I Can Still Salvage It

Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi’s points exchange went smoothly, without any dramatic or mind-blowing movie-like effects.

It was just like buying something online. They added the pill they needed to the exchange box, and the item they wanted was exchanged.

Shen Mian felt it was unreal. He asked 007, “Is that it? Do you provide any after-sales service? Where do I go if I need to file a complaint?”

If 007 had human eyelids, it would probably roll its eyes.

“No return policy for those three-zero products.”

But considering that they were its first hosts, 007 reluctantly added, “If you don’t believe me, you can get another checkup after a month. There won’t be any problems. We are a conscientious system.”

Shen Mian responded with an “Oh” and decided to trust it for now.

After the points exchange was completed, 007 went off to write a summary report. According to it, the process was extremely troublesome, causing the systems to be in chaos multiple times. It was quite a burden.

Shen Mian listened and couldn’t help but feel it was like a pitiful corporate slave being ruthlessly exploited by the company.

But as a powerless human, he couldn’t do much and could only express his sympathy.

Since successfully coming out to his family, Shen Mian felt more relaxed. Yu Lian wasn’t really opposed to them, and Su Ying and Shen Changhe now had a positive attitude. Only Pei An was still fighting a lone battle.

However, even though Pei An and Pei Zhiyi would still argue with each other, they couldn’t bring themselves to insult Shen Mian. Eventually, Pei An decided to continue going on business trips, avoiding coming back even during his rest days. He didn’t want to see Pei Zhiyi, his rebellious son.

Pei Zhiyi was quite pleased with that and told Shen Mian that it would be best if Pei An didn’t come back for a whole year.

Shen Mian: “……” I don’t really want to be involved in the conflicts between you and your father.

However, he could also see that Pei An was actually passively resisting. He couldn’t come to terms with it for a while, but he also didn’t engage in any more extreme conflicts with them.

After all those years, Shen Mian didn’t feel that he completely owed Pei Zhiyi.

Shen Mian thought that he and Pei Zhiyi would definitely have to wait for the day when all their family members would give them their blessings.

However, what he was currently more concerned about was that he and Pei Zhiyi would finally be returning to school after a whole week of absence.

On the day he fainted, he was actually supposed to go to school, but at that time, their parents were still considering whether they should send them to different schools, so they kept them at home.

Later, due to Shen Mian fainting and undergoing medical examinations, it delayed them for a week.

Now, their parents were gradually getting used to them being together, and seeing them cling to each other, they quickly sent them off to school.

Su Ying was straightforward, saying, “Hurry up, without you two at home, I feel more relaxed. Don’t spend your days at home in love. Remember that you’re still high school students.”

Shen Mian wanted to protest, but when he saw the cold look in his mother’s eyes, he wisely swallowed his words.

Shen Yu, on the other hand, gleefully enjoyed the situation because she had also started school and couldn’t stand seeing others being idle.

The three of them left the house together. Their schools weren’t far apart, so the driver first dropped off Shen Yu and then Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi.

Sitting in the car, Shen Yu burst into laughter at the sight of Pei Zhiyi and Shen Mian openly holding hands.

She found it hilarious that her brother and Pei Zhiyi’s coming out had caused such a commotion, and for a few days, she felt like a dark cloud was hanging over their house.

Fortunately, things eventually cleared up.

But she also doubted herself a little, wondering how she couldn’t see that Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi liked each other from the beginning.

After the closeted truth was revealed, when she looked back at their past interactions, she realized that there were obvious hints everywhere.

She even recalled Shen Mian’s past teasing, asking Pei Zhiyi to become her brother-in-law, which seemed like a win-win situation at the time.

Both of them thought it was a joke.

When they got off the car, she waved goodbye to Pei Zhiyi and Shen Mian.

She smiled at Pei Zhiyi and whispered, “Goodbye, brother-in-law. Make sure to motivate my brother to study at school.”

Then she happily skipped away.

Shen Mian was momentarily stunned, but then he smiled all the way.

Pei Zhiyi didn’t resist either; he just ruffled Shen Mian’s hair, his eyes gentle.

When they entered the classroom, they were warmly welcomed.

Their group of friends surrounded them, eagerly inquiring about their well-being because they had heard from teacher Ding that Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi were sick and had to take a temporary leave.

However, as they looked at Shen Mian’s slightly flushed face and Pei Zhiyi’s strong muscles, it was hard for them to convince themselves that those two were actually sick patients.

Shen Mian didn’t hide anything and casually said while tidying up their things, “It’s nothing, we just came out of the closet at home.”

Their friends collectively gasped, and Xu Jing and Han Chao almost hugged each other for warmth.

Mu Lingling and Xu Qian quickly grabbed Shen Mian’s hand to check if there were any injuries.

“You two weren’t sent to the hospital by your parents, were you?” Mu Lingling asked anxiously.

“No, my parents and his parents are still civilized, they don’t resort to violence,” Shen Mian scratched his head, “We just stayed at home for a few days, and then I fainted once, and our parents agreed.”

The group of friends fell into silence, unsure how to react.

Finally, Xu Jing summed it up, saying, “We never dared to introduce our opposite-sex partners to our parents, and you two gays came out of the closet first.” He patted Shen Mian’s shoulder, “Awesome!”

Shen Mian: “…” Why did that not sound quite right?

……..

Yu Lian’s initial plan was to stay in the home country for twenty days, but due to Pei Zhiyi’s situation, she ended up staying for over half a month.

Before leaving, the Shen family went to the airport to see her off.

At the airport, Yu Lian first hugged Pei Zhiyi, then went to hug Shen Mian.

She wasn’t someone who showed her emotions easily, but she hugged Shen Mian for quite a while, then looked at him and softly said, “I’m entrusting Pei Zhiyi to you. Thank you for being with him all these years.”

She knew very well that if it weren’t for Shen Mian, Pei Zhiyi probably wouldn’t have had such happy years.

Pei Zhiyi’s character hadn’t become completely unfeeling and distant, and that was already enough for her.

Shen Mian suddenly felt a great sense of responsibility. “Okay, Auntie, don’t worry!”

Yu Lian chuckled, ruffled Shen Mian’s hair, and then glanced at Pei Zhiyi, who was also smiling.

“Then, I’ll be leaving. Next time, I’ll bring your little sister to play with you two.” After saying that, Yu Lian grabbed her luggage and walked away.

She was still the same straightforward person who didn’t drag things out.

Pei Zhiyi watched her figure and recalled how she used to leave like this when they were younger.

But back then, he would feel sad and angry, whereas now, he felt a sense of peace.

He held Shen Mian’s hand and returned home with the Shen family’s car.

On the way, Shen Changhe asked them what they wanted to eat for dinner, Shen Yu and Shen Mian were focused on discussing a football match, and the car was filled with warmth and laughter.