Chapter 9: Even a Button Popped Off

Tao Xiu quickly finished washing up, and it was Huo Si’s turn to use the bathroom.

It was then that Tao Xiu discovered an incredible truth: Huo Si’s self-care abilities were appallingly rudimentary.

For example, he didn’t know how to use the showerhead or various toiletries, and he couldn’t even operate a hairdryer.

Had he guessed wrong?

Was Huo Si not a regular office worker, but rather an extremely spoiled rich kid from an adoptive family?

“I don’t ‘not know’ or ‘not recognize.'”

After showering with Tao Xiu’s help, Huo Si sat on the sofa, clad in a shirt and trousers that the young man had found for him, his hair still dripping wet.

He elegantly corrected Tao Xiu: “I can be omniscient and omnipotent, if I so choose.”

For instance, even if the little fellow spoke an unfamiliar language when they met, he could naturally understand and use it to communicate with him.

His current “lack of understanding” regarding the bathroom items and the “thing that dries hair,” as the young man called it, was merely due to disinterest and lack of necessity—

“Because,” the man smiled, looking at Tao Xiu, and handed him the hairdryer, speaking as if it were apparent, “allowing you to do these things for me, wouldn’t it make you happy?”

Otherwise, he could dry his hair with a single thought right now.

Tao Xiu: “…”

He had been called into the bathroom at least five times, either to turn the shower on or off, or to adjust the water temperature.

The other party even asked him to help with the body wash and shampoo.

His own method was to explain the usage, then unhesitatingly slam the door shut and leave.

If the other party hadn’t been so utterly self-righteous at the time, he would have judged it as sexual harassment.

Now, this man was asking him to help dry his hair.

Wasn’t that a bit too much?

Tao Xiu’s polite and proper smile, which he maintained for guests, was almost impossible to hold.

But considering that the guest genuinely seemed to lack much common sense in daily life, and that his own door had caused the current trouble, and that the other party would likely leave tomorrow, he still chose to endure.

He let out a helpless sigh, stood in front of the other party, and turned on the hairdryer. Huo Si’s face broke into a comfortable and satisfied smile.

Through the gaps in his semi-wet black hair, he quietly observed the fair skin on Tao Xiu’s wrist.

The scarlet in his eyes gradually spread with comfort and excitement, soon filling his entire eye sockets.

The hot air whirred, and Huo Si’s black hair quickly became semi-dry.

Once he started a task, Tao Xiu did it very earnestly. He gently ran his fingers through the man’s hair, lightly tousling the cool black strands to help them dry faster. He could clearly hear the man’s breathing.

For some reason, that breathing strangely put him at ease.

The peculiar, uncontrollable feeling that had risen in his heart when he first saw the man during the day once again enveloped him, and he was inexplicably unable to identify or dispel it.

Tao Xiu lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes trembling slightly. His hand movements grew even softer.

When his gaze occasionally flickered to the man’s perfect, water-beaded chest muscles, he thought that his own clothes were indeed a bit small on the other party.

Even a button had popped off.

Fortunately, Huo Si’s own clothes were already in the wash and would dry overnight in this weather.

Time flowed slowly.

The hair was finally dry.

The moment he turned off the hairdryer, the inexplicable feeling in Tao Xiu’s heart disappeared.

He sighed in relief, casually put away the hairdryer, and looked at Huo Si with a gentle, helpless smile: “I have work tomorrow, so please make yourself at home. Goodnight.”

Surely he wouldn’t have to teach him how to book a ticket home on his phone tomorrow!

Huo Si seemed to notice that the young man was truly sleepy and made no further demands.

He elegantly said, “Goodnight.”

He watched the young man return to his room until he heard the door close.

His rather terrifying gaze remained fixed on the closed door: He truly wanted to bring him back to his castle.

After an unknown duration, Huo Si shifted his gaze and began to inspect the place where he would sleep tonight, haughtily.

After expelling all scents from it, save for the young man’s, he lay upon it like a king. In the darkness, a strange smile once again appeared on his face: He revered him so sincerely, how could he possibly be unwilling to be brought back to his castle?

He finally closed his eyes, satisfied.

