Marrying the Male Lead’s Disabled Uncle – Chapter 44

“Host alert, the plot has deviated! Please correct it as soon as possible!”

During a break on set, Pei Lang finally sat down for a moment, only for that annoying system voice to ring out in his head again. He was already exhausted, and the sudden intrusion made his headache worse.

Pei Lang said tiredly, “What’s it got to do with me?”

“It’s precisely because of your personality shift that the butterfly effect has occurred. Yan Xiuyuan no longer likes Pei Ziqing and is even considering breaking off the engagement.”

The system’s explanation only made Pei Lang’s headache intensify.

He leaned on the table, pressing his fingers to his temples as he spoke to the system mentally. Lu Lu, thinking he had a real headache, brought over a glass of water out of concern.

“Didn’t you tell me to just be myself?”

That had been the agreement from the beginning—he was only supposed to be himself. Pei Lang had never interfered with the two main characters dating. Even when they came looking for trouble, he hadn’t retaliated.

“Uh…” The system paused for a second. “I didn’t foresee this. This world exists because of Yan Xiuyuan and Pei Ziqing. If the storyline collapses, the entire world will collapse—and you’ll cease to exist too.”

Of course, the system itself would also be punished. Possibly even erased.

Pei Lang had no desire to get involved with those two protagonists in the first place, and his response was indifferent.
“Well, that’s perfect. I’ve been meaning to reincarnate anyway.”

The system started to panic. It didn’t want to be destroyed.

It had originally been the system’s mistake that dragged Pei Lang into this world as a filler character. But now, due to the butterfly effect, Pei Lang’s personality had deviated too much from the original setting, and the story was slowly veering off course. If the upper-level authorities noticed, the consequences would be disastrous.

So, before things spiraled into total chaos, the system needed Pei Lang to help get the plot back on track.

“Host, are you really willing to give everything up now?” the system asked in a soul-searching tone.

Pei Lang was stunned.

Was he willing to give it all up?

How should he answer that?

There didn’t seem to be anything in this world he was particularly attached to. Only a few lingering regrets… like how the drama still hadn’t been completed, and how Yan Han’s legs still hadn’t recovered.

Pei Lang sighed. “But what can I do? Will Yan Xiuyuan even listen to me? Will he do whatever I tell him to?”

“In the original novel, Pei Ziqing and Yan Xiuyuan eventually got married. As long as they get married, and the main plotline remains intact, this world can be saved.”

Right now, Yan Xiuyuan didn’t want to marry Pei Ziqing. So all they needed to do was change his mind—or get them married—and everything would be back on track.

“You want me to help them fall in love? Hah! You really know how to order people around.”
Pei Lang couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. From seduction and manipulation to becoming a cupid and mediator—it felt like this system was completely unreliable, maybe even scamming him.

The system could see what he was thinking and quickly added, “As long as you succeed, I can grant you one wish.”

Pei Lang clearly didn’t buy it. “You’re a system that couldn’t even give me a golden finger, and now you’re promising me conditions? What kind of wish could you possibly grant?”

System: “…Uh…”

Pei Lang had already started thinking. Golden fingers were definitely out of the question. Who knew what kind of shady “special skill” the system might cough up?

Then a thought struck him—something important.

“Can you… make Yan Han stand up again?”

“Yes. As long as the host completes the main storyline,” the system replied without hesitation.

“You’re not lying to me, right?”
This system was so low-level it hadn’t even given him a single buff, and yet now it was claiming it could heal Yan Han?
He wanted to believe it, but Pei Lang still had doubts.

“If I break my promise, you can derail the plot again. It’s not in my interest to lie to you,” the system said weakly.

Pei Lang finally felt reassured. “Alright then, I’ll be your matchmaker… your love guru or whatever. So this isn’t a fanfic world?”

System: “The host is only reading the book—that’s what the author wanted readers to see. But the world you’re in now is more than just a book. It’s no different from your original world. Every story, every character, is vivid and complex. There are too many intersecting plotlines. Even a minor detour can ripple into a major deviation. The host’s self-awareness has affected the narrative. Every character now grows with their own nature and chance. They’re no longer just tools shaped by the author’s pen.”

Pei Lang understood now. It wasn’t so much that he was in a book—but rather in a parallel world.
It was hard to tell what was real and what was fiction, inside or out.

“All the couples I used to ship were just carefully polished by the author. I got defeated for no reason! But forget it, I can’t support them anymore after everything they did.”
Pei Lang paused, then warned seriously, “Just remember what you promised. The standard for judging whether the task is complete—is that they get married, right? You’d better keep your word.”

“Host, rest assured! You’ve got this! Bye~”

With Pei Lang’s reluctant agreement, the system fled.

—

Finally returning to reality, Pei Lang noticed Lu Lu staring at him with a worried expression.

“Brother Lang, are you too tired? You’ve still got a bunch of scenes to shoot later. If you’re really not feeling well, you can ask for a break. I saw how easily you got leave from Director Jin earlier.”

“I’m fine, not tired.” Pei Lang let out a long breath, drank some water, rested for a bit, and then returned to filming.

And then—Pei Lang ended up trending again.

This time, it was for “taking his assistant to abuse a dog.”

There were both photos and videos, and after being hyped up by unscrupulous paparazzi, Pei Lang was painted as a heartless monster.

By the time he saw the trending topic, it had already been circulating for hours. The entries seemed harmless on the surface, but clicking into them revealed they were all about him.

