Chapter 109: Good Person Cards and Jealousy
Shen Si tried to draw the little system’s attention by changing poses around him several times.
First he loosened his tie.
Then he rolled up his sleeves to reveal his strong forearms.
All of it was the classic set of moves used by domineering male leads in novels to release pheromones and attract their little partners.
As the main system, Shen Si carried out those actions without the slightest trace of grease or awkwardness. Everything flowed as naturally and smoothly as water. Even the angle at which each joint bent had been precisely calculated. Any normal person who saw it would have gone weak in the knees.
But Ling Ling’s attention remained fixed on the menu the whole time. He did not even lift his head.
He did not spare the desperately performing man a single glance.
“…”
Shen Si grew more and more displeased. Curling a finger, he tapped the tabletop. “Still not done choosing?”
“It’s so hard to decide!”
Ling Ling clutched his head with a pained expression. “Everything looks so delicious! I can’t choose!!!”
He felt as though he was about to develop decision paralysis.
“Then just order all of it.”
Shen Si did not think this was a problem at all.
Why choose?
If the little system liked it, then naturally he should have everything.
“No!”
Ling Ling lowered the menu and looked very serious. “The two of us can’t finish all that! We can’t waste food!”
Even if he was only a system, he still knew that farmers worked very hard to grow food.
Every bite should be treasured.
Having just been lectured on how to behave like a proper human by the little system, Shen Si could only say, “Fine. Do as you like.”
It was the first time the main system had ever been taught how to act like a person by a system.
It felt strangely fresh.
The way he looked at the little system grew even hotter.
The main system had no idea that in melodramatic romance novels, this kind of behavior meant—
Little system, you have caught my attention.
Meanwhile, the little system, who one second earlier had been righteously lecturing him, drooped over the menu like a deflated balloon the next second.
Ling Ling started to panic again. “So hard to choose, so hard to choose, so hard to choose…”
Shen Si: “…”
Wonderful. The little system’s attention still was not on him!
At that moment, the restaurant manager approached.
Standing at Shen Si’s side, he bent down respectfully and asked, “President, the guests who booked the entire place have arrived. What would you like us to do…?”
“Send them away.”
Shen Si was in a bad mood and waved a hand impatiently.
The manager looked deeply troubled.
“Don’t do that.”
Ling Ling finally shifted his attention away from the menu and onto President Shen’s handsome face.
Only then did he notice that the man’s expression was overcast.
“!” Ling Ling was startled.
Could someone as kind as Senior really get angry too?
He immediately assumed someone else must have offended him.
Ling the guilty party had no idea that the problem was actually himself.
Still feeling perfectly justified, he suggested, “The restaurant is so big. They’re just here to eat. It won’t affect us. Can’t you just let them come in too?”
Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.
Just a moment ago, he himself had arrived happily and then been told he could not enter, which had instantly ruined his mood.
Putting himself in their place, Ling Ling did not want anyone else to end up unhappy because of him.
Besides, the mistake was the restaurant’s in the first place. No customer should have to bear the consequences of that.
“Good food is more fun when everyone shares it!”
After saying that, Ling Ling blinked at the man and even made a tiny little finger heart, trying to cheer him up.
The facts proved it worked very well.
Shen Si’s expression softened, and there was even laughter in his eyes as he looked at him. “That actually makes some sense.”
Senior had praised him.
Ling Ling immediately curved his eyes in delight. “Of course it does!”
He was a professional system.
His logic was extremely clear!
Ling Ling enthusiastically piled on praise. “Right now Senior is the owner of the restaurant. Since Senior is so wise, there’s no way you’d smash your own signboard, right?”
He truly did not care about some small restaurant.
But the little system was adorable.
So Shen Si was willing to go along with him. “Right.”
After thinking for a moment, the man instructed the restaurant manager, “Your staff created this problem. Your staff can solve it.”
“Refund the booking fee. Inform the guests that someone is already here. They may stay or leave as they wish. If they choose to dine here, tonight’s meal will be fully covered by the restaurant as compensation.”
