Somewhere further, Shen Wanwan was picking up a call.

It was from her stepfather, Shen Rong.

The project Shen Rong had been discussing with Qi Yuan had been stuck for nearly half a year with no progress. Unexpectedly, in the last two days, things suddenly loosened up and began advancing unusually smoothly.

Shen Rong wanted to keep things strictly business with Qi Yuan, but Qi Yuan spoke cheerfully.

“Since we’ll be family from now on, let’s not bother with all this formality.
“Wanwan and Luozhou get along well. As parents, we should help however we can.”

Shen Rong thought, Who’s going to be family with you? and hung up directly without the slightest politeness.

Shen Mingzhen had, however, told him about this matter.

She even said their daughter had always been very assertive; since she had such a clear goal, they shouldn’t interfere.

Those words made Shen Rong very unhappy.

These past days, he had looked through plenty of information on Qi Luozhou. Impressive résumé, undeniably good-looking.

But those eyes were too affectionate.

Yet the depths of them were extremely cold.

Obviously the type who looks warm outside but cold inside.

Not good.

Very not good!

Shen Rong hadn’t liked Su Tingxuan before, and now he disliked Qi Luozhou just as much.

What man in this world could be worthy of his precious daughter?

He was calling now mainly to confirm something with Shen Wanwan:

“Wanwan, you’re not marrying Qi Luozhou for my sake, are you?”

“No.” Shen Wanwan smiled a little.
“Qi Luozhou suits me in many ways.
“I’ve already discussed this with Mom.”

Shen Rong was displeased.

“Wanwan, you must never wrong yourself!
“If you don’t want to get married, then don’t. Dad can take care of you for a lifetime…”

Even though Shen Rong spent a long time earnestly persuading her on the phone, Shen Wanwan’s attitude didn’t change at all.

“Dad, I’ve already decided.”

Shen Rong: “……”

He took a deep breath on the other end of the phone.

“When you have time, bring him to meet me.”

Based on his intuition as a man.

Qi Luozhou was much more scheming than Su Tingxuan.

He was afraid his daughter would suffer.

“Alright.”

After hanging up, Shen Wanwan sent a message to Qi Luozhou.

[Qi Luozhou, our marriage might fall through.]

---

When Qi Luozhou received the message, he was also standing by the window, leisurely enjoying the view with a cup of tea.

Jiang Yuan was beside him gossiping, “Have you noticed lately? The relationship between Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan has gotten much better.”

“Has it?” Qi Luozhou replied casually.

“It’s obvious! I didn’t think about it before… Yesterday Jiang Rong even asked me quietly if those two had something going on. When I thought along that line… there is a bit of that vibe.”

Qi Luozhou lowered his brows and gently blew the surface of his tea.

A thin mist rose from the cup, veiling his face, making his expression hard to discern.

“Didn’t notice.”

Jiang Yuan rubbed his chin, a little regretful. “Shame we didn’t get to choose each other that time. I really wanted to team up with her. Feels like it’d be fun.”

They were doing a typical challenge-type variety show. The director gives missions, they complete them.

But being on a team with Shen Wanwan would be different. She always had many, many novel ideas.

At this, Qi Luozhou lazily lifted his eyelids.

“Then you should give up on that thought.”

Jiang Yuan thought so too.

Only then did Qi Luozhou lazily tap open his phone.

When he saw the message was from Shen Wanwan, a faint smile lifted at the corner of his lips.

He opened it.

Saw the calm, unruffled words.

The man who was always mild, always with a smile, suddenly choked on his tea.

Then coughed violently, like his lungs were about to tear.

Jiang Yuan thought Qi Luozhou was upset about him, so he hurriedly got up to pat Qi Luozhou’s back.

“Alright, alright, I was only joking. Worst case, we’ll just stay a bachelor duo till death.”

Then Qi Luozhou… coughed even harder.

---

After Shen Wanwan sent the message, 001 was utterly confused.

{You clearly just told your Dad you’ve already decided, so why are you saying that to the male lead?}

The host’s thoughts were always so hard to guess.

the little light orb totally couldn’t understand.

Shen Wanwan said softly, “If he needs me enough, then he’ll perform well in front of my Dad.”

Also, if Qi Luozhou couldn’t even win her father’s approval, then there wasn’t much meaning in marrying him.

001 circled around her, still perplexed but impressed.

When Shen Wanwan put down her phone and returned to the living room, Lin Kexin was sitting beside Shao Yuye questioning her life.

Shao Yuye sat relaxed on the sofa, peeling a translucent grape and tossing it into his mouth.

Lin Kexin glanced at Shen Wanwan with a complicated expression.

Shen Wanwan raised a brow. “What?”

Lin Kexin looked at Shao Yuye, then at Shen Wanwan, and a bold guess popped up in her mind again.

She whispered, “How did you manage to make Brother Ye see you through such rose-colored glasses?”

Oh.

That matter.

Shen Wanwan lifted the corner of her lips. “Want to know?”

Lin Kexin nodded like a bobblehead, full of anticipation:

“Mm-mm-mm!”

Shen Wanwan: “Take a guess.”

Lin Kexin: “……”

Aaaah.

Shen Wanwan was even harder to read than Shao Yuye!

Just as she was about to lose her mind, the girl beside her suddenly curved her lips into a smile. Her clear eyes shimmered, bright and stunning.

“Want a hint?”

Lin Kexin figured Shen Wanwan definitely wanted to tease her more.

But in the face of overwhelming gossip temptation, she still chose to trust.

“Mm-mm-mm?”

Shen Wanwan: “It’s not a romantic relationship.”

Lin Kexin, who had been vaguely suspecting some ambiguity between the two of them: “?”

Hello??? Your hint made it even more confusing!!!

---

Ten minutes later, the villa door was knocked on.

“Who is it?”

Shao Yuye lazily opened the door.

The unique crisp coolness of autumn drifted in.

Standing outside was a tall man with refined, elegant features.

The memory of getting his forehead flicked a few days ago suddenly resurfaced like a nightmare, washing over him.

Shao Yuye’s gaze trembled faintly.

Just as Lin Kexin looked over and happily shouted “God Zhou!”, Shao Yuye grabbed the door handle and swiftly pushed forward—

With a loud *bang*, he forcefully slammed the door shut.

A bit of cool air drifted in through the open window.

When Shao Yuye turned around, he caught Lin Kexin’s dumbfounded expression. With a blank face, he explained:

“Oh. You saw wrong.”

Lin Kexin: “……”

She didn’t know why, but suddenly… she felt a little comforted inside…

If Brother Ye slams the door on God Zhou himself, what’s wrong with him being double-standard with her…?

Her idol is just so real! The definition of ‘clear love and clear hate’!

While she was letting her thoughts run wild, Shao Yuye had already locked the door and earnestly told her to rest:

“You can go to sleep now.”

Lin Kexin: “……”

“…Actually I wanted to open the door for God Zhou.”

But by the time she opened the door again, there was no one outside.

At the same time, Shen Wanwan received a call from Qi Luozhou.

She pressed the answer button lazily.

Qi Luozhou’s voice sounded very calm.

“What went wrong?”

Shen Wanwan stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down. Beneath the villa’s tree, Qi Luozhou was standing quietly.

Today’s sunlight wasn’t harsh.

Their eyes met effortlessly.

She spoke lightly into the phone:

“My Dad wants to meet you.”

Qi Luozhou sounded like he let out a small sigh of relief.

“It was rude of me not to meet your parents before.”

Shen Wanwan said casually, “Simply put, he thinks you’re not reliable.”

Below the tree, the man’s brows moved slightly.

He looked at her for a long moment.

“And you?”

His voice was undeniably magnetic. Maybe because he had lowered it and the phone was close to her ear, it sounded as if a lover were whispering.

Shen Wanwan moved the phone a little farther away.

“Mm?”

“Do you think I’m reliable?”

Shen Wanwan looked away first.

Her tone was light. “Doesn’t matter.”

Can reliability be eaten?

As long as he didn’t mess around outside, causing strange trouble…

He could be as unreliable as he wanted.

---

It was the last day of the third stop.

After lunch break, the director announced that the next pairing would be freely altered by one of the guest helpers.

Not only the guests, all the viewers were shocked.

[What? No more mutual choosing?]

[Damn, the guests have so much power!?]

[Ahhhh, does this mean my dream team of Brother Ye and God Zhou can happen!?]

[Finally understand the use of that [Love Stronger Than Gold] card. It was for this segment…]

[Oh no, Brother Ye and Wanwan already used their card! Does that mean their team will be split!?]

[Begging for a lucky guest to leave my ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ alone!!]

---

Meanwhile, the hashtag #Heartache For Shao Yuye# was still topped with a bright red ‘exploding’ mark, its popularity continuing to climb. The materials Brother Li had spent the entire day preparing were finally put to use.

A video of the past—Shao Yuye passing out from low blood sugar after practicing too hard in the studio.

Another one—when the program maliciously suggested having family members record encouragement videos, the stubborn teenager gritted his teeth and said he had no family.

And the old footage of him spending New Year’s Eve alone at the company, practicing by himself in the dance studio while everyone else celebrated joyfully with their families.

Those old videos, carrying distant memories, once again reminded the ‘Yu Yu’s of the past.

The boy who stood alone, with no one on his side, choking up sincerely on stage: “Thank you.”

Countless people watching burst into tears.

