When the car pulled up in front of Zhu Manor, Zhu Lexing was scrolling through this world’s social platform.
The general public now recognized six genders, so the topics people chatted about had naturally shifted in subtle ways. Amid discussions of how stunning celebrities looked in unfiltered photos and how hilarious certain TV drama plots were, there were interspersed blue-tinted breaking news alerts about Omegas and Alphas unexpectedly going into heat, creating utter chaos. It all felt surreal, like something straight out of a movie.
After browsing the netizens’ comments for a bit, Zhu Lexing casually logged out and deleted the account.
The Original Host had lived a life of luxury. Even without revealing her true identity, posting a few landscape or food photos had drawn tens of thousands of followers.
Zhu Lexing had no interest in managing the account, but leaving it idle risked someone digging into it. So she deleted it outright—one and done.
Snapping back to reality, she noticed a woman with an elaborate hairstyle standing outside the car window. Her features were plain but radiated warmth, and she must have been waiting for a while. When Zhu Lexing looked her way, the woman lowered her gaze and said, “Miss.”
Her identity was obvious—one of the Zhu Family’s servants.
Zhu Lexing had hired several nannies back in her own world, but none of them had ever addressed her as “Miss.” She wasn’t quite used to it and responded coolly. Meanwhile, the woman kept smiling as she opened the car door and smoothly picked up Zhu Lexing’s bag.
The movements flowed seamlessly, leaving Zhu Lexing no chance to refuse. She could only step out and follow behind.
Beyond the wrought-iron gates stood the Zhu Family’s four-story standalone villa, grand and built like a castle. One side of the lawn had been turned into a garden, while the other lay conspicuously empty.
Zhu Lexing knew nothing about architecture, but this only made her more aware of the Zhu Family’s immense wealth.
The door was half-open, but the woman made no move to proceed. Perplexed, Zhu Lexing mimicked her and stood there motionless. Suddenly, a voice called from inside, “Miss is back.”
It was a woman’s voice, unnaturally tense—almost fearful. The words acted like a spell, and footsteps came rushing in a flurry. The door swung wide, and a swarm of servants burst out from every room like moles, surrounding Zhu Lexing.
Some fussed over her well-being, others took her bag from the woman and carried it to her room, some asked what she’d like for dinner, and one even half-kneeled to offer a leg massage.
By the time Zhu Lexing was ushered to the sofa amid the crowd, she had finally caught her bearings—
So, even the short walk from outside the villa to the door had its own dedicated servant attending to the Original Host.
Zhu Lexing had never dreamed of such a scenario, let alone being surrounded by these obsequious servants with their fawning postures and servile attitudes.
A growing sense of discomfort welled up inside her, and she unconsciously furrowed her brow.
Someone with such sharp features looked mocking even when simply lost in thought, without trying to please anyone.
Everyone froze in place. Zhu Lexing, unsure why, tested the waters: “You all… stay a bit farther from me, okay…?”
She hadn’t even finished asking for their opinion when the servants meeting her gaze recoiled in terror, as if she were some man-eating monster.
The others backed away too, their inner turmoil plain on their faces.
Back in the modern world, Zhu Lexing might not have been universally adored, but she always ranked high in annual popularity polls. When had people ever given her such a wide berth?
She hated the System.
After the chaos settled and everyone returned to their posts, the vast living room fell silent. The flurry of footsteps faded, leaving only the TV news droning in the background.
With no one bothering her, Zhu Lexing’s ears finally had some peace. She started toward the stairs when the System chimed in her ear like a persistent ghost: 【Yan Mian is expected to return to the Zhu Family in twenty minutes. Please prepare yourself, Host.】
Zhu Lexing: ??
The System was terse: 【Your current Points total is zero. Failing to complete the Daily Task will deduct 1 Point.】
And negative points meant an electric shock.
Zhu Lexing froze at the handrail. After a long moment, she gritted her back teeth and descended the stairs again, like walking a tightrope over knife blades.
She hated the System!
By nearly seven o’clock, the long dining table was laden with dishes. Zhu Lexing glanced over the spread—every delicacy imaginable—but there was only one set of tableware.
“Where’s Yan Mian’s?”
No sooner had she spoken than a memory flashed in her mind:
Months ago at the dinner table, “Zhu Lexing” had faced Yan Mian for the first time.
