271 Taking a Shortcu (1/2)

Nie Chang glanced at his little darling and narrowed his eyes. Alright, he obviously couldn't read this to him. So how to make it short without angering him?

His gaze fell onto the two bowls in front of Su Yan. Even the second one was almost empty by now. It seemed his little darling really wanted to go home as fast as possible. Nie Chang smiled and his brows raised a little. Come to think of it … That might be the best reason he could use for his problem.

He opened the novel and skimmed the first chapter before clearing his throat. ”Darling, considering that you want to reach the next level as fast as possible and then have a look at your reward from before … How about we take a shortcut?”

”Shortcut?” Su Yan stopped eating his boyfriend's noodles and looked up at him.

”Mn.” Nie Chang nodded while trying to look like an honest person. It definitely wasn't that he had any ulterior motives. ”You see, novels that follow tropes are largely the same. There will only be some slight variation somewhere in the middle. So since the system just wants you to learn about the trope, it should be enough to read the beginning and the end of the story. Actually, maybe the beginning would already be enough. After all, that's where the story will be explained and since it's a romance story it would have a happy end anyway.”

Su Yan rubbed his cheek and nodded. ”It sounds logical if you explain it like that. Alright, let's do that.” He turned back to the noodles and listened intently to what his boyfriend would read to him.

Nie Chang shook his head and started on the novel.

[When Qiu Ming Wen opened his eyes he was faced with a ground littered with stones that was rolling past him fast. He gave a groan, furrowed his brows and turned his head to the side. Seeing the person next to him, he groaned again.

”Awake?” Luan Xin Yi looked at him with slight reproach but his voice still sounded worried.

Qiu Ming Wen turned his head away and sighed. Hello, turning point 1! Or should he say hello, protagonist?]

”Eh? What protagonist? I thought that Qiu Ming Wen is the protagonist.” Su Yan stopped eating.

Nie Chang ruffled his hair. ”That's the point. Normally, this kind of novel starts with a reader that transmigrates into a book, is bound to a system but somehow ends up as a villain instead of the protagonist. Then they would often fall in love with the protagonist over the course of reliving the events of the novel and changing it bit by bit.”

”So that's to say the protagonist he is talking about is the original protagonist of the novel he read and he is the protagonist of this novel?” Su Yan frowned. ”That's so strange! I've never seen anything like that when I read xianxia.”

Nie Chang chuckled. ”Yeah, just like that. It's pretty common. Although …”

”Although what?” Su Yan once again stopped with the chopsticks in the air. Somehow, he didn't seem to be able to eat without having to stop every few minutes. How strange! Hadn't he let Nie Chang read to him so that he wouldn't have to split his attention?

Nie Chang waved with the phone. ”I think I've heard of this novel before. It's a little different than other novels of the trope. For example, it starts later when it has already been some time since Qiu Ming Wen's transmigration. And as far as I know, he won't end up with the protagonist but with somebody else instead.”