I Became the Housekeeper in an Old-School Angsty Novel

Shang Qing awakened to the truth: he was a cannon-fodder butler in an old-school, angst-ridden CEO romance.

He had a crush on the CEO, meddled in the CEO's relationship with his white moonlight, hired someone to rape the white moonlight, and beat him until his face was disfigured.

In the end, he drove his car into the white moonlight, but at the last moment his conscience got the better of him. He died saving him beneath the CEO's cold, scornful gaze.

He had no self-respect. Even when Li Xiunian called him nothing more than a dog kept by the Li family, he accepted it gladly, without question.

He thought he owed his father, unaware that he was merely his father's adopted son.

His adoptive father pretended to go bankrupt, sent the white moonlight abroad to live in luxury, then adopted Shang Qing from an orphanage and sold him to the Li family to prove his loyalty.

Shang Qing knew nothing of this. Certain that his family was destitute, he handed over his entire monthly salary to his adoptive father.

With that money, his adoptive father made a comeback, while the white moonlight lived carefree as a rich second-generation heir overseas.

The CEO met the white moonlight abroad, and they hit it off at first sight. After an accident one night when they had been drinking, the CEO slept with Shang Qing, became addicted to him, and treated him like a plaything.

Until the day he died, Shang Qing still hoped the CEO would come see him, even just once. Instead, he saw the CEO kissing the white moonlight passionately. Shang Qing had never known that kind of tenderness.

Shang Qing closed his eyes. There was no way he would put up with this kind of humiliation.

His adoptive father, the white moonlight, Li Xiunian, all the money he had given away, even his own body and heart.

He would take it all back, piece by piece, then leave and never have anything to do with them again.

But just before leaving, he couldn't help ruffling the boy's tousled hair. "Be good from now on."

The boy held back his emotions and gripped his wrist tightly. "Qingqing, stop treating me like a child."

-

Li Boyang was the illegitimate son the Li family kept hidden from the world.

His birth mother was a despised mistress who wanted to steal his older brother's dazzling life.

But Shang Qing kept ruining his plans.

Li Boyang wanted to teach Shang Qing a lesson, so he forced a kiss on him and took pictures. "If you don't do what I say, I'll show these to my brother. Don't you like him?"

Shang Qing only smiled gently. He never seemed to care about Li Boyang's antics, continuing to look after him while making sure he didn't ruin his plans.

But one morning, as he poured milk for Li Boyang, Li Xiunian, who was usually a man of few words, suddenly put down his newspaper and said with a deep frown, "Shang Qing, why do you have to stick your nose into everyone's business?"

Li Boyang glanced at Li Xiunian, and an unfamiliar irritation welled up inside him.

-

After leaving, Shang Qing became the butler to a big shot's friend. The pay was good, the work was easy, and he had plenty of time off. Life was comfortable and pleasant.

At a business banquet, Li Xiunian got his friend drunk. His friend accidentally threw up all over him and kept apologizing.

Li Xiunian waved him off and went to the restroom, but Li Xiunian followed and pinned him in a corner. The once-arrogant CEO looked haggard as he knelt halfway down to slip a wedding ring onto Shang Qing's finger. "Shang Qing, I can't live without you."

Shang Qing pushed Li Xiunian away, but the instant he looked up, he saw a handsome young man in the darkness.

The business world's rising leader, the new head of the Li Group, Li Boyang. He had gone from illegitimate son to the darling of the elite. He stood high above everyone, looking down on the world, never lowering his head to anyone.

Yet he stood quietly, holding a lit cigarette between his long fingers. His gaze was dark, the corners of his eyes red, and he stared at Shang Qing with an almost-smile.

*Gentle, cool, and capable beauty x ambitious, devoted younger man

Theme: Be a compass amid the shifting tides of fate