Chapter 199
Although calling him 'Brother' was no big deal—Bai Xuechao had done it countless times when he wanted Duan Xingzhi's help—he didn't want Yuan Lan to get his way so easily.
His "Brother" was very expensive.
Bai Xuechao began to ramble with Yuan Lan: "Is this 'Brother' of yours legitimate?"
Hearing this, Yuan Lan paused for a moment, then the curve of his lips widened. He asked with a smile, "Is there an illegitimate one? How is it illegitimate? Tell me?"
It was actually just a teasing, clichéd line, "Is this 'someone' of yours legitimate?" There were no illegitimate examples.
Bai Xuechao continued to make things up: "That depends on what kind of brother it is."
"It's certainly not a lover-brother." Yuan Lan's palm ruffled Bai Xuechao's head a few more times, his soft white hair fluttering between his fingers. He smiled, "Go ahead and call me that~"
Xiao 6 was so stifled it was almost crashing. It finally couldn't hold back and let out a lewd laugh: "Heheheh, heheheh, it's a lover-brother, it's a lover-brother!"
Bai Xuechao: Happy again, Xiao 6?
Bai Xuechao's hair was somewhat disheveled from Yuan Lan ruffling it. A few strands of bangs obscured his vision. He raised his hand to brush the hair away and asked, "Are you very short on younger brothers?"
This question was asked deliberately to make things awkward.
Unfortunately, Yuan Lan wouldn't be embarrassed. He lowered the hand that had been ruffling Bai Xuechao's head. His smiling demeanor looked extremely gentle, and his voice was also extremely soft: "I'm not short on younger brothers, but I am short on you. To me, you are the most special existence, so I want to hear you call me 'Brother.' That way, we seem very close—"
His tone shifted, and he raised an eyebrow somewhat frivolously, as if his previous words were all a joke: "Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"Not satisfied, not calling you." Bai Xuechao turned and flopped onto the sofa.
"Eh? What's wrong with calling me 'Brother'?" Yuan Lan's coquettish tone was both sweet and cloying, sticky and clingy.
He half-squatted in front of the sofa and met Bai Xuechao's gaze.
"Look, one 'Brother'," Yuan Lan said, spreading his left hand as if holding the two words "Brother," then he spread his right hand as if holding a white fruit, "in exchange for one fruit. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"
Yuan Lan pulled back both hands and placed them on the edge of the sofa, leaning closer to Bai Xuechao. His lips were curled, but there was no smile in his eyes.
He slowly said, "Or is it that, in your heart, 'Brother' refers to a specific person?"
It was better when Yuan Lan didn't say it, but once he did, a person abruptly came to Bai Xuechao's mind.
—Su Zhao.
Completely out of his control, Su Zhao's goofy smiling face floated into his mind. Bai Xuechao's expression subtly froze for a moment, and his pigeon's blood ruby-like eyes also became momentarily dazed.
The people he could easily call 'Brother' were not his real brothers, but the real brother in his heart, he had never called him that.
He always called the other person "Su Zhao, Su Zhao."
"There really is someone, huh?" Yuan Lan said with a smile.
His voice made the image that had appeared in Bai Xuechao's mind dissipate.
Bai Xuechao thought of something, and went along with the act, lowering his eyelashes to reveal a touch of loneliness. He said nothing, yet it conveyed more than words.
Yuan Lan's face still held a gentle smile; he didn't seem to care about the matter. He merely asked softly, "Is that person still alive?"
This question was quite intriguing.
It was as if, as long as Bai Xuechao said he was alive, Yuan Lan would find a way to dig him out and then kill him.
Bai Xuechao remained silent for a long time. Yuan Lan waited patiently, his smile unchanged.
Finally, Bai Xuechao's lips parted: "He's dead."
Alright, the performance was over. If the manga included this plot, readers would think he was missing the "brother" from Duan Xingzhi's persona, and would be even more convinced that he came to the Apocalypse Society for revenge for his sister and brother.
He had to think about how to end this scene.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Lan suddenly reached out and cupped his chin, lifting his face.
Bai Xuechao's eyes immediately met Yuan Lan's molten-gold ones. He hadn't expected Yuan Lan to do that, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
Yuan Lan cradled Bai Xuechao's chin with one hand, and with the other, he pinched the flesh of his cheek and pulled it to the side. Yuan Lan's unique, sweet, and gentle voice, soft as could be, then spoke: "Little Xuechao, always looking sad is bad for your health. Didn't you still have me in the future?"
Bai Xuechao, with his face pinched, managed a difficult pout and said sarcastically, "Other people's brothers don't ask for favors when giving their younger brothers things to eat."
"Oh, is that a hint?" Yuan Lan widened his eyes, knowing full well what Bai Xuechao meant but still asking.
Bai Xuechao's ruby-like, translucent eyes turned away, not looking at Yuan Lan: "What do you think? Figure it out yourself."
"Hahahaha... Alright." Yuan Lan chuckled happily, as if encountering something amusing, then pinched Bai Xuechao's face again before letting go and standing up, looking down at Bai Xuechao on the sofa, "Then, to make Little Xuechao a little happier, I'll go ask Miss Mu for a fruit."
