System Only Gives Me Useless Gifts

Dee... Dee...

Li Yun's default alarm bell rang at 4 am, prompting him to reach for his phone and silence it. His eyes batted open as he flicked away the crusted mucus around his eyes. He stared around and surveyed the plain bedroom; not quite used to the unfamiliar layout. It was his day off, and he was staying at Wu Bin's apartment, which had an extra room to spare. After his bedroom had been converted into a game room, he had been crashing at Wu Bin whenever he visited his parent's apartment.

The day off was planned out already, but he wasn't in a hurry to complete it. He checked his OurChat instead. Normally the group chat had nothing but mindless chatter, but someone tagged his name, so he continued reading.

Xuxu: What happened to @LiYun? He's been awfully quiet lately.

Ersan: @LiYun how is life as an intern?

JuDe: Probably reading.

Fatty: Probably sleeping.

Ersan: But it's almost Spring Festrival. Interns have time off, don't they?

LaoBu: I heard they work 70+ hours, so it must be tough. @LiYun, join me at the Yide City office. It is a blast, all we do is pointless paperwork, and the pay is good. Probably not as good as @bufu

Bufu: Don't @ me, I'm working.

Fatty: Why are you on OurChat if you're still "working"?

Bufu: "Working"

They discussed more endless nonsense after that. They were planning to head to a bar the following night, which was tonight.

LiYun: Just got back late last night. I'm coming.

After typing, Li Yun wanted to continue sleeping but stared at a piece of calligraphy hung on the wall. "Get up lazy bum!"

It was a present he had given to Wu Bin at his high school graduation. At that time, Li Yun had only started practicing calligraphy, so the characters were crooked and ugly. Not wanting to look at the scroll, Li Yun headed to the living room and started reading on the lounge chair.

An hour later, Wu Bin walked out in his pajamas, half asleep with a cereal bowl in hand. His body tensed momentarily, almost spilling his milk at the sight of Li Yun. It took him another second to remember that Li Yun had stopped by last evening.

"You sure keep strange hours," Wu Bin remarked.

"Said the guy who wakes up at 5am in the morning," Li Yun responded. "On a holiday."

"Hey, isn't that normal?" Wu Bin sat on the sofa next to the lounge chair. "Do you have insomnia or something?"

"No, I just didn't want to stare at that scroll."

"Oh, that. I gave that to Wu Ling as encouragement. When she moved out from my mom's place, we kept it in the guest room."

"She stayed in that room? When? After Aunt Xu's marriage?"

"Well, you know how she is. She won't say it out loud, but she feels uncomfortable living there. Now that she's older, she doesn't want to burden my mom."

Li Yun nodded. Aunt Xu remarried their neighboring widower, Yuen Sho, two years ago. It was reasonable for Wu Ling to feel uncomfortable since she wasn't related to either of them by blood. Wu Bin was at least her half-brother.

Wu Bin and Wu Ling's relationship was a bit complex and Li Yun didn't understand their family dynamics until high school. It was an open secret that Wu Ling was his uncle's child with a mistress. After his irresponsible uncle abandoned everyone, the mistress also abandoned the daughter.

Everyone was surprised when Aunt Xu decided to raise Wu Ling as her own. Wu Ling turned out better than most abandoned children due to Aunt Xu and Wu Bin's nurturing.

"I am still a bit worried about her," Wu Bin sighed. "She seems tough, but she's still a bit naive."

"And you're the typical overprotective brother," Li Yun said as he closed his book. "She's fine on her own. She's handling my business better than I can handle it on my own."

Wu Bin stared at Li Yun. "So, what do you think of my sister?"

Li Yun stared back at him with a weird expression.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm still concerned about your delusional tendency, but you're not a bad guy. If there's anyone I would rather entrust my sister to, it would be you."

"Gee, should I be happy about that?" Li Yun regularly consulted with Wu Bin as an older brother figure.

"So, how do you feel about little Ling?"

