Qin Mingyuan stayed at the Qin family villa for one night, and early the next morning, he left for the company. At that time, Qin Pei and Zeng Lianyi were still asleep due to jet lag.

Around 10 AM, while he was reviewing documents in the office, a call came in. On the other end, there was some playful complaining, blaming him for leaving too quickly and not staying at the villa for a few more days to accompany them. They even teased, asking if he loved work more than his own mother.

After ten minutes of back-and-forth, the call finally ended, but not without a final reminder: “Make sure to come back for a meal soon. Don’t let us become lonely old folks. That wouldn’t be right.”

Qin Mingyuan agreed, knowing she was joking.

Zeng Lianyi had said she planned to transfer her work back home, but in reality, it wasn’t going to happen so quickly. There was still a lot of unfinished business abroad that needed time to wrap up.

She would have to go abroad again in about a week for another one- or two-month stint, followed by frequent trips back and forth between countries until at least the end of the year. She wasn’t even sure if she could enjoy a peaceful New Year’s celebration.

On the third day, Qin Mingyuan left work a bit early and drove back to the Qin family villa, where the three of them had dinner together. Afterward, Zeng Lianyi had something to discuss with him, so they sat in the living room for a chat.

“Are you suggesting Liang Zichen be the domestic brand ambassador?” Qin Mingyuan looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, it was a proposal submitted by the team. I did some research; Liang Zichen won the Best Actor award at a young age, he’s very popular, and he brings a lot of attention. He’s actually a good choice,” Zeng Lianyi said, becoming more serious when discussing business. “I heard his new movie is set to release in August, and it’s entering the promotion phase soon. His exposure rate is high, and signing him now would bring many benefits.”

Although her fashion brand was already well-known domestically, it had primarily targeted overseas markets before, with most of the brand ambassadors being foreign models. These faces were still relatively unfamiliar to the majority of people back home.

Someone had suggested that since they were planning to focus more on the domestic market, it made sense to use local celebrities to boost the brand’s recognition. LY sold both men’s and women’s clothing, and the female ambassador had already been decided — an established actress with a good reputation and strong skills, but her appeal among younger audiences was limited. Thus, the male ambassador needed to balance this out.

Liang Zichen was at the peak of his popularity — young, handsome, and talented, naturally well-received by younger people. Plus, he was the heir to the Liang family, which made him an even more valuable choice.

Zeng Lianyi wasn’t particularly concerned with all the buzz and exposure. She always believed that as long as the clothing was well-made, the designs stood out, and the fit was comfortable while highlighting one’s figure, that was the best form of marketing.

However, while the brand was hers, it wasn’t built solely on her hard work. If others wanted to take the opportunity to increase the brand’s domestic presence, there was nothing wrong with that.

Her reasoning was completely sound, so Qin Mingyuan asked, “Then what is it that you want to ask me?”

“I’ve only seen surface-level information. I don’t really know what he’s like as a person. You probably have more contact with the Liang family domestically. Have you met him before?” Zeng Lianyi was quite concerned about the character of the brand’s ambassadors. She cherished her brand and didn’t want to risk its reputation by associating with the wrong kind of people.

“I’ve met him, but we haven’t interacted much,” Qin Mingyuan replied, propping his chin up with his hand. “The Liang family operates in different industries from us, so most of our encounters have been at social events. I haven’t gotten to know him well.”

In the original novel, the portrayal of Liang Zichen was fairly one-dimensional, mostly viewed from Yun Yuexian’s perspective. Whenever Liang Zichen appeared, it was practically just the two of them stuck in a sticky romantic bubble.

Since being transported into the novel, Qin Mingyuan had met him twice, both times sensing an inexplicable hostility from him, as if they were subtly competing with each other. He also came off as a bit arrogant.

“Well, I’ll look into it more on my own then. Let’s put this matter on hold for now,” Zeng Lianyi said with a nod.

Her hesitation was mainly due to Liang Zichen’s reputation for numerous scandals, probably because of his flirtatious appearance. No matter who he looked at, he always seemed to have that smoldering gaze.

Adding to that, rich young masters usually had a reputation for being playboys, and the entertainment industry wasn’t exactly known for its cleanliness. She was worried about potential rumors of a messy personal life making the news.

Zeng Lianyi glanced at her son. After all, not everyone was as upright as her precious child, who had been single and pure for 27 years without wavering.

Sigh, she thought, inwardly sighing as she remembered something else. “By the way, sweetheart, have you contacted Xiao Pei in the last couple of days? Have you invited him out to hang out?”

Why did it always come back to this? Qin Mingyuan was a bit helpless. “Work at the company has been busy recently, and I’ve had to work overtime every day. The only reason I’m back early today is that I brought some of the work home. If you hadn’t called me for a chat, I’d already be in the study right now.”

Zeng Lianyi gave him a disapproving look, as if disappointed. She had thought he was finally becoming more proactive, but he was still as slow as ever. Even his father, though slow-witted, had at least known to take time off to invite her out for a meal or send a small gift when courting her.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “This time, I brought back a bunch of souvenirs from abroad. Pick out a couple later and give them to him as a belated meeting gift. No excuses.”

In other areas, she could let him take his time, but she had to create opportunities for them to meet!

It’s not like it’s an engagement gift for a future daughter-in-law or anything… Qin Mingyuan stayed silent for a long while before finally agreeing.

He knew that if he refused, Zeng Lianyi would surely come up with other ways to force it, so it was better to agree and avoid trouble.

At least it was Yun Pei, Qin Mingyuan thought. If his mother ever found out the truth and tried to pair him up with Yun Yuexian instead, he’d probably have no choice but to take a business trip abroad to escape.

