Jia Hyson was dumbfounded by such a straightforward rejection.
Not only rejected but the person even left the scene of the crime just like that!
Jia Hyson stares down at the rice on the plate, reflecting on where he went wrong. Could it be he was too intense? Too chatty? Too slag?
...It may be the too slag bit in retrospect.
But all the young kids nowadays like the stupid meng selling animals and chatty dumb systems right? The readers nowadays really like sarcastic mascots that go against their cute appearances too. This sort of gap between a cute appearance and a mature slightly vulgar personality should produce a comedic effect.
If Jia Hyson reads such unexpected dialogue by the mascot character he would also feel intrigued and amused by the story ah.
'Bebe told you,' Bebe says sardonically, 'Bebe said the best character is clearly Bebe but no, you wanted to act like a happy chattier version of yourself.'
'Oh shut up,' Jia Hyson says irritatedly, no longer trying to sound so upbeat. 'If I copied your personality wouldn't you be proud to death?'
'Yes! Because Bebe is the cutest!' Bebe complains. It felt deeply wronged. When Jia Hyson was think of what sort of character he should establish when introducing himself into the story Bebe had recommended using its' own personality as a reference. Who would have know its host was so heartless that he would immediately reject it?!
Just thinking about it made it angry!
Wasn't Bebe very cute? It talked in third person, it was sassy and could act coquettish and sell meng when needed ah. In short, a perfect reference for a beloved mascot character.
Jia Hyson: '...' It seems Bebe is unaware that it has blackened into something so toxic that even this slag host has trouble fighting against it's poisonous tongue ah.
No, no, maybe if the protagonist was a shameless, carefree character like himself it would be okay to consider but Bebe's straight man personality type that likes to shoot poison arrows from the mouth- it is too incompatible with the aloof, serious and slightly airheaded female lead with a dark backstory. Objectively for these characters it's better to be paired with a cheerful humorous type, to lighten the mood if nothing else.
His claw touches his nose absentmindedly as he thinks about what to do next.
Jia Hyson had already established his character and left very little wriggle room to change it which is his mistake. He had been confident in what the readers may enjoy but in retrospect it may not necessarily be what Tang Muxin likes. It seems he has no choice but to use the tried and true method of all annoying mascots.
That is- to stick to the protagonist until they have no choice but to get used to him ah.
Jia Hyson: 'Hey, what do you know, in a way I am mimicking your character Bebe.'╮(╯∀╰)╭
Bebe: 凸( •̀_•́ )凸
Luckily for them, the [Soul Saintess Bind]'s telepathic communication is limited and both parties have to purposely direct their thoughts toward the other. Meaning Jia Hyson can act out his character and not worry too much about letting anything important slip like being a system host. It could also only be used at a certain distance but this could be improved when the pair developed better feelings of trust and friendship toward another.
In order to act excited and anxious about meeting someone who understood him, Jia Hyson threw various thoughts at Tang Muxin who was only a few meters away asking her to come back and acting pitiful by letting her hear himself questioning if he had been delusional for a second and how he had been so confused and alone and scared when he first appeared etc etc.
Even though Tang Muxin is meant to be a super assassin among other super things, she's still a female lead and can't not have a bit of a soft heart. Jia Hyson intends to use this, casually throwing out bits of backstory that would provoke sympathy like how he'd died and woke up as a starving lizard and how hard it is to adapt in this strange world and how he had been treated awfully wuwuwu...
Bebe listens to its host fake cry in his mind for the female lead as his outward appearance is still happily nibbling on some bok choy, a mischievous and scheming look in his eyes.
...Is this what one could call a reverse white lotus bitch?
Da Gong, unaware of what happened just saw that his worm likes eating the stem of the bok choy and generously went through the vegetables and picked out the bok choy for him before going back to eating. Even though it was plain vegetables and rice, there was a faint and oddly enriching taste that reminded him of the strange liquid food his worm provided. This familiar taste made him unwilling to stop eating.
