EPISODE 4

Xie Guilan's eyes remained cold and gloomy, but there was now a hint of confusion. He was injured, and being forced to stay up late to do homework was indeed a form of punishment.

But compared to what Cen Wu had made him endure before, this was nothing in comparison.

Cen Wu's cheeks were pale, glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. His eyes, clouded with moisture, cautiously glanced up at Xie Guilan before quickly averting, his lashes fluttering rapidly like a startled sparrow.

Xie Guilan had to admit that he always felt Cen Wu was different tonight compared to before. But he knew better than anyone that no matter how meek and innocent he appeared, beneath this exterior lay a thick darkness.

He had been taken in by the Xie family at the age of seven, and it had been ten years since. This person had cut up his winter coat in the winter, filled his boots with snow, and made him go to the stable to feed the horses.

When he was ill, Cen Wu locked him in a pitch-black attic, only letting him out when someone finally found him.

Tonight, he had even forced him to kneel and whipped him in front of everyone with a riding crop, stepping on him afterward.

…

And now he was asking him to do homework?

Xie Guilan stared coldly at Cen Wu, unable to guess how else Cen Wu planned to humiliate him, but he couldn't be bothered to think about it. He picked up the exercise books and was about to head to the corridor to work on them.

Cen Wu was irritable and tyrannical. Who knew if he would go mad in the middle of the night and find Xie Guilan's presence in his room disgusting?

Xie Guilan stood up, but his injuries were too severe, and after kneeling in the heavy rain for half the night, his mind grew increasingly dizzy, his vision darkened, and his body suddenly lost control, causing him to fall.

!!!

Without thinking, Cen Wu lunged to catch him, but Xie Guilan was half a head taller, and the young man's height was nearly 1.9 meters. Even though he was lean, his weight was overwhelming.

Oh no.

Cen Wu thought.

"Young Master!" Just as Cen Wu tightened his arms to brace for impact, thinking he would hit the ground and suffer a bad fall, the old butler appeared out of nowhere and scooped Xie Guilan up.

The old butler was there in an instant.

The butler's arms were steady and reassuring, his aged face filled with concern. "Are you alright?"

Cen Wu: “…………”

Cen Wu: "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

Only then did the butler let go of him and helped Xie Guilan to bed, also bringing some clean clothes for him to change into.

He had intended to take Xie Guilan to the guest room, but Cen Wu followed closely, looking anxious. Every time the butler touched Xie Guilan, Cen Wu seemed tense, his fingertips lightly gripping Xie Guilan's jacket.

Clearly, Cen Wu didn’t want the butler to take Xie Guilan away.

The original Young Master had been very obedient in front of his parents. The old butler had no idea just how cruel and violent this young master could be to outsiders, beyond just having a bad temper. He only knew that Xie Guilan and Cen Wu didn’t get along well.

But he was the Cen family's butler, so naturally, he prioritized the Cen family. Since Cen Wu wanted Xie Guilan to stay, he would let him stay.

Cen Wu was indeed nervous, his calves trembling slightly. He suddenly realized that there was no need for Xie Guilan to act. Once the truth about the real and fake young masters was exposed, anyone from the Cen family could easily destroy him.

A top-tier butler, with a track record to prove it, could easily crush a weakling like him.

There would be no going back from this.

Cen Wu didn’t want to think too much about it. He ran to find Dr. Lu, and by the time he brought Dr. Lu back, the old butler had already changed Xie Guiluan’s clothes.

Only Cen Wu’s older brother was about the same height as Xie Guiluan. But at seventeen or eighteen, Xie Guiluan was still lanky, making the shirt look loose and oversized on him.

"Start an IV drip first," Dr. Lu checked Xie Guiluan again; there weren’t any major issues, but he had suddenly developed a high fever. "We’ll deal with the rest after the fever breaks. As long as the wounds don’t get infected, it’ll be fine."

Xie Guiluan’s pale skin was now flushed with an unnatural red, and his previously colorless lips were now a burning crimson.

"Young Master, it’s very late; you should go to bed," the old butler gently urged Cen Wu. "I’ll take care of Young Master Xie."

Cen Wu had been a director in his previous life and wasn’t poor, but he wasn’t used to ordering servants around.

Besides, he was the youngest in the family, and since he had brought Xie Guiluan back, he felt a little embarrassed about asking others for help.

"I… I’ll stay," Cen Wu quickly said. "Uncle Zhang, you all should go to bed. Dr. Lu, you too."

He knew how to change the IV bottle and remove the needle, but he felt uneasy about making someone come over in the middle of the night.

The original Cen Wu had a short fuse and hated being contradicted. The old butler wasn’t entirely at ease but knew this was a master he couldn’t afford to offend. After some hesitation, he agreed.

"Young Master," the old butler instructed him, "Dr. Lu and I will be in the guest room downstairs tonight. Call us if anything happens."

Afraid of angering Cen Wu, the remaining servants hurriedly left, closing the door behind them.

……

Cen Wu waited quietly for a few minutes, ensuring everyone had left. He raised his hand to rub his stiff cheeks, and his nerves, which had been tense all evening, finally relaxed completely.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

No one was left!

