CH 1

“What is this attitude of yours? Since you’ve changed your surname to Xia, this is your responsibility!”

The woman who spoke was gorgeously dressed, and the diamond-studded necklace on her chest was particularly dazzling under the bright lights of the dinner party.

Xia Xingchi yawned lazily while eating cake in the corner, letting her stand-up comedy act go in one ear and out the other.

It was an honor for anyone to attend Mr. Li’s engagement banquet.

Only Xia Xingchi was unhappy. Not only was he pressed into engagement and forced to do things beyond his ability, but he was watched like a performing monkey by everyone around. There were countless eyes watching him openly and covertly.

Just three nights ago, he had created a method of demise that would make the local weird news — 

After finishing his third job on a rainy night and passing under a tree, he was unfortunately struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.

Getting struck was excruciatingly painful. Fortunately, the whole process was fairly quick, and he lost consciousness in an instant.

If he could leave some last words, it would probably be a news headline: Shocking! It’s true that you can’t walk under a tree in a thunderstorm?

“You know the Xia family’s situation. This marriage must happen in order to weather the storm,” The woman continued. “Without this opportunity, you can continue to live in squalor. You’re lucky to have such a good turn, yet you’re still pretending to be the victim?”

This situation was this: Xia Xingchi unpreparedly transmigrated into a novel with distorted values and took the place of the young master, who was a cannon fodder extra.

The person in front of him was the original owner’s stepmother, Liu Yi. By the time he returned to the wealthy family, his biological mother had already passed away.

For Liu Yi, he was not her actual son anyway, so among the real and fake young masters, she obviously favored the fake young master she had raised for many years —

That is, the villain protagonist shou in the book, the popular idol singer Xia Yu, who was talking and laughing gracefully not far away.

It had been a year since the original owner had been taken home. After finally turning from a poor wretch to a vaguely-known flop of an actor, there was less than a month before he became cannon fodder. 

The fuse that lit the fate of the cannon fodder was the original owner’s riot and escape from his marriage during the engagement ceremony.

Suddenly, a handful of fish food was sprinkled in the water and everyone moved in succession toward a point in the distance. Clearly, someone had arrived.

Liu Yi once again dropped another cold sentence, “Behave well in a moment, and don’t try to run away!” Then she turned around and followed the crowd.

Xia Xingchi thought that the only person who should have such influence was his fiance, Li Chengyuan.

As the richest, most powerful and handsome person in the book, it was a pity that Li Chengyuan was not the protagonist, but the most ruthless and insane villain in the story, who eventually died young.

Xia Xingchi turned around and picked up some red wine from a waiter’s tray, internally estimating the price of the wine and how much the engagement banquet cost.

Just as he was pondering this, he spied an uninvited guest walking towards him.

Xia Yu, as the white lotus protagonist, had a very innocent face that was at the moment very sincere: “Ge, I have accidentally robbed you of so much over the years……this time I am willing to bear the burden for you! You go, ba, and I will get engaged to Li Chengyuan in your stead! I owe you, and will compensate you with my lifelong happiness, even if just to make up for a little loss.”

The tone was sonorous and forceful, full of self-sacrificing dedication, and it seemed that he was about to be moved to tears.

“Ah —” So touching, what a touching brotherhood.

The corners of Xia Xingchi’s mouth twitched. I can only make way for you if I run away from the marriage, right?

Before this, Xia Yu had already used the same “tea art”[1] to conquer the Xia family parents, and Xia Pingjian even burst into tears, telling his precious son not to leave, and patting his chest as he promised that Xia Yu would still be a son of the Xia family no matter what.

In comparison, the original owner, the legitimate young master, was just mocked even more — when he was found, he was still selling vegetables at the market, and the fish stall next door gave him an unpleasant fishy smell. The first time he stood in the middle of the luxurious and expensive living room of the Xia family, he felt embarrassed and out of place.

Looking at this unfamiliar “son,” the balance in Xia Pingjian’s heart immediately tilted.

The indifferent attitude of the biological father, the cold stares and contempt of the servants……and what most contributed to the original owner’s collapse was being forced to marry.

