Qing Xu - "Poem? What poem? You want to write a poem?" Part 1

With a great weight lifted from his heart, Yu Zhen felt his soul lighten. Coincidentally, the designer for the Leisure Center project sent over the new design draft, so he gathered his thoughts, focused with all his might, and threw himself completely into the work that followed.

The new design draft submitted by the designer was revised according to Yin Yan's ideas. The triangular exterior shape was retained, but it was changed into a rounded teardrop shape. The overall area was also reduced significantly, freeing up a large surrounding area for landscaping.

The Stargazing Platform was still kept, but the ceiling of the highest floor in the spherical center beneath the "teardrop" was replaced with adjustable transparent glass. From high above, that glass ceiling looked like the reflection formed when light shines on a teardrop.

"It's so beautiful."

Yu Zhen held the design renderings and looked at them again and again, his eyes full of adoration. He turned his head to look at Yin Yan and said, "I heard this designer is still very young? His designs are so inspired, truly amazing."

Yin Yan, who was flipping through files, looked up at him upon hearing his words. With a flick of his hand, a pagoda-shaped Magic Tool appeared in his palm.

Yu Zhen's gaze immediately shifted over, and his eyes instantly lit up. He dropped the design draft and leaned closer, saying, "What is this? It's beautiful."

The pagoda was indeed very beautiful. Its shape was different from a conventional pagoda; it only had three tiers, with very rounded and cute curves all around. The entire body was made of various gemstones. Although many colors were used, it didn't look messy, but rather had a stunning quality created by the color contrasts.

The cutest part was a lifelike little lion squatting on the pagoda's spire. It looked like a round, naive cub, its head tilted slightly, so cute it could make your heart flutter.

Yin Yan glanced at the design draft he had tossed on the sofa, feeling pleased. With a flick of his hand, the palm-sized pagoda shrank to the size of a fingernail. He gestured for him to hold out his hand and said, "This is a Spatial Magic Treasure I casually refined when I first started learning Item Refining. You have to go through Xu Wu every time you store or retrieve things from the space, which is very inconvenient. This is for you."

Yu Zhen obediently held out his hand, staring at the pagoda in Yin Yan's hand, which looked even cuter after shrinking. He said, "A piece from when you first started learning Item Refining must be very memorable. Isn't it a bit much to give it to me...?"

Although he said that, his outstretched hand didn't retract.

"You say one thing but mean another."

Yin Yan tapped the hand he extended and said, "Not this hand, the other one."

His thoughts having been seen through, Yu Zhen felt a little embarrassed. He obediently switched hands and stopped feigning reluctance.

Yin Yan took his hand, pulled out the Red String on his wrist, and attached the pagoda to it. "There are some trinkets inside," he said. "You can take a look later. Anything you don't want, you can give to Xu Wu to put into the space."

The warmth that had just risen from their clasped hands vanished. Yu Zhen glanced at the Red String on his wrist, then at Yin Yan's handsome hands. He fiddled with the pagoda and asked, seemingly casually, "I heard that powerful Cultivators like to establish sects and accept many disciples. What about you? Do you have your own sect? How many disciples have you taken?"

As soon as the question was asked, the gentle and leisurely aura around Yin Yan instantly dissipated. Though his expression remained calm, Yu Zhen keenly sensed a brief flicker of melancholy from him.

"I'm not powerful."

Yin Yan lowered his head, picked up the file again, and replied, "I only have one disciple, and can only ever have one."

Yu Zhen hadn't expected such an answer and was a bit stunned. He touched the Red String on his wrist and glanced at the sight of Yin Yan seriously flipping through the file. A sour feeling suddenly rose in his heart, and his spirits sank. After a soft hum, he ended the topic, turned to walk back to the sofa, sat down, and picked up the design draft to hide his face, lost in a daze.

Only one disciple, and can only ever have one.

Although Yin Yan had guided him into Entering the Dao, helped him accumulate Merit, taught him cultivation methods, and done everything a Master would do for a disciple, the other man had no intention of accepting him as one.

In fact, before this conversation, the thought of becoming Yin Yan's disciple had never crossed his mind.

But never having thought of it was one thing; suddenly learning that he would never have the hope or chance to obtain that status, it would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed and sad.

That position—the one that could rightfully enjoy Yin Yan's care and stay by his side with peace of mind—was already occupied by an irreplaceable person.

...I'm so envious.

His straight back slowly slumped as he leaned back into the sofa.

The person who could make Yin Yan decide to only take one disciple in his entire life must be very outstanding.

In any case, definitely better than himself with his incomplete soul.

Only one... Who in this world wouldn't want to exclusively occupy a certain position by someone's side and receive all the affection that came with it?

Yin Yan was so good; being his disciple must be blissful... But he himself had no hope of that anymore.

That's right. Although his and Yin Yan's fates were connected, they were together, in the end, to survive.

Theirs was a cooperative relationship. They didn't have a deep emotional foundation or a solid familial bond beforehand. Moreover, ever since they met, it had always been Yin Yan taking care of him.

