A hint of disdain flashed across Fu Zhiyuan’s face, and he coldly said, “If you want your bonus deducted, just say it directly.”

The assistant quickly shook his head, “No, I don’t want that, not at all.” He then excitedly handed the item in his hand to Fu Zhiyuan, “President Fu, I didn’t realize Mr. Shen was also a model.”

Fu Zhiyuan’s eyes flickered with understanding, as if he vaguely knew about it. When he thought of Shen Nanxing, a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. But as he looked at the photo on the cover, the smile quickly faded.

Isn’t this the male celebrity who was trending with Xingbao last time? Why is it him again?

In the photo, Shen Nanxing had his chin playfully lifted by Xu Yuan’s hand. His expression was innocent and pure. Although he was turned slightly to the side, the back of his shirt had a hollow design, clearly showing off his fair skin. The two on the cover looked incredibly matched, and Fu Zhiyuan felt a sharp pang of jealousy rising within him.

The assistant, seeing Fu Zhiyuan’s face turn dark, nervously thought, “Did I unintentionally make things worse?”

Fu Zhiyuan gritted his teeth, his hands tightening subconsciously. After a while, he pointed at Xu Yuan and coldly asked, “Is this person famous?”

He hated the sight of Xu Yuan’s arm around Xingbao.

The assistant wasn’t sure how to interpret Fu Zhiyuan’s words but replied honestly, “It seems like he’s a celebrity, probably pretty popular.” Many of the female employees at the office called him “husband,” so if he wasn’t popular, that didn’t make sense.

Fu Zhiyuan scoffed, “Do I need you to tell me that? Can’t I tell?”

“Then…” The assistant hesitated, unsure of what Fu Zhiyuan wanted.

“Call the magazine company and have them stop selling this issue of the magazine!”

The assistant hesitated, looking troubled, “President Fu, isn’t that… a bit too… unreasonable?”

Fu Zhiyuan shot him a cold glare, and the assistant immediately fell silent. “I’ll take care of it right now!”

As the assistant turned to leave, Fu Zhiyuan called him back.

“Come back!”

The assistant smiled wryly, “President Fu, is there anything else you need?”

Fu Zhiyuan crossed his arms, his face expressionless as he said, “Get the trending topics online about him and Xingbao removed. And also, have the magazine send me all the raw photos of Xingbao.”

“Understood, President Fu.”

As the assistant left, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “You haven’t even chased him yet, and you’re already calling him Xingbao. If you want to keep Mr. Shen’s photos all to yourself, just say so. Why make me the bad guy? I never realized you were this much of a secretive person.”

Soon, the assistant took care of everything. The online entries about Shen Nanxing were all removed.

The president of a certain magazine company had just finished a phone call when another one came in.

“Hello, who’s calling?”

The president wiped the sweat from his forehead and answered the call.

The person on the other end spoke harshly, “So it’s you who had Xu Yuan do that damn magazine, right? Get it pulled back immediately!”

“Who else could it be but me?”

“I’m your father!^[1]lǎozi is a very informal and somewhat arrogant way of referring to oneself, often used in a bold or rebellious manner. “爹” (diē) means “father,” but in this context, it … Continue reading” Han Zhao gritted his teeth and replied angrily.

“I’m your father too. Just because you say it should be pulled doesn’t mean it’s that simple. Do you think this is WeChat?” The magazine CEO had just been upset by Fu Zhiyuan and was now fuming upon hearing someone claim to be his father.

Han Zhao’s anger flared, “Du, if you don’t want to keep that magazine company running, just say so. You can pack up and leave tomorrow!”

He had just seen a post on Weibo mentioning that Xu Yuan liked types like Shen Nanxing—innocent-looking and pure. This made Han Zhao feel an unprecedented sense of crisis. What if Xu Yuan actually liked that kind of person? He couldn’t allow others to think that Xu Yuan and Shen Nanxing were a perfect match. Han Zhao regretted ever allowing Xu Yuan to shoot for this magazine.

His tone was full of arrogance, making CEO Du uneasy. “Who exactly are you?”

Han Zhao sneered, “Han Zhao!”

“So it’s Mr. Han,” the CEO said, but then added with hesitation, “However, the magazine has already sold 1,000 copies, and we can’t retract them now…”

The CEO wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his mind racing on how to explain. Mr. Han was like his lifeline! Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner?

Han Zhao coldly snorted, “That’s your problem. If you can’t handle it, prepare to pack up and leave!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll figure it out,” the CEO said nervously.

Upon hearing the promise, Han Zhao’s expression relaxed slightly. “Cough, remember to send me a copy of Xu Yuan’s raw photos.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll send them right over,” the CEO responded, eager to please.

After finally hanging up, the CEO sighed in relief. What was going on? He regretted not listening to Jamie’s rush to publish the magazine. Now, not only had it not exploded in popularity, but he nearly lost his job as well. What had Xu Yuan done to deserve such treatment from the Han and Fu families, even for appearing in a magazine? The cruelty of capitalists!

After receiving Xu Yuan’s photos, Han Zhao smiled faintly. He saved them to his gallery and set them as private. Once this was done, Han Zhao opened the long-unread WeChat chat with Fu Zhiyuan.

[Take care of your little one, someone might just snatch him away!]
[Image (attached: cover photo from the magazine)]

Fu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow upon seeing the message. Since when was this lunatic so considerate?

[Did you forget to take your medication?]

Han Zhao, trying to be helpful, got this reply and almost exploded in rage.

“I swear, wait until you cry!”

Meanwhile, Shen Nanxing and Xu Yuan had no idea about any of this. One was busy attending class, while the other was filming, with no time to pay attention to such matters.

After class, Shen Nanxing walked out of the school gate with Xie Ling and Fang Yanran. Xie Ling and Fang Yanran planned to go out for the chicken pot they had been craving, while Shen Nanxing decided to head home for a nap since he didn’t have afternoon classes. Last night, Xia Zimu had insisted on dragging him into a game, claiming it was fine if he just used a support role. As a result, the two were beaten mercilessly and even lost several stars. Shen Nanxing had always thought Xia Zimu was good at gaming, but when they teamed up, he played like a bot, which frustrated Shen Nanxing to no end. He ended up staying up late to watch a melodramatic romance novel, which at least comforted him a little.

As they stepped out of the school gate, they unexpectedly ran into the last person Shen Nanxing ever wanted to see.

Fu Chengyu was just as surprised to see Shen Nanxing. His face lit up with joy as he looked at him. “Nanxing, long time no see! How have you been?”

Shen Nanxing looked at the sky, speechless.

Seeing Shen Nanxing silent, Fu Chengyu’s face turned sad. “Nanxing, are you still not willing to forgive me?”