When a group of people barged in, Bai Shuijin instinctively shielded Wang Huanxiu behind him. He had already said they were in a mutually consensual illicit relationship, and he would absolutely step forward in a moment of crisis.
And his laogong-ge was a man of status. How could he let others see him wearing a school uniform?
Bai Shuijin pressed his back tightly against Wang Huanxiu, blocking him completely behind himself.
“It’s fine, laogong-ge, I’m here.”
Wang Huanxiu glanced at his 1.76-meter height, and for the first time, the phrase “life is hopeless” flashed through his mind.
The 1.76-meter Bai Shuijin blocking the 1.88-meter Wang Huanxiu was completely ineffective.
It was obvious the revolution had not yet succeeded, and the comrade was still struggling, but the house had already been riddled with holes.
Blocking or not made almost no difference.
The bedroom light wasn’t on, only the dim light in the walk-in closet was lit. Wang Pingtian barged in with his people in a flurry. After shouting “adulterers,” Bai Shuijin reflexively retorted and stubbornly shielded the person he couldn’t even fully cover.
All his focus was on Bai Shuijin. As expected, just a little waste who loved beauty, he had finally fallen because of it.
The situation was settled. Wang Huanxiu’s green hat was firmly on today. Even if Jesus came, he wouldn’t be able to save him. He said so himself.
“You actually dared to do such a shameful thing in the old house! In Grandpa’s home! Do you have no shame?! Have you no sense of shame?!”
Wang Pingtian strode forward. Wang Huanxiu had gone to the bathroom, he would give him a huge surprise when he came out.
He reached out to push Bai Shuijin aside, but Bai Shuijin dodged with all his might.
Bai Shuijin: No!
The person behind Bai Shuijin had already turned his back the moment they barged in. As expected of a professional model, he was even wearing a school uniform. He knew how to play some tricks to lure people into taking the bait.
Wang Pingtian grabbed the man’s arm with arrogance. “I want to see what this vixen looks like!”
Victory hinged on this moment. His face was full of arrogant triumph, the joy of success within reach.
He forcefully turned the person around, only to be met with Wang Huanxiu’s face.
Wang Pingtian: “…”
Everyone: “…”
Wang Pingtian stared at Wang Huanxiu, speechless, his hand lifting then dropping again. “You… no, uh…”
The room fell silent, and time seemed to have frozen at this moment. No one said a word.
Wang Huanxiu’s face darkened to the extreme, as if he might strangle Wang Pingtian the next second.
Wang Pingtian was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t Bai Shuijin and the male model in the room but Wang Huanxiu himself. Then where is the male model he’d specially brought back?!
The other party’s hand was still on his arm. Wang Huanxiu stared at him coldly, eyes like blades, his voice dripping with coldness, “Take your hand off.”
It was sinister and ominous, as if Wang Pingtian’s burial spot had already been decided. Not just Wang Pingtian, it seemed like no one in this room would be leaving alive unless they gouged out their eyes and sewed their mouths shut.
Wang Pingtian was stunned, too scared to even react.
Bai Shuijin strode forward and slapped his hand away. “Let go. My laogong-ge must remain pure for me.”
Wang Huanxiu: “…”
The man looked at Bai Shuijin hopping around in front of him, and closed his eyes with profound meaning.
Deep regret filled his heart. He regretted that he had been blinded by lard just now. He looked into Bai Shuijin’s eyes and forgot everything. By the time he came to his senses, the uniform was already on. The belated shame stabbed his heart like a thousand cuts, each deeper than the last.
Wang Huanxiu had never been this embarrassing in his life. If there were a crack in the floor right now, this domineering CEO would throw himself in without hesitation.
Wang Pingtian stumbled back a few steps. No… impossible.
Why wasn’t it like he imagined? He turned to look at Wang Wang and his wife. The family exchanged bewildered glances. No one knew where exactly things had gone wrong.
Where had the plan failed?
Old Master Wang was straightforward. Hearing his youngest grandson say Bai Shuijin had entered the room with another man, but finding no one but Bai Shuijin and Wang Huanxiu inside, he asked in confusion, “Pingtian, where is this strange man you spoke of?”
Wang Pingtian wished he could point right at Wang Huanxiu in his school uniform.
Isn’t this a strange man?
The person who usually speaks so sarcastically, with a face like a stone, was now in a student uniform doing some play behind closed doors.
