"You drank my Coke," Shi Yan said.
Well, he had spoken, and it was seven words again.
"Oh, come on, young master, don't be stingy. What's drunk is drunk. I'll pour you another glass, so don't be mad." Yingjun hurried to soothe him, swiftly collected the glass, and ran to the kitchen to bring out another Coke.
"Sorry, I was a little thirsty just now, and before I realized it... I drank it," Li Yi said.
"My fault! I only poured one glass." Yingjun bravely stepped forward for his new friend and pointed at the glass. "Young master, this glass has more than the last one. You haven't lost out."
"..."
"..."
Shi Yan stayed silent for several dozen seconds, picked up the glass, and took a sip of Coke before looking at Li Yi. "Go back to work."
"Oh." Li Yi turned and went to the back garden.
As though possessed, Shi Yan stayed in the villa all afternoon, much to Yingjun's delight.
At last, the villa felt a little more alive. Yingjun had an overwhelming urge to talk and couldn't help wanting to sidle up to Shi Yan and chat.
"Get lost." Shi Yan was succinct.
"Will do." Yingjun agreed instantly while inwardly cursing, then ran over to Li Yi and started playing music again.
Heartbroken Mozart played on repeat.
You have your fingers on my pulse, but you don't love me
It's fine, I don't care at all
You barely give me the time of day
But I won't let you spoil my fun
Li Yi gave him a look filled with mixed feelings, just as several lines of text popped up on his screen.
Why won't you love me?
It's okay if you don't say, because I
I never change, a victim of love
"..." Never mind. He didn't know what to say to comfort him anyway.
Shi Yan walked a lap around the back garden. He didn't know why he had come to the Wisteria Garden villa either. When he heard his assistant say that the investigation had been wrong and that he had misunderstood Li Yi, he had been eager to come see him.
"Meow~" A cat's cry came from the little wooden hut in Doggy Paradise.
Why was there a cat in Doggy Paradise, and such a fat Tuxedo Cat at that?
He moved closer to look. The Tuxedo Cat was ingratiatingly wiping the glass and acting cute at him, hinting that he wanted to come out and play.
"Stupid and ugly." Shi Yan walked away mercilessly. Why would any animal be foolish enough to try to please him? Did he look like a good person?
Only after standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows and looking at the back garden for half an hour did Shi Yan quietly leave.
"Has he gone?" Li Yi asked.
"Gone, gone! Quick, let's go inside for some ice-cold Coooke. It's hot as crap out here." Even Yingjun had developed an electronic accent from baking in the sun.
Bracing both hands on his knees, Li Yi struggled to stand. The human and robot hurried toward the air-conditioned living room.
Only after his first sip of ice-cold Coke did Li Yi come back to life, letting out a long breath. Squatting under such blazing sunshine for an hour had practically killed him.
Hopefully Shi Yan won't come again.
Afraid Shi Yan would catch him slacking, Li Yi had diligently worked for a full hour without daring to slack off at all!
He sprawled on the sofa until his shift ended, ate the dinner Yingjun had ordered, and only then went to Doggy Paradise to pick up Sheriff and tuck him into the cat carrier.
Sheriff seemed to be in a bad mood. Could it be that he disliked staying in a little wooden hut meant for dogs?
I'd better take him to the pet shop tomorrow. All the people coming and going would suit his love of an audience.
When he reached the Lu family villa, sure enough, no one was waiting for him to have dinner. Only the elderly butler asked him about it.
Li Yi answered the elderly butler and went upstairs with the cat carrier on his back.
He was lucky today and hadn't run into any of the Lu family on his return. In a good mood, he opened a can of meat for Sheriff before turning on his computer to start learning about plant care.
Many of the plants in Shi Yan's back garden were expensive varieties he had never encountered before. Delicate and costly, they could easily die without proper care. He still needed to learn more to do this job well.
-Beep beep.
Just then, his phone suddenly chimed. Li Yi picked it up and saw that Yingjun had sent him a message.
Yingjun: [Photos x9] Edited these for you to post on Moments, to commemorate your first day as a little gardener.
11: Thanks. [Sheriff acting cute]
Yingjun: [Little penguin wiggling] You're welcome. What time are you coming tomorrow? I'll get breakfast ready for you.
11: I'll arrive at nine. Thanks.
Yingjun: [OK]
Li Yi looked at the photos Yingjun had sent. This was the first time since his rebirth that he had seen himself from someone else's perspective. So there were times when he smiled this happily in front of others, too.
He really looked like himself before returning to the Lu family, so happy and full of hope for the future.
After a moment's thought, he saved the photos and posted them on WeChat Moments with the caption: Commemorating my first day as a little gardener.
He hid this post from the Lu family and anyone who had harbored malice toward him in his previous life.
As soon as he posted it, people started liking and commenting.
The elderly residents at the nursing home liked the post to encourage him and praised how handsome he looked in the photos.
Li Yi smiled as he replied to them one by one, then put down his phone and continued studying.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Lu Junjia and Lu Xingluo stole a glance upstairs, then went to the storage room to find the spare key to Li Yi's room.
"Third Sis, Li Yi keeps a pretty regular schedule. He's usually in bed by ten at night. If we go over at midnight, he should be deep asleep."
Lu Junjia raised the spray in his hand and lowered his voice. "This is the most effective bug-killing pesticide my friend recommended. Apparently, it's highly toxic. A few sprays will pretty much kill a small animal stone dead."
"This is good." Lu Xingluo took the pesticide and shook it in her hand. "It's pretty small and doesn't weigh much. It'll be easy for us to spray and leave."
"I specifically bought the smallest size. Once we're done spraying, we'll destroy the evidence. Li Yi definitely won't find out. By the time he wakes up, that cat's corpse will already be cold."
"Good, hahaha..." Lu Xingluo happily patted Lu Junjia on the shoulder. "Well done. If you pull this off, I'll forgive you for your last mistake."
"Thank you, Third Sis." Putting on an obedient act, Lu Junjia stood at attention and raised his right hand. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission assigned by the organization."
"All right." Amused, Lu Xingluo covered her mouth and laughed, pulling his hand down. "The organization will be waiting for your good news!"
At ten that night, Li Yi yawned and glanced at the time on his computer screen. It was already his usual bedtime, but he hadn't finished reading today's study materials.
He stood, stretched, and went to the next room to check on Sheriff.
The Tuxedo Cat was a night owl. He was quite curious to see Li Yi come over at this hour. The two-legged creature was usually asleep around now, so why had he come to play today?
He was a little excited and wanted to invite Li Yi to play with him.
Feeling sleepy, Li Yi simply picked up a little ball and played with Sheriff for a while.
After ten minutes of play, he felt awake and sat back down at his computer to study. He kept studying until eleven thirty before climbing into bed.
He had only just begun to feel drowsy when he heard the door lock move.
Before you continue