There were still three minutes before class. The people in the leisure area returned to the practice rooms one after another. Feng Zifan and his friends were among them. They saw Xing Shi and walked towards him.
“I almost thought you were going to be late.” Feng Zifan slowed down his pace and distanced himself from the person in front of him. Then he whispered, “Gu Zheng didn’t go to the dinner yesterday. We were sitting over there just now, and he came to look for you.”
Xing Shi’s thoughts temporarily shifted away from Fu Xiuning and focused on what was in front of him. “Hmm?”
Feng Zifan said, “I asked what he wanted to see you about, but he didn’t tell me.”
Xing Shi responded casually and didn’t take it to heart.
Yu Yi asked quietly, “Will they guess that the quota was taken away because they plotted against you?”
Feng Zifan suggested, “Maybe he wants to ask our Brother Shi for help to push his name forward. I heard they will have training for a period of time after entering the factory, so there is still room for maneuver.”
Yu Yi’s eyes suddenly widened. He looked like his three views were shocked. This caused Feng Zifan to laugh.
Xing Shi didn’t interject because Lin Kecheng came to ask about the result.
In order to avoid the timing of the end of this topic being too coincidental and arousing the suspicion of the person involved, he had asked Lin Kecheng’s system to say a few more sentences in the group chat before lurking. It should be that the conversation had just ended.
Then Xingshi ordered the system to reply and tell them that Yu Shu was more likely the host. He still used the system’s tone to explain that it was all based on his observations.
Lin Kecheng was still lying in bed.
He stayed up all night to check for suspicious people and put together a report that seemed impressive, but was actually pure guesswork. He was a bit nervous at first. Now that he learned the result, he was very excited. “Does this mean that we are useful?”
He felt that his days of annoyance had eased a bit. “If his system shows up, the other systems will be suspicious as long as they can relate it to the time it appeared in this world and the time when Xing Shi appeared in front of Fu Xiuning, right? Unlike us, who have no problems at all. This proves that they still need help.”
The system replied, “But now he has met another host, who came earlier than us and works for Fu Xiuning.”
Lin Kecheng’s expression changed slightly. “Are you saying he wants to change allies?”
The system was a bit uneasy. “I’m not sure.”
Lin Kecheng tried to calm down and analyzed it. “It shouldn’t be. At present, we are the only ones who know that Xing Shi is a host. If they don’t renew the contract, aren’t they afraid we will break off relations with him and expose him?”
He said, “Go and ask him for a meal. I’ll test his mind.”
The system quickly went and did it. Then it replied, “It said that Xing Shi is too busy. It asked you to confirm the identities of the suspicious people on the list as soon as possible. This way, we can discuss it when we meet for the next contract renewal.”
Lin Kecheng’s brow relaxed. “I said that they wouldn’t fall out with us so quickly.”
He said that he didn’t plan to catch up on sleep and got up with his broken leg. “I’ll go now.”
The system: “……”
Was this an illusion? Why did he suddenly feel like its host was being emotionally manipulated?
It looked at the despairing -5 in the favorability value and reminded, “Don’t just focus on work. Let’s try to show off in front of Fu Xiuning more. It is only when the favorability is increased that we will feel at ease. Didn’t Yu Shu show off today?”
Lin Kecheng naturally understood this truth. “Yes, we have his class schedule. You should report his position more often.”
He paused before changing his tone, “Don’t consume too much. Save some energy.”
The system: “……”
Xing Shi sent Lin Kecheng away and went to class.
At the end of the short class, Gu Zheng and his roommate came over. Everyone’s eyes were on them for a while with different expressions.
Gu Zheng was a lot more haggard after a night. He asked in a low voice, “Brother Shi, can we go out to talk?”
Xing Shi glanced at them and walked past them out of the practice room.
Gu Zheng and his roommate hurriedly followed him all the way to the window at the end of the corridor. Seeing him lazily leaning against the wall, Gu Zheng took a deep breath and said, “Brother Shi, we are here to apologize.”
Xing Shi raised an eyebrow. “What are you apologizing for?”
Gu Zheng lowered his head, regretting his decision. “We accidentally bumped into you last time. We did it on purpose. I’m sorry.”
His roommate also bowed his head and admitted his mistake. “I’m sorry, Brother Shi.”
Xing Shi was surprised. “Really? Did you do it on purpose?”
Gu Zheng was completely devoid of the high spirits of the previous few days as he admitted, “Yes.”
He confessed his motive. “I know that my substitution might have something to do with this. This is my own fault, and I have no complaints. However, I still owe you an apology.”
Xing Shi was even more surprised. “How can it be related to me? The teacher said that the person was changed after a comprehensive consideration.”
They gave Xing Shi ‘no proof’ so Xing Shi gave it back to them.
Gu Zheng only felt bitter. “Yes, it has nothing to do with this. We just feel that since we have done something wrong, we have to give you an explanation. We regretted it when we did it that day, but we didn’t admit our mistake out of a fluke mentality. It dragged on until now.”
The roommate said hoarsely, “I regretted it when I rushed over that day. I was afraid that I would actually hurt someone, so I urgently took back my strength. I didn’t expect that I would hit you anyway. I’m not saying this to quibble. I was wrong. I’m sorry, Brother Shi.”
Gu Zheng bowed his head again. “I’m sorry, Brother Shi.”
Xing Shi hummed calmly.
He wasn’t the type of person to be unforgiving. He would retaliate if someone plotted against him. Whether to apologize or not was secondary. He didn’t care if these two people were sincere or not. At the very least, they had shown their attitude. Just don’t offend him again.
He said, “Take time to apologize to Yu Yi. Then this matter will be over.”