Lately, he had been acting too presumptuous and willful in front of Yin Yan. Life had been going smoothly, and the feeling of being protected and watched over was too good, so he had unconsciously grown greedy. He wanted more, wanted to test the other's boundaries, wanted a more legitimate status to justifiably stay by his side.

He used to think that the best outcome for him and Yin Yan was to go their separate ways and have their own new lives after completing each other's souls. But thinking about it now, he only felt that separating was an incredibly cruel thing.

Carefully moving the design draft aside, he watched Yin Yan flip through the files, indulging his own desires for a moment, thinking silently.

If only he could also become the other's disciple, then he could justifiably cling to his side and never leave.

"What are you thinking about?" Yin Yan suddenly looked up and asked softly.

Yu Zhen snapped back to his senses, and in a rush of blood to the head, couldn't help but say, "Yin Yan, if you only want to take one disciple, then... then what about a grand-disciple? My soul is incomplete and my cultivation aptitude seems terrible, but it's better to stick with someone you know than a stranger. What do you think of me?"

Yin Yan put down the file. It was probably a trick of the light, but Yu Zhen thought he saw him smile for a second.

"No, you're too stupid."

Yin Yan replied decisively, then lowered his head and picked up the file again, being utterly cold and heartless.

"..."

Yu Zhen stared at him, and kept staring at him. The little disappointment and worry in his heart suddenly disappeared, replaced by a touch of anger. He stood up, walked over, snatched the file from his hands, and said while holding his breath, "Stingy! I'm going back to the apartment! You can go to the construction site by yourself!"

After speaking, he turned and left, deliberately tossing the snatched file onto the sofa.

Bang.

The study door closed.

Yin Yan looked up at the door for a long time. With a wave of his hand, the file from the sofa returned to his grasp. A soft chuckle sounded. "Xu Wu, follow him closely."

The white cat appeared, meowed obediently, then concealed its form and passed through the door.

The moment he stepped out of the study, Yu Zhen regretted it. Going to the construction site was work; for him to just say he wasn't going was too much, and it was a great disservice to Yin Hexiang's previous expectations of him.

...And he had just been unable to stop himself from acting presumptuously towards Yin Yan again.

He hooked the Red String on his wrist in frustration, then quickly pulled down his sleeve to cover it. He glanced back at the study door, hesitated, then returned to his room for his jacket and headed out.

I haven't fed the flowers in the Revolving Vessel today. I-I'll just go check on the Revolving Vessel first. At worst, I'll come back as soon as I'm done.

Seeing that he was about to leave, the family driver came over and offered to drive him.

Yu Zhen thought about it but declined the offer. He took the keys to another, more low-key black sedan from the house and drove out by himself.

Once the car turned onto the main road, he couldn't help but start reflecting again.

Look, just look. How long has it been, and he was already used to a life of being chauffeured and driving everywhere he went.

There were clearly buses and subways right outside the community, but he hadn't considered them at all.

And these ridiculously expensive clothes he was wearing. He had felt uncomfortable in them at first, but now he was very casual about it.

It's easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to frugal. He had become decadent, far too decadent.

In the future, when he and Yin Yan separated and he left Yin Yan's circle, his current self, who was being kept like a rice worm, would surely be knocked back to his original form. Then, he and Yin Yan would be worlds apart, likely never to cross paths again.

Make money!

His gaze suddenly firmed, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Make big money! And then treat Yin Yan as well as he possibly could. If he couldn't be a disciple or grand-disciple, then he'd go back to his original idea and treat Yin Yan as family!

Yin Yan was so good to him, so good that he didn't want to be separated from him at all. Then... then he would be good to Yin Yan too, twice as good, so good that Yin Yan wouldn't be able to leave him either.

Mm! That's right!

He forcefully affirmed this to himself. Seeing the red light ahead turn green, he felt it was a sign of the turning point in his relationship with Yin Yan. He took his foot off the brake at the perfect moment and smoothly drove through the intersection.

And then... bang.

A van that had run a red light suddenly shot out from the side. He couldn't dodge in time and was scraped by it diagonally.

His eyes widened in fright, and his mind went blank for two seconds after he slammed on the brakes. In the rearview mirror, he saw a police officer from the nearby post blowing a whistle and walking over. The panic of an honest person getting into trouble for the first time washed over him. He instinctively pulled out his phone, dialed Yin Yan, and said as soon as the call connected, "Yin... Yin Yan, I caused trouble. A car accident..."

In the study, Yin Yan's aura tightened upon hearing this. Without a second word, he put down his file, stood up, and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm coming right now."

The van and the black sedan both pulled over to the side of the road. A large patch of paint was scraped off the front side of the black sedan, and the van's front also had a large scratch, with the surface slightly dented.

The van driver was a middle-aged man, accompanied by a young man about Yu Zhen's age.

The determination of responsibility came out quickly. It was completely undisputed that the van was fully at fault.

He had crossed a solid line to overtake at an intersection and tried to run a red light. Yu Zhen was driving normally, with no faults at all.