And regarding the accusations in the exposé post, Brother Li responded point by point.

[But Shao Hongyuan sponsored that season of <One Pick>, how do you explain that?]

Thanks to Shen Wanwan’s ability, the truth surfaced easily.

Soon, someone claiming to be a staff member from that season of <One Pick> came forward anonymously.

That year, the one sponsored by ‘Zhenxian Fresh Milk’ was the trainee who barely missed debut, ranking 10th.

As a ‘royal pick’ of the show, he was originally the one Shao Hongyuan had planned and positioned to debut.

But the ‘Yu Yu’s were simply too powerful.

They forcibly pushed Shao Yuye, whose votes had been artificially suppressed to keep him at 10th, straight into the center position.

His vote count even ranked first by a huge margin.

His overwhelming support finally allowed the capital to recognize his value, something that utterly crushed the little investment Shao Hongyuan had provided.

In other words, Shao Hongyuan showed up to not support Shao Yuye.

He was there for his son’s competitor.

And the reason Shao Yuye’s votes were constantly suppressed?

Shao Hongyuan had a hand in that too.

He never wanted his rebellious son to debut.

‘Yu Yu’s watched the old clips, hearts aching.

[I’m seriously going to cry to death. Why did Brother Ye have to endure so much? Back then, we were truly the only ones he had!]

[I can’t even imagine… how can a father be this cruel? Not helping is one thing, but actively crushing his own son?]

His former limited group teammates also stepped forward to speak for him.

[Ah Ye really had it hard back then. He slept very, very little. The moment the mentor said we needed to learn a new dance, he’d master it overnight. He was terrified of being eliminated. The pressure was unimaginable. I don’t believe someone who had ‘connections’ or confidence could possibly act like that.]

Brother Li even exposed the astronomical termination penalty, and the predatory actions of the former company shocked everyone.

[That’s why those years people said he lost his passion, took all those ridiculously cheap gigs, didn’t focus on the stage, kept running media appearances every day, it all had reasons.]

[No more angst, please, I can’t take it!]

[What exactly has Brother Ye gone through all these years…]

[His path has been way too hard! Before debut he was targeted by his awful Dad, after debut he was tormented by a trash company! Thank god he was strong enough to survive all of it…]

[No wonder when he became a mentor, he kept telling the contestants not to panic, to refuse unreasonable contracts even if afraid to lose opportunities. It was because he’d been through the storm and wanted to hold an umbrella for others…]

The topic stayed at the top of the trending list all night, unmoving. Aside from feeling heartbroken, many people also flooded the Hongyuan Group’s official account to curse out Shao Hongyuan.

But Shao Hongyuan himself still knew nothing about what was happening online.

Pressing hard against his temples, he stared at the plummeting stock chart, sinking into deep anxiety.

His phone had blown up nonstop. The tens of millions he’d begged and borrowed the previous night to salvage the collapsing situation had all been thrown in.

But the drop still refused to stop.

When the market closed that afternoon, his assistant rushed into the office, sweating nervously with a tablet in hand.

“President Shao…”

Shao Hongyuan slumped in his executive chair, eyes dull and empty. He didn’t need to look at those dismal numbers, he already knew the tide had turned.

He was finished!

The corporation he had built with his own hands collapsed in an instant, and he was about to shoulder tens of millions in debt.

It was deep into the night when he finally trudged home in a numb daze.

But the house was a mess too.

A daughter bawling her eyes out, and a wife who looked helpless, repeating nothing but “What do we do now?”

No one had expected Shao Yuye to expose all of the Shao family’s ugly secrets to the public in such a direct and brutal way.

At school, Shao Jia was mocked as the daughter of a mistress, she couldn’t even lift her head.

She had been enjoying the dreamlike feeling of being adored by everyone, and now she had fallen straight into hell.

Most families at the school had their own skeletons in the closet, but their mothers were all the legal wives. The moment they saw Shao Jia, the daughter of a mistress, they vented all their dissatisfaction and anger upon her, furiously cursing that this ‘wicked child’ actually had the nerve to brag about being Shao Yuye’s little sister.

Xu Qingxin suffered the same treatment.

She was promptly kicked out of the ladies’ tea circles. In truth, those wealthy wives didn’t care all that much about whether she was the legal wife—because in this circle, profit trumped everything.

But after seeing Shao Jia’s behavior, everyone was speechless.

Truly a pair of mother and daughter, both stupid and malicious.

They became nothing more than laughingstocks at tea tables.

As soon as Shao Jia saw her father return, she screamed even louder, crying so hard that Shao Hongyuan’s head buzzed like a swarm of flies was crashing around inside.

He couldn’t stand it anymore and strode over to slap Shao Jia across the face.

“Enough!”

Shao Jia froze, clutching her cheek in disbelief. Her crying stopped instantly.

It was the first time her father had ever hit her…

“Look at the mess you’ve caused!”

Shao Hongyuan took several deep breaths, nearly driven to death by his idiotic daughter. “I said a few words to comfort you and you actually took them seriously?! What were you thinking?! You’re the daughter of a mistress, what are you showing off for?! Shao Yuye’s mother is a daughter of a prestigious family. And what is your mother?!”

The gentle mask on Xu Qingxin’s face nearly cracked apart.

Shao Hongyuan’s eyes were bloodshot, his whole body trembling.

The entire circle was laughing at him.

He abandoned a perfectly good wealthy wife and married a woman as low-class as Xu Qingxin, and their child was this foolish and useless…

He suddenly found himself missing Shen Mingzhen a little.

Four days passed in a flash, and their stop in Luocheng finally came to an end.

Lin Kexin had successfully infiltrated Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan’s little group and had finally grown closer to her idol…

But her feelings were a bit complicated.

She remembered a question she once saw online:

[If one day you appeared on a variety show with your idol, how would you feel?!]

Lin Kexin : Thanks for the invite. Very happy. Almost ready to unstan 🙂

Be! Cause!

Brother Ye is seriously way too double-standard!!!!

Did Shen Wanwan save his life or something?

Thinking about how Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan used to fight like cats and dogs, so bad that both were cursed to hell by netizens—

And now they were suddenly harmonious, and Brother Ye even protected her so fiercely.

For some ridiculous reason, a cheesy line popped into Lin Kexin’s head:

—My teammate. I will pamper her with my life.

“……”

She quickly shook the cheesy thought away. Before parting ways, she decided to test Brother Ye one last time.

During lunchtime, when there were no cameras around, she quietly approached Shao Yuye.

He was lounging on the sofa eating grapes. When he saw her, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Brother Ye.” Lin Kexin boldly asked, “Don’t you think you’re a little… double-standard?”

“In what way?”

Shao Yuye gave her a lazy glance. “What are you trying to say?”

Lin Kexin pulled out the photo taken by the high-altitude camera during their roller coaster ride the day before.

All three of them looked decent in it.

She even thought she looked better than Shen Wanwan. Shen Wanwan happened to have her eyes closed.

Lin Kexin held the photo in front of Shao Yuye and asked tentatively:

“What do you think of my expression?”

Shao Yuye didn’t pause his movements. He peeled a grape and tossed it into his mouth. “It’s okay. Not bad. Passable.”

Lin Kexin: “……”

Great. Exactly within her expectations.

She quietly pointed at Shen Wanwan. “Then what do you think of Shen Wanwan’s expression?”

The moment she finished speaking, the previously relaxed man instantly sat up straight.

His eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Shen Wanwan in the photo.

“Beautiful. Seriously so beautiful.”

“……”

---

Shao Yuye said that one word very slowly.

Yet they carried endless mockery.

But the haters in the barrage didn’t notice at all; instead, they all mocked:

[Finally starting the long sob story, huh?]

[I bet Shao Yuye is about to start crying. After all, he cried so dramatically when he debuted and got the center position. It really ‘tortured’ a lot of fans.]

[I’ve seen this idol whitewashing routines countless times. First, they look all depressed, then they admit their ‘mistakes’, make up a few excuses to patch things up. The braindead fans always buy it.]

Shao Yuye’s voice felt like it was infused with ice.

“A scumbag who cheated during his marriage, and a mistress who got pregnant while that marriage was still in effect—
“If you’re so filial, why don’t you kowtow to them?”

This sentence was loaded with information.

The rhythm in the barrage visibly panicked; for a moment, only the voices of ‘Yu Yu’s remained.

[What does that mean? Is he publicly tearing into his parents?!]

[What parents?! Didn’t Brother Ye make it clear enough? A scumbag father, a mistress-turned-mom. Oh, and that person claiming to be his ‘little sister’. She’s so young, she must be the mistress’ kid.]

[Imagining this really breaks my heart. A mistress breaks into the family to be the stepmother, and a clueless stepsister on top of that…]

[No, wait, is that stepsister actually out of her mind? She’s a mistress’ daughter, how does she have the face to jump out saying her ‘brother’ is Shao Yuye?!]

But soon the negative voices surged back again—

[Even if the parents divorced, he didn’t have to claim his parents were dead!]

[Exactly. Divorced and ‘both parents dead’ are clearly different things. He’s deliberately trying to manipulate fans emotionally.]

Shao Yuye let out a cold, mocking laugh.

“Some people may be alive, but they’re no different from dead.”

The barrage exploded.

Marketing accounts swarmed in. Originally, they thought Shao Yuye would gloss over things like most idols, give a simple response, cry a little, sincerely apologize, and move on.

