The Confession and the Crumbling Plot

The sirens of police cars circled in the sky. This sudden accident had quickly drawn the attention of the authorities.

On the cross-river bridge, two uniformed officers pulled up a cordon. They wore gloves, photographing and examining the only vehicle remaining on the bridge, while another officer directed a crane to pull the black car from the river.

Shi Ji sat to one side. A doctor knelt before him, disinfecting a scrape on his lower leg. The alcohol-heavy solution stung the broken skin, causing Shi Ji to knit his brows and draw a sharp breath.

Li Chen stood guard beside him. Aside from some dust on his clothes, he was unharmed, but his expression was grim. He stared intently at the doctor’s hands.

“All done,” the doctor said, securing the final bandage and standing up. He discarded his gloves into a medical waste bag and looked Shi Ji up and down. “I’ve checked you over. Aside from that scrape on your leg, there are no other injuries.” He patted Shi Ji’s shoulder. “Kid, you’re lucky to be alive.”

Shi Ji didn’t speak. The cold sweat on his forehead hadn’t even dried.

It wasn’t luck. He knew that if it weren’t for Li Chen’s System, neither of them would have survived this crash.

Shi Ji’s hands trembled. The scene played on a loop in his mind—it had happened too fast. It looked like an accident, but Shi Ji knew better. This was a targeted murder.

Who was it?

His fingers curled so tightly into his palms that his nails bit into the flesh. He didn’t notice until a warm hand caught his wrist. He turned to see Li Chen looking at him with deep concern, gently prying his fingers open one by one.

The doctor moved away. Once he was out of earshot, Shi Ji spoke in a low, raspy voice, “Are you still unwilling to tell me?”

He looked up, meeting Li Chen’s misty-blue eyes. His sharp gaze made Li Chen feel as though he were under interrogation.

Li Chen stiffened and looked away. “I don’t know,” he whispered after a long pause. “I was very young. I only remember Uncle Shi and Auntie Song taking us out to buy a cake. There was a crash. To protect us, they… they died on the spot.”

Li Chen’s lips turned pale. Recalling this cruel past was a form of double torture.

Shi Ji watched him for a long time. Li Chen didn’t seem to be lying. He sighed and prepared to stand up when a police officer blocked his path.

“Shi Ji? Mr. Shi?”

The officer looked to be in his fifties, with a rank that wasn’t low.

“Yes,” Shi Ji nodded.

“My name is Tian. You can call me Officer Tian,” the man said, his gaze steady and firm. “We’ve done a preliminary check on that car. Wrong side of the road, no plates, brakes maliciously tampered with. Your driving path was perfect; that car aimed for you.” He looked at his recorder. “The strange part is, the car was unmanned. So, we are currently judging this as intentional harm.”

Shi Ji’s heart sank. His suspicions were confirmed.

“We need to investigate further,” Officer Tian said. Then, his cold face shifted slightly. “Mr. Shi, do you know Shi Hancheng and Song Ning?”

Hearing his parents’ names, Shi Ji snapped his head up. “I do.”

Officer Tian let out a long sigh, a faint smile touching his lips. “I thought so. You’re their son. I haven’t seen you in years; I can’t believe you’ve grown this much.”

Shi Ji was stunned. “You knew my parents?”

“More than just knew them,” Tian said sadly. “We were old friends. I was the one who handled the case regarding what happened back then.” Seeing Shi Ji’s eyes light up, Tian shook his head. “Unfortunately, that case ended up going cold. The culprit was too cunning; we couldn’t find a single shred of evidence.”

“You couldn’t find anything?” Shi Ji frowned. “How is that possible?”

Tian placed a hand on his shoulder, his expression shifting strangely. “Those things…”

Shi Ji froze for a second. He wasn’t the original Shi Ji; he was acting on fragmented memories. How could he know the details?

“I have to get back to the station. If you have questions, contact me,” Tian said, handing over a business card. “I suspect this incident and the one from years ago might be the work of the same person. This time, I will catch them.”

A few days passed with no further developments. Aside from the police coming by for more statements, everything seemed normal.

Except for Shi Ji, who remained preoccupied. He was standing by the door after scheduling a weekend meeting with Officer Tian when he turned and saw Li Chen.

He scanned the boy, sensing something was off. Then his gaze landed on the formal suit the youth was wearing.

For the past few days, Li Chen had been acting like he was possessed. He had started combing his bangs back, frequently parading around in suits, and Shi Ji had even caught him in front of the wardrobe, comparing different ties against his neck.

It was bizarre. Li Chen was handsome, and even in casual clothes, he looked like a movie star. Now that he had matured, the suits gave him a sharp, dangerous edge. But Shi Ji found it unsettling and swallowed his comments.

Li Chen followed Shi Ji upstairs. As Shi Ji began to undress for a shower, the boy suddenly snapped out of his daze.

Li Chen immediately covered his eyes with his hands, but a suspicious flush was visible through his fingers. Shi Ji found the boy’s awkwardness amusing.

“What is there to be afraid of seeing?” Shi Ji wrapped himself in a bathrobe, the soft fabric clinging to his pale skin. He stepped toward Li Chen and pulled the boy’s hands away from his face.

