The Price of a Favor

Shi Ji had spent a long time thinking while in the bath. Even if he spent most of the day with Li Chen, there would always be moments when they were apart.

For example, when they were sleeping.

He reasoned that since the system could control his own body, controlling Li Chen’s would be a piece of cake. Shi Ji’s greatest fear was that the system might play tricks while he slept—manipulating Li Chen’s body to sneak out and complete the plot. If that happened, he’d be finished!

Shi Ji’s mental calculator was clicking away so loudly he didn’t notice Li Chen standing there, eyes wide with shock at his words.

“You… you…”

A stuttering voice drifted over. Shi Ji looked up to see Li Chen’s brow tightly knit. The boy took several steps back, his face turning from pale to dark, then flushing a deep, extreme crimson.

His fingers twisted the hem of his shirt, and his eyes swam with loathing. It was as if he weren’t looking at Shi Ji, but at something utterly revolting.

“Shi Ji.”

Li Chen’s thin lips parted, his jaw working twice. “Can you give me a little dignity?”

Shi Ji: “?”

“I am not that kind of casual person!”

Shi Ji: “?”

‘Has he… misunderstood something?’

Seeing the boy’s expression shift into that of a “virtuous maiden about to be defiled,” Shi Ji quickly suppressed his confusion and straightened his face. “Where exactly is your mind wandering?”

His voice was naturally cold, and combined with his icy expression, it gave off an air of looking down on others.

Li Chen’s expression shifted instantly.

“Just because I’ve been slightly nice to you for a few days, you don’t actually think—” He paused deliberately for a few seconds. “—that I’m interested in you, do you?”

Shi Ji shook his head, the mockery in his tone thickening. “Use your brain and think. What is the reason I’m even allowing you to stay by my side right now?”

He walked toward Li Chen step by step, extending a finger to poke the boy’s chest. “—To torture you.”

“To torture you slowly, very, very slowly.”

“So—” Shi Ji slowly raised his eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, Li Chen.”

“I’ll say it again: I have no interest in Omegas.”

He leaned down, leaning close to Li Chen’s ear.

“And even less interest in defective Omegas.”

Having finished, he pointed toward the sofa by the balcony. It wasn’t particularly spacious, but it was more than enough for someone of Li Chen’s stature to lie down.

“Go there. Lie down,” Shi Ji commanded, mimicking the original owner’s tone.

Li Chen stood frozen in place, unmoving, staring back with a face full of defiance.

He was as stubborn as a mule.

Shi Ji suppressed the urge to kick him over there.

“Don’t think about resisting me,” he said, giving Li Chen a shove. “Not until the day you can step on my head.”

As the words fell, Li Chen finally deigned to move. He walked over to the sofa in a few steps, sat down, and then lay on his side.

Watching the boy’s back, Shi Ji felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

He secretly wiped the cold sweat from his palms, turned back to the bed, pulled the quilt over his head, and switched off the bedside lamp.

The room plunged into darkness, becoming so silent that only the sound of breathing remained.

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Ji quietly pulled back the quilt and sat up to glance at Li Chen.

The boy was curled up on the sofa. The moonlight from the window fell across his profile, and his long, curled lashes cast curved shadows beneath his eyes.

Shi Ji breathed a silent sigh of relief, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, it was broad daylight. White light fell across the wooden floor. Shi Ji rubbed his aching temples and reflexively turned his head toward the sofa.

—But the sofa was empty.

Li Chen was gone.

Shi Ji leaped out of bed, running barefoot to the sofa in a few strides.

The soft cushions still bore the indentations of someone having lain there, but Shi Ji searched the entire room and couldn’t find a trace of Li Chen.

The sight of a room with no one else in it made Shi Ji grow anxious, his heart rate gradually accelerating.

‘Did I actually guess right? Did the system control Li Chen’s body while I was asleep to go complete the plot?!’

Shi Ji bit his lower lip, a nameless fire coursing through his chest. His fingers gripped and wrinkled the sofa cushion. Just as he was thinking about how to go save Li Chen, the bedroom door was tapped gently from the outside.

“Young Master.”

The knocking stopped, replaced by a soft female voice.

Shi Ji ignored it, continuing to stare blankly at the floor.

But the person outside was persistent. Seeing no reply from Shi Ji, they stubbornly continued to knock.

The “thump-thump-thump” sound made the already frustrated Shi Ji even more irritable. His brow knit tightly as he looked at the closed door and barked in a low voice, “Get lost.”

The person outside acted as if they hadn’t heard—or perhaps they were intentionally antagonizing him. The sound of knuckles hitting the door varied in intensity, dense and rhythmic like a drumbeat.

Shi Ji’s brows knit even harder. He stood up, walked to the door, and yanked it open—

“I said get lost! Do you not understand?!”

The harsh words flew out of his mouth.