…

The next day, Tao Xiu went to work on time.

Huo Si was still asleep. He lay stiffly on the sofa, his sleeping posture unexpectedly elegant.

Tao Xiu quietly left the house, beginning his long-awaited life as a working person.

Just as he left the residential complex, he ran into someone handing out flyers.

The person’s eyes seemed to light up when they saw Tao Xiu.

They quickly approached, lowering their voice: “Handsome, would you like to earn big money—”

Tao Xiu was in a hurry to beat rush hour and hastily took the flyer without fully hearing what was said. He smiled and thanked them as he usually did when encountering flyer distributors, then hurried away.

After arriving at the botanical garden, he realized the flyer was recruiting male escorts to work in a bar—distributing such flyers near a residential area was truly outrageous!

Tao Xiu twitched his lips, casually tossed it into the trash, and began his day’s work.

After turning on several machines, the pre-booked guests began to enter in an orderly fashion.

Tao Xiu changed into his work uniform as usual, went to the plant area to turn on the watering and fertilizing machines, and then collected soil samples for testing.

Tao Xiu knelt in the central rose garden, parting the flowers to check the nameplate of a rose, but his movements suddenly froze: The words on the nameplate had become blurry at some point.

He needed to order a new one quickly.

The roses still bloomed enchantingly, displaying a pure, snowy color.

Tao Xiu, however, frowned slightly: He should remember the name of every plant in this botanical garden, but what was this rose called again?

Just then, someone quietly appeared behind him and reached out to tap his shoulder.

Tao Xiu paused, snapped back to attention, and turned to look behind him.

Lin Mei, who had said three days ago that he was going back to his hometown, appeared before him.

…

Meanwhile.

After waking up, Huo Si decided to inspect the kind of world his little fellow lived in. He didn’t use his abilities, even reining in all of them, and entered and exited through the door just like Tao Xiu.

After leaving the building, he curiously observed everything in the residential complex, wanting to see what was so special about these buildings that made Tao Xiu almost completely expend his abilities on them.

After observing for a long time, he couldn’t figure it out.

No matter how he looked at them, they were just ordinary, ugly houses.

The houses were packed so densely together, stacked on top of each other, truly resembling the pigeon coops his butler made for him to house demon pigeons a long time ago.

Did the creatures of this world really live in such pathetic places?

He quickly lost interest in these buildings and came outside the complex.

A person quickly approached him, thrusting a flyer into his hand, and whispered mysteriously, “Handsome, would you like to find a high-paying job?”

He had accidentally let a handsome man get away that morning; he absolutely couldn’t let this one go!

Although this handsome man seemed a bit intimidating, he was so attractive that if he recruited him, his commission would be very high!

Huo Si stopped, looking at the flyer in his hand with interest: a job.

Tao Xiu had also mentioned work last night.

Was this it?

Perhaps he should observe Tao Xiu’s way of life in this world.

Seeing the other party seemingly contemplating something, the flyer guy quickly said, “Don’t worry, handsome! This job offers great benefits!”

“You’re so handsome, you’ll definitely get a special contract! We offer food, lodging, high salary, statutory holidays, and even five insurances and one housing fund!”

Although he didn’t understand many of the terms, Huo Si still showed a strange, cold smile.

He looked at the flyer guy and commanded, “Take me there.”

The flyer guy instantly felt a chill shoot from his spine to the top of his head, but then thought it was just an illusion.

He almost instinctively wanted to retreat a few steps, but forcibly stopped himself.

He forced a smile and said, “Please follow me, I’ll take you to the interview!”

…

At this moment, Tao Xiu, at the botanical garden, inexplicably let out a fierce sneeze.

Lin Mei’s usually clear voice was somehow hoarse: “Are you okay?”

Tao Xiu gave a polite smile: “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

He was about to say something else when he paused: Lin Mei seemed like a changed man.

He was still wearing the same cheap suit, carrying a briefcase, and wearing that bracelet on his wrist.

However, his posture had become upright, and his face no longer held the weak, nervous expression of three days ago.

His eye sockets were no longer sunken, his gaze was firm, and he had a stubbly beard.

