VOLUME 2: WELL-OFF

Chapter 67

Orders suddenly flooded in, and the stock of hair growth devices sharply decreased. In just ten minutes, dozens of buyers inquired, and the chat interface was overloaded.

This was the third day since the filming of the drama had started. The day’s shoot had concluded, and Ye Chen was on his way home. Sitting in the back row with Gu Qiu, he dared not let his joy show too obviously, forcing himself to suppress his laughter to the point of muscle soreness, while typing quickly to answer buyers’ questions.

While addressing customer queries, Ye Chen also took the opportunity to investigate the sources of their referrals.

Customer Service Chen Chen: “May I ask, how did you find out about our little shop?”

— “You were recommended by a game streamer, hahaha!”

— “The famous bald-headed rabbit immortal promoted your hair growth device during tonight’s livestream.”

Ye Chen took a moment amidst the chaos to open a video app and searched for the ID Rabbit Immortal.

A popular streamer with a million followers.

Ye Chen’s facial muscles twitched slightly as he struggled to hold back his laughter: “……”

WTF, WTF, WTF! I’m going to make money ahhhh!

Gu Qiu’s gaze was sharp, having already scrutinized Ye Chen from head to toe several times. Seeing that Ye Chen’s face was almost cramping from holding back laughter, he finally couldn’t help but speak up: “You…”

Are you in a relationship?

The delicate balance of Ye Chen’s suppressed laughter was disrupted by the external interference, causing him to lose his composure in an instant: “Hehe!”

Gu Qiu: “……”

F*ck!

A second later, Ye Chen quickly composed himself, turned to Gu Qiu, and said innocently, “What’s up, Qiu Ge?”

Gu Qiu looked exasperated: “If you’re dating, you need to report it to the company. If you try to hide it and something goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Gu Qiu only learned about Shen Mofeng joining the reality show crew later. Previously, Shen Mofeng’s care for Ye Chen could be explained as a senior supporting a promising newcomer. But Shen Mofeng, who was usually picky and proud, had agreed to join a reality show that prided itself on humiliating guests with various tricks. Moreover…

Gu Qiu recalled the selfie Shen Mofeng had posted a few days ago.

A handsome side profile at a 45-degree angle, deliberately showing off a black obsidian earring on his left ear, with only two words in the caption.

— Snatched.

In the chaotic comment section, Gu Qiu saw CP fans frantically posting screenshots of Ye Chen wearing the same earring on his right ear during the variety show, with a synchronized comment section below — “Mama doesn’t approve! You’re fined to buy a hundred pairs for Chen Chen! [Angry][Frustrated]”

Gu Qiu thought it over and concluded that it wasn’t the fans overthinking; Shen Mofeng must be trying to steal his child.

Ye Chen was adamant: “Really not dating, you can rest assured.”

In the meantime, dozens of messages kept coming in. Ye Chen couldn’t ignore the buyers, and fearing that Gu Qiu might peek at his screen, he slowly turned his upper body 90 degrees, twisting his waist to stay directly opposite Gu Qiu while frantically typing, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Gu Qiu ground his teeth in frustration, mentally cursing a hundred old perverts.

Customer Service Chen Chen: “Yes, free shipping nationwide, dear.”

Customer Service Chen Chen: “The quality is definitely guaranteed, and we offer a full refund if it doesn’t work within seven days. We only have twelve left in stock. If you don’t order now, you might have to wait for restocking, dear.”

Ye Chen typed rapidly, calculating the profit from this batch of hair growth devices. Since this batch of customers didn’t have WeChat group screenshots and bought at the regular price of 318 yuan each, Ye Chen could net over thirty thousand yuan.

Due to the mediocre promotional effect in the middle-aged and elderly groups, Ye Chen hadn’t urged Li Li to stock up. He thought two hundred units would last a month or so. He didn’t expect that a conscientious streamer would help promote it for free.

Estimating the hefty earnings, Ye Chen’s face flushed with excitement. Gu Qiu watched with a cold, scrutinizing gaze, feeling both anxious and angry: “……”

What kind of nonsense did this old pervert say to our kid?!

Other celebrities might have room for maneuver when it comes to relationships, but with this pair, it’s different. Not only is Ye Chen too young, but Shen Mofeng is clearly a boundless playboy. It’s unlikely he’ll settle down for Ye Chen. Sooner or later, problems will arise. When Shen Mofeng leaves, he probably won’t care about Ye Chen’s well-being… Gu Qiu’s mind ran wild, scratching his head in frustration, cursing himself for urging Ye Chen to latch onto Shen Mofeng.