“What did the dog do wrong?”
“What was added to the food to cause such a reaction?”
#SensitiveNoseSavesDog’sLife
“Someone is starting drama again.”
“Your tragic figure looks so hateful.”

Pei Lang was completely dumbfounded.
When had he ever abused a dog?

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t figure it out.

It wasn’t until Pei Lang clicked into the post and watched the video that he immediately understood.
He happened to be drinking water at that moment, and ended up choking so hard he coughed for several minutes.

“Brother Lang, I’m sorry…” Lu Lu apologized with a guilty look.

Pei Lang looked at the video—it showed Lu Lu being chased while feeding a dog. Clearly, someone had secretly filmed it, added a misleading narrative, and then posted it online to stir up trouble.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Pei Lang comforted him.

Though Pei Lang didn’t appear in the video, someone had recognized the assistant as his. Given Pei Lang’s usual demeanor, the public took it as a given—he must have ordered his assistant to do it. After all, wasn’t it totally believable that someone like him could do something so heartless as torturing a dog?

The truth was, Pei Lang had told his assistant to feed the dog, but not to abuse it. It had simply been an act of kindness—they were just trying to share some food.
Even though, admittedly, the food Yan Han made was… borderline inedible.

Lu Lu was afraid of dogs, and his nervous, trembling posture while feeding the dog had been taken as a sign of guilt. The dog didn’t want the food and ended up chasing him. People claimed the dog had gotten sick after eating the food and concluded that it had been poisoned and mistreated.

There were all kinds of people in the film and television city, and the entertainment industry was full of hidden agendas. Many people disliked Pei Lang, and who was really behind this smear campaign was unclear. Besides, there was no way to explain it away.
First, no one would believe him.
Second, if Yan Han found out that not only had Pei Lang not eaten the food he cooked—but had fed it to a dog—and that even the dog didn’t eat it, and he was now being accused of poisoning and abuse…

Yan Han would probably explode from anger.

Every time one trending entry got pushed down, another would pop up. They looked harmless on the surface, but once clicked, they were all the same smear—repeating the same accusations over and over.
Pei Lang understood now: someone was deliberately trying to cause trouble for him.
And clearly, they were holding a lot of resentment.

Then, Yan Han called.

“What’s going on with your assistant?” he asked straight to the point.

“I just felt sorry for the stray dogs,” Pei Lang explained calmly, “so I asked Lu Lu to give them some food. But they were too wary and didn’t appreciate it, so that’s how the scene in the video happened.”

He skimmed over the key details and kept his explanation brief.

Yan Han wasn’t buying it.
“You really ate the food I made that day?”

That little white lie couldn’t escape Yan Han’s sharp instincts.
The date in the video was the same day he had delivered the food.
Yan Han had known his cooking wasn’t up to Aunt Lin’s standards, but he hadn’t suspected anything—until this video surfaced.

“Of course I ate it,” Pei Lang replied immediately.
If he hadn’t eaten it, how would he have known how terrible it tasted?

“Mr. Yan, I really didn’t think this through. I’ve embarrassed you again.”

Even though no one knew about their relationship yet, Pei Ziqing did—so it was only a matter of time before this incident got exposed.

“I’ll take care of the trending searches and find out who’s behind it.” Yan Han’s voice carried a natural authority—he always made people feel safe. As long as he got involved, there was nothing he couldn’t fix.

Pei Lang was about to relax, when Yan Han added casually:

“You said my cooking was delicious, didn’t you? Then I’ll bring it to you again tomorrow at noon—and watch you finish it.”

“…What!?”

Pei Lang’s usual gentle tone shot up several octaves in panic.
For once, he lost his composure.

Lu Lu, who was waiting outside, was startled by the raised voice and quickly knocked on the door to check on him. Pei Lang hurried to reassure him, then calmed down and returned to his normal tone.

“Mr. Yan, you’re already so busy. You really don’t need to do this. The crew is chaotic, with people everywhere. If someone sees you, it could get posted online. I don’t care about my own reputation, but I’d hate for it to implicate you.”

Please, boss, don’t poison me again!

“My reputation’s already bad. So this is settled,” Yan Han said decisively, giving no room for negotiation.

It was true—Yan Han didn’t have the best reputation.

He was known for his temper, his ruthlessness, his cold CEO demeanor, and his disability. But he was capable and tough. The people who disliked him only dared to gossip behind his back—no one dared provoke him directly.

Pei Lang, on the other hand, was a different story.
Any random netizen felt entitled to insult him.
People in the crew used to treat him with contempt. Though he’d slowly changed their impression with his actions, the film and television city was large, and other crews still judged him based on rumors and gossip.
Whenever Pei Lang and Lu Lu went out, they endured plenty of unfriendly stares.

Pei Lang had reason to suspect that Yan Han was doing this on purpose.
But playing dumb wouldn’t work. Saying it outright… wouldn’t work either.

He could only silently pray that his stomach would survive tomorrow.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t affect filming.

Half an hour later, all the smear posts and black keywords vanished from the trending topics.
Accounts that had stirred up trouble or posted insults were banned en masse.

Only then did everyone realize—Pei Lang had serious backing.

Because of this, many people grew even more resentful of Pei Lang.
But what could they do, even if they were angry?

Their accounts had been blocked.
They registered new ones, only to get banned again within five minutes.
They didn’t even get the chance to leave a second insult.

In the end, they could only curse him offline.

All of this… was Yan Han’s doing.

He deliberately selected a few accounts to ban as a warning to others, frightening the rest into quickly deleting their posts.
Maintaining an account was no easy feat. Once banned, it was gone for good.