Xia Yu had been secretly prodding and inciting for a long time, driving the original owner almost insane. This caused him to wrongly target his fiance, Li Chengyuan, and to hate him as if he was his father’s killer.

In the following plot, “Xia Xingchi” changed his cowardly nature and directly lost control, pointing at the big villain Li Chengyuan’s nose and cursing. Then he poured red wine all over his face and ran away from the marriage – as expected, he was thrilled to receive a cannon fodder gift bag.

Xia Yu was well-prepared. Not only did he play the hero, but he also arranged for someone to play the villain.

A few socialites came over:

“Yo, isn’t this the Xia family’s first, young, master?”

“What are you talking about, this is the “young lady” of the Xia family, and she’s going to get married soon.”

“Arranged marriages are still done in this day and age, a man should resist! Tsk, the lowly look of this dog meat being served at the banquet[2] really disgusts laozi to death!”

Xia Xingchi started to frown. He had always been bad-tempered and difficult, and it was impossible for him to indulge their shortcomings like the original owner had.

Xia Xingchi started to frown. He had always been bad-tempered and difficult, and it was impossible for him to indulge their shortcomings like the original owner had.

Seeing that he had really reacted, Xia Yu became increasingly excited.

Yes, just like this.

After these few days of careful brainwashing, as long as there was a quarrel, Xia Xingchi would inevitably speak freely and step on Mr. Li’s minefield.

Then everything would be in order, and he himself would replace him……

However, out of the blue, things suddenly occurred outside his expectations.

He was caught off guard when red wine splashed all over him, and practically saw the moment when the wine volleyed into the air!

A whole glass of wine was devoted to his well-groomed hair and face, leaving him in a state of shock.

Xia Xingchi saw the small amount of liquid remaining in the glass, and flicked the cup calmly and quickly, trying not to waste a single drop.

Taking advantage of the delayed reactions of these few people, he steadily took the waiter’s tray and his other hand was like a sprinkler, throwing cups into everyone’s faces one by one!

The people who were originally well-dressed immediately had faces full of embarrassment. The scene was frozen for a moment as everyone tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

After all, Xia Xingchi had always been a yes-man. Kicking and hitting him was usually like a game, and he had always swallowed his anger without daring to resist.

Today’s behavior was like a dream.

“What a waste,” Xia Xingchi said sincerely with an expression of regret. “After tasting it, this wine is very expensive.”

As a senior waiter, even if someone poured wine all over the guests, one must maintain one’s demeanor and industry etiquette.

Xia Yu was the first to come back to his senses, and immediately revealed his true colors: “Xia Xingchi! Are you fucking crazy! Expensive wine? My clothes are more expensive, you bastard!”

Those bad-tempered socialite brothers had never been insulted like this before. After coming to their senses, they rolled up their sleeves and wanted to beat him up on the spot!

As the saying went, “If you are strong, you can do what you want and live a long life.” Xia Xingchi had expected that he would not be able to beat so many people, so he immediately put the tray aside, turned around, and ran away!

The location of the engagement was the most luxurious upper-class private club in Beijing. Not only was the auditorium overly spacious, but there were two floors, upper and lower, along with many decorations that hindered the way forward.

Xia Xingchi ran wildly all the way, thinking that with this many people, there would naturally be parents to take control of this group of socialites.

Unexpectedly, there were not many people left on the first floor for some reason, so he simply took the steps in twos and threes, dashing directly to the second floor.

Even as one of the main characters of the engagement banquet, no one paid attention to him being chased and violently beaten. It seemed that the original owner was truly a miserable existence.

The terrain on the second floor was not as open as the first floor, and at a glance, it was impossible to tell where everyone had gone. Xia Yu’s pack of rogues were quite thick-skinned, and insisted on chasing after him with their faces full of red wine, as if they felt no shame at all — it didn’t seem to be purely for the sake of venting their anger, but as if there was some other purpose.

Xia Xingchi turned his head toward a bathroom sign. Seeing that the other party was sticking to him like glue, he decided to find a cubicle to hide in, lock the door, and see what they did next.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he rushed through the door, a figure appeared out of nowhere!

He was running so fast that he couldn’t hit the brakes fast enough, and ran directly into the other person.

