The Male Stand-in Just Wants to Make Money – Chapter 25

The good-tempered friend spoke up, his gaze lowered. “The water is warm, you can drink it directly.”

His voice was crisp, like jade striking jade—clear, precise, yet carrying an undeniable chill.

And somehow, inexplicably familiar.

Huo Qing: “…”

A thermos cup in hand, the man in front of her smiled and spoke slowly.

Three different mental images now overlapped with that single thermos cup, all pointing toward the person sitting beside her. She fell silent for a moment.

Pink Hair took a sip from the thermos, swallowing quietly. Once he was done, his good-tempered friend took the thermos back, screwed the lid on tightly, then bent down slightly, extending his other hand.

Though his legs weren’t crippled and he wasn’t so injured that he couldn’t stand on his own, Pink Hair still grabbed onto his human-shaped crutch to get up—offering praise for the crutch in the process.

The crutch‘s gaze landed on his gauze-wrapped hand. After a brief silence, he asked, “Does it hurt?”

Chen Bai glanced around and replied casually, “Not bad.”

“…”

Standing to the side, Huo Qing watched the two of them interact.

Then, suddenly—something in her mind clicked.

Her eyes brightened, her back straightened, and the suffocating pressure she had felt earlier seemed to vanish.

After the patient handover ceremony concluded and they left the hospital, Huo Qing stood beside the driver, watching the two figures walk away.

Halfway through, Pink Hair turned back and waved at her. His good-tempered friend also gave a slight nod in greeting.

Huo Qing immediately waved back, bidding them farewell.

Once she watched the two of them get into the car and drive away, she turned to the driver beside her and commented, “Isn’t this friend so much better than my brother?”

The driver wasn’t sure what she meant, and since the question was a tricky one to answer, he chose to remain silent.

The black vehicle pulled out of the hospital parking lot and merged back onto the road, heading toward their destination.

Inside the car—

The pink-haired cat, which had been lively and energetic just moments ago, collapsed into a heap the second he got in.

Chen Bai was scrolling through his phone, gradually sliding down in his seat, only to push himself back up when he reached the bottom.

He had received several messages—some from other people, some from today’s new employer. Among them were two money transfers.

The first transfer was his salary.

The second was a considerable sum of money, labeled as “medical expenses and a thank-you payment.”

If something had happened to Huo Chuan at the engagement party, the consequences would have been far greater than just a simple thank-you payment.

Though he loved money and wanted money very much, Chen Bai had a clear sense of what money he could take and what money he couldn’t.

After accepting the salary he rightfully earned, he refused the second transfer and simply replied that he could be contacted if needed in the future.

Having to reluctantly reject such a large sum of money, Pink Hair was heartbroken.

After sending the message, he set his phone aside and gave himself a self-pitying pat on the back.

The person beside him glanced over, eyes landing on his hand, and asked, “Does it hurt?”

The same question—asked once at the hospital—was now repeated by his good-tempered friend.

“It hurts so much.”

The person sitting in the passenger seat suddenly burst into exaggerated movements, flailing his arms and kicking his legs. If not for the constraints of the seatbelt and limited space, he might have been bouncing up and down in his seat.

The calm and collected individual from the hospital was now a completely different person.

Inside the safe and comfortable space of the car, Chen Bai, who had been slightly reserved earlier, completely dropped the act.

Pointing at his bandaged hand, he dramatically recounted, “It was fine when the skin was just broken—I didn’t feel a thing. But when they disinfected it? It was like pouring molten lava straight into the wound. You know lava, right? My cells must have been incinerated one by one.”

He sighed, “My poor, short-lived cells.”

“Rest in peace, my brave little cells.”

At this point, he looked more heartbroken than actually in pain.

Xu Sinian offered a few words of comfort—both to him and his cells—before casually asking, “How did you get injured?”

The message Chen Bai had sent earlier had been painfully vague—just a simple note saying he was at the hospital with an injured hand and needed a kind-hearted soul to come pick him up. Nothing more.

Chen Bai summed it up succinctly: “I did a good deed. In the end, everyone was happy.”

He received his salary, the God of Wealth was safe, and there was even some extra cash in the mix. A couple of scratched-up hands? Totally worth it.

“That was your friend just now?” Xu Sinian asked while steering the wheel. “She looked pretty young.”

Chen Bai nodded. “Yeah. She’s also the God of Wealth’s little sister.”

Sliding further down in his seat, he gave up on trying to sit properly and collapsed into a slump.

Casually, he remarked, “I remember you have a younger brother too.”

All those free meals hadn’t been for nothing—being a natural chatterbox, he had learned a lot about his good neighbor over dinner.

“Yeah, he’s in high school.”

The usually stoic man suddenly frowned, his expression carrying a hint of a headache.

“Loves playing games.”

Xu Sinian’s younger brother, Xu Lang, had originally attended a private school that emphasized individuality, where there weren’t many restrictions. However, his strong personality had led the family to transfer him to a public high school instead.

Even after transferring, his behavior remained unchanged. He still skipped classes to play games and spent his nights watching gaming livestreams. The tutors hired for him never lasted longer than a month.

“…”

The gaming livestream host sitting beside him clicked his tongue. “That’s… not ideal.”

No wonder his good neighbor’s family had thrown the problem child at him to deal with.

The kid hadn’t even arrived yet, but the arrangements were already made—he would be packed up and sent over during the next short holiday.

Xu Lang wasn’t afraid of anything—except his older brother.

In situations like this, only a “good neighbor” could keep him in line.

“Why would your brother be afraid of you?” Chen Bai’s mind wandered off track. “You seem pretty gentle.”

Xu Sinian had a good temper.

