Ever since he stopped going to the company, Yu Yan had been enjoying a few leisurely days, binge-watching all the classic TV shows and movies.

Life could only be described with two words—utterly comfortable!

Just as he woke up from a nap, he heard Butler Wang announce that the second young master of the Shen family had arrived.

Shen Muyang was truly relentless. He had been bombarding Yu Yan with messages these past few days, none of which were answered. Now, it seemed he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Glancing at the “The End” text on the TV screen, Yu Yan felt a bit bored and told the butler to invite him in.

“Xiao Yan, why haven’t you been answering my calls? Is that impostor interfering with your friendships?” Shen Muyang asked urgently. He had sent messages into a void for days, and only desperation had driven him to the Shen family to find Yu Yan.

Yu Yan blurted out, “You’re the impostor!”

What impostor?

That was his cash cow!

Shen Muyang’s lips trembled, and he lowered his eyes, clenching his fists tightly.

Sure enough, even Yu Yan—an orphan from some backwater town—looked down on him for being an illegitimate child.

Calming himself, he softened his tone. “Xiao Yan, how’s the plan we talked about the other day? Was it successful?”

Yu Yan shook his head. “No, I’m not doing it anymore.”

“That’s okay, there’s no rush. There’ll be other chances.”

The original owner of this body had been easily manipulated by Shen Muyang, coming up with all kinds of wild schemes together. These ranged from the “suicide by pills” threat version to the “running away from home” version, the “sob story on the internet” version, and even the “outlaw vigilante” version.

Changing the channel to a variety show, Yu Yan asked casually, “Why are you here?”

Shen Muyang sighed as if helpless. “I… I’m here to hide for a bit. You know how things are in my family. My brother, he… sigh…”

Yu Yan suddenly sat up straight. “Your brother bullied you again? What did he do?”

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle. As long as he figured out Shen Yuming’s methods, he could avoid them.

Shen Muyang let out a relieved breath. Yu Yan still cared about him. “It’s nothing. He just… took something very important from me.”

“What was it?”

“Forget it. Let’s not talk about him. I didn’t even get to have lunch before he kicked me out.”

“He didn’t let you eat?” Yu Yan exclaimed.

Shen Muyang pondered for a moment. Not letting him go to the company was basically the same as cutting off his livelihood.

“Yeah.”

“That’s terrible,” Yu Yan sighed. “He’s so scheming and two-faced. You need to stay far away from him.”

After some maneuvering, Shen Muyang finally revealed his true intentions. “I heard Chao Xing has a smart home project recently that’s getting government support. The main goal is to expand into overseas markets. If you take charge of this project, you’ll quickly establish yourself at Chao Xing.”

This project was mainly handled by Yu Chen.

The original book didn’t go into much detail about the project, focusing instead on Shen Yuming’s domineering ways as he crushed illegitimate children and uncles alike to build his business empire.

Yu Yan didn’t know much about this, but he was self-aware enough to understand that, given his educational background, completing such a project was nearly impossible.

“Yu Chen and my brother are friends. His methods are no less ruthless than my brother’s. If he fully takes over Chao Xing, he’ll definitely crush you. Besides… this was supposed to be yours in the first place.”

Yu Yan glanced sideways at him, then at the TV’s commercial break. Feeling bored, he changed the channel again. “So, according to you, what should I do?”

“Of course, you should wrest the project out of his hands and take charge yourself. Once you establish yourself at Chao Xing, won’t everything there be up to you?” Shen Muyang lowered his voice, wary of the butler overhearing.

“But I don’t know how to do anything,” Yu Yan replied offhandedly.

In the book, after Shen Muyang coaxed the original owner into seizing the company, he opened a shell company and siphoned a lot of money from Chao Xing, which contributed to its eventual financial collapse.

Seeing an opening, Shen Muyang quickly persuaded, “You can hire a professional manager. You just sit back and collect the money. Or you can have Yu Chen work for you—pay him a salary while you hold the shares.”

