Chapter 3

Self-defense? Sure. With extra emphasis.
That was attempted murder!
Bai Yan heard it through the pain and twisted his face. “Bull—bullshit!”
Bai Rendao walked in with a maid carrying supplies. “What happened?”
Qian Shuling went straight to victim mode. “Look what Bai Xu did! He cracked our son’s head open!”
Bai Rendao saw the bleeding and frowned at the maid. “Stop the bleeding first. Hospital later.”
“Mom—it hurts—”
Bai Yan kept wailing. Qian Shuling’s rage spiked. She glared at the culprit. “Call the police! Now!”
“Police?”
Bai Xu looked like he’d heard the funniest joke in the world. Calm, he opened a recording on his phone.
Filth poured into the room—
“You forget this is my house. I do what I want. You scream—who do you think they’ll side with?”
“You’re getting sold anyway. Let me try first.”
“Play nice and I’ll go easy.”
“Smart. Relax. I’ll make it good.”
Sleazy. Obvious. All Bai Yan.
Bai Xu lowered the phone. Straight to the point. “I’m not scared of the cops hearing this. Better yet, leak it. Let everyone see what the Bai family really is.”
“……”
Bai Rendao’s brow tightened. Displeasure turned toward the bed.
Qian Shuling knew her son’s voice. She chose blindness anyway. “Bai Xu, who taught you these dirty tricks? A recording doesn’t prove anything!”
“Doesn’t prove anything?”
Bai Xu had expected the shameless act. He played reckless. “Fine. Call the cops. Arrest me. But think hard about how you explain this to the Shangs.”
The marriage was one way out of the Bai house—not the only way.
Without this match and the business tied to it, the Bais were the ones losing big.
“You’ve lost your mind?!” Qian Shuling only saw her hurt son—and her habit of playing lady of the house. “Sister Zhao, call the police now!”
Before the words finished, Bai Rendao shut her down. “Enough! Have you no shame?”
“……”
Qian Shuling stared at her husband, stunned.
Bai Rendao’s hidden anger swung to his wife. Teeth ground. “I told you to stop spoiling him. Look what you raised.”
Bai Yan’s mouth had no filter. Horny and stupid enough to say it all out loud.
If this recording leaked, years of careful image-building would collapse.
“I……”
Qian Shuling had nothing.
Bai Rendao ignored her. His look at Bai Xu turned dark—
First Bai Xu used Old Madam Shang to squeeze money out of them.
Now he’d hurt Bai Yan and recorded the kid’s filth as leverage.
Since waking from the coma, Bai Xu had changed completely. Bai Rendao couldn’t read him anymore. Who taught him this? Every move stepped on his face.
Bai Xu checked the time. Casual. “The Shangs send someone at two. Still time to call the police.”
“……”
The mockery hit Bai Rendao’s chest. His breath jumped once.
Real cops would make everything worse.
He’d finally closed the deal with the Shangs. Contracts next. He didn’t want surprises.
He swallowed his anger. “Bai Yan started it. We won’t press charges. Delete the recording and go to the Shangs like you’re supposed to.”
Bai Xu had expected exactly this. Phones had backups now. Delete on screen meant nothing.
He didn’t refuse. Deleted the file in front of Bai Rendao. “If that’s all, I’m leaving.”
Bai Rendao didn’t trust it. “Where? No stunts before the Shangs get here.”
“Relax. I hate this place more than I like the Shangs.”
No more hiding the disgust. Brow up. “Besides, these are my legs. Not your business.”
“……You—!”
Bai Xu walked out without a backward glance.
In the cramped storage room, Bai Yan still whimpered off and on. Even after all this time, he felt like his soul was floating.
---
Bai Xu looked fragile. He hit like a demon.
Head of the family—played by a kid like this?
Bai Rendao’s chest had been packed with rage for days. His son’s wailing pushed him over. He kicked—hard.
“You worthless piece of—! Still crying!”