They never expected his response to be far more explosive than they imagined.

Was he really not afraid of getting taken out of context and dragged to hell?

Shao Yuye couldn’t be bothered to describe his father’s behavior throughout his childhood, nor did he intend to play the victim. He simply said calmly:

“That so-called ‘little sister’ is the product of that woman giving birth half a year after my parents divorced.”

At this point, the disgust in his eyes was impossible to hide.

“When I turned eighteen, I officially left the Shao family.
“If it were you, what would you write in the column for ‘parents’?”

[Ughhh. I feel so bad for Brother Ye. Why did he have to end up with a father like that…]

[Thank goodness Brother Ye has us now… I really want to hug him…]

The hired trolls waiting to stir up trouble were stunned.

They imagined a thousand possible ways Shao Yuye might respond.

But never that he would confront his disgraceful past so directly, laying everything bare before the public.

Meanwhile, the viewer count in the livestream kept climbing.

Topics about Shao Yuye, which had been suppressed for the entire day, were now completely unblocked.

#Heartache For Shao Yuye#

This hashtag shot to the top of the trending list in an instant, marked with a huge, bright red ‘exploding’ tag.

[I honestly don’t understand why such stupid and evil people exist in this world.]

[Why can a mistress’ daughter still speak so righteously about being ‘family’…]

[So disgusting. No wonder Brother Ye left that filthy home so early and never mentioned this family for years!]

After speaking his truth, Shao Yuye ended the livestream.

He didn’t look at the internet again.

If it were the old him, he wouldn’t have cared what people said online.

No matter how many negative rumors there were, he never responded.

Those who are innocent need no explanation, he never needed to ‘clarify’ to anyone.

But when he saw fans saying they would still love him even if he had deceived them…

They were being labeled ‘braindead fans,’ mocked and ridiculed…

Those were the fans who had supported him the longest.

He absolutely couldn’t let them suffer for his sake.

When Shen Wanwan walked through the door, she saw her brother sitting in a chair with a blank expression.

The livestream had already ended, but he still seemed trapped in invisible chains.

Hearing the sound, Shao Yuye lifted his head.

When he saw it was her, a smile finally appeared on his face.

Shen Wanwan sat beside him. “Still upset?”

“No.” Shao Yuye touched his chest. “Just… strangely calm.”

No anger.

No sadness.

Only calm.

His mood was as calm as a pool of dead water, utterly without ripples.

Shen Wanwan lightly patted his shoulder. “Lin Kexin just asked if we want to play Fight the Landlord¹. Do you want to go down and join?”

“Are you going?” Shao Yuye asked.

“Mm.” Shen Wanwan stood up. “She told me to persuade you too.”

After a pause, she added, “Probably because she’s afraid you’ll think too much. She told me to cheer you up a little.”

Shao Yuye laughed.

“It’s nothing!”

He stood up, looking eager. “Alright, let’s go. Tonight I have to play to my heart’s content!”

Anything that involved winning or losing would immediately awaken that arrogant competitive streak in him.

Shen Wanwan chuckled. “Mm.”

The two went downstairs together. Lin Kexin was holding a deck of cards, nervously asking, “Brother Ye, are you okay?”

She had watched the entire livestream just now.

Damn.

As expected of Brother Ye!

A real man should fight back against every piece of slander one by one!

Shao Yuye tipped his chin at her. “It’s nothing.”

His feelings toward Shao Hongyuan had long been worn away over the years.

When the exposé came out, at most it felt like being harassed by a fly, annoying and bothersome. He simply hated entanglements.

Seeing that he was indeed joining the game, Lin Kexin quickly said, “Flicking foreheads really hurts, so let’s play with sticky notes instead.”

With Brother Ye’s card skills…

Lin Kexin genuinely couldn’t bear to flick him.

He was her beloved idol, after all. And considering the tragic story he went through today, she decided a gentler punishment would be better.

“Sticky notes, huh…”

Shao Yuye looked a bit disgusted, but considering Lin Kexin and Shen Wanwan were both girls, he reluctantly agreed. “Fine.”

He’d let them have their way for now.

Round one—Shao Yuye, of course, grabbed the landlord position.

Lin Kexin and Shen Wanwan cooperated perfectly. Without even trying, they successfully slapped two sticky notes onto his face.

Shao Yuye puffed his cheeks and blew at the note stuck to his forehead, annoyed. “Just you wait!”

Round two—his sticky notes increased to four.

“…”

Unhappy, he ground a molar and thought that once this variety show ended, he would go home and drill his card skills.

When he returned, he would wipe them out completely!

After many rounds, he finally gave up on his obsession with being the landlord. Working with Shen Wanwan to battle Lin Kexin, who was landlord this round…

The situation finally improved a little.

At this moment Lin Kexin had five cards left, Shen Wanwan seven, and Shao Yuye six.

Shao Yuye: “8, 9, 10, J, Q!”

Shen Wanwan glanced at him approvingly and quietly pressed over his play.

She slowly laid down her cards, one by one, with a completely confident aura.

“9.
“10.
“J.
“Q.
“K.”

Next, all she needed was to throw out her pair of twos and she’d win.

The siblings exchanged a knowing smile.

Meanwhile, Lin Kexin stared at the straight they basically delivered into her hands…

She bit her lip in struggle, and then silently put down her five cards.

“Sorry guys! I’ll go first.”

“10, J, Q, K, A.”

She played the straight clearly, unmistakably.

Shao Yuye : “…”

Shen Wanwan : “…”

These two were so used to winning that their expressions were especially dramatic now that she’d beaten them herself.

Shen Wanwan frowned and looked at Shao Yuye, displeased. “How can your card skills be this bad? You couldn’t play an 8 first?”

Feeling guilty, Shao Yuye looked silently at Lin Kexin, then said boldly, “Why did you play that? Take your cards back and say you ‘can’t beat it’!”

Lin Kexin: “…”

She sighed regretfully. “Brother Ye, I’m your fan, but I’m not an idiot.”

Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye both fell silent.

Inside, Lin Kexin complained:

—You two not only look alike, but your terrible card skills are also exactly the same, okay?!

“Come on.” She eagerly took out more sticky notes. “One each~”

By now, beneath Shao Yuye’s eyes were so many sticky notes that they looked like wide noodle-like tears, creating a ridiculous yet funny look.

Shen Wanwan only had one.

She stared disdainfully at Shao Yuye’s note-covered head, puffing her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

The image-conscious Miss Shen couldn’t help reminding, “You have to stick mine on nicely.”

Lin Kexin coaxed her gently, sticking one at her temple. “It’ll look nice, very nice!”

Shao Yuye chimed in, “Yeah, nice! Very nice!”

Shen Wanwan didn’t believe a single word.

How good could it possibly look?

She glared angrily at her brother. “I’m never teaming with you again!”

Shen Wanwan took out her phone and opened the front camera to check herself like a mirror, only relaxing once she confirmed she didn’t look too ugly.

Then she looked at Lin Kexin and tilted her chin arrogantly. “Again.”

Lin Kexin : …

—You two are really… Serves you right to be teammates…
—Even your damned competitiveness is exactly the same!

Now even her competitive spirit had been ignited.

“Bring it on!”

Thanks to this round of Fight the Landlord, the irritation that had been swirling in Shao Yuye’s chest all day dissipated just like that.

Before bed that night, Shao Yuye received a photo from Shen Wanwan.

Shen Wanwan : [I’m very angry.]

Attached was a cute cartoon angry-face sticker.

Shao Yuye looked at the photo and couldn’t help but laugh.

On the screen was a selfie of the two of them, both with sticky notes on their faces.

It turned out that she took the selfie directly when using the camera as mirror.

And this girl was obviously someone who cared so much about her image.

---

1. 斗地主 (dòu dìzhǔ) which translates to “Fight the Landlord,” is the most popular trump card game in China. ↩︎

---

Downstairs, everyone was having breakfast together. Noticing that Shao Yuye still hadn’t come down, Lin Kexin quietly tugged Shen Wanwan’s sleeve:

“About last night… did you see it?”

Shen Wanwan: “What is it?”

Lin Kexin leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Someone exposed Brother Ye, saying he hid his background and deceived the audience.”

“Oh.” Shen Wanwan responded without much emotion. “I know.”

Lin Kexin asked cautiously, “Is Brother Ye… in a bad mood?”

Shen Wanwan took a sip of milk and said lightly, “He’ll be fine soon.”

Shao Yuye was in his room going over last night’s events with Brother Li.

When someone knocked on the door, he didn’t respond at all.

Until Shen Wanwan’s cool voice sounded at the door: “Open the door.”

The voice was soft, but it carried such weight that he jolted up from the bed and rushed to open it.

“Why are you here?”

Shen Wanwan handed him the tray.

“Eat your breakfast.”

She walked into the room. The curtains were still drawn, leaving the entire space dim and gloomy. Shen Wanwan, without any hesitation, walked over and pulled the curtains open.

A flood of light poured into the room.

The once dark and stifling space instantly became much brighter.

Holding the tray in one hand, Shao Yuye casually picked up a bun with the other and stuffed it into his mouth.

The fragrance of red bean paste spread through the air, a gentle sweetness blooming on his lips.

Shao Yuye froze for a moment. He turned to Shen Wanwan, surprised.

“Sweet?”

He didn’t like sweet things at all.

