I Just Wanted To Live but I Somehow Became Better Than the Protagonist

A Matter of Interest

Ye Yong felt quite helpless about this situation. To be honest, if he told the truth, others would think, wow, you succeeded in alchemy on your first try, and it was of medium quality—what a genius in the way of pills!

Keeping it a secret, on the other hand, would only give rise to various rumors due to people’s curiosity.

But if asked which was better, Ye Yong certainly believed it was the latter.

After all, no matter how powerful the rumors were, they were still just rumors. Without solid evidence, no matter how much they boasted, Ye Yong was still a novice in alchemy; could they really elevate him to the status of a Pill Emperor? Moreover, with every boast, there would be criticism; surely some would think he had failed in alchemy and was afraid to show off, fearing it would ruin his image, hence the secrecy.

In any case, whether it was praise or criticism, absurd rumors could not withstand scrutiny, and Ye Yong was not worried.

But the solid fact that he succeeded in alchemy on his first try was a promising future; he could not bear such an honor as being labeled a Pill Emperor. In short, after careful consideration, Ye Yong believed the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, which was why he chose to keep it a secret.

Moreover, he wanted to see how far he could go without relying on the system. The effort put into something versus obtaining it easily was different; even if Ye Yong had no talent for alchemy and could only produce second-grade pills in the end, at least he could proudly say he could refine second-grade pills, rather than relying entirely on the system, feeling guilty.

Upon returning to his residence, as soon as Ye Yong stepped through the door with his left foot, he sensed something was off. Qin Shiming, Liang Xiaorou, Wu Xue, and Hua Ningyan were all in the courtyard, sitting in the four corners, looking very strange, as if they were setting up some kind of formation.

Hearing the noise, their gazes all turned to Ye Yong, but they said nothing and did not approach. Instead, it was Xia Shiqi, who, as usual, ran up to Ye Yong, sniffing around incessantly, as if accusing him of sneaking out to eat delicious food.

Having spent most of the day refining pills, Ye Yong was covered in the fragrance of pills. As soon as Xia Shiqi caught a whiff, it frowned, looking at Ye Yong with a strong disapproving gaze from below.

Just then, Ye Yong, troubled by the junk he had refined—no, the good stuff, a medium-quality Gathering Qi Pill that no one wanted to eat—poured it all out from the bottle, stuffing it into Xia Shiqi’s mouth.

Since following Ye Yong, Xia Shiqi had never endured such humiliation. Just as it was about to spit it out, it suddenly realized that this junk actually tasted quite good; after all, it was the essence of the medicinal materials. So, after chewing it a bit, it swallowed it whole and looked up at Ye Yong, as if to say, “Is that it?”

Seeing this, Ye Yong silently nodded. Good, from now on, if he played alchemy mini-games, he could rely on Xia Shiqi to finish them off.

Now, Ye Yong’s attention returned to the girls in the courtyard.

They were silent, yet their eyes were fixed on him. Could it be that they wanted him to make a choice?

—

Similar to the first thing one does upon returning is to decide who to speak to, thereby highlighting who holds a higher status in their heart.

Ye Yong pondered that she hadn’t done anything to provoke a stir in the harem; they had been getting along well before, so why suddenly the desire to compare standings?

Clearly, Ye Yong had misunderstood the intentions of the female leads. They indeed wanted to see who Ye Yong would speak to first, but the underlying motive was to have that first person inquire about her interests. Of course, each of them secretly hoped that Ye Yong would choose her.

“What’s going on with everyone?” Ye Yong planned to make a last-ditch effort, wondering if it would work to simply ask everyone without choosing anyone.

However, the courtyard fell into silence, with only the hurried breaths of Xia Shiqi, who continued to sniff around Ye Yong.

Alright, it seemed they were determined to make her choose. After a brief brainstorming session, Ye Yong had no choice but to turn her gaze toward Hua Ningyan.

After all, Hua Ningyan hadn’t transformed, nor had she done anything embarrassing with it. Ye Yong believed that Qin Shimeng and the others wouldn’t hold it against a little fox, except for Wu Xue.

“Ningyan, what’s going on?”

Being called out, Hua Ningyan trembled slightly. To say she was unhappy would be a lie; she was quite delighted, suppressing the urge to run to Ye Yong: “Nothing, I’m just stuck at the second palace in my cultivation. They’re helping me gather spiritual energy. Please wait a moment, Master, it’ll be ready soon.”

The excuse had clearly been prepared in advance. Perhaps to prove she wasn’t lying, Ye Yong indeed felt spiritual energy flowing from Qin Shimeng and Liang Xiaorou toward Hua Ningyan’s position. As for Wu Xue, let’s not put pressure on the Valkyrie who couldn’t use spiritual power.

Ye Yong saw through it but chose not to expose it, nodding in understanding.

A few seconds later, Qin Shimeng and Liang Xiaorou began to “speak,” asking Ye Yong if she had gained anything from her trip to the Danhuo Hall.

Ye Yong had no reservations with the female leads, but she didn’t boast about her prowess either, simply stating that she had refined a first-grade elixir.

Qin Shimeng and the others were not surprised; after all, it was Ye Yong. Producing an elixir was routine; conversely, if she hadn’t, they would have suspected something was wrong with the furnace or that Ye Yong was unwell.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect this trip to keep you waiting for so long. It’s getting late; let’s eat first.”

During dinner, the atmosphere at the table was much quieter than usual, as everyone was waiting for Hua Ningyan to ask a question. However, the little fox sitting on Ye Yong’s lap was interrupted every time it tried to speak, as Ye Yong kept feeding it delicious pieces of meat, leaving no opportunity.

Ye Yong wasn’t doing it on purpose; from her position, she could only see the little fox’s head. It lifted its head, mouth slightly open, and Ye Yong thought it wanted to eat, which was why she kept feeding it.

One burst of energy leads to a decline, and then exhaustion. Hua Ningyan felt she had lost the courage to speak.

Liang Xiaorou and Wu Xue kept signaling her, but Hua Ningyan’s gaze darted away. After taking several deep breaths, she suddenly lifted her head like a fox.

Ye Yong also realized that Hua Ningyan didn’t want food; she clearly wanted to say something, so Ye Yong stopped feeding her.

—

“Does the master have anything he likes?” After being interrupted so many times, this time she finally succeeded.

“Why the sudden question?” Ye Yong was surprised, thinking that Hua Ningyan was being so serious for a reason.

“Because I realized I don’t know anything about the master—what he’s used to, what he likes, I have no idea.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Yong understood why they had been “setting up” in the courtyard; it was to let him choose the one he subconsciously felt closest to, and then that chosen one would ask questions.

When it came to habits and hobbies, before his transmigration, it would definitely have been playing games and watching videos—most modern young people were like that.

But after the transmigration, without any electronic devices, Ye Yong’s life had changed drastically. If he had to mention a hobby, it would probably be teasing and bullying Wu Xue. Now, with a little fox to pet, boredom was definitely not a problem.

However, this wasn’t a hobby he could openly admit to. After hesitating for a moment, Ye Yong asked with a hint of a counter-question, “Does painting count?”

He didn’t even believe it himself, as the number of times he painted could be counted on one hand.

“Anything else?” Clearly, Hua Ningyan also felt she had hardly seen him do that, so she pressed further.

This left Ye Yong at a loss; he never expected to be troubled by interests one day.