Hearing the commotion, Lin Can looked over, his gaze light but filled with confusion. “President Qi?”

Qi Yuan lazily responded with a “Hmm,” “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Lin Can was puzzled. What else was there to say? Wasn’t the fact that he was married enough?

Gong Yusheng kindly reminded him, “What’s up with your phone number?”

Lin Can let out a short “Ah,” finally realizing, “I just changed my number this afternoon.”

Qi Yuan narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly. “What do you mean?”

He had just made a call, and this guy had already changed his number, not even waiting a day to avoid him?

Lin Can’s gaze drifted to Yu Jishu, who had relaxed quite a bit since he arrived and was now casually looking around.

“Get out,” Qi Yuan said.

Yu Jishu’s butt seemed to have springs attached, instantly bouncing up from the sofa and hurriedly scurrying out.

Lin Can was baffled and was about to follow Yu Jishu out. Surely, that “get out” wasn’t directed at his friend.

Gong Yusheng reached out to stop him, speaking gently, “You guys chat slowly, I’ll step out.”

After saying that, he left, casually closing the door behind him while Lin Can looked on in confusion.

“Can we talk now?”

Lin Can turned around to face Qi Yuan, whose face was filled with displeasure.

This guy looked just like a retouched photo from a red carpet event; he could take a good picture from any angle. But his personality was too domineering, and even a few casual words made it clear he wasn’t someone easy to deal with.

He could only answer honestly, “I don’t want to keep in touch with Yu Jishu.”

“Yu Jishu?” Qi Yuan frowned, thinking for several seconds. “That little short guy from earlier?”

“…” After keeping the guy locked up for several hours, he didn’t even remember his name. Lin Can was speechless.

“Why don’t you want to keep in touch with him?” Qi Yuan asked. “Is it just because he gave me your number?”

Lin Can remained silent.

Not hearing a denial, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but scoff, “If I want to find you, it doesn’t matter whether I have your number or not.”

Lin Can let out a muffled “Oh.”

“Are you not satisfied?”

Lin Can replied, “I’m not dissatisfied with you, just annoyed with Yu Jishu.”

Qi Yuan asked, “Annoyed about what? Did he sell you out to me?”

Lin Can sighed, “I’m already married.”

“I know,” Qi Yuan said. “Ran Yang, right?”

“That little short guy said you and Ran Yang have no feelings for each other. Don’t use marriage as an excuse with me. Also, the entertainment company Ran Yang is signed with is under my family’s name. As long as I give a shout, he has to let you go. Don’t worry, I won’t let you two get divorced. You just need to accompany me for a while…”

“…” Lin Can gently pushed Qi Yuan’s increasingly close face away. “President Qi, don’t joke with me. I’m just an ordinary person; I don’t have the guts to do this…”

Qi Yuan let out a cold laugh and was about to say something when a buzzing sound interrupted them.

“Sorry.”

Lin Can pulled out his phone from his pocket, and upon seeing the contact “Ran Yang,” he turned and walked to a corner.

“Where are you right now?!” As soon as the call connected, Ran Yang’s furious voice came through.

Lin Can softly explained, “I’m outside, I’ll be back soon. What’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t get through to you on the phone…”

Lin Can patiently replied, “I changed my number temporarily and haven’t had a chance to tell you yet. I’ll send you the new number later.”

“Come back quickly; I have something to ask you.”

After Ran Yang finished, he hung up.

Qi Yuan sat on the sofa, crossing his legs and looking at Lin Can with a smug tone. “Looks like Yu Jishu wasn’t wrong.”

Lin Can unconsciously tightened his grip on the phone. “You’d better not believe what he says, President Qi. He’s not a good person…”

“Hah…” Qi Yuan chuckled softly. “Aren’t you guys good buddies?”

Lin Can thought for a moment and ended up saying, “I’m not a good person either.”

The interest in Qi Yuan’s eyes grew stronger. “They say that evil people have their own ways of dealing with each other. I don’t mind being that evil person. To be honest, your little tricks are nothing in front of me.”

Lin Can was genuinely scared now. Could he be getting tangled up with some kind of lunatic?!

Lin Can fled in a panic, and Gong Yusheng walked in through the door, his earlier teasing expression replaced with seriousness. “I had someone look into it; this Lin Can is a scumbag…”

*

After running back and forth, Lin Can was utterly exhausted. As soon as he got home, he collapsed straight onto the sofa.

Ran Yang walked out of the bedroom, and the first thing he saw was Lin Can’s utterly unkempt appearance.

What kind of game had he been playing to be so tired that he couldn’t even pretend to maintain his image in front of him…

Ran Yang felt a surge of anger. “You still dare to come back?”

Lin Can looked up at the sound, startling Ran Yang in the process. “You changed your hairstyle?”

Lin Can nodded. “The previous hairstyle was too ugly.”

Ran Yang couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions. When they first got their marriage certificate, Lin Can had a head full of black hair, looking gentle and innocent like a college student who hadn’t graduated yet. Even Zhou Ge said he was a good candidate for marriage.

