Tao Yuan went to the supermarket to buy vegetables, returned to the apartment, which was not far from the school, and began to cook dinner.

When the meal was almost ready, his brother, who was in primary school, came back from school.

“Brother, I’m back.” Du Yi went to the kitchen to greet Tao Yuan

“Well, go and put down your school bag and wash your hands before dinner.” Tao Yuan did not turn around but continued to fry the dishes in the pot.

After the original owner was admitted to Dongjing University, his father rented an apartment for him and paid the rent three years in advance. So no matter how much the original body owner worried about money, at least for a year or two, he would not need to live in the streets with his half-brother.

Tao Yuan brought the food to the table, and the two of them quietly finished their dinner. Du Yi also offered to help wash the dishes, but Tao Yuan refused and asked him to hurry up and do his homework first.

Du Yi was just a boy who was not yet ten years old. He used to be a beloved and spoiled young boy. He has lived with the original body’s owner for less than a year, but he seemed to have grown a lot in an instant and became very sensible.

It’s not because the original body owner was not good for him. The original character itself was indifferent to everyone. Although he had nothing to say to his half-brother, he looked after him and never scolded him.

After his mother died, his father remarried and the stepmother gave birth to Du Yi. The stepmother died unexpectedly two years ago. The father was a little superstitious. Thinking that taking another wife was too cruel, he decided not to marry again. But although he did not get married, he died. He went bankrupt due to a business failure and then his terminal illness was discovered. He passed away without leaving anything for his two sons.

Before his death, father of the original asked him to take care of his younger brother on his behalf. The original Du Qingyu promised him that he would take care of Du Yi personally and would not leave him to be raised by others. Only then did the father die peacefully. The original owner felt that his father had brought him up well, but he had no chance of repaying him for his kind upbringing. So instead of his father, he decided on raising his half-brother as a reward for father’s upbringing .

But his younger brother, though he looked like a healthy child, actually had a very serious heart disease, making the usual medicine useless for his body.

The original owner had not only to find ways to pay his tuition fees and their living expenses but also needed to buy medicine for his brother. The pressure was very great. In the face of Xu Shaoyan’s seeming caring words and action, but were actually  provocations, Du Qingyu couldn’t resist exposing to others who had regarded him as a white lotus. But Tao Yuan was not such a character. If someone dares to make him feel bad, he must pay them back double the hurt.

Tao Yuan washed the dishes, cleaned the rooms, and closed the door. After lying down in bed, he closed his eyes and opened his system. He looked at the bare peach blossom branches in the system. There were only a few buds on them. He sighed and wondered how long it would take to fill the peach blossom branch. 

Before crossing worlds, Tao Yuan had been an actor who had just graduated from the Film and Television Academy in his original world. He was only two or three years older than the original body owner.

He just won the Best Newcomer Award. He came home after the award ceremony and woke up in the middle of the night. He got up to drink a glass of water but found out that the peach blossom tree that grew in his backyard bloomed overnight. The peach blossom flowers were brilliant; however,  it was not the peach blossom season then.

Tao Yuan went to the courtyard full of doubts and stood under the peach tree to look at it. He thought that that peach tree had been planted for so many years and yet it had never bloomed. Was it new essence? Why else would it bloom overnight?

He was wondering about that when a peach blossom suddenly fell and hit him on the forehead. His eyes darkened, and he fainted. Before losing consciousness completely, he was still thinking that he had been knocked unconscious by a peach blossom.

When he woke up again, he was not in his bed nor in the hospital, but in an empty space with no fixed form.

A voice told him that he had been chosen by the peach blossom system, and he was the owner of that peach blossom system. As long as he let a branch of peach blossoms bloom, he could have the peach blossom system forever and become an immortal.

The way to make the peach blossoms on the branch bloom was to go to different worlds and develop a love relationship on each. If the love affair were successful, a peach blossom would flower and bloom.

