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He Xingluo offered some well-intentioned advice: “How did you even reach that conclusion? I really am just a butler.”
Xia Xu protested: “Stop lying to me, Brother Zhanbei is clearly so good to you!”
He Xingluo offered a triple denial: “Where did you get that idea? How could it possibly come to this? It really isn’t me!”
“Then who else could it be?” Xia Xu argued with logical backing: “Brother Zhanbei didn’t just take you horseback riding, he even gave you very expensive clothes! A lot of people saw it yesterday!”
Right, and then it caused him to have an allergic reaction.
He Xingluo had no idea how to explain this to Xia Xu. After all, the young master looked like nothing more than a spoiled troublemaker pampered by his family, who had even brought a whole chest of jewelry just to chase someone away.
You could say he was sensible, yet he threw money at people. You could say he lacked sense, but the way he threw money at people was straight-up cash!
Thinking back on it now, Xia Xu still felt deeply aggrieved. He angrily demanded: “Are you going to agree or not? Won’t you please stop being Brother Zhanbei’s butler?”
He Xingluo answered honestly: “No.”
Xia Xu was completely stunned by this blunt, unwavering refusal, and blankly asked: “Why?”
Now that really hit the nail on the head!
With a face full of a working stiff’s exhaustion, He Xingluo said with absolute sincerity: “Because resigning voluntarily doesn’t come with severance pay. I only get N plus 1 if I’m fired, labor laws dictate it!”
Xia Xu was left frozen in place by the deafening three words “labor laws.” He was just an innocent, carefree young master, and both labor and labor laws were far too distant concepts for him.
Xia Xu: “”
Xia Xu looked at him suspiciously: “You really won’t harbor any inappropriate thoughts?”
He Xingluo answered honestly: “All employees harbor some inappropriate thoughts about their boss’s money. It’s only human nature.”
Xia Xu had his bodyguards pick up the safe again, preparing to head back home. He Xingluo asked: “Aren’t you going to go say hi to Brother Zhanbei before you leave?”
Xia Xu instantly looked aggrieved: “Brother Zhanbei won’t let me bother him casually.”
He Xingluo: “.”
Well, you really are an obedient, good child.
Just as He Xingluo was about to send young master Xia off, the person threw another fit before even getting into the car. Xia Xu pointed at a figure not far away: “Who is that person? For some reason, I feel like I really hate him!”
He Xingluo looked closely and gasped sharply.
He couldn’t even tell anymore whether the plot had completely derailed or not.
Wen Tian was Xia Xu’s true romantic rival!
He Xingluo called out to the system in his mind: What is going on, why did Wen Tian come over here?
After running a check, the little system vividly demonstrated what it meant to be panic-stricken: “Wen Tian came looking for you specifically! The plot is different again and again!”
He Xingluo: “?”
An NPC like him actually had this much screen time.
Ten minutes later.
He Xingluo hurried over, running right into Wen Tian and Teacher Kevin, who had brought Wen Tian along, right in front of the reception room. Lu Zhanbei sat right in the middle of the reception room, leisurely pouring tea.
For some reason, He Xingluo felt a little guilty.
Teacher Kevin seemed completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere as he cheerfully said: “Butler He, what a coincidence, running into you right here!”
He Xingluo awkwardly looked at him, and under the threatening gaze of Young Master Lu, forced a smile: “Classmate Wen Tian, what a coincidence, are you here as a guest?”
“Mr. Wen is here specifically to thank you,” Teacher Kevin chimed in: “I ran into Mr. Wen on the side of the road, so I brought him along.”
He Xingluo: “”
Quite bizarre.
Lu Zhanbei muttered sarcastically: “Oh, what a coincidence.”
“Mr. He, I just wanted to thank you in person.” Wen Tian had been standing behind Teacher Kevin, but now stepped forward to greet him. As he spoke, he seemed to glance at Lu Zhanbei and said awkwardly: “Did I cause you trouble?”
Wen Tian picked up the jacket in his hands: “This piece of clothing…”
“It was just me being too careless yesterday and leaving it at the hospital.” He Xingluo took the jacket back, ran over to Young Master Lu’s side, and whispered: “Look, Young Master, he returned the jacket. He isn’t setting me up with a honey trap.”
Lu Zhanbei: “Are you enjoying yourself in the middle of this?”
He Xingluo: “.”
He was being wronged! How could he dare!
Teacher Kevin remained entirely oblivious to the atmosphere as he walked in with Wen Tian and said: “Butler He, why did you walk in without finishing your sentence? Mr. Wen was just about to thank you…”
He Xingluo clapped a hand over his mouth.
A flash of inspiration struck He Xingluo: “We commandeered Lu Zhitao’s car last night, you should go destroy the evidence… I mean, go drive it right back.”
A blur of confusion crossed Teacher Kevin’s face as he uttered an obedient “Oh” and went off to carry out his mission.
The reception room finally quieted down for a split second.
“I’m sorry, Mr. He,” Wen Tian said apologetically: “I should have had your clothes washed for you…”
“That won’t be necessary.” Lu Zhanbei finally lowered the teapot at a leisurely pace, set a small cup of tea in front of He Xingluo, and spoke in an unusual tone: “He’s terribly dainty. Who knows, he might be allergic to your brand of laundry detergent.”
Hearing Lu Zhanbei speak like that, Wen Tian didn’t look angry at all. Instead, he asked He Xingluo with deep concern: “Did the allergy medication you took yesterday work? I was a little worried about you.”
“Huh?” He Xingluo said, feeling dizzy: “I’m fine, I’m great. I take my medicine on time, I guarantee it won’t act up again.”
