After lunch, he took a nap, and it felt like the whole afternoon passed without doing much.

When Song Mianfeng received a call from Song Zhanyue, he was cuddling Baisui in Lu Yin Zhen’s room, watching TV. They lay on the reclining sofa, one person and one cat. During the video call, Baisui, being too fat, had his furry paw appear in the frame, causing Song Zhanyue to exclaim, “Bro, where did you steal the cat from?”

Song Mianfeng moved the phone a bit farther away and showed Baisui to her. “Let me introduce you to Bai Sui, your brother Yin Zhen’s cat.”

Lu Yin Zhen glanced at Song Mianfeng when he heard that and Song Mianfeng smiled as he told him, “It’s Zhanyue’s call.”

“So you did go to City B to find Yin Zhen!” Song Zhanyue looked at the background of the room, which didn’t seem like a hotel room, making her feel complicated. “Are you at his place?”

Song Mianfeng casually replied, “Yeah,” while still holding Baisui’s paw and waving towards the camera.

Song Zhanyue reached out to touch but could only feel the cold screen. “I’m genuinely envious; I also want to have a cat.”

Song Mianfeng chuckled, “Wake up. Cats are impossible for you to have. You can’t even keep a cactus alive, let alone a cat.”

Song Zhanyue: “???”

“I’m going to tell my parents that you went to City B to meet Yin Zhen’s parents!”

Song Mianfeng had told his parents about going to City B, but under the pretext of a work trip. At first, Song Zhanyue really thought he was there for work until she made this call tonight.

“Go ahead.” Song Mianfeng chuckled lightly. “Let me correct you; it’s not to meet his parents, but to meet his grandparents.”

Song Zhanyue hesitated, “Huh?”

With one hand holding Baisui and the other typing, Song Mianfeng sent a message: “His mother has passed away, and his father is a scumbag.”

Song Zhanyue’s voice lowered, “Then his grandparents didn’t give you a hard time, did they?”

“No,” Song Mianfeng smiled, “Grandma likes me a lot.”

Seeing that his mood was good and he didn’t seem like he’d been beaten up, Song Zhanyue smiled too. “That’s good.”

The two siblings chatted for a while longer before ending the call. Song Mianfeng handed Baisui over to Lu Yin Zhen and gave Baisui’s head a rub. “Be good and play with your brother for a while. I’m going to take a shower.”

Lu Yin Zhen put his iPad to sleep on the bedside table and picked up his phone to open WeChat, sending a red envelope to Song Zhanyue.

Song Zhanyue replied promptly after receiving the red envelope, “Be good to my brother!”

Lu Yin Zhen replied with a “yeah,” but felt that his tone seemed too perfunctory, so he sent another red envelope, this time with two words written earnestly.

“I will.”

After showering, Song Mianfeng knocked on Lu Yin Zhen’s door while wearing loose pajamas. His hair was only partially dry, softly hanging on the side of his temples, giving him a gentle and amiable appearance.

Lu Yin Zhen was sitting on one side of the bed, holding his iPad with long fingers tapping on the screen, focused on reading emails. The other half of the bed was left vacant, even the covers were pulled back, in an inviting gesture for him to join.

Although they hadn’t done anything, and he hadn’t planned to, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became ambiguous and romantic for no reason.

Song Mianfeng walked over and tried to sit naturally on Lu Yin Zhen’s bed. “Where’s Baisui?”

“Asleep. Uncle Ze took him away,” Lu Yin Zhen finished reading his emails, replied briefly, and then put away his iPad, patting his head. “Be good and stay here for a while. I’m going to take a shower.”

Song Mianfeng: “…”

Was he being treated like a cat?

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Song Mianfeng turned his head and listened for a while, then opened WeChat and sent a red envelope to Fu Qingshan.

[Fu Qingshan: ?]

[Leisurely listening to the wind sleep: Can you help me with something?]

[Fu Qingshan: Sure, what?]

Song Mianfeng went to the balcony and made a phone call. “Help me look up someone.”

“Who?” Fu Qingshan asked.

“Xia Chunjian,” Song Mianfeng said.

Fu Qingshan was in the entertainment industry and had a PR team, knowing many people. To ask him to look up Xia Chunjian, Song Mianfeng thought Fu Qingshan was the best choice.

“Huh?” Fu Qingshan paused for a moment, not sure if he knew this name well or not. It sounded familiar but unfamiliar, and he couldn’t figure out how Song Mianfeng had come into contact with Xia Chunjian. “What do you want to know?”

“How she forced Lu Shi’s first wife to death, took over as the third party, and turned her own biological son into a stepson.”

Although the night had become somewhat warm, Song Mianfeng’s voice carried a chill. Through the phone, Fu Qingshan shivered. “…What did you say?”

Song Mianfeng casually said, “Isn’t she portraying herself as a virtuous wife and loving mother? Let everyone see beneath this layer of hypocrisy what kind of vicious heart she hides.”

“How did Xia Chunjian offend you?” Fu Qingshan didn’t doubt the truth of Song Mianfeng’s words, but he couldn’t understand why Song Mianfeng suddenly brought up these matters, given that there was no grudge between Song Mianfeng and Xia Chunjian.

“She didn’t offend me.” Song Mianfeng smiled as he spoke. “I just want to do justice.”

What kind of justice…

Fu Qingshan furrowed his brow. He knew Song Mianfeng didn’t want to say more, and further questioning would be futile. But having such a big trouble land on him, without much appreciation, left him feeling frustrated. “I’m a popular figure, isn’t it too unethical to have a conflict with a has-been senior?”

