Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Room 403 of Bamboo Garden.
Zhou Xufang knocked on the door which was then opened by a young man who wore a set of formal trousers and a shirt. The two buttons near his neck were unbuttoned, leaving his tie hanging loosely around his neck. He had a fierce look on his face which, coupled with his formal dress, appeared intimidating. His hair, however, was the complete opposite of his dress-style–he sported a messy head of permed hair, which perfectly reflected his not-so-sensible character.
Zhou Xufang handed the bag of rice porridge over as she said, “Your delivery order, sir.”
He did not reach out to receive the food. Instead, his eyes were fixated on Zhou Xufang’s face. Like a lowly gangster, he demanded, “Hey girl, how ’bout you add me on WeChat1?”
Playboy.
Zhou Xufang responded with an expressionless look. “I don’t use that app.”
The man poked at the takeout bag with a finger. Wearing a rascal’s smile on his face, he threatened her. “If you don’t give me your account, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you a nasty rating.”
Zhou Xufang placed his order on the ground and left straight away.
‘Hey, a wild one, huh?’
The man shut the door behind him and returned to his seat with the bag of food.
There were quite a number of men and women inside the room, and some of them even scoffed at him. “Young Master Ming, even those delivery workers can’t escape your grasp, huh?”
The young man whom they referred to as ‘Young Master Ming’ tore the tie off his neck and said out loud, “She was such a pretty one. If I didn’t get her, it would be a great waste of resources.”
His brothers beside him burst out laughing. “Zhailang, better stay careful or your sister will come to teach you a lesson.”
Upon hearing that, the Young Master Ming scorned. “Don’t even mention Ming Saiying, that pig of a woman.”
“Ha ha ha, I bet you’re scared sh*tless just from saying her name alone.”
“F*ck you!”
“…”
The room of people merrily enjoyed themselves for the rest of the night.
Jiang Zhi rubbed his brows with a pained look on his face. That place was so noisy that it made his head throb in pain.
“Young Master Jiang!” Ah Wan excitedly called out. “Look! It’s that girl who shielded you from disaster!”
What was there to fuss so noisily about?
Jiang Zhi had noticed her quite a while ago but had pretended that he didn’t. However, with the fool now calling out for the weird woman to come over, he had no choice but to ask her out of obligation. “Just how many jobs do you have?”
Zhou Xufang maintained her signature aloof expression. “Do you have a WeChat account?”
Like a horse and a cow, both parties were of no relevance to each other to even be together.
Jiang Zhi stared at her, confirming that she was indeed a weirdo down to the bone.
“Yeah, he does.”
It was Ah Wan who replied in his master’s stead. It seemed that he had taken a liking to this screen-protector girl. He genuinely had hope in his heart that his master would be bent straight back by this girl. The Yin and Yang distinction of his master had remained muddled for the past few years and needed some tweaking to be done by female hands, otherwise, his temper would be too fiery for an ordinary person to handle.
Ah Wan had been acting more independently as of late, which earned him a cold glare from the young master. With the chicken in his embrace, he retreated quietly into the background.
“Can you add me on WeChat?” In actual fact, she just wanted to get his address. Due to the chicken-riot earlier, she wanted to send another case of milk as further compensation.
“I thought you said you didn’t use the app?” Jiang Zhi said with half-closed eyelids. He appeared rather listless tonight, but also as delicate as a willow branch trembling in the wind.
Thinking that he must’ve heard her exchange with the playboy from before, Zhou Xufang admitted honestly. “I said that because I didn’t want to give him my account.”
“I don’t use the app.”
“…”
‘He must still be angry with me because of that filthy rooster…’
With that thought lingering in Xufang’s mind, she glanced at the chicken in Ah Wan’s grip and tipped her delivery workers’ yellow cap before leaving with her head lowered.
Seeing her leave with such a sad expression, Ah Wan couldn’t stop himself from promoting her in the Young Master’s eyes. “Master Jiang, I think she’s a good person.”
Jiang Zhi remained silent. He stood in the middle of the fork, looking at that person, at her black raincoat as she disappeared into the night.
Ah Wan continued, “Also, I think she’s into you. Come on! She’s asking for your contact!”
Jiang Zhi turned and embarked down a different path. Because he struggled to lift up his foot, he walked with a snail’s pace. Even so, he sounded slightly out of breath as he diverted away from the topic. “What’s your IQ point?”
Why would he suddenly talk about such a sad topic?
Ah Wan replied truthfully. “A little bit short of one hundred points.” Really, it wasn’t too far from a hundred.
