3:00 AM. The deep night was silent. In an old, dappled tenement building, a faint light flickered from a window on one of the floors.
Exam papers were spread across the wooden table. To the left was an exercise book with one corner curled up; directly in front was a laptop, its screen displaying a PPT copied during the day.
The desk lamp emitted an orange-yellow glow. Lin Ruohuai was scribbling away, the natural upward curve of his eyes reflecting his focus. The shadow of his profile cast against the wall showed long, upturned eyelashes.
Through the dull air came the sound of a novel being read aloud. Mechanical and emotionless, the “Read Aloud” function of the Jinjiang App was as hilarious as ever.
“Xie Yusheng and Lin Ruohuai are fakes. They called off their engagement long ago. The person Shen Qingyi had been brooding over for so long was actually just a tool used to spite him… With a ‘smack,’ Shen Qingyi’s palm landed on Xie Yusheng’s face. Xie Yusheng let out a satisfied gasp, his face flushing as he said, ‘Hitting me that lightly? Did you not eat today?'”
Hearing this, Lin Ruohuai’s spirit jolted. What was this? S&M?
Using the novel’s audio as background noise while he worked, Lin Ruohuai gradually got hooked. However, when he heard that the “tool-character” Lin Ruohuai in the book took several million and went to travel the world, his expression twisted, a trace of ugly jealousy flashing across his face.
What a painful blow this was to a fresh graduate who was simultaneously studying for the civil service exam and postgraduate entrance exams while desperately sending out resumes for internships.
Lin Ruohuai suddenly lost all motivation to study. He flopped onto the table, unable to get up—actually, he was taking the opportunity to soothe his tired eyes. He fell into a conscious slumber. When he opened his eyes again, he was blinded by a bright, stark white light.
“Mr. Lin, if there are no problems, you can just sign here.”
Lin Ruohuai’s eyelids twitched slightly. He looked at the paper contract, then looked up at the man in a suit sitting opposite him. “Is your last name Chen?”
Lawyer Chen was stunned for a moment and nodded.
Lin Ruohuai’s exhausted nerve endings tightened. He wasn’t an idiot; he instantly understood what kind of environment he was in.
His mind raced. To be honest, he couldn’t even remember the names of the two protagonists in that book clearly. He only remembered the ending where “Lin Ruohuai” safely survived the contract period and took the money to travel happily.
“Mr. Lin?”
Lin Ruohuai was busy dreaming of traveling the world and buying a house and car when the call in his ear pulled him back to reality. He licked his lips, trying his best to secure some benefits for himself.
His hand, which was supposed to sign readily, paused. He skimmed through the other conditions and found no major issues except for the salary structure.
“Change this part. I want a salary structure consisting of a fixed base salary plus commissions plus bonuses.” Lin Ruohuai looked up shiftily, adding surreptitiously, “It fits the special circumstances of this job better.”
Lawyer Chen was stunned again. He politely asked him to wait a moment, took out his phone, and walked out. Ten minutes later, he returned and said readily, “It can be changed.”
Once it was reprinted, Lin Ruohuai also signed the first name belonging to him in this spacetime with great flair.
He had officially received the first job offer of his two lifetimes.
In the days that followed, Lin Ruohuai waited for the “Party A” (the employer) to issue tasks. His listening to the book that night had purely been to keep the room from being too quiet; he hadn’t paid much attention to the plot development. His heart was anxious as he tried to recall the protagonist’s personality, or whether he had many scenes, or if he would get on the protagonist’s bad side. He knew none of it.
He felt the “sweaty palms” sensation of someone who hadn’t listened in class and suddenly forgot everything the moment the exam started.
After waiting for a week, the boss was as silent as a chicken. On the 15th, a base salary of 100,000 yuan was deposited on time. It was calculated as a full month’s pay. There were no commissions or bonuses because the boss hadn’t given him a chance to perform.
Taking advantage of this time, Lin Ruohuai packed up all the things the original owner had used and stored them in a cabinet. He then bought some new daily necessities and furniture. He didn’t know what caused him to transmigrate, but since he was here, he would make the best of it. He would live a good life, carrying the original owner’s share.
The original owner’s family setting was quite tragic. He was childhood friends with the Protagonist Gong, and they had a verbal engagement since they were young. Later, after a financial crisis, the family went bankrupt. His father got cancer, and the family’s house and car were sold to pour money into treatment. The Protagonist Gong’s parents helped a lot, but his father still passed away. His mother’s hair turned white overnight; her spirit was broken, and she also left, leaving behind only their son who had just graduated.