The manager did not dare disobey and answered immediately, “Yes!”
Of course, he did not dare charge that cost to the restaurant’s books.
If he had any brains, he would pay it out of his own pocket.
After all, a conflict between reservation guests and a private booking guest was entirely his own failure as manager.
Now that the new owner had shown him a way out, if he still failed to take it, then he no longer deserved to keep his position.
After receiving the order, the manager rushed to the front to smooth things over with the guests.
Meanwhile, Ling Ling still had not decided what he wanted to eat.
He lowered his head and continued studying the menu.
After receiving that tiny little heart from the little system, Shen Si was in an unusually good mood. He stopped urging him and instead ordered him a glass of juice so the little one could sip it while choosing at leisure.
Not long after, the guests who had booked the place came in.
Apparently the restaurant’s dishes really were tempting enough.
As the main system, Shen Si was accustomed to doing large-scale planning and management. After a brief calculation in his head, he considered whether the chef deserved a raise.
Forget it.
He might as well simply double the chef’s salary and hire him to cook at home.
That way, since the little foodie system loved good food, he would come to Shen Si’s house often just for the meals.
And then…the little system could eat his fill, and Shen Si could eat his fill too.
A perfect plan.
Half narrowing his eyes, Shen Si imagined this very beautiful future. His gaze remained fixed on the little system, so he did not even notice what the guests looked like.
Ling Ling, however, saw very clearly.
Their group looked very much like his and Senior’s combination: the booking guests were also two men, and both of them had an extraordinary appearance and presence.
One of them was a devastatingly handsome man with sharply defined features like a perfectly sculpted model, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and legs that seemed to begin right below his neck. There was nothing wrong with his looks. But his temperament was far too cold, and his eyes were sharp enough to seem dangerous. He looked difficult.
Ling Ling instinctively disliked people who looked hard to get along with.
He still felt that his warm and kind Senior was much better.
Besides, his own Senior was no less handsome than this man. Even their heights were almost the same.
But the one who truly drew Ling Ling’s attention was the handsome man’s companion.
The young man had elegant, refined features and was at least 180 centimeters tall, yet beside his outrageously built companion he somehow seemed smaller. He moved with light, lively energy, almost bouncing as he entered, and looked very cute.
Most of all, his eyes were round and bright, lively and charming.
He seemed as pure as a little angel fallen into the human world.
…And for some reason, he gave Ling Ling a very familiar feeling.
Ling Ling froze a little.
For reasons he could not explain, he very much wanted to greet that adorable, angel-like young man.
But he did not know his name, so just calling out to him suddenly would feel strange.
Shen Si’s gaze had never left the little system, so of course he noticed the boy staring elsewhere. Frowning, he reminded him, “Pay attention to your food.”
Ling Ling answered awkwardly, “Oh.”
He really wanted to be friends with that young man.
This was the first time since becoming human—other than with Senior—that he had felt an active desire to befriend someone.
But the feeling that young man gave him was different from the feeling Senior gave him.
Now he understood what embarrassment meant.
He felt a little embarrassed in front of Senior.
But not in front of that young man.
Instead, he simply wanted to be friends with him.
The kind of friends who shared snacks, watched dramas together, and ran wild together everywhere!
“…”
Shen Si realized that although the little system had answered him, his eyes were still drifting toward someone else.
At once, Shen Si turned his head, chest sour.
He needed to see for himself.
Just who was it that had his little system staring so intently?
Earlier, Shen Si had already lost to a menu. Now the little system was looking at that person instead of the menu—did that not mean Shen Si had fallen to the absolute bottom of his ranking?!
Shen Si: Unacceptable!
At the same time, the two entering guests also looked toward their table.
For a moment, four pairs of eyes met.
Both Shen Si and Gu Qinian twitched slightly at the corners of their mouths.
Then, very unwillingly, they greeted each other.
Shen Si said blankly, “President Gu. I didn’t expect we’d meet ahead of schedule.”
