Chapter 2285: Love and Chaos: System Showdown 09

Xilan approached with a wine glass, his gaze behind the gold‑rimmed glasses lingering on You Le'an for a second before shifting to Jin Chen, a proper smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"President Jin, long time no see, the progress of the project in South Africa needs to be reported to you."

His voice was gentle, his finger lightly tapping the rim of the glass, as if emphasizing his importance to someone.

You Le'an blinked, smiling narrowly at Xilan.

"Who are you?"

"Xilan, President Jin's… right‑hand man, this gentleman is."

As expected, the control group has arrived.

To create an opportunity to interact with the male lead, they didn't hesitate to stage a drowning incident!

You Le'an suddenly reached out and hooked his arm around Jin Chen's, almost pressing his whole body against him.

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, didn't admit it, and told You Le'an, "He's my subordinate."

"Oh, so you're Jin Chen's good subordinate."

You Le'an's tone was light, the end slightly rising: "You Le'an, Jin Chen's good brother, honored guest of the Jin family."

Xilan's expression froze for a moment.

He stared at You Le'an's overly delicate face, then glanced at Jin Chen's indulgent posture, and the discomfort in his heart grew stronger.

This boy was too dazzling; standing beside Jin Chen, he gave off a strange sense of harmony, as if he was born to be there.

He pressed his lips, barely maintaining his composure: "Oh, you're a guest of the Jin family; my apologies for the rudeness."

You Le'an tilted his head, his smile bright enough to sting: "No need to be polite."

Who knows who he's trying to piss off.

【Today's villainy points: 2/10! Already getting the hang of being a villain who makes people angry!】

Xilan had just lifted his wine glass halfway, intending to clink glasses with Jin Chen.

You Le'an had already swiftly picked up a Sprite and moved to meet him.

Sizzle—

A soft pop, the bubbles burst cheerfully, and a ring of sweet foam instantly clung to Xilan's red wine cup.

Xilan: "……"

"Young Master You, I want to report some work to President Jin; could you please step aside for a moment?"

"Work?"

You Le'an humbly asked, "Do you hate Jin Chen that much?"

"What?" Xilan, puzzled.

"It's banquet time now; Director Xian, you're so eager to talk work—could it be you're deliberately keeping Jin Chen from enjoying his vacation?"

You Le'an muttered to himself, pointing out little thoughts, trying not to be too obvious.

Lin Xi snorted with laughter beside him, nearly spilling his champagne; he hurriedly wiped his mouth, but couldn't hide his giddy, spectator expression.

A big villain, after all, it's more fun to target others.

Xilan's face grew worse, the knuckles gripping his wine glass turning white.

Jin Chen glanced coolly at Xilan, then casually pulled You Le'an toward him, saying, "Let's talk at the company."

His tone was calm, yet everyone could hear the undisputable resolve in it.

Xilan's mouth twitched, and he could only stiffly nod and leave.

As he turned, You Le'an happily shook his Sprite cup, the bubbles jumping cheerfully, as if celebrating this small victory.

Jin Chen clinked champagne glasses with You Le'an, meaningfully saying, "Our Young Master You seems not to like this subordinate."

You sure know the original plot well, huh, wife.

You Le'an paused a few seconds, giving him an annoyed look: "Nonsense, I just dislike work."

Just a side effect.

"Hope so." Jin Chen raised an eyebrow and shifted his gaze.

【Xilan is an indispensable part of the drowning incident; if you don't get on good terms with him, how can you complete the mission?】

You Le'an took a mysterious sip of Sprite.

The best villains often need only the simplest means.

——

There were many entertainment activities on the cruise ship; Jin Chen took You Le'an to try a few that interested them, then, taking advantage of the good weather, went up to the deck to watch the sunset.

Jin Chen changed into a short‑sleeve shirt, put on sunglasses, lay down, and once again sorted out the plot line.

According to the original plot, the unfortunate him was supposed to fall into the water on the cruise ship.

To drive a wedge between the two protagonists and gain a chance to be alone with the male lead, the villain was bribed by Xie Jiulong, who hated the original self, to stage a scene with Xilan the next evening, shoving the original self into the sea so Lin Xi could see.

According to the villain's plan, Lin Xi and Xilan would both go to rescue the original self; Xilan would then become the original self's lifesaver, and incidentally help the villain hold back Lin Xi.

Meanwhile, the villain would take the chance to enter Zhou Du's resting room.

But the plan couldn't keep up with changes; Zhou Du saw Lin Xi jump in to save the original self without hesitation, and that became the key plot point where the protagonists' feelings deepened and their relationship was confirmed.

The kicker is, Xilan actually doesn't know how to swim at all; he nearly drowned together with the original self, but was rescued by a rescue boat summoned by Zhou Du.

Afraid of being blamed, Xilan panicked and confessed that the villain had set up the trap.

【All things considered, to raise the protagonists' affection, everyone else is just a necessary link.】

Ling Gun Gun lay on his back in the pool on the deck, kicking back and forth toward the sun.

No way am I going to be that sucker.

Jin Chen pondered for a moment, then decided to first see You Le'an's reaction.

This was about him confirming what task system You Le'an was bound to.

Ling Gun Gun flopped over, poked the progress bar, 【Almost done, just 24 more hours until recording finishes~】

Jin Chen threw it back into the pool, 【Keep swimming, hard to get a chance to exercise.】

【……】

You Le An, who was a few meters away, was comfortably sunbathing, when suddenly Lin Xi poked his shoulder.

He pulled down his sunglasses, "How come?"

The protagonist just showed up at the door.

Lin Xi tried to ignore You Le An's strange look, secretly pointing not far away, "Do you see that gangster‑type guy across from my brother?"

You Le An followed the gaze, nodded, "Oh~ the Axe Gang?"

Very stylish, huh.

"No, it's Xie Jiu Long of the Xie family, also the organizer of this cruise banquet."

Lin Xi lowered his voice: "He and my brother have some new and old grudges; the Xie family is somewhat involved in that shady stuff, so this time he's probably targeting my brother."

So.

Lin Xi fanned You Le An with a hand‑held fan, "Your brother's safety is in your hands."

Such a big villain with lots of evil intentions!

You Le An:???