What a brilliant plan!

The original owner had considered this in the book, but on one hand, he suspected professional managers had been bribed by Yu Chen, and on the other, he wanted to prove his own ability. So, he insisted on doing everything himself, successfully driving Chao Xing into the ground.

During this process, if the original owner had just tried less, Chao Xing wouldn’t have gone bankrupt so quickly.

Chao Xing had once been a small company, and it was only after Yu Chen joined and implemented drastic reforms that it reached its current value. Yu Yan couldn’t just burn the bridge after crossing it.

“Xiao Yan, what do you think? Yu Chen, he—”

Click! The door lock turned.

Yu Chen casually hung his coat on the standing rack, speaking with annoyance. “What about me?”

Shen Muyang inexplicably shivered. “Brother Chen, you’re so kindhearted. I feel much better knowing Xiao Yan is in your care.”

Watching the newly arrived family of three, Shen Muyang silently noted that Yu Yan’s status in the household wasn’t all that high. The family went out together and didn’t even take him along.

Feeling uncomfortable, Shen Muyang quickly made an excuse to leave.

Yu Yan turned and knelt on the couch, resting his elbows on the backrest and waving. “Dad, Mom, big brother.”

“Xiao Yan, would you like a ham and cheese croissant or Black Forest cake?” Jiang Mo shook the shopping bag in her hand.

“I want the croissant.”

“Alright, then the Black Forest cake will be for your brother.”

“No problem, no problem,” Yu Yan gave an OK gesture.

Yu Chen casually opened the cake box. “Why did Shen Muyang come over? Did he want to partner with you to start a company?”

“He came to stir up trouble.”

As soon as the words fell, an eerie silence enveloped the living room.

Everyone in the Yu family was well aware of Shen Muyang’s intentions. However, because Yu Yan had only this one person he could talk to since returning home, no one interfered.

“What happened to him?” Yu Lin cautiously asked.

“He wants me to beg for food!” Yu Yan gritted his teeth, viciously tearing into the croissant in his hand. “From now on, it’s war between me and him. No, me and both of them! We’re sworn enemies!”

“Both of them?” Yu Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. What had Shen Yuming done to this naive younger brother without him knowing?

Yu Yan nodded, repeating, “Neither of those brothers are any good.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yu Yan suddenly remembered that Shen Yuming and Yu Chen were close brothers.

In the original novel, Yu Chen, after being expelled from Chaoxing, went to rely on Shen Yuming, and the two of them teamed up to launch S.Y. into the international market.

Clearing his throat, Yu Yan spoke again with a guilty tone, “Just a personal opinion. Don’t take it to heart, and definitely don’t let them know.”

Yu Chen didn’t reply. He simply leaned back on the sofa, engrossed in replying to messages, appearing as if he were dealing with something important.

After finishing a croissant, Yu Yan was already half-full.

The travel reality show on TV ended, and he skillfully switched to another program—a talent competition.

Jiang Mo was curious. “Xiao Yan, haven’t you already watched this episode several times?”

“Yes,” Yu Yan lowered the volume. “Mom, look at the person dancing in the center position. Isn’t he cool?”

“…Yes.”

Yu Yan had a major hobby: he loved watching handsome men and beautiful women. Talent competitions like this, filled with eye-pleasing visuals, were utterly satisfying for him.

Sitting with good-looking people even made meals taste better.

Jiang Mo, who had prepared a serious speech, suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She could only tug on Yu Lin’s sleeve, hinting for him to start the conversation.

Yu Lin cleared his throat. “Xiao Yan, your mom and I, along with your brother, discussed this. How about trying to start a business of your own? We’ll provide the startup funds.”

“No.” Yu Yan shook his head without hesitation.

He had only one goal in life—to lie flat and relax.

Given the Yu family’s current circumstances, as long as he avoided starting a business, he could live comfortably for the rest of his life. But stepping onto that irreversible path? That was a no-go.

“Why not?”

“What if I lose money?”

