After leaving the Wang residence, the two got into the supercar. Jiang You couldn’t shake the image of Bai Shuijin standing on the third floor.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, who would believe that was the same person as the clown from yesterday?
They were simply not on the same level.
Anyone who didn’t know would’ve really believed he’d been strangled and buried in the backyard.
Jiang You started the car. Although Wang Huanxiu had married Bai Shuijin to piss off Old Master Wang, it seemed like he was treating him fairly well. He hadn’t expected Bai Shuijin to look like that in private.
“You knew he looked like that from the start, didn’t you?” he asked while gripping the wheel.
“No.”
Jiang You laughed and cursed. “Bullshit. How could you not know?”
Wang Huanxiu was a sinister man…sinister and crazy. He never did anything that wasn’t in his interest. He expected ten times the return for doing three parts of the work. Even when Jiang You dealt with him, there were moments of cold war.
If Bai Shuijin didn’t look like that, why would Wang Huanxiu have married him?
To go with him and soak in the river in the southern city?
But thinking it over, it was possible he didn’t know. Wang Huanxiu married Bai Shuijin partly to anger the old man and partly because he knew Bai Shuijin was close with the Pei family. During the time he was being pressured to marry, Bai Shuijin was clamoring about wanting to marry him. The Pei family probably wanted to use Bai Shuijin to get something from Wang Huanxiu.
Since they were being so blatant, Wang Huanxiu simply married him.
A normal person would avoid schemes like that, but not him. He neither dodged nor evaded, just wanted to see how big a storm they could stir up.
Jiang You stepped on the accelerator. “But to be fair, Pei Zhiheng really let him go. I remember Bai Shuijin used to like him to death.”
The upper circles were full of wild gossip, and Bai Shuijin was always the most entertaining one. Everyone treated him like a clown. He liked Pei Zhiheng, the Pei family’s young master. It was said that when his nouveau riche father brought him to a banquet for the first time, he fell in love with Pei Zhiheng at first sight. After that, he chased after him every day and would not go west if he was told to go east.
He liked Pei Zhiheng like his life depended on it.
Now he suddenly turned around and married Wang Huanxiu, no doubt also for Pei Zhiheng’s sake.
Jiang You clicked his tongue. But one had to admit, he really was good-looking.
Then again, in nature, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it is.
He joked, “President Wang, don’t get fooled by Bai Shuijin’s face.”
Wang Huanxiu’s eyes were calm as a pool of stagnant water. “Is that possible?”
.
After saying good morning to the little birds, Bai Shuijin rubbed his arms and shivered as he went back into the room.
He had a bathrobe between him and the little birds, and the little birds had sweaters between them. If he didn’t move, he’d freeze to death.
He unclipped the gold card from his ear. Seeing it again brought the same joy as the first time. He changed clothes, stuffed the gold card into his pocket, and finally went downstairs for breakfast.
In his previous life, he didn’t have the habit of eating breakfast. He worked until midnight every day. Compared to having breakfast, he preferred to sleep a bit longer and enjoy the warmth of the bed. Besides, skipping breakfast saved money.
But even when the money was saved, he couldn’t manage to save up. Expenses in the arts were high, and he always ended up spending a lot despite living frugally.
The malnutrition in his previous life was largely due to not being able to eat properly from a young age.
Now that he was living again, treating himself better started with having breakfast.
He went downstairs wearing white cotton slippers and warmly greeted the servants.
“Good morning!”
Then he floated past them, heading downstairs in search of food.
A nearby servant was startled, “Who’s there?”
Bai Shuijin had already passed them and walked down the first-floor stairs. The other servant looked at his companion. “Who is he?”
The companion also shook his head in confusion, his face written with: No idea, never seen him.
They had worked at the Wang family for so long and had never seen this person before. He was bright and beautiful, with a refined and pleasant appearance…and a head of colorful hair.
Wait, colorful hair?
The Bai Shuijin that Sir married yesterday also had colorful hair.
