Shen Ji wiped the hands that had touched Jiao Bai with a handkerchief, discarded it at Jiao Bai’s feet, and then got up and left.

Jiao Bai, unable to stay on his knees, collapsed to the ground, hitting his forehead with a thud. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. His whole body was shaking like a sieve.

Etbj, it hurts.

Jiao Bai clenched his teeth, his sweaty face pressed against the ground as he gasped for breath. With a lot of effort, he managed to take a deep breath. The thin layer of fabric on his back was soaked through with sweat, sticking tightly to his frail yet tenaciously arching spine.

After watching the surveillance footage of Qi Yilao's room, Shen Ji felt he had lost face. There were too cameras in Qi Yilao's room, scattered everywhere so discovering one or two of them wasn’t out of the question.

However, what Shen Ji didn't expect was that the dog he brought with him would dare to play tricks on his friend's bed under multiple cameras.

His acting was so shoddy yet he wanted to attract attention.

If the dog misbehaves, it must be punished.

After Shen Ji finished his “examination,” Jiao Bai's old injury flared up again. He lay on the ground thinking about Shen Ji's fate, and felt his pain ease slightly.

Jiao Bai lay on the ground for a while. With his butt sticking out awkwardly, he propped himself up with his elbows, and slowly crawled to his feet. He saw Shen Ji standing with his back to him at the door, with an assistant beside him, reporting something in a respectful manner.

Shen Ji buttoned up the two buttons and left. The assistant came in. He ignored the Little Hot Pepper on the bed and simply instructed Jiao Bai to wash his face in a formal tone of voice.

Lint from the carpet had stuck to Jiao Bai’s face because of his cold sweat. It looked dirty.

“Mr. Wang, as the chairman’s person, you need to be mindful of your image in public,” the assistant reminded him mechanically.

Jiao Bai had no energy left to complain. His body couldn’t muster any strength. Supporting himself against the wall, he made his way into the bathroom and stared silently at his reflection in the mirror for a long while.

Thick hair, uneven fringe, eyes with a drooping appearance, plump lower eyelids, lips that lacked clear definition. His whole face made him appear simple-minded, wooden, and easy to bully.

The next moment, the usually drooping outer corners of the person’s eyes lifted, revealing a flash of wildness and fire that seemed completely out of place with their features.

Jiao Bai grabbed his fringe and leaned closer, examining himself carefully. He was even thinner than in the comic.

 

The chin was very sharp and there were dark circles under his eyes. The exposed skin had no colour, and the bluish veins underneath were clearly visible.

Just like...

It hadn’t seen the sunlight for a long time.

Jiao Bai suspected that the original Wang Chuqiu was ill. This was a very upsetting thought and he reasoned that that couldn’t be the case. The memories he inherited didn’t have this information, and it wasn’t mentioned in the comic either. Alright, he was just a plot device, so this not being mentioned it was normal...

So, why did the Wang Chuqiu look like a ghost?

Jiao Bai washed his face quickly and walked out of the bathroom absent-mindedly.

Little Hot Pepper was no longer in the room and the messy bed had been cleaned up. The assistant was very experienced taking care of this sort of thing. He said indifferently, “Let's go, Mr. Wang.”

Jiao Bai’s body was very feeling uncomfortable. Sitting was more painful than standing. He remained silent the entire way until the car stopped at their destination—Qinxin Estate[1].

This estate appeared many times in the comics, most of which were related to Li Jue. In the earlier part of the story, he came here to sort out the belongings of his deceased close neighbour and stayed for a short time. Later, he came to this estate to visit the stepmother of his love interest.

At this time, the estate under the curtain of the night resembled a graveyard. Not a single servant came out to greet him. Jiao Bai walked in alone and headed straight to the kitchen because he was hungry.

Jiao Bai fiddled about for a while, then walked out of the kitchen with a plate of fried noodles. In the dim light, a figure in a black and red Tang suit stood there. Jiao Bai was so startled that he almost threw the plate over.

“Uncle Kang[2], you’re not asleep yet?” Jiao Bai composed himself.

The old butler didn't speak.

Jiao Bai decided to ignore the elusive old man. He sat down at the table and ate his fried noodles.

Before he had even finished half of the plate of fried noodles, the figure in the dim light had already left.

Jiao Bai put down his chopsticks and got up to find some water. The old man was someone from Madam Shen's side, here to act as a spy. When Wang Chuqiu first arrived, he had treated him as just an ordinary old man from his hometown. It was only later that he realized the old man regarded him as nothing more than a dog—an ugly and disgraceful ltss[3].

Not only the old butler, but also the bodyguards and servants at the estate shared this view.

There was only the saying that sparrows can fly up to the branches and become phoenixes, but how could a dog fly? It was ludicrous.

After Jiao Bai had eaten and drunk his fill, he went upstairs. He walked slowly, stopping every few steps to carefully appraise the ambiance of the grand mansion. He couldn’t discern much but found that the echoes were very loud[4].

Wang Chuqiu’s door was unlocked, and Jiao Bai opened it with a twist. He closed the door behind him, took a deep breath in the unfamiliar bedroom, and began to search without a moment’s pause.

In just a few minutes, Jiao Bai had a medical record in his hand. On the open page, there was a long string of undecipherable scribbles. He managed to make out two words.

Sunlight allergy.

Jiao Bai: “...”

This easy-to-understand disease made Jiao Bai's vision turn black. He collapsed into the chair, which aggravated his tailbone injury, causing him to spasm a few times.

No wonder the original Wang Chuqiu had such an unhealthy complexion.

Sunlight allergy, which meant he couldn’t be exposed to the sun, was the same as trapping Jiao Bai, who loved to be out and about, in an invisible cage.

Why was the memory he inherited from Wang Chuqiu missing this crucial detail? Was there a bug in the transmission process? Why did they have to be so unfair to him?


[1] 沁心园 (qìn xīn yuán)  Qinxin Estate/Garden

沁 (qìn) means "to permeate" or "to penetrate" in a gentle or soothing way

心 (xīn) means heart or mind

园 (yuán) means "garden" or "park," referring to a cultivated or landscaped area.

When combined, 沁心园 suggests a garden or space that has a profound, calming, and refreshing effect on one’s heart and mind.

[2] 康伯 (kāng bó) 伯 (bó) means uncle - father’s older brother and can be used to address to an older man, who isn’t related to you and is around your parents’ age, in a familiar way.

[3] 土狗 (tǔ gǒu) literally means "earth dog" or "native dog." It is often used in a derogatory sense to describe a dog that is seen as unkempt, low-status, or of inferior breed compared to more pedigreed dogs. When applied to a person, it has a negative connotation, suggesting that the person is of low social status, unrefined, or undeserving of respect.

[4] He’s 'appraising' by touching everything and likely knocking on the stuff as well.