Chapter 10 - Genius Cannonfodders Counterattack Record (10)

translator: baumkuchen editor: serefina

Yang Baihua hesitated for quite a while, Mister Lou?

Yes. Mister Yang, would you like to come in and take a seat?

061 wasnt clear on his own appearance so naturally he didnt have any reaction, but this kind of tranquility and calmness, in Yang Baihuas eyes, took on a slightly different meaning.

He seemed to have been aware of his existence since a long time ago, and so he wasnt at all surprised by how similar the two of them looked.

But Yang Baihua didnt know anything about the person standing in front of him.

Yang Baihua wasnt one who tended to think too much, but that face made it impossible for him to not overthink.

061 invited Yang Baihua into the house and informed him, Xiao Yuans out right now. You can just wait a while for him here.

I have something going on so I can only stay here for a bit before I have to leave.

In a hurry? Would you like some alcohol, or just tea?

Plain water is fine.

061 smiled slightly, That isnt the proper way to treat a guest. Ill prepare some tea.

The apartment had a traditional tea set which had been bought back by Cheng Jian, but because preparing tea was too cumbersome, it probably had only been used two or three times before Cheng Jian abandoned it in a cabinet.

061 took out the tea set and a box of high-quality Phoenix Oolong tea leaves, started the fire, fanned the flames of the stove, then heated up the teapot, his actions graceful and relaxed, showing his calm, unhurried heart.

Hed been through hundreds of worlds, so this bit of acting was no problem for him.

061 asked, What are you looking for Xiao Yuan for?

Yang Baihua snapped out of his daze, En?

This person in front of him looked very similar to himself, but his every feature perfectly surpassed his own, whether it was his nose, eyes, height, or legs. This did not even include his clean temperament that made it clear from a glance that hed been tenderly raised by a good family.

This feeling was both strange and stifling.

061 didnt know what he was thinking and couldnt be bothered to guess, simply repeating his question.

Yang Baihua didnt answer, merely replying with another question, Where did Xiao Cheng go?

061 said, I dont know.

Yang Baihua said, He is living at your place, but you dont know where he went?

061 calmly replied, Im his friend. Not his guardian, nor his prison warden.

Yang Baihua suddenly became suspicious.

He questioned doubtfully, Did Xiao Cheng say something to you?

Could it be that Cheng Yuan complained about him? Said that he watched him too closely?

But he did it for Cheng Yuans own good.

When Cheng Yuans older brother, Cheng Jian, wasnt beating him up, he was scolding him, simply not treating him at all like a brother. If he didnt want Cheng Yuan to interact with him too often, was that wrong?

Cheng Yuans friends were all utterly dissatisfied with him in every way. If he told Cheng Yuan to stay away from them, was that wrong?

Other than music, Cheng Yuan didnt know anything. Even when just buying vegetables, when the vegetable seller would haggle with him for price that was two or three

mao

higher, he would just smile happily and accept the price without question. If he told him to just stay at home and not run around outside, was that wrong?

While Yang Baihuas thoughts were running wild, 061 was as immovable as a mountain.

061 had travelled extensively, operated a mecha, battled zombies, and grown used to all kinds of scum, so at this moment his attitude was extremely calm.

His movements didnt falter. He smiled and said, He hasnt said anything to me. You should trust him.

Other than this, he didnt say another word of explanation, but if Yang Baihua tried to ask any further, it would seem as if he had no class.

Yang Baihua forcibly suppressed his inexplicable irritation, When is he coming back?

When he wants to.

&#k2026;&#k2026;Youre his childhood friend?

061 thought, so he finally asked.

He had even started worrying for Yang Baihua.

He poured out the cup of tea used to warm up the cup, and replied, We grew up together, so I suppose thats correct.

Yang Baihua forced himself to remain calm, Are you two very close?

Were alright.

061 pulled up a memory fragment from his vast sea of data and added, When we were younger, he made a bet with me, saying that the person who lost would have to go out in a skirt for a day. Afterwards, he lost.

As he thought of that incident, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up in a smile.

When putting on the skirt, that person had been very bold and totally unconcerned, but about fifteen minutes after he left the house, he became embarrassed, his face bright red as he clutched at the hem of the short skirt, unwilling to walk another step no matter what as he was scared of bumping into someone they knew.

In the end, 061 had to carry him home.

The entire trip back, he buried his face into 061s back, too embarrassed to raise his head.

Every time 061 entered this memory, he always wanted to clearly see that persons face. However, with the reformatting, that persons exact image had been shattered into broken fragments.

Noticing 061s faint, nostalgic smile, Yang Baihua clenched his back teeth for two seconds before relaxing.

It seemed like they really were quite close.

Fortunately, he was very good at controlling his emotions, Thank you for taking care of Xiao Cheng for the past two days. Its really a pity that I didnt get to know you before.