Tao Yuan had no interest in immortality. He thought that this was the dream of ancient emperors. As a modern man, he did what he wanted to do; it was enough for him to live in peace for decades. What was interesting about immortality? 

But the peach blossom system told him that he had disappeared from the original world and could never go back. If he did not go to the different worlds to accomplish his tasks, he was forever stuck in the system’s white space; he would not grow old nor die should he choose to.

Tao Yuan didn’t know how long he stayed within the system. It may have been a very short while or a very long time. Anyway, he could not stand being bored any longer and felt that he was going insane. There was nothing in the system except infinite white space and a bare peach blossom branch.

The system told him that if he didn’t go to the different worlds, he couldn’t access any functions of the system.

Tao Yuan felt that, after watching that peach blossom branch for a long time, its sheer bareness seemed pitiful, which made him feel very sad. So he thought, Anyway, I can within the system or, according to what the system said, go to different worlds to complete tasks, letting that branch become full of peach blossoms and also leave the system’s white space.

He felt that, since he was a professional actor, he might as well treat every world like a movie set, go there and then participate in the performance, and practice his acting skills as well. With that in mind, Tao Yuan carried some expectations with this traveling to different worlds to accomplish tasks.

It was getting dark soon. Only then was Tao Yuan willing to get up from his bed. After taking a bath and changing his clothes, he told Du Yi that he could read or watch TV at home but not go out on his own. He had to go out to work.

Du Yi also cleverly agreed and sent Tao Yuan out of the door and watched him get on the elevator, before closing the door.

The original’s workplace was an ancient teahouse that covered a large area with five or six courtyards of different grades dedicated to drinking tea and listening to the guqin. Du Qingyu’ss job here was to play the guqin for the guests. 

“Manager Wu.” Tao Yuan was on his way to the dressing room. When he saw the manager coming out of the lounge, he greeted him.

“You came, Qingyu.” Manager Wu looked at Tao Yuan and said, “Today is your last day to play the guqin here. I know you are short of money now, but you offended Boss Zhang, and I can’t keep you here. Otherwise, the next time he comes and sees you still working here, he may find trouble with you again, and we’ll have a hard time dealing with it.”

“I know. I won’t make it difficult for you. After playing today, I’ll find another place,” Tao Yuan said.

Manager Wu nodded. “I’ll add more money for this week’s salary. Your father used to be a regular here. For his sake, I’ll tip you a little more personally.”

“Thank you, Manager Wu. I will do whatever it takes. I don’t like to owe people much,” Tao Yuan said. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll find a new job soon.”

“You are stubborn child,” Manager Wu said helplessly. “Although Boss Zhang was a bit of a jerk, he had only touched your hand. You should’ve endured it and let it pass, but you splashed his face with water. Fortunately, it was not hot water or you’ll be in big trouble.”

“I think people who come to tea shops should behave themselves, at least on the surface, even if they are dirty inside. People like Boss Zhang should go to that kind of hotel for recreation instead of coming to teahouse to spend money. A  teahouse can’t satisfy his desires.”

“Boss Zhang is a well-known color master. The times he came for tea are relatively small. He usually comes with customers, but when he comes here, he has been relatively restrained.” Manager Wu looked at Du Qingyu’s delicate facial features and tender white skin and said, “I guess you are too good-looking. He couldn’t help himself and didn’t think you would dare to throw water on him. It’s just a touch, and most people will put up with it.” 

“I’m sorry to trouble you, Manager Wu,” Tao Yuan said with his mouth, but in his heart, it was very clear to him that that Boss Zhang was really interested in making trouble for the original, or he could have come to such a place like teahouse to start things with him, intentionally trying to provoke him. The reason why he did so was because he was instructed by someone, and that person was Xu Shaoyan’s boyfriend, Liu Xiujie.

“Things have already happened, so you don’t have to say these words, but you should  control your temper next time.” Manager Wu sighed and shook his head.

