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Chapter 130: I hope you can take better care of Mr. Chen.
Liu Xiaoping’s hometown was a fishing village near Linshi City. She came out to work because her father passed away, her mother fell ill, and her two younger sisters were still in school. She didn’t continue her education after graduating from high school, opting to earn money in the big city with fellow villagers. She started with odd jobs but later got the opportunity to join a household service company rumored to provide high-end services for the wealthy. She was skilled, quick to learn, and had a sharp mind, realizing this was an opportunity. During training, she worked exceptionally hard and was recommended to work as a maid for a businessman, which offered good pay and benefits.
Unfortunately, the businessman and his family immigrated abroad. After half a month, Xiaoping received a notification from the company about a new job assignment.
Naturally, she accepted. The new employer lived in a villa halfway up the mountain, far from the hustle and bustle, with the only downside being inconvenient transportation. However, this was not a problem, and upon arrival, she discovered that the workplace was incredibly luxurious—on her first day, it took her half an hour just to walk around with the butler to get acquainted with the environment. This place was more than just a villa; it was like an estate from a movie.
After half a month on the job, her daily workload wasn’t too heavy, and though her colleagues weren’t particularly close, they were polite, so there wasn’t much to complain about.
If there was one eerie aspect—yes, eerie would be the word—it was the employer’s family. On her first day, when the butler introduced her to the employer, she expected at least a whole family to live there, like her previous employer’s house with a husband, wife, and children, but in reality, there was only one man living alone.
Seeing his appearance, she felt a chill; half of his face was covered in ugly scars, and he had an eye patch.
At that moment, Xiaoping didn’t dare to look closely, afraid of offending him and incurring his wrath. Thankfully, he didn’t, and the employer’s attitude was relatively calm. He was originally sitting down, but upon their arrival, he slowly stood up and shook her hand.
However, he wasn’t particularly warm; after the introduction, the butler escorted Xiaoping out.
With such a mysterious person living in such a place, it felt like there were endless stories hidden behind.
But she couldn’t find any clues.
At that moment, Xiaoping looked back at the deep end of the corridor, feeling as if there were dark shadows lurking everywhere, ready to pounce.
She felt a bit uneasy.
The butler’s last name was Wang, a middle-aged man who was Xiaoping’s supervisor in the villa. Xiaoping followed the example of other maids and called him “Wang-ge” discreetly, then quietly asked about the employer’s situation. Wang pondered for a moment and simply said it was fine; he wasn’t difficult to get along with, just focus on her work.
She gradually got to know all her colleagues. The staff in this villa formed a complete team, including chefs, gardeners, drivers… Thanks to her previous work experience, Xiaoping had seen a bit of the world, and now she could understand that maintaining such a large house required so many hands, as well as substantial financial support behind the scenes.
But the employer never left the house, had no dealings with anyone, and didn’t even have any tasks for the employees.
He didn’t seem like a wealthy man at all.
He didn’t even have any requirements for his employees, never showed his face, and limited his activities to a few rooms every day, sometimes appearing mysteriously. The only person managing the entire team in this house was the butler, who ensured everyone completed their daily tasks.
In this environment, Xiaoping felt a sense of unease that was hard to describe—she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but let’s just say she felt a bit melodramatic. The empty house felt lifeless and devoid of vitality, as if the owner hadn’t imbued it with the liveliness it deserved. It was like a castle forgotten by time, and she didn’t know how long she could stay there. She even started thinking about planning her departure in advance.
One day, while the weather was clear, Xiaoping was changing the curtains in the living room.
No one had assigned her the task, and no one would nitpick, but she felt idle and wanted to do something to give herself a sense of being at work. She stuffed the old curtains into a basket when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
Xiaoping immediately turned around and saw a tall, thin figure descending the stairs.
It was her employer, whom she had barely seen despite her long tenure, and he seemed surprised to see her.
Xiaoping quickly explained that she was cleaning the living room curtains.
He waved his hand, indicating she could do as she pleased.
As she lifted her head, illuminated by the natural light streaming through the window, she noticed something—
In her impression, she had thought her employer was an oddball, so she instinctively avoided looking at him directly and assumed he was much older.
But now, Xiaoping realized he was remarkably young.
Feeling somewhat inexplicably guilty, she was relieved that no one knew she didn’t even know what her employer looked like.
