Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life - Chap 18

After the melancholy husbands left the studio, Zhen Li, on his own, earnestly considered how to earn money in the future.

Yu Hua had only given him three years, and it wasn’t three years to earn a hundred million; it was three years to distribute a hundred million to Yu Hua. There was an essential difference there.

According to the contract, Yu Hua’s salary wasn’t high at all. It would be unreasonable to give a newly-hired employee too high a salary. Even if he gave Yu Hua an annual salary of a million, he still couldn’t launder a hundred million in three years.

What was really worth working on was Yu Hua’s 40% of the stock. That was the company’s income, not Yu Hua’s salary.

So he had to make the studio a success in order to be able to make room for a hundred million to exist.

The only method Zhen Li had for making the studio a success was to sell his looks.

But now, a small mirror had appeared in front of him with these unfeeling words written on it.

He and Yu Hua had already settled the means for making money, but now he was telling him to disfigure his face. If he disfigured his face, how was he going to make money?

Zhen Li was in deep agony. He said towards the empty mirror, “Can’t I think of another way? I’ll…start a ship with someone else, or I’ll go to a night club and drink to drown my sorrows, act like I like women… No, I don’t like men to start with, I don’t like anyone, why do I have to disfigure my face?”

Before he’d finished crying out, the unfeeling Yu Hua had put the makeup mirror away. Because You Zhengping had come back after settling the bill and Yu Hua couldn’t let his husband see him looking in a makeup mirror for no reason, he didn’t hear what Zhen Li had said.

Seeing that the mirror had disappeared and that the great master showed no sign of paying attention to him, Zhen Li turned on his phone camera, took a selfie, and posted to the livestream website: High-resolution, no makeup, no touch-ups, no filters. Leaving a commemoration. I won’t have a chance after this [photo].

[When I read high-resolution and no makeup, I thought I was going to see a face full of blackheads and uneven skin tone, but it’s actually still so good-looking. Is President Zhen deliberately showing off his looks?]

[I’ve been staring for ages at the table and chair and blinds to evaluate it, there really is no beauty filter, no Photoshopping, it’s an original.]

[I don’t believe your skin looks that good without makeup. Let me come tug on your eyelashes, how can a human being have such long eyelashes? They have to be false!]

[Is the one who wants to pull on his eyelashes a demon? What if you tear the real ones out? I’m different, let me run my fingertips through your thick black hair, I don’t believe your hair is real, how could a modern young man not be going bald?]

[Am I the only one who noticed the part about not having a chance after this? Is President Zhen planning to retire from being an internet celebrity, or is he going to become a makeup promoter and not appear on camera without makeup again?]

“Neither…” Zhen Li said to himself, reading the comments.

He favorited the comments praising his looks and promoted the nice-sounding ones.

After leaving a commemoration of his face, Zhen Li ordered takeout. It was all alcohol.

Carrying three boxes containing baijiu, red wine, and beer, he went to a little park near the office building. He opened a can of beer and started to drink sorrowfully.

Zhen Li couldn’t touch his face while sober. He also didn’t want Yu Hua to do it himself tomorrow. If he let the great master do it, he might lose more than his face.

Zhen Li was planning to get drunk and run headfirst into one the park’s old trees, get himself bloody and break his nose. He thought it would be worthwhile to repay the great master for saving his life. Yu Hua had deleted his System and left him his wardrobe and alternate dimension stomach. Even if he didn’t have his looks, he’d still have clothes and good food.

Zhen Li’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t high. He was somewhat drunk after four cans of beer.

He staggered over to throw the beer cans into a trash can, then opened a bottle of red wine.

His sense of taste was being gradually numbed by the stimulus of the alcohol. He started not being able to taste the bite of the alcohol. He only felt that the bottle of wine he’d just opened was sweet, and started chugging it like a soft drink.

With a 750 ml bottle of red wine in his belly, Zhen Li was already quite drunk. He stood up and stared at the wine bottle, dimly considering how seriously injured he would be if he smashed the bottle over his head.

After looking at it for a while, Zhen Li shook his head and said, “No, the sanitation workers will have trouble sweeping the glass away, and it might hurt the feet of the cats and dogs in the park. It’s uncivilized, impolite, and environmentally unfriendly.”

He obediently dropped the wine bottle into the trash can and quietly put his head back to look at a big tree.

“I’d like to eat a skewer. I forgot to order one just now.” Before running into the tree, Zhen Li decided to have a good meal.

He fished out his phone, vaguely planning to order takeout. Then he saw an elderly man walking towards him with a birdcage in his left hand and a bag full of fragrant prepared food in his right.

Smelling the prepared food, Zhen Li looked quietly at the elderly man and saw the elderly man stop in front of him. He asked involuntarily, “Did you buy that? Can you finish all that tonight? Could I buy half of it?”

The elderly man cheerfully sat on a park bench and said to Zhen Li, “Young fellow, I bought some food and want some alcohol to accompany it. You have quite a bit of alcohol there. How about we swap?”

