After meeting Yu Hua, You Zhengping’s abilities had become controlled. Going from destroying a whole underground practice field to only smashing a desk was a breakthrough development. 

After they were married, the underlings frequently went to You Zhengping’s house to scrounge food. In the process, Cen Xiao had understood why You Zhengping had been able to control his abilities after starting the relationship. 

Yu Hua had a manner that calmed you down. Whenever Cen Xiao came within two meters of him, he would feel a sense of the calm passage of time. 

Every underling who had gone to You Zhengping’s house to scrounge food had expressed that Yu Hua’s cooking really was good. 

Cen Xiao thought that it wasn’t because Yu Hua’s cooking was good; it was because he had forged a harbor for You Zhengping to rest in. 

Yu Hua would carefully observe what everyone liked to eat, what interests they had, and prepare the most suitable food and most comfortable surroundings for everyone to rest in. They could eat the food they liked best. When they were full, they could play around in the living room. Meanwhile, Yu Hua would turn on the TV and listen to the news, followed by the melody of the Fishermen’s Song during the weather forecast, as he conscientiously washed the dishes. 

Smoothness seeped noiselessly into each of their spirits. Each time they needed to recharge their batteries, they would go to You Zhengping’s house to scrounge a meal. One meal later, the next day they’d be brave men once more. 

When Yu Hua had lost his job, never mind You Zhengping, even Cen Xiao had thought Yu Hua’s company was being unfair. He’d gotten together with some friends to quietly investigate the executive in the hospital, hoping to find evidence that they were scamming their employee. But the injured executive’s pretense was too lifelike. If they hadn’t known Yu Hua, they nearly would have believed the contents of the medical records. 

So now, Cen Xiao was in fact serious about helping You Zhengping think of something. 

“What if I say…that I got the money from my dad?” You Zhengping quickly rejected his own idea. “No, my dad was very opposed to it when we got married. Yu Hua promised that he would make me happy. I couldn’t get money from my dad.” 

You Zhengping’s father You Guodong was the only one who knew the truth. He was a national serviceman, and You Zhengping’s relative. He was entitled to know the secrets of the Protectors. Comrade You Guodong hadn’t been opposed to You Zhengping marrying; he’d been opposed to his son concealing the facts about the Protectors from his closest companion. Because of this, even though You Guodong had been the one to make their blind date possible, he had also been the greatest obstruction when they got married. 

You Guodong thought that there had to be mutual openness between companions. Marriage meant that they were going to undertake certain responsibilities together. He could conceal the Protectors from anyone, but not from his husband. But You Zhengping knew that what Yu Hua wanted was a peaceful life. He wanted to protect Yu Hua’s peace and normalcy, so he had stubbornly refused to tell him the truth. 

You Zhengping had decided to shoulder a heavy weight going forward to protect Yu Hua’s calm passage through time. 

The father and son’s ideas conflicted. They had a big fight. You Guodong publicly announced that he was going to break off relations with You Zhengping. It was because Yu Hua had gone again and again to You Guodong to sincerely express that while he was only an “ordinary” person, he would definitely use his practical actions to prove that he could live a “peaceful” life with You Zhengping. This led to You Guodong being unable to hear words like “peaceful” and “ordinary.” He thought his son had tricked Yu Hua, a nice young man living an earnest life. 

You Zhengping and Cen Xiao knew all the details of the situation, but in Yu Hua’s impressions, You Guodong was opposed to them being together. Asking You Guodong for money to tide them over would be an expression of lack of trust in Yu Hua. You Zhengping couldn’t do that. 

“So what should I do?” You Zhengping sat half-dead in the passenger’s seat, feeling very sad. “He’s so unhappy, and I have the money to help him, but I can’t take it out. It’s so frustrating.” 

“I think the most critical thing is to help him find a job,” Cen Xiao said after thinking about it. “Yu Hua is a planner. He must have kept an emergency fund. Even if compensating for the medical expenses cost a lot, the remaining money should still last for a month or two. During that time, you have to encourage him to submit resumes, look for work, and find a job with a good monthly salary as soon as possible. Then he won’t be so worried.” 

You Zhengping’s eyes lit up. Not for nothing was Cen Xiao his top adviser. He could think of a way. 

