After finishing the parfait, Bai Shuijin squinted his eyes in satisfaction. In his heart, he put his hands together like a sincere little mouse, thanking the heavens.
Thank you for letting him eat something so delicious. It was so good his laogong ge could die from it.
Seeing Bai Shuijin’s face full of contentment, Li Jie eagerly pushed his untouched parfait in front of him.
“Here, you can have this one too. I haven’t touched it.”
Bai Shuijin politely declined, “No, thank you for your kindness.”
“Are you full?”
Bai Shuijin smiled shyly, “I’m cutting sugar lately.”
Pei Zhiheng: “…”
Li Jie: “…”
Since the other party had finished eating, it was time to get down to business. Li Jie cleared his throat, but a bit of phlegm got caught.
Bai Shuijin looked at him with concern, “Do you have a cold?”
“Huh? Uh… I’ve had a bit of one lately.”
The next second, Bai Shuijin scooted his butt away.
Li Jie: “…”
As luck would have it, the sunlight hit his eyes, making Li Jie’s nose itch. He sneezed, and when he turned his head again, Bai Shuijin had already disappeared, teleported straight to the other side.
Suddenly, someone sat down beside him, and Pei Zhiheng was momentarily dazed. But he quickly sneered in his heart. He just knew Bai Shuijin would sit next to him. That earlier move was just a little trick to get his attention.
Not sitting beside him on purpose, just to attract his attention.
Li Jie composed himself and spoke again, “We invited you here this time to talk about getting the original documents from Wang Huanxiu.”
Bai Shuijin opened his mouth, “But I can’t get them.”
“Then you can sneak them out.” Li Jie gestured. “Be cautious, and no one will notice.”
That was easier said than done. The Wang household was full of people, and not just any people, but basically a concentration camp of villains.
Stealing things wasn’t exactly legal behavior, let alone business documents. If he got caught, he’d go to jail for life.
Bai Shuijin frowned. “Isn’t that a crime? And besides, if I get found out, what if they beat me to death?”
Being beaten to death would be a light punishment. His final ending was being chopped to pieces and tossed into the sea to feed the fish.
After saying that, his gaze shifted to Pei Zhiheng beside him. This man was the main protagonist of the novel, but in the end, his fate wasn’t much better than Wang Huanxiu’s.
At the end of the novel, the author made a move to elevate the theme, mainly emphasizing how the protagonist gave everything to fulfill his lifelong dream and ambition, and had no regrets in this life.
The dream and ambition? Defeating the business tycoon Wang Huanxiu.
In the end, the protagonist used the strategy of “hurting the enemy by a thousand and sacrificing eight hundred” to bring the villain down. But sacrificing a thousand to hurt eight hundred wasn’t a good thing. In the end, Wang Huanxiu fell from grace, and Pei Zhiheng also burned through his entire fortune. They both ended up poor.
Bai Shuijin closed his eyes. What a mess.
He didn’t understand the world of rich people. Couldn’t the two of them just be rich in peace and enjoy life?
He didn’t want to help steal the documents, firstly because it was illegal, and secondly because he wanted to prevent Wang Huanxiu from ending up so tragically.
At first, he hadn’t thought this way, he just wanted to quietly survive until the end and leave the Wang family.
But then he realized Wang Huanxiu treated him quite well. He fed him, clothed him, and even gave him money. Although his moods were unpredictable, that kind of constant unpredictability was a kind of emotional stability too. Even after he accidentally broke his little finger, he didn’t blame him. In his past life, Bai Shuijin had no family and no one had ever treated him like this. Without Wang Huanxiu, he wouldn’t have lived in such a nice house, spent money he’d never dared to spend, or drunk the little house milk he’d always wanted.
He felt grateful to Wang Huanxiu, so he decided to do something!
Pei Zhiheng frowned at Bai Shuijin’s words. “Wang Huanxiu hit you?”