The two servants locked eyes: “…”
Bai Shuijin walked into the first-floor area. If the room he stayed in last night had shocked him, the décor and space on the first floor were a whole other level.
Intricately carved display columns held antiques as old as his ancestors. The interior design was simple yet rich in meaning, a blend of modern and medieval Western European style. The house was bright; it was the time of day when all windows and doors were opened to air out the space. Even in winter, the house didn’t feel cold, only fresh.
This house’s single floor alone was the perfect place to play hide-and-seek. He figured he wasn’t living in a villa, but in a castle.
How do you get to the kitchen?
Bai Shuijin didn’t know the way and wandered around. Each servant in the Wang family had their own responsibilities. He walked up to an old man who looked a bit more free.
“Sir, may I ask how to get to the kitchen?”
The butler looked at Bai Shuijin, whose head suddenly popped up. While shocked that the Wang family had such a person, he recognized him by the hair color. A flash of undisguised disdain and disapproval passed through his eyes.
Uncle Zhang had seen all kinds of storms, so he wasn’t overly shocked by Bai Shuijin’s changed appearance, but even so, his heart was still a mess of waves.
Last night, did this young master from the Bai family ride our Sir or not?
Bai Shuijin saw a murky color in this old man’s eyes. When the man didn’t respond for a while, he thought maybe the old man was hard of hearing and raised his voice next to his ear, “Old man, may I ask how to get to the kitchen?”
The butler: “…My surname is Zhang.”
Bai Shuijin nodded. “Mr. Old Zhang, how do I get to the kitchen?”
“…”
The butler pointed a direction to Bai Shuijin and ignored him afterward. No one in the Wang household would have a good impression of this Bai young master.
He didn’t, and naturally, no one else in the Wang household would.
He remembered that before leaving this morning, Wang Huanxiu had said to clean out a room for the other party.
“Xiao Hu.”
A maid who had been polishing a ceramic vase put down her work and walked over to the butler.
The butler: “Later, take someone and clean out the second-floor storage room. The Bai young master is moving in today.”
The third floor was Wang Huanxiu’s exclusive domain. Except for cleaning, no one usually went up there. Naturally, this newly married Bai young master had no right to stay there.
Sir didn’t care for this Bai young master, so the Wang household wouldn’t waste any energy on him. Letting him have a cleaned-up storage room was already generous.
When Xiao Hu heard this, her expression became unhappy. “Uncle Zhang, isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”
Wang Huanxiu never concerned himself with household matters. Everything was handled by Uncle Zhang. Xiao Hu had worked at the Wang household for nearly five years and sometimes felt that Uncle Zhang was too old-fashioned, always overinterpreting people’s intentions. Although Wang Huanxiu had a moody personality, he wasn’t the type to fuss over small people.
Even if he didn’t like someone, he wouldn’t treat them harshly in daily life.
Bai Shuijin, after all, was now married to Sir. That made him half a master of the house, but letting him stay in the storage room… unless he was Harry Potter.
The butler scolded, “Just do as you’re told. What’s inappropriate?”
Xiao Hu shut her mouth resentfully. She didn’t dare offend Uncle Zhang. He was an old-timer in the Wang family, and it was said he used to be the butler for Sir’s parents. After the accident that took Sir’s parents, Uncle Zhang had always stayed by Sir’s side.
“Keep an eye on the Bai young master and write down everything he does. Especially if he goes up to the third floor.”
.
Bai Shuijin followed the directions and found the dining room and kitchen. As soon as he sat down at the dining table, someone automatically brought breakfast.
“Thank you.”
The hand of the person handing him tea stiffened, and the teacup clinked lightly against the tray.
“No need to thank me, young master. It’s our duty.”
Bai Shuijin felt a bit unaccustomed to being addressed that way. It reminded him of the café he used to work at. He’d done all kinds of part-time jobs…as long as it was legal and paid, he’d tried it. The café had male and female employees dressed in butler and maid outfits, and they also spoke like that.