Zhen Li nodded repeatedly. Red-faced, he rushed to pass the elderly man a bottle of baijiu.

“Here, that’s for you.” The elderly man passed Zhen Li a bag of prepared food.

Zhen Li saw the elderly open the bag and prepare to grab the food bare-handed. He quickly said, “Don’t, it’s unsanitary. The baijiu isn’t for drinking, it’s to wash your hands to disinfect them.”

“Disinfect, disinfect!” the parrot in the birdcage shouted.

“You’re pretty meddlesome.” The elderly man coldly swept his gaze over Zhen Li’s bleary eyes. The two of them luxuriously used 100 proof baijiu to disinfect their hands, then drank beer accompanied by prepared food.

After gnawing on a chicken leg and drinking two more cans of beer, Zhen Li was thoroughly drunk.

The night wind caressed his face. He looked at the elderly man in front of him and started to wail. “I can’t stand it, I really can’t stand it, what should I do?”

The elderly man hadn’t expected him to burst into a drunken fit and even start crying just like that. He said in astonishment, “What can’t you stand?”

Zhen Li pointed to his own face. “Do you know how many years I’ve loved it? Ever since I’ve had an appreciation for beauty, I’ve loved it, cherished it, taken all kinds of pains to protect it. Even when I got into the car accident, I only thought of protecting it. I love it so much, why would it leave me?”

People out at night heard a young fellow crying his lungs out. They faintly heard expressions like “love” and “can’t stand” and “leave me” and sighed to themselves. Another heartbroken man who’d been broken up with.

“Wait, let me take this slowly.” The elderly man screwed his finger in his ear and said in astonishment, “What do you love?”

“My face, of course,” Zhen Li said, sobbing. “I don’t love men, and I don’t love women, either. I only love the hundreds of thousands of clothes in my wardrobe, and this face, which is worthy of those clothes. I don’t want to hurt other people. Why am I so unlucky?”

He hiccuped drunkenly, calculated his running speed, and took a few steps towards a far off tree trunk. He got into a running-up posture aimed at the tree trunk.

“What are you even doing?” The elderly man was stupefied, so stupefied he tore off his white mustache all at once. He carelessly stuck the mustache back onto his face, but because he was too anxious, he not only didn’t get the mustache to stick, he also tore off a piece of the wrinkled skin stuck to his face.

“I have to part from my beloved, use it to memorialize my new life,” the intoxicated Zhen Li said expressively. “Since ancient times, gratitude and loyalty have forced people to make hard choices. If you keep to one, you can’t keep to the other. Hic! I can’t say more, if I say more the alcohol will wear off. Without the courage of alcohol, how can I accomplish this arduous task?”

He backed up a step and ran towards the big tree as fast as he could.

“You’re crazy!” The “elderly man” dashed to the tree in one big stride. He was in time to block Zhen Li.

Zhen Li crashed headfirst into the “elderly man”’s chest and drunkenly lifted his head. He asked, “What are you doing? I just managed to work myself up to run.”

His tone was pretty unhappy.

“Zhen Li, are you stupid? You crashed into me pretty hard, it hurts a lot,” the “elderly man” said, clenching his teeth and covering his chest. Zhen Li had never introduced himself, but in this moment of desperation, the “elderly man” had used his name.

But Zhen Li was already so drunk he had no sense of vigilance. He couldn’t tell what the “elderly man” meant. He only murmured, “Why did you stop me?”

The “elderly man” put his arms around Zhen Li, who couldn’t stand upright. He seemed to be holding him up, but in reality he said quietly into his ear, “Zhen Li, the Clearing League sent me to assist you. I’ve noticed that you seem to be in trouble. Do you know the final big boss’s identity?”

It had been all right before he’d mentioned the final big boss. When he did, Zhen Li’s drunken fit got worse. He didn’t say a word about who the big boss was. All he wanted to do was to run into the tree to disfigure his face.

There was nothing for the “elderly man” to do. He could only knock Zhen Li unconscious and clean up the scene in the park to avoid leaving behind his fingerprints and DNA.

After cleaning everything, he helped the unconscious Zhen Li into an off-road car parked by the side of the road.

An off-road car stopped in the melancholy husbands’ garage. Yu Hua got out of the car and opened the door for You Zhengping, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat. The two of them had returned home after finishing dinner.

Since You Zhengping had started working as an auxiliary police officer and had had a motor scooter to use as his means of transportation, their car had been left to Yu Hua to drive. He had originally bought this new car for You Zhengping. After picking the car up, You Zhengping had taken his friends out for a spin. Cutting the ribbon on the car had been secondary; the primary thing had been to flaunt it.

But now that Yu Hua had lost his job and You Zhengping had chosen more difficult work, the off-road car instead belonged to Yu Hua.

Every time he drove this car, Yu Hua inwardly resolved that he had to bring back those contended and peaceful days.