Bai Shuijin quickly waved his hands. “Why would you think that? My laogong ge is really good to me.”
‘Laogong ge?’
Pei Zhiheng found the words harsh on his ears.
Bai Shuijin didn’t argue with them. “I won’t steal the documents. That’s not right, and it’s illegal. It’ll affect things like my future civil service exams. You shouldn’t even think about going against my laogong ge either. If this project doesn’t work out, aren’t there other projects?”
“There’s no need to hang yourself on one tree when there’s a whole forest out there.”
After saying that, Bai Shuijin stood up, paid for his parfait, and walked out of the café.
Li Jie never expected Bai Shuijin would reject them, especially right in front of Pei Zhiheng, and so directly, at that.
Pei Zhiheng’s mind was now full of Bai Shuijin repeated calls of “laogong ge”, full of dependence. He couldn’t believe what he heard, let alone that the other party just walked away like that.
Bai Shuijin had never rejected him before.
Li Jie looked at Pei Zhiheng’s expression. “About the original documents…” Now what?
“He fell in love with Wang Huanxiu?”
Li Jie was cut off, and his thoughts were interrupted. He answered Pei Zhiheng’s question, “No way. They just got married a few days ago. I think he’s just holding a grudge, doing it on purpose to get a reaction out of you.”
Pei Zhiheng’s expression relaxed. “Really?”
“What else?” Li Jie analyzed. “He was clearly nervous when he mentioned Wang Huanxiu. And when he first arrived, not sitting next to you was obviously a tactic to make you angry that he married someone else but you didn’t even react. In the end, he couldn’t hold back and still came to sit with you.”
‘That’s true.’
Bai Shuijin was completely devoted to him, how could he like someone else?
Li Jie was still worried about the documents. “Next time, take the initiative. Let’s talk to him again.”
Thinking back to how Bai Shuijin looked, this time Pei Zhiheng didn’t say no.
He lowered his head to look at his phone, but those sticky-sweet “laogong ge” echoes still spun around in his head.
Until he opened a group chat.
“Did you all hear? Wang Huanxiu fractured his hand.”
“No way! How did that happen?”
“I heard that Bai Shuijin did it.”
“Bai Shuijin has the guts to do that?”
Bai Shuijin fractured Wang Huanxiu’s hand?
Pei Zhiheng stared at that line. Could it be that Wang Huanxiu tried to get intimate with him, and he refused, so he injured him?
Staring at that message, Pei Zhiheng’s mood improved.
He decided to give Bai Shuijin a little sweetness next time…let him hold his hand or something.
Bai Shuijin walked out of the café and stood by the street. The café was right at the corner, and outside was a crossroad. He stood there waiting for the traffic light.
Jiang You, who was sitting in a car, turned his head and saw him. The main reason was because the impression the other party gave him last time was too striking. Now, standing there on the street, he spotted him right away.
He had his head wrapped up in a scarf, looking all silly.
He pulled out his phone and called Wang Huanxiu.
“President Wang, guess who I just saw?” His index finger tapped lightly on the steering wheel.
The voice on the other end was cold. “Who?”
“Who else? Bai Shuijin, of course.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
“Hang up what, he’s standing by the street waiting for the traffic light.”
Wang Huanxiu remained unmoved. He had a meeting soon.
Just then, Jiang You glanced into the café and spotted Pei Zhiheng. The café had glass walls, and Pei Zhiheng happened to be sitting by the window.
Jiang You frowned and stretched his neck to confirm who was inside, just to be sure he wasn’t seeing things. “He seems to have come out to meet Pei Zhiheng.”
.
Bai Shuijin ended up taking the bus home. After getting off, he walked another kilometer to the villa district. When he was about to enter the gated area, he saw a beggar squatting under a tree in the distance, holding a cracked bowl.
‘So pitiful.’
Bai Shuijin walked over and tossed him two yuan, then stuffed a bag of spicy strips into his hand.
