The Stand-in Side Character Only Wants to Make Money – CH73

Chapter 73: Return to the Country

As the downpour soaked through to the bone, it left a chill in the air.

Chen Bai wiped away the water dripping from his hair as Huo Chuan approached and handed over the key he had saved.

Huo Chuan took the key, thanked him, then looked at him and said, “You’re quite the mood yourself.”

As expected, he hadn’t seen wrong—the man was indeed smiling.

The incomprehensible emotions from earlier were gone, replaced by the most genuine expression on his face: a smile.

Chen Bai, with his natural smiling lips now concealed, decided to face the situation with a fake smile, asking, “Boss, are we taking another walk, or heading back?”

Honestly, given the state they were in, he figured it didn’t matter whether they left now or walked a bit more. Either way, they’d keep getting drenched—the only difference being how long they’d be out in the rain.

It would take some time to get back to where they came from, and the boss chose to take a different route on the way back.

They’d seen the fountain—though only for a moment before the rain blended everything together, making it impossible to distinguish fountain from rainfall—but at least they’d seen it, and could leave now.

On the way back, the ever-thoughtful Chen Bai suggested the boss walk under the trees, saying there’d be less rain.

In such a heavy downpour, it really made no difference where they stood, but the boss still walked under the trees. Chen Bai followed along, and when they reached the cover of the tree branches he had picked, he jumped swiftly and slapped one of the branches sticking out.

The branch shook, causing all the water droplets on the leaves to come cascading down with a loud splash.

The boss got hit, and so did Chen Bai, who hadn’t escaped his own trap—both were drenched equally.

Wiping the water off his face, Chen Bai laughed and said, “Just adding to the boss’s delightful mood.”

The rain was so loud that he had to raise his voice and practically shout to be heard.

It was payback—revenge for being mocked at the fountain earlier. He wasn’t going to let that slide.

It really did add to the moment; now, mixed with rain and leaves, the two of them were even more disheveled.

Wearing a full suit, soaked through, and covered in wet leaves, Huo Chuan couldn’t recall a time in the last decade when he’d been this disheveled, or this out of character. His shirt was completely soaked, with a leaf stuck to it, and his suit pants were noticeably heavier. Glancing at the naturally smiling Chen Bai beside him, who was laughing without holding back, Huo Chuan finally couldn’t help but chuckle too. “You make it sound so nice.”

Chen Bai laughed and said, “Isn’t a rain walk fun every now and then, boss?”

It was a unique kind of rain walk. The boss had likely never experienced one before, though he probably understood that a proper rain walk wasn’t meant to be done in a downpour like this.

All around them, the sound of rain falling on the ground and leaves was continuous and dense, bringing a coldness with it. Huo Chuan glanced at the person walking casually beside him, hands behind his back, and lowered his head to ask, “Are you free tomorrow night?”

The rain was too loud, drowning out his voice. Chen Bai looked up. “Hmm?”

Bending down, Huo Chuan patiently repeated himself.

Now closer, his voice was clear by Chen Bai’s ear. This time, Chen Bai heard him and replied, “I’ve got work tomorrow night—it should end around nine.”

Then he asked, “What’s up, Mr. Huo?”

Huo Chuan said, “I’m taking you to meet some friends tomorrow night.”

Chen Bai’s first thought was the birthday party he’d heard about from Ms. Jiang, so he brought it up directly.

“No, that’s the day after,” Huo Chuan explained. “Tomorrow’s just a small get-together with friends.”

The birthday party was work, more of a business event. Tomorrow’s gathering was a genuine get-together with friends.

Setting aside why Huo Chuan suddenly wanted him to meet these friends, Chen Bai objectively stated, “Haven’t we met them before?”

He vaguely recalled having a pleasant conversation with Huo Chuan’s friends at some banquet long ago.

“This is different,” Huo Chuan said.

Chen Bai didn’t quite understand what was different, but before he could think further, Huo Chuan gave a specific number, making Chen Bai immediately stop thinking and say, “Alright, boss.”