But he quickly said, “What if…he can’t find a job? What then? On the day he was fired, Yu Hua came home and said that him hitting the executive had made a big impression, everyone in the circle knew, so it would be hard for him to find a high-paying job in the near future.” 

“Isn’t that easy?” Cen Xiao said. “Each of us Protectors has a support staff quota, and they’re formal staff members. First tell him that our subdistrict office is recruiting temporary workers. Have him work for a month, then transfer him to another position. In half a year, he can take the formal staff examination. Then you’d be perfectly justified in giving him the support staff position.” 

“Good idea!” You Zhengping gave Cen Xiao a thumbs up. 

Cen Xiao continued, “The support staff’s wages aren’t high, but you can supplement them with your subsidy! Yu Hua’s work ability is definitely first rate. No matter how much you gave him in merit bonuses, it wouldn’t be overboard. You can use your subsidy to supplement his merit pay, and he can support you again.” 

“This idea of yours is really excellent!” You Zhengping finally cheered up a little. 

This way, he could use merit payments or bonuses to “launder money,” “laundering” his private savings into the household’s joint funds bit by bit, and Yu Hua wouldn’t need to worry about money again. 

Having thought of a solution, You Zhengping finally concentrated his thoughts on the peacock man who had suddenly appeared at the subdistrict office’s door. He and Cen Xiao hurried to the public security bureau and used their internal accounts to investigate the peacock man’s personal files. 

His name was Zhen Li, twenty-one years old, residing in You Zhengping and the others’ jurisdiction of the Xuyang District. He was a born and bred Xuyang District native, graduating this year from Xuyang University. His identity information, residence permit, and education record were all real. 

“Looks like there’s no problem. Could it be that we were so distracted we didn’t notice him?” Cen Xiao asked. 

Staring at all the information in the materials, You Zhengping shook his head. “Zhen Li’s parents both died in a car crash in his third year of university. After the funeral, he sold their home, moved out of the university dorm, and rented off-campus housing. He found the apartment through an agency and didn’t have much contact with the landlord. His grades were average, he had little interaction with his schoolmates. His academic advisor doesn’t remember him well. This is his photo from his time at school.” 

The photograph was of a person wearing black-framed glasses, not bad-looking, but plain and subdued, a completely different person from the peacock man they had seen. 

“But this is the ID photo on his student ID,” Cen Xiao said. “Most ID photos are plain, and anyway, the materials say that not long after his parents died, he started frequenting nightclubs. He had little contact with his schoolmates, but played it up at the nightclubs. There are also records here of him booking rooms at all the big hotels. With that kind of experience, it’s normal for the photograph not to match the person himself.” 

“I’m not questioning his change of character,” You Zhengping said alertly. “What I’m concerned about is that he isn’t close to anyone. His parents died, he fell out of touch with his friends, and drifted apart from his schoolmates. His academic advisor doesn’t remember him well. His landlord rarely comes in contact with him. The only people who have close contact with him are the ones who also spend all their time at nightclubs. Have another look at the people who booked the hotel rooms with him.”

Cen Xiao looked carefully at the list of names. There were over a hundred records. Zhen Li’s companions were male or female, young or old. In over a hundred names, there weren’t any repetitions. 

“Someone different every night,” Cen Xiao said contemplatively. “That indicates his partners may not remember him clearly.” 

“If they were drunk, they may not even clearly remember getting the room,” You Zhengping said confidently. “This is the sort of person who could disappear without anyone reporting it. With this background, he could come and go without making any noise.” 

Cen Xiao acknowledged You Zhengping’s reasoning. “So there is something wrong. Do we arrest him?” 

You Zhengping said, “Let’s wait and follow him for a time, determine his identity, investigate his goal.” 

Cen Xiao started at You Zhengping.

“What?” said You Zhengping. 

Cen Xiao shook his head. “Nothing, I was just thinking your IQ is actually pretty high.” 

“Of course.” You Zhengping’s eyes widened. “How do you think I got to be group leader for the Xuyang District Protectors? Something other than testing in on the public examination?” 

Cen Xiao: “…” 

I really can’t see any of that cleverness in your romance. Could you split off a bit of that IQ for love?