Bebe and Jia Hyson also realized the same thing or they wouldn't have eaten anything after Tang Muxin left. It seems the halo is strong on this one, just reheating and handling food is still enough to provide a bit of spiritual energy.
Unlike Da Gong though, Jia Hyson had Bebe that can detect the energy and where it's strongest, allowing him to consume more efficiently, hence the sudden bok choy fixation. It's barely anything but mosquito meat is still meat so it shouldn't be wasted ah.
Finally after a minute or two, Tang Muxin came back with an odd expression on her face. It was clear she received his mental messages and wasn't sure as how to proceed. Which, is fair enough.
Squatting down in front of Jia Hyson she stares at him. In compliance, Jia Hyson stops nibbling and stares back at her with wide curious eyes.
Finally he hears a tentative 'Hello?' echo in his mind. The voice is soft and timid, very cute, very unlike what Jia Hyson had imagined given the cold rejection from before.
Jia Hyson blinks and examines the female lead's face closely but sees nothing but an iceberg.
'H-hello?'
In contrast to her frosty facial features the inner voice is like warm spring winds, it tickles the skin as it brushes past. Jia Hyson felt that maybe the woman wasn't so hard to deal with now.
'Hello!' Jia Hyson enthusiastically chirps as he crawls toward Tang Muxin, his eyes glitter happily making him look naive and adorable. 'Why did you leave ah? Don't go,' His last words are stressed to sound aggrieved and anxious, pulling at her heartstrings. It was much more meng then before but to keep with his chatty optimistic if slightly slaggy persona he set up he quickly tacks on a few more words with an upbeat tone. 'What's your name? I'm Jia Hyson,'
Tang Muxin's mouth twitches. It was still hard to believe even if she was seeing and hearing everything. That handsome male voice belonging to a silly baby dragon....
Suddenly she notices something strange in the words. His name is Jia Hyson but the system called him Jin Bao. Even though she had barely met both for a very short time she was more inclined to believe the mysterious system in her head would be more objective and truthful than the dragon.
Once she catches the contradiction she recalls the previous things this chatty dragon said and her heart beat a little faster. The dragon has no reason to lie to her given they're soul bonded now, which presumably should be something like a 'if you die, I die' situation, and even if he did lie there would be no reason for it either not to mention it doesn't explain the previous things he said either.
That he used to be human.
Asking a girl out to coffee.
Could he also have transmigrated like her?
She contemplated scoping him out subtly but immediately decides to just go with the straightforward approach. She's in a new world now with a new life, she doesn't need to live through secrets and double meanings and half lies anymore.
'My name is Tang Muxin,' She introduces, her outward expression noticeably more relaxed if still a bit cold-faced, 'I am not, cough, this is to say, I'm not really this Tang Muxin but a Tang Muxin from another world.'
Jia Hyson: ....Even though it's clear she planned to throw a straight ball it seems she's too out of practice and the ball trajectory is more wobbly than straight.
This sort of slightly awkward gap moe was much better than his own. He felt a bit jealous ah. But at the same time, at least their 'gaps' were different or the story would feel repetitive in terms of characters.
Still, he must learn from her in case he had to act out a similar character. Sure he's acted as different people in his original world as a game to hook in lovers and in the first world he also had a small and rather popular acting career but he didn't exactly pass White Lotus Acting Class with flying colors so it shows that his current experience and skills were still very lacking. Right now he could only try find reasons to make his current identity conform a little to his own personality in order to avoid going out of character too much.
Luckily this body was a blank slate so Jia Hyson could do whatever with it in terms of character design but it's better to learn where he can.
With an act of shock and surprise Jia Hyson stares up at Tang Muxin with wide eyes and a dumbfounded expression, 'Eh? Eh? You, you're also-?'
She nods, feeling a little more settled than before. It always feels better to have two people in the same boat then be all alone after all. In fact, seeing the little dragon's stupid dumb expression made her feel inexplicably more confident, 'I was told through the soul bond your name is Jin Bao, since you have out another name I can only assume you are like me.'
