“Hey, you…” Ji Yan tried to subtly pull his hand free, but he couldn’t break away. Feeling a bit helpless, he glanced back at Zhou Yi.

Lu Ning, however, was anything but fastidious. He held Ji Yan’s hand firmly, even moving a step closer. “Come on now, you should know Senior Yu’s preferences—you wouldn’t make things difficult for him on purpose, would you?”

Ji Yan’s hand hurt from Lu Ning’s grip, but he forced a smile. “Of course not…” How could someone who looked so delicate have such a strong grip? And the tone he was using—it was practically roasting him over a fire. If Yu Zhou’s fans heard this, they’d probably tear him apart.

Zhou Yi had to step in to bail out this idiot. “Mr. Yu, we have things to do, so we’ll be off now.” Half a month had passed, and somehow Yu Zhou had picked up this two-faced character.

Yu Zhou looked at Lu Ning, noticing he seemed a bit upset. His words were strangely pointed. Yu nodded and replied, “Alright, take care.”

This time, Lu Ning let go of Ji Yan’s hand and blinked innocently, whispering, “Sorry about that; I’ve been doing so much homework lately that my grip’s gotten a bit strong.”

Ji Yan, remembering Lu Ning’s bold words about the college entrance exams on Weibo, rolled his eyes and said, “Stop pretending. Let’s hope you don’t end up embarrassing yourself.”

After the two walked away, Yu Zhou seemed thoughtful. A moment later, he patted Lu Ning’s head, saying, “Little Lemon, don’t worry. I’m not interested in other juniors. I wouldn’t shake hands with them.”

Lu Ning froze. “?” What kind of oblivious, sweet fool is this? Did he actually think I was jealous? Did he not realize he was the one setting himself up?

And… aren’t you supposed to have a germ phobia?! What’s with patting me on the head?!

That evening, Director Xu of Night Talk, who had also come to the event, noticed Yu Zhou and came over to say hello. “Mr. Yu, what brings you here tonight?”

Yu Zhou chatted with Director Xu for a bit, and then Xu’s gaze fell on Lu Ning beside him. “There’s a role in the show that would suit this young man well. I’d like to invite him to make a cameo—what do you think, Mr. Yu?”

Yu Zhou rarely thought highly of others, yet here he was, walking the red carpet with Lu Ning by his side and even posting two Weibo updates to support him—clearly, their relationship wasn’t ordinary. Besides, Lu Ning had just won Best Supporting Actor, so his acting skills were reliable.

Yu Zhou’s eyes lit up slightly. “Are you talking about that academic genius character? I think he’d be perfect for it.”

He turned to Lu Ning and said, “It would only take one or two days of filming, so it won’t interfere with your studies. Little Lemon, what do you think?”

Lu Ning found Yu Zhou a bit strange; even though they’d only recently met, Yu Zhou acted as if they were already close. Could it be that his mentor specifically asked Yu Zhou to look after him? Well, in that case, mutual support might work out.

Since Night Talk was a Huanyu investment project, working for his mentor’s company was ideal. Lu Ning nodded. “Of course, I’d be happy to.”

With many cameras at tonight’s event and some fans who’d managed to secure invitations through various channels, every move Yu Zhou made was in the spotlight. His attendance as Fu Group’s representative and his apparent closeness with Lu Ning had already become trending topics across multiple platforms.

【Back when Zhou Yi’s fans were mocking Yu Zhou, thinking his studio would be sold to Tianchen, so Yu Zhou would have to call Zhou Yi “big bro”—and now? Isn’t Yu Zhou the one closing out the night?】

【Yu Zhou must be Fu Group’s golden child! He’s seated in a spot reserved for Fu Group’s top exec, not a minor subsidiary position like Huanyu. Fu Group is seriously spoiling him; otherwise, why would they have a mere project manager from Huanyu represent them?】

【Seeing Yu Zhou calmly sitting in the center seat among all the top execs just makes me laugh. A classic case of borrowing power and looking unphased!】

【As a fan of Yu Zhou’s career, I feel so refreshed! His life is like a nonstop slap-in-the-face novel, haha!】

【But… what’s up with Yu Zhou walking the red carpet with Lu Ning?】

【Putting everything else aside, it’s just the Huanyu manager bringing a young Huanyu star onto the red carpet—it actually looks kind of shippable, doesn’t it?】

【What is Lu Ning’s true identity? Supported by Universal Entertainment, backed by Yu Zhou.】

【Lu Ning also supports Yu Zhou; fans caught him standing up for Yu Zhou against Zhou Yi, haha, he really is a cute little black-hearted lotus~ Yu Zhou looks so oblivious, like a naive little sweetheart~】

【Black-hearted lotus x naive sweetheart, I ship it!】

【It’s obviously the Best Actor x rising star!】

While everyone is debating the pairing, someone summed it up perfectly: 【Lu Ning is Universal Entertainment’s beloved son, and Yu Zhou is the little princess of the Fu family… Isn’t it just the little princess of the Fu family x Universal Entertainment’s beloved son?】

【Haha! That’s hilarious!】

Under the system’s reminders, Fu Yunshen also paid attention to the discussions online. It’s true that Lu Ning is his godson, and the overly delicate cat, Jiao Jiao, is like a princess pea in his household.

