A Hai was even kicked out of Blue Shore without completing his resignation procedures. He didn’t even have time to change into his swim trunks, hurriedly throwing on a jacket, looking quite disheveled as he glanced at Lin Can, who was standing behind Qi Yuan.

“Lin Can! Lin Can!” He kept shouting Lin Can’s name, filled with desperation and what he thought was a hidden accusation. “We’re all colleagues; I was just joking. You didn’t need to report me, right? If you’re angry, I can apologize!”

Before Lin Can could say anything, Qi Yuan, who was standing in front of him, let out a cold laugh. “Now you know to apologize? But when you were pulling your little tricks, you didn’t think about it, did you? You’re the one who poured water into Lin Can’s food, right? And you’re also the one who stepped on his clothes and tossed them into the sink, right?”

Lin Can’s eyes widened in shock. So that’s why he had been having such bad luck these past few days—he was being sabotaged by a petty person!

“I… I just acted impulsively; I didn’t think it through…” A Hai tried to defend himself, “I thought it was just some small stuff…”

“Enough,” Qi Yuan waved his hand, signaling him to shut up. “Whether it’s a small matter or not isn’t for you to decide. Get lost.”

“Boss…” A Hai looked to Wang Qian, who had been silent the whole time, for help. “I really didn’t mean it! I was just messing with Lin Can…”

Wang Qian’s usual easygoing demeanor vanished, replaced by a serious expression that was quite intimidating. “A Hai, my store can’t accommodate someone as petty as you.”

If it weren’t for Qi Yuan’s investigation, he wouldn’t have even known that there were cliques forming in the store to isolate newcomers. No wonder several employees he had high hopes for had left; it turned out there were internal pests.

Calculating the losses this incident had caused, Wang Qian felt a wave of frustration. He waved his hand, signaling the security at the door to directly escort A Hai out.

Before the security could arrive, Qiu Ran took the initiative, grabbing A Hai by the collar and dragging him out. A Hai, reluctant to give up this easy and well-paying job, struggled for a while, but with a swift elbow strike from Qiu Ran, he quickly became obedient, leaving with a pained expression, clutching his stomach.

Wang Qian was initially quite angry, but seeing Qiu Ran’s elbow strike, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “What kind of grudge do you have against him?”

That force was likely to leave a bruise.

Qiu Ran, however, felt quite satisfied. “I’ve wanted to punch him for a long time; now it feels great.”

Lin Can silently distanced himself from her, and then he heard Qi Yuan ask him, “You’ve been tormented for several days and didn’t think to tell Wang Qian?”

Lin Can coughed awkwardly. “I thought it was just my bad luck.”

Qi Yuan found it amusing. In this day and age, could a scumbag really have zero standards? Was it that easy to be foolish?

Wang Qian, looking apologetic, turned to Lin Can. “I’m really sorry. I’ll treat you to a meal later, Lin Ge.”

Lin Can smiled slightly at him. “It’s fine.”

Wang Qian was momentarily dazzled by that smile, then suspiciously glanced at Qi Yuan.

Yuan Ge always said Lin Can was a scumbag, but after spending so much time together, he hadn’t seen any signs of that at all. Could Yuan Ge have been mistaken?

Qi Yuan ignored him and said to Lin Can, “Xie Jun will contact you later; you should go pack your things.”

“I have something to do; I’ll head back to the company first.”

After saying that, he drove off in his flashy sports car.

Qiu Ran offered her enthusiastic congratulations. “Congratulations on marrying into a wealthy family.”

Lin Can chuckled. “Don’t say that; I’m just serving him for half a year.”

Qiu Ran’s expression turned meaningful. “Is that serving really proper? In bed or out of bed?”

Lin Can stood there, momentarily speechless.

Wang Qian, seeing this, couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic. He handed Lin Can a mint from the front desk. “It’s okay; Blue Shore is your family. If you feel wronged by Yuan Ge, you can come here and hang out for a while.”

Although he knew he couldn’t do much about it.

The rest of his sentence, Wang Qian silently added in his mind.

Lin Can didn’t catch on and was quite grateful. “Thank you, Qian Ge.”

“Don’t call me Qian Ge,” Wang Qian said, unable to bear being called ‘Ge’ by someone from Qi Yuan’s side. “Just call me A Qian from now on. Yuan Ge told you to go pack your things, so you should go. Don’t worry about the store.”

Lin Can nodded. “Then I’ll head out first.”

Wang Qian nodded, but couldn’t shake off his worries, wondering if Lin Can would be mistreated by Qi Yuan.

• Lin Can didn’t have much stuff, just a few pieces of clothing. While he was packing, Xie Jun, the person Qi Yuan mentioned, hadn’t contacted him yet.

He carried his suitcase downstairs to wait. Just as he stepped out of the elevator, he suddenly received a phone call.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number, local.

As soon as Lin Can answered, he was met with a barrage of curses.

“Lin Can, I see you’re tired of living?! You were the one who promised to handle the money, and you were also the one who backed out! Now you want to throw me under the bus?! Are you looking to die?!”

Lin Can thought for a moment and realized it was Nie Wei, the rival of Ran Yang.

After he proposed to terminate their cooperation, Nie Wei had been trying to contact him, but since he had changed his number, he hadn’t received Nie Wei’s relentless calls.

He didn’t expect his new number to be found so quickly.

Lin Can felt a bit regretful about his privacy and said, “I didn’t throw you under the bus.”

“What’s the difference?!” Nie Wei gritted his teeth on the other end.