“That’s why I only asked you to investigate her, not to personally intervene.” Song Mianfeng said, “If you find evidence, send it to my email. I’ll take it to the entertainment reporters and get a good price for it.”

Initially, he had considered hiring a private investigator or involving entertainment reporters to investigate these matters. However, he didn’t want to involve many people, so he trusted Fu Qingshan more. “You have some sense of propriety, don’t involve innocent people.”

Fu Qingshan thought for a moment and suddenly realized, “You mean the original Lady Lu?” Then he asked, “Is Xia Chunjian’s son an illegitimate child who intruded into another’s nest? What about Lady Lu’s child…”

News about Lu Shi’s bankruptcy had been circulating on the internet recently. Xia Chunjian had returned to acting to repay debts and had generated quite a bit of publicity. Fu Qingshan had also followed the gossip somewhat and felt that Xia Chunjian had indeed put in a lot of effort for Lu Shi, treating her stepson as her own. He hadn’t expected that the so-called stepson was actually her and Lu Shi’s illegitimate child…

Song Mianfeng said seriously, “I believe publicly exposing the perpetrator doesn’t require further harming the victim.”

Fu Qingshan was stunned for a moment, then he suppressed his curiosity. “Okay, I got it. I’ll arrange for someone to investigate.”

Song Mianfeng simply acknowledged with a “Hmm” and didn’t bother with formalities like saying thank you. Instead, he said, “When I return, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

After hanging up, Song Mianfeng stood on the balcony for a while, letting the wind blow.

In the distance, the mountains reflected the sparse moonlight, their contours faintly visible, winding into the distance. The cool breeze blew intermittently, gradually calming his troubled heart.

Lu Yin Zhen finished showering, dried his hair, and got into bed, emitting a fresh scent of mint.

Neither of them was particularly tired, and it was the first time they had shared a bed, so inevitably, their thoughts wandered as they lay chatting into the late night.

They didn’t know when they fell asleep, but when Song Mianfeng heard a cough, he drowsily opened his eyes, took a few seconds to react, then reached out to feel Lu Yin Zhen’s forehead.

Lu Yin Zhen’s forehead was alarmingly hot. Song Mianfeng groped for the bedside lamp, glanced at the time on his phone—it was just past 5 am, the sky was already bright—and used Lu Yin Zhen’s finger to unlock the phone. He didn’t know which number belonged to the doctor, so he dialed Meng Ze’s number instead.

It took a long time for the call to be answered, and the voice that came through sounded groggy, just waking up. “Young Master?”

“Uncle Ze.” Song Mianfeng tucked Lu Yin Zhen’s blanket, speaking quickly but remaining calm, and informed Meng Ze of the situation. “Yin Zhen has a fever, I don’t know the doctor’s contact information, and I don’t dare to give him medicine randomly…”

There were many commonly used medicines in Lu Yin Zhen’s bedside table, but his health had always been poor, his condition fluctuating, and relying solely on medication couldn’t bring down the fever. Song Mianfeng looked at the pile of medicines, feeling even more guilty for not taking care of Lu Yin Zhen properly, but instead causing him to develop a fever again.

“I’ll contact the doctor right away.”

The doctor arrived quickly, checked Lu Yin Zhen again, administered an IV, and prescribed new medication. Lu Yin Zhen’s body was inherently weak, and he had resistance to many drugs, so his condition was prone to relapses. Both the doctor and Meng Ze were accustomed to dealing with sudden flare-ups, but Song Mianfeng remained tense, staying by Lu Yin Zhen’s bedside, full of self-blame.

It wasn’t until two IV bags were finished, and Lu Yin Zhen’s temperature returned to normal, that Song Mianfeng relaxed his tense nerves, went back to the adjacent room, and caught up on some sleep.

Lu Yin Zhen’s illness kept recurring and showed no signs of improvement.

Yet another week passed quickly. Although Song Mianfeng was still worried about Lu Yin Zhen’s illness, he couldn’t delay his work any longer.

They had just confirmed their relationship and were reluctantly starting a long-distance relationship.

At first, it was somewhat novel—exchanging morning and evening texts, stealing moments to call or video chat amidst busyness. But as time went on, the longing accumulated, and the days became difficult to endure. Song Mianfeng had always thought he could spend his life with a bunch of photography equipment, but now he found himself yearning for Lu Yin Zhen’s warm embrace every day, especially during trips for location shoots. The long journeys made him miss Lu Yin Zhen even more.

Busy as ever, another month flew by. Song Mianfeng finally managed to cobble together about half a month’s worth of time to go to City B and alleviate his lovesickness.

While packing, he received a call from Fu Qingshan, saying that the investigation into Xia Chunjian was almost complete, and the information had been sent to his email.

It was all about past events, so naturally, it took some effort to investigate. However, Fu Qingshan’s people had done a thorough job, providing many photos, recordings from informants, and even a paternity test between Lu Changhao and Xia Chunjian’s son. There were also some compromising photos of Xia Chunjian accompanying producers for drinks for fame.

The entertainment industry was always murky, and Song Mianfeng had no interest in its unwritten rules. He backed up the files, called Li Xiaoman.

He didn’t know many entertainment reporters, but Li Xiaoman was one he admired. After negotiating a satisfactory price, Song Mianfeng packaged the materials and sent them to Li Xiaoman, transferred the agreed-upon share of the earnings to Fu Qingshan, and then happily booked a flight to City B for the next day.