Part 3
“What nonsense are you talking about!” Long Shaoye immediately pushed him. “This isn’t playing house; you can’t just call your friends along.”
The atmosphere of the servant boy exam reached an unprecedented high. No one expected that coming for a servant exam would allow them to witness a house slave turning over a new leaf—no, ascending on the spot to become an Inner Sect disciple of one of the Three Great Sects. Even Head Steward Shen’s heart beat a little faster, regretting not forcibly bringing his own direct relatives to take the exam.
At this moment, Shen Bingsi leaped from being the high-and-mighty Villa Master to a great deity deciding individual fates. The strings of fate for Shen Yan, Long Shaoye, and Fang Renji were held between his fingers.
The ambition and desire of the children were also laid bare in this moment.
“Well, have you decided?” Shen Bingsi asked enthusiastically, acting as if he hadn’t heard Shen Yan recommending Long Shaoye. “Go to the Inner Sect, or stay and do chores with your little friend?”
“I…”
“Your family tested your spiritual roots at three and hired a master for you at five; they must have treated you very well, right? Leaving such a home, changing your name, and defecting to a strange place to be a house slave—you must have suffered a lot, right?” Shen Bingsi was like a demon peering into the human heart, ruthlessly peeling open Shen Yan’s inner thoughts. “What? Now that you have the chance to regain your original identity and revitalize your family, you hesitate? Just for this cheap friend? If you mess around with him and serve as house slaves together, letting your family line end here, can you face the elders who placed high hopes on you?”
Dead silence.
After Shen Bingsi finished speaking, there wasn’t a sound in the study.
Everyone looked at Shen Yan, as if watching a storm of blood and gore ravaging him.
Shen Yan’s face was deathly pale, devoid of any blood, looking as if he would shatter at the slightest touch.
“Shen Bingsi!” Rong Xie finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Come here for a moment.”
Shen Bingsi turned his head triumphantly, only restraining himself slightly upon seeing Rong Xie’s expression. He followed Rong Xie into the secret room behind the study.
Rong Xie closed the door of the secret room behind him and pasted a Silence Talisman on it.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Bingsi asked, puzzled. “Why call me in all of a sudden?”
“What were you saying just now? You have no right to make guarantees to people, promising them entry to the Inner Sect!” Rong Xie’s voice was urgent.
“Yeah, I didn’t say I could guarantee it.” Shen Bingsi was nonchalant. “I only said recommend.”
“Regardless of who recommends, they have to pass the Three Great Trials. The trials are held in winter, and it’s only early summer now. It will take more than half an year to know the results. During this time, where will he eat, where will he sleep? Preparing for the exam requires financial support. Are you going to pay for him?”
“No,” Shen Bingsi said decisively. “He’s not you; why would I support him?”
“…” Rong Xie was speechless.
“Since you won’t support him, why say you’ll recommend him? You know he is isolated and helpless.” Rong Xie sighed.
“I didn’t intend to recommend him. Isn’t this an exam? This is part of the exam. We need long-term, stable servant boys, not heroic youths with extraordinary talents carrying the heavy burden of family revitalization. Did you see his eyes? That clearly isn’t the look of someone willing to remain beneath others for long. Only a fool like Shen Black Dog would force someone to change their surname and come in.”
“Shen Black Dog” was the nickname Shen Bingsi gave to Head Steward Shen.
Shen Bingsi was never soft-hearted, and his insight into human nature was terrifyingly sharp. Rong Xie had long known this; after all, he was a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Heartless Path.
“So… he didn’t pass your exam?” Rong Xie’s tone calmed down.
“Neither he nor Long Shaoye will do. That potato is acceptable, just a bit stupid; I’m afraid he can’t help you much either.” Shen Bingsi looked like he disdained them all. “If we recruit them, we’ll have to put effort into training them. It would be better to…”
“Bingsi, didn’t we agree? We must recruit people this time, solve it once and for all, and not drag it out anymore.” Rong Xie explained patiently to Shen Bingsi. “We are only recruiting servant boys, not buying house slaves bound to us for life. We’re just hiring them for three to five years; the future is still uncertain.”
