The Stand-in Side Character Only Wants to Make Money – CH16

Chapter 16 – Main Plot (Part 1)

Chen Bai glanced at the comments and succinctly replied, “My ancestors were wealthy, but I owe four hundred million; currently, I’m busy repaying the debt.”

The comments erupted in a flurry of “hahaha.”

Everyone thought he was exaggerating for effect, joking around, and calling him really funny.

Humor, however, had just wiped his face and then quickly shot at a shadow that was trying to sneak up on him.

Having eaten two buns for breakfast, he had a cup of black coffee for lunch, skipping the meal altogether. With the landlord present during the unlocking today, he streamed until the afternoon before wrapping up to head to work.

The restaurant where he worked only required employees to have a pleasant appearance and dress formally, with no restrictions on hair color. He went to work as usual and clocked out on time.

On his way back, Chen Bai briefly reflected on his plans for the upcoming period while riding the subway.

The call for gathering had closed yesterday, and today the competition list was released. Although the specific arrangements were not yet available, it could be roughly guessed that they would take place in the second half of the month, right after the magazine shoot.

Things would get busy after mid-month; the earlier days were still relatively open.

Lost in thought, he subconsciously scrolled through his phone, the screen shifting from the competition list to his personal interface.

There were new messages in the background.

He lowered his head and clicked to take a look.

It wasn’t a system message; it was a private message. He glanced at the top one, his pale gray pupils swiftly scanning the message, the corners of his eyes slightly lifting.

The message was from a user named “Yu Shui Ri Qing,” who, unlike the other viewers, spoke in a formal tone, asking if he was available later to play the piano on her mother’s birthday and included a quote for his services.

He had some recollection of this ID, knowing it was a regular in the chat room.

The ad he casually dropped during the stream had actually caught someone’s attention.

Looking back at the time mentioned in the message, he switched screens to check the calendar.

—

After several days, a cold wave hit, and A City experienced heavy rain again.

Even in the morning, the sky was dark, almost like nighttime.

The night shift ended in the morning, and due to construction temporarily blocking the usual route, Xu Sinian left the set and took a detour to head back.

This route happened to overlap with the road to the hotel where other crew members were staying. Others from the crew followed behind him, their footsteps gradually blending with the sound of rain.

An assistant walked alongside with an umbrella and, noticing the quiet person walking, suddenly remembered something and asked, “Where did Teacher Xu buy the cookies last night?”

The others around them turned their attention toward him as they heard the question.

They had stayed up all night filming, and by the middle of it, they were almost starving.

Strangely, the person who usually didn’t bring any snacks had mysteriously produced a bag of cookies, whose simple packaging could even be described as shabby, but surprisingly tasted great.

Unfortunately, they had only taken a couple of bites and forgotten to ask where he bought them.

Xu Sinian replied, “They weren’t bought.”

These cookies were the result of an hour of research from some people yesterday and should accurately be categorized as the first batch of experimental products.

Today’s weather was perfect for sleeping, and those who had been busy all day yesterday would likely fall asleep again.

“?”

Upon hearing his words, several assistants momentarily didn’t react and pondered for a moment.

If they weren’t bought, then they couldn’t have been made by him, leaving only one possibility.

An assistant said, “So Teacher Xu’s pastry chef came over.”

Raindrops fell onto the ground, and a faint light shone in the distance.

The person who was suspected to have had the pastry chef visit didn’t reply immediately, slightly raising the brim of his hat, his dark pupils gazing in a certain direction.

The assistant followed his gaze and saw a quiet street nearly obscured by the rain.

At the end of the street, there was a flower shop, its warm lights illuminating the rain.

A figure stood at the shop’s entrance, holding an umbrella, dressed in a clean shirt topped with a light knitted sweater, with a slender build.

After receiving a bouquet from the shopkeeper, the figure smiled and said something.

The assistant couldn’t recognize the person but felt that they looked quite nice.

The assistant didn’t know, but Xu Sinian was well aware that this was his neighbor, who usually remained unseen during the mornings.

Not lingering too long, the person who received the bouquet quickly left the street, disappearing into the rain.

The person under the umbrella withdrew his gaze and took out his phone to check.

There were no new messages.

The assistant asked, “Is there something going on?”

Xu Sinian put away his phone, “Nothing.”