“Mm. Eating something sweet makes you feel better.”
Shen Wanwan sat down beside him and pinched his cheek lightly.
“You look like someone carrying the weight of the world.
“Ugly.”

Since his little sister asked, Shao Yuye tugged up the corner of his mouth, trying to look a bit more cheerful.

But Shen Wanwan wasn’t buying it at all. She reached out and pressed his lip down, dragging his facial line back into its original expression.

“If you don’t feel like being happy, then don’t force it.”

That was true.

He really couldn’t feel happy right now.

Shao Yuye let out a mocking smile.

“It’s just ridiculous.”

Family scandals shouldn’t be aired outside.

He really didn’t want to bring up those depressing matters at all, and there wasn’t much worth saying either. He just wanted to show his fans the best side of himself.

A dark and miserable idol couldn’t stand on stage shining and giving fans strength. All that negativity would only drain the fans and make them irritable.

It was pointless.

He didn’t want that.

Shen Wanwan smiled. “Just explain things clearly to everyone.”

Shao Yuye nodded. “Mm.”

Shen Wanwan was about to speak when 001 suddenly said: {The female lead is right outside the door.}

Shen Wanwan looked over.

Through the narrow crack of the door, she could only see the hem of Bai Ling’s skirt.

Bai Ling had been peeking through the gap, and after seeing how close Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan were, her feelings instantly became complicated.

She stood at the door holding a tray, feeling caught between advancing and retreating.

If she went in, she feared disturbing the warmth inside. But if she left quietly, she felt unwilling.

Forget it, better to leave.

She turned around, but bumped her elbow against the door panel. It made a crisp *creak*. Shao Yuye turned his head and their eyes met.

Bai Ling’s face flushed as she looked at him and explained, “I… I saw you didn’t come down for breakfast and was worried you’d be hungry.”

Shao Yuye was still holding the red bean bun Shen Wanwan brought him.

He froze for a moment, surprised she cared.

Shen Wanwan looked at Bai Ling with a faint, amused smile.

“Just put it on the table.”

…That line again!

Bai Ling felt irritation rise in her chest. She tried to walk in and say something comforting.

“Shao Yuye, I saw everything online. Don’t let it bother you too much. Skipping meals will only make it worse, so I brought you a lot of—”

Before she could finish, Shao Yuye suddenly let out a full burp.

Just now, while chatting with his sister, he accidentally ate several red bean buns.

He glanced regretfully at the breakfast Bai Ling brought.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can eat anymore.”

He was full.

Bai Ling: “…”

Everything Shen Wanwan brought was the kind of sweet food Shao Yuye disliked the most, so why did he finish it all?!

In the end, Bai Ling carried her untouched tray downstairs.

001 watched her retreating back, completely baffled: {…Incredible. The situation has totally reversed… The female lead keeps getting shut down whenever she’s near you!}

Shen Wanwan curved her lips. “Do you know why?”

001: {Why?}

“Because I have you.”

The rarely soft-hearted Miss Shen gently rubbed the little light orb’s head.

001, pleased at being praised, twisted its body happily.

{Not really, it’s mainly because you are amazing.}

Shen Wanwan, who had never known the meaning of modesty in her life, said confidently, “Mm, I am the light.”

She didn’t need to borrow anyone else’s light.

Nor did she need to depend on anyone.

Even if the light was faint—

It was still hers.

Morning light, clear and gentle, shone in through the window.

001 didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he felt the light on its host’s body seemed to have brightened a little again.

The livestream that day had been harmonious.

Thanks to Shen Wanwan, all negative news about Shao Yuye was blocked.

Until the end of that day’s recording.

Words alone couldn’t express his emotions clearly, and he wasn’t the type to write some long sentimental essay recounting his life.

In the end, Shao Yuye decided to go live on Weibo.

Shen Wanwan reminded him: “You’ve held it in all day. There might be a lot of extreme hate comments.”

Reality was exactly as she predicted. Almost the moment the stream started, hate comments flooded in:

[Shao Yuye pretending to be dead? Got the guts to record a show but not to respond?!]

[LOL, king of covering things up. The more he tries, the more yesterday’s post seems true!]

[What’s this livestream for? Keeping fans? Hahahaha!]

But such comments were quickly drowned out by the enthusiasm of the ‘Yu Yu’s.

Earlier in the day, Shao Yuye’s studio had posted a statement saying they would pursue legal action against false accusations, and that Shao Yuye would talk to everyone about it personally that evening.

The ‘Yu Yu’s were extremely worried. Thankfully, the show was fully livestreamed, so they could see that Brother Ye was doing fine.

Now that they could finally talk to him face-to-face, everyone spammed the chat like crazy:

[Aaaaah Brother Ye!!!]

[Brother Ye! Brohter Ye! Brother Ye!!!]

[Brother Ye is clarifying tonight? Great great great!]

[Brother Ye please, tell us she’s not your sister okay? She really doesn’t understand you Q_AQ]

[So Shao Hongyuan really is Brother Ye’s biological father?]

[Feels like Brother Ye really doesn’t like them.]

[I wanted to say last night. His expression in that family photo looked bad, impatient even.]

Shao Yuye had originally been calm.

He had hoped he could peacefully tell fans about this meaningless story from the past.

But there were always a few people stirring things up:

[Can you respond to these points? Back in the competition, did you really say that just to manipulate fans?]

[Your Dad helped you a lot behind the scenes, right? Playing the sad underdog for years, and now that public opinion is good, you’re switching to the rich young master route?]

[Why don’t you dare respond? Did I hit a nerve? Avoiding the real issue, putting on a show for fans. Look at all the braindead fans, you’ve been exposed yet they still worship you.]

The words ‘braindead fans’ made the veins on Shao Yuye’s exposed forearms pop.

They could insult him, but to insult his fans as braindead…

He suppressed his anger. Under the light, his eyes dimmed.

The provoking comments continued:

[I bet tonight he’ll say some nonsense like cutting ties~ let’s hear the speech Top Idol Shao prepared all day!]

[Huh? Abandoning family for fame? His parents really suffered, raising such an ungrateful wolf…]

Seeing that last comment, the anger that had just ignited in him was instantly doused like cold water poured over his head.

He stared at it, then suddenly curled his lips into a smile.

But the smile was icy and didn’t reach his eyes.

Shao Yuye leaned back in his chair, spine touching the backrest. His tongue pressed against the inner wall of his right cheek, a faint, disdainful scoff slipping from the corner of his mouth.

“Parents?”

Shao Jia never expected that her casual bragging would cause such a huge mess. Crying again, she dialed her father in a panic, stammering an explanation to Shao Hongyuan.

“Dad…
“I didn’t mean to… I didn’t think my classmates would spread it… now so many people online are scolding my brother…”

She couldn’t reach her brother. She wanted to explain to him, but he had already blocked her long ago.

Listening to her fragmented sobs, Shao Hongyuan felt his temples throbbing.

“What’s said is said. It’s not a big deal.” He signaled her to calm down. “Stop crying all day long. It’s disgraceful. If that useless idol career of his ends, even better, he can come back and work at the company!”

In recent years, Hongyuan Group had been operating at a loss. It still had a bit of life left, but at best it could drag on for a few more decades.

But recently, nothing in the company had been going smoothly. Every weak spot in its operations was being exposed one after another. Rival companies were eyeing them like tigers ready to pounce with acquisition offers, and internal shareholders were itching to call for an impeachment meeting. Shao Hongyuan was running around every day like his head was on fire. With troubles inside and out, impossible to guard against everything.

“Alright, I still have things to deal with. I’m hanging up.”

Shao Jia held her phone, tears clinging to her cheeks.

Oh.

So everything was fine after all.

She bit her lip, silently opened Weibo, and posted the family photo.

This time, unlike the Little Red Book post where she had hinted at it indirectly, she tagged Shao Yuye’s topic outright.

@JiajiaNeedsToWorkHard : [My brother didn’t hide our family background on purpose. He just didn’t want to rely on the family’s halo. (photo.jpg)]

The post was quiet at first.

Soon, many ‘Yu Yu’s noticed the post.

[Huh? So that exposé post was real?]

[This is Brother Ye’s biological sister?]

Shao Jia replied : [Yes, biological.]

[Then these two behind him are……?]

Shao Jia : [Our Dad and Mom.]

[??????]

[??????????]

The comment section went silent for a few seconds, then exploded like a burst dam.

[So Brother Ye really has family?]

[I was just in that exposé post furiously cursing out the OP, now I’ve been slapped in the face, I’m done for!]

[I’m kinda disillusioned… what’s even going on?]

[Are you really his biological sister? Jumping out at a time like this to expose him, do you have any idea how much this could damage his career?! ]

Shao Jia stubbornly fired back: [I’m just telling the truth.

[And… if he can’t survive in the entertainment industry, my brother can come home and inherit Dad’s company!]

Even if her brother didn’t want to return, their sibling relationship was a fact that couldn’t be erased.

Just like Dad said…

One day, after staying outside long enough, he’d come back.

They were related by blood, how could they possibly cut ties? That was all just angry talk…

They would never dislike her brother for hiding his identity, nor expect him to be perfect in everything.

They were family. No matter what, they would always be together…

The fans, already shocked, were instantly angered by her self-righteous tone.

[Is this really Brother Ye’s biological sister?]

[What kind of disgusting statement is this?]

[Do you respect your brother’s dreams at all? You’re just saying he should inherit the family business??]