With the promise of a reward, Chen Bai’s smile was genuine, and he dutifully asked, “Which friends are these? I’ll make a note.”

His memory became remarkably sharp when money was involved.

“No need,” Huo Chuan replied. “I’ll introduce you when we get there.”

No preparation needed—another easy job. Chen Bai raised a thumb to his good boss in approval.

Watching the rain trickling down from Chen Bai’s hand, Huo Chuan said, “Let’s hurry back to the car.”

Chen Bai, however, wasn’t in a rush. He carried himself with an air of calm from head to toe.

Not to boast, but he knew his body well. If he got caught in the rain, he’d get a cold. A little rain or a lot, the outcome was the same—no point rushing.

When they got back to the parking lot, he was ushered into the car. Inside, there was a blanket, just big enough to dry off his wet hair. Huo Chuan handed it to him, suggesting he use it to save his hair.

Chen Bai did his best to fix his hair, turning the wet mess into a bird’s nest. After rubbing it a bit more, he pulled down the mirror from the passenger seat to take a look. Seeing his reflection, he laughed at his own messy hair, leaned back, and pulled out his phone. He wasn’t great at taking photos, but he quickly snapped a picture.

Though his photography skills were lacking, his knack for finding odd angles was spot on.

A strange new photo was born. He instinctively wanted to send it to his friendly neighbor, but as he opened the chat window, he remembered his current rain-drenched state and stopped himself just in time, reluctantly putting the phone away.

They didn’t head straight home. Huo Chuan first took him to the old house nearby. No one lived there anymore, but it was still cleaned regularly, so it was no different from when it was occupied.

After a shower and changing into clothes generously provided by the boss, Chen Bai was back to feeling fresh. It was late, and with work the next day, he was driven home.

The car slowed to a stop at the entrance of his apartment complex. While Huo Chuan was still unbuckling his seatbelt, Chen Bai had already quickly unbuckled his and jumped out of the car. Opening his umbrella, he waved as he walked toward the gate.

In the blink of an eye, he was halfway to the gate, moving too fast for Huo Chuan to catch up. So Huo Chuan stayed in the car, awkwardly waved back, and smiled.

The heavy rain continued to fall, blurring the car windows, only to be wiped away by the windshield wipers.

—

The next day, it rained again in the evening, and sure enough, Chen Bai caught a cold.

The cold hit at just the right time—delayed enough to start showing symptoms only after his work was done.

He finished his job but didn’t leave immediately. First, he returned to the hotel room arranged by the event organizers, changed into his usual clothes, and sneezed the moment he stepped out of the room.

The sneezes hit him hard, followed by a couple of violent coughs.

His agent and the others, sitting outside, looked over and asked, “Got a cold?”

Though phrased as a question, it sounded more like a statement.

Chen Bai, who had just been drenched in the rain the day before, didn’t say much. He just rubbed his head and laughed, “Looks like it, huh.”

The stylist, seeing him rub his hair, held her breath in panic but then exhaled in relief, remembering that the work was already done. She continued packing her food containers and, after finishing up, said her goodbyes and left.

She and her two assistants lived in the same direction, which was the opposite of Chen Bai’s apartment. Since it was out of the way, they shared a car and left together.

The agent stayed, comfortably sitting on the sofa. It was already late, and once she got home and cleaned up, it would be about her usual time to rest. Chen Bai suggested, “Why don’t you head out first, Sister Qian? There’s a car coming to pick me up.”

Gao Qian shifted her position on the sofa and replied, “I know, I’ll wait a bit longer. It’s no problem.”

She was aware that Chen Bai had plans after work, and for safety reasons, she wanted to see who exactly was coming to pick him up. She needed to make sure the person was reliable. After all, sitting on the sofa here wasn’t any different from doing it elsewhere.

Waiting together wasn’t bad either. They could chat a bit. Joining her on the sofa, Chen Bai asked about today’s absent driver, Uncle Zhao, “Did Uncle Zhao pick up his daughter?”