At this moment, the car stopped in front of Ye Chen’s house.

Ye Chen looked up, seeing Gu Qiu distressed and pulling his hair. He earnestly said, “Brother Qiu, you know me. I always speak honestly to you. If I say there’s nothing going on, then there really isn’t.”

Gu Qiu spat, “Hmph—get lost!”

Ye Chen jumped out of the car, retrieved a large stone from the trunk, and cheerfully brought it back, laying it on Gu Qiu’s leg. “Guess what this is?”

“……” Gu Qiu glared angrily, “Don’t tell me it’s something you dug up from your own mine!”

Ye Chen replied proudly, “It’s from my family’s mine! Turn it over and see!”

Gu Qiu flipped the stone over with a forceful motion. The back of the stone had been shaved slightly, revealing a palm-sized piece of jade. The texture was fine and smooth, as white as fat, and it glowed faintly in the night. Even someone who wasn’t knowledgeable about jade could tell that this raw stone was worth a considerable amount of money.

“I told you I’d send you a piece of raw jade if I had the chance, didn’t I?” Ye Chen said generously. “This one’s for you.”

Gu Qiu was momentarily speechless: “……”

Ye Chen, the little con artist, shamelessly said, “Keeping my promises is my life’s principle.”

“Go away, go away! Take it and leave!” Gu Qiu grabbed the raw jade and pushed it back into Ye Chen’s hands. “Don’t bribe me. I’ll be thankful if you don’t cause trouble behind my back… Damn, you’re driving me to high blood pressure.”

Ye Chen pondered for a moment and sincerely said, “This jade can help lower blood pressure.”

Gu Qiu slammed the car door and drove away in a cloud of dust.

Ye Chen stood by the car’s tailpipe, holding the pressure-relief jade: “……”

I finally told the truth, and he still doesn’t believe me!

……

…

The hair growth devices sold out overnight. With the stock depleted, the products were automatically removed from the shelves. Ye Chen posted an announcement on the store’s homepage, stating that a new batch would be available the next day. As soon as the announcement was up, the store quieted down. Ye Chen urged Li Li to restock and arranged for at least fifty units to be ready by 8 p.m. the next night, while also planning to promote the store on his small Weibo account while the online buzz was still fresh.

After the online store passed the review, Ye Chen registered a brand new Weibo account to use for store operations. The Weibo ID was named “Chen Chen Health and Wellness Center.” The content was clean and tidy, not afraid of being dug up.

On Weibo, the game streamer Rabbit Immortal happened to post a selfie wearing the hair growth device with his hands clasped together, captioning: “Is it my imagination or are my eyelashes also getting thicker?”

The fans below commented: “Yes, baby.” “It’s just your imagination.” “Suggest seeing an ophthalmologist.”

Chen Chen Health and Wellness Center: “It’s not an illusion. Our store’s hair growth device can also accelerate eyelash growth to some extent. Thank you for your thoughtful review. Friends interested in our hair growth device can check out our homepage; we have a giveaway event!”

Fans: “Hey, how can you be so untrustworthy just to do business? [dog emoji]” “Tsk, hypocritical!” “Just placed an order, you’d better really have an effect…”

Ye Chen pondered for a moment and edited a giveaway post. He briefly mentioned the principle of the hair growth device, fearing that if the reputation wasn’t solidified, people might question it. The post mainly showcased a few genuine positive reviews from current buyers, a high-definition humorous photo of the device, and the listing time. As for the giveaway prizes…

Chen Chen Health and Wellness Center: “…In seven days, we will draw ten lucky users to receive a 10 yuan coupon for the store, three lucky users will receive a 30 yuan coupon, and one lucky user will receive a 50 yuan coupon!”

No matter what prize you get, you’ll still need to come to the store to buy something!

“…” Everyone was stunned by Ye Chen’s shockingly stingy approach.

“Hello? Even the first prize is a coupon?”

“I’m so dumb, really. I thought a certain website’s one yuan giveaway was the most stingy. I didn’t know it could get even stingier, not even giving one yuan…”

“I didn’t want to win a prize, just wanted to laugh at it.”

Regardless of the intention, the post quickly gained traction.

“By the way, the drawers are all done, and I’ve installed them for you.” Li Li, working overtime, was working on the wooden drawers. “I’ve put all the earrings from the cardboard box into the drawers… Why did you buy so many earrings? Are you selling earrings in your store too?”