The two of them came home. When they had just opened the door, Yu Hua felt that there was something faintly off about the air inside the apartment.

Lian Yufan’s squad had been very careful while searching the apartment. They hadn’t left a mark. They hadn’t even changed the positions of the hairs on the floor. They had really succeeded in coming and going without a trace.

But Yu Hua still noticed that outsiders had been in his home. He didn’t determine this based on evidence. It was his acumen as a leveler. As soon as he walked through the door he felt that there was breath mixed into the air that didn’t belong to him or You Zhengping, like a wild animal waking with a start when it felt its territory had been invaded by a small animal.

Even though he had absorbed the energy of Zhen Li’s system, all of Yu Hua’s abilities were still gradually recovering and couldn’t be restrained.

Having noticed this, Yu Hua couldn’t resist squeezing his arms. He needed a new leveler, new energy from the System to restrain his power, which was growing stronger by the day.

Yu Hua had expected that his house would be searched in secret. He had known that the Protection Organization’s investigation would include this step. Yu Hua suspected that a camera may have been planted in the house. Until he was relieved of suspicion, he had to pretend not to notice that he was being observed.

Yu Hua naturally took off his jacket, then casually got You Zhengping’s home clothing for him. Seeing his husband agreeably change clothes, Yu Hua felt displeased. He had wanted to have an intimate moment with You Zhengping, but he wasn’t going to do back strength exercises while being watched by the Protection Organization. Tonight he had to remain steady.

But You Zhengping didn’t know about that. He’d been paid today and the two of them had just had dinner. You Zhengping had also been jealous of Zhen Li. If they didn’t do anything tonight, then it really would seem like there had been a cooling of feelings.

Yu Hua was in a very awkward position.

As he changed clothes You Zhengping secretly observed their home. He relaxed slightly when he saw that Lian Yufan’s squad hadn’t left any revealing marks behind.

He had agreed with Director Xiao’s request to cooperate with the investigation into Yu Hua, but his condition had been that they couldn’t plant surveillance in the apartment. You Zhengping could observe Yu Hua up close; others couldn’t.

You Zhengping knew that the house was safe and there weren’t any outsiders watching, but that damn Lian Yufan had hidden a listening device on him somewhere!

He must have sneakily stuck it onto his skin during the work handover. Lian Yufan had used some means to keep You Zhengping from noticing or even finding out where the listening device was.

You Zhengping didn’t want others to hear their conjugal interactions, but Yu Hua had gotten a job today and had a new goal for the future. The atmosphere was really good. Something would definitely happen.

You Zhengping was in a very awkward position.

The two worried people changed into loose home clothes. Each harboring his own thoughts, each disturbed, they smiled warmly and hugged each other, their lips getting closer and closer…

“I have to go brush my teeth, I ate garlic chives tonight,” You Zhengping said.

“I’ll go take a shower, I’m all sweaty,” Yu Hua said.

The couple came up with excuses at the same time. Each seeing that the other had something to do, they inwardly thought at the same time, “Great!”

The apartment Yu Hua had bought was large, fully two-hundred square meters. It had a big kitchen and three bathrooms. The two sunward-facing bedrooms each had a bathroom, and there was a public one in a corner of the living room.

The two of them quickly ran to different bathrooms to shower. While showering, You Zhengping received a message from Lian Yufan, saying that he had found important evidence, telling You Zhengping to return to the base as soon as possible.

Cen Xiao cooperated with Lian Yufan, sending You Zhengping a text message saying they needed to work overtime.

You Zhengping showed the text message to Yu Hua, who had just finished showering, then quickly got dressed and left. Before going, he left Yu Hua with an apologetic kiss.

Seeing that You Zhengping had to work overtime to carry out his assignment, Yu Hua worried about his husband working so hard. At the same time, he relaxed, inwardly celebrating how fortunate it was that You Zhengping was working overtime. Otherwise they would definitely have been spied on tonight.

When You Zhengping was gone, Yu Hua walked aimlessly around the apartment, feigning boredom, while in reality secretly inspecting the apartment.

Before getting in bed and going to sleep, he deliberately pushed his phone onto the floor “by accident.” While bending down to pick up the phone, Yu Hua stealthily looked under the bed.

That one look made Yu Hua’s heart jump—the box with the cell phone was gone.

The phone that You Zhengping had saved his salary for four months in order to give him, the one Yu Hua had broken half a month ago because his power had greatly increased, the one he had been planning to repair once his restoring ability had awakened, was gone.

Author’s Note
The levelers in the eyes of the Protectors: Destroyers, treacherous, savage, malignant tumors that have to be removed.

The levelers in the eyes of the System: Tools to keep the System functioning normally, toys, chess pieces to use for getting rid of Yu Hua.

The levelers in the eye of Yu Hua: Perfect medicinal supplements. Let’s have another one, I’m about to bring the house down again!