Just when Alina and Ye Bai were shocked because of General Ortas, Ye Wangxing was also shocked by 19 inside the system space.

【——19, where exactly did you find that kind of necklace?!】

Ye Wangxing’s expression twisted into something like The Scream in a famous painting, as he shouted at 19.

Think about the scene at that time: the protagonist shou, with an indescribable expression, asked him whether he had been coerced, so that he ended up playing that kind of game with his ex-boyfriend.

At that time he still didn’t understand what kind of game it was, what kind of thing had been given—until the protagonist shou indicated that he knew that necklace was a telepathy necklace.

Ye Wangxing, who hadn’t reacted yet: “…”

Ye Wangxing, after realizing: !!!

In the end, he didn’t even know how he managed to calm Ye Bai down and send him away. When he came back to his senses, he was already in the system space.

He had originally thought that necklace was just a little playful setting in the script between the two of them, but he hadn’t expected that this “playfulness” was not the same kind of playfulness at all!

And how exactly had 19 found that thing??? Ye Wangxing himself didn’t know. In the interstellar era, there actually still existed such a thing!

The moment he thought about how the comment section under that necklace was filled entirely with those kinds of indecent remarks, Ye Wangxing felt his face was about to burn up.

And he! He actually wore that necklace and even acted in front of the protagonist shou!

Ye Wangxing nearly fainted completely.

As an old relic from Earth, he did know that in all kinds of novels there were similar things, but he really didn’t know that such an item was actually manufactured in the interstellar era!

Had the people of the interstellar age never considered how much damage this kind of thing would cause to an old relic like him?!

Because the impact was too great, Ye Wangxing’s thoughts were already in chaos.

And 19, looking at his host in front of him whose face had already turned as red as a tomato, still spoke with a calm expression.

【Host, this type of necklace had steadily ranked in the top three on the interstellar charts. The remaining ones were too emotional and didn’t suit your requirements, so I chose this one. Was it my understanding that was wrong? Sorry, host, I would update the requirement database in time.】

19’s voice was very calm, as if this wasn’t a big deal at all. And when Ye Wangxing listened to this calm tone, he even began to doubt whether he was overreacting.

After all, it was just a mission world. A little mistake could be completely forgiven. Even adult toys weren’t a huge mistake. To the system, it probably really was just an ordinary thing.

Thinking this way, Ye Wangxing himself slowly calmed down, even his face wasn’t as red as before.

And 19’s words of apology made Ye Wangxing, who had calmed down, feel a little guilty.

【Actually, there wasn’t really any loss. At most I died of embarrassment a little. But looking at the result, who exactly lost face was still in question—after all, it was Count Unobert who gave such a necklace as a gift.】

And upon hearing Ye Wangxing’s words, 19 instead moved in front of him. His face still showed no expression, but in his eyes there was some apology as he said: 【Sorry, host. At that time I hadn’t grasped your meaning and made a decision on my own.】

【No, no, no, it was that I hadn’t made myself clear at that time. The multiple meanings of words in Chinese are really hard to understand. This wasn’t your fault, and actually the effect turned out quite good.】

【Host, there was part of the responsibility on me.】

…

Inside the system space, the one human and one system were like perpetual motion machines, apologizing to each other.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Ye Wangxing soon realized that this was really foolish. He quickly stopped this silly, ridiculous behavior.

【Alright, alright, stop apologizing to each other. This matter didn’t have much of an impact in some ways. On the contrary, it could even strengthen the characterization in the plot. It’s just that 19, when you play the role, you might encounter meaningful looks from others.】

With a smile in his eyes, Ye Wangxing patted 19’s shoulder as he spoke. Thinking about the foolish behavior he and 19 had just engaged in, Ye Wangxing himself found it somewhat funny.

【I understood, host. After the rumors spread, those who knew the truth might feel admiration or shock at Count Unobert’s extraordinary x-behavior. But this point could be used, for example, when seizing attention—】

19, analyzing calmly, was cut off halfway by his own host.

【No, no, absolutely not! 19, this would never pass censorship—!】

Ye Wangxing nearly jumped up. Why hadn’t he thought of it? 19 was just a system, and a system didn’t have much restriction or shame in this area.

—But Ye Wangxing did!

He was a normal human being, not some guy from a banned website. This kind of behavior to attract attention was absolutely unacceptable!

Besides…

【19, letting them vaguely guess was what could attract attention. If everything was dumped out all at once, these pieces of gossip wouldn’t have much appeal to them.】

Ye Wangxing spoke seriously.