“Ah! Mom—”
Bai Yan screamed again. Qian Shuling threw herself in front of him. “Rendao! What are you doing!”
“What am I doing? I’m going to beat some sense into this idiot! He almost ruined everything!”
“……”
The fight kept spilling out of the attic. Pure farce.
On the first floor Bai Xu heard it, scoffed once, and left without looking back—the “home” that had trapped the original owner.
—
2 p.m.
A black van pulled up to the Bai villa on the dot.
The passenger door opened. A sharp-dressed young man stepped out. Bai Xu saw him and strolled out from the shade.
Their eyes met. The man paused, uncertain. “Mr. Bai? I’m Xie Qi, assistant to the Shang family.”
“Mm.”
Bai Xu was flat. “Can we go?”
Xie Qi looked at his empty hands, then at the villa behind him. “Mr. Bai—you don’t have luggage? Should I go in and greet Mr. Bai and the others?”
“No. Just drive.”
Bai Xu moved toward the door. Eyes light.
Missing stuff could be bought. Everything in that house was dirty.
“……”
Xie Qi narrowed his eyes. Something curious flickered deep down.
Rumor said the Bai family’s young master was timid as a mouse, gentle as a rabbit. This kid didn’t match.
Xie Qi buried the thought and opened the rear door. “Please.”
—Slam.
Door shut.
In the front seat Xie Qi turned and handed Bai Xu a bank card. “Per Old Madam’s instructions—from both families. Initial password is your birthday.”
Bai Xu took it without fuss.
Xie Qi went on, “This is Chen Yufei—driver and bodyguard. If you need to go out, tell him.”
Chen Yufei met his eyes in the mirror. Flat. “Hello, Mr. Bai.”
“……”
Bai Xu looked him over, silent.
Rich-people packaging. Nice version: free driver and protection. Plain version: surveillance.
Normal enough—
The Shangs had paid a fortune for this luck marriage. Of course they’d guard against him running before the six months were up.
Bai Xu’s thumb brushed the card. Fine with it. “Got it.”
…
The Shang Group ranked at the top of Dijing. Their home was a thousand-acre estate.
Bai Xu watched the scenery roll past and finally got why the book’s Shang heirs would kill each other for inheritance. Going home felt like touring a park.
The car stopped at a standalone three-story villa on the north side of the estate.
Bai Xu saw medical staff coming and going. His brow creased.
Xie Qi got out first and opened his door. “Mr. Bai, Third Young Master’s vitals have stabilized. He was moved home from the hospital today for monitoring and rest.”
Bai Xu blinked. “Yanxiao woke up?”
Xie Qi was calm. “Not yet.”
Old Madam Shang was getting on in years. Daily hospital runs wore her out. Old Master Shang had the hospital’s okay to bring Yanxiao home.
Bai Xu nodded. Another lesson in what money could buy.
Yanxiao’s master bedroom was on the second floor, far left.
Xie Qi and Bai Xu reached the door—and ran into Old Madam Shang coming out. A cold-faced young man walked beside her.
White shirt, tailored fit. Top button done. Every move screamed restraint.
They met. Xie Qi bowed first. “Old Madam.”
Bai Xu pulled his eyes off the young man and nodded politely. “Old Madam.”
Prayer beads still in her hand. She nodded slightly. “You’re here. Bai Xu—you know what entering our family means?”
“Mm. I do.”
Bai Xu’s gaze shifted toward the master bedroom.
Yanxiao lay in the big bed—still out. Monitors tracked his vitals now.
Old Madam Shang went on, “I won’t ask much. Per the master’s advice, these six months you live under the same roof. Check on him now and then.”
Bai Xu nodded. “Understood.”
Same roof—not same bed. Easier than he’d thought.
Old Madam Shang looked satisfied. She gestured to the man beside her. “This is Zhang Changxu, Dr. Zhang. Yanxiao’s friend. He’s been with us through all of this.”
“……”
Bai Xu barely kept the smirk off his face. Of course. Transmigrated straight into trope city—
Every rich heir gets a “doctor friend.” Here he is.