Sure, he could probably take down ten people with a single punch, but he had never shown any violent tendencies. Wasn’t he just a good, reliable older brother?

Xu Sinian cast a sidelong glance at the lump of a person slouched in the passenger seat and chuckled.

That evening, since Chen Bai couldn’t touch water with his injured hand, he was treated to a free dinner by his good neighbor.

He couldn’t wash dishes, but he could still play games. The gauze was a little cumbersome, but it didn’t affect his performance.

Despite his “injuries,” Chen Bai heroically went into battle.

He played alongside his buddy, who was particularly cooperative today. At some point, a player on the enemy team turned on their public mic, cursing:

“Damn it, what’s with this disgusting couple sticking together the whole game? Who the hell are you trying to show off for?!”

Chen Bai calmly shot him dead from behind.

Having an injured hand didn’t affect his gameplay at all.

During the past few days of recovery, Chen Bai spent his time picking locks and livestreaming, all while receiving messages from his money-making partner.

His agent had sent him an audition invitation, along with a script excerpt, asking if he was interested in trying out.

The audition was scheduled for two weeks later, with filming set to officially begin in a little over two months. It was a costume drama, but since the production had stylists who could handle wigs, his pink hair wouldn’t be an issue.

The invitation had come from a director who was somewhat well-known in the industry. He was a friend of the director from his previous project and had personally extended the audition opportunity after receiving a recommendation.

There were two roles available for him to audition for:

One was a doctor who had climbed his way up from the bottom.
The other was a dandy from a prestigious noble family.

Personality-wise, the two characters couldn’t be more opposite.

The agent encouraged him to try both roles, just in case.

Aside from the audition, his money-making partner had also secured several magazine photoshoot invitations. However, she advised against accepting them for now.

Since his first-ever magazine shoot was with “EV”, his starting point was already high. To maintain his long-term value, it was best to avoid lower-tier publications.

Leave professional matters to the professionals.

Chen Bai agreed without hesitation.

And so, his mission for the next two weeks was to study the script.

The audition script contained two sets of lines, each with several segments. On the day of the audition, the director would pick one at random, so he had no choice but to memorize all of them.

Fortunately, Chen Bai had a good memory.

With two weeks to prepare, he figured he could fit in practice while picking locks—more than enough time.

By day, he picked locks and studied his lines.
By night, he livestreamed as usual.

And the moment his gauze was removed, his aggressive playstyle returned with a vengeance.

Once again, he ran into a player who mistook him and Cai Zhou for a couple. After dealing with this multiple times, he had learned not to explain anymore—just shoot them directly.

As the game’s victory screen popped up, his phone—placed to the side—lit up.

He took one hand off the keyboard and glanced down.

It was a message from his good neighbor—who should still be at work right now.

Leaning back in his chair, he read through the message. The corners of his lips curled slightly, and he raised his hand to type a reply.

The neighbor’s younger brother had arrived early.

Since his family couldn’t stand watching him play games at home any longer, they had shipped him off ahead of schedule.

The good brother didn’t have a key, and his good neighbor wouldn’t be home until midnight.

Luckily, Chen Bai had the spare key that his neighbor had given him—so he could help open the door.

It was a simple task.

He sent his reply, then reached out to lower his headphone volume before addressing his audience:

“My friend’s little brother just arrived. Gotta step out for a bit.”

On a quiet street, a black vehicle came to a stop—then drove away without hesitation.

The car left, leaving behind a lone figure standing on the empty road.

A teenager dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform, carrying a backpack and holding a phone in one hand, slightly raised his half-lidded eyes and took in the sight of the old residential building before him.

After standing outside for a while—until the chill from the wind started sinking in—Xu Lang finally walked inside.

He wasn’t expecting much from the interior. The outside looked old, so it was no surprise that the inside wasn’t much better. The lighting was dim, and the staircase was a hassle to climb.

He ascended the stairs one step at a time, stopping in front of a door. Lowering his head, he double-checked the house number before raising a hand to knock.

——Except, he didn’t actually knock.

A split second before his knuckles touched the door, Xu Lang hesitated.

He pulled his hand back, took off one of his earphones, and stuffed it into his uniform pocket.

Then, after a brief pause, he took out the other earphone as well before finally knocking on the door.

“Click—”

The sound of footsteps approached.

The door opened—but not the one he had knocked on.

The first thing he saw was a head of eye-catching pink hair.

Then, he noticed a set of simple yet classic clothing, inexplicably familiar.

Objectively speaking, this person was very good-looking.

The pink-haired man glanced at him and asked, “Brother Xu?”

Without waiting for an answer, he quickly continued, “Your brother should’ve told you—I have the key. Come inside first. I’ll find it for you once I finish this game.”

This person spoke quickly and moved even faster.

Before Xu Lang could even process what was happening, he found himself following along instinctively, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

The pink-haired man turned around, walking toward the master bedroom, while casually instructing, “Just sit in the living room for a bit. I’ll try to wrap this up quickly—should take about ten minutes.”

Xu Lang walked into the modest living room, stopping beside the sofa.

After a brief pause, he finally chose to put his earphones back in, deciding to sit down for now and figure out what was going on.

The master bedroom was located across from the living room, and the door wasn’t closed.

As Xu Lang turned his head to put on his earphones, he glanced toward the room and saw the pink-haired man return to his computer.

Lowering his head, the man put on his own headphones and said into his mic:

“Something urgent came up—Cai Zhou, we gotta speed this round up.”

“…We gotta speed this one up.”

The words in his headphones overlapped exactly with the words coming from the master bedroom.

Xu Lang, in the middle of putting on his other earphone, froze.