After hearing their conversation, Zhu Mingyue felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He had escaped one danger only to fall into another.
“Look, his mouth just moved. Is he about to wake up?”
At that moment, Zhu Mingyue did not want to wake up at all. He would rather stay unconscious forever.
The title of “top performer” sounded suspicious. He was probably sold to a place similar to a modern gay club.
The problem was that he could neither perform nor sell his body. Making him the top performer would be harder than teaching a pig to climb a tree. He would rather faint forever.
Since regaining consciousness, Zhu Mingyue had pretended to be asleep. Eventually, he really fell asleep. When he woke again, the room was silent. Thinking no one was around, he carefully opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a bright red bed curtain. Looking around, he found the room beautifully decorated. Sunlight shone through the paper windows and reflected brightly from a dressing mirror.
His mind was clear now. When he had been kidnapped, it was evening. Now it was broad daylight. It seemed a whole night had passed, and it was already noon the next day.
That was not important. What mattered was how to escape.
Footsteps sounded outside, and the door opened.
Zhu Mingyue quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
Soon, a young voice spoke in confusion.
“Huh? Something’s wrong. Why is he still unconscious?”
Someone walked closer. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his chin, and a thumb dug hard into the spot beneath his nose.
A sharp pain shot through his head. His eyelids twitched.
Did this person hate him? The fingernails were so long that Zhu Mingyue suspected the man was trying to leave scars on his face.
“It really works! Brother Linguang, look! His eyelids are moving. He must be waking up. Keep going!”
Zhu Mingyue was terrified. More?
He could not risk screaming in pain, so he slowly opened his eyes and pretended to wake up naturally.
A young man’s face was almost touching his. The man stared at him intensely.
Feeling awkward, Zhu Mingyue shifted away, but the man’s eyes stayed fixed on him.
“May I ask where I am?” Zhu Mingyue already knew the answer but pretended not to.
“Nanfeng House,” one of them replied.
“What is Nanfeng House?”
“Do you know Yihong House?”
The older man interrupted with a mocking tone.
When Zhu Mingyue only frowned, the man answered his own question.
“Yihong House is where women sell their bodies. Nanfeng House is the same, except the people here are men.”
Then he stood up, looked Zhu Mingyue over, and sneered.
“You have a wonderful future ahead of you.”
That phrase sounded familiar.
Ever since arriving in this world, several people had told him, “Your good days are ahead of you.” But where exactly were those good days? Why had they never arrived?
Fortunately, the man only mocked him verbally and soon left.
Not long after, a servant entered carrying a tray of food.
There were two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, soup, and a bowl of rice.
The meat dishes were sliced lamb and steamed chicken. The soup was tofu soup, and the vegetable was stir-fried cabbage.
The portions were small, similar to a fast-food meal from his previous world, but there was plenty of oil. The cabbage looked especially rich and delicious.
Sitting down, Zhu Mingyue considered whether the food might be drugged.
After thinking it over, he decided it was unlikely.
He had just woken up. There was no need to drug him again. Besides, they wanted him to work for them, so poisoning the food made no sense.
Feeling slightly reassured, he started eating.
He was starving. He had not eaten anything since noon the previous day.
The oily cabbage tasted wonderful and only made him hungrier. When he nearly choked from eating too fast, he drank soup to wash it down.
As for the meat, he only took one bite of each dish.
It was not because he was picky.
The chicken and lamb had simply been boiled with salt. Since no effort had been made to remove the smell, the strong gamey flavor made them hard to eat.
Now he finally understood why Aunt Hua and Cui Jian had praised his fish soup so much. His cooking skills really were excellent in this world.
After finishing the last piece of cabbage, he let out a satisfied burp.
Now that he was full, he could focus on escaping.
His eyes landed on the window.
Walking quietly over, he tried to push it open.
It would not move.
Even after using more force, it stayed shut.
Looking carefully, he noticed iron nails securing the frame.
The window was only for decoration.
His plan of escaping through the window at night was ruined.
Escaping through the front door was even less realistic. Guards were watching both inside and outside.
What should he do?
Cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
The door opened again.