061 put his mind back on track. He handed a cup of tea over to Yang Baihua and followed the ridiculous backstory Chi Xiaochi had casually made up, Ive been abroad for a long time. Its only natural that we havent met before.

Yang Baihua brought the teacup to his mouth and gently blew on it, But Ive never seen Xiao Cheng contact you or heard him mention you before. So when I heard he was going over to your place to stay, I was really surprised.

His words were barbed.

061 started to understand what he was thinking.

If Yang Baihua had always been subtly influencing Cheng Yuan like this, cutting him off from his friend circle and making him into a doll that belonged to him and him alone, then it was no wonder that in his most difficult moments, Cheng Yuan couldnt find even a single bosom friend with whom he could share his troubles.

061 rested his elbow on the armrest of the armchair, let out a smile as fresh as the spring breeze, and

gave him a response filled with hidden meaning

, Theres no need to be surprised, all our associations were private.

Yang Baihua choked on a mouthful of tea.

Approximately fifteen minutes later.

Sitting in a shopping mall lounge chair and playing a mobile shooting game, Chi Xiaochi heard a soft, drawn-out sigh in his brain.

Chi Xiaochi put down his phone, You got him to leave?

061, Hes gone.

Chi Xiaochi, It was effective?

061 carefully thought back for a moment, then truthfully conveyed, When he left, his face was green.

Chi Xiaochi sighed contentedly, Ah, no wonder he called me six times just now.

061, Did you pick up? What did he say?

Chi Xiaochi, My phone kept vibrating, affecting my gameplay, so I put the phone on mute.

061, Okay then.

Before his words fell, Chi Xiaochi slapped his thigh regretfully, Aiya, if I had known beforehand, Id have asked you to record your conversation.

061 smiled, Do you want to see it?

He uploaded a recorded video to the shared digital display. Youre welcome.

Chi Xiaochi said affectionately, Liuliu, youre the best.

061,

Fine, Liuliu it is, Liuliu sounds very nice.

Chi Xiaochi began to study the report 061 sent from the scene.

061 noticed that while Chi Xiaochi was excitedly watching the video, he was breathing into his cupped hands.

Cheng Yuans body couldnt take the cold. Although the department store had heating, his palms were still cold.

Chi Xiaochi didnt care too much about this, but as a system, 061 felt that he should be more conscious of serving his host.

He adjusted and revised Chi Xiaochis internal temperature system, and in passing, recombined a series of data streams.

Soon, an open thermos of tea, still piping hot, appeared in Chi Xiaochis right hand. The rich fragrance of tea filled his senses.

Chi Xiaochi, Where did you get this from?

I made it at home. If I first digitised the tea cup, then restore it, I can bring it here. It wasnt too difficult, 061 explained, This Phoenix Oolong is authentic, but he didnt take more than two sips and wasting it would be such a pity. Also, this kind of tea is good for your liver and eyes, and since you have problems sleeping, drinking more of this kind of tea is good for your health.

Chi Xiaochi remained silent.

061 took it as him being moved, and kindly didnt say anything else, instead turning his attention to the current point levels on the digital display.

The goodwill level kept jumping between 75 to 55 points, incredibly unstable.

061 thought, understandable.

After all, Yang Baihua constantly had the First Love halo over his head and Cheng Yuan would always obediently obey his every word, so he naturally thought of him as an object in the center of his palm that was his to mess around with and manipulate at his will.

Now, a strong enemy with a Childhood Friend halo had suddenly appeared out of the blue and Yang Baihuas feelings towards Cheng Yuan werent entirely fake, so naturally he would feel a sense of crisis. Hence, the constantly fluctuating goodwill level wasnt surprising.

But the regret level, the key to accomplishing the task, remained in the pitiful single-digits.

061 was a little worried.

So he decided to watch some of Chi Xiaochis variety shows to calm himself down.

He watched the variety shows, Chi Xiaochi watched the video, and the system and host were in perfect harmony.

Chi Xiaochi held the cup of tea, taking the occasional sip as he watched the show, but his thoughts were still revolving around that sentence he heard.

When we were younger, he made a bet and lost, and had to accompany me for a day outside in a skirt.

Chi Xiaochi shrugged to himself,

It seems like their investigation on me was really thorough, since they even dug up what Lou-ge and I did together when we were younger.

But this couldnt be considered anything serious, so Chi Xiaochi didnt bother questioning the system about it.

Chi Xiaochi studied this precious data with great interest.

The video was shot from 061s perspective, with the cameras being 061s eyes. The recording started from when Yang Baihua rang the doorbell.

From this angle, Chi Xiaochi judged that the body 061 materialised was at least 5 or 6 centimeters taller than Yang Baihua.