But as soon as they got the marriage certificate, Lin Can revealed his true nature, not only trying to trick him out of money but also threatening to expose their secret marriage if he didn’t pay up.

This time was even worse; he directly sent their marriage certificate photo to his rival, Nie Wei!

Thinking of this, all the remaining fondness in Ran Yang’s heart vanished, and his voice turned icy. “Tell me, did you send our wedding photo to Nie Wei?”

Lin Can paused for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“You!” Ran Yang clenched his fists in anger. “Don’t you know he’s my rival?! What you’re doing is clearly trying to ruin me!”

Lin Can was at a loss for words. How could he explain? Should he say that it wasn’t him but the previous Lin Can who did this?

“I…”

“You don’t need to make excuses.”

Ran Yang couldn’t hide his exhaustion. The long-accumulated disappointment was eating away at him, making it impossible for him to be as patient and considerate as before.

“I want a divorce.”

“I’ll hire a professional lawyer for the property division. You can state your conditions, but whether I agree or not is my business. You promised before marriage that unless I agreed, you wouldn’t make our relationship public. But now you’ve breached the contract, and you must bear the consequences.”

Lin Can pressed his lips together. “It’s my fault…”

He didn’t expect Lin Can to admit it so honestly. Ran Yang was taken aback for a second, but then a wave of sadness washed over him. “You can’t even be bothered to pretend anymore? Is it Nie Wei giving you the confidence?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Lin Can didn’t expect his honest admission would be misunderstood. He waved his hands helplessly. “I know this is my fault, and I’m trying to find a way to make up for it…”

“Make up for it? How can you make up for it?”

Feeling a premonition of his impending fate, Ran Yang smiled sadly. “I really regret it. I regret not lending you money to get rid of you back then, when I clearly knew nothing…”

Lin Can sighed and stepped forward to gently pat his back. “I know, I know…”

“I can’t act anymore…” Thinking of how his long-cherished dream was about to be shattered just as he was about to succeed, Ran Yang’s eyes turned completely red.

Lin Can felt deeply apologetic. “I’m sorry. That incident was impulsive on my part, but I think maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

Ran Yang looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s find a time to get divorced first,” Lin Can said.

Ran Yang’s heart trembled, unsure if it was surprise or relief. “You want a divorce?”

Ever since he saw through Lin Can’s true nature, he had been thinking about divorce constantly. But now that Lin Can had agreed, he felt a bit hesitant.

What was he hesitating about? He couldn’t quite put it into words. Perhaps it was disbelief that Lin Can would give in so easily.

Ran Yang took a few steps back, creating distance between them. “Or do you have any demands?”

“I do have a request…”

Before Lin Can could finish his sentence, Ran Yang’s eyes sharpened. “What request?”

“When we get divorced, I want to be allowed to speak out.”

“!” Ran Yang’s expression changed. “What do you want to do?”

“Don’t get agitated,” Lin Can pressed down on his shoulder. The grip wasn’t tight, but his palm was warm. “I know I was wrong before. This time, let it be my way of atoning, okay?”

Ran Yang looked up at Lin Can’s flawless face, momentarily dazed.

*

“He’s not trying to atone,” after Ran Yang finished recounting everything, his manager Zhou Ge immediately opposed without a second thought. “He’s trying to ruin you!”

“If he has the final say, he can say whatever he wants. Even if it’s a blatant lie, those haters will pretend to believe it and find ways to smear you!”

“…” Ran Yang lowered his thick eyelashes, hiding the gloom in his eyes.

“Fortunately, you didn’t agree to him directly but chose to discuss it with me,” Zhou Ge patted his chest, looking relieved. “Otherwise, you would have fallen into his trap!”

Ran Yang forced a smile, feeling weary. “So what do we do now?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? We definitely can’t let him speak!” Zhou Ge said. “Nie Wei will 100% leak this information. The most important thing now is to minimize the damage.”

As Zhou Ge spoke, he couldn’t help but sigh again. “Why did this have to happen at such a critical moment? The company was planning to get you on a dating variety show…”

“A dating variety show?”

“Yeah, Director Xu’s dating variety show. You wouldn’t have to worry about popularity! I heard this season even got investment from Gong’s company, and it looks like they’re planning something big!”

“And…” Zhou Ge’s eyes darted around to ensure no one was paying attention to them. He then lowered his voice and said, “Qi Yuan will also participate.”

“!” Ran Yang’s eyes widened in shock. “Qi Yuan?!”

“Yes, that’s right! The Film Emperor Qi Yuan, who has taken all the traffic in the entertainment industry! Our company’s young master, President Qi!” Zhou Ge was also excited. “Being on the same show as him, you’d definitely be even more popular than now!”

Ran Yang couldn’t help but sit up straight, his hands rubbing together anxiously, but as the cold wind blew in from outside, he calmed down again.

“Forget it. You said it was in the past. Now that I’m about to be exposed for a divorce, what dating variety show can I participate in?” He ended with a self-deprecating laugh.

Zhou Ge, splashed with cold water, lost his enthusiasm and continued to look grave. “President Qi won’t tolerate any nonsense. If this gets to his ears, the company might not protect you…”

“How about you come with me now and explain everything clearly?”