He remembered Zhang Changxu was a major side character. The Zhang family was untouchable in Dijing too.
When the real protagonist Shang Queyan started his revenge arc, Zhang Changxu had plenty of screen time.
While Bai Xu thought, Zhang Changxu spoke. “Mr. Bai—what are you smiling at?”
Bai Xu snapped back. Excuse ready. “Nothing. You just look familiar.”
“Oh? Really?”
Zhang Changxu adjusted his glasses, calm. “I think you look familiar too.”
“……”
Bai Xu didn’t push it.
Old Madam Shang worried the newcomer wouldn’t adjust. She told Xie Qi, “Show Mr. Bai around. Dr. Zhang and I have business.”
“Yes, Old Madam.”
“……”
Bai Xu said nothing. Good instincts—he followed Xie Qi out.
When Bai Xu was down the stairs, Old Madam Shang turned to Yanxiao in the room. “Changxu, don’t laugh at this old fool. I just……”
She didn’t finish. Zhang Changxu understood.
“Old Madam, if this gives you peace of mind, it’s worth it.”
His voice was always flat. “Don’t worry. My team and I will monitor Yanxiao around the clock. There’s hope.”
Old Madam Shang exhaled. “Good. That’s good.”
Zhang Changxu signaled a maid. “Rest. I’ve got this.”
She trusted him completely. Nodded. A maid helped her away.
When the hall was empty, Zhang Changxu’s cool eyes turned sharp. He slipped back into the master bedroom. Locked the door. Drew the curtains.
Beep—beep—beep—
Monitors ticked in the dim room.
Zhang Changxu walked to the bed. Low voice. “All clear.”
“……”
The second he spoke, the “unconscious” man on the bed opened his eyes—dark as ink, features sharper in the half-light.
Not a patient. A black panther that had been waiting in the dark to hunt.
Shang Yanxiao fought the stiffness from lying so long and sat up. Rubbed his temples. “Thanks.”
“I’m fine. You—”
Zhang Changxu handed him warm water. “How long are you playing coma? Back at the estate, more eyes will be on you.”
Yanxiao took the cup. Didn’t drink. “No set date. But I can’t ‘wake’ yet.”
Curtains blocked the outside light. Only the motion sensor by the wall gave a weak glow across his pale, tired face—shadow and bone, presence still crushing.
Yanxiao had woken a month ago.
First thing, his friend told him the nightmare at home. Overseas police ruled it a drunk truck driver—major accident.
Even suspicious Old Master Shang had signed the report.
Yanxiao didn’t believe it. Gut said—
Targeted. Deliberate. Someone wanted his whole branch wiped out.
“……”
His grip on the cup whitened. He swallowed the grief of losing both parents. “Changxu, I don’t have a choice. I have to keep playing. Keep waiting.”
Wait until the people behind this thought the third branch was dead weight. Wait until they got careless. Then he’d send every one of them to prison his way.
Zhang Changxu saw the pain and rage. “I know.”
Yanxiao closed his eyes briefly. “Xiao Yan—keep an eye on him for me.”
His younger brother Shang Queyan should’ve been a star on the track. Instead he lost a leg to survive.
Zhang Changxu sighed. “I will. But you’re really going to hide this from Old Madam and Xiao Yan too?”
Yanxiao said, “For now.”
The closer the person, the harder the lie. Fake it real enough to block probing.
“Fair. This road’s ugly. Careful is right.”
Zhang Changxu backed his friend, then remembered something else. “That Bai family kid—you’re going to do what about him?”
Old Madam was desperate. Believed the luck-marriage talk. Nobody dared contradict her.
“……”
Yanxiao thought of his new “husband” and frowned without meaning to.
A nobody adoptive son everyone despised—thrown into a marriage, and the kid actually agreed?
Money. That was all.
He remembered that line in the hospital room. Something tiny stirred in his chest—then went cold again.
“Just some opportunist trading marriage for cash. Ignore him.”