However… these bizarre arguments about pairings and fanfiction made him a bit worried. His godson is capable of getting pregnant, and if it’s a daughter’s child…

Could these two books end up combined into “The Spoiled Cat Who Got Pregnant by a Rich Old Man”?

Imagining such a devilish title, Fu Yunshen rubbed his forehead. He truly feels the heartache of a concerned father! Does he also have to oversee some kind of contraceptive products?

The system said, 【If you can’t accept it, Fifth Master, you can send them to Germany for orthopedic treatment, hehe.】

Fu Yunshen raised an eyebrow. 【Germany for orthopedic treatment?】

The system replied, 【I don’t know anything! If you’re worried, just ship Black-hearted Lotus x Naive Sweetheart~ That way, if someone gets pregnant, it’ll be Yu Zhou!】

Fu Yunshen: 【…】

Fu Yunshen had already sent someone to investigate his nephew Fang Rui’s substitute boyfriend. His name is Xie Lanze, which is quite poetic and reminds one of the lines from Nineteen Old Poems: “Crossing the river to pick lotus flowers, the orchid marsh is full of fragrant grass,” and from Goddess Ode: “Bathed in the orchid marsh, containing fragrance.”

This fits well with the scholarly aura he carries. Xie Lanze comes from a family of scholars; his father is a university professor, his mother is a painter, and his ancestors included some quite famous literati.

The Xie family isn’t as wealthy as the Fu family; they’re more of a middle-class family in terms of wealth, but their cultural background is something the Fu family can’t compare to. With Fang Rui and Xie Lanze together, Fu Yunshen actually felt that the Fu family was reaching a bit too high.

Upon further investigation, he discovered that the Xie family’s ancestors had some connections to the Fu family. Fu Yunshen’s grandfather and Xie Lanze’s great-grandfather were old acquaintances who jokingly suggested arranging a marriage between their children seventy or eighty years ago.

As for Xie Lanze himself, he is a writer who has published a few books and gained a bit of fame. He also has a column that he updates on a certain website.

After Xu Qingli broke up with Fang Rui and went abroad, Fang Rui later met Xie Lanze, who resembled Xu Qingli to some extent, and began a fervent pursuit. Xie Lanze, who spent most of his time writing and had little social interaction and no prior romantic experience, agreed to Fang Rui’s advances. He took the relationship seriously, not realizing that Fang Rui only saw him as a substitute.

Black Dawn is one of Xie Lanze’s works. Fang Rui, looking to dabble in film and television investment, asked Xie Lanze for his manuscript and offered him the opportunity to be the screenwriter.

Unexpectedly, Xu Qingli returned to the country at this time. Xu Qingli studied screenwriting abroad, and in order to curry favor with her, Fang Rui enthusiastically invited Xu Qingli to join the crew as a screenwriter.

In the domestic film and television industry, screenwriters usually work in teams. Xie Lanze poured his heart and soul into revising the script daily. Although he noticed that someone who somewhat resembled him had joined the team, he, being oblivious to subtle cues, didn’t think much of it.

Xu Qingli and Fang Rui reignited their old romance right under his nose. It wasn’t until Xu Qingli became the chief screenwriter for Black Dawn that he and Fang Rui fell out, realizing he was merely a substitute and that his script had become someone else’s garment.

After reviewing Xie Lanze’s information, Fu Yunshen thought his nephew was truly scummy. His sister had been too indulgent with him over the years. Although no drama had triggered yet, now that he was aware, he couldn’t just stand by.

The drama was funded by the Fang family. On one hand, Fu Yunshen contacted his sister to discipline Fang Rui properly, and on the other hand, he sent someone to liaise with the Fang family to clear Xie Lanze’s name.

A couple of days later, however, Old Master Fu suddenly said to Fu Yunshen, “Your grandfather had an old friend with the last name Xie. He has a junior named Xie Lanze who wants to meet you. I’ve given him your contact information. The Xie family has a good family tradition; you should indeed consider befriending them…”

Fu Yunshen nodded in response but felt a bit puzzled. It seemed that his connection with Xie Lanze had deepened, yet he still hadn’t triggered any plot—why was that?

