Little Pink Starfish

As soon as he thought of it, Gu Bai calmly ignored the tearful little white flower servant, and amidst his intermittent “ying ying” cries, had the butler directly send him to Noyce’s mansion—though he didn’t know why, he always had the feeling that if Ya’an continued staying by his side, something indescribably dangerous might happen.

Qiguan Rui was very pleased with this. He simply shoved the person over to Noyce and told him he was lending him to help protect Zhu Ning. After Noyce discovered Ya’an’s bloodline (?), he happily stuffed Ya’an over to his beloved Zhu Ning.

Zhu Ning hadn’t understood at first. Later, after learning from Ya’an’s own mouth that he was once the personal servant of Carlo Louis—the only person Zhu Ning had slightly admired—he was instantly confused.
He didn’t have a fetish for stealing someone else’s beloved!

Naturally, Noyce quickly explained to him that it was for Zhu Ning’s safety—yes, Noyce was that willing to take the fall!

And such a foolish official gong, once again scored major points in front of Zhu Ning by taking the blame.

—Why, you ask?

Because it wasn’t just that Zhu Ning discovered Ya’an’s strength… the key was, when he brought Ya’an out to gamble stones and ran into that white lotus, he finally realized Ya’an’s true worth!

The reason white lotus types are so pitiful, so sympathetic, so protected—there were three:
First, delicate appearance and soft figure;
Second, the ability to cast away dignity and maintain a pure aura;
Third, the ability to cry in a way that made everyone feel they were the most innocent.

But little white flower not only possessed all the traits of a white lotus, he had an even more terrifying skill!
He always placed himself at the lowest point, begging for pity!
His cries of “ying ying ying” held none of the untouchable aloofness of the white lotus!

As long as you were willing, you could worship him like a deity, and he’d obey your every word!

Thus, Lianxin encountered Ya’an.

Lianxin’s eyes turned slightly red…
Ya’an’s were already brimming with tears!

Lianxin’s posture just began to show weakness…
Ya’an was already trembling slightly!

Lianxin’s face had only turned a little pale…
Ya’an was already deathly white okay!
And he added a big teardrop falling from his tiny palm-sized face, sparkling tragically under the sunlight.

Lianxin: “Please don’t make things difficult…”
Ya’an: “Ying ying ying we’re so weak please forgive us it wasn’t on purpose it was forced ying ying ying ying…”

Lianxin: “If I’ve offended you in any way…”
Ya’an: “No! Please don’t misunderstand us, ying ying ying we’re just helpless little sub-beastmen unfamiliar with this place… You, being such a pure, noble, and kind-hearted female, would never bully us, right? Ying ying ying?”

Lianxin: “I only didn’t want to…”
Ya’an: “You really really misunderstood us, ying ying ying please don’t treat us like dust in your eyes, just take us in with your vast and generous heart like we’re nothing more than stray cats and dogs…”

Lianxin swayed, looking like he was about to faint.
Ya’an rushed forward like an arrow and caught that tiny body even faster than Trean, grabbing onto Lianxin’s elbows with both hands: “Ying ying ying! Be careful! Are you okay?”

Lianxin (biting his lip): “It hurts!”
Ya’an (in shocked disbelief): “You… how could you… I only wanted to support you… I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. You are a noble female, please… please forgive me…”

Lianxin’s vision darkened from pain, unable to say another word. Trean quickly embraced him with concern, glared fiercely at this side, and strode off.

Zhu Ning: “……”
It kinda felt like he was totally irrelevant to this scene.
But why did his heart feel so satisfyingly refreshed?

Ya’an obediently stood beside Zhu Ning and whispered, “Ying ying ying Master Zhu Ning, I’m sorry, I think I accidentally broke that noble female’s arm…”
Zhu Ning: “Didn’t hear anything—”

Next moment, his words abruptly stopped.
Right, he really didn’t hear it.
That was because Ya’an’s wails at the time were so shrill they drowned everything else out.

From then on, Ya’an’s functionality get √

Zhu Ning began to think—maybe keeping Ya’an at his side all along… was actually a very good idea.
Should he send a thank-you gift to the Cardinorn family for sending over such a deadly weapon?

---

During this time, Gu Bai watched live broadcasts at home every day.
—Of course, this was because Qiguan Rui, despite wanting to be pursued and loved by his gege, still insisted on fulfilling all of his gege’s wishes.

He had his spies constantly monitor Zhu Ning and Noyce’s situation and perform a reenactment for him upon returning.
Whenever they performed, Gu Bai would always come to “appreciate” it.

v=
When can we take it a step further?

