Chapter 01

“President Gu, don’t be angry~ Have a drink to calm down~”

A sticky and cloying voice sounded by his ear. Gu Senyu suddenly opened his eyes. The moment his heart resumed beating, a thunderous pounding echoed through his chest.

His memory still lingered on the split second when the car came crashing toward him. Now, dazed and bleary-eyed, he lowered his gaze and saw that his lower lip was touching a glass filled with red liquid.

“What’s wrong, President Gu? You don’t like it?” Receiving no response, the young man immediately withdrew the glass and leaned in, trying to win over his sugar daddy with a kiss.

A strange fragrance rushed to his nose, making Gu Senyu shiver from the stimulus. On instinct, he reached out and shoved the person approaching him.

“Ah!” The young man cried out, falling onto the thick carpet with a thud.

Gu Senyu immediately apologized, “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to—achoo!”

He sneezed. His blurry vision gradually cleared, and only then did he realize he was in an unfamiliar room.

Gu Senyu was stunned. What was going on? Wasn’t he just in the middle of the road? How did he end up in a different place in the blink of an eye?

Could it be that he had died young while doing a good deed and was now in heaven?

But was it just his lack of worldly experience, or did heaven look a little too much like a hotel on Earth?

He looked up. His confused gaze traveled down from the luxurious chandelier and landed on the king-size bed, where his pupils suddenly contracted.

On the black silk sheets sat a lean, slender young man. His pale, bony wrists were tied with red silk ribbons to the headboard. Long bangs covered his eyes, revealing only a high-bridged nose and skin so fair it was nearly translucent.

As if sensing his gaze, the young man slowly tilted his face upward.

Gu Senyu drew in a sharp breath.

Those were a pair of dazzling, soul-stirring eyes, like a deep and tranquil night sky adorned with the brightest of stars.

Beautiful—this was the first word that popped into Gu Senyu’s mind. Yet the young man’s lean and sharp features kept that beauty from appearing at all effeminate.

It was a kind of beauty that combined a boy’s prettiness with a young man’s edge. Even in such a compromising position, he looked like a work of art.

“Are you done playing around?” the young man asked, his tone seemingly calm.

Gu Senyu’s mind was still frozen. “Huh? Playing what?”

“President Gu, since Young Master Jian is being so ungrateful, why don’t we brothers keep you company and have some real fun?”

Out of nowhere, a hand reached around him from behind. As Gu Senyu turned his head, a face suddenly loomed in close.

“What the hell!” Gu Senyu jolted in alarm and shoved the person away with all his strength.

The twin brothers, one in front and one behind, sat on the carpet staring at each other in confusion. They couldn’t understand how they had fallen out of favor with Young Master Gu in the blink of an eye.

Gu Senyu said, “Are you two the legendary Black and White Impermanence^[1]Black and White Impermanence (黑白无常): Black and White Impermanence are two deities in Chinese folklore and Taoist belief who are responsible for escorting the souls of the dead to the … Continue reading? You’re actually twins?”

The twins looked utterly baffled. Was this some new kind of cosplay game?

“President Gu, Jian Yunchuan is really too uncooperative. Why don’t… you try that drug instead?” The older twin was the first to get up, once again attempting to draw near and offer his suggestion to their patron. “Once that drug kicks in, no matter how much of a chaste and virtuous maiden he is, he’ll turn into—”

“You. Dare.” The icy voice was laced with an indescribable sense of pressure. The young man on the bed instantly stiffened his back.

The moment the name “Jian Yunchuan” was spoken, it was as if a thunderclap exploded inside Gu Senyu’s mind. He was instantly petrified.

After a long moment, he raised a trembling finger, his voice cracking, “What did you say—what’s his name again?”

The twin brothers panicked and apologized in unison, “We’re sorry, President Gu! We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to offend… offend Young Master Jian…”

Who didn’t know that Second Young Master Gu’s pursuit of the Jian family’s young master had stirred up the entire city? They had just gotten a little too carried away.

Gu Senyu took a deep breath. His blank mind finally began to function again.

