Guiying looked at their faces as they straightened. The first maid met his eyes briefly before looking away, her expression carefully arranged into something neutral.
The second glanced at him with a look that lingered a beat too long, taking him in from head to toe in a way that was not quite respectful.
The third leaned slightly toward the girl beside her and murmured something too low to catch, the corner of her mouth lifting just slightly.
The fourth kept her eyes directed at the floor, which was somehow more telling than if she had simply looked at him openly.
Mrs. Chen's head turned a fraction. She did not raise her voice. She did not need to.
The murmuring stopped immediately.
All four maids snapped back to attention, eyes forward, expressions wiped clean.
Guiying noted all four of them and said nothing.
Wang Chengli led him up the stairs.
The room was large and quietly beautiful, furnished in cool, clean tones with nothing excessive about it.
A wide window faced the garden below, and beside it a set of glass doors opened onto a balcony with a small sitting area, two chairs and a low table positioned to catch the afternoon light.
Guiying stepped out onto the balcony and looked out over the grounds.
He could see the garden from here, and beyond the garden the high walls of the property, and beyond the walls the quiet rooftops of the district stretching out in the late afternoon haze.
He sat down in one of the chairs.
The city was still out there. The Xue family was still out there. Shen Zihao was still out there, going about his life, completely unaware that the person he had spent five years destroying had come back with a very clear agenda.
Let them enjoy it while it lasts.
A door to his right connected to the adjoining room. Liuxian's room, by the look of it, glimpsed briefly through the gap before the door settled back into place.
Close enough to hear if something happened. Far enough to maintain a boundary neither of them had yet discussed.
Guiying looked out over the garden and sat quietly with that thought for a moment.
Footsteps approached from inside the room, measured and unhurried.
Wang Chengli appeared at the balcony doorway, carrying a tablet in both hands, held forward with the careful presentation of someone delivering something of value.
"The young Master asked me to bring this to you, Master Xue," he said, setting it gently on the low table beside Guiying's chair. "The card is already linked and accessible. The young Master said you are to get whatever you need without reservation." He straightened and folded his hands neatly in front of him.
"Old Li will have your meal ready within the hour. Is there anything else you require in the meantime?"
Guiying looked down at the tablet on the table. Then he looked up at Wang Chengli, and for the first time since that morning, something in his expression loosened very slightly.
"Thank you, Uncle Wang," he said.
Wang Chengli's composure did not waver, but something around his eyes shifted, quiet and warm, before he bowed and withdrew.
Guiying picked up the tablet.
He had a room with a balcony, a view of a garden, a meal coming, and an unlimited card linked to a billionaire's account.
He opened the first shopping app he could find and decided that he was, all things considered, going to be just fine.
He sat on the balcony with the tablet in his lap and took Liuxian at his word.
He started with the phone. The latest Sungsing model, the one that had sold out within hours of its release. He added it to the cart without blinking. Then the matching tablet, thinner and faster than the one Wang Chengli had brought him. Then the laptop, the wireless earbuds, the smart watch, the portable charger. By the time he was done with electronics he had assembled the entire Sungsing ecosystem without particularly meaning to.
He moved on to clothes.
Outings first. Clean lines, good fabrics, colors that worked with his complexion. Then indoor wear, soft and comfortable, the kind of clothing he had never been allowed to spend money on before. Sleepwear, silky and unhurried. Then the things that were simply pretty, delicate knits, embroidered pieces, clothes that had no practical justification beyond the fact that he liked them.
Accessories followed naturally.
Rings, bracelets, a few necklaces.
Then bags, a structured one for going out, a soft one for everyday, a small one because it was cute and that was reason enough.
Shoes.
Several pairs.
Sneakers, loafers, one pair of boots, and a set of the softest indoor slippers he had ever seen in his life, shaped like small bears, which he added to the cart with complete seriousness.
Makeup next.
He had not worn it in years. He ordered it anyway, foundation that matched his undertone, a few lip colors, something for his eyes.
Then perfumes.
He took his time with those, reading the notes carefully, selecting three that appealed to him.
Scented candles followed, then a humidifier for the room, then a toothbrush because he had left his behind and apparently that was the kind of day it was.
He paused on the decor page for a while.
The room was already beautiful. He did not want to change it so much as settle into it, make it feel like somewhere he had chosen rather than somewhere he had arrived. He ordered a few things. A small plant for the balcony table. A soft throw for the chair. A diffuser. A framed print he liked the look of. Nothing excessive.
Then he found the snacks section.
He ordered mixed nuts, dark chocolate, a box of the kind of individually wrapped sweets that came in too many flavors to choose from so he ordered two varieties, some dried mango, a tin of butter cookies, and a small jar of honey because it had caught his eye and he could not think of a reason not to.
After that he was not entirely sure what he was buying anymore. He was simply scrolling and adding things that interested him, a pretty glass water bottle, a silk pillowcase, a small jewelry dish for the nightstand, a book he had always meant to read, then three more books because they were there.
He was in the middle of considering a cashmere blanket when he decided he had earned it and added it to the cart.
---
Meanwhile, in a boardroom on the thirty second floor of the Liu Group headquarters, Liu Liuxian was in the middle of a quarterly review when his phone lit up against the table.
He glanced at the screen.
¥280,000 has been deducted from your XXX account.