[What kind of shitty sister is this, probably just someone jumping out to leech popularity!]

[I think I remember this photo. This girl posted it before, covering Brother Ye’s face, and the caption was ‘Even if my test scores were bad, my brother is Shao Yuye, let them choke!’ I remember tons of people turned it into a meme!]

[Now that you mention it, I remember too, I even used that meme… can’t believe she’s actually the real sister?]

Wait, so what’s happening?? Isn’t Brother Ye supposed to be an orphan? Where did these parents and siblings pop out from? Did Brother Ye lie to us all this time Q_AQ…… ]

Brother Li had previously hired water armies to control the comments under the exposé post. He never expected Shao Jia, this pig teammate, to set the rear end of the battlefield on fire. He was furious and panicking as he hurried to call Shao Yuye.

But after three consecutive calls, none were answered.

Last night, Shao Yuye had rushed around so much he was exhausted. He hadn’t rested well at all, and now he was deep asleep.

His sleep used to be terrible, but ever since reuniting with his sister, it had vastly improved.

Seeing that he couldn’t reach Shao Yuye, Brother Li kept trying to suppress the heat online while nervously calling Shen Wanwan.

No matter how cold Shen Wanwan was, she couldn’t possibly ignore something that happened to her own brother, right?

When the call came in, Shen Wanwan was already asleep.

It was obvious she was very annoyed at being woken up in the middle of the night. Her voice even carried a slight nasal tone.

“Hello.”

“Wanwan, here’s the situation—”

Brother Li swore he had never spoken so fast in his life.

He explained everything online in one breath without even inhaling properly, and when he finally did, he nearly passed out from lack of oxygen.

On the other end came Shen Wanwan’s languid voice:

“If you ever quit being a manager, you could try hosting instead.”

Brother Li: “……How is that the priority right now?!
“Your brother’s practically being roasted alive on a spit. Hurry up and wake him!”

Shen Wanwan said, “Got it.”

The next second, the call hung up.

Brother Li held his phone, waiting for over ten minutes, but still didn’t receive a callback from Shao Yuye. He couldn’t help feeling puzzled.

Could it be that Shen Wanwan fell asleep again right after hanging up…

Just as he was hesitating whether to call Shen Wanwan again, her incoming-call notification popped up on his screen.

Shen Wanwan’s voice was as calm as ever: “Check if there’s anywhere that hasn’t been cleaned up.”

Brother Li: “?”

He opened the forum.

The previously hot, pinned post had completely vanished without a trace.

Not only that—even on Weibo, Little Red Book, and other social platforms, all reposts by marketing accounts had been wiped out as well.

Brother Li stared at his phone in silence.

This…

So direct and brutal?

Since everything was gone, Shen Wanwan said coldly: “I’m sleeping. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

She paused, then thoughtfully added, “You should sleep too.”

Brother Li held his phone in a daze, feeling like his entire soul had been elevated…

So this is what it feels like to have capital at your back?!

It feels… pretty nice, actually?

Meanwhile, Shao Jia was still admiring her own Weibo.

The gimmick of being ‘Shao Yuye’s little sister’ made her follower count skyrocket.

Shao Yuye had been in the industry for many years, and many of his ‘Yu Yu’s genuinely adored him.

They didn’t care about the so-called ‘deception’. After all, as this little sister said, Shao Yuye didn’t want to rely on his family background either. Understandable. So many people even praised Shao Jia because of him.

[The little sister is so cute!]

[She must have saved the galaxy in her last life, sobbb!]

[Don’t know why, but knowing Yuye has a loving family actually makes me happy. At least besides us, there are close ones who love him.]

[+10086 I’ll admit it, I’m a brain-dead fan…]

Shao Jia read the heartwarming comments one by one, smiling happily.

Then her phone screen flickered, and the entire interface suddenly turned blank.

She froze and tried pulling down to refresh.

Still blank.

All the likes, comments—gone. Even her profile page disappeared.

She tried posting a new Weibo.

Her account was banned.

What was happening?!

That night was sleepless for many people.

A top-celebrity scandal had drawn countless ‘melon eaters.’ Gossip lovers scrolled their social media all night hoping to dig up more, but the name ‘Shao Yuye’ became like a forbidden term. Every piece of gossip about him vanished into thin air…

Shao Yuye slept until he woke up naturally.

Seeing dozens of missed calls from Brother Li on his screen, he was stunned and quickly called him back.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Brother Li didn’t know where to begin: “Well… most of it has been resolved.”

Shao Yuye: “?”

Brother Li explained the entire ordeal in great detail.

And concluded: “Your sister really has some skills.”

But Shao Yuye was furious after hearing it.

Xu Qingxin’s daughter was truly an idiot.

Originally, since there was a nine-year age gap, he couldn’t be bothered to argue with that little fool. But it seemed that retreating again and again only made her jump even higher.

After cursing Shao Jia, he questioned Brother Li: “Why were you disturbing my sister’s sleep?”

Brother Li: “…I didn’t want to disturb her. You just didn’t pick up the phone!

“But Shen Wanwan is pretty impressive. After last night, at least on the surface, there’s not a single negative post about you left.”

Shao Yuye didn’t go downstairs for breakfast.

He had emotional issues. Not exactly a disorder, but he was easily influenced by external things. For years, whenever he got angry, shameless marketing accounts would label him as having ‘mania’ just to gain clicks.

He didn’t want his sister to see him like this.

---

Time rewinds to the early evening.

Capital City — Qingyan Middle School.

Class had just ended, and the girls were linking arms, begging Zhang Xuanxuan to invite them to her birthday party.

Standing at the very edge was Shao Jia. She had always been marginalized in their little group because her father’s wealth wasn’t substantial enough.

At the center of everyone’s attention was Zhang Xuanxuan. Among all the girls present, her family background was the most privileged.

Zhang Xuanxuan said lazily, “Whoever tells me a juicy piece of gossip gets an invitation. Lin Shiran will be coming to my birthday this year too, he’s my brother’s friend.”

Everyone was shocked.

“Lin Shiran? The super popular idol Lin Shiran?”

“Xuanxuan, please, just let us come! I really want to see Lin Shiran up close!”

Zhang Xuanxuan said proudly, “My brother said that when I have my coming-of-age ceremony, he’ll bring Shao Yuye to attend.”

“Wow! Really?! Brother Ye ahhhh! Xuanxuan, your brother is incredible!”

“Well, we’ll see. It might be hard. Shao Yuye is a top idol, not someone just anyone can invite. Money alone isn’t enough.”

Just as Zhang Xuanxuan was about to continue showing off, the always-muted Shao Jia suddenly spoke up: “Actually… Shao Yuye is my brother.”

One sentence. Instantly, everyone’s attention snapped to her.

Even Zhang Xuanxuan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, joining the others in mocking her:

“Shao Jia, that’s way too fake. You’re just making things up.”

“Then I’ll say that Qi Luozhou is my brother too.”

“Isn’t Shao Yuye supposed to be an orphan? Where would he get a younger sister…?”

“It’s true.”

Shao Jia seriously took out a family photo. “He never let me tell anyone. I’m only telling you guys because we’re friends.”

Seeing the family photo, everyone was stunned.

“This…”

Shao Jia said, “My brother just didn’t want to rely on our family back then, that’s why he hid his identity!”

The others exchanged glances. They still found it unbelievable.

But… Shao Jia… Shao Yuye… they did both share the surname Shao.

Everyone started wavering.

Zhang Xuanxuan still didn’t believe it. She looked Shao Jia up and down.

“But you two don’t really look alike…”

Shao Yuye’s face was the kind that would stand out even in a crowd of a thousand.

Shao Jia’s appearance was too ordinary by comparison. Plain, unremarkable, nothing eye-catching.

Shao Jia looked embarrassed and awkwardly changed the subject: “But he really is my brother.”

To support her claim, she pulled out even more photos.

All secretly taken at home in the past.

Everyone was shocked again.

Oh my god.

This was a massive, earth-shattering piece of gossip.

In an instant, everyone’s attitude flipped. They became extremely attentive:

“Shao Jia, your brother is really Shao Yuye?!”

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Ugh, come on, can you get me his autograph?”

“He’s your actual brother, it should be easy, right?”

Even Zhang Xuanxuan tried ingratiating herself: “You’ll come to my birthday the day after tomorrow, right?”

Just like that, the situation turned around completely. For the first time, Shao Jia experienced the power of the title ‘Shao Yuye’s little sister.’

“The day after tomorrow…” She pretended to think deeply. “I should be able to. But I can’t stay too late. My brother’s show is ending soon and he’ll be coming home.”

“You absolutely have to come!”

Zhang Xuanxuan eagerly held her arm. “Didn’t you always want to meet my childhood friend? I can introduce him to you at my birthday—”

In barely ten minutes.

The entire social dynamic had flipped upside down.

As a sixteen-year-old girl, Shao Jia’s vanity was immensely satisfied.

Everyone moved toward her. She no longer had to chase after others, hoping they’d let her join. Instead, they were the ones reaching out to hold her arm. For the first time, she felt what it was like to be the center of everyone’s attention…

She was Shao Yuye’s little sister.

The top idol Shao Yuye’s little sister…

How wonderful.

That night, Shao Jia was practically lifted to the heavens by everyone’s flattery.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuanxuan experienced being ignored for the first time. When she got home, she exploded at her brother.

