Winter mornings always stayed dark for longer. At six o’clock, it was still pitch black, but several large castles within the villa district had already begun to light up faintly.
Time drifted slowly across the clock face, the hour hand the boat and the minute hand the oar. After a long time of sailing, Wang Huanxiu finally opened his eyes. The blackout curtains kept the room in total darkness. Something heavy was pressed on his chest, and a head was resting there.
He couldn’t see clearly, but he could feel the warmth of the other person’s breath. He was wearing a robe, the neckline of which had loosened in his sleep. The contact of bare skin made the man’s face darken.
His brows pinched together, clearly displeased. He reached for the phone on the bedside table, assuming it was six o’clock and his biological clock had woken him up as usual. But when the screen lit up, it read eight.
Wang Huanxiu: “…”
He reached out and pushed the person on top of him aside. Bai Shuijin rolled over, going from lying on top of Wang Huanxiu to sleeping on his side with his back to him.
Even with all that movement, he didn’t wake up.
The blackout curtains opened automatically by remote control, and sunlight streamed in through the huge glass wall like a cinema screen.
Bai Shuijin, who was lying on his side, was immediately blasted by the sunlight. The black behind the tightly shut eyelids suddenly became a glowing orange-yellow, and he flailed in panic.
Wang Huanxiu watched as he flopped like a fish and ended up lying right back on top of him again.
“Laogong ge,” he mumbled, clearly annoyed by the light, eyes still shut.
Wang Huanxiu responded coldly, “What are you doing?”
Bai Shuijin opened his mouth. “Fuck you.”
“…”
Wang Huanxiu simply picked him up and tossed him aside, then threw off the quilt and headed for the bathroom.
He woke up late today. Unlike the usual routine where everything was in perfect order, he had slept straight through until eight. The sunlight outside was blinding and it stung his eyes.
Since childhood, everything he had gained came through effort. All skills had to be learned, and he had rarely ever woken up this late.
As a child, this kind of luxury had been unattainable. Now, at twenty-six, Wang Huanxiu had no interest in such indulgence.
Ten minutes later, Bai Shuijin finally woke up. His legs squeezed together; he had to pee. Climbing off the bed like a scrambling monkey, he stumbled to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he noticed the door to the shower room was ajar.
Wang Huanxiu was standing at the sink. On the counter were a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of essential oil. It looked like he was planning to wash his hair.
Wang Huanxiu had a habit of showering every morning. Getting his body wet helped him wake up quickly. But having woken up late today, there wasn’t time for a full shower, so he opted to just wash his hair.
At this moment, the door burst open.
“Laogong ge!”
Bai Shuijin’s voice rang out.
Yess, it’s me…the cute and charming good character.
Wang Huanxiu stared at his own blank expression in the mirror.
“…”
Bai Shuijin circled him like a chick around its mother hen, looking like he couldn’t bear to be apart from him.
Shuffling over in his slippers, he said, “Laogong ge, are you going to wash your hair?”
Wang Huanxiu glanced at him sideways.
Bai Shuijin patted his chest. “I’ll help you.”
Wang Huanxiu’s left hand was injured, so he wore a waterproof finger glove when showering, but it was troublesome and inconvenient. Having someone else help would make things quicker, and it would also avoid aggravating the injured finger.
Since he had caused the injury, it was his responsibility to help now.
Bai Shuijin was eager to try, and was already rubbing his hands and rolling his sleeves in anticipation, ready to deliver professional service. He had never worked in a barbershop before, but he’d had his hair washed at one. By copying a cat to draw a tiger, he could also wash it well.
Wang Huanxiu rejected him. “No need.”
But Bai Shuijin had already run under the shower, pulling down the showerhead that was as big as his face.
“Come on, laogong ge.”
Pretend to be clueless. Pretend not to hear.
He was determined to wash that head today, no matter what.
A minute later, they were both ready. Bai Shuijin held the showerhead, with shampoo on the rack beside them.
“Laogong ge, I’m starting now,” he said as he flicked the switch. “Don’t worry, I’ll wash your hair just like I wash my own.”
As he spoke, inspiration struck. “I’ll treat your head like my own.”
Wang Huanxiu: “…Well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Bai Shuijin raised the showerhead. “Here I go, laogong ge.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a blast of cold water slammed down on Wang Huanxiu’s head like a bucket of water getting dumped from above, making his neck hunch involuntarily.
“…”
“Laogong ge! Are you okay?” Bai Shuijin’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t expected the water pressure to be that strong. He quickly adjusted the stream and temperature.
With the hair wet, he started lathering shampoo, but it ended up getting in Wang Huanxiu’s eyes.
Once he was done washing, Bai Shuijin wrapped a towel around his head, then bounced off like a rabbit to find the hairdryer.
Blow-drying should be foolproof. You just point and blast.
He was determined to leave a good final impression and make up for earlier mistakes.
Like a major news scandal…just drop an even bigger scandal to cover it up.
After all, there was a deadly logic in this world: if a bad person did one good deed, they could be forgiven.
Bai Shuijin held up the blow dryer and aimed it, but because of the height difference, the nozzle smacked right into Wang Huanxiu’s head.
“Bang!”
Bai Shuijin: “…”
He had done no good. Only more evil.
The bathroom fell into silence, and no one spoke for a while.
Bai Shuijin swallowed hard and sneaked a glance at Wang Huanxiu, then mumbled weakly, “Laogong ge.”
Wang Huanxiu stood there, motionless.
‘Oh no. Did I knock him stupid?’
“Laogo…”
“Bai Shuijin,” Wang Huanxiu finally spoke.
Bai Shuijin replied subconsciously, “Hm?”
Then came his low, eerie voice. “Go on, how much did they pay you to take my life?”