It was the first time she had seriously observed him, and to her surprise, apart from the scarred half of his face, he couldn’t be described as ugly.
He had a slender figure and a calm demeanor, with one hand resting on the railing as he gently looked back at her. Despite his damaged appearance, traces of his attractiveness were still visible, and his gaze held no hostility, but neither did it hold any desire for communication, just quiet emptiness.
This created a strange and contradictory feeling about him, but objectively speaking, he wasn’t unfriendly.
When he noticed her staring at him, Chen Wengang asked, “Need any help?”
Xiaoping snapped out of her daze and shook her head repeatedly, saying she didn’t need any help.
Chen Wengang glanced around the living room, remembering the new girl. He recalled that Huo Niansheng had gone abroad for company business the day before she started, which was about half a month ago. He messaged Huo Niansheng, informing him that he would be returning the day after tomorrow.
Chen Wengang had moved to this villa halfway up the mountain after starting treatment for depression and anxiety.
This property also belongs to Huo Niansheng’s name. Compared to the apartment in the city center, the advantage here is that even if he never leaves the house, there’s enough space for activities. As for why Huo Niansheng had him move here, besides thinking a change of environment would be beneficial for him, there were also some safety considerations—once, some persistent paparazzi managed to find out about Huo Niansheng’s “hiding place for his treasures,” and they camped out downstairs for a long time, even pretending to be owners trying to sneak upstairs, but they were recognized and driven away by security. They didn’t succeed that time, but Huo Niansheng feared such incidents might recur.
There have been other incidents as well. Someone sent a package to the house addressed to Chen Wengang. Huo Niansheng intercepted the package and opened it to find a photo of Chen Wengang taken when he was in his early twenties.
He was smiling carefree at the camera.
If it weren’t for the slip-up from the caregiver, Chen Wengang might not even have known about it. When he heard about it, he couldn’t help but shiver.
But when he asked about it, although Huo Niansheng didn’t hide it from him, he didn’t explain it clearly either. He said he would handle it.
Huo Niansheng didn’t even show the photo to Chen Wengang, just asked him if he wanted to change places to adjust his mood.
At the time, Chen Wengang didn’t think too much about it. If he knew he would have to labor with so many people, he might have refused outright.
Or maybe Huo Niansheng wouldn’t have listened, as he insisted on arranging everything according to his own ideas.
After being diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, suddenly, Chen Wengang’s melancholy and exhaustion had a reasonable medical explanation. Given his tendency towards self-harm, Chen Wengang overheard the doctor advising Huo Niansheng behind his back, suggesting that family members of such patients should first keep a close eye on them and, more importantly, provide them with patience, understanding, tolerance, and care.
Huo Niansheng wasn’t originally obligated to do so.
Yet he did his best.
Huo Niansheng did indeed show Chen Wengang patience, understanding, tolerance, and care. He personally accompanied Chen Wengang, comforting him, understanding the difficulties he was facing, asking him if he wanted to read any books or continue painting.
Chen Wengang didn’t even realize when he stopped reading books, he couldn’t even remember.
His memory had really deteriorated, his attention span had decreased, his ability to organize thoughts had degraded, sometimes he would stutter halfway through speaking, then fall into a silent silence. Initially, besides medication, Huo Niansheng tried to hire a psychologist, but it didn’t work well, as Chen Wengang had no desire to pour out his heart. Faced with a stranger who wanted him to open up, he just felt irritated and uneasy. The progression of the illness and the side effects of the medication had made his brain numb, he had no interest in food, no interest in lovemaking, his expectations for life were like a handful of sand slipping away between his fingers, almost gone.
Most of the time, he didn’t necessarily feel sad or upset accurately, but rather lacked emotions and feelings. He had lost connection with the outside world, and there was a thick glass cover between him and the outside world, with colors on the outside and black and white on the inside.
He used to be able to pretend, but now everything was exposed. The problem was, he couldn’t get out, and others couldn’t get in.
After lunch, Xiaoping returned to the staff dormitory and suddenly realized that the jade Buddha around her neck was missing.
The jade Buddha was of poor quality and not worth much money, but she had been wearing it for many years, as her mother had bought it at a temple fair. During lunch break, she searched around the mansion but couldn’t find it, so she had to inform the butler.
The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. Before going to bed that night, Xiaoping suddenly remembered that she had been in the study during the day.
