Chapter 106: The Second Exchange

After about ten minutes, the phantom pain wracking Yan Jing's body finally eased.

Although he had suffered a bit, finding a way to suppress desire made it worthwhile.

Now he just needed to find that resident of desire to figure out the Cameraman's unfulfilled wish.

Fulfill the wish.

Max out Mantou's Favorability.

Then this life role-playing journey would be complete.

He could finally draw it to a close.

Nearby, seeing that Yan Jing was fine, Mantou breathed a sigh of relief. Rose approached her, and the two began whispering to each other.

"Ah—ah ah? (Miss Mantou, do you like the boss?)"

Rose nudged Mantou with her shoulder, wearing a mischievous smile.

Mantou blushed instantly and lowered her head.

"Mhm..."

Hearing this, Rose acted as if she had discovered a whole new world. Her eyes sparkled.

"Ah! Ah ah ah! (I knew it! I knew it!)"

"Ah ah? (How did you and Mr. Yi Ji meet?)"

At that, the face beneath Mantou's Electric Helmet turned even redder, her voice dropping to a tiny whisper.

"It was... it was..."

Mantou murmured into Rose's ear, her blush deepening as she spoke.

Seeing this, Rose playfully teased her even more.

"Ah oh, ah oh! (Miss Mantou is blushing!)"

Nearby, Yan Jing was entirely focused on the matter of desire, completely oblivious to whatever the two were whispering about.

Soon, it was time for the midday banquet.

The two marrying parties, who had delayed their appearance for so long, finally showed up.

The people from Dandelion Manor were all clad in white robes.

Yan Jing had originally planned to observe everyone's faces to identify that entity of desire.

To his surprise, every one of them wore a white veil that concealed most of their features.

He didn't even need to think to know whose handiwork this was.

Clearly, that person had spent day and night with the Cameraman, knew that he had once deleted his memories, and knew that seeing specific things could reawaken those memories.

Therefore, they had deliberately set up disguises.

At the very front of the procession stood a man and a woman. They had to be the two new Second Tier reinforcements Cheng Xin had mentioned.

Following right behind them was a figure whose brow and eyes faintly resembled the short-haired girl, Yu Ling.

However, Yu Xiran was nowhere to be seen.

On the Sleepland side, everyone wore pajamas and nightcaps.

Likewise, the groom, who was said to have intellectual disabilities, was missing.

The two main characters likely wouldn't make their appearance until the formal evening banquet.

The midday banquet began. Today's dishes were incredibly lavish, and the regulars of Rose Bar all gathered at the same table.

Yan Jing intentionally chose a table closer to the Dandelion Manor side.

Old Master Liu and Chen Nian, who had been competing all morning, finally returned.

Judging by their expressions, however, they hadn't determined a winner yet.

"It's five to four right now, so I'm in the lead," Chen Nian said flatly.

"That doesn't count. You bribed the referee for one of those rounds."

Old Master Liu refused to accept it. Today's referee had changed from One-Eye to An Ze. An Ze had always prided himself on his principles and absolute obedience to Order, but he had ultimately caved to the temptation of Chen Nian's game console.

He had skewed one round in Chen Nian's favor.

Just as the two were locking horns, Tiger, who had been quietly eating on the side, suddenly spoke up.

"Gentlemen, how about I serve as the referee?"

The two men froze, entirely caught off guard by Tiger volunteering for the job.

"Gentlemen, all this talk of Order and fairness is meaningless. I am the one person here who could never possibly favor anyone."

Tiger said with a serious expression, "Because, gentlemen, I wouldn't dare offend either of you."

"Fear, gentlemen. Only fear is the best method for maintaining justice."

Hearing this, Old Master Liu and Chen Nian didn't entirely agree with his last statement, but they had to admit it made some sense.

"Then you be the referee, Huzi!"

Old Master Liu said.

"One round to determine the winner."

Tiger flashed a sleazy smile and looked toward a spot not far away.

"Why don't we see which of you can lift that lady's veil the fastest? The only rule is that it must be done completely unnoticed."

Chen Nian and Old Master Liu followed his gaze.

