Chapter 91

Shen Mofeng finished replying to the post, and the comments section became even more lively, with everyone speculating that the two were already living together. Satisfied with the attention and his show of pride, Shen Mofeng happily pocketed his phone and moved closer to watch Ye Chen prepare his sales pitch.

Shen Mofeng: “You’re preparing a new one?”

“Yes,” Ye Chen replied, typing a message in his chat with Fu Xi on QQ. He turned to Shen Mofeng and explained, “Ge, here’s what I think: Our primary customer base right now is middle-aged and elderly people who care about health and wellness. Unfortunately, they’re also the main targets for scams from fraudulent health supplement sellers. I feel it’s my duty to rescue them from the claws of those con artists.”

Warmth surged through Shen Mofeng’s heart.

Ye Chen added solemnly, “…and firmly grasp them in my claws.”

Shen Mofeng: “…”

Ye Chen smirked, “Rivals in the same industry are enemies. I’m going to drive those other health supplement scammers out of business.”

No thieves under the sky—except me!

Shen Mofeng leaned in to glance at the screen, noticing a newly drafted document. Amused, he asked, “A fraud prevention guide?”

“I told Xiao Zhang and Luo Luo, who manage our WeChat groups, to educate our regular customers whenever they’re free. Tell them there are too many shameless, black-hearted health supplement sellers mimicking us…” Ye Chen typed furiously, thick-skinned enough to turn facts on their head.

Black-hearted health supplement sellers: …

Who’s imitating whom, exactly?

“But these imitators, their product quality is worlds apart from ours,” Ye Chen narrated as he typed. “So… how do we identify these black-hearted health supplement sellers?”

Shen Mofeng teased, “Everyone like you is a black-hearted seller, except for you?”

“…You’re right,” Ye Chen admitted, troubled. “But we can’t word it like that, bro.”

Shen Mofeng took Ye Chen’s “claws” and gave them a kiss. “No rush, we’ll figure it out together.”

In the end, the two worked together to draft a fraud prevention guide.

“Anyone who tells you not to see a doctor or take prescribed medicine is a scammer. We advocate for regular hospital check-ups, regardless of whether our products work or not—always follow a doctor’s advice first,” Ye Chen summarized. “Scammers often offer free health screenings or gifts. We, on the other hand, charge for everything. And if they call customers ‘Dad’ or ‘Mom,’ they’re definitely scammers. We, as legitimate business people, just call them ‘Dear.’”

…

The youth romance drama 《Shallow Picking Light,》 starring Ye Chen and Bi An’an, wrapped up production smoothly and quickly under the shared motivation of the entire crew: “We just want to casually shoot this and make some quick cash.”

After completing formalities with his agency, Ye Chen received the remaining balance of his paycheck. After deducting the company’s share, taxes, and other fees, he pocketed over 8 million yuan. Combined with the advance payment, he had taken another significant step toward clearing his debts.

On the way to Xinghan Media, Ye Chen received a text notification about the funds being credited. He pulled out his phone, opened his banking app, and nudged Shen Mofeng. “Ge, look.”

Shen Mofeng lowered his gaze.

The seven-digit balance on the screen flickered momentarily before instantly resetting to zero, consumed entirely by the rules of Jing Ling.

Ye Chen beamed. “Isn’t that amazing?”

He had a remarkably open mind.

Shen Mofeng sighed helplessly. “…Miraculous.”

He had once offered to help Ye Chen pay off the debt, worried it might burden him. But Ye Chen had firmly refused, reasoning that the property title and land deed were under his name. The over 100 million debt could be seen as an interest-free mortgage, and Ye Chen didn’t want to take advantage of it. Since it was his “mortgage,” he preferred to pay it off with his own hard-earned money.

After some consideration, Shen Mofeng decided to respect Ye Chen’s wishes.

As for the breach-of-contract penalty Ye Chen incurred when he left Xinghan Media mid-contract, Shen Mofeng covered it through his studio. Ye Chen, however, was conflicted about this penalty and wanted to share the burden, but Shen Mofeng firmly but gently rejected the idea. After all, when a talent agency poaches an artist, it is the new employer that pays the penalty to the former agency.

Ye Chen frowned, conflicted. “But this technically counts as my own fault…”

Shen Mofeng raised a finger and gently pressed it to Ye Chen’s lips, smiling. “What fault? You were poached by me, little one. I threatened, tempted, and coerced you—you had no choice but to give in to me.” Seeing Ye Chen’s hesitation, he leaned closer and asked softly, “Am I wrong? You didn’t give in? Or…did you?”

