Chapter 2

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“???”
In a novel, being locked up basically means the character is offline, so they might still catch tomorrow’s morning meeting.

Yu Congyan was utterly shocked by these words—had this person finally lost their mind?

He was more inclined to think it was a bluff: “You don’t really think I have no other evidence, do you?”

“That’s even better,” Xia Wansheng said, overjoyed.

Every crime deserves to be punished by law; the longer the sentence, the sooner he’d go offline. At least in prison, there’s food, shelter, early bedtime, and no unpaid overtime or sudden death from exhaustion.

It was practically a paradise for overworked employees.

“Ringing…”

If not for the ringtone interrupting, Yu Congyan might have been the first to lose his mind.

The phone rang, breaking their conversation. Xia Wansheng pushed him aside and, like lightning, swiped open the call screen. But it wasn’t the boss on the other end—it was an urgent voice: “Bro, did you get the stuff? You said I’d back you up, but I haven’t seen a trace of you in ages.”

Evidence delivered on a silver platter?!

Xia Wansheng’s pupils contracted in shock. Just as he was about to advise the caller to confess for leniency, an impatient voice came through the phone.

Xia Ye, smoking in the cold wind, clicked his tongue, frustrated: “Bro, are you chickening out? I’m telling you Yu Congyan’s no good—always cozying up to those little celebrities. We have to let him take a hard fall to appreciate you…”

How could this teammate’s words come with such a dumb-down aura? The evidence was perfectly matched—absolutely brilliant.

Xia Wansheng patted his conscience and warned, “Stop. Tonight’s not the right time.”

If they kept going, it’d practically become courtroom evidence.

Xia Ye didn’t notice: “Not the right time tonight?! Are you out of your mind? Yu Congyan’s even checked into a hotel with that popular young actress tonight. And you still like him? You…”

Yu Congyan was stunned by this wildly reckless villain, even exchanging messages in front of him. Only then did he speak faster than his thoughts, voice trembling: “Since when did I check into a hotel with anyone?”

“Stop,” Xia Wansheng interrupted, no longer caring about the sudden silence on the other end. Thoughtfully, he handed the phone to Yu Congyan. “You two talk. I’ve got a headache—going to take a shower.”

The bathroom was filled with a faint mist.

Xia Wansheng locked the door behind him, ignoring the person outside who was completely dumbfounded.

He sighed, then used the foggy bathroom mirror to examine himself.

He slapped himself hard.

Ouch, that hurts.

This wasn’t a dream.

…

Well, Xia Wansheng didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

In any case, his heart was utterly calm—living was barely better than dying.

After some effort, he removed the original owner’s heavy makeup. The reflection in the mirror looked much fresher, and his aura softened.

Only then did Xia Wansheng truly feel he had entered the book. He tried to awaken the system in his mind, but only the two sentences from earlier kept looping, causing a headache.

Five million…

A golden ticket.

What could it do? It was quite a sum.

He slowly sank into the bathtub. The temperature was perfect, lulling him into drowsiness as the fatigue from consecutive overtime shifts surged up.

Xia Wansheng always held himself to high standards. He had finally earned the chance to take the lead alone. If he could complete this project, his year-end bonus would double, allowing him to move out of the urban village he had lived in for nearly ten years, no longer enduring the morning rush hour on the subway.

Yet now, it seemed he had painlessly arrived in heaven—albeit a trial version.

This game was cruel.

The bathroom tiles were visibly expensive, and the entire villa, seemingly built halfway up a mountain, offered a breathtaking view of misty peaks as he soaked.

Damn capitalism.

Xia Wansheng stopped arguing with the system, now realizing that if he worked hard to become the CEO’s favorite who went offline early, he could take the five million bonus back to reality.

If successful, he would convert those five bucks into Indonesian rupiah at an exchange rate of 2,100—stack after stack—to slap his boss’s face, venting his anger.