Jia Hyson was excited, with this shared secret this thigh is now completely his to hold!
Reverently and enthusiastically this old soul mentally shouted out, 'Sister Muxin!' as he rushed up to touch the woman with his tiny claws like an adoring subordinate.
Tang Muxin: '???' Who's your sister!
Bebe: '...' So old and yet still has the face to act like a younger brother to this twenty something year old lady. DisdainfulCat.gif
Da Gong: '!!!' Doesn't understand, but very angry anyway.
Da Gong of course couldn't see or here the telepathic conversation between the pair and had been busy pecking at the rice. Sure he had noticed at the edge of his vision that his worm was looking interestedly at the human woman but his worm always liked to look at things and daze off.
It wasn't a new thing and Da Gong felt that it was even a good thing. It's better to look at ugly things in order to better appreciate the good looking things like himself.
But this, this wasn't acceptable!
"Cluck!" Da Gong immediately fluffed up, making himself look bigger and took an aggressive stance. He was too careless and naive. His worm was very timid and even against Ye Cheng who attracted all sorts of animals, his worm did not warm up so fast toward him. This could only mean that the woman has bribed and tricked his worm to run toward her!
How foul!
This sort of murderous intent, if Tang Muxin couldn't sense it then she wouldn't deserve her character description as a super spy-assassin-doctor. She looks at the furious rooster, then at the small dragon selling meng to her with a complicated emotion.
Originally she didn't think much of the relationship between dragon and chicken but now with the knowledge that there was a fellow modern human in the dragon's body.... why did this suddenly feel like a bloody scene of a green tea bitch who immediately cast away her boyfriend to run over and fawn at her sugar daddy they had coincidentally met along the street?
Jia Hyson who was even more familiar with this sort of scene due to various reasons that may or may not be related to his original life, was very clever and immediately scuttled over to Da Gong in appeasement, the flattering appearance very clear to the eye. Fortunately Da Gong was still fairly simple and easily appeased, however the stink eye he gave Tang Muxin still revealed that the negative impression he now had toward her had not faded.
Tang Muxin: '...'
Disdained, then ignored, then hated by a rooster all in the span of less than two days. She wonders if she had eaten too much chicken in her original life to incur such karmic retribution.
After coaxing his rooster back to his unruffled state Jia Hyson looks back at Tang Muxin to try get their conversation back on track. Who knew that once Da Gong opened the vinegar pot he would become so fervently addicted to the taste?
Before their eyes could properly make eye contact, a black wing immediately breaks it up, covering Jia Hyson's face.
Da Gong: 'Tch, tch,' Don't look worm, or this Laozi will be displeased.
Bebe: '...' Wow 눈_눈
Tang Muxin: '...' Wow（・―・）
Jia Hyson: '...' Wow (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
Maybe because of the soul bond, or maybe because Jia Hyson's flirtatious emotions were stronger than most peoples, Tang Muxin seemed to have inadvertently heard his coquettish feelings in regards to the rooster. Looking closer, she sees that her fellow transmigrator unhesitatingly cuddle and appease the jealous chicken with clear fondness and doting in his eyes with fluid and practiced motions.
Tang Muxin recalls that the pair slept together and played together in her courtyard the night before as well. Her expression turns even stranger. Thinking about it logically, as a human in such a situation, wouldn't you have some pride to try, well... she isn't fully sure what she would have done but for starters not sleep with a rooster would be a good start.
She watches as Jia Hyson wraps his long body loosely around the rooster's neck like a rusty gold chain necklace and lightly boops his snout on the rooster's cheek cutely, almost like a small peck on the cheek. No matter how she looks at it, there was the overly sweet smell of an affectionate couple coming off of them and the unmistakable taste of dog food in her mouth.
Tang Muxin: '...' This transmigrator has some heavy tastes ah.
Seriously. Is it too late to exchange?