After falling into the water, the two struggled for a few seconds before their bodies slowly regained balance and they stood firmly on their heels.
The chilly spring water soaked through Gu Qingjiao’s entire body, causing her pores to open instantly. Shivering for a moment, she quickly hugged the warm-bodied man in front of her to warm herself up!
“So cold! Fiancé, why is the hot spring in your house freezing?”
Shi Lijin had been played with by her to the point where he did not even want to speak. With a dark expression, he prepared to dump her and walk toward the bank, but since she clung to him like a piece of adhesive plaster, he had no choice but to bring her ashore with him.
Meanwhile, the servants who had been busy moments ago were completely dumbfounded.
Did the Second Young Master fall in water by accident, or was he just messing around with Miss Gu?
Otherwise, why would he be hugging her so tightly? As if holding her on the bank was not enough, he actually had to jump into the water just to hold her?
The only person at the scene who knew the whole story was Butler Nan, and he reacted quickly. He immediately grabbed a clean towel and ran over to hand it to Shi Lijin.
Shi Lijin still wore a gloomy expression. Just as he raised the towel to dry his hair, he caught sight of Gu Qingjiao standing nearby in her swimsuit, shivering slightly.
With a chilling gaze fixed on her, he dropped the words, “Shameless,” and tossed the towel right at her.
Although Gu Qingjiao had taken a dip in the cold water, she felt immensely triumphant inside. After all, she was destined to die all over again anyway, and being able to drag the main villain down into the water with her right before dying could be considered venting some anger for the original novel’s heroine.
After the two of them cleaned themselves up, Butler Nan specifically asked Gu Qingjiao to stay, telling her there would be a good show to watch shortly.
Gu Qingjiao was hardly in the mood for any shows. She had only eaten a few pastries when she woke up, and now her stomach was rumbling with hunger. However, suddenly remembering that her milk tea had not arrived yet, she figured she could stick around a bit longer and wait.
This good show opened through an inconspicuous small door.
Two bodyguards hauled the North Estate Butler out from behind the door, pushing and kicking him all the way until he was brought before Shi Lijin.
The North Estate Butler looked as though he had been kidnapped. His hands were tightly bound behind his back. Though there was no tape over his mouth, not a single word could squeeze out of it, and upon catching sight of Gu Qingjiao, he lowered his head even further, unable to look up.
What is more, sitting right across from him was the formidable master of the South Manor.
Shi Lijin put down the piece of wood he was carving and tilted his head slightly to look at him, as if morbidly admiring a mute piece of trash. A moment later, someone handed over yesterday’s glass water cup along with a copy of a testing report.
Shi Lijin looked at the report calmly.
The longer he read, the more terrified the North Estate Butler’s eyes became, as if the man were leafing through his very own book of life and death.
Two minutes later, Shi Lijin finished reading the final page. He closed the testing report, remained silent for two seconds, and then tossed it right in front of the North Estate Butler, asking, “Can you read the words on this?”
Now that he had been captured, all of the North Estate Butler’s sharpness was gone. He could only nod in terror.
Shi Lijin: “What is written under ingredients?”
The North Estate Butler did not dare to answer.
The water that had been placed in the cup yesterday was not American sparkling water at all, but rather a substance specifically designed to leave women physically weak and burning with intense desire.
Butler Nan, losing his patience beside them, let out a furious snort, “It seems your eyesight is failing you!”
With that, he kicked the North Estate Butler behind the knee, causing him to drop to the ground with a loud thud, his eyes nearly bumping straight into the words testing report.
“Do you see it clearly now?”
“C-Clear, I see it clearly…”
Shi Lijin picked up the water cup and walked toward him step by step, “Was this your own idea, or Shen Kewen’s idea?”
The North Estate Butler stammered, “I… I… It was the Madam! It was the Madam’s idea!”
“She tells you to poison someone, and you poison them; she tells you to kill, and you kill. If she told you to go die, would you do that too? A full-grown man reduced to licking a woman’s soles, Wei Sheng, were you picked up and raised as an orphan by her?”
“Second Young Master! Second Young Master, I was wrong! I will never dare do it again! I… it was all my fault…” After crying to one side, the North Estate Butler immediately turned around to bawl at the other, “Miss Gu! I was wrong! Please forgive me, please help me…”
Gu Qingjiao rested her chin on one hand and shook her head helplessly.
Trash! Serves him right!
Of all things, Shi Lijin detested men who cried the most. With a contemptuous smile, he balanced the glass cup steadily right on top of the North Estate Butler’s head.
Butler Nan immediately brought over a kettle and slowly poured the boiling liquid into the cup. As he poured, he warned, “Old Wei, consider this a welcome gift from you. Better hold it steady. If you dare tremble even a little bit, this boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius is going to spill right over you, hmm? Do you think that will blow your brains open?”
At that point, forget about crying. He had to be extremely careful even just to blink his eyelids.
The trickling sound of water poured into the cup like a fatal poison injected straight into his nervous system. Even through the bottom of the cup, the boiling water singed the roots of his hair until they curled up, sending the pain straight to the top of his skull while a scorched, burning smell filled the air.
Butler Nan covered his nose in disgust and muttered muffledly, “Old Wei, you probably have not washed your hair in days. Are everyone in the North Estate as slovenly as you?”
Having committed an extremely grave offense, the North Estate Butler was forced to kneel motionless on the ground until the water cooled before he was allowed to get up. Yet this was merely the first part of Shi Lijin’s punishment. Just as he stood up, thinking he had finally found release, the next second he was grabbed by bodyguards and thrown right back into the freezing spring water.