Gu Qinian remained as cold as ever. “President Shen. Fate works in mysterious ways.”
The icy expressions on the two men’s faces had absolutely no effect on the people beside them.
Ling Ling was still focusing intently on Gu Tang.
Meanwhile, Gu Tang scratched lightly at Gu Qinian’s palm and asked curiously, “You know them?”
Gu Qinian gave a short “Mm” and said simply, “You could say they’re friends.”
For all the icy expression Young Master Gu wore, if he was willing to call someone a friend, then the relationship was definitely not ordinary.
Gu Tang immediately smiled warmly at the pair. “My name is Gu Tang. I’m very happy to meet you.”
The instant he said that, Gu Qinian pulled him against himself.
“He’s my partner.”
Gu Qinian deliberately added that introduction, as though afraid no one would know.
Gu Tang nudged him with an elbow, but Young Master Gu did not let go. His arm stayed tightly around Gu Tang’s waist.
On the other side, Ling Ling also tugged at Shen Si’s sleeve and asked softly, “President Gu… is that the President Gu from the Gu Corporation?”
“Yes.”
After answering the little system’s question, Shen Si smoothly pulled him into his arms too. “I’ll introduce him as well. This is Ling Ling, my little one.”
Gu Qinian smiled almost imperceptibly. “I guessed as much. Otherwise you wouldn’t have bought this restaurant.”
Shen Si curved his lips. “I had no choice.”
“Who told President Gu to throw money around and privately book the place? My little one wanted to have a meal, but couldn’t even get in, so naturally I had to buy it.”
Ling Ling’s face turned bright red at that and he immediately explained to Gu Tang, “I’m not a little one. I’m twenty-two already!”
Gu Tang was amused by the innocent look on the boy’s face and could not help laughing. Internally he thought: that really isn’t the point here.
But he did not say so. Instead, smiling cheerfully, he said, “Really? I never would’ve guessed. I thought you were only eighteen.”
“Really?”
“Do I really look that young?”
Ling Ling rubbed his face with both hands. It was all because of this baby face of his.
He did not look mature at all!
Now that everyone was acquainted, Ling Ling actively invited them, “Do you all want to eat together?”
Shen Si answered without hesitation, “No.”
Gu Qinian was just about to say no as well, when he glanced sideways at his own little partner.
Gu Tang, his brows curved happily, said, “Sure!”
Gu Qinian immediately changed his answer to match his. “Sure.”
Shen Si: “…”
Damn it!
That made him look like the only antisocial one!
A moment later, the four of them were seated at the same table.
Ling Ling and Gu Tang sat on one side, while Shen Si and Gu Qinian sat opposite them.
The four-person combination somehow looked both harmonious and bizarre at the same time.
They were seated like this mainly to make it easier for the two presidents to discuss business. Unfortunately, the two men were not discussing anything work-related.
With a smile that never reached his flesh, Shen Si said in a low voice, “President Gu really has no principles, does he? I didn’t expect you to listen to your wife that much.”
Gu Qinian barely even moved his lips. The words slipped through them one by one. “And yet you still sat down too. Isn’t mocking me just the pot calling the kettle black?”
Shen Si gave a cold laugh. “What exactly has marriage done to men?”
Gu Qinian smiled with satisfaction. “Given them a wife.”
Shen Si: “…”
Damn it!
So sour!!!
There was no point in forcing conversation when there was none to be had.
After exchanging a few barbs, Shen Si and Gu Qinian each turned their heads away.
There was nothing particularly worth looking at outside the window. People were better to look at.
So the two presidents each looked toward the young man they had brought with them.
Unlike the two cold blocks of wood who had nothing to say to each other, Ling Ling and Gu Tang were chatting merrily.
Ling Ling pointed at the dishes on the table and enthusiastically recommended them. “This one is good, and that one is good too! You should try them all!”
Gu Tang tasted every item and found that their preferences were very similar. Everything Ling Ling recommended was something he also liked. Delighted, he said, “I think they’re good too!”
