Chapter 9: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [9]

Chapter 9: The Sworn Enemy Keeps Wanting Another Taste of Him "9"

When 447 told Shi Mo about this, Shi Mo's expression remained impassive, but a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.

That evening, he received two more messages.

One was an apology message from Lin Ran, asking him out for dinner again, saying he wanted to properly make amends.

Shi Mo lowered his gaze at the message, his fingertips hovering over the keyboard, recalling the slap Ye Qi had given Lin Ran.

He smiled and replied with a simple "Sure."

Lin Ran seemed as if he had been waiting for his reply—the moment he responded, a video call immediately popped up on the other end.

Shi Mo's peripheral vision discreetly swept over the spot where the surveillance camera was before he answered.

"It's this late—what do you want?"

"A Mo, I..."

Lin Ran had originally thought that since Shi Mo was finally willing to acknowledge him, he would immediately explain everything and tell him what he hadn't gotten the chance to say during the day.

But who would have guessed—the moment the video connected, he saw Shi Mo sitting there by the bedside with that languid, captivating air about him.

Lin Ran stared at Shi Mo, utterly transfixed, unable to get a single word out.

He felt a sudden sense of bewilderment. Was Shi Mo like this in his previous life? Why did it feel different from how he remembered him?

But thinking about it more carefully—after his family's bankruptcy, he had never seen Shi Mo again, and he hadn't paid much attention to him before that either.

Perhaps Shi Mo had been like this all along; he just hadn't noticed, so naturally he hadn't known.

A flicker of guilt passed through Lin Ran's eyes. He should have paid attention to Shi Mo sooner.

At first, he had only thought about how Shi Mo had gone after Ye Qi in his past life to avenge him, only to end up forced into exile abroad.

In this life, he couldn't betray that devotion. He had to change both his and Shi Mo's destiny, and he had to cherish him.

But what weighed on him more was guilt.

Yet now, looking at Shi Mo like this, Lin Ran's thoughts stirred slightly, and a strange emotion began to stir within him.

He suddenly became aware that Shi Mo was in no way inferior to Ye Qi—being with Shi Mo wouldn't be so bad after all.

Shi Mo, seeing Lin Ran remain silent for so long, was starting to grow impatient.

But then he noticed the slight flush on Lin Ran's face.

He remembered then—he had deliberately changed his clothes just so that certain someone who only dared to hide behind the surveillance camera could get a better view.

The smile on Shi Mo's lips faded a little as he adjusted the angle, making sure Lin Ran could only see his face and nothing else.

"Go ahead, what is it exactly?"

Lin Ran came back to himself, his face still tinged with red.

He gave an uncomfortable cough and spoke with an air of forced calm:

"A Mo, do you have time tomorrow? I want to take you out for a meal."

As if afraid Shi Mo would refuse, Lin Ran continued before he could respond: "What I did today was wrong. I was just too excited because I haven't seen you in so long. But you have to believe me—I would never hurt you!"

"That Ye Qi is really bad news! He'll be the death of us!"

"But don't worry, with me here, I won't let him lay a finger on you!"

Shi Mo smiled. "Even though he and I don't get along well, I don't think he'd go so far as to kill me."

"Lin Ran, if you're out of your mind, I actually know a few doctors I could recommend. They specialize in head cases—they've seen plenty of patients in your condition."

"Don't worry, after all, we've known each other for a while. With me around, I'll make sure they cure you."

Lin Ran was instantly choked up, and he couldn't help but vent inwardly—so he really couldn't be blamed for not being able to tell that Shi Mo liked him.

Shi Mo might have a handsome face, but that mouth of his was too sharp.

If it weren't for the fact that in his previous life, he had witnessed everything Shi Mo did for him after his death.

And recalling how back then, Shi Mo was always present every time he confessed to Ye Qi, and how after each rejection, Shi Mo would passive-aggressively mock Ye Qi.

And all those years of Shi Mo targeting and provoking Ye Qi at every turn...

If he hadn't recalled all those various details after dying, he would never have believed that Shi Mo actually liked him.

Whatever—after all, he owed him.

So what if his tongue was a bit sharp? Once they were together, he'd have to whip him into shape. He couldn't keep saying such harsh things all the time.

Lin Ran was mentally planning how to "whip Shi Mo into shape" in the future.