Time flew during his thoughts. When Xia Wansheng snapped back, the bathwater had cooled.

He closed his eyes, letting overwhelming sleepiness spread through his limbs. His wrists weakened, unable to support his body, and he slowly slid down the bathtub until the warm water covered his mouth and nose. He quietly sank beneath the surface.

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The vast bathroom was silent except for occasional dripping water.

“Drip, drip.”

The water noise ceased from the bathroom’s direction. Yu Congyan instinctively turned his head.

He had been on the phone with his assistant.

Xia Ye, who had been bullying Xia Wansheng earlier, hung up the moment he heard Yu Congyan’s voice, leaving only a busy signal tone.

Yu Congyan’s expression turned cold as he commanded his assistant: “Investigate Xia Ye. See if anyone else was involved in stealing company secrets. If this happens again, resign yourselves!”

The assistant responded eagerly, afraid the boss might decide to acquire several companies, forcing everyone to endure nonstop overtime under their workaholic CEO.

Soon the call returned: “Mr. Yu, we checked Xia Ye’s recent trade dealings but found no signs of him being coerced.”

“Have you traced the rumor’s source?”

“So far, only a few gossip tabloids have reported it. We’ve contacted them all to retract the stories.”

The assistant, unsure of the boss’s thoughts, cautiously asked, “Do you want extensive publicity or...”

“File a lawsuit. Sue until they apologize.” Yu Congyan was merciless.

He couldn’t tolerate such baseless rumors affecting the company’s stock price.

The whole situation was extremely abnormal. A few days ago, Xia Wansheng was still eagerly seeking attention from him. Now it seemed he had realized that route was dead and planned to change tactics?

Yu Congyan warned himself: no matter what tricks the other party planned this time, he must not believe them lightly. The brutal ending of his previous life was vivid in his mind. This time, he must personally drag the betrayer to hell.

In his past life, he was too careless, focusing only on fending off the overt attacks from his elder brother Yu Xuan, unaware that hidden daggers were harder to defend against.

Tonight’s events were full of doubts; he must not let his guard down... Suddenly, Yu Congyan’s thoughts sharpened: why hadn’t Xia Wansheng come out of the bathroom yet?

He stood abruptly. Xia Wansheng’s mood had been unstable, and being alone only amplified negative emotions. Could something else have happened?

With no time to consider how to negotiate in this situation, Yu Congyan twisted the door lock several times to no response. He angrily pounded on the thick glass door, regretting having chosen the soundproof material—there was no way to confirm if the other was safe.

He wasn’t afraid Xia Wansheng was dead; he just feared he wouldn’t be able to take revenge.

He had no choice but to break the door down!

“Bang!” The bathroom door shattered, fragments flying. Yu Congyan strode in searching.

“What are you doing, Xia Wansheng...”

What met his eyes was Xia Wansheng sinking at the bottom of the tub, submerged for an unknown length of time.

A sudden explosion rang in Yu Congyan’s mind.

His deep pupils constricted sharply. He immediately reached out and pulled the drenched man from the chilly water!

“Xia Wansheng, are you really crazy or just pretending?!”

He thought himself calm enough, but his slender fingers trembled as he checked Xia Wansheng’s pulse at his neck.

In the darkness, Xia Wansheng felt his soul being pulled from both sides. The light grew brighter and brighter until he finally saw a dazzling white glow and joyfully opened his eyes.

He locked eyes with Yu Congyan, standing just above him.

Seeing him awake, Yu Congyan snapped back to full alertness, realizing his earlier lapse.

His face returned to cold composure as he released his grip and roughly dropped Xia Wansheng down. Xia Wansheng coughed for a long time before recovering, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.

Yu Congyan’s expression was grim as he strode past the man sitting on the bathroom floor. “Dry off, then change into clothes in my bedroom.”

“Sorry,” Xia Wansheng’s voice was hoarse as he just regained strength.