If not for the wall behind him, Xia Xingchi would have knocked this “pin” to the ground as if he was bowling.

Even so, he heard the other party’s head hit the wall hard.

There was a very clear “Bang!” in the quiet bathroom, which left people shaken.

Maybe the collision had been serious, because Xia Xingchi saw the man stagger and quickly reached out to help him, apologizing at the same time: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Are you alright, Sir?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak, only narrowing his eyes slightly as he sized up the young man in front of him.

Xia Xingchi apologized repeatedly, but found that the other party seemed a little gloomy. He wondered if a verbal apology was not enough. Did this one also want to use force to hit him back?

So he just raised his head to take a closer look, and only then did he clearly see the man’s pale and handsome face.

— It turned out to be an “acquaintance.”

As they looked at each other, Xia Xingchi froze at once.

He discovered the reason why the other party was staring at him without saying a word, and thought again of that unlucky night three days ago.

– – –

Having transmigrated, he never imagined that he would be so unlucky even in the way he landed.

It was not enough to be struck to death by lightning for no reason, but when he opened his eyes again, he was actually sitting in water.

He was still wearing the waiter uniform from before he died, and the small, crescent-like scars on his wrists were still there. It was his own body.

And there was no trace of being struck by lightning.

Xia Xingchi looked around and found that it was a rather large built-in circular bathtub.

The surroundings were quiet and tranquil, and only the beating of his own heart could be heard.

……The problem was, there was a person in the bathtub!

A bolt of lightning closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was just sitting in someone’s bathtub. Fortunately, his mental fortitude was strong enough to avoid freaking out on the spot.

Even so, his heart beat violently in an instant. However, he saw that the man was probably asleep, motionless with his eyes closed. Although he was soaking in steaming hot water, his face was pale and bloodless.

The man was as good looking as an immortal, his facial features as handsome as if they had been painstakingly painted. With wide shoulders and a narrow waist, he had a perfect figure, beautifully muscular with long, straight legs.

Therefore, Xia Xingchi stared at him for a long time before confirming that this was really a living person and not some super realistic robot.

Then what was going on with the current situation?

It was all too unbelievable. If you were struck by lightning, even if you didn’t die, you wouldn’t walk away unscathed.

He was convinced that he was dead. The horrible feeling of dying was too deep-set and unforgettable.

But the most urgent thing was to leave first. He would have to ignore everything else.

Xia Xingchi tried his best to move slowly, and stood up with caution.

It was impossible to be completely silent. The water droplets on his body converged into lines with his movements and fell back to the water’s surface, which was very distinct in the quiet bathroom, almost loud.

At this moment, the handsome man before him suddenly frowned as if he had noticed something, and was about to wake up.

Xia Xingchi was frightened, and quickly settled in place, maintaining a twisted posture that was half-sitting and half-standing. He didn’t even dare to take a breath.

The one who found that there was an extra person in the bathtub would not let him go easily.

What’s more, since even Xia Xingchi himself couldn’t figure out the situation, how could he explain to the police why he broke into a private residence?

He remained still until his legs went numb, and when he saw that the man showed no indication of waking up, Xia Xingchi continued to move slowly and cautiously.

The cheap plastic slippers he wore on that rainy day had been lost long before he died, and his bare feet slipped along the bottom of the bathtub.

He was secretly glad. Thankfully, he hadn’t smashed into the bathtub with an earth-shattering “boom,” but had appeared there silently instead. But in the next second, he realized that he had rejoiced too early —

It seemed that he had stepped on a bump on the edge of the bathtub, its form as smooth as a bar of soap, and his feet went out from under him immediately!

He fell straight back into the water!

Or in other words, he fell directly into the arms of the handsome naked man.

Unlucky people were unlucky until death, and some people were unlucky enough to drink cold water and get it stuck between their teeth.

– – –

And now, the handsome man from that time was standing in front of him, and he had knocked him into a wall. He was indeed an “acquaintance.”

[1] Tea art, in this instance, is referring to this character’s designation as the novel’s “green tea bitch.” ⮐

[2] The full saying is, “dog meat doesn’t deserve to appear at a feast as a dish,” and means that a person/thing is not qualified enough for something. ⮐