Chapter 9

Ye Chen hurriedly accepted the friend request.

Although he wasn’t a fan of Shen Mofeng, being added as a friend by a super A-list celebrity was quite a pleasant surprise for the newly rising young idol. Ye Chen genuinely felt a bit overwhelmed and said, “You added me?”

“Yeah.” Shen Mofeng lazily smiled, casually scrolling through Ye Chen’s Moments.

As he scrolled, he paused slightly when he came across a photo of Ye Chen posing with a victory sign.

—”Happy, life is complete.”

Shen Mofeng glanced at the date this Moment was posted and realized it was from Ye Chen’s first day on set.

“—” Shen Mofeng initially just casually scrolled through without any particular intention to scrutinize Ye Chen’s Moments. But after seeing this particular post, he decisively continued scrolling through, as if uncovering a treasure trove.

At this moment, the scheming fake fan felt like sitting on pins and needles, stretching his neck and peering at Shen Mofeng’s phone screen desperately. To his horror, he discovered that the esteemed movie star was actually scrolling through his, a mere small-time artist’s, Moments extensively, and he wondered if Shen Mofeng was testing his fan purity…

“Just casually browsing,” Ye Chen reassured himself. 

Ten minutes later, Shen Mofeng reached the end of Ye Chen’s Moments.

Ye Chen: “…”

There wasn’t a single mention of Shen Mofeng in the rest of Ye Chen’s Moments.

Shen Mofeng didn’t seem to mind. He just turned his head slightly and asked, “Is this your only account?”

Some artists have separate accounts for work and personal use, so Shen Mofeng’s question was fairly common. However, the fake fan, feeling guilty, immediately sensed the potential trap behind this question. To eliminate any negative possibilities, Ye Chen carefully replied, “I only have one WeChat account. After signing with the company, I deleted everything from before.” After a pause, he laid the groundwork for the future in a casual tone, “But I have a small Weibo account.”

Shen Mofeng chuckled softly at the mention of the small Weibo account but didn’t press further. He closed WeChat and turned to do something else.

Relieved that he had successfully deflected suspicion, Ye Chen let out a sigh of relief and officially put the plan to acquire the Weibo small account on the agenda. At the same time, he secretly regretted why he had abandoned his principles for the sake of three hundred yuan to chase after a car.

Three hundred yuan for a momentary pleasure, but a lifetime of after-sales service!

At this moment, Ye Chen remembered the lottery he had been eagerly following, so he quickly opened Weibo. After devoutly offering a mental prayer, he slowly opened his eyes…

From the depths of despair of being deprived of life by pigs, to being forced to farm and raise chickens, to being coerced into buying and selling, accumulating a debt of 140 million… Ye Chen, a struggling young artist who reposted dozens of lottery Weibo posts every day in hopes of making ends meet, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally struck it rich! He won the lottery!

Meanwhile, Shen Mofeng, who was reading entertainment news beside him, suddenly heard a few faint sounds from his side. It sounded like someone was excited but trying to suppress it, not daring to be too loud. Shen Mofeng raised an eyebrow, turned his head, and saw Ye Chen bent over with his face buried in his knees. The little ears under his black hair were so red that it made one want to reach out and pinch them. Though his expression couldn’t be seen, even a fool could tell he was stifling a laugh.

Shen Mofeng was slightly stunned. As he figured out what was going on, a wave of soft helplessness washed over him, and he couldn’t help but inwardly laugh and curse.

…Damn.

This kid is just too innocent.

After stifling his laughter for a moment, Ye Chen straightened up and looked at the screen of his phone with a loving gaze, his lips softly curled, as if filled with the warmth of spring, his charming appearance enticing.

Shen Mofeng stared at him for a moment, unable to see the screen due to the angle. He took a deep drag of his cigarette, crushed the butt, and opened his own Moments.

He didn’t post much. The most recent post was a few travel photos taken by Xiao He when he went to Iceland to shoot an advertisement last week.

…Which one should he look at? Shen Mofeng felt a brief itch in his heart, but then he felt like he was being ridiculous. Ye Chen might not even be looking at his photos. So, he put away his phone, lit a cigarette, and forced himself to focus on the script.

What he didn’t expect was that, displayed on Ye Chen’s phone screen… was actually a notification of winning a lottery on Weibo.

But it wasn’t entirely Shen Mofeng’s fault for overthinking.

Growing up in a well-off family and achieving fame at a young age, coupled with his handsome looks and superb acting skills, Shen Mofeng had been carefully nurtured and flattered all the way until he turned twenty-five. With countless admirers pursuing him, although he hadn’t been indulged to the point of losing his moral compass and becoming narcissistic, he had developed some self-loving habits. Moreover, Ye Chen, this fake fan, was acting so convincingly… It made it hard for Shen Mofeng not to overthink.

On the other hand, Ye Chen went to claim his prize from the lottery organizer.

