In the media room of the Lakeside Villa, Yu Yin was curled up on the floor-to-ceiling sofa binge-watching a TV drama. The plot had recently reached a critical turning point, and she was completely absorbed.
The butler robot "Monday" refilled Yu Yin's juice before dutifully retreating to the corner, careful not to disturb its mistress.
Her phone screen lit up. She glanced at the notification preview, then returned her gaze to the projection screen without any interest in opening it.
Last night she had scrolled past some news about that scandal, and now the phone's algorithm was automatically pushing similar content to her. The gist of the articles was that Xu Ronghao's background wasn't simple at all—she was a little rich girl, not some actress with no connections. She had entered the entertainment industry purely out of personal interest, and both her family background and looks were a perfect match for Zhao Shunian.
Meanwhile, Wen Lufeng was run off his feet. Seeing these press releases made his eyes blaze with fury. The scandal had been about to die down, and now new trouble had cropped up. He went to confront Xu Ronghao's manager.
The manager claimed she had no idea about this and would handle it as soon as possible. Wen Lufeng figured he'd have to be an idiot to believe her nonsense. He suspected that Xu Ronghao's team had been fanning the flames of yesterday's scandal all along—and here he'd actually trusted the manager's explanation before.
Originally, Qin He's plan had been to also clear the female lead of the scandal, casting her as a victim, and wash the whole affair completely clean.
But now Wen Lufeng wanted to settle scores after the dust had settled—extricate only the boss and let no one else off the hook. His job had been thrown into crisis because of this ill-intentioned scandal, and he wasn't about to swallow that. He needed to coordinate with Qin He in advance and give him a heads-up—though of course, he'd have to frame it with a perfectly respectable justification…
Yu Yin was immersed in the drama. Her phone screen lit up again, but she didn't notice, missing Xu Ronghao's personal single-status statement and a major entertainment scoop entirely.
What she knew even less was that the master of the villa, who had been away for a month, was returning tonight.
The previously silent villa came alive. Xiao Wen had been here for half a month, and this was her first time seeing the master of the house. He was unexpectedly young and handsome.
When she had first laid eyes on the mistress, she had indeed been stunned—though not surprised, since wealthy men were never short of beautiful women around them. But an exceptionally handsome man among the rich was a rare find indeed.
The villa's servants completed their tasks and left the main building without lingering. Xiao Wen only stole two glances before leaving.
The master didn't like outsiders disturbing his peace, but Mother Ye wasn't counted among outsiders.
According to Xiao Wen's gardener uncle, Mother Ye was the most senior servant in the villa—she had been caring for the master since the day he was born. In families like theirs, a nanny who had devotedly cared for you for years was treated as half a family member. When the nanny grew too old to work and wanted to retire, the employers would look after her too—a luxury retirement home was nothing to them, plus a hefty sum of money.
Xiao Wen's heart raced as she listened. She had barely finished high school before dropping out, coming to the big city to see the world and seek refuge with her uncle. If she couldn't make something of herself in a few years, she'd have to go back to her hometown and get married. She felt that compared to going home for blind dates, marrying someone after only a few months of acquaintance, and living like her own mother—working endlessly without rest while serving an entire family—she'd rather be a servant like Mother Ye. There was hope in that. The mistress treated Mother Ye with respect, and the other servants followed her lead…
Zhao Shunian didn't see Yu Yin anywhere and asked Mother Ye, "Where is the mistress?"
"Upstairs in the media room. Monday is keeping her company."
The robot Monday was a new product developed by the company Zhao Shunian had founded himself. It happened to be delivered to their home on a Monday, so he named it Monday. Yu Yin thought his naming sense was rather careless.
In fact, Yu Yin had known Zhao Shunian before their marriage—she had interned at his company. However, she only learned he was her marriage partner after agreeing to the marriage.
Yu Yin never asked Zhao Shunian if he remembered her, nor did she care whether he did or not.
When she interned at his company, it was on the verge of bankruptcy. She felt she was down on her luck and worried the company might delay paying her wages. Little did she expect that the company would later turn itself around, be managed exceptionally well, and gain widespread fame both within and outside the industry.
Zhao Shunian took the elevator to the third floor and opened the door to the media room. The crisp sound of fierce slapping from the projection equipment flooded his ears. Monday, standing only 1.2 meters tall, circled around him, its cheerful electronic voice cutting through the slapping sounds, "Master, master, you're back!"
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought someone was cheering and applauding.
As Monday's voice faded, the slapping sounds from the projection also just happened to stop.
Yu Yin saw Zhao Shunian. She couldn't imitate Monday's sycophantic fawning, and said calmly, "You're back."
Zhao Shunian hummed in acknowledgment and sat down beside her. Neither of them spoke, and his gaze also turned toward the screen.
After a while, he wondered whether today's TV dramas had become a bit too absurd.
For a moment, he couldn't tell whether he should call the male lead the female lead, or the female lead the male lead. He suspected this was a promotional film for gender reassignment surgery.
Protagonist A was originally male by sex, and protagonist B's original sex was female. A and B were originally husband and wife, but they also shared another relationship—they were half-siblings through the same father. B married A for revenge. After succeeding in her revenge, she seized A's family fortune. A's parents died as a result, and A also fell into the sea. B assumed A was dead and soon remarried, this time to a new lover, D.
A activated the secret funds left by his father. To exact revenge, he used the money to undergo gender reassignment surgery, transforming into a wealthy heiress with a curvaceous figure. Years later, she made a triumphant return and seduced D. D quickly fell for her—first emotionally cheating, then physically.
B and D's family fell apart. B's daughter liked A more than B and expressed that she wanted A to be her mother. B was cast out with nothing, and even the wealth she had brought from A's family was swallowed up by D.
To take revenge, B first used a honeypot scheme to swindle a sum of money from some wealthy young heir. She used that money to undergo gender reassignment surgery as well. After that, she became a he. He used his intelligence and wit to create wealth, lured A in, and A couldn't help but cheat.
The plot had now reached a major climax. A discovered that B's daughter was actually her own biological child, while B discovered that A had once been a man—and incredibly, that A was still his former husband…
Zhao Shunian felt that they truly deserved each other as both spouses and siblings—their revenge plans were remarkably similar. It was also quite surprising that their daughter had turned out to be a perfectly healthy child.