Now she couldn’t wait until tomorrow, so she got up, put on her clothes, and quietly went to the main building, trying not to make any noise as she pushed open the door to the study.
Xiaoping held her breath, and in the dim light, she saw someone sitting on the sofa.
The person was also not used to the sudden light and raised a hand to shield their eyes.
Xiaoping’s scream got stuck in her throat, her heart pounding, even though she recognized it was Chen Wengang, she couldn’t recover for a while.
But whether it was an illusion, the moment the light came on, the figure reflected in her retina was icy and emotionless, like an expressionless robot. After Chen Wengang put down his hand, his expression warmed up a bit, as if he had come alive.
He calmly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xiaoping stuttered and explained the reason for her sudden visit.
Chen Wengang got up to help her search, and they actually found her jade Buddha near the bookshelf, probably dropped out of her clothes when she was dusting upstairs. Holding the item, she felt a twinge of guilt. The butler had actually prohibited wearing jewelry during working hours, but she had flouted the rule, hiding it in her clothes to wear it, and had even been scolded at noon for it.
But besides helping her find the item, Chen Wengang didn’t ask any further questions.
Feeling the need to explain or alleviate the awkwardness, Xiaoping voluntarily mentioned that the jade Buddha was a gift from her mother.
Chen Wengang gave a very faint smile and told her to go back and rest as soon as she found it.
When she left, she glanced back and saw that Chen Wengang had returned to his original position.
He was wandering alone in the darkness like this, and Xiaoping didn’t dare to ask him what he was doing so late at night, or when he planned to return to his room to sleep. His attitude clearly showed that he didn’t want to engage in deep conversations with anyone, and while Xiaoping had gained a different perspective on him, she still couldn’t help but feel that he was strange.
Two days later, the housekeeper suddenly notified that Mr. Huo was coming in the afternoon.
It was only then that Xiaoping realized, to her chagrin, that there was another owner of this villa on the hill.
This made her feel a bit embarrassed, feeling like she had stumbled into something unclear and confusing—yet at the same time, it was undeniable that she had developed a stronger curiosity about Chen Wengang, and even about this house.
So when Mr. Huo entered, she couldn’t help but secretly observe and assess him.
Undoubtedly, he gave off the impression of being tall and imposing.
In addition, compared to him, this Mr. Huo seemed more mature, more rational, more astute, and therefore appeared less easily manipulated.
He arrived at mealtime, washed his hands, and sat down to eat lunch with Mr. Chen. As far as Xiaoping knew, Mr. Chen had a schedule that someone had set for him, with clear times for meals and bedtime, and the housekeeper would remind him on time. She noticed that after lunch, Mr. Huo took Mr. Chen for a walk in the backyard, and they were gone for half an hour before returning.
Obviously, Mr. Huo was also aware of his schedule, as he escorted him upstairs to his room for his afternoon nap.
The relationship between these two seemed self-evident yet also had an indescribable ambiguity.
Since Mr. Huo came because he had been away for a while, he stayed at the villa on the hill for the next few days.
In Xiaoping’s eyes, their relationship seemed even more peculiar.
Huo Niansheng pestered Chen Wengang every day, and his attitude towards him even had a hint of trying to please him. He brought him gifts from abroad, digging out art supplies, candies, wooden dolls, glassware from his suitcase… It almost looked like he was coaxing a child, but Chen Wengang remained indifferent, saying thank you but showing little excitement.
After Huo Niansheng arrived, Chen Wengang couldn’t stay hidden in his room every day anymore, and he had to go out for walks with him.
Left alone, he was like stagnant water, but when Huo Niansheng came, even if he was being dragged along unwillingly, there was at least a bit of disturbance. But sometimes, Chen Wengang didn’t want to interact with Huo Niansheng either. He would lock himself in his room, but luckily, Huo Niansheng didn’t press him.
Late at night, Chen Wengang would sometimes bury himself in Huo Niansheng’s embrace and cry.
Xiaoping had never witnessed this scene firsthand; she heard about it from another long-serving maid.
She found it a bit hard to imagine, but it seemed that everyone had gotten used to the peculiar way the two employers interacted over time. Xiaoping found it strange, perhaps because she hadn’t yet passed through this period of adjustment.
Compared to the mature and rational Huo Niansheng, Chen Wengang’s emotions were difficult to fathom and control, like elusive mist.
