Ch 30: How To Be A Good Lackey

Shao Ye placed the rose on the windowsill, waved at Pei Fangyan, and, without going inside again, climbed back down from the balcony.

Only after he had been gone for a while did Pei Fangyan wheel himself over to the window. He reached out, picked up the rose Shao Ye had left behind, and turned it idly in his hand for a moment before asking Steward Liu to bring a vase and placing the flower inside.

Seeing that Pei Fangyan seemed to be in a good mood, Steward Liu asked, “Sir, did someone come just now?”

Pei Fangyan let out a soft laugh. “A little fool.”

Steward Liu paused, then carefully asked, “Shao Ye?”

Hearing him guess correctly at once, Pei Fangyan’s smile widened even more.

It had been a long time since Steward Liu had seen him smile so happily, and for the first time, he felt a faint sense of crisis about his own job.

The moonlight was hazy, the night cool as water. After leaving Pei Fangyan, Shao Ye didn’t go back to his room to sleep. Instead, he wandered over to Su Yuexiang’s place again.

She lived in a two-story standalone villa. Standing outside the small garden below, Shao Ye looked up. The lights inside were on, the curtains open, and he could clearly see four figures moving around.

He was speechless. In the time it took him to go report earlier, another one had climbed up.

Well, that made it perfect. Peak romance.

He couldn’t help but think to himself that the three of them really didn’t treat themselves as outsiders at all.

His Seventh Uncle didn’t want to interfere, but as the future chief steward of the residence, Shao Ye felt it was necessary to teach them a lesson. If they dared act like this right under Seventh Uncle’s nose, who knew what they might do outside?

They needed to learn who actually called the shots here.

Seeing that they didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon, Shao Ye immediately went to the kennel, brought over the three Rottweilers, and stationed them at the front door to block any escape.

Then he took some dog waste that hadn’t yet been cleaned up and tossed it into the small garden below the balcony. After estimating the angles, he was certain that no matter whether they climbed down from the left or the right, they would definitely step in it.

But even after waiting for a long time, the three upstairs showed no sign of leaving—if anything, they seemed to be getting more engrossed in conversation. Gritting his teeth, Shao Ye decided this punishment still wasn’t enough. He went to Steward Liu and asked for some lubricant oil, then smeared it along the railings of the first-floor windows. If they wanted to land safely, they would definitely have to grab onto those rails.

With everything set up, Shao Ye finally felt satisfied. He snapped his fingers, and the Rottweilers at the door immediately responded, barking loudly.

There were only three dogs in the residence, all belonging to Pei Fangyan. Hearing the barking, the people upstairs instinctively thought it was a warning from him. Losing any mood to argue, they hurriedly climbed down from the balcony. But when they reached the first floor, their hands slipped, and one after another they fell straight into the garden below.

Cursing and retching erupted almost simultaneously.

Seeing the long-awaited scene unfold, Shao Ye clapped his hands, fully satisfied, and led the three Rottweilers away. That night, he slept soundly.

Steward Liu, however, couldn’t sleep. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what Shao Ye intended to do with that lubricant. There weren’t even any bicycle chains in the residence that needed oiling.

Considering that Pei Fangyan’s attitude toward Shao Ye that night had been somewhat unusual, he decided to report it.

After hearing this, even Pei Fangyan was puzzled. “What does he want that for?”

“I asked him, but he didn’t say,” Steward Liu replied.

“Go take a look,” Pei Fangyan said.

Steward Liu quickly pulled up the residence’s surveillance footage. What he saw was He Jiahui and the others’ miserable state. They had already climbed out of the garden, and because the Rottweilers had appeared, they assumed everything had been arranged by Pei Fangyan. They didn’t dare make a fuss—more importantly, it was far too embarrassing.

Earlier, Su Yuexiang had heard the commotion and asked if they had fallen, but all three stubbornly insisted they were fine, afraid she might come downstairs to see them.

Now, the three unfortunate brothers staggered along, vomiting as they cursed.

Pei Fangyan was truly despicable—using such dirty, underhanded tactics!

After some thought, Steward Liu saved the footage and sent it to Pei Fangyan.

After watching it twice, Pei Fangyan’s mood indeed improved quite a bit. Wasn’t this far more entertaining than a soccer match?