The meal lasted twenty minutes, during which “Zhu Lexing” smashed eight plates. One even grazed Yan Mian’s ear before shattering on the floor, nearly hitting her.
Yan Mian hadn’t touched her food, standing there like a target while enduring half an hour of venting. That spectacle made it clear to all the Zhu Family servants just how precarious Miss Yan’s ambiguously intimate position truly was.
From that day on, no one dared set a place for Yan Mian.
Yan Mian began avoiding Zhu Lexing too, locking herself in her room to eat after arriving home early. When the Original Host learned of it, she casually fired the servant who’d delivered the meal, and the matter never stirred again in the Zhu Family.
Zhu Lexing truly hadn’t expected the Original Host to be so unhinged—not even letting Yan Mian sit at the dinner table.
Her expression darkened. The servant behind her sensed something amiss but couldn’t pinpoint it, so she murmured, “Miss Yan hasn’t dined with you in a long time.”
The implication was clear: no place was set, and that was fine.
“Zhu Lexing’s” disdain for Yan Mian was obvious to all. After the fired servant, no one dared speak up for her, no matter how pitiable. Some even tripped her up deliberately to curry favor with Zhu Lexing.
Over time, the one ignored at the table was always just Yan Mian.
After a long silence, Zhu Lexing finally spoke: “Go prepare one for her. And do the same from now on.”
“She’s living in the Zhu Family, so she’s a guest of the Zhu Family. Address her as Miss, and treat her with the same respect you’d show me.”
Her voice was icy, her sharp gaze sweeping over them like a blade. The servants fell deathly silent, avoiding each other’s eyes, but a single thought rose in all their minds—
Was Zhu Lin coming back, or had Zhu Lexing lost her mind?
How else to explain this sudden change in tone?
In the near-funereal hush, the door suddenly opened.
Yan Mian climbed the steps and quietly stood in the entryway, a trail of inky light dragging behind her. Sweat beaded along her neck, and though the bag on her shoulder didn’t look heavy, it seemed to weigh a thousand pounds against her pale face—as if it might crush the frail girl swaying like a willow in the wind at any moment.
The moment Zhu Lexing spotted Yan Mian, her frustration deflated like air hissing from a punctured balloon.
She rose a little too quickly, wanting to show concern but sensing that any words would only push her away.
Instead, Yan Mian flinched under her gaze, instinctively dropping her eyes to the floor.
In the space of a breath, Zhu Lexing steadied her emotions. She shot a glance at the man standing several meters away by the entryway, who showed no sign of offering to carry the bag. “Did you not hear me clearly? When she comes back, do you all suddenly forget how to walk?”
No one in the Zhu Family dared defy Zhu Lexing’s wishes.
Like finely tuned machines imprinted with new directives to tend to Yan Mian, the household staff clicked back into motion. In mere moments, bowls and chopsticks appeared before Zhu Lexing, while the kitchen hurried to whip up a second round of after-dinner sweets.
Everything fell into perfect order before Yan Mian could even protest. Smiles masked the faces of everyone around her, no matter how they’d treated her in days past.
Zhu Lexing’s resounding declaration—”a guest of the Zhu Family”—still echoed in her ears. Revulsion twisted in Yan Mian’s gut. She clenched her fists until her knuckles whitened and fixed Zhu Lexing with a level stare.
Unless absolutely necessary, she refused to owe the Zhu Family a thing.
“I can handle it myself.” These were the first words Yan Mian had spoken while looking Zhu Lexing directly in the face in months. Her voice held steady, though her heart hammered several beats faster than normal. “It’s just a small thing. Please don’t trouble them.”
Yan Mian had never been one for words; this rare refusal already counted as outright rebellion.
Those trembling eyes pinned on her, Zhu Lexing felt the depths of her struggle to speak up.
A tender corner of her heart softened. Her lips parted as she started to offer comfort—only for that accursed System to chime in at the worst possible moment: 【4 hours and 55 minutes remain until the end of today’s Daily Task.】
It was like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head, dousing Zhu Lexing’s surging pity. She imagined the agony of an electric shock and glared at Yan Mian—at the golden patterns carved into the door behind her.
A roster of Daily Tasks flickered into view in the air. Zhu Lexing selected a fill-in-the-blank question and delivered it deadpan: “Heh, woman. You think you can?”
“People should know their place. Figure out what you are—you’re nothing but—”