“…”
.
Yesterday, a group of people were waiting to pack up Bai Shuijin’s things after he was kicked out of the Wang family, but until two or three in the morning, there was still no movement upstairs.
Bai Shuijin didn’t return to the second floor either.
The servants kept their eyes down, pretending not to see or hear. Did he…directly sleep on the third floor?
This Young Master Bai is really amazing. Sir had clearly come back in a bad mood last night, and exuded a low pressure. Calling for someone to bring fruit upstairs was practically a direct indication he was going to drive the person away.
But not only did he not get kicked out, he slept upstairs…and now it was nearly nine o’clock, and Sir still hadn’t come down.
In the past, Sir would go out at eight o’clock and has never slept in. But now the driver had been waiting outside for almost an hour and was so bored he started chatting with the birds.
Everyone had expected Bai Shuijin to get kicked out in disgrace, and no one saw this outcome coming.
At ten past nine, Wang Huanxiu finally came down from the third floor. The butler hurried to his side to check on him.
He had clearly woken up late, and there was still a trace of fatigue in his eyes.
That Bai Shuijin definitely rode their Sir. He definitely rode their Sir! On the third floor, their Sir was…
“Uncle Zhang.” Wang Huanxiu’s voice was low and deep.
The butler responded, “Yes, sir?”
Wang Huanxiu was silent for a moment. “Your eyes are cloudy again.”
The butler: “…”
At this time of day, he was usually already at the office. Not to mention, there was a gaming project negotiation this afternoon. Wang Huanxiu hadn’t expected himself to make such a low level mistake by oversleeping this morning.
His schedule was always fixed, with details on what to do, study, or work on at every time of day. A single deviation would make everything feel out of sync.
He didn’t eat breakfast and went straight to the entryway to head out. Just then, Bai Shuijin came flying down from the third floor like he was leaping across walls and flying over eaves.
“Laogong ge!” Bai Shuijin landed in front of him. “You forgot your phone.”
He held it out, and the other man took it without sparing him a glance.
Bai Shuijin looked at his left hand, where his little finger had a splint. “Laogong ge, come home early today, okay?”
Last night, Wang Huanxiu came home after ten. The sky was as dark as ink, and not only was he exhausted, he didn’t even get to eat properly.
He had worked part-time jobs from day to night before, so he knew too well the struggle of never getting a proper meal.
“If you come home early today, I’ll make some bone soup for you.”
Eat what you lack. Although it wouldn’t help, it offered some psychological comfort.
“No need.”
Wang Huanxiu rejected him immediately, turned, and left.
Going home to drink soup was like prey leaping into the trap, a self-delivered offering.
The driver had earned an extra hour of free time this morning. But the Wang estate was so big and deserted, with no one around to chat with, so his only option was to target the bird in the nearby tree.
Sparrow: “Chirp chirp.”
Driver: “You’re up early too.”
Wang Huanxiu who had walked out: “…”
Everyone has lost their minds.
When he arrived at the company and stepped out of the elevator on the top floor, Wang Huanxiu saw the same cloudy look in the eyes of the assistant, the secretary, and the butler.
Although he arrived at the office later than usual, he still managed to get work back on track quickly, ensuring the game project meeting in the afternoon went ahead as scheduled.
Naturally, the proposal he used wasn’t the one he had used to test Bai Shuijin in the study yesterday. When he went to check the study this morning, the document was still lying on the desk just like yesterday, and even the angle at which he turned the papers had not changed.
Clearly, Bai Shuijin never intended to take it.
The project negotiation went smoothly and was finalized on the spot. After the partner left, Jiang You leaned back in his chair, looking refreshed. He took out his phone to tapped a few times. “There’s a drinking party tonight. Let’s go together. Just friends, let’s relax a bit.”
But just then, someone knocked on the office door.
Jiang You called out, “Come in.”
Because they were in the middle of the meeting earlier, the secretary had waited outside without daring to interrupt. Now that the partner had left, she finally came in.
Wang Huanxiu looked up. “What is it?”
Secretary: “President Wang, there was a phone call just now.”
Roughly half an hour ago.
“Who was it?”
Secretary: “A warm-hearted caller, asking if you’d be coming home to drink bone soup.”
“…”
Jiang You was confused.
‘Bone soup?’
What was so great about bone soup? That warm-hearted caller must have been Bai Shuijin. He used to be quite close to Pei Zhiheng, so marrying him was basically like bringing a little spy into the house.
Although he couldn’t stir up any real trouble.
And precisely because he seemed harmless and useless, that made him all the more worth keeping an eye on. Sometimes, the tiniest details were the essential screws that kept the whole machine running.
Go home for soup or attend the party? Of course, go to the party!
Jiang You: “Do you even need to ask? Your President Wang, go home?”
Even though Bai Shuijin had all sorts of tricks, Jiang You didn’t believe Wang Huanxiu was someone who’d fall for them.
The man was calm and rational like a robot.
Listening to Jiang You’s disdainful tone, the secretary silently muttered to herself.
‘You probably don’t know what kind of fun President Wang and Young Master Bai had last night. He even showed up at the office two hours late today.’
Wang Huanxiu’s expression didn’t change. He hadn’t planned on going home early anyway. Bai Shuijin’s presence had disrupted his carefully constructed life, making him instinctively resistant.
It felt like someone kept tossing stones into a lake that had always been still as a mirror, sending up splashes and ripples.
At seven in the evening, Wang Huanxiu got into the car, ready to head to the party. Jiang You got in beside him.
Not long after they got in, a call came through to Wang Huanxiu’s phone.
It was from home. He tapped to answer.
An anxious, panicked voice came through. “Sir, bad news! Young Master Bai has food poisoning!”