The youth standing outside widened his eyes, his misty-blue pupils shrinking. A beautiful little face was turned toward Shi Ji. Perhaps because he hadn’t slept well, there was a faint hint of dark circles beneath his eyes.

His lips moved twice, but finally, they pressed tightly together.

The person outside wasn’t a maid; it was Li Chen.

Shi Ji froze.

He scanned Li Chen briefly, his gaze falling on the stack of neatly folded clothes in the boy’s arms.

Li Chen’s eyelashes fluttered as he regained his composure. Then, his face went cold as he shoved the clothes into Shi Ji’s arms, muttering under his breath, “I’m going, I’m going.”

With that, he turned to leave. A flash of panic crossed Shi Ji’s eyes. Reflexively, he reached out and grabbed Li Chen’s wrist. “Wait! Where are you going!”

The boy’s wrist was still so thin that it could be easily encircled by one hand. Li Chen’s footsteps halted. He turned his head halfway to look at the hand gripping him. He frowned, pulled at the corner of his mouth, and said with forced patience, “Let go of me.”

He twisted his elbow, attempting to break free, but the man behind him treated his words like wind in his ears, gripping even tighter.

A ring of noticeable red finger marks appeared on the pale skin. Li Chen couldn’t pull away from Shi Ji, so he finally compromised, asking helplessly, “What exactly do you want?”

His gaze flickered over the few strands of hair standing up on top of Shi Ji’s head, then settled on the man’s charcoal-black eyes.

Shi Ji had gotten up in a hurry and wasn’t wearing his glasses. When looking at Li Chen, he couldn’t help but squint slightly. His long, thick lashes partially obscured those gloomy pupils, just enough to hide the look in his eyes that made Li Chen feel uncomfortable.

The dark blue pajamas he wore were of excellent quality, but the buttons at the chest weren’t fastened properly, revealing a patch of pale, smooth skin.

Li Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice before he looked away.

He had always thought that the person who should have differentiated into an Omega was Shi Ji, not himself.

Li Chen turned back and raised his eyelids slightly. Seeing that he was finally willing to stay put, Shi Ji released his hand. Li Chen instinctively put his arm behind his back, his fingers rubbing the spot Shi Ji had just touched, secretly feeling the lingering warmth.

The surrounding air was tinged with a faint scent of Iris pheromones, but the man before him was a perfectly ordinary Beta who could feel nothing.

Shi Ji’s brow remained furrowed as he racked his brain for a reason to keep Li Chen by his side.

Unfortunately, his mind was a total blank at that moment. Thus, Shi Ji was forced to activate his “Vicious Cannon Fodder Exclusive: Looking for Trouble” skill.

“Who gave you permission to leave my room without my consent?” Shi Ji lowered his gaze to the clothes in his arms, then looked up at Li Chen. “Disobedient little servants get punished.”

The youth before him didn’t react; he just pressed his thin lips together and looked at Shi Ji with indifference.

Shi Ji arched an eyebrow. Usually, when he called him a “little servant,” Li Chen would have cursed him by now.

Just as Shi Ji was about to speak again, Li Chen suddenly interrupted him: “…I want to ask you for a favor.”

His eyes were slightly lowered, his long lashes like butterfly wings. The black hair on his forehead fell naturally. He truly looked like he was asking for something, appearing as submissive as a puppy trying to please its master.

Shi Ji’s eyes shifted, his expression slightly surprised.

“Speak,” he said.

Li Chen hesitated, pursing his lips for a moment before saying, “Can you… let Auntie Lin rest for a few days?”

When he woke up this morning, he had seen Auntie Lin washing clothes downstairs from the balcony. It seemed her old ailment had flared up again; her hands were in agonizing pain the moment they touched cold water. Li Chen couldn’t bear to watch from upstairs, so he had snuck out behind Shi Ji’s back to help.

Hearing Li Chen say this, Shi Ji recalled that the original owner was extremely picky and even had a severe obsession with cleanliness. He strictly required that his clothes be hand-washed; servants who violated this rule had been kicked out one after another, leaving only Auntie Lin.

And since Auntie Lin had been kind to Li Chen, he naturally couldn’t bear to see her suffer in pain. Looking at the submissive appearance of the person before him, Shi Ji thought of a way to keep Li Chen by his side while also earning some “favorability” points.

He gave a soft laugh, his charcoal-black eyes shimmering. Li Chen didn’t understand what he was laughing at and tilted his head in confusion.

“You want me to help? Sure, I can do that.”

Shi Ji crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

Li Chen froze for a few seconds, looking at Shi Ji with a gaze full of disbelief.

He hadn’t expected Shi Ji to agree so quickly.

“However—”

The man’s tone took a sharp turn. He leaned in slightly, smiling with a face full of cunning.

“—how do you plan to beg me?”