The organizer was a rich girl who said she had been having a hard time at work due to Mercury retrograde, so she organized this lottery to change her luck. There were no specific prizes, just a draw for one person to clear a shopping cart worth less than 1,000 yuan. Seeing that she accidentally drew a lottery-specific account, the rich girl regretfully said she would redraw.

Ye Chen urgently said, “Miss, I’m not a zombie account, I’m a real person.”

He needed the reward of clearing a shopping cart worth less than 1,000 yuan right now because there were things he urgently needed to buy.

The organizer said, “But you’re also specifically here for the lottery, aren’t you? Besides reposting lotteries, there’s nothing else on your Weibo…”

Ye Chen looked at the organizer’s profile picture and fell silent.

—Her profile picture was a photo of Ye Chen, and she herself was also a fan of Ye Chen. For the past few days, Ye Chen had been interacting with her to increase engagement, often shamelessly praising himself under her “Baby Chen Chen mama loves you” Weibo posts.”

Ye Chen: “Ye Chen really is a little prince, I, a straight guy, am also a fan of Ye Chen!”

Ye Chen: “How can Little Chen Chen be so adorable! I’m suffocating!”

Ye Chen: “For the beauty of Chen Bao, I shed the tears of an old father!”

…

Ye Chen sighed.

The shamelessness of these past few days was all in vain after all!

Ye Chen: “Miss, I’m also a fan of Chen Chen. Haven’t I been commenting on your posts these past few days?”

“You’ve drawn your beloved Chen Chen!” Chen Chen sadly thought.

Lottery Organizer: “There’s nothing Chen Chen-related on your Weibo, just reposts of lotteries.”

Ye Chen gritted his teeth: “I’m a real fan. I even saved many of his private photos that haven’t been leaked online. I bought them from someone at a high price. I can send them to you to take a look. They definitely aren’t online.”

The lottery organizer became interested: “Really? Are you serious?”

Ye Chen quickly sent over a dozen selfies and lifestyle photos that he hadn’t posted online.

Lottery Organizer: “Wow! I’ve really changed my luck!”

Lottery Organizer: “You’re risking a mother’s life here!”

Lottery Organizer: “Clear! I’ll clear your shopping cart! Send me a screenshot of the cart!”

Ye Chen ingratiated himself: “Thank you, Miss. You’re beautiful and kind-hearted!”

With a big wave of his hand, he sent two screenshots.

The first screenshot showed a shopping cart on a second-hand trading website with only one item: “Second-hand electric tricycle for sale, 90% new.” The picture showed a lime-green electric tricycle with a spacious cargo compartment, suitable for carrying vegetables, collecting scrap, or transporting fertilizer. The price was a flat 950 yuan.

Lottery Organizer: “…”

The second screenshot was from Taobao, showing five small bags of organic cake fertilizer. With shipping, it totaled exactly 49.50 yuan. Together, the two shopping carts amounted to 999.50 yuan, just under 1,000 yuan.

Today’s seeds just might sprout!

The lottery organizer was silent for a moment, then replied with a screen full of ellipses, feeling a bit mentally disoriented.

Ye Chen asked obediently: “Is it okay, Miss? If I can only clear one cart, then I’ll skip the organic cake fertilizer. Thank you, Miss.”

The wealthy young lady suddenly felt a sense of philanthropy as if she were supporting poverty alleviation in a mountainous area. Weakly, she said, “It’s okay, I’ll clear it all for you…”

So, that evening, Ye Chen finally owned his own electric tricycle.

…

After smoothly completing two more scenes, the production team brought a carload of midnight snacks to replenish everyone’s energy.

Shen Mofeng never ate with the crew. He was extremely picky about his food. If there was nothing to his liking, he would rather go hungry than eat. It was easy to handle when filming was in the city, as Xiao He was well-versed in which chef at which restaurant in Beijing cooked dishes that suited Shen Mofeng’s taste. However, if the filming location was in the wilderness, Shen Mofeng would end up visibly thinner after completing a shoot. Xiao He felt that if this continued, the manager would have to arrange a traveling chef team for Shen Mofeng.

When he heard that the midnight snack was ready, Ye Chen eagerly called out, “Xiao Gao.”

“Understood.” Xiao Gao gave a thumbs up, well-trained to respond, “Three portions, pick the ones with more meat. If anyone asks, say I ate them.”

Ye Chen was relieved.

He planned to eat one portion himself and take the other two portions to the little animals. Today, he wouldn’t go to Shen Mofeng’s place to mooch off his midnight snack.

This was because he had already been mooching off for two days straight. To maintain sustainable mooching and ensure the renewable nature of mooching resources, he didn’t intend to keep taking advantage of Shen Mofeng’s generosity indefinitely. He had a plan for himself, mooch two, rest one. After mooching for two days, he’d rest for one, and he made sure to provide excellent mental massage and detailed service during mooching.

There’s an art to mooching, Ye Chen thought deeply. You couldn’t just keep taking advantage of Shen Mofeng’s generosity without restraint. You had to be mindful and not annoy him.

Little did he know, Shen Mofeng not only wasn’t annoyed, but he even felt a bit… pleasurable.