—

While You Zhengping and the others were following up on the peacock man Zhen Li, Yu Hua was struggling to do housework. 

The Xuyang District’s express delivery was highly efficient within the city. After less than two hours, the new furniture and kitchenware were delivered. The delivery man came to the door, put the table where Yu Hua indicated, put the plates on the table, then left, leaving Yu Hua alone, staring at these items. 

Though he had bought new things, he still had to wash and clean up. 

Yu Hua exerted a lot of effort to wash the dishes, wipe them dry, and arrange them on the shelves. As he did this, he focused and kept his breathing calm, his energy highly concentrated, afraid that with one breath he would blow the tableware to pieces. 

Only when he had managed to wash the dishes did Yu Hua realize that during the whole washing process, he hadn’t breathed at all. 

With his focus constantly increasing, he had awoken another ability—turtle breath. 

Yu Hua had once carried out a mission on a world entirely without oxygen. His highest record for holding his breath was thirteen years and six months, which was how long it had taken him to finally complete his mission. Yu Hua even suspected that if it had taken him longer to complete the mission, then the time he held his breath may also have been prolonged. 

After wiping the table, Yu Hua sighed. He was tired, really tired. 

Using his current strength to wash dishes without breaking them, wipe the table without crushing it, was like an ordinary person stepping on an egg but controlling his strength so as not to harm it. The mental energy and control it took was hard for the average person to imagine. It really was too hard. 

Having managed all this, Yu Hua still had to go out to get a cell phone. 

He looked at the remains of the phone and sighed. You Zhengping had saved his wages for four months to buy him that phone. He’d been using it less than two months. Yu Hua was very upset about the phone breaking. This was You Zhengping’s heart’s blood, after all. 

Yu Hua yearned for the life of an ordinary person. He absolutely couldn’t imagine how hard You Zhengping, whose monthly salary was only 2500, had worked to save so much money to buy him such a costly cell phone. This was such a commonplace yet precious experience, worthy of being treasured all his life, and the phone had broken just like that. He was very sad. 

Yu Hua spent some time being upset, then found a metal box and put the remains of the phone into the box and secretly hid it under the bed. When he had awoken his repairing ability, he would definitely fix the phone! 

Before You Zhengping came home, Yu Hua went to a nearby mall to buy an identical phone, attempting to cover up. 

Yu Hua wasn’t short on money. When he had made his final wish, the System had given him an award in this world’s money, placing a hundred million in his bank account in the form of a legacy. It was regular capital in this world. Using it wouldn’t have an impact on the financial market. 

But Yu Hua didn’t want to touch that money. He liked the feeling of using his own hands to create value. He had persisted in not using it for over a decade, but this week, he had repeatedly broken his resolution, using his private savings many times to buy furniture. 

As he picked up the new phone, Yu Hua remembered You Zhengping’s concerned expression that morning, his heart aching faintly. 

When they had gotten married, he had promised You Guodong that he would take care of You Zhengping with his own efforts. Now that he had lost his job and was causing his companion so much worry, Yu Hua felt he really was useless. 

Their household savings had always been public. You Zhengping would only have to check the bank card balance to know that their savings were only enough to pay this month’s mortgage, and Yu Hua wouldn’t necessarily be able to control his strength this month. If he was unable to control his strength, Yu Hua didn’t dare to look for work. If he went to work and hurt another person, he didn’t have the money to cover medical expenses again. 

Holding the phone, Yu Hua thought that he had to find an excuse to move a bit of the money in his private account into the household account to keep You Zhengping from worrying. 

How should he “launder” his private savings into the household assets? Yu Hua sighed lengthily. 

An ordinary person’s life was very hard. 

---

Author's Note

You Zhengping: How can I transfer over three million in private savings into the household account?

Yu Hua: What should I do to transfer a hundred million in private savings into the household account? 

Messrs. Melancholy¹: Ah, why is it so hard to have a nice life?  

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Translator's Note

¹The author frequently refers to the leads collectively as 忧郁先生; 忧郁 (yōuyù, “melancholy”) uses almost the same characters as their surnames, 尤 (yóu) and 郁 (yù). (“Messrs.” is a rarely-used plural form of “Mr.”)