He said to the steward, “When you have time, upgrade the surveillance cameras in the residence.”

The steward replied awkwardly, “These are already the best available, sir.”

“What a pity,” Pei Fangyan said. A pity the footage didn’t capture their expressions more clearly.

The night breeze rippled the surface of the pond, fish darting happily through the fractured reflection of the moon. As night gave way to dawn, the morning light revealed glistening dewdrops rolling off broad leaves, as if racing one another.

After breakfast, Pei Fangyan sat on the first floor working. Translated on Hololo novels. Hearing two barks from outside, his hand paused slightly over the documents. It wasn’t the fierce barking reserved for strangers, but something softer—almost like a whine.

Even he rarely heard his dogs make that sound for him. “What’s going on outside?” he asked.

Steward Liu walked to the window and saw that the three Rottweilers, which usually bared their teeth at him, were happily playing with Shao Ye. Fresh from their morning run, all three charged at him at once, knocking him onto the lawn.

Seeing this, Steward Liu had many things he wanted to say. Since when did these dogs have two faces?

Turning to report back, he found that Pei Fangyan had already wheeled himself over to the floor-to-ceiling window. Looking out at the three dogs and one man on the lawn, he saw that Shao Ye’s T-shirt had been tugged up during their play, revealing half his abs and a lean waist, his whole body radiating youthful energy.

“When did the dogs get so close to him?” Pei Fangyan asked.

Unable to tell whether his tone carried approval or displeasure, Steward Liu answered honestly, “Probably yesterday.”

“You had him feed the dogs?”

“Yes,” Steward Liu said, suddenly feeling uneasy. He hadn’t expected Shao Ye to win over the dogs so easily—or to gain Pei Fangyan’s favor in less than a day.

His position as steward suddenly felt somewhat unstable.

“Should I call him back?” he asked.

“No need,” Pei Fangyan said with a faint smile. “Let them play. Didn’t the old master leave such a large lawn for the children to enjoy?”

Steward Liu moved his lips, wanting to say—sir, don’t you think this “child” is a bit too big?

The other young people in the residence all had work to attend to during the day, but Shao Ye could roam freely. Yet he wasn’t in the mood to wander. If he spent all day walking dogs and playing around, when would his “Rome” ever be built? Was he supposed to rely on Rome to build itself?

No. He had to rely on himself.

After making inquiries from multiple sources, Shao Ye learned that every afternoon his Seventh Uncle had a two-hour rest period. During that time, professionals would come to give him leg massages and other forms of care. Usually, Steward Liu would stay by Pei Fangyan’s side then. Shao Ye felt this job required the least skill—he could completely take over.

So that afternoon, Pei Fangyan saw Shao Ye peeking in through the crack of the door. He asked, “Why are you here? Where’s Steward Liu?”

Shao Ye pushed the door open and walked in. “Steward Liu got his clothes wet and went to change. If you need anything, Seventh Uncle, you can just tell me.”

Pei Fangyan nodded and said nothing more. At this hour, there was usually nothing important anyway. The steward was only there to occasionally hand him something or pour water.

Pei Fangyan lay on the bed wearing loose silk sleep pants. His legs had been well maintained over the years, showing no signs of atrophy. The massage therapist stood nearby, pressing downward steadily with both hands.

Shao Ye crouched by the bedside, watching quietly for a moment before looking up with concern. “Seventh Uncle, does it hurt?”

Pei Fangyan lowered his gaze to meet his. “If it hurts, that’s actually a good thing.”

Pain meant there was still sensation.

Shao Ye pressed his lips together, then asked, “When will your legs get better?”

“Maybe they never will,” Pei Fangyan said calmly, as if he had long accepted it.

But Shao Ye couldn’t accept it. Why had his uncle saved that Su Yuexiang back then? Was she really that important?

Thinking about how she was his uncle’s “white moonlight,” he felt as if ants were gnawing at his heart—bitter and uncomfortable. He could try to replace Steward Liu, but it seemed impossible to push Su Yuexiang out of his uncle’s heart.

Taking a deep breath, Shao Ye told himself that if he couldn’t replace her, it just meant he wasn’t trying hard enough. Pointing at the therapist’s hands, he said, “Seventh Uncle, can I learn this?”