Uncle Zhao had a daughter studying abroad who hadn’t been home in three years. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to pick her up at the airport, so he took time off. Based on the schedule, he should have already picked her up by now.

The agent finally remembered something and placed the heavy car key she had forgotten in her pocket onto the table, saying, “Not yet. Her flight was delayed—she’ll land in about half an hour.”

Since Uncle Zhao had taken leave, the company wanted to assign a different driver, but the agent found it troublesome and decided to drive herself, returning to her old role as a driver after a long hiatus.

Chen Bai chuckled, raising his hand to take a sip of water from the cup nearby. “Uncle Zhao must be getting anxious by now.”

The agent nodded. “Waiting at times like this is the hardest.”

“…”

Uncle Zhao wasn’t the only one waiting.

Outside, cars gradually left the hotel parking lot, and the city was swallowed by darkness, though the rain continued to pour.

Standing by the window, watching the last car leave the open-air parking lot, the agent checked the time and turned to ask, “When’s your ride supposed to get here?”

Chen Bai rubbed his itchy throat and checked his phone for messages.

There was no reply from the boss yet, but a notification popped up—an account activity alert. Just as he opened the chat window, a new message appeared, showing an incoming transfer of **2,000,000.00 CNY**.

Chen Bai “?”

Chen Bai blinked at the number of zeros. It took him a second to realize it was two million yuan—exactly one two-hundredth of his overall target.

A large sum of money had come in suddenly. As a law-abiding citizen, Chen Bai’s first instinct was to report it to the authorities. Fortunately, he took another look and saw that the account it came from was familiar, so he stopped himself from making the call.

He didn’t make the call, but one came in—from the very person who had just transferred two million yuan.

After excusing himself from his agent, he stepped into his room and answered the phone.

The rain was loud, but the voice on the other end remained steady, though a bit lower than usual, explaining something.

“…”

In the quiet room, aside from the sound of the rain and the phone call, there was nothing else. Chen Bai listened, rubbing his itchy throat.

The person on the other end had a simple message: something had come up, so they had to change plans and head somewhere else. The friend meeting that had been scheduled for that night would be postponed. However, the money would still be transferred, and Chen Bai was told to go home early and rest.

The payment was double his usual rate, which essentially meant a double-paid vacation.

The gloomy sky seemed to brighten a little. As a diligent worker, Chen Bai’s eyes lit up at the good news. However, something felt off about the situation on the other end of the line—it was too quiet, and the person even apologized out of nowhere.

Getting paid double for a day off hardly seemed like something to apologize for. Chen Bai reasonably suspected the person on the other end of the line had also been caught in the rain and was a bit out of it. So, he replied honestly, “Mr. Huo, there’s no need to apologize.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Bai realized his throat had given in—his voice was hoarse and nasal.

His throat itched, and his nose followed suit. Unable to bear it, he turned to grab a tissue and quickly added, “Mr. Huo, I won’t keep you. I’ll let you get back to work.”

It seemed like the person on the other end wanted to say something else, but Chen Bai was too quick and had already hung up after hearing a faint sound. He turned and covered his nose and mouth with a tissue, sneezing.

The call was already ended, so it didn’t make sense to call back. Rubbing his nose, he put his phone back in his pocket and stepped out of the room.

The agent looked at him. “That was your ride?”

She asked, “What did they say?”

Chen Bai nodded, sniffing loudly. “The plan’s canceled. I can just go straight home.”

“That’s good, you can go straight to bed.”

After waiting all this time, only to have the plan canceled with one phone call, the agent didn’t ask any more questions. She silently added the person to her mental list of unreliable people, stood up, grabbed her car keys and phone, and said, “Good thing I stayed. Let’s go, I’ll drive you home.”

Chen Bai sniffed again and smiled, thanking her.

The agent glanced at him, hid her other emotions, and burst out laughing, “You look like someone who just got their heart broken by a jerk.”