The engagement was naturally canceled, but it wasn’t announced publicly. First, the Protagonist Gong’s family valued their reputation and worried about being criticized. Second, Lin Ruohuai was no threat; whether he was allowed to marry in or not was entirely up to them.
Currently, the original owner’s house—the place where Lin Ruohuai was staying—was an ordinary apartment. It was the only property his parents had left him that hadn’t been sold.
The tragic settings had fallen onto this supporting character like a stack of debuffs.
Lin Ruohuai gradually accepted reality, lying on the bed and swinging one leg while playing on his phone.
The phone was also newly bought, but the SIM card had to be the original owner’s. Because he was once a “rich second generation,” many social connections were hidden inside; they were hard to cut off, so he could only maintain them for now.
As he swung his leg, that thin, white calf stopped moving. The phone rested on his soft belly, rising and falling slightly as he fell quietly asleep.
In the middle of the night, because he hadn’t covered his navel, he nearly “fainted” from the cold. Lin Ruohuai dazedly threw himself into the quilt, scrambling to wrap himself like a silkworm cocoon against the wall.
The phone slid off his belly, vibrating for a moment. He rubbed his eyes lightly, sat up with the quilt over his head, and opened the phone. It was a WeChat message from Xie Yusheng.
On Thursday, Lin Ruohuai was shaking milk tea at a shop. He had taken this part-time job because he was too bored this month; he wouldn’t stay long.
He put on a mask, his baseball cap covering his clean and beautiful eyes. He briskly pinned a long order to the side, wiped the table clean, and went to prepare new ingredients.
The shop was quiet at the moment. Two wealthy-looking young masters came in and ordered two “Snow Top” drinks. They looked like high schoolers and were chatting about the invitation list for the Xie Group’s anniversary banquet.
“I heard Lin Ruohuai is going too.”
“His relationship with Xie Yusheng isn’t simple, he definitely has to go. But Shen Qingyi will also be there—there’s going to be a good show.”
One of the boys gave a contemptuous smile: “Lin Ruohuai is bankrupt; how can he compare to Shen Qingyi?”
“Lin Ruohuai is good-looking, though. There are no ugly people around Young Master Xie.”
“Good-looking my ass. He’s like a little porcupine, pricking people everywhere. He used to bully my brother all the time.”
The sound of the blender stopped. The “little porcupine” placed two Snow Tops in front of them. One boy poked his straw and nudged the person next to him: “Keep your voice down. If it reaches Brother Xie, you’re screwed.”
“You’re overthinking it. Unless Brother Xie suddenly appears.”
Lin Ruohuai, who had heard the whole thing, thought: Little porcupines are so cute, they just have a strong body odor. The difference between him and a porcupine was that he bathed every day, so he was fragrant.
The sensor light at the door chimed crisply. A tall shadow appeared at the entrance, striding in.
His height of 186cm stood out like a crane among chickens. His simple athletic outfit faintly revealed the muscular outlines of his physique as he moved.
Lin Ruohuai had never seen Xie Yusheng, but he deduced it from the terrified expressions of the two boys. This majestic way of walking this must be the Protagonist Gong.
Last night, he received a message from Xie Yusheng saying there was something to discuss, face-to-face. To make things easy, Lin Ruohuai had scheduled to meet at this milk tea shop.
Xie Yusheng looked at him with an indescribable expression: “You work here?”
It was as if he were saying: The money I gave you isn’t enough?
He was handsome. After all, he was the Protagonist Gong; his features were flawless. Perhaps he just didn’t hit Lin Ruohuai’s personal aesthetic preferences, as Lin Ruohuai remained calm and said peacefully, “That money needs to be saved. What if I get sick and need it later? What would you like to drink?”
Hearing the word “sick,” Xie Yusheng remembered his parents’ situation and stopped questioning him. “Plain water. Do you have time now?”
Lin Ruohuai pointed to the orders: “Half an hour. You wait first.”
“Why is your voice so small? Take off the mask before you talk to me.”
Lin Ruohuai’s eyes filled with condemnation: “That won’t do. Saliva droplets will fly inside. It’s unhygienic.”
Xie Yusheng was about to tell him to quit, but then asked: “What’s your hourly wage here?”
Lin Ruohuai quoted a number. Xie Yusheng said he would quintuple it.
The movement in his hands stopped. Lin Ruohuai nimbly took off his mask. He weirdly glanced out of the corner of his eye to the right—the two young boys were trembling, looking at him with teary eyes.
They were scared. So funny.
I won’t snitch on you. At most, I’ll just call you two little idiots in my head.