Ye Chen sighed, giving in as he rested his forehead on Shen Mofeng’s shoulder and muttered, “I did.”

And so, the matter was settled.

The termination of Ye Chen’s contract was negotiated by Shen Mofeng’s studio representative. Considering the circumstances, the discussions were relatively amicable. Ye Chen would need to complete the currently confirmed projects for Xinghan and compensate for subsequent losses. Ye Chen’s visit to the company today was to wrap up some final details and bid farewell to Gu Qiu.

Gao Ran would follow Ye Chen to the new studio, but Gu Qiu, being a manager at Xinghan, had no such option—and he had no desire to leave anyway. Although Ye Chen was undeniably a rising star, practically a walking money tree, Gu Qiu had long suspected there was something odd about him. Torn between making profits and managing risks, Gu Qiu had been plagued with anxiety, enough to lose hair over it. Now that the hot potato was out of his hands, there was no way he’d chase after it.

“Qiu Ge,” Ye Chen said apologetically, “I’ve troubled you a lot these past months, and made you lose your temper more than once. This is just a small token of appreciation; please accept it.”

Gao Ran brought over something that looked like a rolled-up mat.

Gu Qiu looked suspicious. “What is it?”

“You’ve always said I raise your blood pressure, haven’t you?” Ye Chen slowly unfurled an exquisite jade mattress onto Gu Qiu’s desk. “Put this on your bed at home. It keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, and it’s good for regulating blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s from a jade mine my family owns…”

Gu Qiu gave him a tired look. “You’re still hanging on to the ‘my family has a mine’ thing?”

“…Fine, just joking.” Ye Chen’s tone carried a touch of indulgence. “It’s not from my family’s mine. I bought it. Cost me over 80,000.”

Gu Qiu sighed. “Finally, some honesty from you.”

Ye Chen fell silent, faintly dejected.

“And this,” Ye Chen continued, lifting a refined gift bag. Inside was a custom gift box without the Chenchen Wellness Shop logo. He opened it and introduced its contents: “This is a herbal eye mask to relieve eye fatigue and other conditions. This is a calming massage comb for stress relief. These are health hand balls to prevent memory loss in the elderly—you can give them to your parents. Or use them yourself.”

Gu Qiu paused and asked slowly, “Have you secretly gone into MLM?”

“No.” Ye Chen smiled insincerely. “These are just specialties from my hometown.”

Gu Qiu stared at him for a moment, utterly defeated. “Your hometown…”

After the banter, Ye Chen’s expression turned serious. “Qiu Ge, thank you for bringing me into the industry. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be stuck doing bit parts. I—”

“Enough.” Gu Qiu rubbed his face and waved him off. “Go on, get out.”

…

The news of Ye Chen amicably parting ways with Xinghan Media and joining Shen Mofeng’s personal studio swept across Weibo like a tidal wave. The CP fan discussions soared to unprecedented heights, and the related hashtag comfortably dominated the top of the hot-topic list, leaving the second place far behind.

While Shen Mofeng toyed with the idea of publicly coming out, CP fans were already setting off celebratory fireworks. But for a portion of die-hard individual fans, this was the last straw, and their patience snapped.

Amidst the chaos, a massive scandal began brewing—its roots tracing back to an inconspicuous forum post from months ago.

OP: “My mom saw this guy at a wellness shop that sells health pillows. The model wearing the eye mask looks a bit like YC. Also, the store name has ‘Chen’ in it, so I couldn’t help but connect the dots. [Picture] [Picture]”

1L: “You think you can tell just by looking at a chin and mouth? What are you, an X-ray machine?”

OP reply: “I was just saying. Didn’t even plan to post this, but today they suddenly replaced those model photos. Why replace them if nothing’s fishy?”

2L: “It does kinda look similar, but so what? Replacing model photos is normal. Let them do what they want.”

3L: “Good-looking people always look a bit alike. Ugly people, on the other hand, each have their own kind of ugly.”

4L: “? Upstairs, maybe just don’t talk if you can’t say something nice.”

5L: “A name with ‘Chen’ in it is super common. My brother’s name has ‘Chen’ too.”

…

The post, based on nothing but speculation, didn’t gain much traction and quickly sank into obscurity.

The author has something to say:

Chen Chen: I’m thinking that my persona might not be the Little Prince of the Agricultural Empire, but rather the Prince Yu of Overturning The Car