Stealing the Spotlight

Song Anning had never imagined that before he had even gotten started on this trip upstairs, he would suffer a covert loss first. The bronze mirror in his hand, engraved with the three characters Song Anning, stabbed painfully at his eyes. It had clearly been tailor-made for him.

He had eagerly come upstairs, only to carelessly fall into Guo Lantai's trap. With one dashing reach, he had plucked "himself" right down.

Had he just awarded himself a bronze medal?

And Guo Lantai's words just now gave him no choice but to believe him. Why?

Because before he could even voice his refusal, Guo Lantai had turned around, gone back inside, and emerged carrying a bag. Sure enough, he quickly rummaged several more bronze mirrors of the same style out of his backpack.

Song Anning's expression cracked at the sight!

Though he was not sure whether every mirror had his name engraved on the back, Song Anning could say for certain that the mirror on Guo Lantai's door would definitely stay up tonight.

What was the use of taking down one? Guo Lantai had an endless supply of replacements. It was not something he could clear away by climbing the stairs a few times.

Clutching the bronze mirror tightly, he wished he could immediately hang it on his own door, with the reflective side pointed straight at Guo Lantai's door upstairs. At worst, they could reflect each other and see whose evil aura was stronger, whose bad luck was worse.

The Dao rose one foot, the devil rose ten. He might not necessarily lose to Guo Lantai!

But the moment that thought surfaced, he snuffed it out himself. There was no way such bizarre things could appear on his door.

Because directly across from his room was Cen Muxiao's room. Hanging up a mirror would not that be cursing Cen Muxiao? Had he lived long enough already?

The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, yet Song Anning could not think of a solution for the moment. Just as dissatisfaction and grievance welled up inside him, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

An idea immediately came to him, and his tone softened. "Mr. Guo, I know you hold a grudge against me. You blame me for taking Muxiao's attention away and neglecting you, but there is no need to target me so deliberately. You know my health is poor and I cannot handle stimulation. This kind of joke really cannot be made!

"Besides, I'm timid too. Once you hang that mirror up, I feel uncomfortable all over, afraid it might truly attract something unclean. It would be one thing if I had to bear the consequences, but what if it affected Muxiao's fortune? As his husband, you should be thinking of him!"

Guo Lantai played with two palm-sized bronze mirrors in his hands. Seeing Song Anning shift so abruptly from furious indignation to humble reason, he knew the green-tea act was back online.

And what did the green-tea act coming online mean? It meant the main spectator had arrived!

With that thought, the corners of his lips lifted slightly. Then he let out a long sigh and spoke helplessly. "Mr. Song, you've truly spoken my heart. I hung the mirrors because I was scared. I told you before that I am most afraid of living on the top floor or in an attic.

"Don't laugh, but it may be because I watched too many horror movies when I was younger. They left me traumatized! I had only stayed here one night before I started having dreams, so I went back to my own home for two days to recover."

He paused briefly, then smoothly stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. "Since you're here, why not come in and have a look? See whether my room is gloomy and lifeless, so creepy just to look at.

"I'm not as fortunate as Mr. Song, able to live directly across from my husband. He is a capable man with righteous energy strong enough to suppress every direction. Yet as his husband, all I can do is envy you. I cannot borrow his light, so I can only find my own solution.

"Right now, I'm the only one living on the third floor. Hanging a mirror on my door does not bother anyone else. If the light occasionally reflects downstairs, that is merely a natural phenomenon. You're so understanding, surely you can sympathize with me!

"Besides, I gave you one too. You may not need it now, but when you rent your own place and move out someday, it will come in handy. Don't you think?"

Song Anning was nearly dumbfounded by his lengthy speech. He had just been about to put on a tragic performance for Cen Muxiao, so why was Guo Lantai stealing the scene? Every sentence was a display of meekness and misery, brimming with helplessness and bitterness.

If he let him keep talking, he would start crying next!

This was not right! That was not his tone just now!

"Guo Lantai, you're not a child anymore. Why are you still using such a ridiculous excuse? Perhaps you were spoiled by the Guo Family and cannot adapt to the decor here, but every brick, tile, blade of grass, and tree in the Cen family is priceless.

"You complain about this and dislike that, but do you know that the room you're staying in is the most unique room in the entire villa?"

That immediately piqued Guo Lantai's interest. He glanced sideways at him and asked, "Oh? Does it have some special history?"

Though he asked aloud, he could not help snorting inwardly. Was not his room indeed the most unusual one in the entire villa? Of all the rooms on the first and second floors, which one was more gloomy and oppressive than this?

Since he had asked, Song Anning wore an expression that said, You truly are ignorant, though his words became gentler as he kindly explained, "Muxiao tells me many things. This room holds special meaning for him, and ordinarily, no one can simply move in.

"Forget it, I won't beat around the bush. I'll be direct. This room was once occupied by Muxiao's maternal grandfather. After he passed away, no one else was allowed to set foot here. Being able to stay here is an honor for you!

"Muxiao has special feelings for this villa. That is why he has insisted on living here all these years. It holds too many unforgettable memories for him.

"Mr. Guo, you should be content."

Song Anning delivered that speech with great feeling in one breath, then looked at him calmly, thinking that he had already brought up Cen Muxiao's deceased grandfather. If this man continued making trouble, he would be touching one of Cen Muxiao's bottom lines.

But just when he thought Guo Lantai would react excessively upon learning that this had been a dead man's room, Guo Lantai's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and he burst into tears on the spot. "I was wondering why, after only one night here, I dreamed of someone rubbing my head. So it was Grandpa coming to see his new grandson-in-law.

"In that case, there's nothing to feel uncomfortable about. With Grandpa keeping me company, there really is no need to hang these bronze mirrors. They're all yours. They'll come in useful when you move in the future. Remember, their miraculous effect is single-use only. Change one every time you move, and the effect will last a long time!"

Still sobbing, Guo Lantai stuffed the entire backpack into Song Anning's arms, then moved to close the door.

But Song Anning quickly came to his senses and stopped him. "No, Guo Lantai, is something wrong with your brain? What does any of this have to do with anything? Explain yourself!"

Change one every time he moved? Was he cursing him to keep moving in the future, never having a stable home? How hateful!

Guo Lantai answered completely off-topic, "Even if something is wrong with my brain, Grandpa touched it. I'm happy about it. Aren't you timid? Take all these mirrors back and ward off evil with them. Good luck!"

After saying that, Guo Lantai cheerfully slammed the door shut. Then he leaned against the wall, stopped crying, and gave a roguish smile. Heh. Song Anning actually had the nerve to use someone else's deceased grandfather as an argument.

He had put on such a convincing performance. Let's see how that big pig hoof could still have the nerve to come upstairs and stand up for Song Anning!

Song Anning, suddenly left holding a huge bag of bronze mirrors, froze completely in place. What was going on? How had things developed in this direction?

Was Guo Lantai not afraid of ghosts?

Did being afraid of ghosts depend on who the ghost was?

And was Cen Muxiao really just letting Guo Lantai direct and perform this whole scene by himself?

Shouldn't he have rushed up to defend him the moment they clashed? Why was he secretly observing instead?

He spun around sharply, and the backpack in his arms fell to the ground. Cen Muxiao was nowhere to be seen downstairs. He was one hundred percent certain that what he had seen just now was not an illusion. Cen Muxiao had actually ignored his humiliation and pretended not to see anything!

He had actually believed Guo Lantai's nonsense!