Evan Clark paused for a moment, not responding immediately.

Brian Young felt a bit uneasy and watched Evan Clark's expression through the rearview mirror.

Soon, Evan Clark grinned, revealing a row of small white teeth. "Sure."

His pinky finger gently rubbed the leather cover of the steering wheel. "Mom and Dad definitely won't want to stay at a hotel, they'll think it's too expensive. The guesthouses near our place are in poor condition, and they've come all this way—making them use public restrooms, not even guaranteed 24-hour hot water, it's really not great."

After saying all this in one breath, he looked up and gave a gentle, reassuring smile to Brian Young in the rearview mirror.

Then, his long lashes lowered, and the warm yellow streetlight outside the window slid perfectly across his cheek.

"But our place is just a one-bedroom apartment. When the time comes, Mom and Dad will sleep in the master bedroom, you'll sleep on the sofa, and do we still need to prepare two air mattresses for Third Sis and her kid?"

He rambled on for a bit, then looked up again to seek Brian Young's opinion in the rearview mirror.

But in just that moment, Evan Clark's eyes turned slightly red, a misty haze gathering in his gaze, and when the light from outside flickered over, they shone startlingly bright.

Realizing he was losing composure, Evan Clark quickly looked away, coughed, as if trying to cover something up.

Brian Young's heart skipped a beat. "…Little Clark."

Noticing he'd been found out, Evan Clark gave in, looked up again, fixed his gaze on Brian Young, squinted his eyes, and gave a gentle smile, signaling that he was fine.

Being looked at by those eyes, Brian Young felt his heart melt.

…He understood his own difficulties, knew he wasn't ready to come clean to his parents, so even though he was clearly upset, he was still trying hard to accommodate him.

A thread of guilt wound itself around Brian Young's heart.

Brian Young said, "Little Clark, I'll find you a hotel to stay in."

Evan Clark didn't refuse, and with a bit of a nasal whine, acted spoiled: "Mm. I want a nice one, a five-star."

Brian Young was amused and played along: "Yes, yes, five-star."

The system was very surprised.

This performance was truly done in one seamless take.

Every micro-expression of Little Ford was astonishingly coordinated, even the changes in light and shadow outside the car window were used to the fullest.

If this were a film set, no matter which camera angle you captured him from, his expression would be perfect.

The system had once hurriedly skimmed through Little Ford's profile and knew that before coming here, he was a model-turned-actor with both fans and haters.

At 26, with a modeling background, mired in fan wars and scandals, by all data analysis, Little Ford should be a celebrity who relied on his looks to attract fans, not a real actor.

But that didn't seem to be the case.

The system decided to find some time to study Little Ford's situation more, to end the adjustment period as soon as possible and improve task efficiency.

Compared to other systems, No. 061 had always been very focused on efficiency when doing tasks.

And Little Ford gained a lot from this performance.

He said with satisfaction, "System, system, favorability increased by 15 points, regret value increased by 6 points."

The system also received a string of notifications: "Mm, keep it up."

Little Ford: "Same as always, exchange for a card,"

System: "……" When did this become a routine?

Little Ford: "What card can I get for 15 points? ...Never mind, send me the warehouse info when we get back tonight, I'll look through it myself."

System: "……Mm."

Little Ford asked again, "Can unused cards be carried over to the next world?"

System: "……Yes."

Little Ford was even happier: "That's great. How many cards are there in total in the warehouse? If I collect the whole set, is there any reward?"

The system had to remind him, "Mr. Chi, this is a proper system, not a card collecting game."

Little Ford said, "I like card collecting games. I had one on my old phone called 'Demon Summon,' I was only 6 heroes short of collecting all 513."

At this point, Little Ford said painfully, "...Now that this happened, who knows how long it'll be before I can finish the set."

For a collector, this was truly too cruel.

The system ignored him, and Little Ford just shrugged indifferently.

They were almost at their destination.

The apartment complex they rented in didn't have free parking, so Little Ford parked the car on the street outside.

When he pulled out the car key, Little Ford turned his face and happened to see Evan Clark's reflection in the car window.

Even in a natural state, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, like a little seedling nourished and thriving in love.

No one would have guessed that such a cheerful and innocent young man would, due to moderate depression, end up slitting his wrists in a small lakeside town abroad three years later.

Chapter 4: The Genius Cannon Fodder's Counterattack (Part Four)

The plagiarism incident was only the prelude to Evan Clark's tragic fate.

Brian Young returned home, listened to Evan Clark's desperate sobbing, and held his shoulders, saying, "Little Clark, calm down."

Evan Clark's eyes were red. "Old Young, believe me, you have to believe me."

Brian Young said, "Of course I believe you."

Evan Clark grabbed Brian Young, repeatedly seeking confirmation and help: "You watched me write the song, didn't you? I even played it for you, I even…"

Brian Young wrapped Evan Clark's hand in his own, then pressed it to his chest. "I know everything."