Last night, before going to bed, he had opened WeChat and saw that the top student in his class—who was also the most unruly—had sent him several messages.

He tapped open the chat. At the top was a link, followed by several voice messages explaining, “Hahahahahahahahaha help me! Look at the novel I shared with you. There’s a cannon fodder gong in it who has the exact same name as our dear Teacher Gu! How is that even reasonable? Huh? Once I imagined it with your face, I freaking empathized with the cannon fodder gong instantly!”

Gu Senyu: ???

Had he assigned too little homework? How could a proper high school student still have time to read novels?

Ten minutes later, the girl swore to turn over a new leaf, study hard, and strive for progress every day. Only then did Teacher Gu put down his phone in satisfaction.

Lying in bed, he thought, since I’ve got nothing better to do, why not do some research and find out what kind of literature kids these days are into?

So, he tapped on the novel link that hadn’t been retracted in time, composed himself, and began reading.

After reading a few chapters, Teacher Gu fell into a brief silence.

There seemed to be something off about this novel, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly it was.

It wasn’t until the cannon fodder character named “Gu Senyu,” who had the exact same name as him, fell in love with the male lead at first sight that he finally realized what was wrong.

This novel had no female lead…

Before Teacher Gu, a door to a whole new world slowly opened. In order to figure out how “Gu Senyu” ended up dying, he thoroughly studied and downloaded a certain green-colored reading app (JJWXC app), braved the horrible servers plagued with “loading” and “load failed” messages, and stayed up all night catching up on this ridiculously melodramatic yet inexplicably inspirational novel.

《The Fake Young Master’s Face-Slapping Strategy in a Wealthy Family》 was a dog-blood revenge fantasy set in an elite household, with “Jian Yunchuan” as the protagonist.

In the novel, “Jian Yunchuan” was originally the beloved young master of the Jian family, adored by all. But at the age of eighteen, it was revealed that he was actually the child of his mother and another man. From then on, he became the subject of gossip and ridicule, and his days in the Jian family grew increasingly difficult.

However, “Jian Yunchuan” was a youth favored by fate. Not only was he exceptionally intelligent and gifted, but he was also blessed with striking good looks. Surrounded by admirers and benefactors, he easily embarked on a path of reversal and revenge, ultimately becoming the biggest winner in the entire story.

“Gu Senyu,” on the other hand, was merely a cannon fodder CEO on Jian Yunchuan’s road to face-slapping success.

There wasn’t much written about the cannon fodder CEO. All that was known was that he had been a child of the Gu family who had been lost and raised elsewhere, only to be brought back into the family shortly before adulthood.

Unlike “Jian Yunchuan,” “Gu Senyu” had already gone down the wrong path. He was lazy and ignorant, a useless good-for-nothing. His interests were beautiful people, and his hobby was keeping beautiful people. The Gu family tried everything they could to straighten him out, but to no avail. Father Gu eventually let him be and handed him a subsidiary company under the group. The second young master of the Gu family soon earned a reputation as a notorious playboy within the social circles.

Second Young Master Gu was both a scoundrel and a scumbag. While keeping one, two, three, four, five little canaries lined up in a row, he also lusted after “Jian Yunchuan” at first sight, relentlessly pursuing him with all kinds of shameless tactics in an attempt to possess him.

Father Gu had always turned a blind eye to his disappointing son, but “Gu Senyu’s” actions became more and more outrageous. In the end, he was brutally dealt with by both “Jian Yunchuan” and the official gong.

Thinking of the cannon fodder CEO’s miserable fate, Gu Senyu couldn’t help but shudder.

The current situation was clearly the scene where the cannon fodder CEO, taking advantage of Jian Yunchuan being ill and alone, launched a despicable ambush, forcibly bringing him to a hotel with the intent to do something disgraceful.

He remembered very clearly that although the original host was about to force himself on the protagonist, the second male lead arrived just in time to save him. But this act was what truly enraged “Jian Yunchuan,” who later personally took down the cannon fodder CEO.

