At eight o'clock in the morning, Xu Zifan's phone vibrated. He turned off the alarm, opened his eyes, stretched, went to the balcony to breathe in some fresh air, and felt refreshed. The original owner's job was nine to five, and occasionally he would go to the client's company to provide technical support. Sometimes he could work from home or on business trips, as long as he had a computer and internet access.
This suits him well; it's his forte, and he can move freely in the realm of code.
He quickly changed his clothes, washed up, cooked a bowl of noodles in the kitchen, threw the bowl into the sink without paying attention, and went straight to work with his bag. The original owner didn't have a car, so he took a taxi to the company. When he arrived, he met many colleagues, and he greeted them politely, just like the original owner, without joining their small talk.
While waiting for the elevator, he took out his phone and called Wu Xuefei. Wu Xuefei was traumatized by Xu Zifan's choking the previous night and had been so frightened by researching sleepwalking online that she couldn't sleep at all, finally falling asleep at dawn. She had only slept for a little over an hour when she was jolted awake by the deafening ringtone. Her heart was pounding, and she felt breathless. She took several deep breaths before finally unlocking her phone and answering the call.
"Hello? Zifan?"
Xu Zifan lowered his head and said, "Xuefei, I was too tired from working overtime yesterday. I got up early to make time and didn't cook for you and Dad. You can order takeout yourselves. Oh, and I don't have time to wash the dishes. Can you wash them for me? Otherwise, they'll easily get cockroaches."
Wu Xuefei couldn't believe her ears, frowned and sat up, "What? Wash the dishes?"
"Yes, you get hot when you cook and can't help with anything else, but washing dishes is easy. I read online that pregnant women should move around more, otherwise they may have a difficult birth. I've been thinking about it, and you don't really have many opportunities to move around, so why don't you just take charge of washing dishes and cleaning the house from now on? Just please don't have a difficult birth."
"You said you'd always be good to me before we got married? Being good to me means letting me stay home, have babies, and do housework? What do you mean by this? And the difficult childbirth? You only care about the baby and not me anymore?"
Xu Zifan turned the microphone volume up to the maximum, and the dozen or so people waiting for the elevator around him heard him, all casting curious and sympathetic glances at him. Seeing the elevator doors open, Xu Zifan said, "I'm going in now, I'm hanging up. Don't get angry. I just make breakfast every day, work overtime, and then go home to do housework until midnight. I'm a little overwhelmed. You don't have to do much housework at home, so it's good for you to get some exercise, isn't it? Okay, I'm in the elevator now, I'm hanging up."
"Hello? Xu Zifan! Hello?!" Wu Xuefei heard the busy tone on the phone, got up, opened the door, and went to the kitchen. Sure enough, the bowls, chopsticks, and pots were unwashed. She didn't like Xu Zifan to begin with, so why would she want to wash his dishes? She was immediately furious. She called Xu Zifan, but his phone was out of service, leaving her with nowhere to vent her anger.
When she returned to the living room and saw the broken glass all over the floor, she became even angrier. Xu Zifan hadn't even swept the glass up that morning! What was going on? What did this mean? She had a feeling she was about to lose control.
As soon as Xu Zifan hung up the phone, his colleague asked him, "Xu Zifan, were you just on the phone with your girlfriend? You're already pregnant?"
Xu Zifan gave a shy smile, just like the original owner of this body, and said embarrassedly, "I'm already married."
"You got married?" Several colleagues moved closer to him, looking at him in surprise. "When did you get married? Why weren't we invited to the wedding?"
"When we got married, my father-in-law had some trouble, so no one was in the mood for a wedding banquet and we didn't say anything. Now that my father-in-law is out of danger, and my wife's pregnancy is still a bit unstable, we decided to wait until the baby is a month old before having a banquet," Xu Zifan said, bowing his head slightly.
"Wow, you're fast! You were on a blind date not long ago, and now you have a wife and kids. Amazing!"
"You've gotten ahead of me! I got married last year and don't have any kids yet. Congratulations!"
"Huh? What do you mean by your father-in-law coming out? Did he... did he get into trouble... and get arrested?"
His colleagues congratulated Xu Zifan with smiles, but suddenly one of his female assistants realized something was off about his words and asked in surprise. Xu Zifan's expression changed, as if he regretted saying the wrong thing. He lowered his head, stepped back, and said softly, "It's nothing."
Honest people don't know how to talk or explain, so his reaction was perfectly normal, which only convinced everyone in the elevator that his father-in-law had been arrested. And the fact that his father-in-law's arrest meant they weren't even having a wedding banquet suggests this case is quite serious.
Just then, the elevator arrived. Xu Zifan, head down and clutching his bag, stepped out and quickly walked to his workstation. The others exchanged glances, not wanting to ask any more questions, but they were all filled with curiosity, itching to know the gossip.
Xu Zifan turned on his computer, put his phone aside, and blocked Wu Xuefei and Wu Lidong's numbers; they wouldn't be able to contact him. To destroy someone, you have to start from all sides. This is only the first step—let others know about them, make them uncomfortable. He'll gradually build up the damage until they feel the ultimate pain. He's very patient, provided they can't bother him.
