Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“Bang!”
“Crash!”
Zhu Yin stopped midstep.
Beside her, Butler Zhang’s expression did not change. As if he had heard nothing from inside, he said with a genial smile, “Miss Zhu Yin, this is where the Young Master and Young Madam live. Once you take over my duties, you’ll mainly be responsible for–”
“Han Qingzi, you’d better remember your place!” An enraged male voice from the house cut Butler Zhang off.
Nice voice. He sounded a little unhinged, though.
Butler Zhang’s smile faltered. His speech abruptly sped up, and the look he gave Zhu Yin was sincere and grandfatherly. “Butler Zhu Yin, as of this moment, you are the butler of the Shen residence. I’ve emailed you the details of your duties. I still need to report back to Old Mr. Shen at the old residence, so I’ll be going now!”
His words came in a rush, but his legs moved even faster. He wheeled around and all but fled, with none of the sluggishness one might expect from a man nearing sixty.
“Host, based on Butler Zhang’s movements and expression as he ran away, he is currently in a very good mood.” Perched on Zhu Yin’s shoulder was a pink ball of light the size of an ordinary person’s fist, invisible to everyone else.
The ball of light was Barbara, the system assigned by the World-Hopping Bureau to assist Zhu Yin with her missions.
Both woman and system knew exactly why Butler Zhang was so happy.
Before Zhu Yin arrived, he had been the butler of the Shen residence. His claim that age had left him too tired for the work was the reason Zhu Yin was here.
The two people arguing in the villa right now were the protagonists of this world.
When Zhu Yin arrived at the Supporting Role Division a few days ago, Barbara had been rather surprised. It thought she had gone to the wrong place.
After all, its new partner was exceptionally attractive. The popular Idealized Love Division or Heartthrob Division clearly suited her better than the impoverished Supporting Role Division, which offered no prospects whatsoever.
It confirmed with Zhu Yin again and again that she really had come to the right place.
As they spoke, Zhu Yin and Barbara reached the doorway of the hall where the argument was taking place.
Zhu Yin gave her sleeves a quick, neat adjustment and stepped forward to introduce herself. The instant her head appeared around the door, an unidentified white object came hurtling toward her.
Zhu Yin: ?
She pivoted lightly on one foot and avoided the airborne disaster. Porcelain shattered crisply beside her. Looking down, she saw a teacup of excellent quality.
Before the person involved could offer an opinion, the system cried out, “Beginner missions are supposed to be one hundred percent safe! This level of danger is unreasonable. Host, I’ve recorded the incident and submitted it to the Central System as evidence. Your compensation will be credited together with the points from your mission settlement.”
“…Danger?” Zhu Yin blinked. So the World-Hopping Bureau considered this dangerous?
She could not help laughing, and made no attempt to refuse this unexpected windfall. “All right. Thank you, Barbara.”
Barbara grew a little bashful, but its tone remained earnest. “There is no need to thank me, Host. After years of development and improvement, the World-Hopping Bureau now has a comprehensive employee protection system. I am merely following procedure.”
The commotion inside also fell silent after the unexpected incident.
Shen Dongjun was startled when a head suddenly popped into view at the doorway. Once he saw that no one had been hurt, he relaxed, though his face remained taut.
He asked coldly, “Who are you?”
Zhu Yin instinctively surveyed the room’s layout and furnishings. She soon caught herself and turned her attention to the two protagonists.
The man in the suit was the male lead, Shen Dongjun. He stood to the right of the sofa. His normally immaculate clothes were somewhat disheveled, and one button of his shirt had come undone.
He had striking brows, bright eyes, and excellent bone structure. His expression was just rather foul.
A young woman in a white dress sat on the sofa. She had large, pale eyes, flawless fair skin, and soft chestnut curls spilling down her back.
Zhu Yin’s nose twitched almost imperceptibly. She thought the heroine looked very much like a soft, fragrant little chocolate cake.
Little cake… Ah. That was the heroine, Han Qingzi. Her face was pale, but she remained aloof in the face of the male lead’s anger.
Meeting the pair’s stares, Zhu Yin flashed them a brilliant smile that showed eight teeth. “Good day, Young Master, Young Madam. Butler Zhang has returned to the old residence. I’m Zhu Yin, the new butler, and I’ll be taking over his duties.”
At her words, Han Qingzi’s face grew even paler.
She said nothing. She merely shot Shen Dongjun a cold look, then turned her head away and ignored them both, lost in thought.
Zhu Yin was puzzled. The little cake was angry. Why?
Shen Dongjun’s expression was no better. Then again, his face had looked foul all along, so Zhu Yin could not tell whether anything had changed.
“The new butler? You?” He swept a chilly gaze over her and scoffed. “Have you even graduated yet?”
Oh. He was looking down on her.
Once again, Zhu Yin had no chance to offer her opinion before Barbara, perched on her shoulder, shouted at the top of its voice, “Outrageous! How dare he underestimate us? Host, show him what we prepared!”
Of course, given the tiny size of the little ball, even its loudest shout was not very loud.
With practiced ease, Zhu Yin pulled an enormous stack of documents from her bag. Every sheet was some kind of professional certification.
She handed them over, looking supremely confident.
Shen Dongjun took them, skimmed the pages, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He had not expected that old geezer to spare no expense this time.
That did nothing to change his opinion of Zhu Yin. His tone stayed cold. “With credentials and professional skills this good, you could do well anywhere. Why wade into these murky waters?”
Zhu Yin did not quite understand what he meant.
She asked in astonishment, “Have the waters at the Shen residence become that murky?”
Han Qingzi, who had lowered her head, let out a laugh.
Shen Dongjun continued to glare at Zhu Yin. “There’s no need to play dumb. With qualifications like yours, we both know what you’re after by coming here.”
He tossed the documents onto the table. “Go back and tell Shen Xin to stop playing these games. I’m not falling for it.”
Shen Xin!
At the name, understanding dawned on Zhu Yin.
As a mission worker, she received only information concerning the protagonists.
Shen Xin was the male lead’s biological father–a scumbag husband who doubled as a deadbeat dad.
Shen Dongjun’s mother had died when he was five, and he had been raised by his grandfather, Old Mr. Shen.
Shen Xin immersed himself in women and pleasure and paid no attention to Shen Dongjun. As Old Mr. Shen’s only son, he took it for granted that the entire Shen family would be his once the old man died.
Then Shen Dongjun came of age. Old Mr. Shen taught his grandson the many tactics of the business world and passed on the network he had built over many years. It was clear that he intended to bypass his useless son and hand the family enterprise directly to his grandson.
The deadbeat father finally began to panic.
He had not been a decent husband. His relationship with his former wife had been poor, and he bore at least some responsibility for Shen Dongjun’s mother’s death.
Nor had he been a decent father. He had never shown Shen Dongjun the slightest concern.
Love between father and son? Naturally, there was none.
Shen Xin had no doubt that when he grew old and lay in a hospital bed, Shen Dongjun would never tend to him as a dutiful son. He would probably be itching to pull the plug himself.
Of course, Zhu Yin did not care about the relationship between father and son.
She knew about Shen Xin because this deadbeat father also served as a troublemaker and minor villain in the romance between the two leads–and in her current mission.
After Old Mr. Shen gave up on him, Shen Xin first tried to repair his relationship with Shen Dongjun.
If he succeeded, he could spend the first half of his life living off his father and the second half living off his son.
Naturally, he failed.
When that road proved impassable, he turned to more underhanded ideas.