Jiang Zhi made an expression that implicitly said “makes sense” before actually ordering, “Next time, I’d like you to keep your mouth shut.”
“Okay.”
It seemed as though he was being despised by the Young Master.
Ah Wan had been working for Jiang Zhi for the past few years. If it wasn’t for his low intelligence, he wouldn’t have struggled so much under Jiang Zhi’s control.
Two years ago, Ah Wan’s mother had been diagnosed with uremia and subsequently, she had desperately needed a kidney transplant. At the time, Ah Wan was still just another no-name boxer and had no means to pay for his mother’s operation. It was after three nights of careful planning that he had decided to launch his ultimate mission.
After deciding to embark on his final plan, Ah Wan had lurked around the Floating Hall for a full week before setting his sights on a filthy rich but frail young master. His plan went over smoothly, having successfully robbed an extremely expensive wristwatch from his target. However, because it was his first time committing such illegal acts and because he had not done any prior drills, he rode his motorcycle straight into the arms of the police…
To his surprise, the filthy rich but frail young master had not blamed him while he had remained under police custody. Instead of taking him to court, the man had bailed him out and had even footed the medical fees for his mother’s operation. Just when Ah Wan had thought that he had finally met a living Bodhisattva, he realized that there must’ve been a catch somewhere, which was, in fact, true, and it was that the help came at a price of a thirty year-long contract to offer his labor to the young master!
That young master was none other than Jiang Zhi.
Sigh!
Ah Wan sighed, and even the chicken in his arms clucked in unison with him.
Jiang Zhi’s gaze shifted over to the chicken which then stretched out its neck in response. “Cluck!”
This rooster was quite a feisty fellow. Having been running amok the entire day, it was still as energetic as ever. Too bad its fate was unfortunate. Ah Wan continued, “I’ll butcher him when we get home. You’ll be having chicken soup tomorrow.”
The outdoors was breezy, and because winter was about to set in, the air was freezing cold. Jiang Zhi, feeling a discomfort in his throat, almost bent over from coughing so hard. With a look of contempt on his face, he mumbled, “Don’t wanna drink it.”
Don’t wanna drink it… Ah Wan probed him for further instructions. “Then what about this chicken?”
“Take it in as a pet.” Jiang Zhi replied absent-mindedly.
Ah Wan couldn’t believe his ears. “Why make it a pet specifically?” It was a rooster, which was far from what you would typically call a “pet”.
Why make it a pet?
Jiang Zhi searched through his mind. Judging by his personality, he would be more than happy to bury this ball of feathers alive. It had even made him run out of breath quite a few times already, so no way in hell had it earned his sympathy.
So, why make it a pet?
No idea. Perhaps it was just as Xue Baoyi had said… insanity had begun to take hold over him due to his illness. Anyhow, because the owner of the chicken had piqued his interest, he would like to spare its life for the moment. Should he be pissed off again though, he wouldn’t hesitate to take its life.
Dragging his feet along the ground, he came up with a half-assed excuse off the top of his head.
“For laying eggs.”
Was the wind blowing too strongly that it had distorted his words? Had he mistaken what the Young Master had just said?
Ah Wan dug his ears to make sure it wasn’t blocked, and after remaining still for quite a while, he couldn’t stop himself. No, he was an honest person and had to speak whatever he had on his mind. “Master Jiang.”
Jiang Zhi mumbled a response.
While it was not uncommon for young masters from rich noble families to be ignorant of peasant knowledge, this was basic biology taught to kids across the nation. “This chicken is male. Roosters don’t lay eggs.”
“Cluck!” The rooster chimed in.
“…”
The IQ of this guy was definitely not short of a hundred.
“Master Jiang, where should I send you to?”
“Back to the Jiang family home.”
Madame Jiang used to be the precious heiress of a high-ranking household. As such, the Jiang family retained lots of old traditions from that period. An example of such a tradition was placing paper lanterns outside of the courtyard come nighttime, which, when seen from afar, looked like a scene out of an ancient painting.
The VIP raised by the madame herself was barking as it prowled the courtyard.
The wife of the second room, who hailed from the Luo family, asked the housekeeper who was also in the courtyard, “Who came?”
“The young master, ma’am.”
The woman was one of the merchant Luo family’s daughters. Her name was Changfang, and Luo Qinghe had to refer to her as her third aunt.
Luo Changfang wrapped her shawl tighter around her body.
“So, Brother Zhi’s home huh?”