Gu Zheng and his roommate were relieved before hurriedly saying goodbye.
Xing Shi stood still and watched them leave.
He was a bit absent-minded in the first class and urgently needed to organize his thoughts.
The system thought he was still thinking about it and commented, “I hope they are truly sorry, even if part of the reason they came to apologize is because they are worried that they will be harassed in the future and will never be able to debut.”
Just as Xing Shi was about to respond, he heard it say, “It can’t be helped. Fu Xiuning loves you. He is happy when you two touch. Tsk tsk, I can’t imagine how high your favorability will soar if you have some real development in the future.”
“…Do you remember that we are on the friendship line?”
The system said cheerfully, “I remember. You can walk on your line and he walks on his line. It doesn’t matter.”
Xing Shi turned a deaf ear to it before asking, “Are there records of the change in favorability?”
“Yes, you can look at it at any time.” It continued thankfully, “Fortunately, this thing can’t be shared, or Lin Kecheng would definitely want to see it. We would be exposed the first time we made the alliance.”
As they were talking, Feng Zifan and Yu Yi came over.
Xing Shi finally moved and met them halfway.
Yu Yi asked, “What did they say?”
Xing Shi replied, “It is just an apology, nothing else. I asked them to apologize to you as well. They should do it today.”
Feng Zifan knew that Gu Zheng had calculated against Xing Shi. He and Yu Yi were just affected by the way. One person was bumped, and the other person wasn’t. Still, both received the other party’s malicious intentions.
Yu Yi’s eyes lit up. “They told me that the other day.”
Feng Zifan smiled. “That’s different. You didn’t know they did it on purpose at the time. They have to formally come once.”
Yu Yi nodded after hearing this.
Xing Shi had classes at school this afternoon, so he left the company after lunch.
However, he didn’t go to school. He skipped class and returned to Fu Xiuning’s home.
The system didn’t understand it. “Why did you come back?”
Xing Shi answered, “How should I put it? After a whole morning, I still feel deeply touched and want to recall the path I have taken.”
“Huh?”
Xing Shi locked the door of the guest room, took a shower and changed into home clothes. He blew his hair dry, lay down on the bed peacefully, closed his eyes and sank into his consciousness.
The system became more and more confused. Its host rarely lowered his consciousness. It asked cautiously, “What do you want to do?”
Xing Shi said, “Check the favorability record.”
He said with emotion, “I remember the first time I made eye contact with Fu Xiuning, my favorability was -4. Today, it became 4. This is a milestone worth recalling!’
The system was bewildered. “You were training so normally today, but you were actually emotionally unstable?”
“Yes!”
The system quickly opened the record. “Okay, take a look.”
Xing Shi moved the progress bar to the beginning.
The record was simple. It stated the time, place, and increase or decrease in favorability.
Initially, it was -5. Then it was -4 at their first encounter and -10 immediately afterward.
The system watched it with him and sighed. “You said at the time that you lost points because you are more handsome than him, but it turns out that this isn’t true. He fell in love with you at first sight. Look at how fierce his struggle was!’
Emotions spread in Xing Shi’s heart as he hummed in response.
He currently knew Fu Xiuning better than when they first met.
Fu Xiuning was cold at heart and didn’t care about most things. It was very hard for such a person to be attracted to others. This sudden -10 wasn’t because someone was more handsome than him, nor did it seem like he was struggling. It was more like… disgust.
It was like the disgust that arose after suddenly discovering something.
He continued to look down.
It became -8 when they met again, it inexplicably became -9 when drinking porridge, and it became -10 in the company.
The system said, “Tsk, struggling again. From here on, it doesn’t seem to be as drastic as the first time. It is basically a change of one or two points.”
Xing Shi said, “It is because he can’t resist my charm.”
However, he was thinking that Lin Kecheng was also at the scene that day and there was an assassination incident later on. Did the -9 have anything to do with it?
As for this -10… he vaguely remembered that it was when he was exiting from the elevator. However, he spoke so much nonsense every day that he couldn’t remember what he said.
He asked the system, “What is this -10?”
The system replied, “I am angry now that you mention this. You saved him, but he even deducted points from you!”
Xing Shi wondered, “What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything. You didn’t look at him or talk to him!”
Xing Shi pretended to ask casually, “Oh, then what was I doing at the time? Chatting with you?”
The system replied, “Yes, I asked if you wanted to bow down to your father, remember?”
Xing Shi remembered that the system thought he was skipping classes to train for his debut, but he actually wanted to eat.
That night, Fu Xiuning suddenly invited him to dinner. The favorability rose to -9 in the parking lot and then to -8 in Linlan Garden.
The system was excited. “This was the first time you accidentally touched hands, and your score increased immediately!’
Xing Shi said, “Yes, he fell in love with me at first sight!”
He remembered this incident. It was the first time they touched hands, so it left an impression on him. He knew that they had been talking about Lin Kecheng.
It seemed that from this day on, his contact with Fu Xiuning gradually increased.
Xing Shi looked at them one by one, and the system also checked them.
“He is definitely obsessed with looks. There is no doubt about it.”
“Feed you a little cake, and looking at you gives extra points.”
“Hey, calling him Brother also added points~”
Xing Shi agreed with words like, “Yes! That’s right. He loves me!” while reading all the way to the latest records.
The system was happy. “Todays’ touch!”
Xing Shi thought, ‘Yes, what a coincidence.’
He wanted to convince himself that his idea was ridiculous. However, he couldn’t remove his speculation after looking at all the records from another angle.
He felt that Fu Xiuning could most likely hear the conversation between the host and the system.
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