One day, for some unknown reason, he threw a tantrum upstairs.
Originally, Huo Niansheng was talking to him calmly, and the two of them went upstairs as usual. A couple of hours later, without warning, there was the sound of things being smashed in one of the guest rooms. Xiaoping and another maid crouched at the top of the stairs, looking at each other and not daring to go over.
No one knew what was happening.
It was just things being smashed, but there was no quarreling. To be precise, it was Chen Wengang alone experiencing an emotional breakdown. The sound intermittently came from the room, something like, “Can’t you just stop bothering someone like me? Do you have to keep pestering me like this?”
Huo Niansheng showed no signs of anger; he calmly leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, patiently waiting.
When the person in the room exhausted themselves and there was no more noise, he asked, “Feeling better now?”
Chen Wengang stood amidst the mess, hands covering his face, and apologized again.
Huo Niansheng carried him upstairs.
The housekeeper also rushed over upon hearing the commotion, directing the cleanup effort and leading by example, tidying up the room.
Xiaoping didn’t dare to make a sound, but she finally saw the chaos in the room. The cabinet was askew, the lamp was lying on the floor, paper shreds were scattered everywhere.
She suddenly realized that she had thought Mr. Huo was a normal person—perhaps she was wrong.
When everyone had left, Xiaoping was still crouching in front of the low cabinet, wiping it clean, when someone opened the door and she turned to look, hastily standing up.
Huo Niansheng leaned against the door frame, looking her up and down, then waved his hand, indicating he wanted to talk to her.
Xiaoping hurried over, hearing him ask, “You’re the new one, right?”
“Yes, my last name is Liu, you can call me Xiaoping.”
“Nice name,” Huo Niansheng smiled slightly, “Are you still accustomed to working here?”
Xiaoping was still lost in her thoughts, feeling a bit nervous and wary—she had heard from her fellow villagers that one should be especially careful around male employers, and although she hadn’t felt it from a distance, facing Mr. Huo in person made her feel a sweaty sensation on her back.
Huo Niansheng’s gaze was very penetrating, as if he could read others’ thoughts.
At this moment, he seemed very talkative and approachable; he asked about her family situation and even sent regards to her mother and sister.
After chatting for a while, he grew closer to Xiaoping and then asked, “What did Mr. Chen help you find that day?”
Xiaoping was caught off guard and started sweating even more.
But Huo Niansheng quickly laughed, “What are you looking at? I’m not a pervert! There are surveillance cameras in every room at home, and since you’ve just arrived and Lao Wang hasn’t told you yet, I watch all the surveillance because of some special circumstances.”
Xiaoping summoned the courage to ask, “What special circumstances?”
Huo Niansheng asked back, “What do you think of Mr. Chen? It’s okay, be honest.”
She thought about it and certainly didn’t dare to say anything improper, just that he seemed to be a man of few words and didn’t like going out much.
Huo Niansheng coaxed, “You can go look up information. Depression has a high incidence in society, and many people suffer from it.” He continued, “You’ve also dealt with him, I see you’re a bit wary of him. It’s okay, he doesn’t not want to talk to you, he’s just sick now. Depressed patients are like this; their brains don’t produce enough dopamine, so they don’t have the ability to be happy. It’s like breaking a leg; if your leg is broken, you definitely can’t run anymore, right? He’s suffering too.”
Xiaoping was so surprised that she accidentally choked on her saliva and coughed violently. She desperately covered her mouth.
Huo Niansheng didn’t mind and patiently waited for her to finish coughing before saying, “I have an extra task for you, okay?”
Of course, she couldn’t refuse.
Huo Niansheng said, “You’re young and meticulous, and you should also be quite clever. I want you to take care of Mr. Chen more, closely monitor his condition every day, and report anything big or small to me. Don’t feel pressured; when I’m not around, Lao Wang will watch him. But when Lao Wang can’t handle it alone, just pay more attention to him. You can also take some photos for me during normal times.”
Saying that, he took out his phone, bowed his head and pressed a few times before extending it to her, “Let’s add each other as friends?”
Xiaoping had been here for a long time and gradually learned that every staff member here had been talked to by Huo Niansheng.
But Huo Niansheng probably really valued something about her; he also talked to the housekeeper and told Xiaoping to mainly take care of Chen Wengang, like reminding him to take his medicine, bringing meals upstairs, and tidying up the room.