Li Chen bit his lip, his gaze darting toward Shi Ji’s chest.

Shi Ji arched an eyebrow. He had taken off his glasses, so the world was a bit blurry; he had to lean in close to see the embarrassment on Li Chen’s face.

“Dressed like a proper gentleman, yet still so easy to blush,” Shi Ji teased. “You’ve been very strange lately, parading around like this. Don’t tell me you… like me?”

The secret hidden in the boy’s heart was suddenly punctured. Li Chen’s eyes widened, and a look of panic crossed his face. He gripped the hem of his jacket, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Shi Ji squinted, trying to read him. The youth’s eyes were darting everywhere, and his hurried breathing betrayed his thoughts.

A strange tension thrummed between them.

In the next second, Li Chen let go of his jacket and looked Shi Ji directly in the eye. He was flushed red enough to burn, but his gaze was unexpectedly serious.

“Yes,” Li Chen admitted bluntly. “I do like you.”

The five words hung in the air. Li Chen’s body was tense; his palms were damp with sweat. He hadn’t expected to confess so soon.

Shi Ji didn’t react for a long time. He just looked at him. Li Chen stared back, his misty-blue pupils trembling as he searched for any emotion on Shi Ji’s face.

But Shi Ji gave nothing. Silence. Silence. Silence.

The room had never felt so quiet—so quiet that Li Chen could only hear the pounding of his own heart. Like a thrilling freefall, his heart rate finally began to level out during the long wait.

Shi Ji’s lashes fluttered. Finally, he spoke.

“Stop joking around.”

“Kid.”

His tone was flat, as if Li Chen’s confession carried no weight—as if he had just heard a child playing house. Li Chen blinked, staring at him in disbelief.

The man before him remained cold and elegant. Even with his bathrobe loosely tied, exposing a patch of pale skin, he exuded an aura of total self-control.

How annoying.

Shi Ji was like a hunter who lures the prey into a cage and then walks away, leaving the prey to trap itself.

Li Chen ground his teeth. “I am not a kid.”

“I am an adult.” He stepped closer. He had somehow grown significantly taller than Shi Ji. He leaned down until their noses almost touched, a fire burning in his eyes. “I even have the right to mark you.”

Li Chen spoke with absolute conviction. Shi Ji blinked, his eyes like pools of dark water. “Aren’t you an Omega?”

“Can an Omega mark someone?”

“Don’t look down on me, Brother. If I want to do something, nothing can stop me.” Li Chen smiled, his eyes turning cold. He reached for Shi Ji’s neck, but Shi Ji nimbly dodged.

Right. The brat has a gold-finger System. He can do anything.

Li Chen’s fingertips had brushed Shi Ji’s neck, leaving a strange heat on the skin. Shi Ji’s eyes finally showed a ripple of emotion.

He touched his neck. Li Chen’s emotions were volatile, and the dangerous signals he was sending out made Shi Ji alert. In his mind, Li Chen was a Top-tier Omega, and he had seen what happens when they lose control.

Shi Ji backed away toward the door. Just as his hand reached for the handle, the phone on the bed rang.

The sudden vibration shattered the tension. Startled, Shi Ji bumped into the door handle, the metal poking sharply into his soft waist. A jolt of pain shot through him. He paled and limped toward the bed.

He gritted his teeth. He was definitely going to kill whoever was calling him right now.

Li Chen, being closer to the bed, lunged forward and snatched the phone. He glanced at the caller ID, then held the phone high, staring at Shi Ji expressionlessly.

Shi Ji frowned. “Give it back.”

Li Chen tilted his head, unmoved.

The phone vibrated again and again—an urgent buzzing. Li Chen stood there like a child who had stolen a toy and refused to return it. Shi Ji reached for it, but the boy had hit a growth spurt; even standing on his tiptoes, Shi Ji couldn’t reach Li Chen’s wrist.

Damn puberty. Shi Ji thought bitterly. He should never have fed this kid so much!

“Quickly,” Shi Ji glared. “Give it!”

Li Chen looked down at him through lowered lashes, remaining still. He was as stubborn as a mule. Shi Ji, losing his patience, grabbed Li Chen’s collar and yanked him down, forcing the youth to bend over. He managed to grab the boy’s arm, but Li Chen resisted. The slight bulge of muscle in his arm suggested he was using significant strength; Shi Ji couldn’t budge him.

Wait. Something is wrong.

Shi Ji frowned. Isn’t the Protagonist’s setting ‘fragile and delicate’?

Even though the plot had long since gone off the rails, Shi Ji tried to comfort himself with the original character descriptions. He confusedly squeezed the very obvious muscle under his hand.

“Have you been… lifting weights?”

“Lifting?” Li Chen blinked, taking a moment to understand. “No. I just had Jiang Mo take me on his morning runs.”

He leaned in closer, his face still looking like a little puppy’s. “Don’t you like Alphas with good bodies like Jiang Mo?”

Shi Ji froze.

The “cute and innocent” Protagonist of the original novel had officially vanished into thin air.