If not for knowing it was just a cold, anyone hearing this would think he’d been crying his heart out.

While Chen Bai coughed from his cold, she laughed without holding back. Truly a top-tier agent, making him cough twice more before he put on a mask.

At a time when he should have been heading to work, he instead got into the car to go home.

The vehicle pulled out from the hotel’s underground parking lot and drove into the heavy rain.

Thanks to the downpour, traffic on the road was slow. A trip that usually took less than an hour to get home was now stretched into over an hour, and even that was a somewhat optimistic estimate.

Halfway through, they hit a 90-second red light. The agent leaned back against the seat, her fingers unconsciously tapping on the steering wheel.

The patient in the passenger seat didn’t need to drive, so he had been asleep for the past half hour. When he woke up, he started checking his phone.

A co-actor from the movie ‘Asking Fate’ had messaged him, sharing the latest gossip. Chen Bai was now browsing through it.

The gossip was fresh, posted just ten minutes ago, still hot off the press. The account was familiar too, as his co-actor had shared posts from it before.

As Chen Bai read the content, he realized why it seemed so familiar. The post, as always, came with pictures and was packed with juicy details.

The person in the photos was someone familiar—just a little while ago, that person had called him.

Much like photos taken abroad before, the post showed a man helping someone into a car, the driver holding an umbrella.

Today, a celebrity had arrived at the airport, attracting a crowd of fans and media. This photo was a bonus from the media on-site. It was a little blurry but still recognizable.

There was only one person who could make the “God of Wealth” (referring to the one who paid him) act like this.

Beside him, the agent was staring blankly at the rain-soaked window, waiting out the long red light. Watching the windshield wipers brush away the rain, she remarked, “This rain is like something out of a drama when the male lead’s first love returns.”

Chen Bai nodded in agreement, “Indeed.”

It wasn’t ‘like’ that—it really ‘was’ that.

He finally understood what the “urgent matter” mentioned by the God of Wealth was all about.

Things had gone completely off the rails on this side, and over on the first love’s side, something had changed too. The reasons were unclear, but the first love had returned earlier than expected.

No wonder the original plans were suddenly canceled. With his first love back in town, of course, he’d make time to go meet him.

Chen Bai lowered his head and replied to his friend, then put away his phone, propped his face on his hand, and looked out at the rain, letting out a long breath.

The agent noticed and asked, “What’s up?”

The cold-stricken man looked up at the ceiling at a 45-degree angle and said, “I just lost another job.”

After previously losing his gig playing piano at a restaurant, he had lost yet another side job. With the first love back, there was no more need for Chen Bai to be involved in these emotional matters. From any perspective, his services were no longer required.

Now he finally understood why the other party had apologized during the phone call.

If he hadn’t misunderstood, the apology was essentially saying that their cooperation had come to an end.

Although the person had mentioned introducing him to some friends next time, it was as sincere as a customer telling a store owner, “I’ll come back and buy something next time.” In reality, there would be no next time.

—

The downpour continued, and a plane touched down above the city.

In the private room at the hotel, the brightly lit dining table was still empty, but the sofas around it were filled with people. The guest of honor hadn’t arrived yet, so a few friends, dressed unusually formally, gathered around with nothing to do. They had poured a few light drinks and started playing some card games, passing the time.

After two rounds, Zhang Wenxuan set down his drink and glanced at his watch. “You guys keep playing, I’ll call Huo, the busy man, and see how far along he is with picking up his friend.”

The others waved him off, telling him to go ahead.

Leaning back on the sofa, Zhang looked at the still-unanswered messages and decided to call directly.

It was a bit surprising that Huo Chuan had been so calm and focused. When Zhang Wenxuan had first heard the news from him yesterday, they were all a bit shocked, thinking he was joking. It wasn’t until Huo Chuan sent a simple and direct red packet to their group chat that they realized he was serious this time.