Zhu Mingyue quickly returned to the bed and sat properly.
“Well, you’re finally awake.”
The visitor was a man in his thirties. His face was covered with thick white makeup, but his features suggested he had been handsome when younger.
Zhu Mingyue recognized the voice immediately.
This was the manager who had talked about training him into the house’s top performer.
“You’re looking well. Your distant cousin told me your family was poor and had no choice but to sell you. Since you’re here, stop thinking about leaving and settle down.”
“That wasn’t my cousin,” Zhu Mingyue said. “He was a kidnapper. I don’t know him.”
The manager paused, then ignored him completely.
“You’ve already eaten our food. The meals here are much better than anything you had before. If you behave, you can eat like this every day.”
While speaking, the manager looked at the leftovers on the table.
His eyes widened.
The meat dishes were almost untouched.
What kind of person had he bought?
Judging from his clothes, Zhu Mingyue was clearly not from a wealthy family. Why was he ignoring the meat and only eating cabbage?
These were the best dishes in Nanfeng House. Only he and the current top performer could eat food this good.
Yet Zhu Mingyue seemed unimpressed.
The manager clenched his teeth.
People like this were difficult. Small rewards would not move them.
He remembered another stubborn man who had arrived years ago.
That man had smashed every meal given to him.
Eventually, they locked him in a dark room and starved him for several days. After that, he became obedient.
If kindness failed, force would work.
Meanwhile, Zhu Mingyue felt chills down his spine.
The manager’s intentions were obvious.
If he could not escape soon, he would truly be forced into prostitution.
Under immense pressure, an idea suddenly came to him.
He had a severe allergy.
He could not eat almonds.
As a child, he had almost died after eating them and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Afterward, allergy tests confirmed he was highly allergic to almonds.
The symptoms included swelling, rashes, severe itching, and sudden asthma attacks.
It was dangerous.
He would be gambling with his life.
Even he did not know if he would survive another reaction.
“I’ll send someone to teach you the rules of Nanfeng House. Learn them well. Once you succeed, you’ll enjoy wealth and luxury.”
The manager’s words brought him back to reality.
His eyes became determined.
His life had already been miserable. It could hardly get worse.
Even if it risked his life, he would rather gamble than spend every day serving different men.
A small smile appeared on his face.
He nodded.
The manager was surprised by his cooperation and left satisfied.
Soon after, the man who had pinched him earlier entered.
“My name is Xu Linguang. From now on, I’ll teach you how to behave.”
His expression showed clear reluctance, as if he feared training a future rival.
“Zhu Mingyue,” he replied casually.
For the next two hours, Xu Linguang taught him everything from pouring tea and serving wine to sitting and sleeping properly.
As someone from the modern world, Zhu Mingyue was unfamiliar with all these rules.
Whenever he made a mistake, Xu Linguang scolded him harshly.
The only reason Zhu Mingyue endured it was because he needed to build a relationship with him and eventually find a way to get almonds.
By the end of the day, he was completely exhausted and collapsed onto the bed.
Even then, Xu Linguang was not satisfied.
“What a hopeless piece of wood!”
With that insult, he left.
Hopeless or not, Zhu Mingyue did not care.
He was too tired to argue.
Dinner arrived later.
This time there were two vegetable dishes and soup.
Zhu Mingyue immediately understood.
The manager must have noticed he only ate vegetables at lunch.
The vegetables were fine. At least they had no unpleasant smell.
He looked at the bottom of the bowl and saw how much animal fat had been used.
For an ordinary family, that amount of oil could last several days.
The place was truly extravagant.
They were probably worried he would become too thin and lose his looks.
After eating, a servant cleared away the dishes.
Later, another servant brought in a large wooden bathtub and filled it with hot water.
Zhu Mingyue raised an eyebrow.
It had been many days since he had taken a proper bath.
He soaked comfortably and scrubbed himself clean.
The new clothes provided for him were extremely flashy.
Wearing them would make him look like a peacock showing off its feathers.
He suspected the manager was testing his obedience.
So he ignored the clothes.
His own clothes were dirty, but they were warmer and much more comfortable.