“Why didn’t you debut?! Why didn’t you become a top idol so I could look good in front of others?!”

Her brother was baffled. “What are you talking about?”

Zhang Xuanxuan fumed. “My classmate’s brother is Shao Yuye! Shao Yuye!”

Her brother froze. “Where would Shao Yuye get a sister?”

Zhang Xuanxuan angrily exaggerated the whole story, focusing especially on her own humiliation. But the more she talked, the more excited her brother became:

“Xuanxuan, so Shao Yuye really has family? Has he been hiding it all these years?!”

“Mm.”

Zhang Xuanxuan nodded. “My classmate showed us the photos!”

---

Time returns to the present moment, 11 p.m.

Completely unaware of the cause behind it all, Brother Li clicked into that post in shock.

Before debuting, Shao Yuye was already the type to attract storms and bloodshed. During the talent show, he had to be protected from crowds several times. Any entertainment news even remotely related to him skyrocketed in popularity. Marketing accounts loved artists like him the most. Whenever Shao Yuye so much as stirred a little, they would swarm in to post.

Not to mention that this time the news was so explosive. It didn’t take long before the entire internet was flooded with it.

In that post, the original poster was still typing leisurely, yet the comments below had already blown up.

[No way, right? People tried to dig up Shao Yuye’s background back when he was in the talent show, but nobody ever found anything. How come there’s suddenly dirt now?]

[Terrifying when you think about it… is it possible that the reason nobody could dig anything up before was because there was capital backing him?]

[I always felt he wasn’t simple. Someone who ranked 10 suddenly debuting as center on finale night? Are you kidding me? If you say there was no capital pushing him, not even ghosts would believe that!]

[So where’s the OP? Don’t open with a big claim and then let everyone else fill in the blanks. Are you going to show evidence or not?]

As the buzz continued soaring, major marketing accounts pounced on it and began reposting the headline. Finally, the OP released new content.

[(photo.jpg)]

A family photo.

A family of four, looking quite harmonious.

[Let me give everyone some info. The man beside Shao Yuye? Not an ordinary figure.

[Shao Hongyuan, CEO of Hongyuan Group.

[You may not recognize the name, but the biggest sponsor of that season’s <One Pick>, ‘Zhenxian Fresh Milk,’ belongs to Hongyuan Group.

[So as for why someone who was stuck at rank 10 before the finale suddenly debuted as center… I think you all get it, right?

[Don’t tell me you ‘Yu Yu’s really believed your idol got the center position purely because of your support! Too naive!

[The final debut lineup is always a game of capital. From the moment Shao Yuye participated, the script was already written! How many of you were heartbroken that night? Raise your hands! And now you’re all his die-hard fans, aren’t you?

[All I can say is, the setup was brilliant. Truly brilliant.]

Countless ‘Yu Yu’s were stunned speechless in the thread.

The whistleblower spoke with such detail and confidence that many fans were fooled by his serious tone.

[No way… is this real?]

[I really was devastated back then… our abandoned Brother Ye… we only had him…]

[But when I rewatch the videos before the finale, everything feels so real! That fear of being one step away from debut… and his sobbing when he debuted as center… it didn’t look fake at all… If this was all a scam, I’ll never stan anyone again!]

[I don’t believe it! Marketing accounts always talk nonsense! One picture at the start, and everything else is made-up!]

The discussion snowballed, quickly becoming a trending news explosion.

Social media nearly crashed.

---

Before the teams depart to their level areas, the livestream officially began.

The ‘Yu Yu’s flooded in. Not only did Shao Yuye rush back overnight, the screen was filled with jokes.

[I’m dying, Brother Ye is too dedicated, rushing back overnight just to sleep in the big bed (not that)!]

[Hahaha, he spent 1000 tokens after all. Of course he’d come sleep or else it’d be a loss!]

At the same time, the director team announced new rules.

Starting today, there would be no more extra room-grabbing games. From now on, room selection would be based entirely on each day’s challenge count, from highest to lowest.

This was extremely advantageous for Shen Wanwan’s team.

With Shao Yuye around, they didn’t need to worry about their progress in the challenge at all.

He was ferociously strong all by himself.

Next came everyone’s favorite moment, the pre-game declarations.

Having learned from previous mistakes, Zhang Yiran’s team had already decided to keep a low-profile and behave. In short, they could offend anyone except Shen Wanwan.

He was much more low-key this time.

“Everyone, please go easy on us. Let’s compete peacefully!”

Su Tingxuan’s team, on the other hand, was begging for survival. “Please let us live… we’re already in last place…”

Meanwhile, as yesterday’s first-place team, Qi Luozhou’s group stood proud. He fixed his eyes on Shao Yuye as if he wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing at all, just gave a slight shake of his head.

Even though he didn’t say a word, it somehow came across as even more sarcastic than actually saying something!

[Help, is God Zhou provoking him??]

[Hahahahaha no, I feel like he wants to provoke but remembered Shao Yuye’s temper and backed off…]

[It’s over, Shao Yuye is visibly bristling!]

On screen, the competitive streak Shao Yuye had finally calmed down after a nap instantly reignited—

Damn it!

He made a hand gesture at Qi Luozhou.

“You. Just. Wait.”

The barrage burst into laughter.

[It’s time for the beloved arch-nemesis segment again!]

[Director team, have you really not considered putting Brother Ye and God Zhou on the same team?? Hahaha!]

[No no, don’t put them together. Keep them as two teams competing everywhere they go. It would be so entertaining!]

Shao Yuye was very angry.

And the consequences were very serious.

Since he couldn’t beat Qi Luozhou at cards, he still had a chance during the competition.

As soon as the contest started, he launched the first attack and threw several debuff cards at Qi Luozhou’s team.

Jiang Yuan had noticed earlier that Shao Yuye seemed unusually irritable today.

After taking so many debuffs at once, he was a little stunned and turned to Qi Luozhou.

“Did you piss him off yesterday?”

Jiang Rong looked proud.

“God Zhou won five card rounds in a row against Brother Ye and flicked him on the forehead five times!”

Jiang Yuan : ???

Barrage :

[???]

[What did we miss last night?!]

[Director team, be kind! Hurry up and show us last night’s footage!!!]

On the other side, Su Tingxuan was whispering to Jin Xiaoyu and Ye Tian, “How about… we don’t play today.”

Jin Xiaoyu blinked. “What do you mean?”

Su Tingxuan said, “Since Shen Wanwan’s little vegetable garden makes money, and we can’t beat them anyway, we might as well lie flat. At least we won’t have to pay for meals, and we won’t need to borrow money from Bai Ling.”

Jin Xiaoyu was unhappy.

“I originally didn’t have to borrow at all.”

It was all because of Su Tingxuan’s stupid idea last time, to let Bai Ling replace her, that caused her so much misery.

Su Tingxuan gave an awkward smile, “It’s just a variety show, don’t take it to heart, Xiaoyu.”

Then he explained his plan again.

“We can just copy Shen Wanwan’s setup. Not only will we save on meals, but we can sell to others too.
“Can anyone cook?”

Ye Tian raised his hand, “I can. But it won’t taste as good as Lin Kexin’s.”

“That’s fine. We’ll just set a cheaper price.” Su Tingxuan rubbed his chin and grinned. “We need to counterattack!”

Jin Xiaoyu originally didn’t want to entertain his idea at all, but now she was wavering.

Yesterday’s Shen Wanwan…

Was just too impressive.

They didn’t need that level of spotlight, they just wanted to earn a little money.

“…Alright.”

With the new guest around, she happily played with Ye Tian all day.

By evening’s tally, Shao Yuye’s group naturally took first place, Qi Luozhou’s team came second, and Bai Ling’s team third.

Su Tingxuan’s group got exactly what they wanted, the vegetable garden courtyard.

Just as they were excitedly preparing to imitate Shen Wanwan and get to work, the director team collected a fee from them.

“You can use all the ingredients freely. Just pay 200 Speed Tokens per day.”

Su Tingxuan froze, “Didn’t we not need to pay yesterday?”

That was the original plan.

They were the last-place group and probably wouldn’t earn many tokens anyway. At least they could be self-sufficient and not have to buy meals.

But the problem was…

Once the garden fell into Shen Wanwan’s hands, it got completely broken by her genius exploitation!!!

To prevent anyone from mimicking her too crazily, the director had no choice but to painfully remove the self-sufficient function of the garden.

Which unfortunately made Jin Xiaoyu’s team the tragic next-in-line.

The director said tactfully, “Yesterday was the first day, just test-running. Today we officially start charging.”

The announcement struck like thunder. Jin Xiaoyu looked at the mosquitoes filling the air, the livestock penned up making miserable noises, and when the wind blew, even a faint smell of chicken droppings drifted over…

She tried to endure it, but failed—collapsing completely.

Teaming up with someone like Su Tingxuan… she might as well have been eliminated instead!

The barrage also started scolding Su Tingxuan.

[Su Tingxuan is so annoying!]

[Honestly, I don’t know why someone like him is even kept on the show.]

[He’s useless and causes trouble! One-man petition: Su Tingxuan get out of the program!]

[+10086!]

…

Shen Wanwan checked into the luxurious scenic villa again. Leaning against the railing on the third floor, she enjoyed the scenery in absolute comfort.