“Welcome back, Master”, “Welcome home, My Lady”, “You’re welcome, Master”. These greetings came easily at first, but over time, they turned into: “Master, this is legal, but if you keep doing that, I’m calling the police”, “A fist like a sandbag will be on your face in one second.” “The flying punch is incoming~”
Eventually, he got fired for punching a handsy customer.
As expected, rich people’s breakfasts had more variety than that of ordinary people’s. Bai Shuijin looked at the spread on the table and thought he was attending a state banquet.
Every dish tasted exceptional. He never had a chance to eat such good food in his previous life. Sometimes, when he was short on money to buy performance costumes, he would survive on two steamed buns and some pickled vegetables a day.
He had a habit of not wasting food. Even if he was very full, he still finished everything on his plate.
The servant nearby watched the whole time: a starving ghost reincarnated!
When breakfast ended, the servants began clearing the dishes. Bai Shuijin stood up to help, which scared everyone. “Young master Bai, please leave it to us.”
Bai Shuijin held the tray, pursed his lower lip, and furrowed his brows. But doing this gave him a sense of guilt.
He was the kind of person who would tense his neck while getting his hair washed at the salon for fear of tiring out the hairstylist.
“Post-meal exercise.”
“No, no, no.”
“But if I don’t move, I’ll throw up.”
“…”
Bai Shuijin got his wish and went to the kitchen with the dishes, and took a look around. The kitchen was clean and tidy, with all the utensils and tools neatly arranged.
In front of the kitchen counter, a slightly plump, honest-looking middle-aged woman stood silently wiping her tears.
Several people in the kitchen had quit today. She had been harshly scolded as well. She felt bad being scolded at her age, but what hurt more was that the young ones she treated sincerely were bullying and deceiving her behind her back.
Just then, a napkin appeared in front of her. Mother Li turned her head and met a pair of clear, watery eyes.
“Use it.”
Bai Shuijin shoved the napkin into her hand. He had originally intended to use it to wipe his own mouth, but now he gave it to her so it was still clean.
He hated seeing people cry.
Bai Shuijin lowered his head shyly, his heart going soft.
Mother Li was caught off guard. Bai Shuijin didn’t look like one of the household staff. She had always been both afraid and cautious around the master of this house. She quickly wiped her tears with the napkin, afraid the other party would think she was being ungrateful.
Bai Shuijin looked at her sorrowful face. “Why are you crying? Did something sad happen?”
Mother Li shook her head. “I didn’t do my job well.”
“What job?” The breakfast was really delicious and well made.
“The lunch the master takes to the company every day had a mishap today. I didn’t manage to prepare it.”
Bai Shuijin blinked. “Wang Huanxiu takes lunch to the company every day?”
Mother Li nodded.
“Why doesn’t he eat at the company or go out to eat?”
Mother Li looked shocked. “You don’t know?”
The little tuft of hair on top of Bai Shuijin’s head stood up, gossip radar activated. “Why?”
“Before, all the employees at the master’s company used to go out to eat during lunch. There’s a lot of foot traffic at noon so a rival company got some nasty ideas and sent someone disguised as an employee to sneak into the company during the lunch break…”
Bai Shuijin’s eyes widened. “They went in and stole confidential documents?”
“No, they watered the money tree in the lobby with hot water and killed it.”
“…”
Such a vicious business war!
After that, the company set up a cafeteria. Wang Huanxiu was always busy and often forgot to eat. When he went to the cafeteria, the employees felt uncomfortable, so he simply started bringing lunch from home.
Bai Shuijin had never heard of this before. It wasn’t mentioned in the book. After all, it was from the protagonist’s point of view, anything not related to the main plot was either skimmed over or completely omitted, especially the villain’s daily life.
After breakfast, Bai Shuijin was told to move rooms. His new room was at the end of the second floor. When he opened the door, the room was clean and comfortable. Though not as big as Wang Huanxiu’s, and lacking other amenities aside from a bathroom and toilet, Bai Shuijin was quite content and felt it was already very good.