The beggar looked at the spicy strips that suddenly appeared in his hand, feeling a little confused.
Bai Shuijin radiated kindness. “That’s all I can give you.”
As for the remaining nineteen bags, he was saving them for himself.
With that, he fluttered off like a drifting immortal, his back concealing his glory and merit. This was the city’s most luxurious residential area. The beggar looked at the two yuan in his bowl.
“…”
‘Damn, I ran into a real beggar.’
Bai Shuijin reached home at exactly five. In just over an hour, it would be time for dinner.
Aunt Li saw him come in and walked over to ask, “Young Master Bai, is there anything you feel like eating today?”
Wang Huanxiu had a social engagement tonight and wouldn’t be back for dinner, so she only needed to prepare what Bai Shuijin liked.
Something he wanted to eat?
Bai Shuijin asked Aunt Li, “Auntie Li, do you know how to make the kind of Western food they serve in Western restaurants?”
He had watched an idol drama yesterday where the main couple went out for dinner and had Western food, and he got a bit greedy for it.
The only Western food he’d ever had was limited to KFC and McDonald’s. As for the kind served in real Western restaurants, it was unheard of.
“Of course I can,” Aunt Li clapped her hands in delight. She used to be the head chef’s assistant at a Western restaurant. Actually, her skills were even better, but she was timid and didn’t want to take the spotlight. Later, the Wang family offered her better pay and easier work, so she switched over.
Now that Bai Shuijin said he wanted to eat Western food, wasn’t this just going back to her roots?
Aunt Li immediately returned to the kitchen and began preparing. Bai Shuijin got his wish and had Western food for dinner.
Every dish was exquisitely presented…and every dish was ridiculously tiny.
Aunt Li told him each portion was that size in Western restaurants.
Bai Shuijin: “…”
No wonder rich people are all a bit messed up. How can you not go crazy if you’re constantly hungry?
Aunt Li finally had to make a total of fifteen dishes, including seven meat and eight vegetarian dishes.
After eating, Bai Shuijin silently went over to the sofa and started eating his spicy strips.
He stuffed a whole handful into his mouth.
That was a close call, he almost starved to death.
It wasn’t until ten at night that the sound of a car engine came from the courtyard. Bai Shuijin shot up from the sofa…laogong ge was back.
He opened the floor-to-ceiling window, standing barefoot on the wooden platform outside. In the courtyard, the butler was already waiting at the spot where Wang Huanxiu would get out of the car.
The wooden boards under his feet were a bit cold. The butler came out to greet Wang Huanxiu when he got home, and Bai Shuijin felt he should be a little more enthusiastic.
He waved toward that direction with all his might.
“Laogong ge!”
“Laogong ge! Look at me!”
As soon as Wang Huanxiu got out of the car, he heard his noisy voice. He turned his head coldly, only to see Bai Shuijin standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, the warm indoor lighting behind him. He was waving his hands in the air, wearing a beige knitted sweater and loose-fitting size jeans. His white feet were bare, and his whole being radiated youthful energy and vitality.
Seeing that Wang Huanxiu was looking at him, Bai Shuijin curved his waving arms and made a big heart gesture.
Take Laozi’s love!
“…”
Seeing Wang Huanxiu glance in Bai Shuijin’s direction, the butler looked over as well. Although he didn’t particularly like the other party, the house had indeed become livelier since he arrived.
And in this home, what mattered most was Wang Huanxiu’s mood. Looking at Bai Shuijin, who was glowing with energy at the window over there…
The whole person was dazzling like a little peacock. The wooden platform outside the floor-to-ceiling window was his stage. Up there, he waved and made heart gestures, and the outfit really suited him, making him look cute and youthful. The slender arms exposed by the sweater added a touch of softness.
The butler added a comment, “Young Master Bai does look quite good today.”
The next second, Wang Huanxiu’s face instantly darkened.
Butler: !