At this moment, 001 suddenly said, {Eh, did you notice! The light on the female lead seems to have dimmed a little.}

Reminded by the little light orb, her gaze finally fell on Bai Ling, who was walking through the field ridge not far away.

Compared to the dazzling glow when they first met, the light around Bai Ling had dimmed quite a lot.

001 analyzed reasonably, {The show has already aired three episodes, but the male lead still hasn’t gotten into any ambiguous phase with the female lead, your brother hasn’t suffered any cyber-bullying, Bai Ling has had no chance to approach… as for the third male lead, Su Tingxuan…}

001 paused, then suddenly cried out in shock:

{It seems Su Tingxuan has already lost his third male lead halo!
{Right now the whole internet is cursing him. A man like that is not worthy of being an important figure around the heroine!}

Shen Wanwan lazily let out a sound in response and listlessly averted her eyes.

“I haven’t even started targeting her yet.”

So much for the so-called female lead’s aura, nothing special after all.

001 wanted to refute that.

But after thinking about it, it really wasn’t wrong.

Ever since discovering that all the female lead’s goodness and purity came from people willingly sacrificing for her, 001 didn’t like the heroine as much anymore.

It gently nuzzled Shen Wanwan’s neck.

{As long as you’re fine, I’m relieved!}

The smile at Shen Wanwan’s lips instantly vanished; she straightened seriously in a second.

She stood up straight, and as the sunset faded, she softly answered, “Okay.”

Not only did she need to be fine.

Her brother needed to be fine as well.

---

Shao Yuye finally managed to win back one round in the afternoon.

But unfortunately, no matter how many level he cleared, he still couldn’t go around flicking the foreheads of the losers one by one. His brute force had nowhere to be used properly.

So much so that when Brother Li called to tell him he passed the first round of last time’s audition, he didn’t feel even a hint of excitement.

He collapsed onto the soft, large bed, his mind full of thoughts on how to get revenge on Qi Luozhou.

His phone was on speaker, tossed to the side. Brother Li was buzzing on the other end, excited:

“I knew Zhang Zhifeng wanted to use you!
“Looks like my judgment last time was right, Zhang Zhifeng has his eye on you!
“After this variety show ends, I’ll sign you up for an acting class, okay? Go polish yourself for a few days, I guarantee you’ll stand out in the second round!”

Shao Yuye stared at the ceiling. After listening to Brother Li’s babbling, his thoughts were finally pulled away from Qi Luozhou and back to the phone call.

On the other side, Brother Li was full of fighting spirit:

“Great! We’ll soon be taking our first step toward your transformation!”

Shao Yuye actually had little interest in this ‘transformation.’ If he could…

He wanted to be an idol for life.

“Why are you so anxious? I’m not planning on dating anyone anyway. Being the fans’ forever baby sounds pretty good…”

Brother Li only treated this as him being ‘too young, too naive’.

“Ah Ye, fans are very realistic.”

He didn’t say the rest.

Did fans really like his performances and skills?

Well, that was part of it, but the most important thing was…

This face!

When youth fades, when no collagen is left, when time takes everything… how many of the ‘Yu Yu’s who now claim they’ll support him forever will truly still be around?

Brother Li had been in the industry for many years.

He had seen far too many examples of this.

After hanging up, he happily started planning the future.

If Shao Yuye could use <Last Shot> to successfully transform, that would be best. With his current fanbase and box-office pull, who knew? He might even snag some kind of newcomer award…

The more Brother Li imagined, the more excited he became. Happiness felt right within reach!

Before bed, he habitually searched Shao Yuye’s name across major platforms to monitor online trends.

He also checked that Little Red Book account named Jiajia, which belongs to Shao Yuye’s stepsister. Fortunately, she hadn’t shown any signs of jumping out to cause trouble recently.

Brother Li let out a long breath.

He was just about to turn off the lights.

A sudden push notification popped into his view—

[Shocking! No father or mother?! All these years everyone has been fooled by Shao Yuye! Top idol Shao Yuye’s background exposed: Son of Hongyuan Group’s CEO, suspected of faking his audition resume to gain sympathy!!]

---

Shen Wanwan heard the sound and lifted her face, just in time to see Shao Yuye standing there, stunned.

She smiled, familiar and casual. “You’re back.”

Qi Luozhou also turned his head.

Shen Wanwan’s fingers were still resting on his forehead, ready to flick.

Now, because of Shao Yuye’s interruption, the motion was suspended.

Even in such a perilous situation, Qi Luozhou remained calm and composed, as if none of this concerned him, lips lifting with indifference.

Jiang Rong and Lin Kexin said in unison, “Brother Ye, you’re here!”

Shao Yuye stood frozen, unable to believe his own eyes.

He had always thought Qi Luozhou was full of pretentious airs.

The two were never in the same lane since debut. One focused on the stage, the other on acting, so they should’ve had no overlap.

The year Qi Luozhou won Best Actor, Shao Yuye was hailed as the No. 1 idol in the industry.

They both shone in their respective fields, attracting countless fans.

Until that one dance competition show.

He participated as a contestant, preparing an elaborate, showy performance.

Qi Luozhou, however, appeared as a special guest judge for that episode.

Even now, that performance was extremely mature and technically perfect.

Not a single flaw, practically a perfect stage.

But Qi Luozhou, sitting on the judge’s panel, said:

“I don’t understand dance. But I didn’t see any emotion in your performance. Unfortunately, I think this was a failed performance.”

Back then, Shao Yuye was arrogant. He thought, “Different industries don’t mix, what the hell does a film actor know?”

But it was the first time since debut that someone embarrassed him so publicly, and the grudge was officially formed.

Later, he even tried watching Qi Luozhou’s films to find mistakes and argue back.

But Qi Luozhou’s emotional acting was indeed delicate, mainly because those peach-blossom eyes of his looked affectionate even when staring at a dog!

After that, Shao Yuye always tried to compete with Qi Luozhou, but Qi Luozhou always had the ability to suppress him. No matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t surpass Qi Luozhou.

And the worst part was: Qi Luozhou’s public persona had always been ‘effortless talent,’ someone who didn’t fight or scramble for anything.

According to Qi Luozhou, he entered the industry by accident, casually filmed a movie, casually became the male lead, casually became popular.

Not long after rising to fame, he casually won Best Actor.

And after winning, acting offers poured in, everything came so easily it made people furious.

Meanwhile, Shao Yuye’s path was full of thorns and sweat.

He wasn’t naturally gifted; he relied entirely on hard work, training desperately. Yet he was always overshadowed by Qi Luozhou. Thinking about it made him furious.

And now…

The mighty, untouchable Qi Luozhou had fallen into his sister’s hands.

Damn.

How satisfying was that?!

And it had to be his sister!

Even his lifelong rival was being subdued obediently!

Shao Yuye put down his suitcase and strode over.

“Qi Luozhou, you finally got what’s coming to you.”

He simply pulled out his phone and began recording.

Qi Luozhou: “Great.”

Shao Yuye snorted from the side.

This damn guy was pretending again.

He signaled to Shen Wanwan, “Don’t hold back, make him cry!”

Everything ready, Shen Wanwan adjusted the angle and flicked her finger downward.

The girl’s hand was soft and cool; she didn’t use much strength.

The intimidating momentum she created earlier turned out to be just a bluff. Her fingertip merely pressed gently against his forehead.

Qi Luozhou sat there with no expression.

Which gave Shao Yuye the perfect opening to strike.

After all these years, he could finally return those exact words to Qi Luozhou—

“Tsk. I don’t understand forehead flicking, but I didn’t see any emotion in your expression. Unfortunately, I think this was a failed forehead flick.”

Jiang Rong was baffled.

What? You need emotions for getting flicked in the forehead?

Beside her, Lin Kexin burst into laughter. She was a hidden ‘Yu Yu’ and knew Shao Yuye was getting revenge for that old critique.

“Brother Ye, you’re really petty.”

Shao Yuye hummed lightly, neither denying nor confirming.

Qi Luozhou had barely shown any expression since earlier.

Seeing this, Shen Wanwan raised a brow. “Did it hurt?”

Qi Luozhou lowered his lashes, thinking for a few seconds, then said seriously, “It hurt.”

Shen Wanwan laughed. “Good.”

Consider it revenge on her brother’s behalf~

Shao Yuye was overjoyed beside them.

Hahahahaha—

HAHAHAHAHA!

He couldn’t wait to announce this video to the entire world.

He was in high spirits at the moment. He eagerly rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, looking ready to fight.

“Are you guys still playing or not? I’m joining!”

Qi Luozhou narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“You sure?”

Shao Yuye began shuffling the cards. “Stop yapping. Bring your head here to be chopped.”

Just as well, Shen Wanwan didn’t want to play anymore.

She gave her seat to Shao Yuye. “I’m going to wash up and sleep.”

Eager to battle his lifelong nemesis, Shao Yuye nodded. “Okay, sleep early. Good night.”

Then he turned to Lin Kexin. “You and I are gonna crush them, leave them with nothing!”

Lin Kexin was fired up. “Okay!”

Full of fighting spirit and determined to help Brother Ye avenge himself, Lin Kexin’s luck nosedived the moment Shen Wanwan left.

In the first round, the two of them got completely wiped out.

Shao Yuye: “……”

Lin Kexin: “……”

Qi Luozhou hadn’t even tried that hard.

Shao Yuye clutched his head and spat threats. “Damn it, Qi Luozhou, just you wait!”

