First thing next morning, the handsome uncle Protector once again dropped Zhen Li into his space, and he was returned in confusion to the Xuyang district, left in a park with no people in it. 

Zhen Li blankly walked two circles around the park, saw the elderly men and women taking their morning walks nearby, and felt bewildered. Had he been let go just like that? 

Why had they let him go? Zhen Li didn’t understand it at all. 

Truthfully, Zhen Li felt his intelligence wasn’t up to following that master who had sent him messages through the mirror. He didn’t understand what the master’s next move was. 

So Zhen Li, in the park, quietly said, “Sir, great master, senior? Are you there? What should I do next?” 

For a while, he called out like a thief. An elderly man carrying a bird and wearing traditional dress was quietly watching Zhen Li from off to the side. 

Zhen Li: “…” 

He spoke in a forced voice: “Ahem, I was exercising my voice.” 

The elderly man smiled. “There aren’t many young people who are up as early as you.” 

The parrot that the elderly man was carrying flapped its wings and loudly said, “Great master, are you there? Great master, are you there?” 

Zhen Li sucked in a breath. He’d been very quiet, how had the parrot heard him? 

He stiffened his face, got wireless earbuds out of his pocket, and put them in his ears. “Great master, e-sports great master, are you there? Are you sleeping? What’s my next step after my big move?” 

After some aimless play-acting with the unconnected Bluetooth, Zhen Li scratched his head towards the elderly man and smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t get up early. I just haven’t been to sleep yet. I thought since it was morning anyway, I’d go right to the park to move around, then go to sleep after I ate.” 

The elderly man shook his head and was about to say something when Zhen Li quickly continued, “We young people have unhealthy living habits.” 

The parrot repeated after Zhen Li: “Unhealthy living habits, unhealthy living habits.” 

Following his very imperfect cover-up, Zhen Li trotted away from park. He had to find a mirror and contact the great master! 

When Zhen Li left, the elderly man walking in the park stared at his back, tapped the parrot’s head, and said with a kindly smile, “Parrot, oh, parrot, do you think he’s really dumb or playing dumb?” 

The parrot spread its wings and said, “Really dumb, really dumb!” 

“I also think he’s really dumb.” The elderly man stroked his mustache. He used too much force, tearing the false mustache off. 

“Really dumb, really dumb!” The parrot hopped around in its cage; it was unclear whether it was mocking Zhen Li or the elderly man who had torn off his mustache. 

After fleeing the elderly man, Zhen Li returned to his underground little dark room in a flutter. 

He was starting to understand why so many levelers had been lost in this world. There were people with super powers among the natives of this world. They were organized and disciplined, hidden in the crowd like ordinary people, so you couldn’t take precautions against them. 

Maybe their individual strength wasn’t great, but gathered together to safeguard the world, they could exert tremendous force. 

Unless the levelers overturned the whole world’s power, they couldn’t defeat this unknowably huge hidden organization.

No wonder the System had been unable to open this world all along. 

So how had the big boss that the System wanted to destroy hidden himself in this world? Who was the person who had contacted him through the mirror? Did the target of the System’s mission have a connection with the Protection Organization? Zhen Li’s head was full of question marks, and he couldn’t find any answers. 

The great master had told him through the mirror that the Protection Organization had let him go to act as bait, to lure in the other levelers who had come to complete the mission. Then wouldn’t his every move be harmful to the other levelers? 

Zhen Li rubbed his chest. He understood that there were good people and bad people among the levelers, and there were many people who were as bewildered as he was. The levelers who had forced him to come to this unopened world to test the waters were bad people. Zhen Li had no objection to cooperating with the World Protection Organization to get rid of those people. But there were also many more people trapped inside the System. They didn’t want to hurt others; they only wanted to survive. They might choose to come fulfill the mission. Zhen Li didn’t want to harm these people. 

He went into the bathroom. There was a mirror over the sink. Zhen Li quietly said towards the mirror, “Great master, if you can see me through the mirror, can you tell me what to do next?” 

Zhen Li waited for a long time. The mirror over the sink reflected his face. 

The housekeeping workman chatted with Yu Hua while mounting the mirror over the sink. “Why not change to a better mirror?” 

Yu Hua said, “If I change to a better mirror, it won’t match the sink anymore. In a couple of years, I’ll change them together.” 

“Fair.” The housekeeping workman aimed at the original mirror’s position and got to work. 

Even though You Zhengping had said he would only be home in the afternoon, Yu Hua was still uneasy. He thought that the faster the mirror was mounted, the sooner he could relax. So he had called the housekeeping company first thing in the morning and raised the price to have the workman come earlier to mount it. 

After the mirror was mounted, Yu Hua would still have to think of a way to make this brand new mirror look worn. 

As he stared at the workman doing his work, someone outside used a key to open the apartment door. You Zhengping, looking exhausted, had returned. As he opened the door, he said, “Yu Hua, I’m so hungry, is the food ready… Why are there so many people in the house first thing in the morning?” 