The mysterious color was revealed, as Huo Niansheng said, at least Chen Wengang wasn’t a dangerous person. He was just melancholic and lacked vitality. Except for that one incident of smashing things, he had never lost his temper with anyone around him.
Every time Xiaoping handed him his medicine, he would say thank you.
So far, he had only lost control in front of Huo Niansheng.
Xiaoping now saw him as a patient, and she even began to sympathize with him.
She still didn’t know his past story and had nothing to talk about with him. But Huo Niansheng had been constantly instilling in her that Mr. Chen was a good person, and when she understood him enough, she would understand this point in the future. What he said didn’t sound like a lie, and when Chen Wengang heard that she wanted to attend adult night school, he would let her use the computer in the study to look up information and even give her some planning advice.
When she used the computer, he didn’t interfere or ask too much; the corner of the study was where he most often drifted off.
Once, when Xiaoping caught Chen Wengang in a relatively good mood, she asked him what he was thinking about when he zoned out.
Chen Wengang took half a day to say that he actually wasn’t thinking about anything; he was just counting seconds.
As Huo Niansheng instructed, Xiaoping made sure to watch Chen Wengang eat when she brought him meals, and she reported every detail, big or small, without getting tired of it.
Huo Niansheng came quite often, and even so, as long as he wasn’t around, Xiaoping would take photos of Chen Wengang and send them to him.
She had a smart demeanor about her, and she could feel that her employer was satisfied with her work performance.
But sometimes, Xiaoping herself didn’t know if what she was doing was right. With everyone watching one person so closely, judging by their behavior alone, even she felt like she had joined the ranks of those behaving strangely. But there wasn’t any other way. Mr. Chen was despondent, and Mr. Huo didn’t seem to have it easy either. Honestly, no one had it easy.
Huo Niansheng parked the car in the courtyard and looked to the passenger seat, where there was a cage with a black nose poking out.
He smiled, opened the cage door, and reached in to pull out a black and yellow puppy.
Chen Wengang was sunbathing in the flower house, with a book spread out on his chest, and he was asleep. The afternoon sunlight was warm and sleepy.
Huo Niansheng gently touched his face.
Chen Wengang quickly opened his eyes; he had just had a gray nightmare, and although he couldn’t remember the content, he only remembered being dragged down by many hands.
It was like sinking into the underworld, suddenly returning to a place filled with sunlight, with something licking his face, warm and affectionate.
He couldn’t react yet when Huo Niansheng asked, “Take a look at what it is?”
He pushed the thing away a bit, and Chen Wengang saw that he was holding a small German Shepherd in his arms.
Extremely young, perhaps just weaned not long ago, its four furry paws were paddling in the air.
Huo Niansheng held the tiny puppy with interest, raising it to eye level, “They say German Shepherds are fierce, but when they’re young like this, aren’t they pitiful—heard they grow up in the blink of an eye, just feed them casually and they’ll be very protective of their owner. Do you want to keep it?”
The puppy lowered its head, wanting to lick his hand, and he brought it over to soothe Chen Wengang, “What do you think it looks like? What name would you like to give it?”
Chen Wengang was awake now, hesitating. He remained silent, unwilling to accept it. His initial reaction was to ask Huo Niansheng to take it back. This wasn’t a toy; it was a life that couldn’t be casually discarded. Chen Wengang couldn’t even take care of himself; his life was already a mess.
Without a word, he refused to accept it. He grimaced, still not speaking, but Huo Niansheng had already put the puppy in his arms.
The warm bundle of fur snuggled into his chest, and Chen Wengang instinctively hugged it, and it made whimpering sounds.
Huo Niansheng said, “How is it? Cute, right?”
Chen Wengang lifted his head and asked, “Where did it come from?”
Huo Niansheng answered indirectly, “It’s yours now; keep it at home to play with you.”
He put his hand on Chen Wengang’s shoulder and urged him again, “Give it a name.”
Chen Wengang still hesitated, feeling like he had taken on an unbearable burden and was struggling to speak. But the puppy in his chest was oblivious; it looked at Chen Wengang with moist eyes and enthusiastically buried its head under Chen Wengang’s neck, sniffing his scent.
Huo Niansheng just smiled, sitting on the armrest and watching the two of them.
Chen Wengang’s hand was already on its back, hesitating for a long time before making the next move, and finally, he scratched its head.
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