There Will Always Be Protagonists With Delusions of Starting a Harem

Chapter 33

Translator : Phiare

Editor : i_am_a_bystander

Lei Baofei left with a dark face; not touching any of the dishes, and leaving the wine spilt. Before his abrupt departure however, he strictly urged An Chengjie to conduct himself appropriately. An Chengjie was confused - not knowing why Lei Baofei had left like that when he all he had wanted to do was introduce a new dish, and chat about the restaurant's future.

The shopkeeper seemed to be scared by the guest's sudden departure. He probed outside, cautiously asking some questions. "Boss, those dishes in the kitchen… do you still need them?"

Annoyance was laced in his voice as he spoke. "No need!" He frowned as he glanced at the various ingredients on the table, depressed and puzzled. Lei Baofei’s attitude today was really strange; and the sentence he said before he left didn't make any sense. Were all ancient people this temperamental?

He debated on whether he should try to talk to Lei Baofei again when a waiter suddenly rushed into the room; with him, was a familiar bamboo basket. "This isn't good! There's another hotpot restaurant that just opened on the South Street. They're selling it at half the price we are, and they also openly share their recipe! This… this is the hotpot they are selling today."

An Chengjie's face warped, and he snatched the basket away - quickly looking inside to take out the note. His hands gradually crumbled the paper - his brain feeling as if it was smashed by a hammer. Without thinking, he asked, "Where is that store? What's its name? Who opened it?"

"It's in the middle of South Street, and it's called Chuan Yue. But I don't know who the owner is, and the person in charge today has unknown origins." The shopkeeper, after saying this, saw An Chengjie's lost look and grew even more panicked. "Boss, what should we do?" The restaurant was about to open, but their signature dish was already taken by another; this certainly could not be good.

Chuan Yue, Chuan Yue……

An Chengjie's hand trembled - his heart sinking and hands faltering. There was a sense of excitement that ran through him at the notion that there was another transmigrator; yet, there was also fear. Fear that his advantage as a transmigrated person would be taken away. A hotpot restaurant called Chuan Yue…… was this name just a coincidence, or a hint from the other party?

[T/N: ?? - Chuan Yue - means to transmigrate.]

Ye Zhizhou returned to Zhenguo Gong Fu with Yan Mingyong, ready to eat some hotpot at home. While waiting for Chang Shun and Chang Fu to prepare the ingredients - he pushed Yan Mingyong to the dining room, and stuffed his book into his hands. "Mingyong, just wait here for a while. My big brother is at home today, so I'm going to call him over so he can taste the hotpot as well."

Yan Mingyong's smile on his face faltered, eyes sinking. "Do you like your brother?"

Ye Zhizhou helplessly looked over at the gloomy kid - bending over to kiss the other's face, and pat his hair. "Be obedient. After dinner, I'll show you a new game that you haven't played before. For now, just read the book."

Yan Mingyong couldn't control the red on his cheeks - his black eyes brightening up as quickly as they darkened. But, he refrained from showing his excitement on his face - speaking with a still expression. "I'll listen to you this once, go."

Ye Zhizhou chuckled at his lover's serious face - leaning over to kiss the youth. His lover had turned into a young boy, and he got the chance to see him gradually grow up - this was really great!

The hotpot was ready by the time Ye Zhizhou returned with An Chengsheng. Yan Mingyong put the book down, wheeling himself towards the door - and while ignoring An Chengsheng's face of shock, he reached out to Ye Zhizhou. "Le Er, my chest hurts."

Ye Zhizhou grew panicked, hurriedly walking over to rub the youth's chest. Anxiously, he asked, "Where's your pill? Didn't I say that you had to take one every time you felt pain?" His lover's body was too weak, but all the system-provided pills had too fast of a healing rate. Fearing that a sudden recovery would be too eye catching, he diluted it to make weaker pill for Mingyong to eat whenever he was feeling sick.

"Without De An here, I forgot to take it." Yan Mingyong really enjoyed the concern and care shown by the older; and taking advantage of De An's absence, he lied without batting an eyelid. Eyes shining, his lips were hooked up as he took a glance at An Chengsheng. "It's only a bit painful, nothing really. Let's eat first, don't let big brother wait."

At this blatant provocation, An Chengsheng clenched his hand; seeing the eighth prince follow his little brother, and being called big brother as if they were close, made his heart sour and feel unwell. However, remembering the other's status and power, he steadied his heart - cupping his hands and reluctantly replying to the prince's greeting. "I apologise; I did not expect your highness' presence here today - I've troubled you with my brother's wilful temper."

Yan Mingyong smiled - not showing that crazy expression he had worn in their last encounter. With a refined and noble air, he said, "Le Er is very good to me - you must be happy to have such a good younger brother."

An Chengsheng also put on a fake smile. "Your highness' brothers are also very good."

A crackling sound could be heard in the tense silence between the two people; an invisible bomb waiting to detonate at any second.

Seeing them like this, Ye Zhizhou - who had just realised that he had been tricked - took back his hands and rolled his eyes. He walked towards the dining table and took a seat, fishing out a piece of meat from the hotpot using a pair of chopsticks. "Both of you can just talk slowly over there. I'm starving, so I won't be able to accompany you."