“Right?!”
Ling Ling was absurdly pleased with himself. He felt he had made an excellent decision. “Sitting together really is better, right? You get to try lots of dishes and nothing goes to waste!”
Gu Tang nodded over and over. “Exactly, exactly!”
Shen Si & Gu Qinian: “…”
There was absolutely no room to join the conversation.
This was when the difference between a husband and a boyfriend became clear.
The Gu couple had grown up together and had already been married for years. In terms of taking care of his partner, if Gu Qinian ranked second, no one in the world would dare rank first.
Young Master Gu was extremely good at finding tasks for himself.
Very naturally, he spread the napkin for Gu Tang, called for strawberry juice, and personally poured him a glass.
He even cut up Gu Tang’s steak and brought a bite to his lips on a fork.
All one could say was that some people truly did deserve the wife they had.
As the main system, Shen Si controlled countless plot worlds, but he had never really had a specific chance to fall in love. He normally acted only on instinct.
Now that he had such a good example in front of him, the main system quietly learned. With a very calculating mind, he copied the motions and took equally perfect care of the little system.
After swallowing a bite of shrimp, Ling Ling happily narrowed his eyes. “Senior, you really are such a good person!”
He knew Ling Ling was lazy, yet he still peeled shrimp for him himself!
Shen Si, once again unexpectedly handed a Good Person Card: “…”
Gu Qinian, who had spent all that effort serving as an example: “Pff—”
Grinding his teeth, Shen Si asked, “What are you laughing at? Like you’ve never gotten a Good Person Card?”
“I have. Many.”
Gu Qinian smiled. “Except what Gu Tang says is, ‘Niannian, you’re the best.’ As for the difference there… you can think it over yourself.”
Shen Si: “…”
Destroy the world already!
At that moment, the seafood puff pastry soup arrived and interrupted the main system’s dangerous urge to destroy all existence.
The reason was simple.
He was worried the clueless little system might burn himself, so he quickly began lifting a corner of the puff pastry crust for him.
The instant he opened it, a wave of scalding steam rushed out.
Ling Ling jumped in surprise.
If not for Senior, he definitely would have gotten burned.
Human tongues hurt badly when burned!
Silently, the little system stuck several more labels onto Senior in his heart. Handsome, gentle, kind… and now also “careful.”
Senior really was the best!
But this was not the time for praise.
Realizing that the soup was hot, Ling Ling immediately turned to Gu Tang. “Friendly warning, this one’s very hot, so be careful.”
Gu Tang froze. “You’re a lot like a friend of mine…”
The little system used to love saying all kinds of “friendly warnings.”
Ling Ling brightened immediately. “Really?!”
Rounding up, that meant he was basically already Gu Tang’s friend too!
At the side, Gu Qinian became alert. “What friend do you have that I don’t know about?”
Gu Tang gave him a mysterious smile. “A very, very good friend.”
Gu Qinian frowned. “Who?”
“A little one.”
Gu Tang sighed. “But it went somewhere else and probably won’t come back. I miss it a lot.”
Hearing that Gu Tang’s friend had gone elsewhere, Gu Qinian did not continue questioning. He simply let out a secret sigh of relief.
He had guarded against everything, and still there had been one fish that slipped through the net!
Ling Ling, after hearing Gu Tang say that, suddenly felt miserable inside.
As though he himself were that friend who had left without saying goodbye.
He tried to comfort him. “Baby Tang, don’t be sad.”
Gu Tang looked startled. “It calls me Baby Tang too!”
Ling Ling asked curiously, “Then what do you call it?”
Gu Tang could not expose the system’s existence, so he answered vaguely, “I don’t know what its name was, so I just casually called it ‘Baby System’ Cute, right?”
“Baby System?”
Ling Ling froze.
At the same time, Shen Si’s fingers paused on the utensils in his hand as he turned to carefully watch the little system’s expression.
He saw the young man lower his gaze slightly, long lashes fluttering, confusion appearing in his eyes.