Better than anywhere he had lived in his previous life.
Everyone was paying attention to Bai Shuijin’s reaction. This was someone who didn’t behave himself. Rumor had it that his personality was beyond terrible. Though the family had suddenly come into wealth overnight, inside he still had the mindset of a petty person.
They thought he’d be unhappy being placed in what used to be a storage room, maybe even start screaming without any manners. But instead, after moving in, he just patted his butt and left like nothing happened, not uttering a single complaint.
The butler scoffed. “Nouveau riche have never seen the world.”
Bai Shuijin curled up on the sofa downstairs, hugging a soft pillow. The pillow felt amazing. His face relaxed as he looked at the 120-inch LCD TV in front of him.
He firmly remembered his principle in this second life: be kinder to himself. And one of his biggest hobbies in life was watching handsome men.
Not only was it pleasing to the eyes, but it also lifted the mood.
He turned on the TV and found a costume drama full of handsome men. He curled up on the sofa and watched while screaming with excitement.
“Ohho! Laogong!”
“Ohoh! This one’s also laogong.”
“Laogong!!! They’re all laogong!”
Looking at the parade of stunning faces on the screen, he didn’t expect the pickings to be so good in this world, the actors had both looks and acting skills.
After watching all day, Bai Shuijin had accepted five or six new husbands. The most handsome one was crowned as the Imperial Noble Consort, he was the male lead of the show. The others followed as Guiren, Pin, Daying…
***Guiren, Pin, Daying etc represent the hierarchy of concubines in the imperial harem signaling rank, favor, privileges and so on.
Of course, none of them could take the Eastern Palace. His laogong-ge, the Empress, had an unshakable status.
Although the actors each had their own charm, his laogong-ge stood out the most.
Everyone thought Bai Shuijin would be unhappy being thrown into a storage room. With his shameless personality, they even expected a scene. Unexpectedly, he spent the whole day either eating or watching TV, happily claiming husbands one after another. He didn’t seem sad at all.
The butler kept a close eye on Bai Shuijin, planning to record anything suspicious if he made a move toward the third floor.
As a result, the other party had no ambition at all, he just sat on the sofa calling out “laogong” one after another.
Bai Shuijin watched the male lead on the screen and was so dazzled by his handsomeness that he squirmed like a caterpillar and stuffed the soft pillow in his arms under his shirt.
“I’m pregnant.”
“…”
Shameless!
The butler turned on the phone camera and aimed it at Bai Shuijin.
.
That evening, Wang Huanxiu came back from the company and stood at the entrance. A servant took his belongings from his hand.
The butler: “Sir, welcome home.”
Wang Huanxiu didn’t even lift his eyelids. He changed shoes and walked inside.
“Sir, aren’t you going to ask what Young Master Bai did all day at home?”
‘Bai Shuijin?’
After being out all day, he had already forgotten that such a person even existed in the house.
Wang Huanxiu casually asked, “What did he do?”
The butler began laying on the ground work. “That Young Master Bai was acting strange from the moment he woke up. When he ate, it was like a starving ghost reincarnated…”
After saying so much, he still hadn’t gotten to the point.
Wang Huanxiu frowned, not in the mood to listen further, and lifted his leg to leave.
Bai Shuijin’s misdeeds couldn’t be revealed, so the butler quickly pulled over a nearby servant. “You tell the master.”
The servant who got picked shivered instantly. Facing Wang Huanxiu’s cold gaze, he hurriedly reported Bai Shuijin’s activities for the day. “Young… Young Master Bai ate a whole table of breakfast this morning, had two big bowls of rice at noon, and ate an entire chicken in the evening…”
“…”
For such trivial matters, it was no different from dumping trash into his ears and Wang Huanxiu’s brow twitched slightly.
The servant got elbowed by the butler. “There’s… there’s more.”
“What else?”
“He… he called the male actors on TV laogong.”
The butler added, “Several of them.”