And 19, seeing his host’s black eyes filled entirely with seriousness, silently nodded and engraved his host’s words firmly in his memory.

Humans were curious about half-concealed matters, and they would be drawn to them… right?

In 19’s lowered golden eyes, strings of data codes flashed by.

Ye Wangxing did not notice that 19 was implanting any information into himself. After finishing speaking, he immediately got busy with proper business again.

The gossip had already spread out, and Ye Wangxing had successfully seized the attention. As for this poverty alleviation project, Ye Wangxing had not encountered it in this world.

But fortunately, in his original world he had really and truly encountered it—whoever got into the exams had memorized poverty alleviation–related current affairs news and the issued study materials until they could recite them backward, right?

However, the poverty alleviation methods that had been useful in his world, he did not know whether they would work in the interstellar world. He still had to listen to the guidance of this world’s officials.

【As expected, no matter what world, poverty alleviation was a top priority. It was just that poverty alleviation in the interstellar era was really different from ours…】

Looking at the welfare benefits given to impoverished people, Ye Wangxing silently shed tears of envy.

After arranging the overall direction of the poverty alleviation project, Ye Wangxing also began to summarize the current situation of the protagonist gong and shou.

However, once he started summarizing, he realized that Ye Bai’s changes gave him some pleasant surprises.

【After this mission, Ye Bai seemed to have become a bit clearer-headed. It seemed that the control group method did have some effect, especially since Woden himself wasn’t such an outstanding male lead. In later scripts, this kind of plot could be appropriately increased.】

Ye Wangxing said with some happiness, feeling that Ye Bai actually seemed somewhat salvageable.

But when he turned to look at the protagonist gong…

【Host, the Emperor’s decision was correct. The protagonist gong indeed was not suitable to have normal human employees under him. For those human employees, this was a kind of mental torment.】

19 spoke in a calm voice, while Ye Wangxing looked at Woden’s behavior, almost gnashing his teeth.

【This guy’s behavior was exactly like that boss I met when I was doing my internship.】

The moment Ye Wangxing thought of that man, he felt sick to his stomach, and his anger began to rise.

【When I entered, it just happened to be when headquarters was also looking at performance to select people to send to the head office. This guy came every day to torment us clerks! Every day he gave lectures, saying nothing but nonsense, and demanded that we work overtime at the risk of sudden death, using the lives of the entire department to pave the road for his future.】

This was also why Ye Wangxing had firmly decided to take the civil service exam—yet after he passed, he still had to work overtime.

It was just that the pay had increased a little, and he still couldn’t get a permanent position.

Thinking of this situation, Ye Wangxing suddenly had a lot more motivation to do missions.

—His soon-to-be-permanent post!

19, inwardly bewildered: “…”Why did the host’s emotions suddenly rise so high?

But Ye Wangxing didn’t notice what 19 was thinking. He continued carefully analyzing the original plot.

…Yet the more he looked, the angrier he became.

【…It was only because, in the original plot, he had Ye Bai guiding him, plus his mother, Her Majesty the Emperor, had forcefully required him to listen to Ye Bai. That was what made him cultivate governing ability and smoothly inherit the throne. Otherwise, with such arrogance, whether Woden could have smoothly inherited the throne was truly uncertain.】

【Honestly, the fact that the empire under him in the original story didn’t collapse was really something Ye Bai deserved worship for.】

Ye Wangxing complained.

【And Ye Bai too. With just a few words from Woden, he poured his heart out and sacrificed himself like that. Could it be he had the same problem as An Yang? But Ye Bai seemed quite normal in other matters, didn’t he?】

Ye Wangxing was truly puzzled. He had originally thought Ye Bai was just a love-brain, but after actually interacting with him, he found that Ye Bai cared for his family, sometimes even more than for Woden. Once it didn’t involve his family, his brain seemed to stop working.

He sacrificed himself to lift Woden up, only to be discarded afterward, yet even before his own family was tragically killed, he still unhesitatingly devoted himself.

—If not for the advanced medicine of the interstellar era, Ye Wangxing would have suspected that the original plot that happened to An Yang could repeat itself on Ye Bai.

He had originally thought Ye Bai was like An Yang, lacking affirmation from others, and had deliberately brought him along to participate in this poverty alleviation project. Like An Yang, if he received affirmation from others, maybe he could be a bit more normal.

But…

Ye Bai did work when it was time to work, and he really did receive a lot of praise, all of which he happily accepted.

But once Woden spoke, he immediately rushed over to him again. In this, he was completely unlike An Yang.

At this point, Ye Wangxing finally understood why this world’s difficulty had risen.