Yu Hua: “…” 

Yu Hua had heard the sound of You Zhengping taking out his keys. At the time, three plans to resolve this had flashed through his mind: 

First, shut the bathroom door and make the workman jump out of the bathroom window after mounting the mirror to avoid You Zhengping. But he immediately remembered that he lived on the 26th floor. An ordinary person couldn’t jump down from an altitude of a couple dozen floors.

Second, get rid of the workman and destroy the corpse to dispose of the evidence. But he had contacted the housekeeping company. The police would be able to find him through the communication records. That definitely wouldn’t work either. Furthermore, Yu Hua wasn’t willing to harm ordinary people. 

Third, open the door before You Zhengping walked in, give him a warm kiss, tell him that he hadn’t made breakfast, and the two of them could go out to eat. This way, he could lure his husband away, and the workman could calmly do his work in the apartment. But then there would be no one to settle the workman’s account, and he wouldn’t have time to take care of follow-up arrangements, making the new mirror look like the old one. 

In an instant, countless ideas flashed through Yu Hua’s head; in the end, he didn’t put any of them into practice. 

He watched without moving as You Zhengping opened the door, arranged his facial muscles, and said with an astonished expression, “You’re back so early? Didn’t you say afternoon?” 

“We finished the mission early, so I can rest for a day.” You Zhengping peered towards the bathroom. “What’s going on?” 

Yu Hua calmly said, “I accidentally broke the mirror last night. They came to mount the mirror.” 

Under the circumstances, he could only come clean. If You Zhengping asked how he had broken the mirror, he could dodge with some explanation like his hand slipping. Anyway, things were always breaking at home. He had thrown the pulverized remains of the mirror away first thing in the morning and had watched the garbage truck take the garbage away. No one would find out that the mirror had broken abnormally. 

But You Zhengping didn’t ask why he had broken the mirror. Instead, he took Yu Hua’s hands in concern. “Glass shards are hard to deal with. Did you get hurt?” 

You Zhengping carefully investigated Yu Hua’s palms, the backs of his hands, his face, his neck, all the exposed skin. There was no use for Yu Hua’s prepared excuse. He quietly watched You Zhengping, his heart full of a warm current. 

Yu Hua softly said, “I was careful. It’s fine.” 

He wanted to yank his hands back, but You Zhengping was holding them firmly. Yu Hua didn’t dare to use too much force. He was afraid that if he yanked his hands back, he might tear You Zhengping’s arms off. That would be a tragedy. 

You Zhengping had needed to work up a lot of courage to grab Yu Hua’s hands. He was hiding things from Yu Hua and felt guilty. He didn’t dare to use too much force. If Yu Hua had used just a bit of force, You Zhengping wouldn’t have dared to hold on to his husband. 

But Yu Hua only gave one token struggle, not using force at all, giving You Zhengping boundless courage. 

Gazing at Yu Hua, he said, “The mirror breaking is no problem. You’ve found a new one. And then there’s me. You’ve supported me for so long. I can work hard at my job to earn money. You’ve been in a bad mood lately, so I’ve been sad, too.” 

Yu Hua’s heart softened. He knew he had been deliberately giving You Zhengping the cold shoulder lately due his strength increasing. The two of them hadn’t had a good talk in a week. 

From the time they’d started dating to their marriage, they had always gotten along very well. There had never been a cross word spoken between them. With this inexplicable cold war, the two of them both felt bad, each wanting to reconcile with the other. 

The reason for the cold war wasn’t important. The important thing was that they still cared about each other. 

The two of them got closer and closer. Yu Hua was afraid of hurting You Zhengping and only lightly touched his lips. 

You Zhengping had a spontaneous and enthusiastic nature. Seeing Yu Hua hold out an olive branch, he quickly scrambled to take advantage, hugging Yu Hua and preparing for a French kiss. Then he heard someone say, “Well, the mirror’s been mounted, the mirror and work together cost 200 yuan.” 

With an outsider present, the two of them quickly separated, blushing. You Zhengping hurried to be the first to fish out his phone to transmit payment. Yu Hua was half a beat behind because he was worried about crushing You Zhengping’s hand. 

The repairman collected his tools and before leaving added, “I’m going, you two carry on.” 

Having missed their chance, the two of them didn’t feel comfortable carrying on. You Zhengping wasn’t opposed to goings on during the day, but Yu Hua was reserved. It would be better to exercise some restraint and wait until night. 

“I’ll go cook,” Yu Hua said cheerfully. 

“No need! You’re the one cooking every day, today I’ll…invite you out for breakfast,” You Zhengping said. 

“All right,” Yu Hua said readily. Very good. He had been worried about breaking dishes in front of his husband. 

The two of them went to a breakfast restaurant. Yu Hua didn’t get involved, letting You Zhengping pick out breakfast and bring it to the table. Yu Hua looked at the fragile single-use chopsticks and smiled without moving, only looking at You Zhengping. 

But You Zhengping misunderstood. He was wildly happy. Was Yu Hua acting spoiled today? 