He acts proper on the surface, but is so indecent in private.
He barely recognized the other party anymore.
Wang Pingtian gritted his teeth and made up a story, “Grandpa, I must’ve seen wrong earlier. Maybe it’s just been too long since I last saw Brother Huanxiu, so I didn’t recognize his back.”
Even a fool could hear the flaw in this excuse, let alone the shrewd people present. Wang Pingtian’s poor acting and flimsy lie made him look like a clown putting on a pathetic show.
Even Wang Muguang, who only cared about himself, could tell Wang Pingtian was lying.
But Old Master Wang was biased. Even if he noticed, he didn’t say anything and turned a blind eye.
Wang Pingtian was still within Wang Huanxiu’s line of sight. Now he was too scared to even lift a foot. Wang Huanxiu stood there like the King of Hell himself.
The man looked down on him from above.
“Stupid.”
Wang Pingtian’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to retort but didn’t dare say a word. Even with his grandfather and parents backing him, he wouldn’t dare make trouble in front of Wang Huanxiu. If he had that courage, he wouldn’t have gone after Bai Shuijin first but would’ve targeted Wang Huanxiu directly.
Now not only had he failed, but he’d shot himself in the foot. He knew Old Master Wang must have figured it out. Though he didn’t say anything now, he must be disappointed.
His biggest backer was Old Master Wang. Losing favor like this made him deeply regretful. The original plan was to humiliate Wang Huanxiu, eliminate Bai Shuijin, and ease Old Master Wang’s worries. In the end, he’d gained nothing on either front.
He tried to smooth things over. “Brother Huanxiu.”
“Hurry up and get lost.”
Wang Wang couldn’t help but speak up seeing his son scolded like this. “Wang Huanxiu, must you speak so harshly?”
Don’t think just because you control the company you can do whatever you want at home.
Wang Huanxiu grew impatient. “If you won’t leave, jump. The window’s right there.”
Wang Wang flinched in fright. His wife had been pulling him to calm down, but now he hid behind her himself.
“…”
Wang Huanxiu was now attacking indiscriminately.
Old Master Wang knew Wang Wang’s family was in the wrong. Even with his bias, in this clear case of slander, he couldn’t speak up for them. Especially with Wang Muguang present.
With his eldest son’s family, he was at odds mostly with Wang Huanxiu. Although he didn’t see Muguang and Zhenzhu often, they were at least cordial.
Old Master Wang stepped in to smooth things over. “Everyone leave. There’s nothing worth staying for here. It is so dark and no one thought to turn on the light.”
His gaze landed on Wang Huanxiu. “And you, go change your clothes already. What do you think you look like?”
At this moment, the lard that clouded Wang Huanxiu’s mind blurted out, “He’s exactly the way I like.”
“…”
Bai Shuijin looked at everyone’s complicated expressions toward Wang Huanxiu’s school uniform, then turned back to hug his “vixen”. “Laogong-ge, don’t listen to them. They’ve never tasted something this good. I eat fine bran, I love it so much.”
Wang Huanxiu’s jaw tightened, as if ready to die on the spot.
After Old Master Wang led the others away, Wang Muguang didn’t leave the room.
Instead, he stared at his usually stern, unsmiling big brother.
Who would’ve thought a few sweet words from Bai Shuijin could coax him into wearing a school uniform? For a moment, it was pitiful.
But seeing Wang Huanxiu’s embarrassment, he still tried to comfort him, offering a desperate excuse. “Big Brother, did you come back to your old room and get nostalgic? So you wanted to relive the past?”
With those words, a visible crack spread across Wang Huanxiu’s face.
Bai Shuijin: “…”
‘Stop talking. Laogong-ge is about to break.’
As he walked out of the room, Wang Pingtian still didn’t know where things had gone wrong. He had clearly seen the male model go upstairs and stand in front of the room.
Why was it that when he brought people into the room, it turned into Wang Huanxiu inside?
Since it was Wang Huanxiu in the room with Bai Shuijin, then where was the male model?
Where did he run off to? Wang Pingtian was burning with anger.
Just then, his phone rang. It was a strange number with no remarks. Normally, Wang Pingtian would ignore unknown calls.
But now, some inexplicable force made Wang Pingtian press answer.
The person on the other end spoke in an extremely small voice, practically whispering, so quiet it felt like he was talking to a mosquito.
