“Sigh.”
Fei Yangyao let out a light sigh as he thought of Chen Xiaoxiao’s tragic fate.
Though these female leads were characters in a fictional novel, each of them was vividly portrayed, as if they truly had emotions and lives of their own.
Especially Chen Xiaoxiao, her pitiful appearance naturally evoked sympathy.
Even though Fei Yangyao had made up his mind not to get involved with any non-canon characters, he still couldn’t help feeling a twinge of emotion at this moment.
Realizing this startled him.
Fei Yangyao, how could you fall this far!
Do you still want to complete your mission and return to the real world?
“Carrot… carrot… all are carrots…”
Thankfully, in his past life, Fei Yangyao had learned a trick in his college club.
Chanting “carrot” while imagining the person in front of him as a giant radish could help calm his messy thoughts.
It was originally used to counter stage fright, but though he never used it on stage, it worked well in nervous situations.
And now, it really helped.
After muttering for a bit, the beauty in front of him—no, the radish in front of him—no longer stirred his heart.
As for why he had no such thoughts toward A’Jiu—come on, who would have those thoughts about a silly girl like her!
With his heart settled, Fei Yangyao opened his eyes again to find Chen Xiaoxiao still waiting for his response.
“Uh… then wrap up all the red flowers in the shop.”
“All of them?!”
Sensing Chen Xiaoxiao’s excitement, Fei Yangyao was momentarily surprised.
Right—she’d probably been stressing over debts. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but now the contrast to her previous fatigue was clear.
Well, no need to worry. Ye Chen would take care of it later.
This wasn’t something a villain should be stressing about.
“Yes, all of them. No need for you to bother with it, I’ll have my people pack it up. We’ll settle the bill together afterward.” Fei Yangyao didn’t want her to tire herself out, and more importantly, he needed to inspect the goods, so it wasn’t convenient to have her help.
“Doesn’t matter what kind of flowers! If they’re red, load them up!” Fei Yangyao ordered his men while supervising from the side. Time was tight, and the mission was critical.
“Thank you!” Chen Xiaoxiao’s gratitude came from the heart.
“No problem,” Fei Yangyao responded casually, not catching any hidden meaning, and continued working.
Just as things were heating up…
“Hey! What are you people doing?!”
A sharp voice came from the door.
Fei Yangyao looked up—and immediately recognized the girl, thanks to her distinctive outfit.
It was Chen Xiaoxiao’s best friend, Jiang Anran, the true daughter of the Jiang family who had been lost and lived outside for years.
Her eyes were bright and clear, holding a mix of innocence and worldly depth. Her ponytail showed split ends from malnutrition, and her figure was flat. She wore a high school uniform that had been washed so many times it had faded, yet it couldn’t hide her graceful and upright temperament.
“What are so many of you doing here? Didn’t we agree the day before yesterday that the money would be paid in two weeks?”
Money?
Fei Yangyao immediately understood the misunderstanding. Jiang Anran clearly thought his bodyguards were debt collectors, and that they were here to take flowers as payment.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Butler Fu, go explain. Tell her we’re just here to buy flowers, so she doesn’t misunderstand us as debt collectors.”
If he stepped in personally, her innocent look might make his heart soften, and he might end up solving the problem for her.
That would be disastrous—it was supposed to be Ye Chen’s first step in winning over Jiang Anran.
“Understood, Young Master.”
“Wait!”
Just as Butler Fu turned to go, Fei Yangyao suddenly realized something.
No, if she sees me and I politely explain things, what happens when she later finds out I’m the infamous Fei Yangyao? It’ll ruin the image.
That would go against my identity as a notorious rich playboy.
Fei Yangyao figured A’Jiu didn’t need managing since she couldn’t tell the difference either way.
But Jiang Anran’s IQ ranked among the top in the novel.
To avoid Chen Xiaoxiao overhearing, he pulled Butler Fu aside to a place out of earshot and said, “Then later toss a few hundred yuan at her face… uh, no, don’t ruin her face, that’d be bad.”
He remembered Jiang Anran had more plot to go. If she had to walk through the story with a face swollen from banknotes, that’d be ridiculous.
