Page 11

Gu Bai smiled and reached out to pat Mocha. "Thanks, Mocha. As a reward for bringing me my shoes, pick something you want from the snack box."

Mocha immediately ran over to the snack box to look for a treat, stopping in front of it and standing motionless as though considering what to choose. In the end, Mocha picked up a bag of rawhide chicken dental chews.

Gu Bai opened the bag and took out a dental chew for Mocha, who then happily gnawed on it in the dog bed.

Gu Bai went back to lounging on the sofa. The whole day's turn of events really had left him a little dazed. He had never expected a back-from-the-dead plotline to happen around him. He had thought this was just a simple novel about infighting in a wealthy family, and that a minor cannon fodder character like him probably wouldn't have any more scenes later on. He had planned to enjoy life with his eighty million.

By the end of the day, he had the eighty million safely in hand, along with the right to inherit shares that everyone wanted, without even having to manage the company right away. Where else could he find a deal this good?

Gu Bai's determination to coast through life had taken root. In his previous life, he had been the powerful backer everyone clung to. Now his backers were the Gu family and that will. Clinging to them without having to do anything was pretty nice.

Gu Bai had never given any thought to what would happen next in the plot. Taking things as they came was his rule now.

Why bother doing so much? Otherwise, he might end up like those three in the Gu family, drawing water with a wicker basket and coming away with nothing.

Gu Bai resumed his comfortable life with just himself and his dog, sleeping until he woke naturally every day, taking Mocha for walks around the residential complex after breakfast, and occasionally trying something new, like games he had never touched in his previous life.

The living room was now his entertainment space, with several game controllers laid out on the table. After meals, he would recline on the sofa and start playing.

"Mocha, bring me the remote."

Mocha had been happily playing with a stuffed toy nearby, but at the command, the dog eagerly got up again and went over to pick up the remote from the table.

What Mocha didn't know was that Gu Bai only needed to sit up to reach the remote on the table, though every completed command earned a reward.

Gu Bai had already had a habit of drinking in his free time in his previous life. There was an ice cube in his glass, and the strong liquor splashed against it and was diluted, gaining a touch of chill as it entered his mouth. As the liquor flowed down his throat, its intense flavor followed.

The screen displayed the results of the previous round. This hardly seemed like an occasion for drinking, but Gu Bai enjoyed drinking alone, because he enjoyed that sense of solitude.

The living room air conditioner was on, sending out a gently cool breeze. Dressed in black pajamas, Gu Bai lounged lazily against the sofa. Feeling hot, he had undone two buttons at his collar, revealing part of his collarbones. His fingers deftly worked the controller, and the light from the screen reflected on his fair face.

His gaze was focused and serious, as though he were carrying out something important.

Just as he neared the spot where he had failed in the previous round, the phone on the table suddenly rang. Absorbed in the game, Gu Bai ignored it, only to fall right back down where he had picked himself up. He failed at the same spot again this round.

The screen once again displayed "game over."

Gu Bai wasn't annoyed. Only after setting down the controller did he unhurriedly pick up the phone beside him. Without checking who was calling, he answered and immediately heard the other person's accusatory question.

"Where did you go, little brother? What took you so long to answer?"

The caller was Gu Ruilin.

Gu Bai made up an excuse at random. "I was busy."

Gu Ruilin blurted out on the other end, "Busy, my ass. All you ever care about is that useless literature of yours. Who knows what got into Father's head... Never mind. Let me ask you something. You had a crush on a girl in a higher grade in high school, and you've never dated anyone, even now, right?"

That question held true for either Gu Bai. In his previous life, Gu Bai had still been single when he died. As for whether he had had a crush on an older girl in high school, that wasn't easy to answer, so he could only avoid the less important part and answer the main point.

"I've never dated anyone."

Gu Ruilin laughed and said with certainty, "So you're attracted to women."

In the world Gu Bai had transmigrated into, same-sex marriage was already legally recognized. Regardless of gender, anyone in love could register their marriage at the civil affairs bureau.

In his previous life, great expectations had been placed on Gu Bai from the moment he was born. Everything he did was what his elders wanted him to do. Because he had lived with so little sense of self, he had never fallen for anyone from beginning to end. He couldn't be sure of his sexual orientation either. He had relieved his desires by hand very few times, and the person in his dreams had never had a visible face. Even their body had never appeared in full, so he had no idea whether they were male or female.

Now that he was in the original owner's body, he was afraid that a single wrong word would arouse suspicion, so he went along with Gu Ruilin. "Mm."

For some reason, Gu Ruilin sounded a little excited. "So that means you'd find it unbearable to have a grown man sleeping beside you, right?"

Gu Bai gave an indifferent hum of agreement.

Gu Ruilin glanced at Gu Jiazi beside him and said into the phone, "Little brother, I'm your own brother. You need to know I'd never hurt you. I recently heard that Father is planning an arranged marriage between you and a man. He hasn't asked your opinion, has he?"

Gu Bai really hadn't known about the arranged marriage. Gu Haisheng hadn't told him beforehand.

"No. I only just found out."

Gu Ruilin said ambiguously, "Arranged marriages are very common among prominent families, but you're my little brother. We wouldn't push you into a living hell. There's a solution now: have our eldest sister take your place in the marriage."

Rather than agree, Gu Bai asked, "Who's the marriage partner?"

Gu Ruilin said, "You're not interested in men anyway. Who cares who he is?"

Gu Bai picked up the stuffed toy from the floor and threw it to the other side of the living room. Mocha dashed after it.

"All right."

Not long after Gu Ruilin hung up, Gu Haisheng called. He didn't say what it was about over the phone, only telling Gu Bai to come home tomorrow afternoon.

It was clearly about the arranged marriage. Gu Haisheng was probably afraid he would rebel and planned to tell him in person tomorrow, the reason being that Gu Haisheng didn't know his sexual orientation.