Word spread extremely fast online. After hearing that Wen Nan and Wen Ruohuai had nearly come to blows, quite a few people poured into the livestream.
Yet from beginning to end, no one paid any attention to Xie Zhuzhou, who had appeared midway through and then blissfully faded into the background again.
The production had only two non-celebrity participants. The director, who didn't want them stealing the spotlight, discovered that the guest he'd paid a million to make up the numbers had actually gone into hiding...
There was really no need to go that far. Director Wang took a sip of tea and glanced at the chunky gold watch on his wrist. It was already four or five in the afternoon. He instructed a member of the support staff to knock on Xie Zhuzhou's door and remind him to come down for dinner.
When the staff member came to get him, Xie Zhuzhou answered in a slightly nasal voice, "No need to prepare dinner for me." Then he went back to sleep.
Perhaps because this body was severely sleep-deprived, Xie Zhuzhou didn't feel hungry even after showering that evening, so he went back to sleep again.
After the original owner turned eighteen, his nanny and driver had retired and left, leaving him all alone. Sometimes he didn't eat on time, but his stomach didn't hurt.
For now, it was probably because he was young; no problems had shown themselves yet.
Early the next morning, the breeze was cool.
A little after seven, Xie Zhuzhou jolted awake from a dream. He slowly sat up, sweat pouring down his forehead, and pressed a hand over his heart as he gasped for breath.
Whew-
In his dream, the original owner, who looked exactly like him, had told him to live well and to go see his father if he had the chance.
It would count as saying goodbye to his family.
Though arriving in this world was a novel experience, Xie Zhuzhou felt no sense of security at all. In his dream, he had desperately tried to grab the original owner, wanting to swap their bodies back. Perhaps he could return to his own era; perhaps it was all just a fleeting dream. Yet his hands had still closed on nothing.
"Grrr~"
His stomach finally felt hungry. He remembered the original owner's words and returned to reality.
After slowly calming himself down, he smoothed his neat, short hair, then got out of bed to wash up.
Taking his time finishing all that, he put on a white long-sleeved shirt as a base layer, pulled a gray sweatshirt over it, and paired black trousers with sneakers whose value wasn't readily apparent before heading out.
Wanting to remain invisible was an art in itself for Xie Zhuzhou, and it was hard not to attract attention on a show. Clearly, being a good background prop wasn't easy work.
Once Xie Zhuzhou had his clothes and shoes on, his presence was so understated that hardly anyone noticed him.
After all, the production had originally consisted of five men and three women. Now that an attention magnet like Wen Nan had appeared, who still remembered him?
The guests who hadn't heard Xie Zhuzhou introduce himself all assumed he was a college student working part-time on the crew. Though surprised by his good looks, they could only let their gazes pass briefly over him.
Watching Xie Zhuzhou move with ease among the guests while still seeming like an outsider, Director Wang frowned slightly, his feelings complicated.
This Xie Zhuzhou is far too obedient, he thought. If this show breaks out, getting into the entertainment industry with his looks wouldn't be difficult.
Xie Zhuzhou felt like a ghost. Only when he reached the kitchen did he freeze.
In his previous life, he'd been a concubine-born young master, but a young master nonetheless, one who had never lifted a finger for household chores...
In this life, he was also a young master and likewise had no idea how to make breakfast.
He was really hungry.
His stomach was growling, and he was starting to see stars.
Remembering that last night's meal was the only one the production provided for free, he stood rooted to the spot.
Would ordering takeout draw too much attention?
What if I make a complete mess of the kitchen trying to cook?
For someone with social anxiety, mooching a meal was practically fatal.
Just standing in this living room, with five people in it altogether, made him feel like holding his breath and treading carefully just to survive.
He took a deep breath.
Suddenly, he missed the four manservants who had tended to his every need in his previous life, even though there hadn't been much communication between master and servants...
He opened the fridge and saw milk and bread, but didn't know whether they belonged to someone else.
Forget it. Rather than asking someone, I might as well go out and buy something myself.
He turned and carefully closed the fridge, shutting it with a soft click.
Director Wang: ...
Xie Zhuzhou was far too quiet, and Director Wang didn't know what to do with him. After all, he didn't want to pay Xie Zhuzhou a contract termination penalty just to get him off the show and stop him freeloading.
Of course, he wasn't actually freeloading. He was simply acting according to the contract.
For the first time, Director Wang felt he'd shot himself in the foot. There had originally been eight guests planned, and now there were nine.
With an extra, ghostlike Xie Zhuzhou around, he didn't know how to arrange things.
But he was even less willing to give up the traffic Wen Nan brought.
How much money did the production even make? After thinking it over, he decided to leave Xie Zhuzhou as he was. The termination penalty was five million, but why should Xie Zhuzhou earn five million for doing nothing?
We're all workhorses, so why are you so lucky?
Director Wang gritted his teeth and decided to leave Xie Zhuzhou alone for now.
The staff found it strange too, but no one brought it up with Xie Zhuzhou.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhuzhou walked out the front door. Seeing that no one was following him with a camera gave him the nervous feeling of climbing a wall to skip school and go have fun.
With his hands in his pockets and a hat on, he walked nearly eight hundred meters before leaving the villa complex. Fortunately, the villa where they were filming the dating show wasn't too deep inside, or he really would have starved to death.
Xie Zhuzhou took out his phone and scanned a shared electric bike. Relying on the original owner's memories, he awkwardly got the hang of it. It was his first time, and he was a little nervous, but also very excited.
After he wobbled onto the road, the cool morning breeze brushed his face, slightly chilly.
Maple leaves drifted down, and the cool wind swept them up, scattering them into every corner of the quiet streets.
An occasional two or three cars passed along the road, indicating that the people living in this upscale villa complex,
He kept riding without looking at a map. After who knew how long, the aroma of flaky pancakes wafting from a roadside breakfast stall made him swallow.
He bought a flaky pancake and a bottle of yogurt, stopped the bike by the roadside, and sat on a bench to eat at his leisure. This was his first time eating outside.
A novel experience.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Xie Zhuzhou was ready to go back. But when he rode to the villa complex, he suddenly couldn't remember which villa it was...
Oh well.
I'll go back when the director starts urging me.
Xie Zhuzhou turned around again, planning to wander until noon, when he could have lunch and eat outside while he was at it.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, the staff member who had spoken to him yesterday spotted him.
Xie Zhuzhou: ...