Chapter 75

At first, Ye Chen didn’t take the online rumors seriously. Celebrities have no privacy to speak of, and he had already been cautious in this regard. He never listed the exact address on the shipping labels for his online store orders, and even in the paparazzi’s photos, there were no house numbers or too many details visible.

However, there were so-called “insiders” in the comments section hinting that they knew the exact location of his courtyard house, even claiming that “the larger house next door had also been sold,” speaking with such confidence that it was hard to tell if they truly recognized the place or were just trying to attract attention. Additionally, some black fans seized the opportunity to slander Ye Chen, implying that he was being kept by someone.

Facing these accusations of being kept, Gu Qiu scratched his head so hard he almost went bald, “How the hell are we supposed to clear this up…”

After all, no one’s suspicions ran deeper than Gu Qiu’s!

However, this time Gu Qiu didn’t even get a chance to act before the related Weibo posts vanished without a trace. The self-proclaimed insider, who had claimed the neighboring house was also sold, deleted their account, and a large number of suspected hired users descended to support fans in tearing into the black fans, suppressing any negative statements about Ye Chen.

Online, the black fans were getting vehemently pushed back by fans and hired supporters, in stark contrast to the peaceful scene at the courtyard: the dragon cubs were working hard in the fields, Li Li was sawing wood furiously, and the old Ying Long… was curled up on a rattan chair by the vegetable patch, limbs tightly drawn in, with his eyes occasionally flickering, still looking alive.

Recently, the old Ying Long had been eating spirit plants three times a day, his core’s recovery sped up significantly, his bones became much sturdier, and his ability to summon clouds and rain had extended in duration, upgrading from watering can-level to bucket-level efficiency. However, his mind remained muddled, and his destructive behavior had doubled, making it increasingly difficult for Zhou Buchu to keep him under control.

A few days ago, a tabloid news browser pushed a story titled “Strange News! An 80-Year-Old Man Seen Flying Naked in the Sky!” with a blurry picture showing a small indistinct black shadow floating in the sky. In an interview, a local citizen named Mr. Wang told reporters he had seen an eighty-year-old man fly out of a sixth-floor window, wielding a cane and soaring through the sky… However, the man took off so quickly that he didn’t have time to take a photo. By the time he got his phone out, the man had already darted into the clouds and was nowhere to be seen.

Due to the incredible nature of the story and the extreme blurriness of the photo, and with no clear shot of a dragon transforming, the report was met with disbelief and a slew of derisive comments, mocking the browser for making up stupid fake news to grab attention.

“Thank God it was foggy that day, the photos were so blurry,” Zhou Buchu said with lingering fear, “What if the photo had been clear?”

“It wouldn’t happen,” Ye Chen reassured him considerately, “It’s always foggy in Beijing.”

Hearing this, Zhou Buchu no longer felt anxious.

Since then, every day when Zhou Buchu came to work at Ye Chen’s house, he would bring along the old, senile dragon, tossing him into the Mountains and Seas Realm, leaving Hou Cub to keep an eye on him.

At this very moment, Hou Cub stood in front of Ying Long, holding a broken hair regenerator and softly asking, “Grandpa Dragon, did you break this?”

Ying Long shook his head so vigorously it was about to fall off, “No! I don’t know anything! Don’t, don’t come near me!”

“It was you.” Hou Cub approached, flicked its round tail, and sat down on Ying Long’s lap.

“Ahhhhhh!” Ying Long was so terrified it was as if a giant American cockroach had crawled up his pant leg.

Hou Cub continued, “I saw it. You broke it when you came over just now.”

“Wuwuwu…” Ying Long cried like a forty-meter-long child.

Hou Cub said in a babyish tone, “Grandpa Dragon, please don’t break the hair regenerator we worked so hard on anymore, okay? If you’re naughty, you’ll be a bad grandpa, but if you admit your mistakes and change, you’ll still be a good grandpa.”

Tears streamed down Ying Long’s face, “Okay, okay.”

“I’m not that scary, I won’t eat you.” Hou Cub tilted its head and grabbed Ying Long’s branch-like old hand with its chubby little paw, guiding him to gently touch its bunny ears, coaxing him, “Here, you can touch my ears.”

Ying Long pulled his hand away so fast it was like he had touched the antenna of an American cockroach.

“Uncle Zhou told me not to leave your side…” Hou Cub muttered as it squeezed its little round face in distress. Suddenly, a bright idea struck, and it straightened up, shaking its head side to side, making its two bunny ears spin like flat propellers.

Ying Long stared blankly at Hou Cub.

Hou Cub, feeling dizzy, stopped and coaxed, “Do I look like a rattle drum?”

Ying Long let out a silly laugh.

Seeing Grandpa Dragon laugh for once, Hou Cub started shaking its head even more vigorously.

Ying Long pointed at Hou Cub, exclaiming, “Hahaha, hehehe!”

Taking care of Grandpa is so tiring… The young Hou Cub sighed with the sentiment of a novice father.

In the current world’s courtyard, the divine beast cubs were busy packaging goods.

The little cubs raised their short arms high, holding large packaging bags, storage boxes, and express delivery cartons above their heads, scurrying around the yard—if they carried things in front of them, their short human forms would block their view. A few of the cubs were in charge of packaging the products according to procedure, and the strongest among them, Qiongqi Cub, was responsible for pulling the tape and sealing the delivery boxes with swift, precise movements, mastering Ye Chen’s tape-saving techniques.

The makeshift factory was bustling with labor and activity.

On this particular day, Ye Chen didn’t have any scenes to film in the morning, nor did he go to the set early. Instead, he went to a city adjacent to Beijing to look at some properties.