Tao Yuan went to the dressing room to change clothes. After changing into his costume, he stood in front of the dressing mirror to tidy up while looking at the face in the mirror,

Tao Yuan felt that with such a peach blossom face, it was difficult not to arouse the desires of those color masters. The original owner had received many propositions from people who wanted to take care of him. Some even found the manager and directly said that they wanted to take care of him, but the former owner refused fiercely.

There were fewer guests in the courtyard where he usually played the guqin compared to the other courtyards in this teahouse, so it was a large room with more than ten to twenty tables for guests. Higher grade private rooms generally invited senior musician, making the price also quite expensive.

The original master’s guqin skills were good, so he could enter this teahouse to play the guqin, but compared to a real master, his guqin skills were still lacking.

Tao Yuan sat cross-legged in front of the screen. He looked very elegant in an ink-painted long-sleeved white costume. His peach blossom face presented a more outstanding style, which made people unable to move their eyes away from him.

Although the original owner’s guqin skills still have room for improvement, Tao Yuan who took over this body, if he wished to play on the level  of master level, it wouldn’t be difficult at all.

He plucked the strings between his fingers, and soon after, the simple and melodious sound of the guqin came out. It was like a fresh breeze blew in suddenly, and the clear spring was introduced into everyone’s heart. Those who faked elegance and sat in the room instantly felt that they had finally learned how to listen to the guqin and really became elegant.

In the past, customers only appreciated the original owner’s face, but at the moment, they could not help but close their eyes and feel the trickles of sound from the guqin, as well as the clear breeze and the bright moon. In an instant, their impetuous minds were calmed down, the pressure and fatigue of the day slowly diminished. Even the scent of the tea on their tables became more attractive.

Manager Wu personally came to the gate of the teahouse to welcome several distinguished guests. He laughed with them and took them inside. One of the distinguished guests suddenly stopped, and several others stopped as well and eyed him doubtfully.

“President Chen?” Manager Wu asked in doubt.

President Chen raised his hand to prevent Manager Wu from speaking and carefully traced the direction of the sounds. His hearing was very strong, and he could easily hear distant sounds, so he was sure that the melodious but muted sounds that were coming into his ears right then were not a product of auditory hallucination. 

President Chen never spoke a word, but he suddenly walked in the direction of the sound.

Others: Look at me. I look at you. With a sense of doubt, the others also quickly followed behind him. President Chen, as usual, was the main character tonight. They had a hard time inviting him. Of course, where he went, they would go.

“Mr. Chen . . . Fu Feng Courtyard is the other way. That way, you are . . . Where are you going?” Before Manager Wu could finish his words, all the distinguished guests had left, and he had to catch up with them. 

As the sound of the guqin became clearer and clearer, President Chen couldn’t help  quickening his steps.

After hearing the sound of the guqin, the others realized why President Chen had to go that way. Chen was a famous guqin fanatic with good ears.

In order not to disturb other people, they stepped in quietly and sat down at an empty table.

Manager Wu nervously asked people to serve good tea and then stood behind them, ready to wait for them after they finished listening. Then he took them to the long prepared rooms.

These were all big bosses around, but among them, Mr. Chen was the oldest at nearly fifty years old. Although the others were just  a few years younger than him, they had a much smaller businesses background compared to him. So several people joined forces to invite Mr. Chen in order to curry favor with him.

Several of them began to listen to the second half of the guqin performance, and the melodious sound of the guqin still made them feel mellifluous and pleasant. Before entering, they thought that the musician must be a senior master, and senior masters were generally not young.

After seeing Tao Yuan’s tender, white young face, they were surprised but at the same time could not help sighing in their hearts; it was rare to have such a good guqin skill at a young age. 

Manager Wu was also very surprised, thinking about Du Qingyu’s guqin skills. When did he progress to this extent? In his mind, he wondered if Du Qingyu had concealed his real skill level before. And because he would not be playing the guqin here again after tonight, he displayed his true skill.

After finishing the song, Tao Yuan withdrew his hands and sat still for a few seconds before getting up and exiting through a door behind the screen.

Edited by : Faro

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