For once, it seemed like Huo Chuan’s taste had improved.

The call was still ringing, not yet connected. The others stopped their game and leaned in, curious to hear what was going on.

But the call didn’t go through.

“Hey…”

A friend sitting on the other side hadn’t joined in. Holding his phone, he looked up and said something. The others turned to him.

Facing their gazes, the friend spoke, “Yang’s family member… has returned. Just landed at the airport. A friend of mine saw them.”

“…”

The room fell silent.

Zhang Wenxuan: “Are you serious?”

The friend nodded. “Serious. That friend has seen Yang Shu before—definitely wouldn’t mistake them.”

Everyone paused. Zhang Wenxuan’s brow twitched, and he immediately started calling again. One call didn’t go through, so he kept calling, again and again.

After three calls went unanswered, finally, on the fourth try, the call connected.

Through the phone, the sound of rain hitting the car could faintly be heard. Zhang Wenxuan held back his temper and asked, “Did you pick up Chen Bai?”

The friends around him all leaned in, listening intently, even abandoning their drinks.

“No.”

The voice on the other end replied, “He’s not coming tonight. Something came up on my end. You guys go ahead and eat. I’ll join later.”

In a flash, Zhang Wenxuan’s pent-up frustration flared up. His hand clenched at his side, but his friends quickly held him back. Restraining himself, he asked, “Is that ‘something’ you mentioned picking up Yang Shu?”

The person on the other end confirmed it with a simple “Mm.”

Zhang Wenxuan exploded.

“Do you think we all gathered here for no reason? Chen Bai’s been waiting for over an hour since he finished work! What do you think he’s been waiting for?”

His anger surged, but he still remembered that it was his own phone in his hand and didn’t throw it. Instead, he gripped it tighter and said, “We all thought you’d finally figured things out, but is this what you call ‘figuring it out’?”

The group of friends around him, sensing that Zhang Wenxuan was about to say something outrageous, quickly moved to hold him back. One friend even covered his mouth to stop him from blurting out something reckless. Another friend, addressing the phone, asked, “What did Mr. Huo tell Chen Bai?”

Given that Huo Chuan had run off to pick someone else up, he should’ve at least offered a somewhat acceptable explanation.

From the other side came the answer: “He gave him 2 million.”

“…”

The friend covering his mouth immediately let go.

Zhang Wenxuan broke free and shouted, “Huo Chuan, you’re destined to be single for the rest of your life!”

Before he could say anything more, the friend quickly hung up the phone.

Zhang Wenxuan still wanted to grab the phone to keep scolding, but the others advised him to calm down.

Things weren’t completely hopeless yet. Chen Bai didn’t know why Huo Chuan had changed his plans. If it was handled properly, and the truth was explained reasonably later, there was still room to smooth things over.

While they were arguing over the phone, the friend who had first shared the news about Yang Shu’s return checked his phone again. After reading something, he looked up.

This time, he didn’t say anything. Or perhaps he didn’t know what to say. Instead, he turned his phone around to show them the screen.

The brightly lit screen displayed a post from a popular social media account. The headline and photos were crystal clear, and the post’s popularity was rapidly rising.

“…”

Disaster.

Zhang Wenxuan took back his phone. Meeting the gazes of his friends, he waved his hand and said, “I’m not calling Huo Chuan.”

Instead, he was going to call Chen Bai, to check the situation and say something reassuring.

He had Chen Bai’s number saved, with a note, so it didn’t take long to find. After taking a deep breath to adjust his mood and ensure his tone wouldn’t sound too strange, he sat back on the sofa and dialed the number.

“Beep—”

The phone rang, but no one answered right away. One of the friends suggested, “He probably went home to rest after work and hasn’t had time to see what’s trending online…”

The call connected. The friend fell silent, and the room grew quiet in an instant.

The first sound through the phone was the rain. Then, a voice came through—hoarse, soft, and heavy with congestion: “Hello?”

The voice was light, hoarse, and thick with nasal congestion.