After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 16

“An explanation?” Yu Chucheng leaned back against the counter by the door, arms crossed. “Haven’t you all always wanted me to stay away from Hao Jia? I’m finally doing exactly what you wanted. What more do you want? Why do you look like you’re hoping I’ll start chasing him again?”

Hmph, trying to make me justify myself? Not a chance.

Shen Rong was fuming. “Who said anything about you chasing him? I want you to apologize to him! Hao Jia treated you as a friend, yet you treat him like this—isn’t that a betrayal? Who knows if you’ll just start pestering him again once you’re bored with your new toy!”

The repairman stopped his work, his face practically screaming for more gossip.

Yu Chucheng’s head throbbed from Shen Rong’s shouting. Truly, people on different wavelengths can never communicate; Shen Rong only believed what he wanted to believe. Even when presented with the truth, he remained as stubborn as a mule.

“Then let me make it crystal clear today: I don’t like Hao Jia.”

Shen Rong scoffed, “As if anyone believes that—”

“Believe it or not, I don’t care,” Yu Chucheng snapped.

“You scumbag!” Shen Rong was about to say more when he saw Yu Chucheng’s “new flame” drop his tools and stand up.

Shen Rong had only seen a glimpse of him at the KTV, but standing this close, he truly felt how tall the other man was. He scrutinized the stranger warily, instinctively backing up two steps. In his haste, he missed the step in front of the shop and nearly fell flat on his face.

The friends he’d been eating with hurried to steady him, leaving Shen Rong flushed with both shame and anger.

“The bike is fixed. Let’s go,” Duan Huaijin said to Yu Chucheng, completely ignoring Shen Rong.

Yu Chucheng wanted nothing more than to escape. “Mm, okay.”

Seeing them leave, Shen Rong desperately tried to block them. “Yu Chucheng, stop right there! You still haven’t given Hao Jia an explanation!”

Duan Huaijin tilted his head slightly. “Get on.”

Yu Chucheng felt a slight tug at his heartstrings and hopped onto the back seat without a word.

Duan Huaijin pushed off with his long legs. Since the road ahead was downhill, the bicycle glided forward effortlessly.

“Stop!” Shen Rong chased them for a few steps, but he had eaten too much for dinner. Before he got very far, he was out of breath. He could only watch their retreating backs as they grew distant, stomping his feet in rage.

As Duan Huaijin pedaled, his body leaned forward slightly. The shadows of the trees on either side of the street flickered across his back, and his shirt billowed in the evening breeze.

Though Yu Chucheng looked lean, he was still a guy nearly 180cm tall. Yet Duan Huaijin rode with incredible stability, without a single wobble.

By now, Shen Rong was far behind, but Duan Huaijin showed no sign of stopping.

“Where are we going?” Yu Chucheng asked loudly, leaning to the side.

Duan Huaijin replied, “To my place. I need to give you your jacket back.”

Yu Chucheng gave a casual “Oh.” He looked at his hands, which were still a bit dirty from the grease, and carefully gripped the edge of the bike seat.

He had been to Duan Huaijin’s neighborhood once before, but he’d been in a car then and had no concept of the distance. Today, he realized it was actually quite far.

Not only was it far, but a section of the road was under construction, making it difficult to ride. The pavement was covered in gravel and sand; as the bike jolted, Yu Chucheng’s heart rate seemed to jolt along with it.

By the time they reached the bottom of Duan Huaijin’s building, Yu Chucheng’s backside was aching.

This neighborhood was on par with the “old, broken, and small” place he had rented in the city center. The stairwells were narrow and steep, the motion-sensor lights flickered erratically, and everything was covered in a layer of cobwebs.

Duan Huaijin locked the bike. “Let’s go. My place is on the third floor.”

Yu Chucheng took the lead. Someone in the building was brewing traditional Chinese medicine, filling the entire stairwell with a bitter scent. Clutter was piled up on every landing.

Just as he reached the second floor, before he could trigger the light, something suddenly lunged at him. A pair of hands wrapped tightly around his waist like an octopus.

