After Faking My Death by Jumping into the Sea, the Villain Became Paranoid - Chapter 1

Zhao Muqing looked at the signature on the contract that did not belong to his own handwriting, and his brow could not help but furrow.

Sitting across from him was a man in a crisp suit with exquisite and sharp facial features, the kind of person who was difficult to approach. Coupled with the obvious anger currently surfaced on his face, it made Zhao Muqing swallow a nervous gulp.

Transmigrating into a book was one thing, but did it have to pick such a bad time?

Aside from Zhao Muqing’s signature, there was another name on the contract, which obviously belonged to the man sitting across from him, namely Shen Guanzhi. This was the main villain from a novel that Zhao Muqing had read to take a break while struggling to write his thesis.

The main villain, Shen Guanzhi, had suffered from severe insomnia since childhood. He was unable to fall asleep alone and needed someone to sleep beside him on the other side of the bed to drift off peacefully. Although sleeping pills could also help Shen Guanzhi fall asleep, the side effects of the medication had become increasingly prominent, and he could no longer use them long-term.

As a renowned jewelry designer, he had many high-demand, high-price commissions to complete. To avoid having his work efficiency affected by his sleep quality, he signed a contract with Zhao Muqing, making the other person his nighttime sleeping pill. He also required Zhao Muqing to keep all related matters confidential and publicly maintain the facade of lovers who started dating on a whim.

However, this cannon fodder character in the original book who shared the exact same name as him was clearly not a well-behaved sort. Zhao Muqing constantly racked his brains to get Shen Guanzhi to give him the best possible fashion resources, including but not limited to threats, seduction, and petty schemes. He courted disaster every single day, and though he failed repeatedly, he only grew more undaunted.

Seeing this, Zhao Muqing was already speechless. Which idiot author came up with an insomnia condition like this? Wasn’t it exhausting for the cannon fodder to constantly press his hot face against someone else’s cold butt?

He continued reading further down, and sure enough, Shen Guanzhi had long since grown intolerant of Zhao Muqing. After the protagonist shou of the novel appeared on the scene, Shen Guanzhi fell in love with him at first sight, finally resolving to cut ties with Zhao Muqing completely.

However, upon hearing that the contract was going to be terminated, Zhao Muqing reacted extremely strongly, stating that the moment Shen Guanzhi abandoned him, he would expose all of the man’s secrets to the public.

This led Shen Guanzhi to take a desperate and extreme path, finding a way to invite Zhao Muqing to the seaside. On the surface, it was a proposal, but in reality, the engagement ring was laced with poison that would cause the skin to ulcerate upon contact and result in death within minutes.

In the end, Shen Guanzhi even framed his death on the protagonist gong, attempting to seize the protagonist shou in the process. Ultimately, the plan failed, and iron-window tears were left for himself in the end.

A love-brained villain is truly not advisable. As Zhao Muqing thought this, his eyes grew tired from reading the novel, so he planned to take a nap and continue writing his thesis afterward.

As a result, the moment he opened his eyes, well, he had transmigrated into a book and no longer needed to write his thesis, but now he had to worry about saving his own neck.

If he hadn’t signed the contract, he could have just turned around and run. But with the contract signed, his only option was to tread carefully and struggle to survive by the villain’s side.

“Zhao Muqing,” Shen Guanzhi tapped his knuckles twice on the desk. “A domestic grand exhibition is not something a model of your level can participate in. You know your own public reputation; if you forcefully take on work you cannot handle, your industry reputation will only get worse.”

Zhao Muqing subconsciously touched his own chin. He turned out to be a male model, of all things.

Before transmigrating, he had majored in arts in college, studying dance, and occasionally took on part-time gigs like print modeling, though it was mostly just being used for online store promotions.

Shen Guanzhi put away the signed contract. “I do not care what your reputation is like; I simply cannot stand seeing others occupy positions that do not belong to them. Before you make demands of me, please first have a clear understanding of yourself.”

It seemed he was someone with little ability yet lofty ambitions, having no real skills to speak of while casually opening his mouth to demand high-end resources like domestic grand exhibitions from Shen Guanzhi.