“It’s not like we can’t afford it. How about your dad finds someone to guide you?”

“Dad, I really don’t want to.” Yu Yan blinked innocently.

He had no intention of getting involved in any family-related ventures.

Yu Lin was out of options and helplessly looked at Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo thought for a moment. “Xiao Yan, don’t you feel cooped up staying at home all the time?”

It had been half a month since Yu Yan last stepped out of the villa. His biggest daily activity was coming downstairs to eat.

What worried Jiang Mo the most was his lack of a social circle. She had discussed this with a psychologist for several days, and they all suggested letting Yu Yan go out, meet people, and expand his social network.

But to Yu Yan, these seemingly serious issues were unimportant. As long as he could eat his fill, he was content.

“Then… after dinner, how about I take a walk?”

Getting a job? Impossible. Not in this lifetime!

Jiang Mo and Yu Lin exchanged a glance and said no more.

Yu Chen put away his phone and shifted his gaze from the talent show on TV to Yu Yan. “Do you want to join the entertainment industry?”

“No.” Yu Yan shook his head again.

He’d once worked part-time at a bar, where even rich older women had tried to keep him, saying he had a face perfect for living off someone else.

If that was how things were at a bar, wouldn’t the entertainment industry be even messier? He wouldn’t be able to handle it.

He only wanted to admire handsome men and beautiful women, not get himself involved.

“Then… do you want to be a manager? A small entertainment company, and that idol in the center position belongs to their company,” Yu Chen glanced at a message, casually locked his screen, and flipped the phone to silent mode.

The idol dancing in the center was called He Zhiyu. He had a face that could incite envy from both gods and humans, especially his bright eyes that seemed to hold a world of charm no matter who they looked at. Even though his singing and dancing were mediocre, his face alone had garnered countless visual fans, allowing him to debut on the show just barely.

Yu Yan particularly enjoyed watching this talent show while eating—it always made the food taste better.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yu Yan noticed Jiang Mo and Yu Lin’s expectant expressions. The refusal hovering on the tip of his tongue circled around and was eventually swallowed back down.

“What does a manager even do?”

Seeing that Yu Yan hadn’t outright rejected the idea, Jiang Mo and Yu Lin became visibly excited.

“It’s no problem; the company will have someone to guide you, and the artists all have assistants, so you won’t need to handle everything yourself.”

“Just give it a try, Xiao Yan. If you don’t like it, you can always come back.”

“Entertainment companies are bound to have a lot of good-looking people. Xiao Yan can make friends with them.”

“And if there are losses, it’s on someone else; we won’t need to spend our own money.”

No need to spend the family’s money?

Yu Yan was a bit tempted.

The conversation had reached this point, so he cautiously asked, “Brother, which friend of yours is it? What’s their name?”

Yu Chen’s expression didn’t falter. “Shen Yuchen.”

A former name still counts as a name—he wasn’t lying.

“Last name Shen?” Yu Yan’s alarm bells immediately went off, and he straightened up in an instant.

In the original novel, aside from Shen Yuming’s illegitimate half-brother Shen Muyang, there were also many cousins within the Shen family.

Out of caution, Yu Yan didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone from the Shen family.

Yu Chen feigned curiosity. “Is there a problem?”

Seeing Yu Chen’s calm and composed demeanor, Yu Yan wondered if he was overthinking things. After all, there were countless people with the surname Shen in the world, and Shen Yuchen might not necessarily be connected to the Shen family.

“Then… what’s the name of that company?”

“Xinghai Media.”

An obscure little company with no mention in the original novel.

Years ago, the Shen family had made their fortune overseas, and to commemorate the company’s founder, Shen Yuming had named the company “S·Y.”

Feeling completely reassured, Yu Yan said, “Alright, Brother, when can I start? Tomorrow, maybe?”

“Sure,” Yu Chen nodded. He unlocked his phone, pulled up Shen Yuming’s WeChat, ignored the string of question marks above, and sent a request asking him to conceal his identity while working at his own company.