Fu Yunshen soon received a WeChat message from Xie Lanze: 【Hello, Mr. Fu. I recently heard the elders in my family mention stories about my great-grandfather and your grandfather. I’d like to chat with you about them…】 He had thoughtfully typed out quite a long message to make himself seem sufficiently justified.

The system couldn’t help but chime in with its thoughts: 【This looks like someone trying to flirt by forcefully finding a topic, hahaha.】

Fu Yunshen replied directly, 【Where shall we meet?】

It seemed that the other party didn’t expect Fu Yunshen to be so straightforward. After a while, he finally responded: 【Tomorrow evening at seven, at Qiwutang Teahouse on Wutong Street.】

【Okay.】

The next evening, around six o’clock, the sun had just set, and the sky was dimming. A light rain was falling as Fu Yunshen arrived at Wutong Street as promised. Wutong Street was an old street lined with rows of phoenix trees. In May, the tree blossoms were in full bloom, and delicate purple flowers fluttered down in the rain.

The Qiwutang Teahouse was located at the end of an alley, so Fu Yunshen had to get out of the car at the entrance. Holding an umbrella, he walked toward the alley and noticed someone setting up a fortune-telling booth under a black umbrella. Did they really not pack up even in the rain?

“Sir, would you like your fortune told?” The man’s voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a warm and accommodating tone that sounded very pleasant in the rain.

Only then did Fu Yunshen take a closer look at the man. He saw a very beautiful hand holding the umbrella, with long, slender fingers and slightly pronounced knuckles that exuded a sense of masculine strength.

As he raised his gaze slightly, he saw the man wearing a simple black shirt, sitting with an air of dignity, as if the refinement of a prestigious family was ingrained in his very being. Although the man looked quite young, probably in his early twenties, his eyes were warm yet filled with experience. Fu Yunshen even felt that the gentle gaze held a certain sharpness, carrying an aura of someone who had long been in a position of power.

Fu Yunshen’s throat involuntarily moved. What the system didn’t know was that he was actually a “0”… He just felt that no one was worthy of pressing him down. However, this person’s presence…

Despite encountering such an unscientific thing as a system, Fu Yunshen didn’t believe in ghosts or gods. He simply felt that this person’s demeanor was far superior to the three protagonists he had encountered before; he could never be an ordinary fortune-teller.

He called out, 【Sytem..】

But the system seemed to have disappeared, with no response at all.

The man appeared to see through Fu Yunshen’s thoughts and said, “I also have other items for sale—a peace talisman for one hundred thousand.”

One hundred thousand wasn’t much for Fu Yunshen; he was genuinely interested in this person, so he replied, “I’ll take one.” He took out a check and wrote the amount on it, the stamp already affixed. However, he wanted to sign his name.

He lowered his head, wrote a few more strokes, and handed the check to the other man. The characters “Fu Yunshen” were bold and powerful, with an elegant flourish, very beautiful.

At that moment, a rain-soaked phoenix flower suddenly fell, landing on Fu Yunshen’s hand before sliding onto the small table in front of him, splashing tiny droplets of water.

The man handed the peace talisman to Fu Yunshen, who asked, “Is there a warranty service?”

Hearing this, the man lifted his gaze to look at Fu Yunshen, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips as he replied, “No.”

Fu Yunshen wasn’t upset by the rejection; he tucked the talisman away and said, “Well then, goodbye, sir.”

The man nodded politely, “Goodbye.”

Fu Yunshen walked into the alley, gradually moving farther away. Only then did the system’s electronic voice suddenly reappear, trembling slightly: 【M-Master… that person just now was really terrifying… I think he saw me…】

…

At the entrance of the alley, several luxury cars parked in front of the stall, and over a dozen black umbrellas opened in the rain, resembling blooming black flowers.

Someone hurriedly walked to the man’s side to hold up an umbrella for him. Upon seeing the check in his hand, they couldn’t help but ask, “Fourth Uncle, what is this…?”

Just then, a few ill-suited individuals approached him quickly, bowing deeply: “Mr. Xie, we heard you were out… My boss is willing to offer ten million for you…”

The man, however, replied indifferently, “Wealth is merely an external possession; please leave.” As soon as he finished speaking, someone stepped forward to escort them away.

The person holding the umbrella for him glanced again at the ten-thousand-yuan check, perplexed: “Then why did you…?” The difference between ten thousand and ten million was a hundredfold.

The man in the black shirt slowly folded the check and placed it into his shirt pocket, simply stating, “The writing is beautiful.”

With long fingers, he picked up the purple paulownia flower on the table and gently sniffed it at his nose.

“What a joke! Fourth Uncle, your writing could be called second best; no one would dare claim to be first!”