Chapter 19: Mine

On the night Undercover Profession aired its finale, the show’s official account posted the original character design photos.

Each of the five guests had a unique look, catching everyone’s attention. Even before the episode aired, discussions were heating up and the show quickly trended again.

After taking a day off at home, Ruan Yu headed to Shangying Media early the next morning to meet with An Zhuoqian.

An Zhuoqian had indeed received many offers for Ruan Yu, but most were messy: a melodramatic idol drama with a forgettable supporting female role, low-budget variety shows that screamed flop, even micro-business promotions. She declined them all on Ruan Yu’s behalf, narrowing the choices to just two.

One was the second female lead in a youth competitive idol drama. The other was a new immersive variety show, still in pre-production, with 24-hour live streaming. It required regular cast participation but wouldn’t begin filming until after the New Year.

“Two contracts. This one’s for The World Sends You With the Wind, second female lead. The crew and script are both decent. It’s not a hateable supporting role. Filming starts next week. The other is the immersive live reality show, very innovative, but you’ll be a fixed guest and it won’t shoot until early next year. Which one do you want?”

Ruan Yu read both. “I want both.”

Only kids choose—grown-ups take everything.

“You’re sure?” An Zhuoqian raised an eyebrow. “If you go with both, you’ll only have a few days off over New Year’s. No time to rest after that.” In her eyes, Ruan Yu was still the pampered heiress. If not for Duan Lin, she likely wouldn’t have stepped into the entertainment world to suffer like this.

“I’m sure,” Ruan Yu nodded.

Less than two years remained.

Time had become her most precious currency.

She had no time to waste. She needed to keep moving, climbing higher step by step, until she could stand in front of her idol, Ji Linhao—just a little closer.

After signing, Ruan Yu brought home the script for the idol drama. Her character was a spoiled heiress, so for the role, she reattached long extensions.

Over the next few days, she stayed at her apartment reading the script, doting on her cat, fangirling, and sometimes playing duo queue with Jiang Xingchun.

Jiang Xingchun was clearly not good at League of Legends. Ruan Yu found herself getting dragged down multiple times, nearly losing her cool. But thinking of his soft yet cool stage persona, she silently repeated three times, He’s just a newly turned adult, and swallowed every insult she was about to say.

A week later, Undercover Profession released its teaser.

Ruan Yu was mid-game when her phone started exploding with notifications. After finishing the match, she checked Weibo—and the show’s hashtags had already climbed into the top three trending spots.

The teaser opened with footage of a Greco-Roman arena, overlaid with a cold, emotionless narration of the game rules.

“Fourteen days of undercover challenges. A new, unfamiliar work environment. A survival-of-the-fittest competition.”

“Poverty. Hunger. Sleeping rough.”

“Each eliminated guest will face the harshest penalties.”

…

The narrator’s robotic voice and the tense background music created an atmosphere on edge. Clips flashed rapidly: Lu Han collapsing, panting for breath; Jiang Xingchun fleeing through alleyways for unknown reasons; He Changyuan angrily throwing a jester’s hat on the ground and shouting, “Stop filming!”; Qiu Xi turning away in tears; and Ruan Yu holding a bloody arm, her face contorted in pain…

The tension built to a climax—then the music abruptly stopped. The screen went black.

Then came Ruan Yu’s voice:
“Am I filming Mission: Impossible within Mission: Impossible?”

Cue a complete tonal shift—cheerful orchestral music kicked in.

Next came the scene where Ruan Yu was stopped by Duan Lin’s fan:
“Are you part of the crew?”

Freeze-frame, with a big red stamp effect:
Makeup Assistant, Liu Daxiong (Ruan Yu).

The other four guests were introduced one by one, with laugh-out-loud scenes playing in quick succession. To viewers’ surprise, not only Ji Linhao but also Duan Lin appeared. Two top-tier stars in the same program—what a treat!

It ended with Ruan Yu giving an energetic bow on a construction site stage:
“We, the Construction Site F4, wish you all an early Happy New Year!”

The music hit its climax and cut off. The screen went black again, revealing a golden mask slowly rising into view.

[January 20th, 8 PM — Don’t miss Undercover Profession.]

In just two minutes, the teaser—boosted by numerous factors—broke ten million views and rocketed up trending charts across platforms.

The entire internet was buzzing.

–

Meanwhile, Duan Lin had just finished an indoor magazine shoot and was resting in the backseat of a business van, eyes closed.

His assistant, Shao Li, sat in the front seat scrolling his phone. “Wow, Undercover Profession dropped its teaser already?”

Duan Lin opened his eyes at the sound. “What?”

Shao Li turned. “Lin-ge, the teaser for Undercover Profession is out. It’s going viral online—and they even left in your footage.”

Duan Lin took the tablet Shao Li handed him, watched the teaser from start to finish without skipping a second.

When it ended, he dragged the progress bar back to the part where Ruan Yu’s arm was injured, pausing there. For some reason, he stared quietly at the screen, at her wounded arm, eyes unreadable.

“I think Undercover Professionals is going to explode in popularity. With you making an appearance and Ji Linhao also in the mix, the production team must be over the moon right now.”

The comments under the show’s official account were lively, with fans of all the guests rushing to control the narrative, while onlookers eagerly joined the buzz.

[Aaaahhh right now! Immediately! I want to see the first episode!!]

