After My Rebirth, My Husband Pampers Me Everyday!

Chapter 274: Chapter 274

"Managing." She returned his smile warmly. "The house runs smoother with you around, if I’m honest. Old Li’s been threatening to quit twice this week from stress alone."

"I heard that!" Old Li’s voice carried from across the kitchen, indignant, though clearly more amused than offended.

Guiying laughed, the sound coming easier than he expected given how heavy his chest had felt only minutes earlier.

"English breakfast today, Second Master." Old Li appeared beside the stove, already plating eggs and grilled tomatoes with the kind of care he put into every meal regardless of how simple the request. "I figured something hearty might do you good, given everything going on lately."

"That sounds perfect." Guiying settled onto a stool at the kitchen counter, grateful for the small, deliberate kindness behind the choice.

Wang Chengli entered moments later, a tablet tucked under one arm, his expression carrying the same composed efficiency it always did regardless of the hour.

"A few things before you sit down properly." Wang Chengli set the tablet on the counter beside Guiying’s plate. "404 confirmed he’ll arrive around ten. I’ve had the east wing prepared as discussed, and I’ve drawn up a basic household orientation packet for him, since I imagine he’ll have questions about how things run here."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang." Guiying scanned the tablet briefly, appreciating the thoroughness as always.

"Also, your French tutor confirmed this afternoon’s session, three o’clock as scheduled." Wang Chengli continued without missing a beat. "And Master Chen called this morning, something about a new shipment of pieces he thought you might want to see before anyone else gets the chance."

"I’ll call him back after breakfast." Guiying nodded, already mentally sorting through the growing list of things waiting for his attention today.

"Lastly." Wang Chengli’s tone shifted slightly, something gentler threading through it. "Liuxian left before you came down. He seemed... unsettled, this morning."

Guiying’s fork paused halfway to his mouth.

"He’ll be alright," he said it carefully, unsure whether he entirely believed it himself yet. "We’re working through some things."

Wang Chengli studied him for a moment, then nodded once, clearly deciding not to press further. "Understood. Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, Second Master."

Guiying did, the warmth of the kitchen and the familiar rhythm of the household settling something in him that the morning’s earlier tension hadn’t quite managed to touch.

Ten o’clock arrived faster than Guiying expected, the doorbell chiming through the house just as he slid the last of his study materials into a drawer for later.

Wang Chengli reached the front door first, his footsteps measured down the hall ahead of Guiying’s own. By the time Guiying caught up, the door already stood open, a figure dressed head to toe in black waiting on the step, dark circles pronounced beneath sharp, restless eyes.

Guiying’s steps slowed.

Every other meeting between them had happened behind some kind of disguise, and this was the first time neither of them wore one.

"So this is you." Guiying studied him a beat too long before catching himself.

404’s brow lifted. "Disappointed?"

"No." Guiying’s mouth curved. "Just strange, finally seeing the face behind the messages."

"Strange works both ways." 404 stepped past Wang Chengli’s gesture into the entryway, eyes cutting across the room, tracking the front windows, the second exit past the stairs, the distance to the door he’d just walked through.

Wang Chengli cleared his throat. "Shall I show him to the staff building first, or the paperwork before he settles in?"

"Paperwork first." Guiying nodded toward the study down the hall.

404 followed a step behind, gaze still flicking room to room as they walked, though his shoulders had dropped a fraction lower than they’d been at the door.

The study waited as Guiying had left it, folder centered on the desk, two chairs pulled to face each other. He took his seat and waited for 404 to do the same.

"Before we get into terms." Guiying folded his hands on the desk. "What’s your actual name? I’ve never actually asked."

404’s jaw tightened. His fingers curled once against his knee, then stilled.

"Fu Pei."

Guiying held the name a moment before repeating it back, giving it weight.

"Fu Pei. Thank you for trusting me with that."

"Don’t make it weird." Fu Pei’s voice came out rougher than the words needed.