Yu Congyan was indifferent, not bothering to expose him: “Where on earth did you learn these extreme methods? I’m telling you, you will never threaten me. Stop deceiving yourself.”

After his tirade, Yu Congyan noticed Xia Wansheng’s confused expression.

“You misunderstand,” Xia Wansheng said earnestly. “That’s not what I meant.”

Yu Congyan’s expression remained cold. “The contract issue is under investigation. The results will speak for themselves.”

Xia Wansheng shook his head again. “No, I just meant your shirt seems like it can’t get wet…”

“...” Yu Congyan swore never to follow Xia Wansheng’s train of thought again. He glanced at him and turned away.

Xia Wansheng had just been dragged out of the icy bathwater, soaking wet. The collar of his shirt had been pulled open in the rush, revealing a delicate collarbone.

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Yu Congyan found even looking at it irritating.

A moment later.

In the bedroom, Xia Wansheng clutched an obviously large sleeping shirt, hesitating: “I have clothes in my room. I’ll go change...”

Yu Congyan closed the book on microexpression psychology in his hands and said coldly, “You want to get out of my sight? Xia Wansheng, I’m telling you, it’s not that easy.”

Xia Wansheng looked troubled. “Do you really have to watch me change?”

The system never mentioned that the arrogant CEO in the book had such a hobby.

Yu Congyan chuckled: “Given your previous threats, until you reveal who’s behind you, you won’t leave my sight for a second tonight.”

Xia Wansheng tried to argue, “There really is no one behind me...”

“Then change here.”

“...” Xia Wansheng gave up resisting and turned his back, undoing the buttons on his shirt one by one. The wet shirt was translucent, faintly revealing the contours of his abs.

Yu Congyan couldn’t look away but tried to cover it up, “What’s that injury on your left hand?”

Xia Wansheng looked down and saw a half-inch-long cut on his left wrist. He recalled, “Probably scratched it accidentally in the bathroom.”

Who in their right mind gets a wrist cut in the bathroom?

Xia Wansheng must think he’s an idiot.

Yu Congyan’s mind flashed through countless social news reports—could it be another ploy to win his pity?

He gave Xia Wansheng a deep, cold stare and finally said, “I’ll tell the butler to put away all knives at home starting tomorrow.”

To prevent similar ‘accidents’ from happening without his knowledge.

“...Suit yourself.”

Xia Wansheng hadn’t realized acting and overtime were so exhausting. He just wanted to turn off the lights and sleep, planning to think again in the morning if there had been some misunderstanding.

He reached to switch off the bedside lamp but was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by Yu Congyan, whose deep gaze seemed to see through his true identity.

“What now?” Xia Wansheng frowned.

Yu Congyan’s eyes searched him: “I remember you telling me before that you’re afraid of the dark and need light to sleep.”

Yu Congyan was increasingly convinced: this man was lying continuously, teasing him.

His motives behind it must be complicated...

“Snap!” His thoughts were abruptly cut off as Xia Wansheng slapped away his slender hand and turned off the nightlight.

“That was a lie.”

Darkness enveloped the bedroom.

Xia Wansheng fell asleep peacefully, leaving the usually composed Yu Congyan tossing and turning, staring at the vague crystal chandelier in the dark.

Had his mental state seriously deteriorated? Did he have an incurable illness? Or a split personality?

The more Yu Congyan thought, the more convinced he was that this matter involved a big mess. His top priority was to wake the person and get to the bottom of things.

Xia Wansheng was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a vigorous shake on his shoulder, mixed with repeated calls.

Had the boss assigned him a task at three in the morning again?

Overworked Xia just wanted to ignore it, turning over and burying himself in the soft blanket.

Yu Congyan was helpless. He opened the communication device and asked his doctor friend, “Have there been any issues with Xia Wansheng’s recent checkups?”

No reply.

After all, it was three in the morning.

Yu Congyan dialed a number; a pleasant female voice answered:

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off.”

“...” How could people in their prime manage to sleep so well?