Moreover, when “Gu Senyu” became a public enemy, the official gong even gave him a flying kick that turned him into a chronically ill wreck. For the rest of his life, he clung to a medicine jar, half-dead and barely hanging on.

“You think the Jian family has completely given up on me, so now you dare to act this recklessly?” Jian Yunchuan’s dark eyes grew even deeper in color, his voice as cold and sharp as a sword drawn from an icy pond.

“How could that be?” Gu Senyu snapped back to reality. “Of course not, of course not, haha~”

His eyes darted about as he tried to salvage the cannon fodder CEO’s dangerously collapsing image. “Young Master Jian, don’t misunderstand. I absolutely didn’t mean to belittle you.”

Jian Yunchuan sneered coldly. “Then what was your reason for tying me up and bringing me here?”

Gu Senyu: “Well…”

“President Gu~” The younger twin, unwilling to be ignored, climbed up from the carpet. “Did we do something wrong? Why is President Gu suddenly treating us like this~”

Gu Senyu leaned back defensively, recoiling in fear.

In the novel, “Gu Senyu’s” purpose for bringing Jian Yunchuan here was as clear as day—a lecherous heart so bold it could pierce the heavens. He had intended to involve the twin brothers as well in some sort of four-way…

Four people?

Gu Senyu had a sudden flash of inspiration. “Here’s the thing—see, we’re short one player for Dou Dizhu (a card game). We invited you just to play a round with us!”

Jian Yunchuan: …

The twin brothers: ???

With a perfectly serious expression, Gu Senyu spouted absolute nonsense. “Look how spacious this hotel room is. We’ve got more than enough room to move around. A four-player, three-hundred-round battle? No problem at all.”

Jian Yunchuan cast him a look as if he were a complete idiot.

The twin brothers simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. As expected, President Gu still liked those kinds of action scenes!

“But, since you’re not into it, I won’t force you.” Gu Senyu kept a calm expression and walked steadily over to the bed. “I’ll untie you right now.”

Jian Yunchuan frowned slightly, unsure what kind of scheme this useless rich second-generation heir was trying to pull this time.

Gu Senyu tried his best to keep his eyes from wandering and quickly undid the silk ribbons binding the beauty, smooth and efficient.

There was already a deep red mark on that fair, jade-like wrist. He couldn’t help but think to himself that the original host clearly didn’t know how to cherish delicate beauty—no wonder he was just a cannon fodder gong.

As soon as Jian Yunchuan regained his freedom, the first thing he did was roll off the bed.

Gu Senyu instinctively took a step back.

The beauty had been sitting on the bed all this time, appearing slender and long-limbed. Now that he stood up, Gu Senyu realized the other was actually a little taller than him.

“Striking features, cool temperament, broad shoulders, narrow waist, tall with long legs.” As the description from the book took concrete form and stood right in front of him, Gu Senyu suddenly understood why men and women alike in the novel fought over Jian Yunchuan like their lives depended on it.

Even though he was a bona fide, solid-as-steel straight man.

“Excuse me, move aside.” Jian Yunchuan rolled his wrist slightly, his tone nearly devoid of emotion.

Gu Senyu immediately turned around, his mouth moving faster than his brain. “May I offer to escort you—”

Jian Yunchuan’s gaze sharpened. He turned slightly to the side, watching him coldly, thinking to himself, as expected, it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“I will send you away~ a thousand miles away~ you in silence, black and white~” Driven by sheer will to survive, Teacher Gu burst into a melodic vocal performance. “In this silent age~ perhaps we shouldn’t have~ a love so far away~”

While singing with great effort, Gu Senyu frantically gave the twin brothers a meaningful look.

The twins fell silent for a moment, then awkwardly clapped their hands with stiff gestures.

The scene that had been one of a raid against lewd activity instantly turned into an elementary school talent show.

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Author’s Note:

Gu Senyu: In this life, a man has to have a few special skills—something to save his skin, right?

Jian Yunchuan: …

(Cat peeking gif) As usual, red envelopes for opening chapters—thanks for the support, mwah~