There were only a few rivals of Ran Yang; if he eliminated them one by one, he could guess who was behind it!

“Now someone is mocking me under my Weibo! Everyone is cursing me!”

Lin Can replied, “I’m being cursed too.”

Nie Wei was nearly driven to madness. “Aren’t you being cursed because you deserve it?! Who told you to do those things for money?”

“I didn’t take the money; I returned it all to you.”

“That’s because you had bad intentions but no guts!” Nie Wei shot back, not giving Lin Can a chance to make excuses. “I don’t care about your issues; just send out a statement clarifying that the person who bribed you isn’t me!”

“Isn’t that just a case of ‘there’s no silver here’?”

Lin Can was confused.

On the other end, there was a loud crashing sound.

“Lin Can, just wait! I will never let you off! Just wait!”

“Beep beep beep—”

The call ended just like that.

Was he so angry because he was exposed? Lin Can couldn’t understand.

He wanted to check Nie Wei’s Weibo, but as soon as he opened it, his private messages were flooded, causing his phone to lag for a few seconds.

Without even looking, Lin Can could guess what the content would be.

Clicking into Nie Wei’s Weibo, the latest post was a daily photo. Underneath, aside from the fans praising him, there were many questioning whether he was the rival of Ran Yang.

There were also quite a few direct insults, saying he was inferior and could only resort to petty tricks.

No wonder Nie Wei was so angry.

But Lin Can was currently struggling to protect himself; he couldn’t care less about him.

Besides, those netizens weren’t wrong in their criticisms…

As Lin Can was mulling this over, a somewhat familiar male voice rang out not far away.

“Hello, are you Mr. Lin Can?”

Lin Can looked up to see a man in a dark suit standing not far away, standing straight.

“I am; may I ask who you are?”

“I’m President Qi’s secretary, Xie Jun,” the man approached, his handsome and cold demeanor making it clear at first glance that he was a social elite. “President Qi asked me to take you to his residence.”

After Xie Jun finished speaking, he confirmed Lin Can’s identity again. Upon realizing that none of Lin Can’s photos had any signs of beautification, he finally accepted his fate.

Damn it, this was a hard-earned position as a beautiful disaster.

“Have you packed your luggage?” Xie Jun looked at the suitcase by Lin Can’s feet.

“Yes,” Lin Can smiled slightly at him. “I don’t have much stuff; where’s your car?”

“It’s parked at the hotel entrance. Shall we go now?” Xie Jun asked.

Lin Can readily agreed, “Sure.”

• “I’ve picked up Mr. Lin; we’re currently on our way to Yu Jing Garden, expected to arrive in half an hour.”

Xie Jun’s text was very detailed, even including a photo of Lin Can dragging his suitcase.

This photo was clearly taken secretly, and Lin Can was completely unaware, looking at the camera with a hint of confusion, paired with his exceptionally handsome face, it drove Qi Yuan wild.

Gong Yusheng, sitting on the sofa, saw Qi Yuan licking his lips and quickly said, “Calm down! Don’t act like you haven’t eaten meat in hundreds of years.”

“I haven’t eaten meat in twenty years,” Qi Yuan replied.

Thinking about how Lin Can was the first person Qi Yuan had taken a liking to in over twenty years, Gong Yusheng couldn’t help but worry. “You should be a bit smarter; don’t let him walk all over you and give others a chance to laugh at you.”

Qi Yuan scoffed, “Who dares to laugh at me? Hmm?”

Gong Yusheng was taken aback. This guy’s status was different from his; he still needed to be cautious, while this guy just needed to take action.

“Alright,” he shrugged, not caring anymore. “I was just saying.”

He was here for the dating variety show.

“Enough, enough,” Qi Yuan had only casually mentioned it before and hadn’t thought much about it. Hearing Gong Yusheng bring it up again, he immediately grew impatient. “Do I lack your little bit of money? Do I need to go on a show?”

“You don’t lack money, but don’t you want to take this opportunity to improve your relationship with him?” Gong Yusheng hinted with a raised eyebrow.

In this day and age, there were plenty of variety shows, and dating shows were popping up everywhere. To gain popularity, not only did the content need to be good, but the guests also had to be discussion-worthy.

At this stage in the entertainment industry, if you were talking about discussion, who else could it be besides this young Film Emperor in front of him?

Gong Yusheng had just taken over the group’s affairs, and investing in this dating show was his first decision. To avoid being looked down upon by those who didn’t respect him, he couldn’t allow this investment to incur losses.

Qi Yuan naturally knew this, but knowing didn’t mean he wanted to get involved.

Seeing he couldn’t persuade him, Gong Yusheng felt a headache coming on and scratched his head.

He could only take a gamble.

“Didn’t you say Lin Can still has feelings for Ran Yang? Why not take this opportunity to clear things up?”

The indifferent expression on Qi Yuan’s face vanished, but in less than a second, it returned to its usual disdain. “A Lin Can isn’t worth me doing all that.”

Besides, he was only going to be around for half a year; what happened afterward was none of his business.

Gong Yusheng shook his head repeatedly, looking disapproving.

“You’ve been smart for over twenty years; how come you’re confused now? If those two are really as you think, then Lin Can serves you for half a year, and after half a year, Ran Yang overcomes his difficulties and achieves success, Lin Can goes back to his side, living happily ever after.”

“Ran Yang has both love and career success, and what about you?”

“You put in the money and effort, and in the end, you get nothing. Isn’t that just being a pure clown?!”