Huo Qing looked at the people in the room and asked, “Erbai… do you know my brother?”
Before the God of Wealth could speak, Chen Bai replied, “We’re friends.”
Party A and Party B can also be considered partners, and partners can be called friends in another sense.
Huo Chuan did not comment on this statement and remained silent.
He didn’t say much, but he also didn’t leave. Instead, he sat down on a chair on the side of the piano room.
Although it seemed a bit strange, these two people were quite straightforward with each other, and they truly were just friends.
With another person in the room acting as a messenger, and Huo Qing recording videos, the atmosphere became less tense. However, finding nothing particularly exciting, she took the initiative to go downstairs to accompany her mother.
As the footsteps in the corridor disappeared, leaving only the two of them in the room, Huo Chuan finally spoke: “You’ve changed a lot.”
Understanding what he was referring to, Chen Bai rubbed his pink hair and preemptively asked, “Does it look good?”
As expected, the man sitting on the sofa didn’t answer immediately. After a moment of silence, he skipped the topic and asked instead, “Why are you here?”
Chen Bai replied concisely, “Just here to help.”
It was purely coincidental.
Having asked all he wanted to know, Huo Chuan said nothing more. He unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt and leaned back on the sofa, quietly closing his eyes as the gentle piano music started again.
On a rainy day like this, the sound of rain and piano music was the perfect lullaby.
As the last note faded, Chen Bai stretched his hands and turned to look at the man who had remained motionless on the sofa.
At some point, the half-open eyes had fully closed.
Only then did Chen Bai finally remember that, according to the original plot, the God of Wealth had been working non-stop for the past few days with little rest.
This man probably held himself together just now because Huo Qing was present, but now that she was gone, he had instantly relaxed.
After hesitating for less than a second, Chen Bai walked over to the sofa. Between tapping the person’s face to force his phone to unlock and politely tapping his shoulder to wake him up, he opted for the latter.
Fortunately, Huo Chuan was not in a deep sleep and was roused after a few shoulder taps. His eyes fluttered slightly.
“…”
Just before Huo Chuan opened his eyes, Chen Bai silently withdrew his hand that was about to pat his face and said, “If you’re tired, go rest.”
Their eyes met.
Chen Bai added, “I’ll let Auntie know later.”
As the last song ended, a figure appeared at the stairs on the second floor.
Zhang Ling, who had been fiddling with the flowers in the vase, looked up along with the housekeeper.
Surprisingly, the person walking down was a very young man, his light-colored, shaved hair fluttering slightly as he moved. His skin was exceptionally fair.
Sensing the gazes on him, the young man turned his head, his rare light-gray pupils meeting theirs. He smiled warmly and sincerely.
As he walked into the living room, even if they had never met him before, they could recognize who he was. Chen Bai greeted Huo’s mother with a polite nod and said with a smile, “Boss Huo has gone back to his room to rest.”
His smile was especially bright.
After all, dealing with one less God of Wealth made things much easier.
— Mainly because he wasn’t being paid, so his motivation to act was quite low.
— If there was payment involved, well, that would be a different story.
Huo Qing frowned. “Mr. Huo?”
If she recalled correctly, just moments ago, this person had claimed to be friends with her brother.
She knew that none of her brother’s friends addressed him as “Mr. Huo.”
Lowering his voice, Chen Bai said seriously, “Rather than calling him a friend, it’s more accurate to say Mr. Huo is my boss.”
The title “boss” was something he could never say in front of the God of Wealth, but now that he wasn’t around, it rolled off his tongue quite naturally.
Huo Qing nodded in understanding.
No wonder Erbai’s smile faded when her brother was around—it turned out to be because of their work relationship.
Even though she hadn’t fully stepped into society yet, she could roughly guess that no one would genuinely smile at their boss all the time.
Having completed his task, Chen Bai had no intention of staying for the family gathering. After bidding farewell, he was about to leave when the woman in the wheelchair stopped him and asked, “Are you playing the piano at Heluo Restaurant this weekend?”
Chen Bai swallowed his goodbye and replied, “Yes.”
Zhang Ling smiled knowingly. “I thought so.”
Now it was Huo Qing’s turn to be confused. She glanced between them, trying to figure out what they were talking about.
Heluo Restaurant was the place where Chen Bai worked part-time, and it was also a restaurant that Zhang Ling’s friend frequented.
That friend wasn’t a regular at the restaurant, but ever since the pianist had changed, she had been going there every weekend. She said the new pianist was wonderful and that Zhang Ling would love it too.
The friend didn’t mention anything about appearance, only that he had recently dyed his hair pink.
And today, she finally saw him in person.
Instead of leaving immediately, Chen Bai stayed to chat with Huo’s mother.
He was naturally sociable and could strike up a conversation with anyone. Having had plenty of experience chatting with shop owners, he could also hold his own in conversations with the older generation.
Zhang Ling sat in her wheelchair, eyes curving with a smile.
With Chen Bai around, the house felt noticeably livelier. It was lively but not noisy, without the need for forced pleasantries or awkward small talk. It made the atmosphere more relaxed, and she found herself liking the pink-haired boy more and more.