There stood a short-haired girl wearing a white veil, holding a plate as she picked out desserts.

"This challenge... it's not terribly difficult... but it certainly has its merits..."

Old Master Liu pondered. "Let's go with this."

"I'm fine with it. The final round."

Though Chen Nian felt the act was a bit unrefined, he was growing tired of their endless competition and decided to finish off the old man in front of him with this single bout.

"A duel staking a Man's Dignity. Gentlemen, the veil-lifting contest begins now!"

Tiger tapped his knife and fork together like a starting bell.

"Ding!"

The moment the chime rang out, everyone at the table focused their attention entirely on Old Master Liu and Chen Nian.

Weird Energy surged in Old Master Liu's hand. With just a gentle wave of his palm, an invisible gust of astral wind swept out, drifting stealthily toward the girl.

But halfway there, the wind suddenly dissipated. The nearby guests picking out desserts only felt a cool, inexplicable breeze.

No one needed to guess—Chen Nian had made his move.

At some point, he had pulled out an odd-looking artifact. Faint, imperceptible ripples of Weird Energy spread outward from it, shattering the astral wind upon contact.

The ripples then continued forward, sweeping the surrounding breeze upward to catch the girl's veil. Just as the fabric was about to lift, her body suddenly swayed as if she had lost her footing. She stumbled forward, and the veil that was about to fly up fell firmly back against her face.

"Heh—"

Old Master Liu chuckled, bouncing his leg slightly.

Their magical duel continued, one move after another, dazzling the onlookers.

Yan Jing sighed helplessly.

Tiger had, of course, made the proposal on his instructions.

But he hadn't expected that having friends who were too strong wasn't always a good thing.

While the two were thoroughly enjoying their battle, An Ze ran over from a distance. Seeing Chen Nian and Old Master Liu still going at it, he was a bit surprised.

"You two really have a lot of energy."

With that, he looked at the referee, Tiger, and snickered.

"What item did Mr. Chen Nian give you this time, Mr. Tiger?"

"He didn't give me anything."

Tiger shook his head. "But they did place a wager this time."

"What kind of wager?"

An Ze blinked.

"A Man's Dignity."

Tiger spoke with absolute solemnity as he informed An Ze of what the two were competing over.

Hearing this, An Ze's eyes lit up.

Next, under everyone's watchful eyes, he dashed right up to the short-haired girl and exchanged a few words with her.

Then, as the crowd stared in utter disbelief, the girl simply took off her own veil.

Immediately after, An Ze darted all the way back.

"I win!"

He happily flashed a peace sign at the group.

"How did you do that?"

Tiger couldn't help but ask.

"I just told her that the Order Management Bureau is currently investigating a criminal, and if she cooperated, not only would she receive the gratitude of the Order Management Bureau, but she'd also get a game console."

An Ze said breezily.

Although he had just lost the game console he had obtained that very morning, it was nothing compared to winning a Man's Dignity.

"..."

"..."

Old Master Liu and Chen Nian exchanged a look.

Both of their faces darkened. They simultaneously picked up their chopsticks and started eating, tacitly agreeing to never mention the bet again.

No one noticed the gloom in Yan Jing's eyes at that moment.

Because, upon closer inspection, he saw that the short-haired girl's face was actually not the Yu Ling in his memories.

Instead, it was a girl he had never seen before, who only resembled Yu Ling around the brows and eyes.

Clearly, someone had arranged this on purpose.

Before long, after everyone finished eating and began to disperse, a waiter handed Yan Jing a slip of paper.

"Sir, a lady asked me to give this to you."

Yan Jing unfolded the note.

[Long time no see, Ah Ji.]

[You are still as cute as ever, but what's different from before is that you have gained a group of even cuter friends.]

Yan Jing stared at the handwriting on the note.

The corners of his lips quirked up slightly as he tucked the paper into his pocket.

In their second exchange, the other side had won a point.

But for the first time in a long while, Yan Jing felt a trace of excitement welling up inside.

"I hope you get the chance to see just how cute my friends really are."

He looked up toward a certain direction and murmured softly.