Pei Fangyan saw that just moments ago he had looked dejected, and now suddenly he was full of enthusiasm again. Unable to read his thoughts, he asked, “What would you gain from learning this?”

“I can help massage your legs,” Shao Ye said. “I think I’m stronger than him. Maybe it’ll be more effective.”

The massage therapist: “……”

Was he about to lose his job too?!

Pei Fangyan smiled. “Then go ahead and learn.”

By the time Steward Liu hurried back after changing his clothes, he found the therapist pushed aside, while Shao Ye enthusiastically took over the massage.

Steward Liu looked at the therapist in confusion. The therapist could only shrug helplessly—if the master allowed it, what could he do?

Steward Liu was speechless. What kind of person was this? Wasn’t it enough to take one job—he had to take two?

Earlier, someone had left a hose out on the lawn. When Steward Liu went to put it away, he ended up getting sprayed all over. He rushed back to change, only to find his door blocked from the outside. Without his phone and with the stairs being difficult at his age, he had to shout for quite a while before a servant finally came to let him out.

After Shao Ye left, Steward Liu reported the incident. Pei Fangyan simply smiled and said, “Let him come in the afternoons from now on.”

Steward Liu: “……”

Was he really going to lose his job? That was way too fast!

Would he have to start calling him “Steward Shao” tomorrow?

Years of professional training allowed Steward Liu to maintain a polite smile even in the face of possible unemployment. He even proactively asked, “Sir, would you like me to teach Shao Ye the duties of a steward?”

Pei Fangyan chuckled. “Why would he need to learn that? Do you really intend for him to take over your position?”

Wasn’t that exactly what was happening?

Steward Liu asked curiously, “Then what are your intentions, sir?”

Pei Fangyan shook his head. “No particular plan. I just happened to meet an interesting junior and want to spend some time talking with him.”

“I see,” Steward Liu said, though doubt lingered. It still felt like his master was being unusually tolerant toward Shao Ye.

Pei Tiancheng felt the same—Pei Fangyan’s temper seemed to have improved a lot to tolerate his son for this long. Every day, he made video calls to Shao Ye to confirm that his limbs were all intact. He had even brought home a statue of Guanyin from a temple, praying to it whenever he had the chance.

So far, it seemed Guanyin was indeed quite effective.

As for Shao Ye, he firmly believed everything he had now was the result of his own hard work. He diligently completed each of his tasks. Between feeding and walking the dogs and giving Pei Fangyan massages, he also made sure to keep an eye on the others in the residence. Translated on Hololo novels. Since they were all living here, they had to follow the rules—be upright and behave properly.

At first, his cousins hadn’t taken him seriously. After all, even if he did well as a “steward candidate,” his ceiling was limited. Pei Fangyan would have to be out of his mind to hand the entire Pei family over to him.

But Shao Ye had a habit of reporting everything. Even bringing a girlfriend back overnight—he would report it to Seventh Uncle. Sure, the girlfriends weren’t even the same on consecutive nights, but was it really necessary to unleash dogs on them?!

One of his cousins complained while running, “This isn’t some inheritance game—it’s basically a battle royale!”

After several cousins conducted a “scientific and rigorous” discussion, they ultimately reached a unanimous decision: they had to eliminate Shao Ye first.

This wasn’t an easy task. If they worked together with him, they could have used common tactics like framing, theft, or concealment. But Shao Ye stayed in the old residence all day, and they had no idea what his job even was. Every morning when they went to work, they saw him jogging with three Rottweilers, and when they got off work in the evening, they saw him out again jogging with those same three dogs.

There was no way he spent the entire day just running, right?

They continued to scheme. Since they had no interaction with him, they would create some. They had already prepared the drugs and were just waiting for Shao Ye to take them, lose control, and do something crazy in the old residence. If he could even do something to Pei Fangyan’s “white moonlight,” that would be even better.

They didn’t dare make a move against Shao Ye inside the old residence. First, there were surveillance cameras everywhere, making it easy to leave evidence. Second, they were afraid of angering Pei Fangyan. If that happened, all of them might end up paying the price.