It sounded like some ancient riddle from the dawn of time, something vaguely human, but absolutely incomprehensible.
Wang Pingtian listened for a long time but couldn’t understand a single word. So he walked into an empty room and put the call on speaker.
“Who are you?”
“It’s me!” The person on the other side sounded anxious like a duck quacking, but still didn’t dare raise his voice. “The male model you hired!”
The moment he heard “male model”, Wang Pingtian’s anger surged. His perfectly good plan had been ruined by this person. Not only had he failed to humiliate Wang Huanxiu, he’d been humiliated himself twice over, and his image in Grandpa’s heart had plummeted.
He cursed the man out furiously, directing all his anger at him. “You still have the face to call me? Where are you? Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room? What were you running around for? You think you’re the only one with legs? Do you even know how much I’ve lost because of you?!”
After being scolded out of nowhere, the male model also got angry. “Someone was chasing me! What was I supposed to do, wait around to get caught?!”
He came here to work. Did he not want to make money? But the plan failed, and it seemed there’d be no money tonight. Since he wasn’t getting paid, why should he take this abuse?
All his efforts had been in vain, and now he was suffering this humiliation. He might as well bash his head against a wall.
If he weren’t worried about being discovered, his voice would’ve been ten times louder than it was now. “Plan, plan! If your plan was so flawless, then why did someone appear the moment I touched the door handle and start chasing me?! He chased me! Was I supposed to just stand there?!”
“If I’d been caught, forget about any plan moving forward, you would have been exposed right then and there.”
He wasn’t some good person. If he got caught, he’d spill everything. The other party should be glad he ran fast.
Wang Pingtian listened, full of question marks. Someone suddenly chased him? Who could possibly chase a male model? At this point, he remembered the one person who hadn’t shown up when they barged into the room to catch the adulterers.
‘Pei Zhiheng.’
Wang Pingtian: “…”
‘Damn it!’
Pei Zhiheng’s hatred of Wang Huanxiu was well-known among their circle of younger generation. Not to mention, Wang Huanxiu had previously blocked one of Pei Zhiheng’s game projects.
And Bai Shuijin, who had been chasing after Pei Zhiheng, ended up marrying Wang Huanxiu. With old grudges and new hatreds combined, Pei Zhiheng now viewed Wang Huanxiu as a mortal enemy.
Today, Wang Pingtian had originally wanted to bring Pei Zhiheng into this scheme. After all, they shared a common enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But who knew Pei Zhiheng didn’t even bother with him? Every time he tried to talk to him, the other party’s response was flat, ignoring his alliance offer completely.
He even asked Pei Zhiheng if it was because of his family ties to Wang Huanxiu that Pei Zhiheng had an opinion of him, afraid he’d side with his family.
If the other party had said yes, he’d immediately distance himself from Wang Huanxiu, loudly declare how much he hated him, and fight alongside Pei Zhiheng.
Who knew that this college student’s answer would be, “My grandpa said your name is unlucky. He doesn’t let me talk to you.”
“And you shouldn’t talk to me now either. Because I’ve received higher education, and when you speak, I have to respond out of politeness.”
Such polite words, yet so impolite.
Wang Pingtian: “…”
Your grandpa knows nothing.
Listening to the male model’s cursing on the other end, Wang Pingtian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Where are you now?”
“In a tree.”
Wang Pingtian was dumbfounded. “What are you doing up a tree?!”
“The guy chasing me is like a dog. I couldn’t outrun him.”
“…”
The male model clung helplessly to the tree trunk, watching Pei Zhiheng below searching for him with boundless energy.
If you are not found, hold on tight; if you are found, call the police.
Money was hard to earn, and shit was harder to swallow. This job had pushed him beyond the limits of human endurance.
Finally, when he saw no sign of the shady figure anymore, Pei Zhiheng gave up and returned inside, only to overhear a few servants gossiping quietly together.
Pei Zhiheng wasn’t interested, but as he walked by, their voices naturally drifted into his ears.
“Did you go see just now?”
“See what?”
“Just now, Young Master Pingtian brought a bunch of people into Young Master Huanxiu’s old room. Guess what happened?”
Servant: What happened?
Pei Zhiheng perked up his ears. “What happened?”
The person slapped their thigh, speaking with great excitement. “Young Master Huanxiu was wearing his high school uniform for Bai Shuijin to see!”