Just him and a comatose Xie Guiluan—though it was a bit rude to say so, the boy barely seemed alive.

If he wasn’t worried about Xie Guiluan waking up and causing a mortifying scene, he would have loved to roll around on the bed a few times. It was ridiculously large.

He carefully tucked the blanket around Xie Guiluan, ensuring he was warm and comfortable, and took out his phone. Resting his head on the bed, he began to enjoy a rare moment of solitude, a treat for someone with social anxiety.

The old butler had texted Cen Wu’s older brother to borrow some clothes, and Cen Wu hadn’t thanked him yet.

Since he was here, Cen Wu planned to take care of the male lead as best as he could without offending Xie Shangjing.

Of course, he couldn’t afford to offend the Cen family either.

He would behave himself. Once Xie Guiluan didn’t hate him so much, he would find a way to expose the truth about the real and fake young masters, then Xie Guiluan could return home, and he would make his escape. Everyone would have a bright future.

As soon as he plugged in his phone and turned it on, a flood of messages appeared, making his hand tingle.

……

His long-dead social anxiety struck again.

Cen Wu felt as if he was holding a hot mess. He waited a few minutes before trembling as he opened the top chat. He was suddenly hit with a photo of abs.

？？？

Cen Wu suddenly had a bad premonition. As he opened each message, unsurprisingly, most of them were pictures of chest and abs muscles, along with some atmospheric photos taken at the gym.

Cen Wu stared at the screen, speechless.

Hey, brother.

Despite his severe social anxiety, Cen Wu, as a director, had to work with actors, crew members, investors, partners, and film censors, which led to him having over 3,000 contacts in his phone.

But the original owner had 6,000! Over 1,000 of them were grouped separately and labeled as the "harem."

After opening the group and scrolling down, most of the notes were along the lines of "brother so-and-so."

Chat messages included:

"Bro, show me your abs."

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight, can you see it? Xiao Wu, do you miss me? I miss you a lot."

"Your pecs could use a little more work."

"Don't worry about me, go have fun with Young Master Xie. I'll wait for you here. Can I please treat you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"..."

Talk about a wild chat thread!

Xie Shangjing, despite liking the original owner, was always seeing other people, including the high school sophomore prom queen.

He dated around but didn’t allow the original owner to do the same. The original owner wasn’t one to put up with much either. The Cen and Xie families held comparable power, and if the Cen family never discovered he was a fake, why should he tolerate Xie Shangjing?

The original owner met these people at parties and bars, adding them as friends and exchanging some flirtatious banter.

But the original owner was also quite cowardly, not daring to test Xie Shangjing’s limits, avoiding any unnecessary contact. Not to mention anything that happened in bed, even holding hands could get him into trouble with Xie Shangjing.

Of course, his life was more important.

Cen Wu scrolled through the original owner’s Moments, and his eyes were immediately overwhelmed by a flood of chest and abs pictures.

No one knew exactly how many people the original owner had added, each thinking they were one of the special ones. With the Cen family’s immense power, getting close to the original owner meant cutting decades off your journey, so they all posted with extra enthusiasm.

It must be said, although the original owner had many flaws, his taste was excellent. These abs showed no signs of overtraining; they were all well-proportioned, with restrained yet sexy muscle lines.

And they were very well-photographed, the cold, dim light of the gym casting shadows from the upper left, highlighting the broad shoulders, narrow waist, and extremely clear shark lines.

Cen Wu: "..."

Weird, let me take another look.

Cen Wu lay there, looking at abs, chests, and back muscles. Without seeing their faces, they all looked like hot guys. But even the best physique gets old after too much exposure. He was still concerned about Xie Guilan’s IV drip. As he changed to the next bottle, he glanced down and was instantly cleansed by the sight of Xie Guilan’s cold, handsome face.

He’d check out the abs, then sneak a peek at Xie Guilan.

Xie Guilan was very sensitive to people’s gazes. The moment Cen Wu stared, he furrowed his brow in his sleep, but due to extreme fatigue, he couldn’t wake up immediately.

Xie’s father had too many romantic escapades, which Cen Wu didn’t want to comment on, but Xie Guilan had nothing to do with all this.

It only took a few minutes to take a child who wasn’t his, but Xie Guilan’s journey home was measured in a lifetime.

Thinking of this, Cen Wu couldn’t help but feel a pang of paternal affection. Seeing Xie Guilan’s furrowed brow as he slept uneasily, Cen Wu reached out and patted his blanket again.

Xie Guilan vaguely felt someone taking care of him. The hands were soft, the touch gentle. The medicine he took earlier was also kicking in, and his eyelids grew heavier.

Cen Wu fell into a strange loop, looking at abs, then at Xie Guilan. For some reason, Xie Guilan stirred, so Cen Wu quickly patted him again.

Then she glanced at his abs again, then back at Xie Guilan, and...

Throughout the night, she had to keep checking the IV bottle and changing his medication, which kept her busy until past 3 a.m. By then, Cen Wu’s eyes were starting to lose focus, and she could barely keep them open.

Cen Wu: "..."

She was so exhausted, she could hardly think straight.

The book didn’t mention anything about the hero having insomnia, either. Figures.

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