During the four years they had spent together, it had always been You Zhengping shamelessly acting spoiled. The composed Yu Hua had never revealed his childish side. Today he seemed a little willful; it was a very novel feeling! 

You Zhengping was delighted. He picked up a soup dumpling and fed it to Yu Hua. 

Yu Hua had been planning to say he wasn’t hungry and would be happy to watch You Zhengping eat. He hadn’t expected his husband to voluntarily undertake the task of using the tableware. This made Yu Hua exceedingly joyful. It seemed that he could eat his fill during this meal. 

He opened his mouth and ate the soup dumpling You Zhengping was feeding to him. 

Seeing two grown men playing the exciting game of feeding each other, the people in the breakfast restaurant couldn’t stand to look directly at them; they all lowered their heads over their food, having been fed a bellyful of dog food. 

In the middle of this, Cen Xiao and the other underlings, who all had no families and nothing to do, and who hadn’t slept all night, also came to the breakfast restaurant. This was their regular restaurant. Usually when they’d been up all night, they would all come here to eat breakfast, then go put their heads down and sleep all day. You Zhengping, however, had been eating the food Yu Hua cooked at home since getting married. He rarely went out to eat. 

“Oh my goodness!” Cen Xiao covered his eyes, unable to stand the sight, and said, “Can you pay attention to the impression you’re making? Look at how uncomfortable Yu Hua is.” 

You Zhengping had been smiling happily at Yu Hua. Seeing his crowd of underlings, he coldly said, “Don’t hog the table. There’s space at the next one.” 

“No, I want to sit here.” Cen Xiao yawned, deliberately sitting next to You Zhengping. “I’m watching you two.” 

You Zhengping very much wanted to smack Cen Xiao to death. But with Yu Hua next to him, he couldn’t reveal his true nature. He could only clench his teeth and say with a fake smile, “You’re just itching for a spanking, aren’t you? Don’t you see that I’m in a two-person world after finally restoring good relations? If you’re not using your eyes, donate them to someone who needs them!” 

Not to be outdone, Cen Xiao pointed at all the people in the breakfast restaurant. “You call this a two-person world? You’re the one who should go donate his eyes!” 

The underlings crowded themselves around the not very large table, ordered a stack of food, and started to eat with great relish. 

Yu Hua had always envied You Zhengping’s intimate relationship with his friends. He had also had this, once; he had had brothers who had fought shoulder to shoulder with him. With the passage of time, everyone had either been parted from him by death or drifted away. That brotherhood had vanished without a trace long ago. 

Before meeting You Zhengping, Yu Hua had passed fifteen years like stagnant water in this world. He had experienced too many worlds. No matter how many beautiful things he saw, he wouldn’t jump for joy. 

The passing years had worn his feelings away in the gravel of time, dissolving them in endless missions. 

When he had cleared, Yu Hua had experienced neither happiness, nor anger, nor grief, nor joy, only endless weariness. 

Until that day when he had been outside the off-road car and seen You Zhengping fighting with his companions and climbing out the window. Yu Hua’s emotions had been moved. He had remembered his own purest times. 

Only then did Yu Hua learn that his emotions hadn’t disappeared, and his memories hadn’t been forgotten. These fine and simple feelings had only been hidden too deep, so deep he had been unable to dig them up himself. 

By sheer luck he had met You Zhengping, met this colorful young man who had awakened Yu Hua’s purest feelings. 

The System had once again reached its evil clutches towards this world. He had to protect these young people’s happiness. 

“I was just making a public display of affection. We’ve been married for three years, I have the legal right to a display!” As he argued with Cen Xiao, You Zhengping picked up a stuffed bun and shoved it into Yu Hua’s mouth, crowding all of Yu Hua’s deep sentiments out of his head, leaving him with only a mouthful of meat bun. 

“Have some dignity! You’re polluting my eyes!” Cen Xiao furiously picked up a youtiao and stuffed it into the mouth of Shi Yongfu next to him. “I’m legally feeding my brother, how does my beloved brother feel?” 

Being fed a mouthful of youtiao, Shi Yongfu beat his chest, saying, “I-I’m choking!” 

Cen Xiao picked up soy milk and poured it into Shi Yongfu’s mouth. 

You Zhengping picked up a bowl of congee. Yu Hua quickly waved his hand, saying, “I’m not choking. You’re feeding me very well, it’s fine.” 

Then You Zhengping put down the bowl of congee and looked at Cen Xiao in satisfaction: Did you see that? My technique is better than yours! 

“Damn it, I lost,” Cen Xiao said dismally to Shi Yongfu. “It’s all your fault for not eating as fast as Yu Hua!” 

The victim Shi Yongfu said, “Could you be reasonable?” 

After making a racket throughout the whole meal, everyone went to their respective homes to catch up on sleep. Yu Hua told You Zhengping that he had to go look for work and left home. 

When he went out the door, the smile on Yu Hua’s face disappeared. He took a small makeup mirror out of his pocket and wrote on the mirror: “I’m coming to you.” 

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Author's Note

Housekeeping workman: I seem to have avoided a calamity?