—Ye Bai’s love-brain nature was completely different from An Yang’s situation!

If he wasn’t careful, Ye Bai really would be humiliated successfully by Woden!

【Host, according to medical analysis, Ye Bai did not have any psychological illness. On the contrary, his mental state was quite healthy—he simply liked this kind of self-sacrifice. Moreover, Ye Bai had invested too much in Woden. The cost of sinking so deeply made it hard for him to extricate himself now.】

19 said.

When Ye Wangxing heard 19’s words, he sighed. Indeed, one couldn’t force every person to cut things off decisively like novel protagonists did, without a trace of hesitation. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the saying “entangled and difficult to sever.”

【Sigh, now I can only proceed step by step with the mission. But during mission intervals, let those four show up in front of Ye Bai a few more times. Let’s see whether these control groups can stimulate Ye Bai into being a bit more normal.】

Ye Wangxing said as he opened the mission panel, casually adding: 【It’s just that Ye Bai better not pick up bad habits from them—by the way, this kind of control-freak character who puts monitoring devices on people, hasn’t it been appearing too often?】

Just now, 19, who had been recording the emotional fluctuation data of the host, thought: “…”

Had the host discovered something?

Ye Wangxing, however, did not notice 19’s stiffness and instead checked the mission objectives once again.

[Task Panel]
Name: [Ye Wangxing]
Gender: [Male]
Age: [24]
Current Role: [Ye Family Eldest Son]
Attention Value: [300,094]
Mini World Currency: [26,233,635]
Gold (transferable to real world): [19,600g]
Main Quest: [Capture protagonist attention]
Progress: [30%]
Reward: [150,000 Attention Value]

Side Quest:
Quest 1: [Disrupt the plot where the protagonist shou gets humiliated by the protagonist top in front of live viewers]
Progress: [0%]
Reward: [Attention 5000, 3 000 000 Mini World Currency, 2500g gold]
Quest 2: [Disrupt the plot where the protagonist shou gets humiliated at a banquet because of the male lead]
Progress: [0%]
Reward: [Attention 5000, 4 000 000 Mini World Currency, 3000g gold]

The rich rewards made Ye Wangxing, who realized he had to return, feel much more at ease. However, when he saw the task names, he felt a bit speechless.

【Although I see many weird things in the mediation room, this couple… even if my father came, they would still rank in the top twenty.】

【Only top twenty?】

19, noticing that the host hadn’t realized, cooled down its slightly overheated CPU and asked curiously.

【You underestimate the weirdness of humans.】

Ye Wangxing said in a world-weary tone.

Getting hit in the face with a sanitary pad, getting smeared while trying to break up fights—his father had experienced things like this too.

Even his brother’s girlfriend breaking up with him while his aunt bought furniture—his father had seen that.

Hearing the host speak so casually about these events, 19 thought: 【…Your father really had a hard life, host.】

Ye Wangxing nodded seriously.

Recalling those years of events that had deeply impacted his young mind, Ye Wangxing also regained his resolve. After experiencing so many things, this matter with Ye Bai wasn’t that big.

—After all, Ye Bai wouldn’t play with that stuff without a sanitary pad.

Thinking this gave Ye Wangxing even more motivation.

Ye Bai also felt his older brother’s efforts. During this period, he not only improved the platform’s mechanisms but even actively contacted other departments to explore additional collaborations based on existing partnerships.

For example, live streaming.

Of course, who would host the streams and the content still needed discussion.

However, due to confidentiality rules, holographic projections couldn’t be used in government departments or offices, so Ye Wangxing had to visit these places himself.

He also avoided dealing with his ex-boyfriends, so he brought Woden along.

“Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is communicating with them, they won’t refuse him face, right?”

Ye Bai heard his brother speak innocently.

To some extent, Woden did have an effect, but…

The way he had an effect was a bit unusual.

Ye Bai watched as Woden simply knocked twice on the door, then confidently pushed it open, and the expression on his older brother’s face in the office immediately darkened.

“Mr. Ye, I believe I am supposed to discuss matters with Count Unobert this time, right?”

Woden said through gritted teeth, not noticing that Count Unobert’s hand rested on the back of Ye Wangxing’s neck and, by seating position, had deliberately taken the guest’s side.

He continued to speak righteously.

“May I ask why you are here and so close to Count Unobert?!”

Ye Bai sighed deeply once again and watched his older brother, like a rescued rabbit, jump out of Count Unobert’s embrace without a word and leave the scene.

He first felt happy for his brother, but then looked at Woden with renewed suspicion.