Butler: Young Master Cecil is putting in a lot of effort (probably). Maybe he’ll lock things down with the young master soon! Though he’s not a female, he’s so capable. Sub-beastmen aren’t incapable of bearing children… Should I confirm with the Duke whether he approves…

When Zhu Ning discovered Ya’an’s best function, the gift that was sent was cheerfully accepted by Qiguan Rui—and he immediately passed it to Gu Bai.

It was a set of stone-cutting tools—
Stone-gamblers weren’t usually stone-cutters, but hey, who could resist playing around themselves once in a while?

Only…
While it was supposedly a gift from Zhu Ning, the actual set that reached Gu Bai’s hands was secretly purchased by Qiguan Rui. Identical, but not the same one.

And Gu Bai had absolutely no idea that ever since Qiguan Rui regained his memory, everything he wore and used, down to the smallest detail, had been swapped out.

—A reborn yandere would never allow his gege to wear or use things given by others.
That deeply possessive obsession was just as outrageous as ever (^^*)
Must give him a million likes.

#What tech tops all perverts? Qiguan family takes first place#

After a few more days, because of Zhu Ning’s continuous antics, the Senter family’s stone-gambling business finally suffered.
Though they had control over a significant number of stone mines, they couldn’t stop the rumors that they were losing all their high-grade stones—and their reputation took a hit, losing a good chunk of business.

What was more concerning than this minor business loss was the discovery that the Imman Duke’s heir had no goodwill toward the Senter family.
This made several noble families begin to make quiet plans of their own.

After all, there were only three or four ducal families in the entire capital.
Marquises weren’t many either, but compared to dukes, they were completely on another level.
What’s more, the Imman heir had a close relationship with the Cardinorn heir.
Offend one, and you essentially offend both.
How could that not stir up dark schemes?

As for the Senter household, they were already flustered by the situation.
The worst part?
They had no idea what they had done to offend the exceptional stone-gambler Zhu Ning.
Even after investigating, they came up with nothing…

Zhu Ning: I crawled out of hell for revenge.
Gu Bai: Hehe, this is a rebirth story. If you dared to let your little “daughter” steal someone’s man and be a homewrecker, then you better be ready to be counterattacked.

Homewreckers are forever blacklisted!
Fake white lotuses are forever blacklisted!
Scum gongs and scum shous—forever blacklisted!

As a die-hard homebody, Gu Bai gave himself a thumbs-up for his moral standards.

As for the Senter family—
Because they couldn’t figure out what they’d done wrong, they couldn’t make amends.
No amends meant no reconciliation.
No reconciliation meant things would remain tense.
And with that, they were doomed to be endlessly messed with from all sides.

Zhu Ning finally took a breather.
He knew he was getting a bit too notorious. It was time to elevate his own status.

And as the true shou protagonist of this rebirth novel, when he decided to level up—
The plot naturally advanced in his favor.

—And what kind of plot?

The Beast Emperor summoned him~
To be precise, the Beast Emperor invited many nobles and their employed stone-gamblers to a banquet at the palace.
Along the way, there would be a test to see who could help him solve a problem.

Naturally, Qiguan Rui’s Cardinorn Duke household was also invited.
Though the invitation was meant for Cecil’s father, the current duke… well, now that Qiguan Rui had regained his memories, did that long-time womanizer of a duke still get to do diplomacy?

Gu Bai didn’t know.
The butler didn’t know.
Only Qiguan Rui knew.

Back when he first arrived and discovered his gege was here, he had already secretly implanted a suggestion into the duke—just to keep him out of the way.
This grand duchy had long since been taken over by Qiguan Rui.

Late at night—
Qiguan Rui slowly arrived before a door.
He unlocked it silently and entered without a sound.

On the soft bed lay a pale, delicate boy breathing evenly in deep sleep.

Qiguan Rui sat on the bedside, gazing tenderly at that peaceful face, his heart full of contentment.
Every night, every single night, he looked at him like this.
Even if gege didn’t know…
Even if he wanted to enjoy gege’s pursuit…
He didn’t want to be apart from him, even for a second.

Sometimes Qiguan Rui wondered if he was being too masochistic.
He could already have mutual love with gege, after all.
But whenever he saw gege trying so hard to get his attention, while muttering to himself internally… he found it too cute.
He couldn’t bear to let go of such liveliness.
And then—another day passed.

He stretched out a hand, hovering it above Gu Bai’s face without touching—
Casting a dark shadow.

Tomorrow was the banquet.
By then, he could officially, justifiably, meet the Beast Emperor…

He could hardly wait to tear him apart.