Zeng Lianyi acted quickly, immediately dragging him upstairs to pick out gifts.

She said she was going to give souvenirs, but what she pulled out were all accessories designed by her own brand.

Clearly, she had “good intentions,” or rather, “ulterior motives.”

Zeng Lianyi thought that Yun Pei’s clean and introverted personality wouldn’t suit anything too flashy, and he probably wouldn’t like it either.

After some deliberation, they settled on a cloud-shaped brooch made of platinum, encrusted with tiny diamonds, with a few scattered blue teardrop-shaped gemstones. It looked delicate and cute.

With the small square velvet box shoved into his hand, Qin Mingyuan was finally allowed to leave and head to his study to deal with the work he’d brought home.

…

When Qin Mingyuan said he’d been busy recently, he wasn’t just making excuses to brush off Zeng Lianyi. He really had been swamped with reports, contracts, and proposals piling up every day.

If everything went as expected, he would have to take a business trip at the end of the month, which would last about ten days.

Under such circumstances, he actually didn’t have much spare time to meet Yun Pei and give him the gift.

This delay continued until Qin Pei and Zeng Lianyi left the country again. Qin Mingyuan was busy at work and had Zhou Yang see them off at the airport in his place.

By the time he realized it, he was already making arrangements for his business trip. If he didn’t deliver the gift soon, he’d have to wait until he got back from abroad.

After some thought, Qin Mingyuan took out his phone during a work break and opened Yun Pei’s chat page, noticing that their last conversation was still about gardenias.

He suddenly remembered that he hadn’t been paying attention to his phone notifications recently, so he wasn’t sure if there had been any updates on the drawing videos Yun Pei had posted.

As he pondered this, his hands didn’t stop, and he sent a message.

[Qin: Do you have time for lunch tomorrow?

After sending the message, he set his phone aside and continued with his work.

Zhou Yang knocked and entered to deliver some new contract documents. As he placed them on the desk, he noticed the boss’s phone light up with a new message.

Usually, the boss wouldn’t bother checking his phone during work, but this time, Qin Mingyuan quickly picked it up, looked at it for a moment, then sent a reply.

Afterward, he looked up at Zhou Yang and said, “Zhou Yang, I’m going out for lunch tomorrow. Clear my schedule for two hours during lunchtime.”

Zhou Yang hesitated, opening his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, all he could manage was a “yes.” He thought to himself, The boss’s parents are out of the country, so the only person who could make him leave the office like this must be the young master of the Yun family.

Sigh, Zhou Yang thought, The boss had seemed to have a moment of clarity before. Why does it seem like everything’s flaring up again?

He didn’t dare ask, leaving the office with a conflicted heart.

Qin Mingyuan had no idea what strange conclusions Zhou Yang was jumping to and didn’t care. Another message came through on his phone.

[Mimosa]: Lunch?

[Qin]: Yes, Ms. Zeng left you a gift and insisted that I personally deliver it to you.

[Mimosa]: …Why would she give me a gift?

[Qin]: She said the last meeting was too rushed, so this is a belated meeting gift.

This time, there was a long pause before Yun Pei finally responded with a simple “okay,” probably after spending some time deliberating over the term “meeting gift.”

Satisfied with the response, Qin Mingyuan exited the chat, intending to put his phone away, but a new message popped up just before the screen dimmed.

He assumed it was another message from Yun Pei, but upon looking at it, he saw it was from Yun Yuexian, someone he hadn’t thought about in a long time.

[Yun Yuexian]: Brother Mingyuan, do you remember the movie I mentioned during your last visit to the set? It’s scheduled for release in August! Have you seen the trailer yet?

The sender seemed quite excited to share the news with him. Qin Mingyuan recalled Zeng Lianyi mentioning that Liang Zichen had a movie coming out soon. So, this was the one.

This meant the movie was entering its promotion phase, during which the two leads would be doing shows, interviews, and other promotional activities together. The more time they spent together, the more their relationship would develop.

Due to their interactions, some fans even began shipping them as a couple, and after the movie aired, the number of shippers surged. Yun Yuexian’s character wasn’t just the male lead’s “white moonlight,” but also the “white moonlight” of many viewers, earning him a wave of new fans.

His popularity soared, and from then on, his career and love life flourished in tandem.

In the original plot, the protagonist Qin Mingyuan hardly had any role to play, with only a few scattered mentions. Mostly, he was just there to spend money, sponsor events, and book out theaters to support the film — sparing no effort.

His only function was to make Liang Zichen jealous and fuel the development of the lead couple’s romance.

A classic case of a major sucker.

When no response came from him, another message followed.

[Yun Yuexian]: Brother Mingyuan, you must be busy with work lately, right? You left in such a hurry during your last visit, I didn’t get a chance to properly entertain you. I’m free tomorrow, though. Why don’t we have lunch at that French restaurant? I haven’t had French food in a while, and the restaurant you picked last time was perfect for my taste.

Reading this string of self-centered messages, Qin Mingyuan remained expressionless. Ah, this protagonist shou really has a way of doing things, he thought. While his relationship with the protagonist gong was heating up, he still found the time to placate him, the spare tire.

However, the message did remind him of something. With a swift motion, Qin Mingyuan blocked Yun Yuexian on WeChat.

What kind of panic or anger Yun Yuexian might feel upon seeing the red exclamation mark in his chat didn’t concern Qin Mingyuan in the least.

He put down his phone and returned to his work. Occasionally, his mind wandered to the thought of where to eat with Yun Pei tomorrow.