Servants: !
Pei Zhiheng: “…”
Wang Huanxiu wearing a school uniform for Bai Shuijin?
What a vicious scheme. Doesn’t a man as old as Wang Huanxiu have any sense of shame?
At this moment, Pei Zhiheng seemed to understand everything. No wonder Bai Shuijin stopped liking him after marrying Wang Huanxiu. It turned out Wang Huanxiu was behind it all, using despicable means to seduce Bai Shuijin.
Bai Shuijin wasn’t exactly a person of strong self control, and with Wang Huanxiu seducing him, it was natural that it ended with a situation where the other party was unwilling to even help him.
‘Wang Huanxiu, you’re despicable!’
Since Wang Huanxiu used such low tricks to keep Bai Shuijin, then he had to do something too.
Pei Zhiheng slicked his hair back. It was time for the other party to feel the destructive power of the white moonlight.
Bai Shuijin seemed very interested in Wang Muguang’s magic performance tonight. Coincidentally, he knew a thing or two in this area as he’d performed at last year’s school celebration.
Although he was behind Wang Huanxiu in career now, he still held a certain place in Bai Shuijin’s heart.
When Bai Shuijin came downstairs, he saw Pei Zhiheng leaning casually against the wall waiting for him.
Bai Shuijin: ?
‘What now?’
He noticed every time this protagonist showed up, he did something bizarre.
Pei Zhiheng raised his hands, palms facing Bai Shuijin. “I’ve prepared a little magic trick for you.”
With just a small trick, he would win Bai Shuijin’s heart back.
“See, there’s nothing here, right?”
He confidently demonstrated in front of Bai Shuijin. The next second, his hands flicked quickly in front of Bai Shuijin, and suddenly a 100-yuan note appeared.
He lowered his voice, “Isn’t it interesting? Do you want to learn it?”
Bai Shuijin: “I saw you tucked the money on the back of your hand.”
Pei Zhiheng: “…”
As expected, professional things should be left to professionals. With Pei Zhiheng as contrast, Wang Muguang’s talent in magic and acrobatics was truly a gift from heaven.
Pei Zhiheng refused to give up, and was determined to win Bai Shuijin’s admiring gaze.
Bai Shuijin patted him on the shoulder. “Stop wasting your efforts. I have someone else to watch acrobatics.”
“…”
Seeing the two of them together, Wang Muguang’s radar went on full alert. Although Bai Shuijin was now married to his brother, everyone knew about his past feelings on Pei Zhiheng. To prevent any possibility of rekindled feelings…
He forcibly inserted himself between them.
“What are you two doing?”
Big brother’s love must be protected by him.
Bai Shuijin looked at Wang Maguang, who had suddenly sprouted like a mushroom. “Watching magic tricks.”
He pointed at Wang Muguang to demonstrate, to show the protagonist what real magic was.
Wang Muguang looked at the 100-yuan note, which was the only prop.
He folded the 100-yuan note and tucked it in his hand. “You two blow on it.”
Bai Shuijin blew, then Pei Zhiheng.
When Wang Muguang opened his palm again, the 100-yuan note had vanished without a trace.
Such a magical scene left the two of them astonished.
It turned out that compared to Wang Muguang, his tricks were mere child’s play. It was getting late, so Pei Zhiheng put on his coat and prepared to head home.
On the way back, he was still sighing that there really was always someone better out there, his one hundred yuan was gone in an instant.
Pei Zhiheng looked at the red light ahead: …Wait!
His money!
.
After the three returned from the old house, they each went back to their rooms to shower. Unlike Bai Shuijin and Wang Muguang, Wang Huanxiu didn’t lie down to rest after coming out of the bathroom but went directly to the study.
Bai Shuijin took a nap for a while and opened his eyes to find it was already eleven at night. He picked up his phone from beside his pillow. In his sleep, he seemed to have heard the notification sound.
He tapped the screen and sure enough, there were several messages, all from his roommate Ji Cao.
The school anniversary was coming up soon, and every department had to put on a program. Their department didn’t know what to do, so they decided to hold a mini singing competition within the department before the anniversary. Whoever won would represent the department and perform.
Bai Shuijin wasn’t interested in this at all, but Ji Cao said each class had to have at least two boys and two girls participating.
No one in the class wanted to sign up for the singing competition, so they decided to draw lots.