His whole demeanor had become weathered, as if he had aged from 20 to 30 in just three days.

Tao Xiu blinked, unsure how to describe it: “You…”

Lin Mei, however, just pulled three hundred-yuan bills from his briefcase, smiled, and said, “I never thought I’d return it to you here.”

Tao Xiu: “?”

Lin Mei shook his head: “It’s nothing.”

Tao Xiu didn’t ask further. After taking the money, he smiled and asked, “Do you still want to work here?”

Lin Mei looked deeply at him and said, “I really, really do. But I can’t. Also, thank you again.”

Tao Xiu: “?”

Lin Mei smiled helplessly: “Didn’t I say three days ago that it would all be over in three days? But fortunately, my life didn’t end.”

The system’s central brain had a major malfunction and forcibly recalled all players before midnight that night, so he didn’t die.

This seemed to be related to Tao Xiu; he had saved him a second time.

Tao Xiu’s eyes curved: “That’s good.”

Lin Mei looked at the happy, carefree young man, feeling a bit hesitant.

Just as he was about to make up his mind to say something, he suddenly looked at the time on his bracelet and sighed: “I have to go. I’ll be back.”

With that, he turned and left, his figure quickly disappearing from the entrance.

Tao Xiu was bewildered, but seeing that the other party seemed to have started a new life, he felt relieved. He immersed himself in his work again, occasionally wondering if Huo Si had already gotten on a bus home.

Work hours flowed by quietly. Soon, it was time to leave.

He went to the usual burger joint for dinner and then caught the subway home.

The neon lights flickered on one by one.

In the crowd, he stretched, looking at the sky painted lavender by the sunset: Ah, his wonderful and ordinary day was about to end!

His unexpected fellow being should be home by now, and he didn’t plan to open the door again. His life would return to normal.

“Ding-a-ling~”

His phone suddenly rang. Tao Xiu quickly answered, and the police officer’s voice soon came through: “Mr. Tao, do you have a friend named Huo Si?”

Tao Xiu paused: “Uh, I guess so?”

The voice on the other end was utterly helpless: “Your friend, Mr. Huo Si, provided a note with your contact information. He’s currently at the XXX Road police station. Please come over as soon as possible.”

Tao Xiu stopped walking, holding his phone, his eyes wide: “???”

What the hell?

Didn’t he go home already?!

How did he end up at the police station?!

…

After the shock, Tao Xiu twitched his lips and still took a taxi to the police station.

Just as he was about to enter the reception room, he heard a man sobbing uncontrollably: “Police officer, please save us! Please make sure that Mr. Huo Si lets me go!!”

The police officer was both helpless and stifling a laugh: “You need to explain things clearly. Honestly, we really didn’t understand just now—”

The man: “Police officer, I’m the manager of that club. He, he, he’s a devil! He said he wouldn’t provide me with any salary, annual leave, five insurances, or a housing fund, but I absolutely have to work for him—”

Police: “Stop, what nonsense are you talking about? Isn’t this your club, and you saw he didn’t understand anything, so you tricked him into signing an unfair and improper contract to be a male escort? How is he forcing you to work now?”

As she spoke, her face suddenly became serious: “By the way, besides this unethical act, you know it’s illegal to secretly recruit underage girls to work for you, right?”

The man was going crazy: “It’s my club! But he commanded me to work—”

The weirdest thing was that he couldn’t disobey that man’s orders!

He, a behind-the-scenes boss, inexplicably ended up working as a male escort and entertaining guests, even scaring customers into calling the police!

And now, every step he took, his vision would go black.

He just went to the restroom and fell asleep there, having nightmares!

It was truly terrifying!

“Please, police officer, I know I broke the law. Please seal our club and arrest us now! Just as long as I can get rid of him!!”

…

Tao Xiu: “…”

That devil-like man he’s talking about, couldn’t possibly be Huo Si, could he…?

In another room, a tall, handsome man sat elegantly at a table.

He curiously observed everything around him, like a child visiting an amusement park for the first time.

Suddenly, a strange, excited smile appeared on his face.

He abruptly turned sideways, gazing obsessively towards the door.