IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Meeting a Fellow Townsman in Another World, Lin Yan’s Eyes Fill with Tears

“Big Brother Lin, I’m all tidied up, you should rest early too.” Mushroom’s voice sounded from outside the door.

“Mhm, mhm, mhm, I know.” Lin Yan casually brushed him off, still immersed in the battle with the mantis triplets.

The half-closed door suddenly opened, and a cold wind blew in from outside. Lin Yan’s hand trembled, and the little bug he was controlling fell on a thorn, losing its last drop of health.

“Died again, all because of this…” He didn’t finish his complaint, as Lin Yan and Mushroom standing at the door stared at each other in shock.

It must be a dream.

Lin Yan lowered his head and patted his face, hoping to wake up from this terrifying dream quickly.

He locked the door… right? Mushroom shouldn’t be done tidying up yet… right?

“Big Brother Lin, what’s that glowing thing?”

Mushroom’s voice, carried on the cold wind, shattered Lin Yan’s illusions. Lin Yan gave a dry laugh, “It’s… it’s a luminous… board that was presented as tribute from outside, a luminous board, it glows at night… pretty common, not worth much, you should have heard of it, right?”

As soon as Lin Yan finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself.

A night-glowing board that glows at night? Could a person even come up with such an excuse? And pretty common? If this thing was common, who would still use oil lamps?

“Oh, is that so.” Mushroom nodded, not pursuing the matter.

Lin Yan kept giving himself psychological cues, Mushroom definitely didn’t see it, and this kid is silly, his brain was injured, maybe he actually believed it.

Just as Lin Yan was about to chase him back to sleep, Mushroom suddenly spoke, “I thought of a first line of a couplet, can you help me match it, Big Brother?”

How did the topic suddenly switch to matching couplets?

But as long as they didn’t continue this devastating topic, he would get up and spin around twice if Mushroom wanted to have a dance-off with him, let alone match couplets. Lin Yan quickly sat up straight, looking like he was all ears, “Go ahead.”

“My first line is… ‘Odd changes, even doesn’t change.'”

Odd what? Even what?

????

!!!!

Lin Yan’s pupils shook like an earthquake, and he stammered, “Sign… sign looks at quadrant?”

His heart was pounding like a drum. Mushroom, not wanting to stop there, continued to add fuel to the fire, “The price of the shirt is?”

“Nine pounds and fifteen pence.”

“π equals…”

“3.1415926?”

“Rich, strong, democratic…”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” Lin Yan sprang up from the bed, picked up Mushroom by the door and spun him around, then slammed the door shut.

This couplet matching session with asymmetrical tones, inconsistent number of characters, and suspected of being filler (crossed out, this is foreshadowing, not filler) could finally end.

“So, baby, you’re also transmigrated? Come, come, give me another hug.” Lin Yan gave Mushroom a big hug, then transformed into a walking question mark, “When did you arrive? Soul transmigration or body transmigration? Did you transmigrate into a prince? How’s the imperial palace? Is it fun? Is the food delicious? Have you seen the Emperor?”

Mushroom tried to interrupt the spellcasting, “Big Brother Lin, you…”

“Aiya, what’s with the ‘Big Brother’?” Lin Yan pinched Mushroom’s cheek, finding him more and more endearing, “Call me ‘Brother,’ let me hear it.”

Mushroom’s face was distorted from being pinched, and his voice became muffled, but he still obediently called out, “Bro… Brother…”

“Good boy.” Lin Yan ruffled Mushroom’s hair, starting to guess Mushroom’s background, “So you soul-transmigrated here, and after waking up you were already at my door, so you faked amnesia?”

“What Brother guessed… is right and wrong.” Mushroom changed his words halfway through his sentence. He pondered for a long time, slowly recounting his experiences over the past few months.

“My name is Yun Qi, and I soul-transmigrated to Great Zhou three months ago. When I came…” That memory didn’t seem pleasant, and Yun Qi paused before continuing, “The Yun Qi of this world is a lost royal prince. When I arrived, he was in a sedan chair returning from the Study Hall to the Cold Palace. After that, there was a series of events: the Cold Palace caught fire, princes fought for power, a consort became pregnant, a royal hunt…”

Yun Qi covered his head, his voice trembling, “The horse I was riding was sabotaged, and it lost control and charged into the forest. I was knocked unconscious, and when I woke up again, I was at Brother’s place.”

Lin Yan looked at Yun Qi’s small frame, his face still bearing a trace of childishness, and hesitantly asked, “How old are you, are you even… sixteen years old?”

Yun Qi nodded, “I’ll be seventeen after the New Year.”

Images immediately formed in Lin Yan’s mind.

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old kid, still in high school, somehow soul-transmigrated to another world. He has no system, no legendary golden finger, and he’s not even as lucky as himself, who transmigrated to a simple and honest village.

At an age when he should be focusing solely on studying, he was thrown into a man-eating palace, experiencing a life-or-death struggle, and ended up nearly freezing to death in an unknown village.

To avoid going back, he could only fake amnesia, being cautious and walking on thin ice.

“Damn, that’s too tragic.” Lin Yan shivered and gave Yun Qi a big hug.

Yun Qi stiffened, asking cautiously, “Go… go where?”

“Nowhere.” Lin Yan ruffled Yun Qi’s hair, gently comforting him, “Just stay here with me, I won’t chase you away again. And also…”

Lin Yan lowered his voice, saying mysteriously, “I have an unreliable system. When it reappears, I’ll ask it about a way to go back, and I’ll take you with me then.”

“Mmm.” Yun Qi nodded stiffly, breaking free from Lin Yan’s embrace, and bowing politely to thank him, “Then I’ll trouble Brother. I’ll go back to rest first.”

“Do you want to sleep with me?” Lin Yan patted the edge of the bed, “My bed is big enough, it can easily fit two people.”

“No, no, no.” Yun Qi shook his head like a rattle, fleeing the room, “Brother, rest early, good night.”

Yun Qi gently closed the door, staring blankly at the light shining through the window.

A complete lie is the easiest to expose, but a lie that is eight parts truth and two parts falsehoods can make people believe it without a doubt.

His name is indeed Yun Qi, and he is indeed a lost royal prince of Great Zhou, and those backgrounds are all true. Only the transmigration… he is a native of Great Zhou, no soul transmigration or body transmigration. Those incomprehensible words… Yun Qi has heard them since he was a child, so answering them is natural.

Yun Qi put his hand on the door, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

The memory of that snowy day came back to him.

At that time, he had experienced too much, and all he wanted was to die. But the royal horses are good horses. Even though it had been sabotaged, it still took him around for two days before finally dumping him in a village not far from the Capital City.

When Lin Yan picked him up, he had regained consciousness. He felt this person warming him, applying medicine to him, and using valuable things on him without knowing his background at all.

The warmth in his heart rose with his body temperature, and he suddenly didn’t want to die anymore.

For the past few days, he had been greedily enjoying all of this, hoping for more with every bit of warmth he absorbed.

The affairs in the Capital City were messy and annoying, but his shrewd and deep-minded younger brother should be able to handle them well. Going back would only cause trouble; it’s better to stay here.

Yun Qi tried to convince himself that Lin Yan, with his naive and kind nature, needed his protection. Although he lied and received kindness, he would make up for it all, he would repay it all.

So…

Even if he lies, it can all be forgiven, and it will all be forgiven… right?

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