Chapter 233 The Fourth Day of Entering a Restricted Novel

Chapter 233: The Fourth Day of Transmigrating into an Adult Novel

This, however, meant that as the project's top director and resource provider, An Yi inevitably had increased contact with Chu Chen, the heart and soul of the project.

An Yi furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment.

This man... Chu Chen... he'd never met anyone like him.

His thinking patterns, behavioral logic, emotional expression... all seemed to come from another universe.

He still vividly remembered that after their first meeting, he had given Chu Chen his personal phone number.

That very evening, right after he finished dinner, his phone rang.

He picked up—it was Chu Chen.

An Yi's tone was calm: "Dr. Chu, what's up?" He initially thought it was some urgent problem with the project.

Two seconds of silence on the other end, then Chu Chen's voice: "Nothing's wrong."

An Yi: "...?"

"I just wanted to call you," Chu Chen continued to explain. "Because I found that when I chat with you, I feel really happy."

An Yi was momentarily speechless: "...And then?"

Chu Chen didn't stop, but went on: "When I chat with you, I experience symptoms such as excitement, sweaty palms, a racing heart, and altered breathing rhythm. I consulted relevant literature on psychophysiology and made a preliminary judgment that these symptoms are manifestations of having a crush."

An Yi felt a vein throb in his temple.

"Based on the principle of scientific verification," Chu Chen's voice remained flat and robotic, "I also searched online for 'signs of liking someone' and randomly analyzed 500 anonymous online survey responses. 97.3% of the samples pointed to similar conclusions."

He seemed quite pleased with his investigation: "When I reached this conclusion, I felt really happy."

An Yi: "..."

He could even imagine Chu Chen on the other end, carefully recording his own physical signs while looking at data charts on his computer screen.

"But," Chu Chen shifted his tone, with a hint of puzzlement, "I'm not entirely sure whether this crush, determined by physiological data and online surveys, is the same emotion generally defined by human society. So, I want to verify with you—"

He paused, then asked a question that almost made An Yi choke: "An Yi, have I fallen for you?"

An Yi: "..."

How was he supposed to answer?

Should he say, "Based on the symptoms and data analysis you just described, from a scientific point of view, probably yes"?

After a few seconds of silence, An Yi said bluntly: "Not my business."

Chu Chen was silent for two seconds on the phone, then said in a disappointed tone: "Just now, upon hearing your reply, I felt a contraction in my heart area, accompanied by a... kind of... bitter feeling. I'm a bit sad."

An Yi: "..."

He felt like he wasn't talking to a human, but a robot.

Chu Chen didn't seem to be troubled by this sad emotion for too long. He immediately updated his conclusion based on that response: "Based on that response, I'm sure I've fallen for you."

Then, very naturally and without any preamble, he threw out the next question: "Then, can we date?"

An Yi was almost amused by this bizarre logic. He let out a short laugh, his voice betraying no emotion: "Thanks, but no."

Chu Chen was silent again. After a few seconds, he said calmly: "You're welcome."

An Yi: "..."

What the hell kind of conversation was that?!

He didn't want to continue this alien communication and was about to hang up.

However, just as his finger was about to touch the end button, Chu Chen's voice came through again, still serious: "Please wait, An Yi. Please forgive my rudeness, but this question is very important to me. I want to confirm: are you open to being with a man? Or are you exclusively straight?"

An Yi picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. He put the glass down, his tone flat and emotionless, giving a factual answer: "I like men."

Chu Chen chuckled: "That's great. That makes me really happy."

He hung up without a word.

Putting down his phone, An Yi rubbed his temples.

Seriously, ever since he ended up in this world, the people and things he encountered all had a strange flavor.

Back to the present.

That afternoon, An Yi drove to the library.

Traveling through different worlds and appreciating the knowledge and wisdom of different civilizations was one of his pleasures.

Books from each world had their own wisdom and perspectives, which was very interesting.

Now, his space was stacked with all kinds of books from many worlds.

He wandered in the library all afternoon, leaving only when dinner came around, still not satisfied.

He didn't choose to go home, but went to a nearby restaurant.

He specifically chose a secluded corner near the window, half-screened by greenery, and ordered two or three dishes to his taste. Then he took out his phone and began to process the backlog of messages.

On the phone screen, messages kept flooding in.

There were work reports from company executives, invitations to drinking parties from the original owner's drinking buddies, check-in texts from the original owner's parents abroad, and... Chu Chen's.

An Yi briefly replied to the original owner's family and friends with two polite sentences. For company matters, he handled only the most important ones, leaving the rest aside.

As for Chu Chen's messages... he glanced at the mood analysis, scrolled past them, and didn't reply.

Too long, didn't read.

However, this rare peace and quiet did not last long.

A faint, obviously choked-up, breathy voice, mixed with the soft clinking of cups and plates, came from a booth not far away, also half-screened by greenery.

The voice was muffled and slurred, intermittent, with suggestive content.

An Yi initially didn't want to bother, focusing on his phone screen

He instinctively glanced up.

In that booth, two people sat pressed close together.

The shorter one had a slender frame, wearing a slightly oversized white shirt with the collar slightly open, shoulders giving a slight shrug, and a soft side profile—it was exactly the protagonist shou, You Shou.

Sitting beside him was a young man in a flashy, tacky shirt, his hair slicked back with gel, his face turned to the side, wearing a frivolous and possessive smirk, and one hand suggestively reaching somewhere out of sight.

An Yi immediately averted his gaze, silently reciting a mantra: See no evil, hear no evil, none of my business.