I Really Didn’t Want to Increase My Favorability!

Back home, Xu Lin hadn’t expected Ji Yun’s assertiveness to be so strong. Since she wanted to talk, he figured he’d just let her go ahead.

However, he thought it’d be a good idea to give Qin Yunhe a heads-up, just in case anything unexpected came up. Sending a message to Qin Yunhe, he received no reply—it seemed she was busy working. Xu Lin felt a pang of sympathy for her. As a woman who barely had 2-3 days off a month and often had night shifts, she really worked hard.

But tonight, apart from his cousin being around, no one else was home. That gave him a good chance to focus on his own work. Xu Lin turned on his computer and resumed the editing he hadn’t finished earlier that afternoon.

Half an hour later, his phone buzzed. Thinking it might be Qin Yunhe, he picked it up, but it was Jiang Zimeng instead.

“Hey, sorry. I was out handling something and just got back.”

“No worries. Send me the files, and I’ll edit them for you. You’ll have them by noon tomorrow.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no trouble. With my editing skills, what takes you an afternoon only takes me two hours.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“With your social anxiety, how am I supposed to take you out to eat?”

“You order, I’ll eat. No problem at all.”

“Okay, but you need to work on your social issues. Otherwise, they’re going to cause you problems in the future.”

“Mm, I understand.”

“Alright, I’ll send the files over now.”

Hearing Jiang Zimeng’s reluctance to continue chatting, Xu Lin didn’t press further.

“Got it,” he replied.

After ending the call, he got back to work, glancing at his Bilibili stats. His videos were all nearing 800,000 views. His first upload—the one about croquettes—was approaching 1 million views. Currently, he had a Journey Through Food series episode on snow princess cakes and a vlog in the pipeline.

He thought about adding another quick and easy video to his “Let Me Cook” series. Last time it was egg pancakes—what should it be this time?

“Forget it,” he muttered. “Let me finish what I have first.”

—

“Ten more li south, and you’ll reach the city.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Xu Lin spoke, then froze. Glancing around, he realized he’d returned to the dreamlike memory again. Had he fallen asleep while editing? Though confused, his body instinctively continued riding southward on horseback. Strangely, he felt quite excited—perhaps today he’d find Ji Yun and the child. Judging by how Ji Yun seemed, the outcome should be a happy one.

After entering the city, Xu Lin spent several days searching everywhere. Although time in his mental state felt fast-forwarded, the fatigue and anxiety were all too real.

“How can I not find them? Weren’t the refugees resettled here?”

He muttered angrily, spurring himself to keep looking, this time focusing on the nearby villages outside the city.

At long last, he came across a familiar face: the village butcher known as Big Knife Wang, who used to sell meat at the village entrance. Though they weren’t close, Xu Lin had bought meat from him a few times and knew him by sight.

Xu Lin hurriedly approached, but the man’s expression darkened in fear. Without a word, he turned and bolted towards the village.

Xu Lin spurred his horse to block his path, dismounted, and drew his sword, forcing the man to stop.

“What do you want?”

“You recognize me. What do you think I want? Where are the villagers? Where are my wife and child?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”

“You don’t know? Then how did you end up here?”

“…”

“If you won’t talk, I’m just a lone man without a wife or child. What’s the point of me living? I might as well kill you with one strike!”

With that, Xu Lin really raised his sword, aiming it at the man’s head, ready to strike. The butcher hadn’t expected Xu Lin to be so fierce. Seeing the blade about to fall, he panicked and dropped to his knees, shouting,

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

“Speak!”

“On our way back from the south, we were escorted by soldiers. But there was an unexpected incident, and we lost a lot of food supplies.”

Hearing this, a trace of anger flashed across the butcher’s face, hinting there was more to the story.

“After losing the supplies, everyone had to ration what little food was left. Many people eventually starved to death…”

“And my wife and child?”

“Most families with children prioritized the little food they had for the kids. Everyone worked together since we were from the same village, so we managed to hold on for a while.”

“Then what happened?”

“On the way, we were ambushed by bandits, and they took even more of our food.”

“Elite mounted bandits, right?” Xu Lin slammed his fist into a nearby tree, rage boiling within him. To save money, the officials had resorted to such vile tactics—letting people starve to death just to cut down on resettlement costs!

“In the end, out of the 2,000 people from several villages and towns, only half survived.”

“And where are they now?”

“They were left outside the city walls. Each person was given five taels of silver before the soldiers left. Everyone scattered after that, so it’s impossible to know where they’ve gone.”

Xu Lin exhaled deeply. “Wait… if that’s all, why were you so hesitant to tell me? It’s no secret the officials are corrupt. That’s been the case for ages.”

“There’s more. Your wife and child… they were taken away by the second young master of the city lord’s household. I don’t know what happened after that.”

The moment the butcher finished speaking, fury surged through Xu Lin. He tasted blood in his mouth but suppressed it. Sheathing his sword, he mounted his horse and galloped towards the city.

But as the city gates loomed closer, his vision blurred, and he was once again enveloped in a fog. This time, there were no voices to wake him—it happened naturally. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clock: 4 a.m.

“Damn it, this time of night? How am I supposed to get back to sleep?”

Looking at his computer, Xu Lin saw that his editing was already done, and the video had been rendered and exported. It was ready to be uploaded.

“Well, it’s 4 a.m.—technically not late-night content anymore.”

Since it was a vlog, it needed a new title series. After some thought, he typed:

“001: A Day Out Wandering”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Once the video was submitted for review, Xu Lin stood up and headed to the fridge for a drink.

When he opened the door, he saw his cousin coming out again, barely dressed. Her figure was still as stunning as ever, but this time she immediately crouched behind the sofa.

“Ah, so now you feel embarrassed?”

“Are you doing this on purpose? Last time was bad enough, but now you’re up even earlier!”

“And you’re blaming me for waking up early? I told you last time to dress properly when you’re at home. I got up at 5 a.m. that day, and you thought taking a shower at 4 a.m. was fine?”

“Stop talking and get me my clothes—it’s freezing!”

“Alright, but seriously, don’t do this outside.”

Xu Lin grabbed the clothes on the sofa and handed them over, noticing there was also a bra, likely something his mom had bought for her.

“By the way, I still remember what you told me about the hotel.”

“Good. But did you wake up this early just to take a shower?”

“No, Boss Chu is going on a business trip today. It’s my first day at work, so I have to follow along.”

“Alright, do your best. She’s pretty generous when it comes to salaries.”

“Honestly, I think she’s paying me too much, especially considering I heard she’s having some funding issues lately.”

“Don’t worry about that. She’ll figure it out.”

“Alright.”

As they talked, Xu Lin’s cousin stood up. He quickly turned his back to her.

“Hey, why do you have a scar on your abdomen?”

“You’re sharp-eyed, huh? It’s from a C-section when I had a baby.”

“What?!”

“Haha! You actually believed that?”

“…”

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