He had initially thought Woden only struggled with learning because of his pride, but now…

Ye Bai saw Woden send Ye Wangxing away and, in front of the expressionless Count Unobert, proudly present the project materials.

Ye Bai began to doubt whether Woden had realized Count Unobert was nearly angry enough to strike someone.

Woden did not notice.

In fact, he was still proud of finally achieving a zero breakthrough.

During this time, he had stayed in the office, listening to the AI find how much material for him, while he only organized it into reports.

No matter how brilliant or ornate he made these reports and attached detailed plans, there was never a response. Instead, the reports returned with a single additional requirement:

—He had to release all the original materials he had compiled.

This wounded Woden’s pride.

Hadn’t they seen how brilliant the reports were?

How could they deny his ideas?

He was the Crown Prince!

However, whenever he spoke like this, his sharp-tongued cousin would appear just in time to deliver a blow.

“Crown Prince or not, Aunt is still the Emperor, isn’t she? It doesn’t stop her from humbly accepting ministers’ advice!”

Alina proudly held a team report and said: “If you’re weak, practice more. If you can’t take losing, don’t play. You’re not even as lazy as me, who didn’t even read one report.”

This provoked Woden greatly. If it weren’t for considering that a fight would involve their mothers, he could have shown Alina what power really meant.

Unfortunately, he didn’t show it. In the progress meeting, he was even singled out for criticism by the project leader.

Woden decided that once he ascended the throne, he would fire the deputy finance minister.

He had never suffered such humiliation in his life.

He also decided to redeem himself and planned a major achievement to wipe away this shame.

Unexpectedly, as Ye Bai’s brother and platform liaison, Ye Wangxing actually called him over to discuss upcoming platform matters.

Woden thought Ye Wangxing was probably trying to opportunistically take credit, but seeing that Ye Wangxing somewhat appreciated his talent, he decided not to argue.

After all, he had to give Ye Bai face, right?

—Then he dressed almost in full formal attire and went to the liaison departments.

He intended to showcase his talent and, once his plan was accepted, prove Alina and the main person wrong.

Unexpectedly, the Ye Wangxing he had admired tried to steal his credit at the crucial moment. Truly, nothing in life comes for free.

When Woden saw Ye Wangxing embraced by Count Unobert, he was utterly incredulous. He had thought Ye Wangxing appreciated him, but instead, he intended to step on him to advance.

Fortunately, after sending Ye Wangxing away, Woden gave Count Unobert a brilliant presentation, earning applause while Count Unobert smiled.

Count Unobert even recommended that he follow Ye Wangxing to other departments to try the same.

“…Your plan is excellent, Your Highness. Unfortunately, speaking alone won’t suffice. You must go to other departments. Once you convince them, your plan will be perfectly implemented.”

Count Unobert said this smiling, and Woden didn’t notice any underlying resentment.

He thought, indeed, Count Unobert was his true patron.

At this moment, praised Woden finally learned to be cautious. He did not command Ye Wangxing to take him to other departments immediately. After all, what if Ye Wangxing tried to steal credit?

Instead, when Ye Wangxing led him to other departments, Woden would directly find people and report to them.

Through this, Woden confirmed Ye Wangxing’s intent to steal credit.

—After all, Ye Wangxing always stayed extremely close to department heads whenever he opened doors.

Woden indignantly told his friends about this.

“…Unbelievable. Someone as devoted as Ye Bai actually has a brother who will stop at nothing for success.”

As Woden was speaking passionately, he didn’t notice his friends’ hesitant expressions.

“Whether it was General Ortas or my uncle, he didn’t even spare Semos. When I went in, Semos’ face was red with anger!”

Friends: “…”Could it be that Semos wasn’t angry at Ye Wangxing?

Woden didn’t notice. After berating Ye Wangxing, he smugly said to his friends: “Fortunately, I gained their recognition by merit. Tomorrow is the project report meeting. I’m about to take a very important position. Celebrate with me, friends! My mother will regret overlooking me!”

He raised his cup, drank in one gulp, and left the scene.

His friends watched him leave and quietly said: “—Do you think he knows Ye Wangxing’s four ex-boyfriends are the ones who admired him?”

The others shook their heads in unison.

They exchanged looks, then simultaneously raised their cups: “Wishing our Crown Prince all the best.”

Don’t let him be sabotaged.

But obviously, that was impossible.

The next day, at the report meeting, seeing everyone agree on the spot, Woden let out a sharp, explosive cry.

“—You want me, the Crown Prince, to go to the livestream and be a sales host?!”

 

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