"Wouldn’t dream of it." Guiying slid the folder across the desk instead. "Read it whenever you’re ready. One thing first, though. This doesn’t replace what we already have. You keep the informant work, the contacts, all of it. This sits on top, something legal to fall back on if the other side of things ever runs too hot to sustain."

Fu Pei’s eyes snapped up. "You’re not asking me to drop it?"

"Why would I?" Guiying tilted his head. "You’re good at it. I just want you to have something steadier underneath, in case you ever need it."

Fu Pei flipped the folder open, scanning fast until he hit the compensation page, where his eyes stopped moving entirely.

"This is still more than I asked for."

"And I still don’t care." Guiying leaned back. "You’re not doing me a favor working cheap."

Fu Pei’s thumb tapped once against the edge of the desk. He reached for the pen.

"Fine." He signed with quick, hard strokes and slid the folder back. "But if you ever try to dress me up for one of your society dinners, I’m walking."

Guiying laughed, the sound catching him off guard as much as it seemed to catch Fu Pei. "Deal."

He stood, gathering the signed folder and tucking it under one arm. "Come on. I’ll take you over to the staff building. That’s where you’ll actually be staying."

Fu Pei followed him out through a side door near the kitchen, where a golf cart sat parked under a small covered awning.

"You’ve got a golf cart." Something almost amused crossed Fu Pei’s face as he climbed in beside Guiying.

"The property’s bigger than it looks from the front." Guiying pulled the cart forward, easing it down a paved path that curved away from the main house toward a second, smaller building nestled among the trees. "Uncle Wang and Old Li are the only staff who live in the main house itself. Everyone else stays out here."

"Convenient." Fu Pei’s gaze swept the grounds as they drove, cataloguing the layout with the same sharp attention he’d given the entryway earlier.

The staff building came into view a few minutes later, a long, low structure with individual entrances spaced along its length, each door marked with a small brass number.

Guiying parked the cart near the far end. "Your unit’s the last one, quietest spot on the property. Figured you’d appreciate the distance from everyone else."

Fu Pei climbed out, studying the building’s layout, the sightlines, the distance back to the main house, old instincts clearly running the calculation without him needing to think about it consciously.

"Force of habit." He said it without looking over, aware Guiying had noticed anyway.

"You don’t have to turn it off." Guiying led him toward the door, key already in hand. "Being safer here doesn’t mean you stop being careful. I’d rather you stay exactly as sharp as you’ve always been."

Something in Fu Pei’s shoulders eased at that, the tension he’d carried since the front door finally loosening by another degree.

Inside, the unit opened into a small sitting room, a bedroom beyond it, its own compact kitchenette tucked along one wall.

"This is bigger than my actual apartment." Fu Pei ran a hand along the back of the couch, testing the give of the cushions.

"Then maybe it’s time to give up the apartment." Guiying leaned against the doorframe. "No pressure. Move at whatever pace makes sense for you."

Fu Pei crossed to the window instead, checking the view, the drop, the distance to the tree line beyond it.

A knock sounded at the open door, and Wang Chengli appeared moments later with a stack of folded linens balanced against one arm, having followed on foot at his own unhurried pace.

"I’ve had fresh sheets and towels sent over already." Wang Chengli set the stack down near the couch. "If you need anything else, groceries, specific brands, simply let me know and I’ll see it arranged."

Fu Pei eyed him warily before nodding once. "Thanks."

"Of course." Wang Chengli’s tone stayed carefully neutral, professional in a way that seemed to put Fu Pei more at ease than outright friendliness might have. "Second Master, Old Li mentioned lunch within the hour, if you’d both like to head back to the main house."

"We’ll be there." Guiying glanced toward Fu Pei. "Unless you’d rather eat here today, get settled first."

"The main house is fine." Fu Pei shrugged, gaze lingering on the window a moment longer before he finally turned away from it. "Can’t avoid everyone forever if I’m actually living here now."

"That’s the spirit." Guiying smiled, satisfied with how the morning had gone despite how uncertain he’d felt walking into it.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!