Lu Zhanbei offered a critique: “Hard to say.”
He Xingluo: “”
Had certain people forgotten who was actually responsible for his allergic reaction in the first place?
Wen Tian lowered his head, pulled a pen and some sticky notes out of his schoolbag, quickly wrote something down, and handed it to He Xingluo: “Mr. He, this is my name and contact information. You can reach out if you have another allergy flare-up. You know, pharmacists are friends of mine.”
He Xingluo took the sticky note.
Wen Tian’s handwriting was just like him: neat, delicate, and yet powerful.
The way Lu Zhanbei set down his teacup possessed an elegance that somehow seemed mixed with a hint of roughness. He slowly let out a breath, sounding deceptively mild: “Have Dr. Zhao come over later to check on you again.”
He Xingluo: “.”
He Xingluo whispered a reminder: “Young Master, but you said yesterday that if Dr. Zhao couldn’t even treat a minor illness like this, he was completely useless.”
Lu Zhanbei: “We can verify that today.”
He Xingluo: “”
Could someone please explain what on earth was wrong with Young Master Lu today?
He Xingluo’s gaze darted back and forth between the other two people, his brows furrowed in deep thought. Could these two possibly be engaged in some kind of mutual destruction love-hate dynamic?
Those two were playing their parts far too realistically.
It was entirely beyond comprehension.
He Xingluo silently poked the system in his mind: Why don’t you have the main mainframe run a scan again, are these two actually normal?
The little system…
The little system stumbled once more as it reported a bug.
Yet the plot of this world seemed to have more bugs than actual plot points. If things kept going like this, wouldn’t they get blacklisted by the main system?
Sitting on pins and needles, He Xingluo had no idea what topic to use to break the tension. Wen Tian seemed to sense He Xingluo’s awkwardness and took the initiative to speak: “Mr. He, I just wanted to thank you in person today. I know showing up unannounced like this is very presumptuous, but I was afraid I wouldn’t have another chance to run into you, so I brazenly asked the driver to bring me over.”
Lu Zhanbei offered timely sarcasm: “Heh.”
Wen Tian ignored Lu Zhanbei entirely, completely unfazed: “I won’t disturb you any longer today, I’ll head back first.”
He Xingluo was instantly granted a pardon and said gratefully: “Classmate Wen Tian, you’re far too polite. Since that’s the case, should I see you out?”
He didn’t want to spend one more second in this bizarre atmosphere.
Wen Tian was of the same mind: “Then I’ll have to trouble you again.”
Lu Zhanbei: “”
Utterly furious.
Once they stepped out of the reception room, He Xingluo felt like he came back to life a little bit. He apologized on Lu Zhanbei’s behalf: “I’m sorry, Classmate Wen Tian. Young Master Lu is usually quite normal…”
“He is him, and you are you,” Wen Tian said gently: “You don’t need to apologize for him. I came here to thank you, how could I listen to you say things like that?”
Wen Tian really was the kind-hearted protagonist!
The two chatted as they walked outward. He Xingluo originally intended to find Teacher Kevin to take him back, but Wen Tian politely declined. Wen Tian said: “I can go back by myself, don’t worry about me.”
He Xingluo: “.”
Though to be fair, this plot development was completely different from the original version too!
In the original plot:
Lu Zhanbei was oblivious to his own romantic feelings for Wen Tian, though it was love at first sight. Even though he refused to admit it out loud, after taking Wen Tian to the hospital, he even brought him back to his estate.
When Wen Tian woke up the next day, he discovered he was in a strange place. His heart was filled with anxiety, afraid he had offended some major figure once again, and he didn’t dare speak up easily.
Yet he was truly in a bind. In the original plot, he hadn’t received his part-time pay from the birthday banquet, so he had no money on him either. Wen Tian could only wait in the room for Lu Zhanbei to appear.
Not daring to casually touch anything in the villa, Wen Tian simply waited quietly.
It wasn’t until evening that Wen Tian squatted by the doorway and finally waited for him.
By this time, Lu Zhanbei already knew about all those matters between Wen Tian and Lu Zhitao. This was also why Lu Zhanbei had brought Wen Tian home only to leave him hanging off to one side—because he had to clean up the mess left behind by Lu Zhitao’s public confession.
During this period, Lu Zhanbei had naturally investigated Wen Tian as well.
Seeing Wen Tian’s predicament, Lu Zhanbei naturally understood why the person hadn’t left, yet he deliberately asked: “Still haven’t left?”
Wen Tian felt deeply humiliated, yet he still had no choice but to ask for help: “Sir, could you lend me some money? I don’t have any money to pay for the cab fare.”
Although Lu Zhanbei felt angry because of Wen Tian’s background, seeing Wen Tian’s pitiful appearance, his heart softened anyway…
After finishing his mental review of the original plot, He Xingluo told the little system: “Did you notice? Even for a white lotus protagonist, having money is still very important.”
The system: “?”
He Xingluo: “If Wen Tian has money, he can just go home by himself instead of having to tremble with fear in front of Young Master Lu.”
When the two parted ways, He Xingluo also gave Wen Tian his contact information. Although the current plot had become unfathomable, who could say for sure?
After all, the main system had reached the conclusion that “the protagonist’s emotional fluctuations are trending toward normal values,” and there had to be a hidden reason behind that!
He Xingluo furrowed his brow as he stared at Wen Tian’s retreating back with a thoughtful look. Before he could puzzle out any conclusions, a fluffy head poked out from right beside him:
“Who on earth is he? Why does Brother Zhanbei want to see him?”