Chapter 171: Envy Like a Knife
On an ordinary day, Owen Green sat in his room, reading literary works to pass the time.
After a wonderful life of over ten days, his wallet had suffered greatly. Until he could find work, he had to keep company with words in his room, improving his literary skills.
Owen Green looked around his room; it was quite a bit larger than the attic he used to live in. However, it shared one similarity with that room: it was a mess.
There were a few pairs of underwear and socks on the bed, and leftover chicken bones scattered on the floor.
But he didn’t have to worry about it; he just needed to wait for the maid he hired to come and clean up. It was very cost-effective to hire a maid with a few others to do housework.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Someone knocked on the door.
Owen calculated the date and figured it was indeed the time for the maid to come. Reluctantly, he moved his feet away from the coal basin, put on his slippers, and, dressed in a messy pajamas, walked to the door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, why are you so early today?”
He opened the door to find a beautiful young girl standing there. She wore a black dress and a black veil hat. As she smiled slightly behind the veil, her sweet voice fell on Owen Green’s heart.
“Sorry to bother you, but I need to trouble you with something.”
It was Miss Ji.
A wave of wonderful happiness burst in Owen Green’s chest; his heart raced, and he breathed heavily. After a second or two, he realized he had lost his composure and asked, “S-sorry, what did you just say?”
“I need to trouble you with something, sorry for the interruption,” Miss Ji said. “If you don’t mind, can I sit in your room for a bit?”
Owen Green felt dizzy; he almost agreed but was slapped back by his male pride.
This room was a complete mess, and one of the pairs of underwear on the bed had participated in last night’s solo activity!
His face turned crimson as he said, “I’m sorry, my room is too dirty.”
At this point, Owen Green realized he was only wearing pajamas and hadn’t even washed his face—what a disgrace! He suddenly felt flustered, his hand resting on the doorknob, wanting to shut the door and say:
“Please give me some time.”
“Oh?” Miss Ji’s black leather boots pressed against the door as she softly said, “It’s really cold outside; I’m freezing. Can I come in to warm up? We can talk for a while.”
Her voice was gentle, tinged with a hint of pleading. Except for that scoundrel, no man could bear to refuse, and neither could Owen Green.
“Alright, Miss.”
But the next moment, Owen Green regretted it.
Miss Ji stepped into the bachelor’s room and accidentally stepped on a leftover chicken bone, making a crunching sound.
In an instant, Owen Green’s neck turned red as he glanced at Miss Ji’s face behind the veil, which showed no change.
Miss Ji must be a kind-hearted girl!
He thought to himself.
Miss Ji stopped, and there was only one chair in the room.
Owen Green hurriedly bent down, pulled out a small stool from under the bed, and said, “Sorry, I didn’t think about having a guest when I bought furniture. You can sit here.”
Saying so, he reached for his walnut chair.
“Okay,” Miss Ji said, reaching for the small stool.
Owen Green’s embarrassment made his face even hotter as he said, “No, I’m sorry for misleading you.”
He quickly set the small stool down and pulled over the walnut chair.
“How could I take the host’s chair as a guest?” Miss Ji said, “That would be very rude.”
Owen Green replied, “It’s fine; it’s my poor hospitality that makes you laugh.”
But Miss Ji was not at all polite; she glanced around, walked past Owen Green to the bedside. With her legs together, she sat down elegantly, placing her hands on her thighs.
The soft silk skirt draped over her long legs, outlining a slender silhouette. The fabric over her backside was taut, accentuating the elasticity of her bottom, which was pressed just against one corner of the underwear.
That was the underwear worn during the solo activity last night.
Owen Green’s throat moved as his thoughts wandered.
Miss Ji must admire his literary talent; otherwise, how could someone so noble and beautiful visit his room? She didn’t mind at all and even sat on the bed! Wasn’t she hoping for him to become her lover?
Owen Green was so excited that his fingers trembled. He squatted down to pull the coal basin in front of Miss Ji and sat down on the walnut chair.
Between them was only a basin of burning coals. The fire heated well, but Owen Green’s restless heart burned more fiercely than the coals.
She was sitting there, and if he just reached out, he could wrap his arms around her slender shoulders. She was alive, breathing evenly, and there was a faint fragrance about her. Taking a deep breath was like sipping wine that penetrated deep into his heart.
Owen Green couldn’t help but take a few more breaths.
“Here’s the thing: my friend has something going on recently and needs to go to war; he doesn’t have time to write ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.’ The outline is just missing an ending, which is about ten percent of the total text.”
Miss Ji opened her bag, the custom black pearl gloves fitting perfectly to her slender fingers. She took out a piece of paper, “The outline is here. I believe in your abilities; please write a conclusion for this story. Of course, I’ll increase your pay fivefold.”
Owen Green immediately tossed the promise to the big bearded guy into hell. He was sure that even if the big bearded guy dragged him to the ferry, facing the rushing Rike River, the cold waves soaking his face again, he would shout loudly: “I will never let Miss Ji down!”