[Did I see that right? Duan Lin and Ji Linhao?? Is the production team still solvent?]

[SOS! Both fanbases will arrive on the battlefield in 30 seconds! I’m holding up my popcorn.]

[No fanwars, no bias—just saying, the show itself actually looks super interesting!]

Surprisingly, however, neither Ji Linhao’s nor Duan Lin’s fans appeared in the comments this time.

Fans of Ji Linhao hadn’t expected their idol to appear on the same show as their rival, and they were quite put off by it. Meanwhile, Duan Lin’s fans were even more annoyed—especially since he was shown alongside Ruan Yu, that so-called “pure white lotus” who had used him for clout in the past. Both fanbases silently cursed the production team a thousand times, collectively pretending to be dead and refusing to contribute to the hype.

The tablet was logged into Duan Lin Studio’s official account. After watching the scene of Ruan Yu enduring her injury, Duan Lin minimized the video, paused for a moment, and then hit the repost button.

Duan Lin Studio just reposted the teaser for Undercover Professionals!

Linjiao, despite how much they hated the rival, had no choice but to hold their noses and follow suit for the sake of their idol. The fan club and promotional teams quickly rallied, and fans flooded the official comments section with well-organized responses.

Sijis watched coldly from the sidelines, thinking, Fine, since our idol also showed up, any traffic the rival fans bring just ends up benefiting us too. Might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

But it wasn’t long before fans noticed—Ji Linhao had also come online on Weibo. Their hearts sank. Sure enough, seconds later, Ji Linhao also reposted the teaser.

And just like that, the two rival fandoms reunited once again in the comments section, battling fiercely to dominate the narrative.

The popularity of Undercover Professionals soared to a new peak.

Duan Lin closed the tablet and said to the driver calmly, “Don’t book a hotel tonight. I’m going back to the apartment at Jintai International.”

–

It was nearly 10 p.m. by the time he arrived.

This luxury apartment complex was home to celebrities and the wealthy. Privacy was top-notch, so Duan Lin had no fear of paparazzi and removed his mask in the elevator.

He reached the penthouse, punched in the code, and stepped inside.

The lights were still on. As he changed into slippers at the entrance, he looked down and saw several pairs of women’s high heels kicked onto the silk carpet. He paused—but wasn’t too surprised.

The apartment was a four-bedroom, two-living-room unit spanning almost 300 square meters, decorated with indulgent luxury. As Duan Lin walked in, his brows gradually knit together.

Yep, definitely her usual taste.

His expression turned colder.

He hadn’t even been frowning for long before he heard sounds coming from the study. The door wasn’t fully closed, and he could clearly hear the clack of a keyboard and muttered complaints inside—

“What exactly am I expecting? I should’ve known this Lee Sin was an idiot!”

Duan Lin: “…”

But the person inside seemed totally unaware and kept going.

(Flatly) “Haha, our Syndra just flashed straight into the grave. I’m gonna puke.”

(Annoyed) “Is this Irelia using a hammer? Traveling miles just to die—what a heartfelt gift. If I were the other team, I’d give this delivery five stars.”

(Consoling herself) “Forget it. No point getting mad at the disabled. Not gonna rage, not gonna rage…”

All by herself, Ruan Yu managed to create the vibe of an entire noisy gaming squad.

Duan Lin walked toward the half-open study door.

Inside, Ruan Yu was fully immersed in her game, her focus unshaken. Puff, the cat napping nearby, suddenly perked up its ears, meowed, and leapt off the desk.

“What’s wrong, chubby Puff?”

Uncharacteristically, Puff didn’t even react to the nickname with an annoyed meow. It didn’t even glance back at her. Suspicious, Ruan Yu turned her head and saw Puff squeezing past the study door and out into the hallway, meowing again—this time sounding weirdly sweet and ingratiating.

What’s going on? Is there a dancing fish fillet doing a pole dance in the living room?

Ruan Yu leaned over to peek.

Then the study door was pushed open.

The next second, her eyes widened as she saw Puff clinging to a man’s pant leg like a fuzzy mochi, using its claws to latch on tightly and willingly be dragged along as he walked.

Cold and aloof fatty cat, suddenly going full simp.

She looked up—and froze.

Her hair practically stood on end. What the actual f**k?! Isn’t that DUAN LIN?!

Her hand jerked, and in the game, she accidentally flashed into a team fight and immediately died.

The man in front of her wore a long black belted coat and a black baseball cap. Beneath the brim, his eyes were sharp and cold as frost. Pale skin, pursed lips—it was unmistakably Duan Lin.

And on his feet?

He was wearing the pink bunny slippers she had just bought!

They locked eyes. A long, awkward silence followed.

Finally, Duan Lin broke it: “You’ve been living here this whole time?”

“…Uh, yeah? What else?” Ruan Yu stopped thinking altogether, stiffly retorting, “How did you even get into my house?”

“Your house?”

Duan Lin’s cold expression shifted slightly. Leaning casually against the doorframe, the metal belt of his coat clinked against the frame. He looked like a vampire making an impromptu midnight visit—lazy, dangerous, and faintly amused.

He said slowly:

“The cat is mine. The apartment is mine, too.”

Author’s Note:

Ruan Yu: Guess I’ll go die now.

Ruan Yu: But I’m not yours!! Blehhh!!Duan Lin: …