Lin Ruohuai turned his head and gave the “God of Wealth” a pleasant nod: “Wait for me for five minutes.”
Without waiting for Xie Yusheng’s response, he turned and went into the kitchen to find the colleague he got along with best. He asked the colleague to cover his shift for half an hour and offered him some money; the colleague immediately agreed happily.
Then he went into the breakroom, took off his hat, tidied his flattened hair and slightly messy collar. Lin Ruohuai smiled and nodded at the mirror, then walked out cleanly.
Lin Ruohuai brought two glasses of water to Xie Yusheng. One was room temperature; the other was two-thirds full of ice cubes and sparkling water that one was for himself.
Xie Yusheng inexplicably observed him for a few seconds. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Lin Ruohuai’s teeth were sharp; he chewed on the ice cubes with a crunch-crunch sound. He didn’t care about the awkward atmosphere; he could have fun by himself.
Xie Yusheng was certain he must have seen the guest list and was waiting for him to interrogate him. When he didn’t say a word, Xie Yusheng spoke up oddly: “You’ve gained weight.”
Lin Ruohuai let out an “Ah,” his mouth full of ice, and remained silent.
Xie Yusheng: “You just attended a funeral last month, and you were so lifeless, your face was so thin. Did something happy happen? Share it with your brother.”
Lin Ruohuai suddenly didn’t dare say too much. To be honest, his transmigration was different from other cases he didn’t inherit the original owner’s memories. The original owner was the original owner, and he was himself. As for basic information, he had figured it all out on his own.
Lin Ruohuai: “Because you gave me money.”
Xie Yusheng: “…”
“Money nurtures people. Am I right, brother?” Lin Ruohuai laughed, revealing a row of snowy white teeth.
The sense of oddness in Xie Yusheng’s heart grew deeper, but he didn’t ask. “So that’s why you changed the contract to include commissions and bonuses—you’re here to scam money from me.”
“Is that not okay?” Lin Ruohuai mulled over the “childhood friend” status and switched to a more familiar tone.
Xie Yusheng didn’t say it wasn’t okay. Otherwise, when he received the call from the lawyer, he wouldn’t have just said, “Let him be.”
Xie Yusheng thought to himself: He actually didn’t throw a tantrum. “No more problems?”
“What no more problems?”
“The list I sent you last night. Why is it so tiring to talk to you?”
Lin Ruohuai didn’t take that lying down and spoke the truth: “You’re the one talking without a beginning or end, and you’re blaming me? It’s tiring for me to talk to you too.”
“…” Xie Yusheng rolled his eyes, truly speechless. He tapped the table and continued, “When you go there, just play your own way. Call me if something happens. Don’t run around, and don’t cause trouble. Your status isn’t the same as before…”
This time it was much clearer. Lin Ruohuai “Mhm-mhm-ed” through the whole thing. He knew his agreement with Xie Yusheng had two aspects: one was due to internal family reasons at the Xie house, and the other was to spite the Protagonist Shou. The latter was the main reason.
“Especially Shen Qi.”
A strange name. It sounded a bit familiar, yet like he’d never heard it before. Lin Ruohuai chewed his ice cubes with a crunch and looked at him.
Xie Yusheng pondered for a moment. Looking at his bankrupt and pitiful “younger brother,” he frowned: “I know you’re unhappy that he acquired the Lin Group, but he’s not someone to be trifled with. Your small frame can’t win against him. Don’t let him bully you.”
“Mhm-mhm.”
“I didn’t expect him to come. If he does, it is what it is probably because of Shen Qingyi’s business. So, don’t provoke him.”
“Mhm-mhm.”
“Are you even listening to me?”
Lin Ruohuai sensed the signal that he was about to be scolded. He straightened his attitude and clarified: “I am. Didn’t I obediently agree to everything?”
Xie Yusheng’s blood pressure rose. He drank some water to suppress it. “In short, tuck away whatever thoughts you have. Shen Qi is not a kind soul. I might not be able to bail you out.”
This time, Lin Ruohuai didn’t immediately “Mhm-mhm-mhm.” Xie Yusheng was actually unaccustomed to it. An impatient aura was about to leak out, and he was just about to argue when he heard a sigh from the opposite side.
“Ah, he’s that difficult?” Lin Ruohuai’s eyelids drooped slightly. “So I’ll be clashing with him at the banquet?”
Xie Yusheng rolled his eyes lightly. Clashing? That wasn’t even the right word. “Want to back out now?”
“No, what I mean is…” Lin Ruohuai raised a reasonable request: “I’ll need a raise.”