“Right, throw it on the ground instead, throw a bunch. Say that I, Fei family’s Young Master, do whatever I want, and no one can stop me. I have money, and this is a tip from me!”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Yes! That’s how you establish my identity as Fei family’s Young Master.
Whew, close one. Almost caused a disaster.
This reputation—no, this initial bad impression—is crucial. It must be maintained carefully.
The entire plot depends on it!
If I end up building a good reputation, then everything’s ruined!
That was quick thinking! Brilliant!
Throwing money is a classic villain move in novels. It’s how I establish myself as a proper villain.
And scattering the money, making her pick it up—what a huge humiliation for the female lead.
I avoid direct contact with Jiang Anran and still keep up my “infamous” image.
Two birds with one stone!
I’m a genius—I have to give myself a thumbs-up!
Oh right! Gotta get my posture and facial expression ready.
Fei Yangyao put on his professional villain grin, hands in pockets, lips curled slightly.
Of course, not the Nike-smile kind. That’s Ye Chen’s trademark smile—he’d get served with a lawsuit for stealing it.
He glared toward the door where Jiang Anran stood, silently chanting, “Hehe~”
Meanwhile, Butler Fu was still digesting the Young Master’s sudden behavior.
Although Young Master had a bad reputation floating around, as someone close to him, Butler Fu knew well that Fei Yangyao didn’t actually have those rich playboy bad habits. In the last two and a half years, he’d devoted himself to chasing Gu Xiyue and could be called a good man—his life basically rotated between home and the office.
So what was today’s performance all about?
Seeing the girl looking so pitiful, Butler Fu suddenly understood.
Young Master just wanted to help her out, but didn’t want her to reject the offer.
After all, she didn’t seem like someone who would accept money from a stranger for nothing.
But, Young Master, what you didn’t consider is—even if you toss the money on the ground, this girl probably won’t pick it up!
She might not even touch the money after we leave!
Oh right!
Young Master mentioned earlier how lonely he felt eating meals alone.
Like yesterday, that girl added some liveliness to the house.
If liveliness is what he wants, isn’t more company a good thing?
And Young Master doesn’t need to be someone else’s… what’s the word again? Oh, bootlicker!
Not being someone else’s bootlicker is great!
In that case… wouldn’t giving this girl a job as a maid be perfect?
It would add life to the household, help her financially, and let her afford better clothes. Look at that uniform—it’s practically white from washing!
And it fulfills Young Master’s wish to help her.
Three birds with one stone!
Butler Fu quietly gave himself a thumbs-up.
“Young Master, we’re done,” a voice reported—the flowers were all packed.
With Butler Fu still away, Fei Yangyao turned to pay the bill himself.
Out of sight, Butler Fu walked up to Jiang Anran.
“Miss, we’re just here to buy flowers.”
“Ah?! I’m so sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you were here to collect a debt…” Jiang Anran blushed, clearly embarrassed.
“Oh? Would you be interested in working for the Fei family? The work’s not hard, the Young Master is easygoing, and it’s a good job.”
“This is 1,000 yuan as a signing bonus and my number. If you decide to work for us, it’ll count as advance pay. If not, just treat it as a token of our apology.”
With a kind smile, Butler Fu handed her the red notes.
“Ah? N-no, I can’t take this,” Jiang Anran was completely baffled. Just moments ago she thought these people were thugs, now they were suddenly acting like desperate recruiters?
“Please don’t refuse!”
“Fu Bo, let’s go!”
Seeing she still wouldn’t accept, Butler Fu heard the shout and saw from the corner of his eye that the Young Master was about to leave. He quickly pulled out a few more notes, messily flung the entire stack all over the ground, then hurried after the others.
“Ah?!”
Jiang Anran had never seen such a CEO-drama-style scene. She quickly gathered the scattered money and ran after them.
But the group was already busy loading flowers into the cars and drove off quickly, leaving only a distant trail of luxury vehicles.
“Stop! Hey! I said stop!!”
Staring at the disappearing cars, Jiang Anran stood stunned.
Inside the retreating car, Fei Yangyao frowned as a thought suddenly struck him, “Weird… something feels off somehow…”