Yu Chucheng was terrified of the dark and of ghosts. This sudden embrace made his hair stand on end. “Holy crap! What is that?!”

He nearly tumbled down the stairs just like Shen Rong.

Duan Huaijin supported him from behind just in time and reached out to trigger the hall light.

Only then did Yu Chucheng see that the person hugging him was a little girl, not even half his height.

What kind of child stays alone in a pitch-black hallway at nine at night? And so quietly, too. If Duan Huaijin hadn’t been behind him, he probably would have shoved the “ghost” away and bolted.

Yu Chucheng was busy reciting the “Core Socialist Values” in his head to calm down when he heard Duan Huaijin speak softly: “Yuanyuan, it’s late. Why aren’t you sleeping with Grandpa?”

Yu Chucheng turned around. “You know her?”

The little girl looked thin, but her grip was like iron; she clutched Yu Chucheng’s clothes with a death grip. It took Duan Huaijin a bit of effort to separate them.

“Her name is Wang Jingyuan. She lives in 201. Her parents are away working, so she lives with her grandfather. But the old man is illiterate and rarely goes out, so she hasn’t really learned how to speak properly yet.”

Yu Chucheng looked at the girl’s messy hair and pursed his lips. “Then why is she in the hallway?”

Duan Huaijin: “Because she misses her parents. She sits on the steps every day waiting for them to come home. Since there were two of us tonight, she probably couldn’t see clearly and misunderstood.”

Yu Chucheng shot Duan Huaijin an unexpected look. He hadn’t expected the villain to be so observant regarding a child who couldn’t even speak.

“Little one, go back home. There are bad people out when it’s dark. Be careful, or you’ll get snatched away,” Yu Chucheng bent down and patted her head, offering what he thought was a kindly, elder-brotherly smile.

The girl wasn’t exactly cute; in fact, her eyes were so large they were almost unsettling. Her reactions seemed slow. Hearing Yu Chucheng’s words, she stood dazed for a few seconds before her mouth began to turn down, looking ready to burst into tears.

Yu Chucheng panicked instantly. “Wait, don’t cry! I was just kidding.”

He only wanted to scare her into going home; he didn’t want to make her cry. Besides, he was terrified of people crying.

The girl’s nose crinkled and her mouth opened wide—it looked like her scream was about to pierce the entire building.

Yu Chucheng froze in place, unsure whether he should cover his ears or her mouth.

“Yuanyuan.” Duan Huaijin quickly fished something from his pocket and pressed it into her hand. “Don’t be sad. Your parents asked me to bring this to you.”

Yu Chucheng and the girl both looked down simultaneously.

It was a strawberry lollipop.

The girl’s impending sob vanished instantly. She cradled the lollipop as if it were a priceless treasure.

“Da… Mama?”

She stared at the candy, her mouth moving as she babbled something incomprehensible. Yu Chucheng could only make out a few syllables.

Duan Huaijin naturally retrieved a key from the milk box next to the door of 201. He opened the door and gently nudged the girl inside. “Your parents also said to listen to Grandpa and not to run around outside at night.”

The girl gripped her candy tight and nodded obediently.

As the door to 201 closed, Yu Chucheng let out a massive sigh of relief. He vowed never to scare children again.

But one thing struck him as odd: Duan Huaijin had a lollipop in his pocket.

Yu Chucheng asked curiously, “Don’t you hate sweets?”

Duan Huaijin put the key back in its place and turned to glance at Yu Chucheng. “How do you know?”

“You said so yourself, you—” Yu Chucheng slammed on the brakes mid-sentence.

Wait…

Yu Chucheng’s lips parted slightly, his eyelashes trembling.

Duan Huaijin had never told him whether he liked sweets; that was something Bu Xinyue had told him.

Realizing he had just shot himself in the foot, Yu Chucheng gave a dry, awkward laugh, looking away quickly to hide his guilt.

“Haha, Ji Zhou told me once that he hates sweets. I must have mixed you two up.”