But just as this unprecedented wave of reader feedback was gradually fermenting, Editor Shaxs found that he couldn’t get in touch with his author no matter how much he tried.
Because Yu Mian was suddenly a little busy.
Just the act of dragging someone from the car under the strange gaze of the driver and forcing him back to the study on the second floor already made Yu Mian feel so embarrassed that his scalp tingled.
‘Help!’
‘Is he really drunk?’
‘He only had one glass of beer, and he was already drunk?’
“Young Master Yu Mian, what happened?”
Qiao Ni, who happened to witness Yu Mian dragging someone back, looked on in surprise, only for Yu Mian to quickly wave his hands, signaling that everything was fine
Oh God, if Qiao Ni found out that he had taken Huo Ting out drinking, and then his grandfather got wind of it, it would be the ultimate social death, like he had led someone else’s grandson astray.
It seemed that living in a family house had this disadvantage: it was too easy for elders to notice any abnormality.
So Qiao Ni just stood there watching them go upstairs. She was initially surprised, but then she smiled.
‘Did they come back tired from a night out?’
‘It seems like their relationship had improved.’
Qiao Ni was actually aware that because Young Master Yu Mian had been looking for a new place to move, the eldest young master had been in a rather subdued mood lately.
But with the eldest young master’s personality, he was never the type to take the initiative to talk, and she didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.
Meanwhile, Yu Mian felt like he was dragging along a giant Alaskan Malamute that had gone on strike and refused to walk, barely managing to settle Huo Ting onto the couch after much struggle.
“Why is he so damn heavy?”
Yu Mian shook his sore arm and let out a deep breath, subconsciously looking at Huo Ting, who was even quieter than usual.
Fortunately, Huo Ting held up well when drunk, he didn’t act crazy or cause any trouble. He was simply unnervingly quiet.
If one wasn’t familiar with him, they wouldn’t even notice that something was off.
It seemed like Huo Ting could understand what was being said to him, but… how to put it?
It was as if he needed to be coaxed.
He could only pray that Grandpa wouldn’t come back and catch them.
The more Yu Mian thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, so he poured a little water from the nearby kettle.
“Do you want some water? Isn’t your throat dry?”
Standing in front of the sofa, Yu Mian had to lean down to see how Huo Ting was doing. Then he couldn’t help but reach out to touch Huo Ting’s cheek, but it wasn’t warm or flushed.
From the outside, it was impossible to tell that he was drunk; he looked so composed anyone could believe he had just finished a meeting.
His eyes had darkened, like the deep abyss of the universe.
He was unexpectedly very obedient.
Their eyes met, and Yu Mian suddenly found himself embarrassed by this thought. He then watched as the other party lowered his head and drank the water, his Adam’s apple rolling with each swallow.
Next time, he really shouldn’t go around encouraging people to drink.
Although Huo Ting like this was indeed quite novel.
Yu Mian took the empty glass Huo Ting had drained with serious diligence and went to fetch a damp towel to wipe his face and sober him up.
He glanced at the clock, estimated when Grandpa Huo would return from fishing, and began to feel nervous.
“Forget it, I’ll do it.”
Huo Ting’s slow and silent pace was driving Yu Mian crazy, so he simply snatched back the towel and started wiping him down himself.
His hands were cold from the water.
Or maybe it was just that a mermaid’s body temperature was naturally low. He could always feel the difference whenever Huo Ting held his hand.
After wiping him down, Yu Mian felt like Huo Ting had sobered up a little.
Or maybe it was just his imagination.
So when was this drunkenness supposed to wear off?
Yu Mian held his chin and stared at Huo Ting, then suddenly looked toward a box in the study. He opened it and, sure enough, saw the scale that had fallen from him.
He wasn’t sure why, but his instincts told him that fallen scales shouldn’t be casually given away.
The ones that had fallen off before were still neatly buried in the white fine sand of the aquarium, but unexpectedly, there was one that had slipped through the net and was hidden by Huo Ting.
He reached for the thin, crystal-like scale, curiously studying it for a while.
The edges were curved and smooth, and the color was still the faint pastel shade of the scales before his full scale-shedding.
“You’re not even a fish. Why do you want a scale? You might as well give it back to me.”
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes?”
Yu Mian waved the scale in front of Huo Ting, who was sitting with his eyes closed, resting and sobering up. He felt like he was taking advantage of the situation, but he wasn’t the least bit guilty.
Who asked Huo Ting to secretly hide his scales?
But just as Yu Mian was about to slip away with it and bury it back in the sand, a strong force suddenly grabbed him backward, pulling both him and the scale into an embrace.
Yu Mian: !!!
Startled, Yu Mian froze with the scale still clutched in his hand, feeling like he had been caught red-handed in the act. He didn’t even dare to move.
He turned his head to look at Huo Ting, only to find that the distance between them was shockingly close.
Closer than any time he had ever guided his mental sea.
So close that he could feel Huo Ting’s breath against his skin, and the tickling sensation behind his ears made him hold his breath
Knock! Knock!
“Boss, are you there? Miss Qiao said you’ve returned home?”
When Secretary Hals knocked on the door with the documents in his hands, he noticed that there was no response from the study. But his sharp senses faintly picked up some strange sounds, like something had been knocked over.