“Whoosh—”

With the flowers still in hand, Chen Bai took the subway with the bouquet, and it was likely that the flowers would wilt. After leaving the flower shop, he splurged on a taxi. As the door closed, the sound of the rain outside was cut off.

He had accepted Yu Shui Ri Qing’s invitation, and today was the scheduled day.

Once he accepted the order, he had to do the whole package; the flowers were for the mother of the birthday girl today, which he had already ordered from the shop yesterday. Today’s rain was so heavy that it made it perfect for sleeping, and if it hadn’t been for his alarm’s vigorous ringing, he might have dozed off again.

Fortunately, today’s job included travel expenses, allowing him to take a taxi, which prevented him from running late.

After carefully placing the flowers aside, he also nibbled on a few of yesterday’s baked cookies that served as a makeshift breakfast. With the busy morning finally winding down, he suddenly remembered he hadn’t informed his good neighbor about going out for work today or shared the news of his successful early wake-up. He immediately took out his phone.

However, halfway through pulling out his phone, he recalled that his good neighbor had been filming all night and was probably still catching up on sleep, so he put his phone back down and peacefully closed his eyes.

The early-rising Chen Bai also took a nap.

When he awoke again, the taxi was just approaching the destination. He bent down to send a message to the client.

After a moment of silence, the vehicle slowed to a stop at the roadside, and the driver turned to look at him, wearing a somewhat strange expression. He confirmed again, “Are you sure it’s 1 Muqiushan?”

Chen Bai opened his eyes and nodded.

He had double-checked the location, so he shouldn’t be mistaken.

The driver dropped him off.

“……”

Getting out of the car, Chen Bai stood under the umbrella in the rain, looking up at the mansion obscured by the downpour.

As his gaze shifted downward, he managed to make eye contact with the guard who was looking this way.

Now he finally understood why the driver had such a strange expression.

Typically, very few people lived in such a large mansion, and even fewer came here.

At the very least, they wouldn’t take a taxi to get here.

After knocking on the grand door, the guard poked his head out, revealing a girl in a white dress.

She held an umbrella in one hand and a phone in the other, which emitted a faint glow. She looked over at him, her eyes widening slightly, and asked uncertainly through the rain, “Are you… Er Bai?”

Chen Bai was indeed the real Chen Er Bai—if he was a fake, he’d owe three times the compensation.

The grand door opened and closed again, allowing the genuine Chen Bai to successfully enter the mansion.

The girl introduced herself as Huo Qing. While speaking, she unconsciously glanced at the person beside her, gesturing, “You said you look very ordinary, so I…”

So when she saw the person standing outside, she didn’t recognize him right away and thought it was just her brother’s fling coming by.

Good thing she confirmed first.

Chen Bai lowered his head, “Huo Qing?”

Huo Qing touched her slightly reddened ears and nodded.

—Chen Bai finally remembered.

No wonder he found the name Muqiushan so familiar; it all made sense now.

Having been busy with work recently, he completely lost track of the original storyline of the novel and nearly forgot the plot.

According to the book’s development, the supporting character, who was heavily in debt, saw the extravagant Huo Chuan as his only lifeline, pouring all his thoughts into him. Over time, he developed different feelings, seeking him out daily or contacting him. When he realized their relationship could never advance further, he took risks, finding out when Huo’s mother’s birthday was today, and clung to Huo Chuan, asking to meet her.

Huo Zong finally agreed due to their similar looks. When he brought the person home, Huo Zong’s sister exploded because of the jerk brother bringing people over, especially on their mother’s birthday; Huo Mother had a heart attack out of anger and was taken back to her room by the doctor for rest.

Huo Zong’s sister was named Huo Qing, and she lived in the Muqiushan mansion.

In summary, the scene was very chaotic and melodramatic.

After arriving, he had only met the God of Wealth twice and had maintained a normal relationship as parties A and B, making it hard to connect with the mentioned melodrama.

He never expected to encounter this plot twist in such a bizarre way.

He encountered it, but not entirely.

Chen Bai recalled that the busy God of Wealth was supposed to fly out today for business negotiations, but due to the interruption from the supporting character, he was delayed and didn’t make it.

Today, without any interruptions, God of Wealth Huo should have successfully flown out to earn money.

The more he earned, the more Chen Bai would benefit.

Sure enough, Huo Qing said, “I have a brother, but he’s not here today. He went out for business and probably won’t be back.”

“Is that so?”

Chen Bai smiled slightly and said, “What a pity.”