Seeing Yu Yan and Fang Chi talking, Yu Chen pulled Shen Yucheng aside.

Shen Yucheng glanced at him, adjusted his scarf, and asked, “What’s up?”

The words on Yu Chen’s lips were swallowed back. He stared at Shen Yucheng’s scarf for a while, then picked up the small three-layered non-woven fabric cake.

“This scarf…”

Before he could examine it closely, Shen Yucheng yanked it away. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Did my brother knit this scarf for you?”

“Mhm.” Shen Yucheng answered concisely.

Yu Chen lowered his head to look at his own scarf, then glanced at Shen Yucheng’s scarf around his neck.

At first glance, the only difference between the two scarves seemed to be the color of the cashmere yarn, but a closer look revealed more details. Shen Yucheng’s scarf had more complicated, beautiful knitting patterns, and was much more sophisticated than his simple one. It even had a small three-layer cake made of non-woven fabric!

In their family, only Jiang Mo received such special treatment—her hat had a Q-version little character made of non-woven fabric.

Yu Chen’s eyelids twitched, and his voice involuntarily grew louder. “Did my brother really make this for you? You didn’t force him, did you? I warn you, he’s my younger brother! Don’t try to make him do anything. Otherwise, my parents and my whole family won’t let you off!”

Shen Yucheng gave him a dumbfounded look. “I didn’t force him.”

“Then what’s the deal with your scarf? How come it’s so much better than mine? Even my mom’s scarf doesn’t have such complicated patterns. It can’t be that my brother made it for you voluntarily, right?”

“Yes.” Shen Yucheng repeated.

Yu Chen fell silent. After a long while, he tried to talk himself into it, gritting his teeth. “He must’ve had something to ask of you, so it’s normal for him to make it look good for you.”

Shen Yucheng ignored him, hiding the non-woven cake inside, and then asked, “Did you pull me aside just to see me get upset?”

Yu Chen clenched his fists, his knuckles tightening.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he lowered his voice and started discussing the matter at hand. “I’ve traced some internal issues at Cha Xing and found a senior executive, but he’s probably not the only one. I noticed he’s been sending emails to my brother lately, but my brother hasn’t replied to him.”

Company communication is generally done through their office management system or via email.

But since Yu Yan left Cha Xing, he hasn’t used their office system or opened his email, so naturally, he couldn’t respond to the executive.

Although this seemed to involve Yu Yan, Yu Chen leaned toward thinking it was just a smokescreen to mislead him into focusing on Yu Yan.

“What are you planning to do?” Shen Yucheng asked seriously.

Yu Chen thought carefully for a moment before speaking. “I need your help to set up a trap…”

…

Yu Yan and Fang Chi had finished setting up the lucky cat and placed it at the front desk. It actually looked quite fitting.

Fang Chi suddenly smiled, linking his arm with Yu Yan’s. “Xiao Yan, I didn’t expect you to believe in these things too.”

“What’s wrong with believing in them? It’s not illegal.” Yu Yan yawned. “Hmm? Who else did you say believes in these things?”

“Your brother, Shen Yucheng.” Fang Chi casually pointed toward Shen Yucheng and Yu Chen.

Yu Yan’s pupils dilated. “Brother Shen believes in this kind of thing too?”

An hour ago, when he picked the lucky cat at the mall, he clearly sensed Shen Yucheng’s mocking reaction.

Fang Chi paused to think, then rephrased, “To be more precise, his parents believe in it. His mom is from Guangdong, you know that, right?”

“Huh?”

“They’re more into this kind of thing over there. Plus, since their family is in business, they believe in it even more. They have a shrine for the god of wealth and the Buddha at home, and they burn incense on the 1st and 15th of every month. Sometimes, they even go to the river to release life. But their business keeps growing, so maybe this is the reason. Better to believe in it than not.”

No wonder Shen Yucheng’s habits were so different from their group of friends. It turned out he learned this from his mother.

From the phone call earlier, Yu Yan could tell that Shen Yucheng’s mother’s daughter wasn’t young, meaning Shen Yucheng’s parents had been apart for at least ten years.

“What if I put a statue of the god of wealth here?”

Yu Yan snapped back to his senses and glanced at Fang Chi. “Sure, whatever.”

“Great, I’ll go ask Shen Yucheng about it.” Fang Chi pulled Yu Yan back. “Let’s go, time for a drink. I’ve got some that I airlifted from France.”

Yu Yan wasn’t particularly interested in drinking, but Fang Chi was so enthusiastic that he insisted on having Yu Yan try several kinds of wine and share his thoughts.

Before he knew it, Yu Yan had drunk a bit too much and was feeling lightheaded, his reactions slower than usual.

“Xiao Yan, how about you stick with me from now on and forget about Shen Yucheng?” Fang Chi, already drunk, leaned heavily on Yu Yan.

From the conversations with friends earlier, Yu Yan learned that this bar was Fang Chi’s 10th startup. He started new ventures two or three times a year on average, but without fail, they all failed.

During his earlier attempts, friends would invest a little, but now everyone kept their wallets tightly shut, afraid of being scammed.

Yu Yan laughed. “Bro, I’m afraid I’d be starving if I followed you.”

“Don’t worry, if you’re with me, you’ll never go hungry,” Fang Chi burped. “Let me tell you, Shen Yucheng is two-faced, with plenty of unspeakable methods behind his back. You…”

“What?”

