I Entered the Villains’ Den While Pretending to Be a Righteous Man - Chapter 4

Leaving the Wang residence, the two men climbed into the supercar. As Jiang You settled into the driver’s seat, the image of Bai Shuijin standing on the third floor refused to leave his mind. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that person was the same “painted ghost” from yesterday. They practically existed on different layers of reality. Anyone else would truly think yesterday’s version had been strangled and buried in the backyard.

Jiang You started the car. While Wang Huanxiu had married Bai Shuijin just to spite his grandfather, the man had certainly lucked out; he hadn’t expected Bai Shuijin to look like that in private.

“Did you know he looked like that all along?” he asked, gripping the steering wheel.

“I didn’t.”

Jiang You laughed. “Bullsh*t. How could you not know?”

Wang Huanxiu was a cunning man both dark and chaotic. He never did anything that didn’t benefit him; he was the type to do three parts of work for ten parts of reward. Jiang You sometimes felt a chill just being around him. Would a man like that marry Bai Shuijin if he didn’t look like that? He’d have let him rot in the city river instead.

But on second thought, it was possible he really didn’t know. Wang Huanxiu married him for two reasons: one, to anger the Old Master; and two, because he knew Bai Shuijin was close to the Pei family. During the time Wang Huanxiu was being pressured to marry, Bai Shuijin had made a massive scene about wanting to marry him. The Pei family clearly wanted to use Bai Shuijin to get something from Wang Huanxiu.

Since the scheme was so blatant, Wang Huanxiu simply married him. Normal people would flee from a conspiracy, but he didn’t dodge or hide; he wanted to see just how big of a wave they could whip up.

Jiang You stepped on the gas. “But I have to say, Pei Zhiheng was quite willing to let him go. I remember Bai Shuijin used to be obsessed with him, loving him to death.”

Gossip in the upper circles was varied, but Bai Shuijin provided the most entertainment; everyone viewed him as a jumping clown. He loved the Pei heir, Pei Zhiheng. Rumor had it that his nouveau riche father took him to a gala for the first time, where he fell in love with Pei Zhiheng at first sight. After that, he followed the man every day without fail. If Pei told him to go east, he wouldn’t go west. He was head over heels.

Now, turning around and marrying Wang Huanxiu must be for Pei Zhiheng’s sake too. Jiang You clicked his tongue. Still, the kid is damn good-looking. But in nature, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it becomes.

He teased, “President Wang, don’t let that face of his fool you.”

Wang Huanxiu’s eyes were as calm as a pool of stagnant water. “Is that even possible?”

After saying good morning to the little birds, Bai Shuijin rubbed his arms and shivered back into the room. He was separated from the birds by a bathrobe, but he was separated from the birds by a sweater—if he didn’t leave soon, he’d be the one dying.

He took the gold card off his ear. Seeing it again brought the same joy as the first time. He changed his clothes, tucked the card into his pocket, and went downstairs for breakfast.

In his past life, he never had a breakfast habit. Working until dawn, he preferred sleep over food, but now he decided that being good to himself started with a morning meal.

He trotted downstairs in his white cotton slippers, greeting the servants enthusiastically. “Morning!” Then he drifted past them to find food.

A servant nearby was startled. “Who was that?”

Bai Shuijin had already passed them. The servant looked at a colleague, who shook his head blankly, his face saying: No idea, never seen him. Having worked at the Wang house for so long, they had never seen this person radiant, bright, and easy on the eyes. And he had rainbow hair.

Wait, rainbow hair? The Bai Shuijin that the Master married yesterday also had rainbow hair. The servants exchanged looks: …!

Bai Shuijin explored the first floor. If the bedroom last night was jaw-dropping, the ground floor was another world entirely. Exquisitely carved display pillars held antiques older than his ancestors. The decor was minimalist yet profound a fusion of modern and Western European medieval styles. The house was bright, and since it was the time for daily ventilation, the winter breeze felt refreshing rather than cold. This floor alone was perfect for hide-and-seek; he guessed he wasn’t in a villa, but a castle.

Where is the kitchen?

Bai Shuijin didn’t know the way. He wandered around until he saw an elderly gentleman who looked relatively free. “Excuse me, sir, which way to the kitchen?”

The butler, Uncle Zhang, stared at the head poking toward him. Beyond being shocked that such a person was in the house, he recognized the hair color and couldn’t hide a flash of disdain. Uncle Zhang had seen many storms, so he wasn’t too shocked by the change in appearance, but his heart was still racing. Did this brat actually “ride” the Master last night?

Bai Shuijin saw the murky look in the old man’s eyes. Seeing no reply, he assumed the man was hard of hearing and raised his voice. “Sir! Which way to the kitchen?!”

The butler: “My name is Zhang.”

Bai Shuijin nodded. “Old Mr. Zhang, where is the kitchen?”

The butler pointed him in a direction and ignored him. No one in the Wang household liked this Young Master Bai. He remembered Wang Huanxiu’s orders from this morning: clean a room for him.

“Xiao Hu.” A maid polishing a ceramic vase put down her work and came over.