The work assigned by the company was not difficult for Xu Zifan, and he quickly finished it and submitted it. The manager was somewhat surprised by his improved work efficiency, and Xu Zifan smiled shyly and said, "I want to work hard so that my wife and children can live a good life. Maybe with more responsibility on my shoulders, I'm more motivated to do things."
The manager looked at him and said with a smile, "You've been working overtime a lot these past few days. I thought you were having some kind of trouble at work, but it seems that's not the case."
"I'm sorry, manager, I misunderstood. I just wanted to work overtime to earn more overtime pay. I won't do it again. I can maintain my work efficiency."
The manager liked ambitious people, and upon hearing this, he encouraged him, "Young man, don't..."
"Don't be impatient. You seem like a very honest person, and you don't have much entertainment. With your salary, saving money should be quite easy. You should have some savings from the past few years, right? Raising children will cost money later, so don't rush things. Being steady will allow you to go further."
Xu Zifan's expression stiffened, and he said hesitantly and awkwardly, "Manager, something happened at home before, and all our savings were spent. I... I actually wanted to ask you today... could I get an advance on my salary this month?"
The manager was genuinely surprised this time. Having worked together for six years, he knew his employees' family situations well. As far as he knew, Xu Zifan came from a well-off family and was quite good at saving money. This… suddenly, it was all gone? Had such a drastic change occurred in his family?
He pushed up his glasses and said, "An advance of one month's salary is certainly possible. If you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me and I'll see if I can help you."
Xu Zifan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "No need, manager. My monthly salary is enough to support my wife and father-in-law. As long as this month passes, everything will be fine. But if possible, I hope you can give me more opportunities. I've been studying and improving myself, and I feel my skills have improved compared to before. If I have the chance, I will definitely work hard."
The manager nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, don't worry, I've seen your performance. Keep up the good work."
"Okay, manager, I'll head out now."
Xu Zifan returned to his workstation, and within minutes, his colleague across from him said, "Zifan, can you help me with something? I'm too busy to handle this."
Xu Zifan looked up at him. This person often asked the original owner of the body to help with work, or rather, other people in the department would occasionally ask the original owner for help because the original owner didn't know how to refuse and was very easy to talk to. But he had no interest in "helping others" at all. He frowned awkwardly at his colleague, "I'm sorry, the manager just talked to me. I need to improve my skills. I don't have time."
My colleague was surprised for a moment, then said, "Aren't you working overtime after get off work? You can help me with it while you're working overtime, I need it tomorrow."
Xu Zifan opened his phone's notes app and quickly wrote a lot of things. His colleague, not getting a reply, said impatiently, "I sent you an email, did you see it?"
Xu Zifan shook his head. "I haven't looked at it. I'm looking at my notebook. I can't work overtime anymore. There's too much to do after get off work."
"What's wrong? You don't want to help me, do you?" The colleague was annoyed by his rejection for the first time. She got up and leaned over to look at his phone, frowning as she read aloud, "Buy groceries at 6:30, go home and cook, wash dishes and clean the room at 8:00, read and study technical skills at 9:30, clean the bathroom for Xuefei and her father at 10:30? Do laundry at 11:00, go to bed at 12:00, and get up at 6:00 to cook?"
Upon seeing this, her colleague forgot all her anger and exclaimed in shock, "Xu Zifan, you're not saying you're going to do all of this? Cooking, washing clothes, washing dishes, doing housework? Aren't these things women do?"
Several colleagues in the office heard this and looked over. One of the older women said, "How come it's all the women's work? Nowadays, men and women are equal, and housework should be shared equally, okay?"
"No, is this what you call splitting the burden equally? It's like Xu Zifan did everything he could!"
"Putting everything else aside, what's with cleaning up the bathroom for my father-in-law? What does that mean?"
Xu Zifan turned off his phone and saw that they had all gathered around. He had a mild case of social anxiety and moved to the side, leaning against his workstation. He said awkwardly, "Well... Xuefei and her dad want to watch TV for a while after they take a shower. They don't do any housework, so... I have to clean both bathrooms, otherwise they'll be too damp. Xuefei said that dampness is bad for their health and can attract bugs."
"My God, all you do in the bathroom is mop the floor. Your father-in-law really wants you to do that? Even an idiot could do that."
"Xu Zifan, you're too honest. Haven't you heard that kindness is often taken advantage of? This isn't how you show filial piety to your father-in-law. If you start this now, you'll be doing everything at home from now on. You'll be in for a world of hurt."
"Take my advice, I've been there, and this really won't work. If you get into this habit, you'll become their maid, serving them for the rest of your life."
Xu Zifan looked at them and said, "Then... what should I do? I asked Xuefei to do some housework today, and she seemed angry."
Several people overheard his phone call while waiting for the elevator this morning, and it's already spread quietly. His older sister said, exasperated, "You just give in when she's angry? You're spoiling her! Let me tell you, men and women are equal. It's right for men to share housework, but you can't indulge a woman who's too demanding! Be firm today, split the housework 50/50. If she doesn't do it, confront her and ask if she wants to stay in this relationship!"