The door opened, revealing a white-haired man standing by the entrance. He wore a light gray suit vest over a white shirt, his figure tall and straight, exuding an air of refined elegance.
A warm smile graced his face, and he looked as kind and gentle as Santa Claus.
Seeing her, he was clearly taken aback.
Lu Tao was equally startled—she hadn’t expected that even the butler of a wealthy household would be so extraordinary. With his youthful complexion and silver hair, he looked like he’d been preserved in formaldehyde, better maintained than the celebrities she saw on TV.
She extended her hand to shake his while stepping through the doorway. “Butler Song, hello! I didn’t expect you to look even younger in person than in your photos.”
The book hadn’t described this Butler Song in much detail, only that he handled affairs for Gu Xingzhi’s household.
It was said he’d been by Gu Xingzhi’s side since the latter’s birth.
That meant he must be quite advanced in years. “I’ll just call you Grandpa Song from now on.”
The man’s expression stiffened slightly.
Lu Tao didn’t think there was any hierarchy between them—they were both just working people.
Perhaps he was simply surprised by her even friendlier attitude?
Surprised as he was, Butler Song still escorted Lu Tao to her room.
The apartment was a hundred and eighty square meters. The bedroom had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a stretch of cotton rose hibiscus below, their large, pale pink buds a delightful sight.
There was a walk-in closet divided into four sections for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each outfit paired with top-tier luxury jewelry and handbags starting at over a hundred thousand yuan.
A game room, a home theater that could seat twelve, and a massive round bathtub big enough to fit a whale…
There wasn’t a single trace of anyone having lived in the room.
The original Lu Tao in the book had never come back. Though married, she’d stayed in hotels to keep her distance, letting Chi Yuan know her heart belonged elsewhere.
Lu Tao understood that the original soul had married Gu Xingzhi out of sheer spite, to prove a point.
But she hadn’t played the part of Mrs. Gu well, and he’d still transferred ten million to her.
In other words, she’d done no work but still collected a paycheck.
Gu Xingzhi was truly a good man—a great one!
Far better than the e-commerce company she’d worked at before, where even leaving on time got you called into a meeting with your supervisor, accused of lacking work ethic and having problematic thinking.
Suddenly, without even meeting him yet, Lu Tao already felt immense goodwill toward her future boss.
She soaked in the bath while chatting with her best friend.
Peach: [My dear Zhi, what’s the situation on your end?]
Peach: [My dear?]
No response for a long while. Lu Tao picked up her phone but then put it down.
She was afraid Fu Zhi might be sleeping and she’d wake her up.
That girl was like a bat—the later it got, the more energetic she became. She’d probably wake up soon enough.
After finishing her bath, her whole body relaxed, Lu Tao twisted her hair into a neat bun, though a few stubborn strands still clung to her snow-white neck. She looked in the mirror—her face, free of makeup, looked even more fresh and dewy.
This face was identical to her original one, ageless in appearance. Even when she was in university, she’d been stopped at bar entrances for being too young.
She’d just stepped out of her room when the door to the adjacent gym opened. A man emerged, freshly showered, a snow-white towel wiping down his glistening body, the ink-black tips of his hair still damp.
A towel was draped over his upper half, leaving his V-line waist fully exposed, abdominal muscles faintly visible beneath a thin layer of muscle, like a perfect sculpted work of art.
Lu Tao’s eyes were hooked. Her first impression: bold, underlined, extremely capable.
His gaze swept over and caught her. He paused briefly, then gave a light chuckle. “Madam.”
Madam?
Twenty-eight-year-old Gu Xingzhi?
But looking at the faintly smiling eyes beneath those damp bangs, and that waist, those pectorals—everything radiated the raw hormones of a young man.
There was nothing stiff or rigid about him at all.
Lu Tao was dumbfounded.
Before she could respond, the next wave hit her even harder, catching her completely off guard. “Has the madam finally deigned to return?”
“…”
Lu Tao met his eyes. The man’s casual air receded as his long fingers accepted the bathrobe Butler Song handed him, half-concealing that tantalizing view. But the hints of his chest through the deep V-neck still made Lu Tao’s heart race.
He looked at her seriously.
Lu Tao was even more bewildered.
Weren’t they supposed to be fake?
From the sound of his tone, was he playing for real?
Why was this CEO acting like this?
Lu Tao’s brain short-circuited for a dozen seconds. She pinched herself and let out a dry laugh. “Everyone goes through a rebellious phase.”
The black bathrobe suited him perfectly, paired with his jet-black hair, making him look like a killer stalking through the night.
Gu Xingzhi’s eyes drifted shut with an air of indifference, but when they opened to look at Lu Tao, they were cold, sharp, and narrow—one glance was enough to send a suffocating wave of pressure crashing over her. “Oh? Then the madam’s rebellious phase has been rather long indeed.”
Lu Tao had no response.
After a pause, he smiled. “Is the madam hungry?”
His good-natured demeanor was like a completely different person from the one who’d just been radiating sharpness. Lu Tao said, “No.”
“Grrr…”
Two sounds, not quite in sync.
