Reborn as a Substitute

Ji Sheng’s hand shook and he hung up the phone with a snap.

“Why are you hanging up? Answer it.” Xie Xuanming said coldly, ”Then go on a date without telling me, your ex-boyfriend can’t wait.”

He paused and said uncertainly: “Is it an ex boyfriend?”

Ji Sheng: ……

Ji Sheng: I’m dead, ex-boyfriends don’t continue their careers in the underworld.

Ji Sheng held his forehead: “Yes… we broke up before.”

“Oh, you didn’t tell me this either.” It looked like Xie Xuanming wrote down another thing in his account, but his expression eased slightly.

After staying by Xie Xuanming’s side for a short time, Ji Sheng had already become a pro in micro-expression appraisal of his one and only master Xie Xuanming. Naturally, this important turn of events was not going to be missed.

He showed the recent call log and explained: “I really haven’t contacted Sheng Kongzhi. He changed his number and called.”

Xie Xuanming glanced: “En.”

“I wouldn’t meet him without telling you… I wouldn’t go to see him at all.”

“Go ahead.”

“To be precise, I don’t want to meet him at all… huh?” Ji Sheng was taken aback. He turned to look at Xie Xuanming. His eyes widened; even the mole at the corner of his eye seemed stunned.

“Go ahead.” Xie Xuanming glanced at him sideways and it seemed his mood improved quite a bit at the sight of his surprised look.

He even wanted to pinch his face a little.

“He contacted you many times, he must have important things to talk about, not just feeling like catching up with you.” Xie Xuanming rubbed his fingers on the steering wheel a few times, “Do you think he is the kind of person who will be impulsive over and over again because of emotions?”

Ji Sheng thought for a moment and admitted: “He really is not.”

“So go and talk.” Xie Xuanming said, “I’m also really curious what big things he wants to talk to you about.”

“…Okay.”

Ji Sheng messaged Sheng Kongzhi, and the two agreed about a convenient time to meet in a private cafe.

The cafe was large, owned by a retired movie queen, very considerate of her colleagues, with cubicles and curtains inside.

When Ji Sheng walked into the cubicle, Sheng Kongzhi, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up and said with joy: “Xiao Sheng.”

He took two steps forward and grabbed Ji Sheng’s hand, his face full of sincere happiness.

Ji Sheng frowned and yanked his hand back, but unfortunately couldn’t free it.

“Sheng Kongzhi.” He said, “There might be reporters in the next room, so pay attention.”

Ji Sheng motioned to the side with his eyes, and Sheng Kongzhi looked along. The rooms were separated by the brown glass and through its false transparency he could indeed see the figures next door.

Sheng Kongzhi’s body stiffened, he let go of his hand unhappily, but after a while he calmed down and said comfortingly, “It’s alright, even if we get caught on camera, we can buy out the news. It won’t affect you.”

“I don’t care.” Ji Sheng shrugged, “I’m just a paste coffee now. Even when I used to be famous, didn’t the company think I was not worth the price of a buyout?”

His words were sharp, and Sheng Kongzhi’s expression became even more stiff. He tried to explain: “At that time, Qingchu was not competent enough and had no money…”

“Now it has.” Ji Sheng smiled at him and said meaningfully, “Thanks to you.”

Stepping on people step by step, you finally got the value that exceeded the estimate.

Sheng Kongzhi was on pins and needles from his words and did not want to bring up the subject again, so he hastily turned to another topic and said, “By the way, how is Auntie?”

“Pretty good.”

“Expenses or something…”

“All covered.”

“That’s good, I’ll come in a couple of days and go see her…”

“No need.” Ji Sheng raised his eyes and said softly, “Do me a favour, don’t go.”

Sheng Kongzhi’s face distorted for a moment. He was painfully silent for a while and then spoke with difficulty: “Xiao Sheng… don’t be like this.”

“I’m sorry.” Ji Sheng said, “I don’t want to be so rude, but when I think that my mother is still locked up, I can’t control my tone at all.”

“I tried to persuade Brother Tan, but…” Sheng Kongzhi said hurriedly, then lowered his head halfway through the sentence.” But…”

Ji Sheng had guessed this a long time ago and sneered lightly.

Sheng Kongzhi was hurt by his mockery again. He said bitterly: “Xiao Sheng, do we have nothing to talk about except quarrelling nowadays?”

“I think we should have.” Ji Sheng said naturally, “Although I have nothing to say, you probably didn’t call me out all for the sake of renewing old times.”

His tone was calm, but there was an unwarranted note of sarcasm, which Sheng Kongzhi felt uncomfortable hearing but had no way to refute.

Because he did have other things to discuss with Ji Sheng.

Sheng Kongzhi was silent for a long time and finally said, “What are you going to do after…?”

Ji Sheng raised his eyebrows: “Qingchu sent you to spy on the enemy?”

“Xiao Sheng!” Sheng Kongzhi started sharply, met his gaze and weakened again, ”After all, we have been friends for many years, why be so extreme…”

“Then why did you have to be so extreme at the time?” Ji Sheng asked rhetorically, making Sheng Kongzhi lower his head in embarrassment, “I want to take my mother out and settle her down, then find a position as a drummer in a band. As for Xie Xuanming…”

He paused for a moment and said, “I don’t know what he is going to do.”

Sheng Kongzhi didn’t pay attention to his hesitation, and only asked, “Are you going to talk about what happened before?”

“What exactly?”

“That…”

“Sisheng fan? Sexual harassment? Drunk driving?” Sheng Kongzhi was silent as Ji Sheng counted one by one, “Do you think I should talk about it?”

Sheng Kongzhi leaned forward suddenly, staring imploringly: “Xiao Sheng… I did a lot of things wrong before, but I really did not mean to, I did not know it would end up like this… I… you are also developing smoothly now, I will make Li Tan spare your mother, can you spare me as well?”

