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Gu Jiuque's gaze grew even gentler. "Give me your life."

Gu Jiuque had never believed in fate. But if fate decreed that he was to become the male lead's stepping stone, then he could only return every calamity he had suffered, every pain and torment he had endured, to Bai Yuesheng exactly as they were.

—Since you stole the opportunities meant for him, you must bear the suffering meant for him. That was only natural, wasn't it?

Chapter 3

Hearing Gu Jiuque's words, Bai Yuesheng's face flushed crimson, and his slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes immediately lit up. Covering his mouth with both hands, he looked at Gu Jiuque in surprise and embarrassment, saying incredulously, "Oh my God! Gu Jiuque, you can say something like that? You've really opened my eyes. That's so cheesy!"

Although he had failed to borrow Jade Celestial Pivot, getting someone as reserved and aloof as Gu Jiuque to say something so mushy made it obvious how infatuated he was with him. Bai Yuesheng was finally reassured. Smiling, he looked at Gu Jiuque. "Who would've thought that a big fool like you could be so good at sweet talk?"

"And you still say you don't like me!" Bai Yuesheng wrinkled his nose and snorted. "Even if you want to accept my confession now, it's too late! I've decided—this time, you'll be the one chasing me. I'm going to make things difficult for you too. I won't accept your pursuit for at least a year. Unless..."

Bai Yuesheng's eyes rolled, and he brought up the old subject again. "You lend me Jade Celestial Pivot to wear."

Without waiting for Gu Jiuque to speak, Bai Yuesheng explained on his own, "Who told you to value Jade Celestial Pivot more than you value me? I insist on wearing it for a day."

Gu Jiuque ignored Bai Yuesheng's words. "I need to inspect the wiring in the old residence. Go home first."

Bai Yuesheng stared at him in disbelief. "You're actually kicking me out?"

What was wrong with this stupid blockhead? He did not even mind that Gu Jiuque had rejected his confession and refused to lend him Jade Celestial Pivot. Instead of trying to appease him, Gu Jiuque was actually throwing him out.

Bai Yuesheng's delicate face immediately flushed red with anger. Humiliated and enraged, he snapped, "Gu Jiuque, if you keep treating me like this, I'm really going to get angry!"

Gu Jiuque nodded slightly. "I understand. Can you leave now?"

"Gu Jiuque, you big bastard! I don't like you anymore!" Bai Yuesheng instantly bristled. "Who kicks someone out halfway through a conversation? Is this how the Gu family treats its guests?"

The more Bai Yuesheng thought about it, the angrier he became. "You have absolutely no manners!"

"You're right about everything." Gu Jiuque nodded. He knew that what he was doing was indeed rude. But he had already died once. The dead deserved the greatest respect—couldn't a dead man do as he pleased?

Bai Yuesheng was practically beside himself with fury. "A man like you deserves to be single for the rest of your life. Other than me, nobody would ever like you."

Having said that, Bai Yuesheng added emphatically, "And now I don't like you either!"

Watching Bai Yuesheng constantly speak of liking him, Gu Jiuque felt somewhat lost. Did Bai Yuesheng truly like him?

Gu Jiuque thought that if one truly liked someone, one should want that person to become better and better. Yet Bai Yuesheng's affection had kicked him while he was at his lowest. Like gangrene clinging to the bone, it had gnawed away at his flesh, blood, sinews, and bones bit by bit, until nothing but a pile of white bones remained. Was such affection truly worth anything?

Having been reborn, Gu Jiuque no longer wanted to like Bai Yuesheng, nor did he want Bai Yuesheng to like him anymore.

As long as Bai Yuesheng did not like him, he would be unable to use that affection as a blade to harm him so many times. Gu Jiuque would clearly recognize Bai Yuesheng as his enemy, the thief of his opportunities, and the beneficiary of his miserable fate. He would no longer drown in the false concern Bai Yuesheng offered him, gradually losing all strength to resist, until even his corpse and grave became someone else's stepping stone.

"Leave." Gu Jiuque looked at Bai Yuesheng tenderly. "Stop saying that you like me. You don't actually like me as much as you claim. Otherwise, why wouldn't you listen to me? How could you bear to make me sad?"

Seeing Gu Jiuque say what he had wanted to say first, Bai Yuesheng was so angry his nose nearly crooked. He did not understand why Gu Jiuque's attitude was so hot and cold. Even if his reasons for liking Gu Jiuque were not entirely pure, some of his feelings for Gu Jiuque were genuine. Having his feelings trampled on again and again by the person he liked, even someone as thick-skinned as Bai Yuesheng could not endure it.

"Fine! I'm leaving right now! Don't you regret it!" Bai Yuesheng viciously tossed out that threat before turning and leaving.

Gu Jiuque escorted him all the way beyond the front gate, watched Bai Yuesheng's retreating figure disappear, then slowly closed the gate.

Looking at the gate slamming shut behind him, Bai Yuesheng could no longer control his emotions. His expression instantly darkened, and he stared fixedly at the tightly closed gate for a long time without saying a word.

After seeing Bai Yuesheng off, Gu Jiuque slung his toolbox over his back and carefully inspected the entire residence. It was late summer, blazing hot enough to melt gold and stone, the heat oppressive. Yet he had no mind to admire the old residence's landscape of flowers carpeting the ground and carefully arranged rocks. The fire from his previous life still haunted him.

Reborn into this life, the first thing Gu Jiuque needed to do was make sure there were no fire hazards anywhere in the old residence. Only then did he finally set his mind at ease and return to the study along the winding covered corridor. The summer breeze lightly stirred the banana leaves outside the window. Gu Jiuque sat before the desk and carefully examined the Jade Celestial Pivot he had just removed from around his neck.

It was a piece of white Hetian jade, shaped like a bi disc. Three toothed mechanisms protruded from its outer rim, and each section held six tiny mechanisms. Faint red markings could be seen within the jade, dark red like fresh blood.

Holding Jade Celestial Pivot up to the sunlight and examining it closely, he could catch fleeting glimpses of faint cracks at the right angle. The cracks were dense and crisscrossed, like the crazing on porcelain. It was precisely because of these intricate cracks that many people believed this ancient jade was worthless. They also could not understand why this seemingly valueless Jade Celestial Pivot had become the Gu family's heirloom.

After examining it for a moment, Gu Jiuque picked up a utility knife and cut his arm. The blood that spilled out dripped onto Jade Celestial Pivot in an instant. The streaming blood covered the entire piece of jade. Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and the blood on Jade Celestial Pivot was instantly absorbed. The jade that had been resting quietly in Gu Jiuque's palm abruptly rose into the air, then shot into the center of his brow with lightning speed.