Lu Tao rubbed her nose in embarrassment. She’d soaked in the bath and genuinely worked up an appetite.
She’d played the runaway princess at Qiao Zhixing’s birthday party, having skipped lunch entirely—let alone dinner.
Gu Xingzhi said calmly, “Let’s dine together.”
He changed into a casual outfit and walked down the spiral staircase. The white sweater made his shoulders look broad, and the gray trousers wrapped around legs that she had just seen were incredibly sturdy and long.
His hair fell lazily, naturally dark, but under the crystal chandelier above, it carried a hint of chestnut. His jawline was smooth and defined, exuding a sculpted, almost mixed-race handsomeness that was utterly captivating.
It was said that an ancestor of the Gu family had been a stunning Ukrainian beauty.
Lu Tao stared at him without blinking, her chest warming slightly.
The man was tall and slender, and when he looked at you with that faint, indifferent gaze, he carried an innate, unparalleled nobility—a depth accumulated from generations of his lineage.
It was said the Gu family had been wealthy for five generations, either in business or politics, holding high positions, each with distinguished family backgrounds.
The antiques in the house had been passed down from long ago, filling every corner, their value incalculable. They were housed in several privately owned Gu family museums, but open to the public for free.
The food laid out on the table was exquisite and beautiful.
Each dish was crafted like a flower; even simple vegetables were carved into phoenixes, and the meats were drizzled with sauce, making them mouthwateringly tempting.
Lu Tao simply couldn’t resist. Out of habit, she pulled out her phone to take a photo.
Hehe, she’d show it to her bestie later, let her take a look too.
“Madam, who are you planning to send that to?”
Gu Xingzhi propped his chin on his hand, a faint smile curling at his lips, his tone ambiguous.
For no reason at all, a thin layer of sweat broke out on Lu Tao’s back.
Everyone in the Beijing circle knew that she, the little princess who had fallen from grace, still harbored a special fondness for her childhood sweetheart from her days in the Qiao family—Chi Yuan.
After the true and false heiresses were swapped back, Chi Yuan met Qiao Zhixing and said to her with deep affection, “Meeting you, I realized the past twenty-something years of my life were wasted…”
With one sentence, he denied every promise they had made under the starry sky.
Lu Tao’s marriage to Gu Xingzhi was partly due to the betrayal of family, but also somewhat because of this scumbag male lead.
Lu Tao bit her lip, her eyelashes fluttering quickly.
Gu Xingzhi probably misunderstood, thinking she was taking a photo to share with Chi Yuan.
Fu Zhi’s warning flashed through her mind—though serving a master was like being with a tiger, that was a million yuan! A million!
Brain! Move quickly!!
Lu Tao swallowed lightly and was about to put the phone down when it suddenly vibrated violently in her palm.
On the screen, two words blazed: “Chi Yuan.”
A cold, deadly aura rushed at her.
Lu Tao’s breathing was like someone on the verge of drowning—sometimes rapid, sometimes pausing altogether.
That scumbag male lead had to call at this exact moment, clearly trying to kill her.
At that moment, Gu Xingzhi, on the contrary, ignored it all. He picked up his knife and fork and elegantly cut into his steak.
The only sound in the air was the clinking of cutlery against plates worth tens of thousands.
Lu Tao knew he was waiting for her to show her stance. Even though she quickly pressed to silence it, her palm was still sweaty.
Her million yuan—she still had to protect it. At least she had to last ten months.
Gu Xingzhi looked up again, a perfectly appropriate smile carrying a hint of propriety. “Madam, why aren’t you answering? Hm?”
Lu Tao opened her mouth. Wasn’t he just asking what he already knew?
The phone rang again, shattering the tense silence. Lu Tao’s tailbone tensed up.
This persistent, haunting bastard!
She clenched her fingers, inhaling again and again. Finally, she shut her eyes and, right in front of Gu Xingzhi, answered the call.
A voice tinged with anger came through the phone. “Lu Tao, didn’t you say that as long as I wanted, I could find you anytime?”
Although she hadn’t put it on speaker, Chi Yuan’s accusation rang out clearly through the vast dining room, even with a faint echo.
Hearing this, anger surged in Lu Tao’s chest, burning fiercely.
Wasn’t this exactly what her old boss, who only drew empty promises, used to say?
That they were born as workers, and would die as worker souls, and had to be on standby twenty-four hours a day to take his orders.
And the key point was, the monthly salary was only a little over three thousand!
Butler Song’s heavy gaze landed on Lu Tao.
The master was a magnanimous man; he could play along with Miss Lu in a charade, but he didn’t want Miss Lu’s rumors to disturb him.
The master appeared humble and gentle on the surface, but in reality…
He immediately looked at Lu Tao with some concern. Though he was only in his early forties, Lu Tao at least called him “Grandpa Song,” and the girl was sweet-tongued and down-to-earth.
He was just wondering whether he should save her life.
Lu Tao’s eyes shimmered with a watery gleam. She held the phone out to Gu Xingzhi and said weakly, “Honey, I’m taking a shower. Can you answer it for me?”