him, his beautiful eyes shimmering like spring water. Yet, facing such a gentle gaze, Father Song felt no warmth; instead, he felt a chill throughout his body. At that moment, he had a feeling that if he pushed his luck any further, the boy would truly kill him. The look in the boy’s eyes was not one used for the living.

Father Song’s legs went weak, and he fell to the ground clutching his right hand. Under Chu Sicheng’s gaze, he could no longer say a word.

On the other side, because of the distance and the phone call, Li Yanzhe did not know what had happened. He thought Father Song was just sitting on the ground for a new round of throwing a tantrum. Without realizing the severity of the problem, the man ordered his bodyguards to take both Father Song and the boy away.

Yes. Even though he was angry with Chu Sicheng, he still viewed the act of reporting Zhou Luoluo as a sign of the boy’s love for him. After all, with Zhou Luoluo gone, only Song Le’an would be left by his side. Confident as he was, Li Yanzhe even believed that Chu Sicheng’s previous righteous speech was just an excuse to hide the fact that he still loved him.

“Come with me and explain things to the people from the Institute. Tell them not to take Luoluo away. After that, I promise you will be the only lover by my side, okay?” He spoke as if he were bestowing a favor.

Chu Sicheng had already turned away, but he turned back upon hearing this. As Li Yanzhe ordered the bodyguards to bind him, he did not run; instead, he walked toward the man.

“What? Changed your mind? Or do you want to go back,” Li Yanzhe started.

Bang!

After a loud crash, while the assistant tremblingly adjusted his glasses, Chu Sicheng retracted his foot expressionlessly. Under the shocked gazes of everyone, he walked up to the man who had fallen beside a trash can, looked down at him, and said coldly, “I actually did not want to fulfill the physical torment KPI at this time.”

Since there were cameras, it would be hard to explain if the other party called the police. But, he said, “I have no choice. You are too much of a lowlife.”

As Li Yanzhe struggled, Chu Sicheng coldly stepped on the hand he was using to try and push himself up. Amidst the intense pain that reached his heart, Li Yanzhe saw the boy tilt his head. The boy’s pupils seemed stained with ink, blooming into a thick darkness.

“Do you know what happened to the confident brothers who could not understand human speech in front of me before?” The boy asked softly, then without waiting for an answer, he said directly, “I killed them all.”

Even if they were the protagonists recognized by the Heavenly Dao. Even if killing them would result in a mission failure. Chu Sicheng killed them anyway. After playing the villain for so many years, how could he have a personality that would let himself suffer?

The boy lowered his eyes slightly, his red lips curling up into a clean smile. In the eyes of the man on the ground, he looked like a demon crawled out of the abyss to plague the world. He really wanted to kill him. At this moment, Li Yanzhe felt exactly the same as Father Song had ten minutes ago. Chill constantly poured from his heart and spread to every corner of his body.

He wanted to speak. He wanted to say that this was a society ruled by law and that the boy would not survive if he committed intentional homicide. But in the face of death, extreme fear left them unable to make a sound or use any strength. So in the end, Li Yanzhe could only lie stiffly in a pile of foul-smelling garbage, watching as the boy discarded his life bit by bit, as if throwing away trash.

[Host! You can’t! The masochistic love value is not full yet!]

[Warning! Warning! Task-player 01 shows a tendency toward extreme behavior. Assistant system, please immediately dissuade them from destroying the world core!]

The noisy voices of the novel world and the individual alarm in Chu Sicheng’s mind merged into one, becoming a desperate tune for a world approaching its end.

[Host! Think about the villain! You have not had dinner with him yet! Don’t you want to see him one more time?]

The system’s sharp voice felt like it was piercing through Chu Sicheng’s brain. His fingers paused. Chu Sicheng, who had intended to kill Li Yanzhe directly, blinked.

“The villain?”

Shen Ci?

Whether the system’s words worked or not, in the next second, Shen Ci’s figure really appeared before Chu Sicheng’s eyes. The man wore a low-profile gray suit with a visible stain near the collar. Because of this, the cold and handsome young man frowned slightly. He placed the champagne in his hand onto the tray held by Chu Sicheng, said a few words to the assistant beside him, and walked toward the elevator next to the banquet hall.

During this process, his gaze did not linger on Chu Sicheng for even a second.

What was happening? Even Chu Sicheng, who had been in mission worlds for years, could not react to the situation for a moment.

“What are you doing here?” An impatient voice suddenly rang in Chu Sicheng’s ear. He instinctively looked back to see a neatly dressed version of Li Yanzhe sitting in a wheelchair, staring at him with dissatisfaction.

“Didn’t I say you are not allowed to do this waiter work anymore! You are mine now, which means you represent my face. Don’t embarrass me, okay? Also,” the man’s mouth opened and closed as if he were saying many angry things.

But Chu Sicheng heard none of it. He only looked down at his outfit and then looked around at his surroundings.

Waiter. Banquet hall. Gray suit.

Chu Sicheng frowned. He had returned to the moment he first transmigrated?

It was at this moment that a familiar voice rang in his ear again, “I spent all my energy to help you reverse time. Next, you must not disappoint me!”

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