Even though he couldnt see his appearance, 061s bearing was rather graceful. After making Yang Baihua choke on his drink, 061 also engaged in a discussion with him about software engineering.

Obviously, in the field of specialized knowledge, Yang Baihuas human brain had no way of competing with 061s huge database of knowledge that he accumulated over many years.

It could only be said that Yang Baihua tried his best.

Like 061 had said, when Yang Baihua left, his face was indeed spinach-coloured.

Chi Xiaochi decided to save this video to watch whenever he was bored.

It would definitely never fail to amuse him.

After Yang Baihua rushed home, his parents were still asleep, so he was met with thunderous snoring originating from the bedroom.

His third sister had taken her children out to play with her sisters working in the city. Xiaoyan had been busy these past two days and so she also wasnt home to accompany him.

Yang Baihua, feeling a full on manic depression, tried to call Cheng Yuan again.

On his end, Chi Xiaochi was engrossed in watching the video and didnt pay him any attention.

Yang Baihua paced several rounds around the living room like a caged beast. The more he looked at his fifty square meter rental apartment, the more he found it displeasing to the eye. When he turned and his gaze landed on the floor-length mirror, he saw the human figure reflected in it and erupted in fury, snatching the sofa cushion and ferociously throwing it at the wall.

Didnt Cheng Yuan say he was his first love? Then what was up with that surnamed Lou?

If he was only a simple childhood friend, Yang Baihua might not have thought too much about it, but that face? That face!

According to what surnamed Lou had said, he had left the country when Xiao Cheng was fourteen, and since then they hadnt met, at most keeping in contact through the phone and video calls.

But after having met him, why was it that Xiao Cheng had never once mentioned that person? That was too strange.

Was he intentionally hiding something?

Was he intentionally looking for someones shadow in him?

The more Yang Baihua thought about it, the more aggrieved he became.

If Cheng Yuan hadnt appeared, chased after him, and bent him, he might have already married a city girl by now, like a normal person. Why would he have to tremble in the face of his parents?

How could Cheng Yuan treat him like this?

His thoughts were in a whirl. He trembled with anger as he wrote and rewrote a text message questioning Cheng Yuan, eventually just sending a text reading Why arent you answering the phone.

He wanted to see how Cheng Yuan was going to explain this!

After staring at his cell phone for about three hours, he finally received a reply: Sorry, sorry Old Yang, I was out playing with my friends and wasnt paying attention to my phone.

This explanation wasnt enough to satisfy Yang Baihua.

Just as he was about to start interrogating Cheng Yuan, his mother said, Youve stared at your phone for a whole afternoon now, dont always look at that thing all the time. Theres radiation, and youll hurt your eyes.

Yang Baihua listened to her, simply leaving his phone to the side intending to ignore Cheng Yuan for a while.

Cheng Yuan wasnt someone who could keep his calm, so if he didnt receive a reply he definitely wouldnt be able to resist taking the initiative to contact him.

Who knew that even up till late at night, as he laid in bed and stared at his phone, he still didnt see any response from Cheng Yuan.

Yang Baihua gritted his teeth and sent, Why didnt you call me back?

The text that was sent out

disappeared like a clay ox entering the sea

. Yang Baihua fell asleep, still clutching his mobile phone.

It wasnt until he was eating breakfast the next morning that his cell phone buzzed with a reply. Cheng Yuans response was

perfunctory

, I thought you didnt get my text.

Yang Baihua almost snapped his chopsticks in half.

When his parents went back to the village, he definitely needed to have a good talk with Cheng Yuan!

Since Yang Baihua wanted to ignore him, Chi Xiaochi didnt mind playing a little game of time difference with him.

But after he sent out the new text message, Yang Baihua didnt reply.

Having lost a harassment target x1, Chi Xiaochi felt as lonely as snow.

However, two days later, Chi Xiaochis proper business found its way to his door.

He received a phone call from an unfamiliar number.

May I ask if this is Mister Cheng? The person calling asked, Im an employee of Xingyun Entertainment. Its like this, weve received the demos you sent. May I confirm that the songs in the demos you sent are all your original works?

Chi Xiaochi calmly answered, Yes.

Then may I ask if

you, sir,

would be free to come by the Xingyuan Entertainment Office at 18 Jinsong Road, East District Three, at 9am this Friday? Wed like to assess your music.

The author has something to say:

The scum Yang who was beaten black and blue by his own phone

spreads hands

TN: if anyone was confused over the memory fragment: 061 was talking about a fragment that he had in his own memory, so he couldnt remember who the person wearing the skirt was, but he was the person who piggy-backed the skirt-wearer. XCX, on the other hand, remembers the same scene in

his

memory, so he thought that 061 did research into his memories with LY, thus resulting in his thoughts.

sere: YASS 061 is so cuteeeee also omg hints for who 061 is!!!

baum: 061 is the best <3