Ling Ling felt that the name sounded very familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.
Just like Gu Tang himself.
The whole person felt incredibly familiar to him.
And Gu Tang had also treated him as if they had instantly clicked.
Could it be that Gu Tang had once been his host?
If his former host had been someone as adorable as Baby Tang, then his work must have been very enjoyable.
Ever since having his memory formatted, Ling Ling had not been able to figure out how a little useless system like himself could possibly have earned such high mission points that he could redeem a small-world vacation reward and still have a lot left over.
But now, if his former host had really been someone like Baby Tang—
then maybe it made perfect sense!
Ling Ling told a rather clumsy lie. “Th-that’s such a coincidence. My childhood nickname… is Baby System too.”
The little system was terrible at lying, so his words came out stumbling and hesitant.
Fortunately, Gu Tang did not ask any further questions. Instead he looked at him in delight. “Really? Can I call you that too? You really are a lot like Baby System”
That was exactly what Ling Ling wanted, so he nodded eagerly. “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm! You can just think of me as it.”
The two actual people involved remained completely in the dark.
But the other two men understood everything very clearly.
Gu Qinian did not know the full story, but he could already vaguely guess that this Ling Ling was probably the Baby System Gu Tang had been talking about.
After all, even as a friend, very few people would willingly offer to act as a substitute for someone else.
Actively asking a friend to treat you as somebody else was simply too suspicious.
As the main system, Shen Si knew even more.
But he would not say a word.
Watching the little system and his former host growing so close so quickly—
if the little one still had his memories, what place would there even be left for Shen Si here?
Just as he was drowning in sourness, the little system turned back and, with his pale little hand, placed a piece of crystal cake onto Shen Si’s plate. “Senior, do you want to try a bite of this?”
Shen Si’s heart softened instantly. He leaned down and, very obligingly, opened his mouth.
The little system, however, calmly placed the cake onto his plate instead.
Ling Ling said, “You can eat it slowly.”
“…”
Shen Si turned his head away in silent fury.
Ling Ling looked confused. “You’re not eating it? It’s really good.”
The man folded his arms and said nothing.
Shen Si: Currently jealous. Do not disturb.
In the end, though, he still ate the cake with great care.
After all, it was the first food the silly little system had ever personally picked for him. It would be a shame not to eat it.
After the meal, everyone said their goodbyes.
Ling Ling waved happily at Gu Tang. “Baby Tang, bye-bye!”
Gu Tang played right along, waving with exaggerated energy. “Baby System, see you next time!”
Good friends were supposed to be weird together.
After parting, the two of them were escorted into different cars.
Ling Ling sat in Shen Si’s car, watching Gu Tang and Gu Qinian’s car drive away, and happily swung his legs.
How nice…
Baby Tang looked very happy.
“You’re that happy?”
Looking at the boy’s slim legs swinging back and forth, Shen Si suddenly asked.
Ling Ling did not notice the man’s gaze and cheerfully answered, “Yes, yes!”
He was very happy!
For cannon-fodder systems like them, the hardest thing to face was the cruel fate that their hosts would eventually be tormented horribly, while the system itself had no power to alter the plot and could only watch the host suffer.
That was why so many cannon-fodder systems became depressed and miserable.
Even after being formatted, Ling Ling occasionally worried about that.
What if he was having a wonderful vacation in a small world, while his host was living badly somewhere else?
But now, if his guess was right, and Baby Tang really had been his host, then there was nothing at all to worry about!
Looking at the innocent little system in front of him, Shen Si’s gray eyes turned gloomy.
Could it be that the little system had remembered his host, but forgotten Shen Si alone?
Suddenly, he felt something soft against his shoulder.
The little boy leaned over against him, pressing his soft cheek to his shoulder, his hand even stretching across the center console to loop around his arm.
“Senior, thank you.”
Ling Ling’s voice was just as soft and sweet.
Shen Si’s heart softened accordingly. “For what?”
Leaning on the man’s shoulder, Ling Ling said slowly, “If you hadn’t brought me here to eat, I would never have had the chance to meet Baby Tang.”
