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The echoes of the music lingered outside the door. By the time Gu Xinglan got up to open the door, the butler was nowhere to be seen.
There was only a child standing at the door.
Not only were his hat and scarf missing, but his coat zipper was also halfway open.
Li Hetai glanced at someone, then pushed that person into the room with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy.
The room was heated, with underfloor heating slowly rising from the soles of the feet, and calming aromatherapy was also burning.
Someone outside had a dog, and its barking echoed incessantly, but instead of making the two more alert, it sounded like a hypnotic lullaby.
Both of them were exhausted.
As drowsiness gradually crept in, Gu Xinglan yawned and climbed onto the sofa to lie down and sleep.
He had a vague feeling that the dog downstairs had either calmed down or hadn't, and was still running around causing trouble here. He just felt like he was being stared at fiercely.
I didn't sleep well that night.
There was a knock at the door, but the bed was so cozy that no one wanted to open it.
Wait... the bed... Gu Xinglan opened her eyes with a "whoosh".
The soft blanket clung to the lower half of my face, and the back of my head sank deep into the fluffy black pillow. Every breath I took was filled with warmth, and I could even smell the familiar floral scent when I took a deep breath.
He quickly tried to sit up, but the blanket pressing down on him felt like an iron plate, making him feel suffocated.
The blanket Li Hetai gave him? It's way too thick; he's sweating all over.
The sound of a key unlocking the door was already audible.
Especially when there's a child sleeping soundly next to you.
Gu Xinglan felt a pang of guilt and used all his strength to crawl out of bed, but just as he was about to step out, he couldn't pull himself out no matter how hard he tried.
The person next to them was woken up, their face full of displeasure, and they were grabbing one of the unruly ankles.
There was a "squeak" sound.
The head butler, with gray hair and beard, opened the door.
Following them were Lee Tae-ho, who was wearing a wool sweater, and a woman with a wool shawl.
There were dark faces that hinted at anger, meaningful smiles, and puzzled expressions.
The woman first covered her mouth in shock, then looked at Li Taihe in confusion.
"This is?"
“He Tai’s personal butler,” Li Taihe said with a faint smile.
Only a personal butler can explain why an outsider sleeps in the same bed as the villa's young owner.
Meanwhile, Gu Xinglan, who was inside the house, had already quietly crawled back into bed and was staring at the person next to her.
The butler welcomed the two people in.
The hour hand pointed to eight o'clock, and soon the clock on the bedside table was half-hidden by a pair of trousers.
Gu Xinglan could see Li Taihe's face as long as she looked up.
The oppressive feeling emanating from those gazes was overwhelming.
His wrist was pulled out by five fingers that reached in from the outside. The other person's grip was extremely strong, and half of Gu Xinglan's body was stretched out. All his strength could only be relied on that hand that felt like an iron clamp.
"Butler Gu, you've been very proactive at work lately," the man said with a half-smile, tinged with sarcasm.
He took it as a compliment.
Gu Xinglan smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, President Li."
As soon as he finished speaking, the hand that was holding his suddenly let go, and Gu Xinglan lost his support and fell onto the carpet below. He could only slide off the bed.
"He Tai".
Li Taihe called out.
Li Hetai quickly got out of bed.
The child was sleeping in dirty clothes, and his hair was matted in clumps, making him look like a little mouse in a dark alley.
"You have forty minutes left."
There are still forty minutes until the 9 o'clock flight.
"Father, I don't want to leave now."
After Li Hetai finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze.
This blunt rejection made Li Taihe feel like he was losing control. He glanced at Gu Xinglan sitting on the carpet, and after a long while, he said:
"I'll go back to my hometown this time next year."
"Okay, thank you, Father." After saying that, Li Hetai bent down, his head almost touching the bed.
Perhaps the atmosphere was too tense, so someone stepped forward.
“I think it’s good for He Tai to receive his education in China. The education in China is just as good as that abroad. If you’re separated from your child, what will you do if he misses you?”
The woman wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and slowly walked up to Li Taihe in her high heels. "I know a good educational institution. Why don't we have them come to Changgu Villa?"
The sound was clear and melodious, like a copper bell.
The black and gold patent leather high heels pressed the carpet down firmly, and those long legs were only a few fists away from Gu Xinglan.
Gu Xinglan kept her eyes straight ahead, her head bowed low, her eyes fixed on her hands.
Until those two people left.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if from a dream.
System: [The plot has changed.]
What changes?
System: [There's an extra person... Even though your identity has always been that of the male mother, you've now changed identities three times: from the mistress of the villa, to the villa's maid, and then to the mission target's personal butler.]
If it weren't for the erasure of time, he would probably have followed the original owner's predetermined path and become a fake villa owner enjoying wealth and money.
Because of the duration of the erasure, he had to be by Li Hetai's side at all times.
But Li Hetai listened to Li Taihe, so he started his attack from Li Taihe's direction.
Now that he has achieved his goal, he has become one of the executioners who help Li Taihe, doing some shady things.
For example, going to a yin-yang auction, or filming a TV show, or even becoming a pawn in a company.
Having escaped death so many times, his value, in Li Taihe's eyes, was that of a phoenix that never dies.
After all, what hunter would treat a gun like a toy?
After regaining her senses, Gu Xinglan pushed herself up from the ground.
"Li Hetai?"
Li Hetai remained bent over, motionless by the bed like a wooden statue.
From his perspective, all he could see were the two cowlicks on the other person's head.
As he approached, he noticed that Li Hetai's back was trembling slightly.
Gu Xinglan stared blankly as she placed her hand on the other person's trembling right shoulder. The moment she touched him, the person beneath her hand fell onto the bed.
"Li Hetai?" he called out again in a soft voice.
The sound was like a switch; the child on the bed suddenly jumped over the bed and rushed to the balcony.
He couldn't see anything clearly.
Li Hetai was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace. When he chased after him, the balcony was completely empty, with no one in sight, only a vast expanse of white, overcast sky.
Under the balcony.
The yard was large and empty, and the lawn remained exceptionally green even in winter.
Below were people everywhere, and a wrinkled, thick-bodied guard dog, as tall as three heads, strong and fierce, kept pouncing on the group of servants who were both terrified and forced to put on a forced smile, and wouldn't stop until it bit off the round ball tied to the servants' clothes.
The dog, carrying a ball in its mouth, ran to the woman on all fours, circling around while biting the ball, until the woman threw the ball far away, at which point the dog started running again.
And the man accompanying the woman was none other than Li Taihe.
It seems these two people had just walked down the corridor from the room.
The dogs were unfamiliar dogs, the people were unfamiliar people, and even the only familiar person downstairs, Li Taihe, had become a stranger.
Pulling herself back to reality, Gu Xinglan looked around.
At such a height, if Li Hetai were to jump, he might break his leg. So he looked up at the building, where only one window was open.
Li Hetai may have climbed up the railing.
System: [The target's emotions seem to be fluctuating greatly. In just ten minutes, you have gained two days of survival time.]
The electronic voice in my head sounded surprised and added: [Host, do you think it's possible that the target's father found them a new stepmother?]
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