Chapter 5: Looking Alike Maybe They Really Look Alike, But That’s All…

“You should leave quickly. The young master didn’t accept you yesterday, so even if you kneel here today, it’s useless.”

“Brother Wen Zhan, you know I have nowhere else to go. If the young master doesn’t accept me, you know what will happen to me…”

What could happen to him? He’d just continue being a servant. It’s just that he’s handsome and unwilling to accept his fate, wanting to rise up and become a master.

Wen Zhan shook off Wen Xi’s hand tugging at his sleeve. He had only stumbled upon this scene because he got up early to relieve himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known Wen Xi would make such a fuss.

Not wanting to get involved with Wen Xi at all, he could see that the young master inside wasn’t someone to be trifled with. “I’m leaving. Don’t you dare say you saw me!”

Meng Huan, who had been watching the scene from the doorway, was completely bewildered. What was all this about?

He pushed open the door and walked out. He might not care about other matters, but he couldn’t ignore someone kneeling at his doorstep.

Now only Wen Xi remained outside. Hearing the door open, he looked up with hopeful eyes, coming face to face with Meng Huan.

He reacted quickly, immediately kowtowing twice, then said mournfully, “I beg the young master to accept this servant.”

Last night, the servants who shared a room with him all said that Meng Huan seemed to be hard-hearted, advising him to give up early and just do his work well. But he didn’t think so.

He believed that while Meng Huan appeared unsympathetic on the surface, he had a unique personality and might be cold on the outside but warm on the inside. To deal with such a person, one had to be persistent.

“I beg the young master to accept this servant!”

Meng Huan wanted to discourage him. This time, he didn’t even help him up, but directly clasped his hands behind his back and said, “You should leave. I really don’t need a personal attendant. Get up quickly. When your colleagues wake up, they’ll all see you kneeling here. Won’t you be embarrassed?”

Wen Xi blinked, tears flowing freely as if they cost nothing. Then he kowtowed again, saying nothing else but, “I beg the young master to accept this servant!”

Meng Huan’s fingers trembled slightly. He felt like he was deliberately making things difficult for the other person, but he really didn’t need a personal attendant. He couldn’t change his mind just because someone came begging, could he?

“If you want to kneel, then kneel. I’m going back to sleep.”

Seeing that persuasion wasn’t working, he strode back into the room, deliberately closing the door loudly. He said he was going to sleep, but actually, he moved a stool to sit by the door, waiting for the person to give up.

With someone kneeling outside begging him, how could he have the heart to sleep?

This young man Wen Xi was a tough one. He just kept kneeling silently, not moving even when the hot sun shone on him.

Gradually, servants began to enter the courtyard, carrying basins, pitchers, and towels. They were all startled to see him but pretended not to notice as they walked past.

Meng Huan quickly put the stool back in its original place, then lay down on the bed. He couldn’t let others know he had been watching the whole time.

When someone came to call him, he pretended to have just woken up. Following instructions, he rinsed his mouth and washed his face, and was finally seated at the dressing table to have his hair combed.

The table was by the window, and coincidentally, someone had opened the window a crack for ventilation. He could vaguely see Wen Xi still kneeling outside through the gap.

How vexing.

His expression was not good, and the servants in the room didn’t dare to speak. Even when sweeping, they tried to keep the noise down, afraid of angering him.

Halfway through combing his hair, the servant combing his hair brought over a box of hair ornaments and had to speak up, “Young master, please choose one…”

Meng Huan looked at the box with a stern face, didn’t choose, and raised his hand to close it. The sudden sound frightened the servants, who hurriedly knelt down, not daring to even breathe.

“All of you, get up! And someone go call Wen Xi in.”

Immediately, someone got up from the ground and ran out, bringing in the person kneeling outside.

Wen Xi, without a word, was about to kneel again, saying, “I beg the young master to accept…”

Meng Huan held his forehead, indicating he had a headache. He said helplessly, “Stop kneeling. Come here and comb my hair.”

He was a normal modern person, at least that’s what he thought of himself. He just couldn’t harden his heart to let someone keep kneeling.

Maybe Wen Xi would give up after kneeling for a day, or maybe Wen Zhaoyin would come in the evening and have Pei Lan take him away. Although it would solve the problem either way, he would feel uncomfortable inside.

—

Wen Zhaoyin came early, at least earlier than Meng Huan had expected. She arrived at noon and had rice and several meat dishes laid out.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Wen Xi standing to the side and Meng Huan acting as if nothing had happened. She pretty much understood what had transpired.

Especially when Pei Lan, catching her gaze, quietly whispered the specific details in her ear.

She used the serving chopsticks to pick up a dish she liked and put it in Meng Huan’s bowl. For half a month, she had watched him make a fuss, resist, and try to escape. She had been feeling that bringing him back was a mistake.

Maybe they really looked alike, but that was all.

But after interacting with him these past two days, she discovered many differences and increasingly felt that bringing him back was the right decision.

Even their soft-heartedness was exactly the same. Wen Zhaoyin chewed slowly, her gaze constantly gentle as she looked at him, barely leaving him except to pick up food.

Meng Huan felt uneasy under her gaze. With so many people standing around, only the two of them were sitting and eating, and she kept looking at him that way. He really couldn’t handle it.

So he actively brought up a topic, “I see your family is quite wealthy and influential. What do you do for a living?”

Even breakfast had six side dishes, different every day. Such a family must be either rich or noble. However, he had fallen asleep in the sedan chair and hadn’t seen any plaques when entering the house.

Even if he had seen them, he might not have understood their significance.

Wen Zhaoyin put down her chopsticks and took a napkin from the side to wipe her mouth. Already accustomed to his way of speaking, she didn’t find it rude. “I merely inherited the family business, serving Her Majesty.”

“So you’re an official. What exactly do you do?”

She smiled and spoke rather modestly, “I’m not as talented as my aunts in the clan who have the courage to expand territories. I merely serve as the Left Deputy Censor in the Censorate.”

Meng Huan was just an ordinary person who would cheer for getting 60 points on a test. Let alone being like other transmigrators who excelled in all areas and bloomed in various industries, he didn’t even know the most basic official system of ancient times.

This official position was a foreign term to him, but seeing how casually she mentioned it, it probably wasn’t a high-ranking position, right?

Meng Huan continued eating, nodding without saying anything.

Pei Lan stepped forward, wanting to explain in detail how powerful the mistress of the house was, how young she was when she became a third-rank official who could directly face the emperor, but Wen Zhaoyin raised her hand to stop her.

She changed to another napkin, wiping her hands while saying, “I brought you back home abruptly half a month ago. Your family must be anxiously looking for you. You wouldn’t tell me before, so I had people inquire privately.”

“Now we have some leads. Your mother-in-law and father-in-law said they miss you very much, so I’ve invited them to visit our residence tomorrow, at the hour of Si.”

This was to notify him that he needed to be present.

Meng Huan’s hand paused as he was picking up food, his smile more difficult than crying. He didn’t have the original owner’s memories. Wouldn’t meeting the parents be disastrous?