“No.” Ye Chen’s ears suddenly warmed up, “They were a gift from a friend…”

The delivery had arrived yesterday, containing a hundred pairs of men’s earrings in various brands and styles, none of them duplicated.

Inside was a handwritten card: “They forced me to compensate you.”

Li Li laughed, “Must be a gift from your partner.”

Ye Chen glanced around, scratched his cheek with his fingertips, and said in a hushed tone as if confessing to a misdeed, “Mmh… Uncle let me help you with the woodwork. You teach me, and I’ll put up one more for sale tomorrow.”

—

The next day, Ye Chen, the male lead, had another full day of filming.

After over two months of acting alongside an award-winning actor and receiving occasional small-group lessons from Teacher Shen, Ye Chen handled this costume drama with ease and could even guide other actors a bit.

The female lead opposite him was named Bi An’an. Her popularity was quite polarized—her fans were intensely loyal, but apart from the large fan base, the rest were either professional black fans or neutral critics, with so many negative rumors about her it could almost fill a book.

Ye Chen wasn’t familiar with Bi An’an and hadn’t met her in person before joining the set. However, after a few days of interaction, he didn’t find her impressionable but did think she was… a bit odd.

“Cut!” The director waved his hand, “It’s good. Prepare for the next scene.”

The next scene was Ye Chen’s and Bi An’an’s joint performance, so Ye Chen went to the rest area to find her.

Bi An’an was sitting properly on a stylish rattan lounge chair, reading a book. When she saw Ye Chen approaching, she quickly closed the book with a snap and stuffed it into the bag by her feet. Ye Chen, being observant, recognized it as a physics textbook.

Still in the second year of junior high school (Part 1)…

Ye Chen recalled one of the most widely circulated negative rumors about Bi An’an: During a variety show last year, there was a quiz segment of not very high difficulty. Bi An’an’s ignorance was exposed during this segment—she didn’t know who Newton was.

“Newton!” The host shouted hoarsely, “Newton! Gravity! Haven’t you heard of him?!”

Bi An’an’s lips parted slightly, her eyes blank: “No…”

The host covered his face and shouted, “I can’t believe there are people who don’t know who Newton is! Ah—!”

This incident led to another wave of online mockery for Bi An’an. Some said she must not have finished middle school, while others claimed her sweet and naive persona was completely shattered. Bi An’an never responded to these claims.

Ye Chen pretended not to notice the physics book and smiled, “Do we need to go over the next scene in advance?”

“Uh, okay,” Bi An’an nodded.

Ye Chen sat down on the chair opposite her, but his focus was scattered. His eyes kept drifting to the bag at Bi An’an’s feet—a cheaply made, mass-produced item from Taobao, probably costing less than a hundred yuan…

F*ck, it wasn’t true right… Ye Chen’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly overwhelmed by an odd sense of sympathy for someone as financially strained as herself.

Money—this was another major point of criticism for Bi An’an.

Since her debut, she had been dedicated to charity work: during the severe earthquake in a certain province two years ago, she spent millions on tents, medicines, and emergency food; she had continuously supported the construction of hope primary schools, with an incalculable amount of money invested; she even established a women’s and children’s rights fund named after herself to provide legal fees and short-term living expenses for victims of domestic violence… and so on.

While these were all commendable deeds, she did them so ostentatiously that it was even revealed she had donated so much she was left struggling financially and had secretly worked as a food delivery person during breaks in her acting career. Most people didn’t believe anyone could be so foolish and assumed it was all a publicity stunt to gain sympathy, accusing her of being a hypocritical saint. Despite the harsh criticism, Bi An’an continued her charitable work undeterred.

Had she really worked as a delivery person… Ye Chen glanced over at the bag again, unable to help but wonder if he and the delivery little sister could recognize each other as siblings.

The author has something to say:

Chen Chen: “Hee!” I’m rich now!!!

Gu Qiu: “…” What kind of nonsense is Shen Mofeng spouting again?!

Shen Ge: “?” I’m losing out here, I need to say something flirty to make up for it. 🙂

Chen Chen: I said my family has a mine, and it turns out we really do = I’m an honest person.

Gu Qiu: He—tui!

Shen Ge: “Robbing a little kid.”

Chen Chen compromises with the dark evil forces, handing over his earrings and a well-kissed cheek.

Miss Bi An’an’s identity is now very easy to guess…