"You have studied psychology in college, so you know of Freud?"

"Of course."

"Have you read about Wastermarck?"

Wu Bin shook his head. He took a few psychology courses in college while studying to be a guidance counselor, but not as crazy knowledgable as Li Yun.

"According to Wastermarck, there is a point in time when siblings or people who grow up like siblings develop an aversion to each other, mainly due to societal and cultural expectations of what is considered normal. I am one of those people who have developed that aversion." Li Yun shrugged as though he got the chills. "I'm not like you."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, so I shouldn't expect any Freudian relationship?"

"Do you want a smack you brat?!" Wu Bin was ready to throw his slipper at him.

"What kind of therapist physically abuses their client!?"

"You brat, I'm not your therapist, go see a real one!"

Even after all their bickering, Li Yun still confided in Wu Bin about the system.

"Whether it really exists or not, I'm more inclined to believe that this is all in your head," Wu Bin advised. "Everything so far is still in the realm of reality, even Zuowang. You have developed a hyper observational skill to a point where you can imagine yourself as the other person."

"I also feel that way, but wouldn't it be more exciting if it was real?"

"So you want to be a butterfly?"

Li Yun smiled. "I have thought about it for a long time."

Wu Bin pulled the corner of his mouth back to form a concerned grin. His cousin seemed more mature than before, but still unsure about himself. He didn't believe in a system, but he thought Li Yun had talent and a high level of discernment that was bordering schizophrenia.

****

In the evening, Li Yun headed to the club and saw the group sitting together and drinking. It had been a while since he had seen them. Fatty Fang was sitting next to Mu Lian, being all cozy like a typical couple. Bufu and Hu Ersan took turns singing karaoke, while Bu Tao and his wife An Tingting plugged their ears.

"Li Yun, long time no see, finally coming out today?" Bufu called him out with the mike.

Bu Tao handed Li Yun a beer, and they chatted like usual. Li Yun's turn on the karaoke machine, and he selected an old song from the Bund. He was not as bad as Bufu and Ersan, but the song was perfect for him to be overdramatic. Everyone cheered and joined in during the parts that they knew and made loud dun, dun, dun noises in the background.

Later in the night, the couples left early, leaving the bachelors alone. They headed out of the karaoke lounge and into the open club area. It didn't take Bufu long to find a graduate student to make out with.

"The bastard, already abandoning his friends," Ersan sneered as he continued drinking with Li Yun.

Li Yun chuckled. The reason why they were there in the first place was to pick up girls. Bufu, even with his glasses, was a known ladykiller in their group. He even had a fanclub during college.

Ersan sighed again. As an architectural student, dating was already difficult. He only had two relationships, and they all failed because he wasn't able to spend time with them. He was hoping that his next girlfriend was more understanding.

Li Yun noticed a pair drinking at the counter. "All right Ersan, how about the pair over there?"

Ersan looked at the pair. They were both attractive young women, and they didn't look like they had rings, but that didn't really indicate anything. However, he trusted Li Yun's ability to pick out women who were available and without messy attachments.

Ersan patted and straightened his shirt. They both got up from their seats and casually introduced themselves as students from Binchu University.

The girl wearing a black dress with dimpled cheeks greeted them back, "My name is Jing Bei. I'm from Linbi University, so we could be considered rivals."

"I applied for Linbi before, but they don't have an architecture program, unfortunately," said Ersan.

Jing Bei brightened. "Ooh, I love architecture! I'm in the interior design program at Linbi!" Jing Bei looked at the girl next to her. "This is my cousin Wen Nali."

The other girl, Wen Nali, was tall and wore her hair in a tall ponytail. Her makeup was a bit heavy, but she was the type of person who knew how to apply it well.

"You must be a foreign language teacher at the same university," Li Yun said before giving her the chance to introduce herself.

Wen Nali was impressed and offered her hand for a handshake. Li Yun lightly held her hands to his lips but kissed his own thumb instead. There was something about the gesture that impressed most women.