Gu Qingjiao watched with her scalp tingling, thinking that Shi Lijin freezing her earlier must have just been for show. What that man truly wanted to deal with was this despicable and shameless North Estate butler all along.
About ten minutes later, a servant brought her hot milk tea and desserts. Not knowing how much longer she had to stay, Gu Qingjiao simply made do and treated them as a meal.
Shi Lijin cast a glance her way and discovered that she was actually eating leisurely, completely devoid of the isolated, feeling of someone who had just lost her backing. Instead, she even wore a hint of satisfaction. Could it be that she did not know about the drugging?
Weren’t they on the same side?
Early the next morning, Butler Nan gathered all the servants together and handed each of them a new phone. Gu Qingjiao was called over as well.
Butler Nan: “This is a gift from the Second Young Master. From now on, you must use this current phone for all communication. Also, don’t you all love group chats? Chatting is fine, but we need to set up an official group. The Shi Family’s South Manor is not a place to gossip and wag your tongues. Since you are hired help paid by the Second Young Master, you should be clear on your duties. What can be said and what cannot be said. I assume I do not need to repeat myself.”
Holding the smartphone gifted to her by others, Gu Qingjiao sneered expressionlessly.
Can anything given by Shi Lijin actually be trusted?
Upon returning to her room, Gu Qingjiao began studying the phone.
It looked no different from any regular new phone, and the model was the most extravagant full-screen display on the market. Its processor and memory were quite impressive, and it probably cost at least five figures. It seemed Shi Lijin had rather high standards for tech equipment and did not hesitate to spend money on people.
Still, the old saying applied. A smiling tiger always eats people, and a smiling villain always hides a dagger. He could never be this kind-hearted. By now, Gu Qingjiao had managed to survive under his nose for three days. According to the plot, whether he gifted a phone or gold bricks, Gu Qingjiao’s miserable life was destined to come to an end today.
Thinking about the brief three days she had spent here, Gu Qingjiao could only sigh. She decided to pass the remaining time by playing a few small games.
However, when she clicked the download button in the game store, a prompt suddenly popped up on the screen: [The administrator has rejected your request]
Gu Qingjiao:?
Administrator??
She tapped the system: “What does administrator rejected mean? Who is the administrator?”
System: [Whoever gave you the phone is the administrator.]
Gu Qingjiao: “The South Manor Butler?”
System: [Do not bother with small characters like that. Think bigger picture.]
Gu Qingjiao: “…”
Well, well. That definitely had to be Shi Lijin.
Not even letting her play a game right before she dies. How hateful!
Still, why on earth could he remotely control this phone?
Gu Qingjiao: “Understood. I knew he could not possibly be this kind-hearted. Sure enough, he treated the phone like a surveillance device and wants to monitor everyone’s movements in the manor, right?”
System: [Smart. But you missed one detail. This phone does not just monitor your movements. It can also precisely track your location. It has a built-in special chip. No matter where you go, it feeds back to a mapping software in real time, and it cannot be disabled even if you disconnect from the internet or turn the phone off.]
Gu Qingjiao: “Can the chip be removed?”
System: [That is high-tech. How could it possibly be removed?]
Gu Qingjiao frowned and said helplessly, “Looks like it is more advanced than you.”
System: [Host, aside from occasionally lagging, whether we are talking hardware, functionality, purpose, or performance, I am light-years ahead of that stupid little chip, alright?]
Gu Qingjiao: “I do not believe it. Unless you take it apart, this little chip is basically a godlike entity, and I admire it.”
The system was driven mad: [??? It is just an inconspicuous little chip. Wait for it. This system will teach you how to extract it in under a minute.]
Following the instructions provided, Gu Qingjiao successfully dismantled the chip and happily praised the system.
She fixed the tiny object onto a two-centimeter-wide red string to turn it into an exquisite little trinket, preparing to use it to accomplish a major mission outside. Though at that moment, a sudden thought occurred to her.
Gu Qingjiao turned back and asked, “Oh right, little card-machine, Shi Lijin can monitor everything on my phone, right? Can he see my wallpaper too?”
System: [Of course.]
Gu Qingjiao: “Got it.”
The system felt somewhat curious, wondering what sort of bizarre stunt her eccentric host was about to pull.
Until it watched Gu Qingjiao fetch a blank piece of paper, write a few initials on it, take a photo of it, and set it as her wallpaper…
System: […Host, you really have a death wish, do you not?]
Gu Qingjiao smoothed her hair, grabbed the chip adorned with the red string, and left the room.
Her life was practically over anyway. What was there to fear about dying?
Besides, it was not like she had not died before.
That afternoon, Shi Lijin was busy handling work when his foreign bodyguard walked in holding a tablet.
“Something the matter, Jason?” Shi Lijin was buried in work and could not even spare a second to look up.
Jason walked up behind him, scratching his head hesitantly, “Second Young Master, didn’t you tell me to keep an eye on those two from the North Estate? Well, just now… I noticed something very strange on Miss Gu’s screen.”
Still not looking at him, Shi Lijin paused his movements slightly and asked, “What is it?”
Jason placed the tablet on the desk, prompting him to look.
After signing his final signature, Shi Lijin tilted his head to take a glance.
There, on the software interface displaying Gu Qingjiao’s screen, a string of letters stood out conspicuously…
[n s d s b]
Shi Lijin: “What does that mean?”