Whichever dorm got picked, that dorm would send people. It was fair and just and no one could complain. If they just picked people from the start, there would definitely be unnecessary conflicts and disagreements.
Bai Shuijin lay on the bed. Thinking that choosing like this was quite fair, he grinned and asked, “So which dorm is the unlucky one?”
Ji Cao stayed silent for a long time.
[Us.]
These two words were ambiguous at this moment.
Bai Shuijin looked at the screen and slowly typed: [Fuck.]
Ji Cao: “You called me?”
[No, this time I’m cursing you.]
“…”
He and Ji Cao’s dorm had two roommates who were exchange students abroad, so now there were only him and Ji Cao left.
There was no way to run. Bai Shuijin, though very skilled at dancing, had never sung before.
Ji Cao also hadn’t expected his luck to be this bad. He thought with so many people in the class and many boys’ dorms, there was no way it’d be them. When drawing lots, he even deliberately went last, but when none of the dorms before him got picked, Ji Cao realized things weren’t so simple.
But since they’d already been picked, Bai Shuijin felt they might as well take it seriously. What if by accident they sang their way to first place?
Bai Shuijin wanted it, Bai Shuijin will work for it, Bai Shuijin will get it.
He sat on the bed, swinging his legs and singing, picking out a bunch of songs he thought sounded good. He even slipped in a Smurfs song among the pop tracks. After choosing, he quietly practiced a few times, turned on the recorder, and sang along with the accompaniment, recording several songs in a row.
But when he listened to the playback, his thoughts kept circling.
It didn’t sound good. Wait, actually maybe it did. If he listened closely, it sounded quite good.
With his own filter, Bai Shuijin couldn’t really tell if he actually sounded good or not.
He grabbed his phone, jumped off the bed, put on slippers, and ran upstairs. Wang Huanxiu was in the study reading through files, wearing a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Someone came in and without even lifting his head, he already knew who it was.
Except Bai Shuijin, there was no one else who would come up to find him at this time.
“What is it?”
“My dear laogong-ge, your ears are in for a blessing.”
Although that’s what he said, what Wang Huanxiu heard was something else.
“My dear laogong-ge, your ears are in for a disaster.”
Bai Shuijin held up his phone with the songs he’d recorded and put it in front of Wang Huanxiu. “Laogong-ge, I’m going to join a singing competition in a few days. I recorded a few songs… help me listen.”
As he spoke, he stuffed the earphones into Wang Huanxiu’s ears. The singing slowly flowed from the earphones into Wang Huanxiu’s ears.
The man listened quietly for a while and said, “The second song is a bit difficult to listen to.”
Bai Shuijin saw a glimmer of hope. “What about the others?”
Wang Huanxiu took a sip of water. “The others are unlistenable.”
“…”
‘Hateful!’
After getting his feedback, Bai Shuijin didn’t leave the study. He sat on the sofa, searching for singing videos.
Looking at the college students in the videos singing with voices of nature, Bai Shuijin added them to his favorites. That was exactly how he planned to sing in the first place.
Time passed minute by minute and Sleepiness hit, and Bai Shuijin felt sleepy. He yawned, eyes welling up with tears, and looked at Wang Huanxiu still working over there. The man seemed like he didn’t even know the meaning of the word exhaustion.
Man, you’re so hardworking it makes my heart ache.
“Laogong-ge, how about I support you in the future?”
Bai Shuijin lay on the sofa, swinging his lower leg lazily. His chin rested on a pillow like a blob of melted jelly.
If Wang Huanxiu really ended up like the tragic ending in the book, working hard but poor and tired, he felt he could probably support him.
After all, he had experience working nonstop, there was no way he’d let the two of them starve.
Now Wang Huanxiu gave him a gold card to spend, but if the other party fell on hard times later, he wouldn’t leave him.
Compared to the money Wang Huanxiu made, his was really not worth mentioning, but he would definitely give his best.
Saying this now was also his way of trying to make Wang Huanxiu take a break.
He started imagining the future, painting a rosy picture for Wang Huanxiu.
“Laogong-ge, how about three thousand Yuan a month?”
Three thousand yuan…Wang Huanxiu probably had never seen such a small amount of money.
Bai Shuijin changed his tone. “If that’s not enough, I’ll add a zero.”
“Three thousand in ten months.”
“…”