People who dye their hair pink often come across as frivolous, but this young man didn’t. On the contrary, he seemed like someone naturally suited to such a color. Talking to him, it was easy to tell he was actually very down-to-earth and reliable.
It was truly endearing.
While they were chatting, the pastry chef in the kitchen prepared some small cakes. Pink-haired Chen Bai went over to watch and learn. The chef was so delighted that he even taught him a secret recipe.
Huo Qing could now see it clearly.
The reason why Chen Erbai was so talkative in his live streams wasn’t because it was necessary for the broadcast—it was simply because he was naturally good at chatting and could get along with anyone.
In the afternoon, since he needed to prepare for his live stream, after exchanging WeChat contacts for future conversations, Chen Bai finally excused himself.
Zhang Ling arranged for the family driver to take him home and told him to visit again when he had the chance.
Mu Qiushan was quite far from the city, and it wasn’t easy to hail a taxi, so Chen Bai agreed without hesitation.
Huo Qing stood by the gate, holding an umbrella, and waved at him—just like when they first met.
The vehicle gradually disappeared into the rain, leaving behind only the sound of falling raindrops.
Walking back from the manor gate, crossing the courtyard, Huo Qing entered the house just as a figure descended from the second floor.
It was her well-rested brother. He glanced around the living room and asked, “Where is he?”
It was clear who he was referring to. Huo Qing replied, “He had work, so he left.”
Only she and Erbai knew about his live streaming job. She almost blurted it out but fortunately stopped herself in time.
Huo Chuan asked again, “He really left?”
Huo Qing glanced at him and said, “He’s not like the people you looked for before.”
Those people, drawn in by her scumbag brother, would cling to any opportunity to stay, hoping to gain favor. But Erbai had simply come to work and clearly had no interest in her brother.
Huo Chuan gave a brief response and said no more.
Chen Bai didn’t ask the driver to take him home. Instead, he had them drop him off at the subway station closest to the manor, choosing to take the subway back.
Work was work. Considering various factors, he had no plans to let anyone connected to the God of Wealth know where he lived—at least for now.
Even though it was a Saturday, the heavy rain kept many people indoors. He took two subway trains, managing to find a seat both times, and started dozing off.
But as soon as he stepped out of the station, a gust of cold wind mixed with raindrops hit him, jolting him fully awake.
Good news: he was almost home.
Bad news: his umbrella was still at the God of Wealth’s manor.
When he had gotten into the car earlier, someone from the manor had held an umbrella for him. He hadn’t thought about it then, and apparently, neither had they.
Now he had two choices: rush home quickly or take his time walking through the rain.
Just as he hesitated, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
It was a message from his good neighbor.
With one hand in his pocket, Chen Bai quickly typed a reply.
Two seconds after he sent the message, the reply came back concisely: [Wait for me]
The pink-haired man, who had just taken a step forward to brave the heavy rain, slowly retracted his foot.
Traffic passed slowly on the road nearby, headlights flickering, their brightness dimmed by the steady downpour. The streetlights were hazy in the rain, their glow reduced to a faint shimmer.
Amidst the sound of the heavy rain, a figure approached from the end of the street, an umbrella in hand. His gray casual clothes almost blended into the dim surroundings.
Reinforcements had arrived.
Even from afar, the energetic pink-haired man had already started waving.
His rescuer had only one umbrella, and since there was no convenience store along the way, they would have to share.
Crawling under the umbrella, Chen Bai first expressed his gratitude to his enthusiastic neighbor, then raised his head and asked, “What made you suddenly think of sending a message today?”
His neighbor wasn’t like him. He wasn’t the type to talk too much, only sending messages when necessary. Receiving a message out of the blue was surprising—it almost made him wonder if his good neighbor’s account had been hacked.
Xu Sinian replied, “I didn’t get a message today.”
So, he sent one himself.
It sounded logical, but something felt off. Chen Bai smiled and said, “I thought you’d be resting after your night shift, so I didn’t send you anything.”
Not wanting to disturb his neighbor, he had instead directed all his spam messages to his new friend, Qingzhou.
“The messages won’t disturb me when I’m resting,” Xu Sinian said. “You can message me anytime.”
Chen Bai grinned. “Okay.” Then he asked, “How did you know I was out?”
“I saw you this morning, buying flowers.” Xu Sinian glanced at him and added, “Were you going on a date?”
The words, spoken in his usual calm tone, mixed with the sound of rain and drifted into Chen Bai’s ears.
The pink-haired man raised his eyes, studying his neighbor’s expression.
Today, Xu Sinian was only wearing a hat—no mask. From this distance, Chen Bai could clearly see his dark eyes, which looked just as serious as always.
It was hard to imagine that his usually reserved neighbor had just said the word “date” with such a straight face.
The absurdity of it was too much. The pink-haired man couldn’t hold back his laughter and nearly stumbled backward.
Still walking up the stairs, the ever-calm neighbor instinctively reached out to steady him, preventing any accidents.
“Those flowers were for a friend’s mother,” Chen Bai said between chuckles.
He had laughed so hard that he nearly choked. He patted his chest, coughed twice, waved a hand dismissively, and added, “Falling in love has nothing to do with me.”
As long as that 400-million-yuan debt still existed, romance was out of the question.
Chen Bai was very self-aware—he had long accepted his fate of staying single for life.