Currently, the online store orders were stable, and after distributing commissions to Li Li and the others, Ye Chen still had around 160,000 to 170,000 yuan in cash. The divine beast cubs handled the shipping, and Ye Chen mostly managed customer service himself. When he was overwhelmed, Zhou Buchu and Bi An’an would help out, but he didn’t dare let the other less experienced divine beasts handle customer service, fearing they might scare off customers.

This wasn’t a sustainable solution. Ye Chen planned to learn tractor driving and maintenance skills next, aiming for a significant increase in crop yield. He couldn’t afford to have all his time consumed by customer service, so he intended to rent an office in a third-tier city near Beijing and hire humans to take over part of the work. Through an online rental website, he had already found a few potential office spaces, and if the viewing went well in the morning, he planned to sign a lease immediately.

With time being tight, Ye Chen decided not to take the high-speed train. After scheduling an appointment with the real estate agent over the phone, he put on goggles prepared specifically for this kind of situation, grabbed a basket of freshly harvested spiritual pears, and went to Zhou Buchu to ask for a ride: “Uncle Zhou, can you give me and Dun Dun a lift?”

Zhou Buchu took the basket of pears, “Hop on.”

Ye Chen called out to Hundun Cub, “Dun Dun, let’s go.”

Hundun Cub, who was packing health pillows, handed the finished pillow to Pulu Cub and ran towards Ye Chen. As it ran, its plain face popped out five facial features one by one.

Zhou Buchu transformed into his true form, lying on the ground, and Ye Chen mounted him like riding a horse. Hundun Cub hugged Ye Chen’s waist from behind.

The majestic, gold-like Pixiu raised its head and let out a clear roar, sounding like the crisp clinking of coins, before taking off swiftly into the clouds.

He flew so fast that Ye Chen almost felt like he would go bald from the wind, gripping a handful of Zhou Buchu’s fur tightly.

“…Laodi ^[1]Affectionate form of address for a younger male, ease up!” Zhou Buchu exclaimed in distress, “Lie down and hold onto my neck, hold on tight, don’t pull on my fur!”

Ye Chen’s shout was distorted by the wind, “I have a boyfriend—I can’t hold on too tight—” he said, clinging desperately to a wad of cash in his hand!

Zhou Buchu roared, “Damn it! Did you just yank it out?! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”

In less than an hour, the three of them arrived at a city neighboring Beijing. Making sure no one was around, Zhou Buchu landed on a diagonal street behind a real estate agency building. Ye Chen jumped down, and the moment he touched the ground, his spiritual energy concealment faded, revealing his form.

“My fur?!” Zhou Buchu asked urgently.

“Here you go.” Ye Chen spread his hand, presenting a thick wad of pink banknotes.

Zhou Buchu lowered his head and, like a horse grazing, gobbled up the cash. A few strands of mane grew on his neck afterward.

Zhou Buchu smacked his lips, “Feels like something’s missing.”

“No way!” Ye Chen protested, looking as innocent as a puppy. “I counted, it’s exactly 48,100!”

“…” Zhou Buchu was impressed, “I was flying so fast, and you still had the mind to count money.”

Ye Chen removed his goggles and put on a mask and sunglasses, then went to meet the real estate agent he had contacted earlier to view properties in the neighboring city.

Ye Chen took off his goggles and put on his mask and sunglasses, then met with the real estate agent he had arranged earlier to view the properties. The rent in the neighboring city was much cheaper than in Beijing, and without any hesitation, Ye Chen settled on a 90-square-meter office space. The office was fully furnished with all necessary amenities, including a workspace, a small meeting room, and a bathroom. Ye Chen could set up the Hundun Mark in the small meeting room, keeping it locked when not in use. This would allow him to travel between his home and the office through the meeting room, making product transportation easier and eliminating commuting hassles.

The office cost 4,000 yuan per month, with heating and maintenance covered by the landlord, amounting to just 48,000 yuan a year. To save time, Ye Chen also purchased a 680-yuan company registration service from the agency’s platform. This service handled all the paperwork, so the newly popular star wouldn’t need to frequently show his face in public.

With the space and qualifications settled and the Hundun Mark connected, the next step was hiring staff. On his way back to Beijing, carried by Zhou Buchu, Ye Chen bought two standard computers for customer service from an online store and posted a job listing for customer service representatives on a recruitment app, emphasizing that the job included three meals a day.

“Having three meals a day of spiritual plants is the core of our company culture! With such meals, the employees won’t want to switch jobs!” Ye Chen thought with grand ambition.

After taking care of all these tasks, Ye Chen still had 110,000 yuan left in his savings, leaving him with a comfortably full wallet.

Zhou Buchu carried Ye Chen and Hundun Cub back home. Ye Chen quickly packed up and headed to the film set, while Zhou Buchu, who had the day off, planned to continue his search for Zhang Zhaoqian, who was raising a Baize. The personal information of this nationally treasured academician was tightly protected, and despite Zhou Buchu’s abilities to fly and vanish, he couldn’t find out where the man lived. Both the National Institute of Medical Research and the Institute of Life Sciences were vast and heavily guarded, with security checkpoints and strict access control requiring swipe cards at every door. Even with his divine abilities, Zhou Buchu found himself frustrated and lost within these secure facilities. Moreover, he couldn’t just ask anyone for information without proper authorization; showing himself would likely result in being thrown out.

“I’ll try to look again today,” Zhou Buchu said in frustration.

The author has something to say:

Ying Long is flying up to the sky with its bare bottom again…

It’s clear who the future CP of the Hou Cub will be… (but one needs to get younger while the other needs to grow up…

Chen Chen is getting more and more successful… [sour]

I can already imagine the scene when Shen Ge tries to climb into Chen Chen’s bed at midnight after sneaking over the wall, only to find a yard full of handsome guys and beautiful girls…

Shen Ge: Who knocked a green paint bucket on my head? :）