Yu Yan was about to lean in to listen when suddenly someone pulled him back.

The two figures in front of him were swaying unsteadily. Yu Yan stumbled a few steps and almost fell but was suddenly caught by someone holding his face.

Under the influence of alcohol, his cheeks and ears were burning hot, and even his eye sockets felt warm.

“How much did you drink?”

Shen Yuchen’s voice was as deep and magnetic as usual, making one’s heart flutter.

Yu Yan blankly shook his head, “Not much. Fang Ge helped me mix it with Sprite.”

Shen Yuming glanced at Fang Chi, who was lying drunk nearby, his words of anger unable to be spoken.

Mixing wine with Sprite makes it easier to get drunk—how could he not know that?

Yu Chen took the person away, irritated, “I’ll take him back first, and then I’ll deal with Fang Chi later.”

---

The day after the hangover was coincidentally the weekend. Yu Yan rested at home for two days before recovering, and when he went to work on Monday, he almost arrived late.

Director Fang was quite straightforward. The audition wrapped up, and within two days, he had signed contracts with Jian Ran and Song Yunqing. Jian Ran played the third male lead, while Song Yunqing had fewer scenes.

Since the last time he filed a lawsuit, Yu Yan had not seen any more discussions online urging him to “go down the path.”

When the cast for the period drama Twenty Years was officially announced and stills were released, it quickly shot up to the trending topics. Jian Ran’s name was mentioned repeatedly, and even his stutter was uncovered.

Although netizens weren’t optimistic about him, once they learned his character was a stutterer, the opposition grew less intense.

Half an hour later, Hello, Friends announced that Lu Yan and Jian Ran would be on the show. Public opinion started to shift in a troubling direction.

#Lu Yan Jian Ran#

#Lu Yan Twenty Years#

#Jian Ran Resources#

#Jian Ran Manager#

A paparazzi leaked a blurry video that seemed to have been taken during the Twenty Years audition when Yu Yan had taken Jian Ran to Lu Yan’s dressing room. However, the video only showed Lu Yan and Jian Ran, with no sign of Yu Yan.

Once the video was released, the online discussions were all over the place, with the most talked-about being the relationship between Jian Ran and Lu Yan. Some even speculated that Lu Yan was Jian Ran’s sugar daddy.

“Jian Ran and Song Yunqing have the same manager, so it shouldn’t be the case, right? Maybe it’s just Young Master Lu’s personal resources.”

“Didn’t they say these two didn’t get along? Lu Yan even snubbed Jian Ran during past shows. How could such an outrageous rumor spread?”

“Marketing accounts are so ridiculous. Maybe he went to apologize. Everyone in the industry knows they don’t get along. It’s just that Jian Ran is so insignificant, so no one talked about it.”

“They’re both on Hello, Friends, so they must have known each other before and only later drifted apart.”

“A rivalry that turns into love? I’m loving it.”

“To the one above, here’s the pen, you write it.”

---

As the public opinion intensified, Jian Ran contacted his PR assistant to handle the situation.

When he opened WeChat again, the group See What We Can’t Stand was already in an uproar. He Zhiyu was angrily cursing the paparazzi who stirred trouble and even used a fake account to argue with netizens.

Changing He Zhiyu’s Weibo password turned out to be the best decision he had ever made.

He Zhiyu was still in the group asking for the Weibo password, wanting to use his main account to counter the accusations. Yu Yan pretended not to see it.

The next moment, a message from the PR department popped up, and Yu Yan casually clicked on it.

【PR Department: Brother Yu, it’s hard for period dramas to become popular due to their themes. Although Jian Ran has joined Twenty Years, he’s only playing a supporting role with few scenes. The character itself also has flaws, so it’s hard for him to become famous through this drama. Pushing him onto the hot search right now might reduce his visibility.】

In short, they didn’t want to spend money—black or red, it’s all the same.

For some minor celebrities, this was indeed a way to gain recognition.

But Yu Yan’s goal was not for Jian Ran to be mocked and briefly gain attention before disappearing. He wanted Jian Ran to step onto a bigger stage.

【Yu Yan: How much would it cost to suppress the hot search and handle PR?】

【PR Department: At least seven figures. After evaluation, we don’t think it’s worth that much.】

【Yu Yan: Get someone to take it down. I’ll pay.】

【PR Department: This black hot search issue seems to be from Lu Yingdi’s side. Maybe we should wait and see if they spend money to resolve it.】

【Yu Yan: Don’t wait. Take it down directly.】

【PR Department: OK.】

Ten minutes later, the hot search related to Jian Ran gradually faded and soon disappeared from the Weibo trending list.

However, Lu Yan’s name remained on the hot search and hadn’t come down yet.

The PR department reminded Yu Yan that, logically, Lu Yan’s team should have been more anxious and dealt with the hot search as soon as it appeared. Why had they let it ferment for so long?

Could it be that they wanted to create heat for Twenty Years and Hello, Friends?

When did Lu Yan also need to rely on such marketing tactics?

It was incomprehensible!

The heat in the group chat remained high. Not just He Zhiyu, but also Song Yunqing and Jian Ran were chatting.

【Yu Yan: I’ve handled the PR. He Zhiyu, stop cursing. Be careful your fake account doesn’t get exposed.】