Just imagining Shi Mo maintaining that same cold, aloof demeanor in front of others, but being all sweet and obedient in front of him, made him unable to help the corners of his lips curling up.

Shi Mo didn't know what he was scheming about, but he strongly disliked the look in Lin Ran's eyes.

Just as he was about to hang up the video call, Lin Ran spoke again:

"A Mo, I know you're unwilling to believe what I'm saying right now, and I know that me chasing after Ye Qi all this time has broken your heart."

"But it's fine—tomorrow I'll show you some things. Once you see those things, you'll know I'm not lying to you."

Lin Ran's gaze burned with intensity, a fervent light gleaming in his eyes, and his tone was full of conviction.

This did pique Shi Mo's curiosity about what he might bring out.

"Is that so? Then you'd better have something convincing to show me."

Shi Mo had already guessed some of it, but he still wanted to take a look.

Lin Ran was currently a False Protagonist, bearing half a protagonist's halo, which meant whatever he did tended to go smoothly.

If Shi Mo wanted to successfully reclaim this protagonist's fortune, he needed to "take the right approach"—he had to know what Lin Ran planned to do, then thoroughly destroy him.

However...

"But not tomorrow. Tomorrow I need to go home. Let's schedule for another time."

Shi Mo, thinking back to the other message he'd just seen, still said no to Lin Ran.

Lin Ran didn't overthink it, just mulled it over briefly before nodding in agreement:

"Fine."

This way, he could also use the time to get those things sorted out ahead of schedule.

Now that he had a second shot at life, he wanted to get back at Ye Qi and live a better life, too!

Shi Mo caught the ambition in his eyes but just gave him a faint smile, saying softly, drawing out his words,

"Then it's settled. You pick the time and place, and just give me a heads-up once it's set."

"Lin Ran, I can't wait to see what you've got—don't disappoint me."

Lin Ran's mind went blank for a second at Shi Mo's smile, and by the time he came to his senses, the video call had already been disconnected.

He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart race, took a deep breath, and shoved down the feelings bubbling up inside.

Then he got up, sat at his desk, booted up his computer, and started racking his brain to recall those huge hit shows from his past life...

...

447: [Xiao Momo, Lin Ran is indeed planning to follow the broken storyline and drop those scripts, songs, and novels that wouldn't blow up until way later, way early.]

[He even made himself a dedicated account, planning to build himself a flawless image.]

[And those products that aren't supposed to exist yet—he's already tinkering with them, looking like he wants to beat everyone to the punch and patent them.]

Shi Mo hummed softly: [He's even more greedy than the broken plot we got.]

447 totally agreed: [Yeah, good thing we're already set.]

[Using his do-over to straight-up steal other people's work—what a shameless move.]

Shi Mo dropped his gaze, replaying the plot in his head.

Back then, Lin Ran had crafted this flawless image for himself, and with his family's clout and that protagonist's halo, he had tons of people worshipping him.

Even if someone called him out or pushed back, they'd get drowned out by the mob.

Even worse, Lin Ran would flip it around and paint the real creators as the thieves, getting them dragged through the mud and harassed by his mindless fans until their whole families were destroyed...

And the real culprit, protected by that stolen halo, stomped all over the actual protagonists, climbed to the top over a pile of bodies, got worshipped by everyone, and never faced a single consequence.

[No worries—the higher he climbs, the harder he'll crash.]

Shi Mo gave a faint smile, strolled to the window, and stared out at the night, his eyes unreadable.

After a beat, he shook off his thoughts, stretched his arms overhead, and yawned,

[It's late, Xiao Qi. Get some sleep—we've got to head home tomorrow.]

Shi Mo turned as he spoke and saw 447 already curled up on the pillow, all obedient.

Shi Mo gave a helpless smile, rubbed his forehead, then killed the lights and crashed.

But he didn't fully fall asleep—he slipped into a dream instead.

Pure-blood succubi can stay fully awake inside dreams.

Not only that, they can slip into other people's dreams and spin dream after dream for whoever they've targeted.

Over the past three years, he'd spun plenty of dreams for Ye Qi.

But now, staring at what was in front of him, he froze.

Because this wasn't a dream he'd made—it was Ye Qi's own.

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A quick aside.

I tweaked some stuff and cut a few bits, but no biggie—nothing major changed.

I put the cut content up on Weibo. Check it out if you want.

"Yuyu, three cups of milk tea a day"