At this point, Little Ford stopped talking, and the system didn’t ask any more questions.

Little Ford raised his hand to block the wind, trying to light a cigarette. But just as the flame was about to catch the tobacco, he put the lighter away.

The system asked, “Not smoking?”

Little Ford said, “Evan Clark has taken care of his voice for so long, I can’t be the one to ruin it.”

The system said nothing, just turned up the warming mode by half a degree.

When Little Ford returned to the car with the unlit cigarette in his mouth, his body hadn’t been chilled by the wind—he was still warm.

He thought, this young master’s body is pretty good, got plenty of energy.

Thinking this, Little Ford bit down on the filter, started the car, left the cemetery, and drove home at a leisurely pace.

Passing by a soy milk shop, Little Ford stopped the car and put the cigarette back in his pocket.

Before coming to pick up Brian Young, Little Ford had specifically checked Evan Clark’s schedule for the day, which mentioned stopping by Sun’s Soy Milk Shop to buy soy milk for his family’s Old Young.

The handmade soy milk here is stone-ground, with a delicate texture, and Brian Young really likes it.

After Evan Clark and Brian Young got together, he accompanied him to try soy milk at many breakfast places, figured out his favorite flavor, and gradually forgot that he himself never liked soy milk to begin with.

Little Ford didn’t like soy milk either, so he certainly wouldn’t force himself.

He bought himself a serving of red bean porridge and got two cups of soy milk for Brian Young.

While waiting for the order to be packed, Little Ford asked the system hopefully, “If he drinks these two cups of soy milk, how much goodwill will I gain?”

System: “……”

That tone was like discussing the science of pig farming.

Still, Little Ford’s mood was pretty well-adjusted; it seemed the cemetery visit hadn’t affected him much.

When Little Ford got back in the car, the hypnosis card had worn off, and Brian Young had woken up, fiddling with his phone in the back seat.

Evan Clark smiled, eyes crinkling, and shook the two cups of soy milk in his hand: “I bought both for you, in case you’re hungry when you wake up. We’ll stop ahead and get some buns, have a good breakfast.”

Brian Young had just woken up to find his goodwill score had dropped by 13 points for no reason. He’d been indifferent toward Evan Clark, but the smell of soy milk warmed his heart, and seeing Evan Clark’s clean smile, his goodwill went up by another three points: “Good boy.”

Little Ford said to the system, “See? 62 points, passing.”

System: “…You should have a little more ambition.”

He felt like a father, earnestly lecturing his silly son who was already smug about barely passing.

Little Ford said, “Let’s set off some fireworks to celebrate.”

System said, “Don’t mess around.”

Little Ford said, “Alright. Add some sugar to my mung bean porridge, I forgot to ask for it earlier.”

The system sounded a bit desperate: “Mr. Ford, what do you take the target’s goodwill for?”

Little Ford replied confidently, “For points, of course. You said I could exchange them, so I did.”

System: “……”

He suddenly regretted letting Little Ford know about the warehouse exchange system.

The system used 1 goodwill point to exchange for half a spoonful of sugar from the warehouse, mixed it into the hot, soft-packaged porridge, and dutifully stirred it in.

In the back seat, Brian Young watched Evan Clark in the rearview mirror, hesitating to speak, then hesitating again.

Little Ford let him struggle for a while before feigning concern: “Old Young, what’s wrong? Carsick?”

Brian Young made up his mind.

He leaned forward and asked, “Have you been busy lately?”

“Busy. Super busy.”

Though he said that, Evan Clark’s voice was full of energy, with a hint of playful whining.

Brian Young asked, “How’s the songwriting going?”

Evan Clark had wanted to go on and on, but knowing Brian Young was a hardcore STEM guy with little interest in his field, he swallowed his words: “I’m working on the lyrics.”

Brian Young said, “Little Clark, I want to discuss something with you.”

“Go ahead.”

Brian Young said, “My parents and third sister are coming next week. You’re busy writing songs now, and my third sister might bring her kid, so if it gets noisy, that wouldn’t be good for you.”

Little Ford eagerly analyzed to the system, “See? He’s trying to get rid of me.”

The system said nothing.

Little Ford’s guess wasn’t unfounded. At this point, Brian Young hadn’t come out to his family.

To be precise, until he married a beautiful mixed-race girl, no one except Brian Young’s parents and his cousin Little Ann knew that Brian Young had once been gay.

In the original timeline, even the easygoing original host knew that Brian Young’s excuse was pretty weak.

They’d already had a falling out over Evan Clark’s older brother giving them a car. Evan Clark had complained, “Am I really that embarrassing to you?” They argued, and it got pretty heated—Brian Young even slept on the sofa that night.

Luckily, Evan Clark was easygoing and didn’t hold grudges. Early the next morning, he wrapped himself in a blanket, rolled onto the sofa, and took the initiative to make up with Brian Young.

He held his phone, snuggled into Brian Young’s chest, and said, “Look, I’ll stay at my classmate’s place next week for a week. So don’t be mad anymore, okay?”

When Little Ford received the timeline information and saw this part, he thought, Young man, you really are a blockhead.

If you’re unhappy, of course you can express it, but even then, there’s a right way to do it.