“Spare you?” Ji Sheng leaned back and looked down at Sheng Kongzhi, a wave of anger surging in his heart.

He looked at Sheng Kongzhi, his eyes getting colder little by little.

Why did I ever like such a person?

This thought made Ji Sheng feel a little puzzled.

“Xie Xuanming told me about what you have done over the years. It is really very exciting.” Ji Sheng said softly, “And you don’t seem to know you’re wrong either.”

He didn’t want to waste any more time. Sitting face to face with a hypocrite was really disgusting.

Ji Sheng stood up and said condescendingly: “I know the shit you and Li Tan did, and Xie Xuanming also knows. You tell me not to talk about it but can you stop Xie Xuanming from stabbing?”

“This… you can persuade Xiao Xie…”

“Don’t call him Xiao Xie, don’t mention him, I want to slap you when I hear it.” Ji Sheng said, ”And I can’t stop him. In my previous life I might have been able to persuade him, but unfortunately I was killed by you guys.

“And I have been silent for too long. I don’t want to be mute anymore. What crap you have done, think about it yourselves and wait for the day to come to settle the score.”

After Ji Sheng said that, he didn’t want to bother anymore, so he turned and left the private room.

When he left the cafe, he did not contact Xie Xuanming at once but turned around and walked into a candy shop next to the cafe.

The boss stood at the clear counter cutting the candies, beautifully patterned pieces falling prettily on the white porcelain table.

Ji Sheng touched a small piece of candy from the tasting plate and put it in his mouth. As he tasted the melting sweetness and watched the boss’s neat movements, his mood that had been ruined by Sheng Kongzhi gradually improved a lot.

After the boss finished the roll of candies, Ji Sheng finally stopped being annoyed.

He stepped forward, grabbed a food bag and fished a spoonful of every kind of candy in the merchandise section like he didn’t care about money, filling the bag to the brim and going to the cash desk to settle the bill.

Under an envious sigh of the cashier, Ji Sheng turned around with the bag and walked straight to a man in a black coat and a black hat standing at the counter, pulled his arm and stuffed the bag into his hands.

“What do you mean?” Xie Xuanming was wearing a mask and hat; only his eyes were exposed, staring at Ji Sheng without blinking.

“Making amends.”

“Amends for what?”

“Aren’t you angry?” Ji Sheng said, “Because I met with Sheng Kongzhi.”

“…I asked you to meet with him, why will I be angry?” Xie Xuanming denied.

Ji Sheng did not say anything, only stepped back and looked at him with his hands behind his back.

The two were in a stalemate for a few seconds, and then Xie Xuanming averted his eyes slightly: “I am a little unhappy, but not to the point of being angry.”

He squeezed the bag, and the plastic rustled: “Don’t coax me with candy at every turn, I’m not a child.”

“Don’t you like it?” Ji Sheng reached out, “If you don’t like it, give it back to me, this shop’s things taste good, I want to have a couple more bites.”

Xie Xuanming withdrew his hand and Ji Sheng grabbed nothing.

“You gave it to me, it’s mine.” Xie Xuanming said solemnly as he protected the candy, “There’s no reason to take it back.”

“Oh——” Ji Sheng held back a smile and drawled, “Then, Emperor Xie who doesn’t like candy and is not a child, can we go back now?”

“…don’t you want to hang out anymore?”

“No.” Ji Sheng scratched his head, “I have a headache after talking to an idiot, and now I just want to go back to sleep.”

“Okay.”

The two walked out; Xie Xuanming took two steps, paused and took off his cap to put it on Ji Sheng’s head.

“What are you doing? I am a paste coffee, no one wants to take my pictures anyway.”

“Wear it.”

“…so fierce, Emperor Xie, holding the candy I gave you in your hand and still fierce to me, it’s too much.”

“There is a person on the bench behind us who has been holding up his mobile phone to take pictures. If you want to be on the hot search, I will take off my mask now and let them have a good time.”

“…that’s not necessary.”

It was probably the effect of the candy; the next few days Ji Sheng and Xie Xuanming were getting along extraordinarily harmoniously. Xie Xuanming was very nice when he was not angry; quietly sitting on the side reading the script, he always reminded Ji Sheng the image of that seventeen-year-old boy from a few years ago.

Ji Sheng realized that he seemed to be a little nostalgic for the 17-year-old Xie Xuanming, which made him deeply worried about whether he had hidden pedophilic tendencies.

During those few days of calm, the two of them slept in the same bed peacefully, except for occasional confrontations over the quilt. Today, Ji Sheng also went to bed after washing as usual. As soon as he charged his mobile phone, he saw Xie Xuanming put on his mask and hurry out.

“What’s the matter?” Ji Sheng glanced at the time and asked in surprise, “Where are you going so late?”

“Some things…” Xie Xuanming lowered his head and put on his hat, saying briefly, “I’ll go out for a while, you can sleep.”

He opened the bedroom door and a few seconds later, the sound of the door closing came from downstairs.

Ji Sheng tilted his head in confusion, seemingly unable to understand where Xie Xuanming was going in such a hurry at night.

He thought about it for a while, looked at his phone, turned off the light and fell asleep.

That night it was cold outside, clearly a summer night but cloudy and windy, so chilly that it made one get goosebumps suddenly.

Ji Sheng was awakened by the cold.

“The air conditioning is too low…” he muttered, groping for the remote control at the head of the bed, but suddenly realizing that something was wrong.

His groping hand gradually stopped. Ji Sheng slowly turned his head and looked at the bedside.

A woman with a bandage on her hand was staring at him intently.

The author has something to say：

Xiao Xie, a thief is in your house, come back quickly