In the room on the right side of the third floor of the villa, a strikingly handsome young man stood by the window, glaring angrily downward.

“Knock, knock.” The person outside the door knocked twice but entered without waiting for the room’s owner to respond.

Ji Chunhua turned around, and upon seeing who it was, his anger intensified. “You still dare to come in?”

Gu Yongsheng didn’t back off despite the man’s anger. Instead, he approached with a gentle smile. “Ah Hua, I know you’re angry, but rest assured, no one is going to drive you out of this house. You are still the young master of the Ji family, and we will continue to live happily in this household.”

“Say that again, I dare you!” The superstar, known for not hiding his temper even in the entertainment industry, pointed at Gu Yongsheng’s nose and shouted, “Who’s living happily ever after with you?!”

Gu Yongsheng remained gentle as ever. He took hold of Ji Chunhua’s pointing finger and lightly clasped it in his palm. When he saw Ji Chunhua’s ears turn red, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The reactions of the other Ji family members downstairs made him start to doubt himself. He even doubted his own judgment and whether his protagonist halo had failed him.

Acting decisively, he hurried away from that place to seek out the most influential member of the Ji family: The partner he had chosen for himself in this world. Half the reason for choosing the Ji family was because of Ji Chunhua. Family and a partner were equally important to him.

Seeing that Ji Chunhua was still normal, he felt more than halfway relieved.

He lowered his head with a smile and asked, “Don’t you want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Dream on!” Chunhua retorted, but his ears reddened even further, the blush nearly spreading to his face.

[Are they about to roll into bed again?]

Suddenly, a soft, childlike voice interrupted their conversation. Both of them turned their heads simultaneously.

Standing at the door were one adult and one child. The smaller one was clutching a milk tea bucket, her big, curious eyes fixed on them. The adult, Duan Chunshui, was holding a phone, seemingly… recording?

Ji Chunhua: “…?!”

Upon being caught, Duan Chunshui casually put down the phone and seriously asked, “Have you two slept together before?”

Ji Chunhua, flustered like an angry cat, was even more embarrassed than before. His face turned completely red, and he bellowed, “Who’s slept with him?! Duan Chunshui, do you think I’m that kind of person?!”

“Don’t be like that.” Gu Yongsheng held Ji Chunhua’s hand, and his other hand tried to wrap around Ji Chunhua’s waist but stopped suddenly, just a centimeter or two away.

He instinctively felt danger, like a sharp, icy thread coiling around his fingers. If he moved his hand forward even slightly, it would be cleanly severed.

He turned toward the doorway. Duan Chunshui stood there, his lashes lowered slightly, his gaze seemingly fixed on Gu Yongsheng’s hand.

“Dinner’s ready!” Ren Xi’s voice called out from the garden below.

That dangerous feeling instantly vanished.

Gu Yongsheng curled his fingers slightly and stared thoughtfully at Duan Chunshui’s retreating figure as he descended the stairs. Then he asked Ji Chunhua, “What does your cousin do for a living?”

“Why do you care what my cousin does?!” Ji Chunhua shot him a fierce glare. “I’m telling you—he’s my cousin!”

With that, he ran to Duan Chunshui’s side, awkward and embarrassed, his eyes slightly red.

Ji Chunhua was the youngest son of the Ji family. Spoiled since childhood, he had protection in the entertainment industry and countless adoring fans. He had essentially grown up in a bubble of privilege, facing almost no setbacks—except when it came to Duan Chunshui.

Suddenly, someone appeared at home, claiming that Ji Chunhua wasn’t the Ji family’s biological son, that everything he had was a lie. A DNA test confirmed that this person was the rightful young master.

The family gradually accepted this newcomer.

Initially, Ji Chunhua thought this person was excellent in every way and deserved all of it. So he kept his emotions bottled up.

Now, he was standing before his cousin—the only one who had never expressed an opinion on the matter. Feeling slightly more clear-headed, all his grievances and fears surged forth. His voice carried a faint tremor. “Cousin, I…”

“You still want to sleep with him?”

“Get lost, Duan Chunshui!”

————————————

Gu Yongsheng didn’t get an answer about Duan Chunshui’s profession from Ji Chunhua. At dinner, he casually probed Ji Mingkun and Ren Xi for information.

The two, being fond of Duan Chunshui, enjoyed talking about him. With just a little prompting, they spilled a lot.

It was only after speaking with several members of the Crisis Management Bureau from the novel that they learned Duan Chunshui was Ji Mingkun’s older sister’s son. When he was in middle school, his parents died in a car accident.

The two families had always been close. After Duan Chunshui lost his parents, his uncle and aunt brought him to live in the Ji household. They raised him as one of their own children.

“You’d never guess, but Chunshui is the most academically gifted among the three siblings and has a strong sense of justice.”

“……”

Indeed, it was hard to tell, especially for Wang De and the others at the bureau.

Ren Xi, brimming with pride, said, “Back then, Chunshan wanted to inherit the family business. For Chunhua, he wanted to be a celebrity and play around. Chunshui was the only one focused on becoming a civil servant. In the second semester of his senior year, he passed the civil service exam with excellent grades. Later, due to his outstanding work performance, he was seconded to a national secret agency. Every day, he works tirelessly, serving the country!”

“……”

The people from the Novel Crisis Management Bureau fell silent.

Wang De and Xu Xue were also speechless. While the Crisis Management Bureau could be considered a secret organization, they didn’t expect Duan Chunshui’s metaphorical “red scarf”^[1]A symbol of virtue and patriotism to shine this brightly.

“Chunshui is also incredibly kind,” Ren Xi continued, glancing at Zhu Zhu. 

“During one of his assignments, he saw how badly Zhu Zhu was being mistreated at the orphanage. She looked so pitiful that he took her out of the orphanage and brought her to live with him. Although it might affect his future chances of finding a girlfriend or getting married,”

“.…..”

While that might be true to some extent, it was the Novel Crisis Management Bureau that took care of Zhu Zhu. Duan Chunshui only brought her along on missions.

To take it a step further, how could Zhu Zhu, the “runaway child of a billionaire heiress,” have been mistreated in an orphanage? She’s literally a polyglot prodigy fluent in eight languages, and only three and a half years old,

Zhu Zhu, holding a big chicken drumstick, blinked her wide, innocent eyes, “Mmph!”

“……”