At dusk, in the Autumn Water Terrace villa district.
Ji Nanshu rang the Bai family's doorbell. It was laughable, really: as their adopted son, the original owner of this body did not even have a key to the Bai family's front door.
The butler came to answer it, looking astonished. "Third Young Master?! Why are you back?"
Ji Nanshu raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. "What? Am I not allowed to visit your Bai family?"
The butler choked, then smiled awkwardly. "Of course you are. Please come in. The master and madam will be delighted to know you're back."
Ji Nanshu looked at the butler's wrinkle-covered face, curled his lips slightly, and stepped inside.
Delighted? That was certainly impossible. After all, their biological son, Bai Nanyu, was still at home, "terribly wronged and desperately in need of comfort"!
As soon as Ji Nanshu entered, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Bai and Bai Nanyu, a happy family of three, enjoying dinner together.
Perhaps some lingering emotions from the body's original owner were at work. Seeing their family so happy and harmonious, Ji Nanshu found the scene unbearably jarring, and his heart ached in painful spasms.
Ji Nanshu had only just managed to calm himself and stop the original owner's emotions from controlling him when Mr. Bai, Bai Lin, slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a crack and snapped, "You still have the nerve to come back after doing something so disgraceful?! Apologize to Nanyu right now!!"
Who was Ji Nanshu? He was the state preceptor, second only to the sovereign and above everyone else. He had always been the one to berate others; no one berated him! Even the ruler of the Qiang Kingdom spoke gently to him.
Besides, what was an apology? Could he eat it?
So he shot back, "Nerve? Your Bai family has no shame, so why should I?! And apologize? Who does Bai Nanyu think he is? Does he really think no one can uncover what he did?"
Bai Nanyu looked aggrieved. "Third Brother... how could you say that about me? I really didn't do anything. Why are you falsely accusing me?"
Mr. Bai grew even angrier. "You actually dare to slander your younger brother!! You're beyond saving! You really are, really are..."
Without waiting for Mr. Bai to finish, Ji Nanshu cut him off. "Really am what? Didn't finish elementary school? Did your language teacher die before teaching you how to insult someone?"
"Here, I'll teach you. You're beyond saving, unrepentant, shameless, born to a mother who never raised you, utterly ill-mannered, ungrateful, heartless, worse than a beast..."
With every phrase Ji Nanshu uttered, Mr. Bai's face grew a shade paler. Finally, his lips trembling, he pointed at Ji Nanshu's nose and roared, "Get the hell out!!"
Liu Yanshuang glared venomously at Ji Nanshu. "Ji Nanshu, who gave you permission to come to our house?! You're a jinx, and you're not welcome here!"
In Liu Yanshuang's eyes, everything Ji Nanshu did was wrong. She firmly believed that he had brought every bad thing into the Bai family.
Bai Nanyu hurried forward to pat Mr. Bai's chest, comforting him as he cried, "Dad! Dad, don't be angry. Third Brother doesn't mean any of this. He must just be too angry... don't blame him."
"Third Brother, hurry up and apologize to Dad!"
It would have been better if Bai Nanyu had said nothing. His words only made Mr. Bai angrier. They should never have adopted Ji Nanshu in the first place! They had raised nothing but an ungrateful wretch!
Ji Nanshu could not be bothered to watch this display of fatherly affection and filial devotion. He plopped onto the sofa and said disdainfully, "I came to collect my things. Once I have them, I wouldn't come back even if you knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to beg me!"
Hmm, this sofa's nice. Maybe I should ask my sugar daddy later if he'll buy me one?
Bai Nanyu widened his eyes, looking perfectly innocent. "Huh? Third Brother, wasn't everything in this house bought with Mom and Dad's money?"
Ji Nanshu sneered. "Don't play word games with me. When the Bai family adopted me, there was a jade ring hanging around my neck. Give it to me."
Bai Nanyu's eyes shifted. His intuition told him the ring was important. He was just working out how to keep it when Mr. Bai spoke. "Yanshuang! Go get it for him!! Tell him to get out!"
"Third Brother... do you really have to take that ring?"
Ji Nanshu said, "If I don't, are you planning to keep it to bury with your parents?"
"You!! Third Brother!! How could you curse Mom and Dad like that?"
"Oh. Because I feel like it."
"Ji Nanshu!!!" Mr. Bai was so angry his heart seized.
Ji Nanshu answered with complete indifference. "Keep it down. I can hear you. You're old, so give that temper a rest. Stop shouting all day long. If you make yourself sick with anger, you'll blame me for it. I'm not taking the fall for that."
He had barely finished speaking when Mrs. Bai came downstairs with the ring. With her little finger raised, she held its edge between her right thumb and index finger, looking utterly disgusted.
Mrs. Bai tossed the ring to Ji Nanshu and said haughtily, "Take your things and get out!"
It was a jade ring shaped like a snake with its tail in its mouth. The jade was crystal clear, and the carving was lifelike. There seemed to be writing engraved inside, too. He would find a magnifying glass to examine it later.
Ji Nanshu inspected the ring carefully. Once he confirmed that it belonged to the original owner, he left the Bai house without hesitation.
Before leaving, Ji Nanshu cast a meaningful glance back at the Bai house. This family's happy days were numbered!
After Ji Nanshu's barrage of retorts, Mr. and Mrs. Bai had forgotten that they had originally intended to make him apologize to Bai Nanyu and then go to the He family to humbly beg forgiveness.
Ji Nanshu spread his hands. Is it my fault they can't take a few insults?
Just after leaving the Autumn Water Terrace villa district, as Ji Nanshu was worrying about how to get back to the original owner's home, a black luxury car stopped in front of him.
The rear window rolled down. When Ji Nanshu saw the person inside, his eyes lit up. He pattered over, opened the door, climbed in, and flung himself into the man's arms, all in one smooth motion.
"Good evening, my sugar daddy~" His voice was cloyingly sweet.
But Chu Mo thoroughly enjoyed it. He wrapped an arm around Ji Nanshu's waist, lowered his head to press a gentle kiss to his forehead, then told the driver, "Home."
Ah, in my previous life, I worked diligently for the Qiang Kingdom, with heavy responsibilities on my shoulders. Although I succeeded in saving the kingdom, I really never took the time to enjoy myself.
So in this life, he would experience every pleasure he had missed!