Seeing Ye Zhizhou get angry, they hurriedly retracted their glares and restrained their mood. Yan Mingyong quickly occupied the seat beside Ye Zhizhou and pulled on his sleeve. "How do you eat this?"

Ye Zhizhou squinted at him, sneering. It's only now that you know how to behave yourself? Didn't you just feign an illness a moment ago?

An Chengsheng was one step late, and he could only sit on the seat opposite of his brother. He picked up the chopsticks and smiled, "This food is quite interesting - Le Er always manages to find something new."

"Right." Ye Zhizhou ignored the flattery - pulling down his sleeves to check the young prince's temperature. Seeing that he was not too cold, he got up to pick up the hotpot. "I stumbled upon a collection of ancient poetry, and I wanted to give it to big brother; but, it seems that it is not necessary now."

Poetry collection? And an ancient one at that? An Chengsheng, who was madly in love with poetry, immediately caught on to this crucial part in his little brother's words. He immediately put down his chopsticks. "Le Er, it was big brother's mistake. So, please lend that poetry collection to big brother."

This kind of small bait, I knew you'd take it. Ye Zhizhou smirked and laughed inside his head, all the while maintaining a cool facade. He got up and walked towards the cloth bag, taking out the mixed version of ?Three Hundred Tang Poems? and ?Best Lyrics of Song Dynasty? - stuffing them into An Chengsheng's arms. "The book is old to the point that it's no longer suitable for reading. Since I already made a copy of it, you can take it."

An Chengsheng held the book as if it was a precious treasure. He didn't care about the dog-scrawl writing in it, and immediately stopped eating to read the book.

[The probability of An Chengsheng falling in love with the protagonist has dropped to 50%. Please persist in your actions, host.]

As the system notification appeared, Ye Zhizhou thanked the heavens in his heart: An Chengsheng's feelings towards An Chengjie was more like that of a fan's obsession towards their idol. Now that An Chengjie's 'talent' was gone, the love probability had decreased all by itself.

If they wanted to start 'something' between them, it would be very difficult!

Yan Mingyong silently put down his chopsticks, and merely stared at Ye Zhizhou.

When Ye Zhihou looked back at him, he knew that the kid would be moody again. "It's a collection of poetry. What, do you also want a copy? Or do you want another gift? Well, whatever it is that you want, I'll give it to you. So, quickly eat; your body is still ill."

"You'll truly give me anything I want?" Yang Mingyong picked up his chopsticks, carefully asking.

Ye Zhizhou, whose attention had been distracted by the system notification, carelessly nodded. Yan Mingyong looked deeply at the older boy, then smiled: the only thing that he wanted was this person.

___________________

In the middle of the night, Yan Mingyong woke up in Ye Zhizhou’s arms - staring at him for a while before getting up. Taking a bead from the bedside table, he crushed it under the older's nose - ensuring that he would not wake for quite some time. The eighth prince pulled on a string that hung next to the bed; and after a while, De An gently walked in, standing silently in front.

"Have you captured that person yet?"

De An stepped forward to help him dress, whispering back whilst his hands were moving. "Captured. He has already been finished in the secret prison."

Yan Mingyong gripped his hands, showing a slightly gloomy smile. “Very good. The palace really is too dirty - and I for one, think it's time to clean it up.” He looked at the peacefully sleeping Ye Zhihzou, pulling up the quilt to cover the other's exposed shoulders. A flash of light flashed through his eyes as he continued speaking. "I must let Le Er live a comfortable life."

___________________

An Chengjie had not left his room ever since the collapse of his restaurant. Seeing that the young master of the Lei Family had never come to visit their boss again, as well as the lack of the usual generous bonuses - the servants gradually grew to ignore him. Though angry, he couldn't do anything about it.

For the past few days, he had been hiding in his room - examining the dish in the small basket. He had hesitated; all kinds of possibilities were lined up all over the place - but he couldn't make up his mind as to who was the possible transmigrator. Nowadays, he had adapted to this ancient society, and had made a general plan for his future. The sudden appearance of another party made him bitter and full of loathing, his instincts going haywire.

Xiao Si Da Zhu saw the boss being absent minded for several days, and thinking that it was due to the failed business, he suggested a form of entertainment. "Three days later, there is going to be a literary meeting held by the Yingtian Academy under Yuan Si Mountain just outside the city. How about Gong Zi attends to relive yourself of the boredom? I have heard that the great imperial scholar will also be present - and with Gong Zi's literary talent, you'll be able to gain great achievements for sure!"

[Ed. Note: First reminder, Gong Zi is just an informal title for a noble's son.]

To face the great scholar? An Chengjie's heart was slightly moved, his troubled mind calming down. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it was a good idea; it was useless to just randomly guess things while shutting himself in like this. Since making money didn't work, how about making a name for himself? Recalling the disdain he felt for those from the Zhenguo Gongfu, and the disappointment that was shown on Lei Baofei's face, his heart suddenly rose in excitement.

[Ed. Note: Second reminder, Zhenguo Gongfu is the town government.]

What bastard child?! He would definitely be better than those official sons! It didn't matter if Lei Baofei wasn't backing him anymore; with the advanced knowledge he had from the future in his mind, those nobles would soon line up to bow down at his feet!

His expression gradually grew firm, his stare on the small basket on the table darkening as time went past.

This Chuan Yue restaurant had better just be a coincidence; if not…… well, this world only needed one transmigrated person.