Being naturally bent, eating meals while being attended to and pampered by a very obedient and cute young man who suited his taste perfectly, peeling shrimp, deboning fish, picking crab meat, not even needing to break apart chopsticks himself, it was indeed difficult not to feel pleasurable.

At this moment, Xiao He ran over, casually greeting Ye Chen, “Chen Ge, Shen Ge is calling you for supper.”

Ye Chen instantly forgot his schedule of mooching two and resting one, and followed Xiao He onto the car without hesitation.

Shen Mofeng was resting in the car, biting on a cigarette, leaning against the slightly lowered backrest of the seat, his two long legs casually crossed, exuding a lazy and sexy aura.

Seeing Ye Chen approach, Shen Mofeng raised his chin slightly and casually glanced at Ye Chen through the swirling smoke, asking nonchalantly, “Where did you go, little friend?”

Xiao He opened the window wide to let the smoke out, and Ye Chen suddenly realized that Shen Mofeng always had a cigarette in hand during night shoots.

“Just… getting ready to eat supper.” Ye Chen lowered his head and noticed there were four bowls of seafood porridge on the table. Two were for the assistants, and the other two were for him and Shen Mofeng, clearly brought by the assistants under Shen Mofeng’s instructions.

While Shen Mofeng was narcissistic, he was still rational. Ye Chen had been coming to him at meal times these past few days for a reason, and Shen Mofeng had a guess as to why. He naturally wanted to get close to him, which was the main reason, but there was also a small part of it. Shen Mofeng speculated that because Ye Chen had less experience and was younger, although he didn’t like the boxed meals provided by the crew, he also didn’t want to make a fuss like the big-name actors and demand special treatment. So, he came over to Shen Mofeng’s side during meal times.

“Theirs doesn’t taste good.” Shen Mofeng frowned, straightened up, and extinguished the half-smoked cigarette. Showing his fan-loving side, he said, “Have mine.”

Ye Chen’s heart suddenly warmed up completely.

Xiao He helped Shen Mofeng lift the lid of the porridge container. In the disposable bowl, a bright red crab was nestled in the crystal-clear and tender rice, surrounded by big prawns and scallops. In the instant the lid was lifted, the fragrant aroma of the seafood porridge immediately dispersed the faint smell of smoke in the car. Shen Mofeng nudged the crab shell with his chopsticks, and the shell flipped over gently, revealing the tantalizing crab roe inside.

“…” Ye Chen stared at the crab filled with roe in the porridge, sat down in front of Shen Mofeng, slowly clenched his fist, and his thoughts converged into two sentences.

——The first sentence: When I fix the Mountain and Sea Realm, I must contract a crab pond for my Shen Ge!

Based on the principle of repaying kindness with gratitude, after mooching off meals these past few days, Ye “Farmer Boy” Chen had already mentally promised Shen Mofeng countless fish, shrimp, crab ponds, and chicken, duck, goose, pig, and sheep farms…

——The second sentence: From now on, Shen Ge is my dad!

“Shen Ge.” Dad. Ye Chen complained in the tone of a filial and virtuous son, “You smoke too much, it’s not good for your health.”

“…” Unexpectedly, Shen Mofeng stared at him with a cold face, and said coolly, “Eat.”

——For some reason, after Ye Chen finished those two sentences just now, he suddenly felt that he and Shen Mofeng were from different generations.

Seeing Ye Chen’s hesitant expression, Xiao He added from the side, “Shen Ge needs to stay alert for night shoots.”

Ye Chen pursed his lips and said, “I won’t have any scenes in the next one. I’ll go buy you a cup of coffee. You shouldn’t smoke so much…”

Recently, a new milk tea and coffee chain store was running a promotion. After following their public account and checking in for a month in a row, you could receive two vouchers for a free large cup of cappuccino. Ye Chen had been signing in for a month and hadn’t used the two vouchers yet. Most likely, he would give them to his son, but he was willing to use them for Shen Dad. Not only was he willing, but he was also quite happy, because he could finally return a favor in a low-key manner.

Shen Mofeng smiled and shook his head, “Can’t drink it, intolerant.”

“In that case…” Ye Chen nodded in understanding, lowered his head, and slurped the seafood porridge. He pondered whether he could plant a few pear trees for Shen Mofeng. Pears were known for clearing the lungs and relieving coughs. His spiritually cultivated duck pears would probably have an even better effect.

The author has something to say:

Ye Qiongqiong’s account book today:

Today’s expenses: Twelve selfies + lifestyle photos

Today’s income: 1 second-hand electric tricycle* 950 yuan + 5 bags organic cake fertilizer *49.5 yuan + deluxe seafood porridge + Daddy * 1

Account balance: 105.5 yuan

Shen Mofeng: Change “Daddy * 1” to “Husband * 1” for me. You’ve crossed the line.

Ye Qiongqiong: QAQ

Ye Qiongqiong’s fake fan after-sales service is really meticulous to the bone, but later he still crashed hhhhh…