“Oh, right.” Zhao Muqing had nothing to say to that, casually uttering a couple of affirmative responses.

Shen Guanzhi seemed slightly surprised by his suddenly obedient attitude, but the motion of tidying up his things merely paused for a fraction of a second, and his expression remained icy cold.

The descriptions of Shen Guanzhi in the original work were basically just like this: icy cold, indifferent, cold as frost. Zhao Muqing was left speechless. Was this guy a walking Antarctica?

“I generally prepare to sleep around midnight,” Shen Guanzhi removed the gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. “Your dedicated driver will start tomorrow. Arrive at the villa every night before this time, and a housekeeper will open the door for you.”

“Ah? Can I not live here?” It sounded extremely troublesome. What kind of stingy employer didn’t even provide room and board?

“At other times, unless it is for work-related reasons, I do not wish to see you. If you lack a place to live, I can make other arrangements for you.”

“Fine.”

Zhao Muqing still remembered why Shen Guanzhi chose him to be his sleeping pill in the original book. Someone who prioritizes their own interests above all else and is even willing to use unscrupulous means to achieve them is very easy to control as long as you dangle benefits as bait.

However, judging by the plot development of the original book, things clearly did not stay entirely within Shen Guanzhi’s control.

“If there are no other issues, go take a shower. The shared hallway bathroom on this floor is straight ahead and to the left.”

Hearing this, Zhao Muqing intended to head toward the corridor, but before he could take many steps, he suddenly realized something: “I didn’t bring any clothes.”

“You didn’t bring any yourself?”

Zhao Muqing could not utter a word for a long time. To be precise, he did not know whether he had brought any or not. The original book practically never wrote directly about the interactions between him and Shen Guanzhi, and the only part the author wrote with any effort was the scene where he was poisoned to death by the ring.

Seeing Zhao Muqing’s guilty expression, Shen Guanzhi raised a finger and pointed at a door nearby. “Go inside and find something to wear yourself.”

Zhao Muqing honestly entered the room and passed by a full-length mirror, subconsciously stopping in his tracks. By his own aesthetic standards, his physical appearance was not bad; in the original book, Zhao Muqing only had such a terrible industry reputation because of his poor professional skills and bad attitude.

He opened the wardrobe next to him, casually fished out a loose short-sleeved shirt, followed it by pulling out a pair of athletic sweatpants, and finally retrieved a pair of underpants from the bottom drawer that looked brand new.

Zhao Muqing held them up against his body. The top being a bit large was one thing, but the pants were actually a whole section too long. Was Shen Guanzhi really that tall?

Even the underwear was this large. Did Shen Guanzhi actually have this kind of size?

Fearing he would trip over the trouser legs, Zhao Muqing resolutely stuffed the sweatpants back and tried to find shorts in the wardrobe, only to come away empty-handed. No way, did rich people really not even wear shorts or tank tops?

Whatever. Zhao Muqing took the short-sleeved top and the underwear that was several sizes too big into his hands and walked out the door. He was a straight man anyway, and Shen Guanzhi looked at him like he had seen a ghost, so skipping the pants would just have to do.

Zhao Muqing emerged from the bathroom. The short sleeve on his upper body was so loose it was practically sliding off his shoulders, and the baggy underwear made a chilly draft blow up from underneath, feeling thoroughly uncomfortable no matter how he moved.

“Come in.” Shen Guanzhi did not know when he had entered his own bedroom, probably having heard the movement outside, and called out for Zhao Muqing to step inside.

Only then did Zhao Muqing realize that the room Shen Guanzhi had told him to go into for clothes earlier was not the master bedroom; it seemed to be just a guest room for spare items.

Shen Guanzhi himself was sitting by the bed wearing a bathrobe, having presumably showered in the en-suite bathroom attached to the room. He had originally been flipping through a fashion magazine, but after Zhao Muqing entered, he reluctantly spared him a glance. “Did you not find any pants to your liking?”

