He took a step back, trying to put some distance between them—but his guilt made him unsteady. He misstepped, nearly falling.
Shen Nianxiang thought he was about to pass out. Not knowing Li Chuan had already recovered, he reached out to lift him onto the sofa.
He hesitated a bit—after all, Li Chuan had just kissed his cheek. It felt a little awkward. But he had already carried him once earlier… another time wouldn’t hurt.
Just as he reached around Li Chuan’s waist, his wrist was caught.
He heard Li Chuan speak, voice suddenly mature: “What are you doing?”
Shen Nianxiang withdrew his hand. “I thought you’d faint and was going to move you to the sofa.”
“I’m fine,” Li Chuan said, keeping calm and ignoring the earlier awkwardness as best he could. “My memory is back.”
“You recovered that fast?” Shen Nianxiang was stunned. “Your brain must be exceptionally developed to process so much at once. Do you still remember what happened while you were amnesiac?”
At that, the memories played back like a film reel in Li Chuan’s head—vivid and detailed.
He took a deep breath, smiled politely, and said, “What could have possibly happened between us? Please don’t make things up.”
Shen Nianxiang immediately waved the IOU in front of him. “I’m talking about this. Dare say you don’t remember?”
Oh. It wasn’t about the kissing or bathing stuff. Li Chuan relaxed slightly.
He took the IOU, sat at the dining table, and read it word by word. When he saw the 1000 All-Heavens Coins and the 10% monthly interest, his brow twitched uncontrollably.
This was robbery!
The energy supplement was only worth 110 coins with fees, and the meal… and he was charging 1000? Was this a loan shark operation?
Li Chuan put down the IOU and began plotting how to negotiate.
Shen Nianxiang caught the shrewd gleam in Li Chuan’s eyes and panicked. He tapped his own cheek and said, “The IOU also includes emotional damages for being taken advantage of. Need me to revise it to add that in?”
Li Chuan: “…”
“Papa… carry me… give me a bath… kiss you… thank you, Big Brother Shen…”
All those cringe-worthy memories replayed in his mind. Gritting his teeth, Li Chuan said, “The IOU is fine. No need to change it. Give me the pen, I’ll sign it.”
Shen Nianxiang handed over the pen. Li Chuan swiftly signed and even stamped his fingerprint.
As he signed, he screamed internally at the All-Heavens Ring:
“All-Heavens Ring! How much are the memories of what happened in Shen Nianxiang’s house worth?! I want to sell them all!”
All-Heavens Ring: [All-Heavens Ring does not accept garbage. Please trade items of value.]
Li Chuan handed the IOU back to Shen Nianxiang and said, “I don’t have that kind of money right now. Once I get settled, I’ll transfer it to you in a few days.”
“Are you one of the new students from Fuyao Academy?” Shen Nianxiang asked.
Li Chuan nodded.
“You could afford ‘Earth Dragon Marrow Liquid’ right after arriving? I thought your family was rich.”
The All-Heavens Ring didn’t take just anything. Ordinary people wouldn’t have the kind of items it wanted.
“My family isn’t rich,” Li Chuan replied. “I exchanged something else for the coins.”
“Is that related to your memory loss?” Shen Nianxiang asked.
“A bit,” Li Chuan answered vaguely.
“Why take such a risk just to get the marrow liquid? The Human Main City isn’t all good people. You were vulnerable. If you ran into someone nasty, you could’ve ended up sold on the black market.”
“I’m sick. If I didn’t take it, I would’ve died. I had no choice.”
Hearing that, Shen Nianxiang felt a pang of guilt.
He’d assumed Li Chuan was some rich young master, which was why he dared charge him 1000 coins. He hadn’t expected him to be a pitiful case.
He pictured Li Chuan’s family pawning everything just to save him. Gritting his teeth, he slapped the IOU down on the table.
“Forget it. You don’t have to pay me back.”
Li Chuan looked at him in surprise.
Shen Nianxiang also felt he was being too generous—he had, after all, spent quite a bit.
He comforted himself: “You kissed me and said, ‘Thank you, Big Brother Shen.’ Let’s call it even.”
“That doesn’t count!” Li Chuan snapped. “I’ll repay every coin—but please forget everything that happened while I was amnesiac, okay?!”
With that, he stood and tried to leave. He couldn’t bear another moment alone with Shen Nianxiang—it was too awkward!
Shen Nianxiang called after him, “Wait until the heat wind dies down! It’s dangerous outside!”
“I’m not afraid of the heat!” Li Chuan shouted back without turning around.
“But your clothes will burn!”
The temperature alone wasn’t enough to ignite clothing, but combined with the intense wind and friction, it could cause combustion. There were heat-resistant clothes in the All-Heavens World—but Shen Nianxiang’s old hand-me-downs weren’t.
Li Chuan looked down at his clothes… and awkwardly sat back at the table.
“I’ll leave when the wind stops,” he muttered.
To avoid further embarrassment, he sat turned away, refusing to meet Shen Nianxiang’s eyes.
Shen Nianxiang tried again: “You’re sure you don’t want me to reduce the debt? It could take you six months to earn 1000 coins.”
“No. I’ll find a way,” Li Chuan said, staring intently at the wall.
Seeing his discomfort, Shen Nianxiang offered, “Don’t worry. I’ll forget what happened.”
Li Chuan: “Mm.”
“I won’t tell anyone either.”
Li Chuan: “Mm.”
“But seriously, you can’t be that defenseless in the future.”
“Enough! Stop talking!” Li Chuan yelled, face flushing with shame.
“…Okay,” Shen Nianxiang said quietly.
The room finally fell silent, with only the howling wind outside.
