Chapter 9

Online With Prince Charming (2)

Si Huang turned off the shower, tossed her hair, and put on the bathrobe in the cupboard, which wasn’t tied up. She walked outside as she tied the bathrobe. “Gold represents stability, pink represents instability, and black implies that they want me dead.”

“H-How did you know?” Wu Bao went mad.

Si Huang shook her head, refusing to give an explanation and tickling Wu Bao’s endless curiosity. It was about to question her when Si Huang spoke again, pushing all of its questions away. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the divine weapon.”

The desktop was a model from more than 10 years ago. Although it looked a little old, there was no problem with the internet speed.

!!
Si Huang opened Baidu. Initially, she had thought that it would take around one day for her searches to pop up. However, when she typed the words “Si Huang” in the search bar, a series of relevant searches appeared below it.

Her well-defined fingers leisurely tapped on the keypad. The light from the monitor shone against Si Huang’s fair, still dripping wet face. She wanted to check out Star Youth Academy of Arts’ web forum. Her red lips curved upward when she saw the trending gossip topics all the way to the top, which had been highlighted by the administrators.

“The biggest surprise occurred at “The Sovereign Journey” auditions! The most perfect Mr. Qianji in history appeared! Who would dare challenge him?”

“Unexpected beauty appears in the schoolyard! Let me simp for you, Prince Charming! I want to have your babies!”

“It’s just like a fighting scene in a modern version of the Home Brothers drama series! Si Huang’s had plastic surgery! He’s shaming all men!”

Si Huang scrolled down and read every single topic with interest. She clicked on the first one. The only thing on the first page of the original poster was a row of an “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” self-monologue. That was enough to describe the original poster’s emotions and incoherence. It was also enough to tell her that the original post had been made by a girl.

Below it was a video of Si Huang’s audition for the role of Mr. Qianji the previous day.

The camera was a little shaky, and perhaps the girl recording the video hadn’t taken it from a good angle. Hence, the quality of the recording wasn’t perfect. However, the camera pixelation was surprisingly high, providing a clear picture of the youth on stage. She had even managed to capture the tips of his fingers clearly.

Si Huang then scrolled through the comments section. She realized that the comments had far exceeded 1,000. The first page actually included the following comments:

First comment: Who would possibly have the guts to challenge him?

Second comment: How could anyone possibly beat him?

Third comment: You guys are nothing!

Fifth comment: You should all jump off a cliff!

Tenth comment: You should take a good look in the mirror!

Si Huang was speechless.

After a silent pause, she thought of something and scrolled to the very bottom of the page before clicking on the last page of the discussion.

Just as she had suspected, the reason behind this wave of discussion was that a few alternate accounts had criticized Si Huang’s performance in the video, saying that he had only gotten the role because of his good looks and making other dismissive comments.

Cute Husky Overlord: [scared emoji] [scared emoji] Girls are so scary! They lose their rationality and judgment once they see something pretty [wipes sweat emoji].

Soon, a new comment appeared in the discussion room.

Si Huang raised her brow when she saw the ID. Her fingers nimbly signed into her own account in the forum. Then, she casually submitted a comment.

Phoenix

: I think girls are cute. [smiley face]

A new comment appeared underneath her ID a second later.

Caramel Pudding: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! [heart] Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness! [kowtow GIF]

Si Huang curved her lips into a smile.

Phoenix: Guards, take that yappy little husky away. [face with steam from nose emoji]

This time, the new comments arrived faster than ever. The discussion seemed rather lively. At least, it did from Si Huang’s point of view.

Caramel Pudding: Right away, Your Highness!

Lovely Cake: As you wish, Your Highness!

Blueberry Juice: Yes, Your Highness!

Broken-Winged Angel: Your Highness, we’ve kicked the dog out. Would you like it braised or steamed in clear soup?

Caramel Pudding: Misleading! [Angry emoji]

Lovely Cake: +1

Tender Little Cucumber: Have y’all noticed that His Highness has disappeared?

The forum discussion descended into chaos. Si Huang, the mastermind behind the chaos, had already left her seat to open the door.

A middle-aged woman who looked around 40 years old was standing at the door. She had a kind, comely face and was carrying a takeout box in her hand.

“Hello! I’m a housekeeper from Honest Housekeeping Incorporated. My name is Zhao Limei,” she said awkwardly. Zhao Limei took one look at the young man at the doorway and couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes again. Instead, she fixed her eyes on his shoulder.

“Come on in.” Si Huang stepped aside.

Zhao Limei was taken aback by her soft, courteous tone. She was about to change into slippers before entering the house, until she realized that there were no slippers available.

“I just moved in. Just come in. Put the food on the table. I’ll leave everything else to you.” A mildly helpless voice brushed past her ears.

Zhao Limei’s heart was spinning in circles as she obediently followed Si Huang’s instructions.

At first glance, she was under the impression that this kid was a huge celebrity. According to her colleagues, rich celebrities were the most difficult to deal with because they had bad tempers. However… This kid was pretty well-mannered. He was very likable!

“Sir.” After following Si Huang’s instructions, Zhao Limei took out the credit card machine and the receipt for the dinner that she had bought. “It’s our company’s policy to proceed with the payment first…” Before she could finish her sentence, Si Huang had already placed her debit card in her hands.

“I know. This house is pretty big. You don’t have to finish cleaning the whole house in one day. Just charge the total cost at once. No need to clean the master bedroom and study on the second floor. Don’t go in those rooms either. The password for this card is 336688. Once you’ve charged the required fees, use the rest for grocery shopping in the future.”

Si Huang was starving. She opened the takeout box as she spoke, then realized that Zhao Limei wasn’t moving at all. She turned around, saw the torn look on the woman’s face, and smiled. “There isn’t much money in there. You can go ahead and check the bank account later if you don’t believe me. Therefore, it’s fine if you hold on to it. Also, I’m quite familiar with Honest Housekeeping Incorporated. I’m hungry. You can get to work now.”

Zhao Limei did not hesitate anymore after hearing Si Huang’s last sentence.

Despite her hunger, Si Huang did not hurry through her meal. She drew up a money-making strategy as she ate.

The card that she had given to Zhao Limei had been found in Li Lisi’s room. As mentioned, Li Lisi had poured a large portion of her money into her investment in Prime Entertainment. However, she’d usually set aside a small amount for pocket money. “Pocket money” was really an appropriate way to describe it. The amount of money in that card was considered pathetic for someone with Li Lisi’s status.

This was written as 风皇 (Feng Huang) in the raws, a play on Si Huang’s Chinese name 凰 — which is the same Chinese character as the word 凤凰 (which means Phoenix). So I decided to translate her user ID as Phoenix. ????