“Right,” Zhao Muqing was just about to explain when Shen Guanzhi anticipated his situation. “The clothes in the wardrobe are all impossibly huge. Look at how petite I am; they definitely do not fit. I put them on and was afraid I would trip over the pant legs and tumble to my death.”

Shen Guanzhi swept an up-and-down gaze over this one-meter-eighty petite male. “Bring your own clothes next time. Do not pull these kinds of little tricks; they do not work on me.”

“Tricks?” Zhao Muqing reflexively retorted. He hadn’t even asked Shen Guanzhi what kind of tricks he was pulling—the wardrobe was filled with clothes this massive, and even for someone of his stature, none of them fit properly. Was that reasonable?

“I have heard about your antics,” Shen Guanzhi completely laid the fashion magazine aside. “Spreading your legs for a renowned designer’s solo exhibition, only to get kicked out of bed.”

“Although keeping his chastity intact was a good thing, Zhao Muqing still wanted to die. It seemed his reputation was even worse than he thought.”

“All right, get up here.” Shen Guanzhi lay down on one side of the bed, and Zhao Muqing naturally lay down on the other.

As their eyes met, Zhao Muqing felt nothing, but Shen Guanzhi looked as though he had laid eyes on something filthy, imperceptibly frowning. “Close your eyes.”

Zhao Muqing instinctively closed his eyelids, and the room lights went out accordingly. He suddenly felt that Shen Guanzhi was also quite remarkable, actually managing to share a bed with someone he looked down upon.

Who knew what would happen when he woke up? At least as long as he didn’t provoke Shen Guanzhi into a temper and get poisoned along the way, that would be enough.

Thinking this, Zhao Muqing completely relaxed and drifted off to dreamland.

Zhao Muqing was woken up by Shen Guanzhi. When he opened his eyes, Shen Guanzhi was already fully dressed and standing by the bed, wearing a black custom-tailored suit, a solid-color tie of a texture that clearly looked high-end, and the gold-rimmed glasses firmly resting on his face.

“You have three hours left. The charity exhibition starts at eleven.” Shen Guanzhi glanced at the gold watch on his wrist and stated.

“What charity exhibition?” Zhao Muqing was clearly not fully awake, letting out a casual yawn as he asked. “I don’t have money to buy anything, I’m not going.”

Shen Guanzhi yanked Zhao Muqing’s blanket away, tossing it aside. “What kind of foolish act are you putting on? We discussed this yesterday before signing the contract. You are going to be my model for this charity exhibition.”

“Me?” Zhao Muqing managed to prop his upper body up, intending to ask something else, but Shen Guanzhi ruthlessly interrupted him. “Put on the clothes on the hanger. Come to my study in twenty minutes to try on some jewelry.”

Just as he was about to step out of the room, Shen Guanzhi paused in his steps. “Your suitcase on the first floor has been moved to the room next door for you. Your luggage can stay, but you cannot.”

Zhao Muqing instantly sprang up like he had been injected with adrenaline, changing into the suit hanging on the nearby rack. It fit perfectly in every single place, clearly custom-tailored to his measurements.

Shen Guanzhi had just mentioned his suitcase, which meant he actually did bring clothes after all. Although he hadn’t been caught red-handed, Zhao Muqing still couldn’t help but inwardly feel awkward.

Since his luggage could be kept here, he might as well leave a few sets of pajamas behind. Thinking this, Zhao Muqing simply tidied up the suit he was wearing, stepped out, turned the corner, and entered the neighboring room.

A silver suitcase stood upright in the corner. Zhao Muqing opened it, and the very first thing he flipped through revealed several slip-dress lace nightgowns in black, pink, and white, alongside tubes of personal lubricant and similar items, leaving Zhao Muqing completely dumbfounded.

He hurriedly shoved everything back into the suitcase. Just as he pulled the zipper shut and prepared to head out, he turned his head and found Shen Guanzhi happening to pass by in the hallway outside.

Zhao Muqing thought to himself that whatever the case was, the boss already had a terrible impression of him anyway.

“What are you standing there daydreaming for? You have two hours and forty minutes left.” Shen Guanzhi gave him a blank, expressionless scan. “Come over here.”

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