Rong Xie had indeed told Shen Bingsi he wanted long-term, stable servant boys, but that “long-term stability” was only for the three to five years before his Foundation Establishment. After he reached Foundation Establishment, he would have plenty of time and spiritual power, and whether he needed servant boys then was another matter.
Shen Bingsi fell silent.
A moment later, he looked at the ground and asked in a muffled voice, “Then can you tell me the truth?”
Rong Xie instantly became nervous, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing up. What truth was Shen Bingsi asking for? Did he discover that he liked him? How was that possible? He had clearly hidden it well. Before sorting out his feelings, he avoided Shen Bingsi whenever he touched him, and lowered his eyes when his heart raced. Could Shen Bingsi detect even that?
Shen Bingsi was indeed sharp at reading people, but he had always been exceedingly dull regarding others’ romantic affections for him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been teammates with Fairy Xingmiao for over three thousand chapters… Miss Cui had liked him from the very beginning.
It made no sense that he was so oblivious in the book of fate but so sharp in reality!
Just as Rong Xie was breaking out in cold sweat, Shen Bingsi took a step closer, pressing a hand against the door behind Rong Xie, trapping him in the narrow space between his body and the door panel.
Shen Bingsi observed Rong Xie’s expression, the clouds between his brows gathering thicker. “You… do you despise me?”
“I don’t, I’m not!” Rong Xie replied in a whisper, like a stress reaction. When he realized what Shen Bingsi had asked, he couldn’t help but look up. “Eh? What did you say?”
Shen Bingsi’s eyelid twitched. To be distracted at a time like this, forcing him to repeat those hurtful words… his best friend’s indifference was truly chilling.
Shen Bingsi hung his head heavily, resting his forehead on Rong Xie’s shoulder. His mood hit rock bottom. Only the scent of books and soap pods that had clung to his friend for ten years could make him feel a little better. He breathed in deeply, his breath blowing onto the small patch of fine skin revealed inside his friend’s collar. Without him noticing, that small patch of fair skin turned pink.
“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have forced you.” Shen Bingsi leaned against Rong Xie’s shoulder, his voice thick with nasal sounds. Just a moment ago, he was spirited and domineering in front of others, but in the blink of an eye, he turned into a defeated rooster. The people outside would never guess that the Grand Villa Master Shen, who toyed with people’s fates, would beg so humbly for one person’s forgiveness behind the scenes.
“I didn’t know you would hate it so much… I…”
Shen Bingsi felt Rong Xie move slightly. He gripped Rong Xie’s arms, preventing him from escaping, and finished his sentence in one breath:
“I won’t force you anymore. If you don’t like it, we won’t do it. The world is vast and full of wonders; there must be other ways to cure you. I will go find them. While I’m away, you can freely…”
Rong Xie didn’t know “freely what.” He didn’t let Shen Bingsi continue his self-deprecating spiral. He broke free from Shen Bingsi’s hands, grabbed his shoulders, pushed him up, and said firmly, “I don’t hate you. I have never hated you. It’s just… just that I need time.”
“Hm?” Shen Bingsi was still hanging his head, seemingly not understanding Rong Xie’s meaning. He looked up, searching for the answer in Rong Xie’s face. Gradually, his dim eyes brightened, a new vitality injecting into them, followed by joy and disbelief.
“You really don’t hate me? It wasn’t because you didn’t want to be alone with me that you were in such a hurry to recruit servant boys?” Shen Bingsi gripped Rong Xie’s arms again. But since Rong Xie’s arms were resting on his shoulders, he only caught his elbows, his hands sliding back to cup his best friend’s thin back like holding a treasure.
The pose was a bit ambiguous, but Rong Xie didn’t feel it at all. A thumping power in his heart compelled him to tell Shen Bingsi his true thoughts right now.
Except for the fact that he liked Shen Bingsi—he would never say that. As for the rest, as long as it could eliminate the misunderstanding and barrier between them, he was willing to pour it all out immediately.
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