In the study, Yu Mian, who had stood up in fright, looked at the overturned box in his hands and discovered that in addition to the scale and the small notes on top, there was actually a blue ribbon at the very bottom.
“Wasn’t this the one made during the mission? Why didn’t it disappear?”
Holding the ribbon, Yu Mian frantically tidied up while interrogating the system.
[Uh…well, the reason is that once a prop is “chosen” and materialized, it can’t be made to disappear casually or it would cause chaos in the world’s logic.]
[The system backend didn’t expect that he wouldn’t throw away the ribbon. If he had thrown it into the trash, I could have disposed of it for you.]
While the little system helped Yu Mian pick up the notes, it also explained in a hurry, seemingly placing the blame on Huo Ting.
The ribbon had been used to blindfold Huo Ting at the time, and now it had been neatly folded and placed back in the box.
If the pearl given by his host hadn’t completely shattered later, would it have also been placed in the box?
“Does Huo Ting have some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder for organizing?”
Yu Mian only felt his face inexplicably heat up.
Moreover, Huo Ting had organized this box so carefully and kept it close, as though holding onto some dark history.
[Well, it’s not exactly dark history. It’s more like a preserved diary of raising fish? ←.←]
Once the little system had helped pack the final note into the box and closed the lid, Yu Mian quickly went to open the door for Secretary Hals.
“Ah, you’re here as well?”
Seeing Yu Mian open the door, Secretary Hals was first surprised, then smiled and said, “Perfect timing.”
“Perfect timing? Didn’t you come to see Huo Ting for work?”
Yu Mian adjusted his breath and took the copy of the document that Secretary Hals handed over.
“That’s actually not it.”
Secretary Hals smiled and motioned for Yu Mian to take a look at the document. Yu Mian opened it and saw that it was related to the house at Starry Sky Lake.
“We sent someone to do a thorough inspection inside and out. There are a few minor issues, and some details still need to be considered. Also, the flower bed’s fence needs to be reinforced, raised, and made denser. Otherwise, if someone peeks over the fence, they can see inside.”
“Your popularity has risen so much; security must be a top priority now. Especially in a single-family villa like this. Although the Starry Sky Lake area is peaceful and livable, it’s easy for something to happen without anyone noticing.”
The main concern was that after the accidental appearance in the live broadcast, Yu Mian had unknowingly attracted a large number of fans who were curious and enthusiastic about the author himself.
However, since Yu Mian usually stayed at the old residence, privacy and security weren’t an issue.
Once he moved out, though, things would be different.
What if dangerous people tried to force their way into the villa?
The security system definitely had to be upgraded as well.
“It seems so.”
Yu Mian flipped through the materials and realized that ever since he came back from looking at the house, Huo Ting had secretly considered so many things?
There were a lot of things he hadn’t even thought of himself.
But just as Yu Mian felt a mix of strange emotions, Secretary Hals quickly noticed that Huo Ting seemed to be in an unusual state and glanced at the wet towel and water glass Yu Mian had left on the table.
“Boss, what’s going on here?”
“Uh, well, he’s just a bit tired today. It’s mainly because Uncle Harrison and the others invented a new alcoholic drink, beer, and he got drunk easily!”
Yu Mian quickly explained, although the more he explained, the more guilty he felt.
‘Oh my God, if this happens again, I’ll never let Huo Ting touch alcohol again.’
Huo Ting’s reaction was too extreme. One glass and he was knocked out, though it wasn’t really a knockout.
“And from now on, we really can’t let Huo Ting drink alcohol. It’s dangerous if he faces any bad people in this state, he has no reaction.”
Yu Mian felt it was necessary to alert Secretary Hals to be cautious and ensure Huo Ting didn’t touch alcohol in the future.
To his surprise, Secretary Hals showed a subtle expression.
“You don’t need to worry about that. To be honest, someone with high mental power is a very dangerous unstable factor in this state.”
Generally speaking, it would be the people around them who would be worried or scared.
“But…”
Yu Mian hadn’t even finished his sentence when Secretary Hals continued.
“But since you’re someone the boss trusts, that’s why you can get close. And your mental power attribute is unique. Every time we interact with you, it feels refreshing, like a breeze in spring.”
Probably the boss also feels this way.
Otherwise, it would have been difficult for Young Master Yu Mian, who was hiding in the aquarium in the study, to get close enough to help bandage him up.
In fact, this was also why no one had guessed that there had been a mysterious guest in the study that helped take care of the injury.
Who would dare approach someone with such strong mental power in that state?
“…”
At these words, Yu Mian couldn’t help but recall Huo Ting’s actions moments ago. This wasn’t just “being able to get close”…
Though he wanted to ask Secretary Hals what exactly caused this, he instinctively felt he couldn’t bring it up.
“Ahem, anyway, I’ll come back tomorrow. After all, my mental power attribute is more attack oriented, so it’s generally not easy for me to get close.”
“However, perhaps you can take a look at these several smart security systems. Which one would you be more satisfied with? Also, since the two houses are very close, perhaps you should consider an integrated security system. It would not only be faster, but also more effective.”
Before leaving, Secretary Hals gave Yu Mian some new suggestions.
“The most important thing is, now that the seventh volume of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” is published, you should consider taking the protection of your privacy and security seriously.”