Owen Green said, “I will never let you down.”
Saying that, he took the neatly folded paper, glanced at the messy handwriting, and couldn’t help but snort. Indeed, it was the scribbles of that vulgar, lecherous, and crude man.
Although he was determined to give this story a good ending, Owen Green didn’t want to challenge the temperature of the Rike River. He said, “Miss Ji, recently someone—”
“Right!” Miss Ji immediately interrupted him, “You must write a romantic and sweet ending for this story.”
What romance could there be in a harem novel?
Although he thought this, Owen Green still nodded, “Alright, I will do my best. But with so many partners for the protagonist, it might be a bit difficult.” He said, “Is this requested by your friend?”
“No, it’s my request.”
For the first time, Miss Ji showed a shy expression on her face like a girl. “This is not just a novel; it’s also a testament between him and me.”
“Testament?”
“Yes, the protagonist is him, and I am one of the female supporting characters.”
Owen Green couldn’t believe it and asked, “He is yours?”
“Sweetheart,” Miss Ji’s cheeks turned slightly red. “Recently, I mustered a lot of courage to confess to him, and thankfully, he didn’t reject me.”
“Bang!”
It was as if a thunderbolt crashed through the window, landing directly on Owen Green’s forehead.
“H-he… uh… I meant, who is he?”
“Oh, he? The JoJo on the cover is drawn for him. Haha, he looks very handsome when he smiles, but he doesn’t smile that exaggeratedly. I just had to add that in.” Miss Ji’s golden eyes sparkled; even with the black veil, the shine of her golden eyes could be seen.
Owen Green felt as though he had been pierced in the chest by a cold, poisonous blade, his heart cold.
“Then who are the other women?”
“His wives.”
“Wives?!”
“Yes, that’s right, what’s wrong?” Miss Ji blinked, “Isn’t it normal for such an excellent male like him to have multiple partners?”
“But you, Miss Ji, you could find someone who is dedicated to you.”
“But I only love him,” Miss Ji said. “Even if someone is dedicated to me, what does it matter if I don’t like them?”
“But many people are willing to be dedicated to you and will strive to love you.” Owen Green’s tone was full of pleading. “Why must you submit to someone else and be just one of the harem?”
“I am not a salary,” Miss Ji replied. “Others can’t just get me because they work hard. I love him; he is an excellent man, and I am willing to serve him alongside other women. That is my choice.”
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
These words were like five thunders, striking consecutively on Owen Green’s forehead, scorching him inside out, shattering his male pride into dust.
Owen Green didn’t know how he managed to stand up and bid farewell to Miss Ji.
Before she left, Miss Ji waved at him, saying, “Goodbye, Mr. Owen, please be sure to write a good ending. That is a testament of love between me and him.”
Owen Green felt like a walking corpse: “O-okay.”
Once the door closed, Owen Green slumped onto the bed, dazed.
A few minutes later.
Miss Ji stepped into the carriage, and as the carriage door closed, she disappeared into thin air—this was, after all, the avatar of Ji Ma. One reason was Ji Ma’s cautious personality, and the second was that Ji Ma knew how messy a bachelor’s room could be; she didn’t want to step in herself.
As the carriage began to move, the sound of hooves echoed in from outside.
Owen Green came back to his senses. The faint scent left by the girl still lingered in the air. But such a wonderful girl was just one of that vulgar, lecherous, and crude man’s harem, and she had sought to be a part of it.
Owen Green grabbed the light-colored bed sheet and covered his head before crying out loud, and when he finished crying, he lowered the sheet, his red eyes filled with anger. Without even looking, he ripped the outline he held into pieces.
A beautiful and romantic ending?
Owen Green glared at the shredded paper on the ground. He wanted revenge; he needed to defend the literary realm with his pen and could no longer compromise, nor could he write such base and gaudy words. He needed to give readers profound memories and life lessons.
What to write?
Yes, an affair.
How could trash like JoJo possibly have several girls with him?
He had to write in a green hat, a big green hat! To awaken readers and let them know that everything in the book was fake.
In an instant, Owen Green felt like the guard dog of literature. Of course, this had nothing to do with jealousy or anything like that.
Owen Green immediately picked up his pen and wrote numerous endings involving affairs on the paper. However, he was not satisfied with any of them and crumpled them into paper balls again and again.
The next day.
Owen Green informed Miss Ji through the maid that he needed all the previously corrected drafts because he had forgotten some of the earlier plot points.
The original manuscript was quickly delivered.
Owen Green was filled with motivation but still felt that what he wrote wasn’t good enough, not piercing enough to strike the heart and educate the readers.
Just then, Ji Ma also planned to inject some cultural dregs from Earth into his dreams.
Thus, Owen Green lay on the light bed sheets, falling into a dream of inspiration.