“Take someone and clean out the storage room on the second floor,” the butler ordered. “Young Master Bai is moving in today.”

The third floor was Wang Huanxiu’s private domain. No one went up there except to clean, and this new “Young Master Bai” certainly wasn’t qualified to stay there. Since the Master didn’t care for him, the household didn’t need to put in effort; a storage room was good enough.

Xiao Hu’s expression soured. “Uncle Zhang, isn’t that inappropriate?”

Wang Huanxiu never meddled in internal affairs, leaving everything to Zhang. Xiao Hu had worked here for five years and felt Zhang was too old-fashioned and over-interpreted things. Wang Huanxiu was unpredictable, but he wasn’t petty enough to bully a minor character. Even if he didn’t like the boy, he wouldn’t be cruel about living conditions. Bai Shuijin was married to the Master, making him half a master himself. Putting him in a storage room… unless he was Harry Potter.

The butler barked, “Just do it. Who are you to talk about appropriateness?”

Xiao Hu shut her mouth. She didn’t dare offend Zhang; he was a veteran who had served the Master’s parents. After they passed, he had stayed with Wang Huanxiu.

“Keep an eye on him,” the butler added. “Record anything, he does especially if he tries to go to the third floor.”

Bai Shuijin found the dining room and kitchen. As he sat at the table, someone automatically served him breakfast. “Thank you.”

The hand pouring the black tea froze. The cup made a small clink on the tray. “You’re welcome, Young Master. It’s my duty.”

Bai Shuijin wasn’t used to the title. It reminded him of the maid cafe where he once worked. He had done all sorts of legal jobs for money. The uniforms there were maid and butler outfits, and they said similar things. Welcome home, Master. Initially, he was good at it, but eventually, it turned into: Master, this is a legal establishment. Do that again and I’m fking calling the police.

The breakfast options in a rich house were far more numerous than for a commoner. Bai Shuijin looked at the spread and felt like he was at a state banquet. Everything tasted extraordinary. He hadn’t had the chance to eat such things before; when saving for costumes, he’d live on two buns and pickled vegetables a day. He didn’t have a habit of wasting food, so even though he was stuffed, he finished everything.

A servant watched the whole process: He’s like a starving ghost reborn!

After breakfast, Bai Shuijin was notified of his room change. His new room was at the end of the second floor. It was clean and comfortable. Though not as large as the master bedroom and lacking extra facilities besides the bathroom, Bai Shuijin was very satisfied. It was better than anywhere he had lived before.

Everyone was watching his reaction. He was known to be troublesome and ill-mannered a nouveau riche brat with a petty heart. They expected him to scream and shout about being put in a storage room, but he just moved in and went about his business without a single complaint.

The butler snorted dismissively. “Nouveau riche. He just hasn’t seen the world.”

Bai Shuijin curled up on a first-floor sofa, clutching a soft pillow. The texture was amazing. He looked comfortably at the 120-inch LCD TV. He kept his rule of being good to himself in mind, and his biggest hobby was looking at handsome guys. It was good for his eyes and his mood.

He found a historical drama full of heartthrobs and huddled on the sofa, squealing. “Oh! Hubby!” “Oho! This one is a hubby too.” “Hubby!!! They’re all hubbies!”

The actors in this world were incredibly talented and good-looking. He acknowledged five or six “hubbies” in one day, crowning the male lead as his “Imperial Noble Consort,” while the others were ranked as various concubines. Of course, the “Empress” position in the East Palace belonged firmly to Hubby-Ge. No one could shake that.

Though the actors were handsome, Hubby-Ge was in a league of his own.

The butler watched him constantly, ready to film any attempt to sneak to the third floor. Instead, he found the boy spending the whole day eating or watching TV and claiming husbands. He looked so colorful and happy that there wasn’t a trace of sadness.

Watching the male lead on TV, Bai Shuijin wriggled like a caterpillar in excitement and stuffed the pillow under his shirt. “I’m pregnant.”

The butler: “…” Shameless! He turned his phone camera toward the boy.

That evening, Wang Huanxiu returned. He stood in the foyer while a servant took his things.

“Sir, welcome home,” the butler said.

Wang Huanxiu didn’t lift his eyes, changing his shoes and walking in. “Don’t you want to ask what Young Master Bai did all day?”

Bai Shuijin? After a day out, he had forgotten the person existed. He asked casually, “What did he do?”

The butler began a long-winded setup. “This Young Master Bai has been abnormal since morning. He ate like a starving ghost…”

Wang Huanxiu frowned, losing interest. He started to walk away.

Failing to expose the “evil deeds,” the butler grabbed a nearby servant. “You tell the Master.”

The servant trembled under Wang Huanxiu’s cold gaze. “Young… Young Master Bai ate a table full of breakfast, polished off two big bowls of rice for lunch, and ate a whole chicken for dinner…”

Wang Huanxiu’s eyebrow twitched. Hearing such trivialities was like dumping trash into his ears.

The butler poked the servant’s arm. “There’s… more.”

“What else?”

“He also called the male actors on TV ‘Hubby’.”

The butler added the finishing blow: “Several of them.”