Bai Xuechao: The first half of that sentence didn't need to be said deliberately.
Bai Xuechao lay on the sofa, looking up as Yuan Lan pulled out his phone from his pocket, pressed a few buttons on the screen with his thumb, and then held the phone to his ear.
There was no need to guess; he was calling Mu Xinyue.
Just then, Bai Xuechao propped himself up from the sofa with his arms, looking up at Yuan Lan, who had already turned his body to the side. The commotion he made attracted Yuan Lan's attention. As Yuan Lan turned his head to look at him, he curved his alluring red eyes and suddenly smiled, as if afraid of disturbing his call, and softly said, "Thank you, Brother."
Yuan Lan's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard anything. His golden eyes, however, stared directly at Bai Xuechao without blinking, as if frozen.
Mu Xinyue's mature older sister-type voice came through the phone receiver: "Hello, Yuan Lan, what's wrong?"
"Miss Mu, there's something I'd like to ask of you." Yuan Lan withdrew his gaze from Bai Xuechao, turned his head, and walked out of the bedroom while on the phone, "Before, we..."
The bedroom door opened and closed, and Bai Xuechao could hear faint voices coming from the hallway.
The entire Xiao 6 system was dumbfounded. It plastered a cat-mouth-peeking-out emoji saying "Huh?" in front of Bai Xuechao's eyes: "Huh? Why did he go out?"
"Who knows." Bai Xuechao shrugged, thinking, it couldn't be that Yuan Lan was broken by him, could it?
He listened to the voices outside, stroked his light blue bathrobe, and said to Xiao 6, "Mu Xinyue will be here soon, I need to change my clothes."
Xiao 6 made "mm-hm" sounds, then asked with some confusion: "How do you know Mu Xinyue is coming? They haven't said anything about coming yet."
"She's going to poison me, and Yuan Lan is also here. How can she not come and watch?" Bai Xuechao said, walking into the cloakroom to find clothes.
Xiao 6's code was shocked: "Ah? Ahh?"
"Haven't I told you before? Why are you so surprised?" Bai Xuechao calmly found a white shirt and turned to get his pants.
Xiao 6 gnawed at its code-claws, accepting the fact that its host was determined to torment himself, and began to quietly suggest: "Then can you wear something nice?"
"...Huh?" Now it was Bai Xuechao's turn to be stunned.
Xiao 6, while turning on the "faucet" and letting water flow, choked out: "Even if you're poisoned... boo hoo, you have to be the most beautiful! Our goal is to produce a masterpiece! A divine image!"
Bai Xuechao looked at the familiar flood of water in his vision and was amused by it, or perhaps exasperated: "It's a shame you didn't play a supporting role in the manga."
"I'm not suitable to be an actor." Xiao 6 had some self-awareness, but not much. "I'm suitable to be an agent for actors! Like now!"
Bai Xuechao thought, what would it use as a base? The nine failed worlds it had tried to fix?
But Bai Xuechao really took Xiao 6's words to heart.
He had originally just planned to casually find a warmer jacket, but now he changed his mind. He picked out a camel-colored suit-collar casual jacket, then found a light coffee-colored and black striped silk ribbon that would match the jacket's color, planning to tie it around the shirt collar later.
He didn't genuinely want to "produce a masterpiece," but dressing nicely certainly helped with increasing popularity. After all, who didn't like good-looking people?
If Xiao 6 knew his true thoughts, it would definitely say: Host, what misunderstanding do you have about yourself! You don't need to dress up; you'd look good even draped in a plastic bag!
After Bai Xuechao changed his clothes, he walked out of the cloakroom. Yuan Lan had already finished his call with Mu Xinyue and successfully obtained the fruit. He was now sitting on the sofa reading a book.
...Did he really need to read even for such a short amount of time?
"Finished changing?" Yuan Lan knew Bai Xuechao had been changing clothes. He heard the sound, turned around on the sofa, and smiled when he saw Bai Xuechao, "Not bad, but it would be even better if you put on something else."
He finished speaking, stood up directly, and pulled Bai Xuechao back into the cloakroom, starting to rummage through the accessories.
When he pulled open a wide drawer filled with collar pins, brooches, and other items, the dead memories violently assaulted Bai Xuechao, reminding him of the fear dominated by Liu Jingchun.
Bai Xuechao thought, putting everything else aside, Yuan Lan and Sister Jingchun must have a lot to talk about regarding clothing. Both of them are fashion-matching fanatics.
So, Yuan Lan added a coffee-colored suit vest over Bai Xuechao's shirt, then pinned a steampunk-style brooch on Bai Xuechao's chest. After thinking for a moment, he stripped off Bai Xuechao's current jacket and replaced it with another suit jacket of a similar color scheme, with some Lolita-style designs, which looked more opulent.
Bai Xuechao put on the outfit expressionlessly and stood in front of Yuan Lan.
Yuan Lan looked him up and down, then rummaged through the cabinet on the shirt side again, finding a shirt with lace decorations on the chest for Bai Xuechao.
"Put this on~" Yuan Lan said, holding up the shirt.
Bai Xuechao: "..."
Good, good, good. He knew it would come to this.
Anyone who didn't know would think he was going on a date with Mu Xinyue, dressed so formally.