“Now I have a good friend in this world too.”
“A really good friend, not just an ordinary one!”
Shen Si gave a cold snort. “Then what am I?”
The question seemed to trouble the little system quite a bit.
Ling Ling thought for a long time before finally answering, “You’re not an ordinary friend, and you’re not a good friend either. Senior, you… are different from everyone else.”
The only special one.
Though the little system’s answer was a complete mess, Shen Si was satisfied.
He pressed further. “How am I different?”
“You’re just different.”
Ling Ling hugged his arm tighter. “I can’t explain it clearly…”
That simple dependence completely pleased the main system.
Shen Si’s mood instantly turned into something like spring in March.
Inside him, one little flower after another bloomed with soft popping sounds.
When the main system’s mood became this happy, even the little worlds reacted.
For example, inside the tiny ecological terrarium decorating the car’s interior, the moss turned greener, and a flower no bigger than a grain of rice bloomed.
Tiny as it was, every petal had fully opened.
It looked wonderfully bright.
Sadly, Shen Si’s happiness lasted less than three minutes before the little system said, in his usual clueless way, “Senior, you’re really such a good person!”
Shen Si: “…”
Enough already, enough already. Stop giving them.
He had received so many Good Person Cards he could practically sell them wholesale.
And yet this was only the setup.
Right after praising him, Ling Ling immediately said, “Since Senior is so nice, will you teach me how to prepare for the negotiation tomorrow?”
Shen Si had no objection. He was simply surprised. “You want to work now?”
After all, when he chose the vacation world, had his one and only goal not been to lie flat like a useless fish?
Ling Ling smiled shyly. “I just don’t want to embarrass myself in front of Baby Tang.”
Shen Si: “…”
Wonderful. Now he was sour again.
So sour that the flavor had seeped all the way in.
Ling Ling lifted his face and shook Shen Si’s hand back and forth. “Will you teach me?”
Who could possibly resist a little system acting cute?
Grinding his teeth, Shen Si answered, “I will.”
Ling Ling instantly broke into a radiant smile. “Thank you, Senior!”
“Only a verbal thank-you?”
Shen Si’s voice deepened. “What do I get out of this?”
Ling Ling did not hesitate. “I’ll make money for you!”
Shen Si laughed. “Do I look like someone short on money?”
Senior could buy a whole restaurant with a single phone call. So yes, he clearly was not short on money…
After thinking for a moment, Ling Ling tested another option. “Then I’ll find you good food?”
Shen Si shook his head. “I’m not fond of eating either.”
Ling Ling did not understand. “How can a human have no desires? Doesn’t Senior want anything at all?”
“Oh, I do.”
Without making it obvious, Shen Si quietly shortened the distance between them.
Ling Ling blinked. “What is it?”
“As long as it can be obtained, I’ll figure out some way to get it for Senior, no matter whether it’s in the sky or underground!”
Shen Si laughed. “It won’t be that difficult.”
“Then what exactly is it?”
Ling Ling pouted unhappily. “Don’t tell me this has to be kept secret too, just like your name?”
Only because he had heard President Gu call him that today did he finally know that Senior’s family name was Shen.
That counted as solving a tiny fragment of the mystery.
“You’ll know.”
By then, Shen Si had already leaned all the way in front of Ling Ling. The moment he spoke, their breaths tangled together.
“How about a little deposit first?”
Shen Si asked, staring at his lips.
Ling Ling still had not understood. “How do I pay? Which QR code do I scan?”
After arriving in the small world, he had found human methods of payment very interesting.
They were even more convenient than exchanging points.
One quick scan and the transaction was done.
“Scan here…”
As Shen Si said that, he did not take out his phone. Instead, he leaned over and pinned the little system down onto the passenger seat.
Ling Ling shut his eyes, his face bright red.
So this was how humans paid deposits too—with their mouths…
After Becoming Cannon Fodder What Bad Intentions Could I Possibly Have?