Still, Shao Ye spent all day in the old residence with Pei Fangyan, who was disabled. That had to be boring, right? If they invited him out to do something fun, he probably wouldn’t refuse.

With several “great minds” put together, they quickly settled on the location for their plan: a bar.

But just after they sent out the invitation, Shao Ye went straight to Pei Fangyan and reported them, saying they were neglecting their duties, thinking about partying at a bar instead of working, and suggesting they be kicked out of the old residence.

Enraged, the group cursed him nonstop in various dialects for two and a half hours. They even started looking into his background, swearing to find his weakness.

However, when they saw the investigation report the detective sent back, which cost one hundred thousand, they all fell silent for quite a while.

In the end, someone offered an inspired suggestion: “How about we invite him to that newly opened gym nearby instead?”

---

Author’s Note:

【No. 6, what kind of person are you?! You’re ruining people’s lives!】

I just wanted to watch a melodramatic show. What did I do wrong? I had been watching other streams before. You all said No. 6 was about to be eliminated and his stream was especially exciting, so I came over. And what did I see? What did I see?!

Now when I watch He Jiahuai trying to force a kiss on Su Yuexiang in other streams, I can’t help but think of that night when he fell flat on his face in No. 6’s stream. I know the He Jiahuai in other streams is innocent and pure, but I still can’t accept it—

: Truly face-planting like a dog eating dirt.

: The other two didn’t escape either, right?

: You should thank No. 6. After pulling that stunt, he didn’t even post about it.

: But Seventh Uncle has the video.

: Seventh Uncle: Victory is in hand.

: He Jiahuai and the others are blaming this on Seventh Uncle. Honestly, he’s not entirely innocent. I think he and No. 6 are cut from the same cloth.

: I can tell the person above is a He fan. You’re really triggered, huh?

: It’s true. No. 6 gives him a flower and he treasures it like it’s priceless, even putting it in a vase. Even if he’s not gay now, he’s not far from it. I hope Seventh Uncle’s fans know their place and stop dragging our Jiahuai into this. Our Jiahuai is a straight man, okay? Praying for him.

: That’s called having manners, okay? Not like your rabid He fans who want to bite everyone.

: Oh please, manners? His second sister gave him a Buddhist amulet and he threw it straight into the trash. Is that manners? Even if he has manners, it’s only visible to No. 6. Sounds even more like he’s gay. Hope he keeps his distance from our Jiahuai and doesn’t corrupt him.

: Holy crap, what is this?! What is this!!! I ship it, I ship it, I ship it hard!!!

: “Our Jiahuai baby”? You guys really say that out loud? That amulet his sister gave him was shady to begin with. Was he supposed to worship it? His leg was crippled for Su Yuexiang, and you fans will say anything just to smear him!

: Whether it was for Su Yuexiang is still debatable. He himself said it wasn’t. Translated on Hololo novels. And honestly, he doesn’t seem that devoted to her. Today when he watched No. 6 playing with the dogs, his eyes were practically glued there.

: I ship it, I ship it, I’m still shipping it.

: He just doesn’t want Su Yuexiang to feel guilty! He doesn’t want to burden her! He already said he treats No. 6 as a junior. What’s wrong with looking at a junior a bit more?

: A junior? There are tons of juniors in the old residence. Why does he only stare at No. 6? Honestly, thank goodness for No. 6, otherwise what if he stared at our Jiahuai instead?

: And didn’t you Seventh Uncle fans say he’s a germaphobe? His massage therapist disinfects everything and wears gloves, but today No. 6 touched him directly. Where did the germaphobia go? Just admit it, stanning a gay man isn’t that embarrassing. You just lost the matchup again.

: Ship ship ship ship ship—

: Looks like a rat snuck into our thread.

: Where are the Seventh Uncle fans now? Why aren’t you arguing back?

: They went to start a thread calling He Jiahuai trash.

: That’s not insulting, that’s education.

: Damn it! You can’t play fair!

: I have another question. Why are those cannon fodder NPCs plotting to drug No. 6? Shouldn’t this kind of cliché plot happen to the male and female leads?

: You’re asking me? Ask the production team!

: Ship ship ship—wait no! What male and female leads? Don’t talk nonsense. Our No. 6 stream has always been dual male leads.

≽^•⩊•^≼

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