Soon the second round ended.

Good news: no total wipeout this time. Lin Kexin managed to escape.

Bad news: Shao Yuye had to endure the forehead-flick punishment again…

Shao Yuye: “Qi Luozhou, you dog, wait till Daddy shows you real pain later…”

Lin Kexin covered her face regretfully.

It seemed like… Brother Ye really didn’t put any skill points into this area at all.

By the end of the third round…

Shao Yuye couldn’t even be bothered with threats anymore.

He washed the cards while urging Qi Luozhou, “Move it, hurry up and flick!”

He was waiting to turn the tables next round.

Even Qi Luozhou, usually calm, was amused by him and asked gently, “Still going?”

Shao Yuye frowned and gestured for him to shut up.

“Quit dawdling, hurry up, hurry up!”

Lin Kexin was stunned watching them.

Everyone inside and outside the circle knew Shao Yuye and Qi Luozhou were mortal enemies—water and fire, mutually disgusted even by each other’s presence.

Yet right now…

Though neither was willing to back down…

The vibe was unexpectedly… harmonious!

---

Early the next morning, Shao Yuye finally remembered to ask Shen Wanwan:

“When I wasn’t here, did anyone mistreat you?”

Although the director had already explained how well his sister had been living here…

He still wanted to hear it from her mouth to feel at ease.

“No.”

Their rooms were on the third floor of the villa.

Standing in the hallway, Shen Wanwan motioned for Shao Yuye to look east.

There was her thriving little vegetable garden, the one that earned her 800 tokens.

Not just the garden, but also the luxurious villa that had given them all a comfortable night’s sleep.

Shen Wanwan said, “Look.”

Though she didn’t say anything afterward, in Shao Yuye’s mind, a line filled itself in:

—“This is the territory I conquered for you.”

Shao Yuye swallowed hard.

Alright.

Once again, he deeply realized just how incredible his sister was.

At breakfast, Shao Yuye finally saw their team’s ranking, and his pupils shook again.

Their team was now second to last…

Last episode, they had ranked second, giving them the advantage of starting directly from the third level.

But now their progress was only at level four. Meaning they had only cleared one level yesterday afternoon.

This! Was! Unacceptable!

He turned to question Lin Kexin. “With our ranking like this, how did you sleep last night?”

Lin Kexin, holding her bread, was completely confused: “……???”

—Did you not notice someone who slept even better than me?!
—At least I stayed up losing with you until midnight!!

Shen Wanwan returned with breakfast and sat beside them. Seeing Lin Kexin depressed, she casually asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Kexin snuck a glance at Shao Yuye and thought secretly, If Shao Yuye questioned Shen Wanwan like this, Shen Wanwan would definitely roast him back.

At this point, she didn’t care about her fan status anymore. Even as a ‘Yu Yu’, when it came to her idol’s ridiculous competitiveness—

She imagined all sorts of scenes for a while.

But the expected scolding never came.

The man who was fierce a second ago suddenly turned gentle as spring breeze when facing Shen Wanwan.

Shao Yuye: “You must’ve been tired yesterday? Clearing a whole level, you did great.”

Lin Kexin: “?”

Why does my idol have two faces?!

---

The director opened his eyes, and exclaimed with delight…

“Come, come, come, cash on deliv…”

Before he could finish saying ‘delivery’ he recognized the woman buying food in front of him. It was Lin Kexin.

The director was dumbfounded: “…Didn’t you already cook?”

Lin Kexin looked completely innocent: “Nope. Wanwan said you guys have it hard too, so the two of us should support the production team’s business! How is it? Aren’t we being nice to you?”

Lin Kexin even playfully winked at him.

Director: “!@#￥%……&*（”

Such great ‘support’ for the business!

Great! Just great!

He was so angry his cheekbones felt like they were lifting to the sky!

Lin Kexin didn’t cook…

Which meant that just now Shen Wanwan was shouting prices at him for nothing…

She had already calculated that he would lower the price, and used it as bargaining chips against him!

Shen Wanwan, this woman…

This woman!

Why can’t she play by the rules?!

The livestream viewers were laughing themselves to death.

[Hahahahahaha I can’t look at the director’s face right now without bursting out laughing!]

[First director in history to get tricked by guests hahahahaha. It’s okay, director, don’t blame yourself. After all, you’re dealing with God Zhou and Shen Wanwan!]

[Shen Wanwan is insane. She single-handedly cut the price in half! Amazing, seriously amazing!]

A few minutes later, Shen Wanwan also arrived.

Thanks to Shen Wanwan, all the guests got to enjoy a luxury dinner for 50 tokens.

Staff carried dish after delicious dish to the table, making the exhausted guests’ mouths water.

Lin Kexin happily waved to her: “Wanwan, come here!”

Shen Wanwan nodded at Lin Kexin.

Bai Ling, sitting at the edge, was watching Shen Wanwan with a complicated expression.

Maybe it was true that ‘success makes one glow’. Right now, Shen Wanwan looked stunning.

Bai Ling remembered how Shen Wanwan used to be.

Cold, arrogant, spoiled and willful, constantly fighting with Shao Yuye. No matter how prettily she dressed, she always had a gloomy aura. Bullet comments were full of people scolding her.

But in just two episodes, the audience’s impression had flipped.

The production even opened a popularity ranking this episode. The two top-tier idols, Qi Luo Zhou and Shao Yuye, naturally took first and second place. But unexpectedly, third place was Shen Wanwan.

She looked confident and proud, bright and bold.

Shen Wanwan’s gaze accidentally met Qi Luozhou’s.

Qi Luozhou looked calm and laid-back, with a lazy nonchalance all over him.

His beautiful peach blossom eyes lifted slightly, and his thin lips curved into a charming smile.

Shen Wanwan also curled her lips at him.

There seemed to be an invisible magnetic field between them.

Clearly nothing ambiguous was happening, everything was normal, yet people couldn’t help feeling that there was something different between them.

And Shao Yuye…

He was also particularly attentive to Shen Wanwan.

Bai Ling lowered her eyes, her grip on her chopsticks tightening unconsciously.

The barrage was still going wild.

[Tonight’s performance, God Zhou’s assist was legendary!]

[Without his added line, I don’t think the director would’ve dared lower the price.]

[Hahahahaha first time seeing guests completely trick a director on a variety show. Shen Wanwan is too strong. I’m becoming a fan!]

[Seriously amazing! I feel like the two of them have this subtle sense of tacit understanding, does anyone get what I mean??? They just match so well (not me shipping… probably…)]

[Look at the director’s face omg I’m dying laughing!! Shen Wanwan, first person in variety show history to trick the director!]

The cameraman was ruthless.

Right after this barrage appeared, he secretly cut the camera to the director.

On screen, the man who had been full of vigor earlier, determined to crush Shen Wanwan’s momentum tonight, was now sitting with drooped shoulders and a defeated expression, looking like all his energy had been sucked out… wilted.

His assistant, oblivious, added fuel to the fire:

“Director, why does it feel like we should’ve made a profit, but it also feels like Shen Wanwan played us…”

The director glared at him: “Shut up, will you?!”

Everyone burst out laughing again.

At this moment, someone finally remembered Shao Yuye.

[Too bad my Brother Ye isn’t here, otherwise tonight would be even funnier!]

[I can already imagine his smug face after teaming with Wanwan to crush the director in a price war hahahaha!]

[Brother Ye has the finals tonight, right? We’ll see him tomorrow!]

At 10 p.m., as senior Shao Yuye announced the results, the nine-member limited boy group from <One Pick> officially debuted.

It was an emotional night for countless fans, but Shao Yuye rejected the program’s invitation to stay for the celebration and rushed straight to Luocheng.

He had only caught a glimpse of the barrage in the morning.

All of it was scolding Shen Wanwan for being irresponsible, leaving the new guest to do tasks alone, causing them to get a bad room.

Thinking of the mistreatment his sister might’ve suffered, Shao Yuye really couldn’t sit still!

---

At the villa, Jiang Rong, new to the place and excited about everything, was especially thrilled to finally be so close to Qi Luozhou. She wanted to spend more time interacting with God Zhou, so she suggested they play Shuang Kou¹.

The livestream had ended, and everyone could finally relax a little.

Jiang Yuan was busy showering and had gone back to the room.

Shen Wanwan wasn’t interested in the card game, but Lin Kexin also wanted to play and tugged her arm twice, “Wanwan, come on, play with us!”

Shen Wanwan refused, “Not playing.”

Lin Kexin had a bright, cheerful personality. Even though the two of them had only just met yesterday, she was already acting completely at ease, treating Shen Wanwan like a friend. She whined playfully, “Don’t~ Come on, let’s play!”

After calling out to Shen Wanwan, she turned to Qi Luozhou, “God Zhou, you come too!”

Qi Luozhou paused mid-step on the stairs.

He looked at Shen Wanwan.

Shen Wanwan raised an eyebrow.

“If we’re going to play, it’s not impossible.
“Let’s use Speed Tokens as the stakes.”

Jiang Rong, who had already learned a great deal about her today, clutched her head and wailed, “Capitalist, I beg you, please leave the children a pair of pants!”

But unexpectedly, Qi Luozhou agreed.

“Alright.”

He came over and sat down at the card table.

Shen Wanwan arched a brow with interest.

What’s this?

Trying to give her tokens?

She wasn’t having that.

She thought for a moment and changed her suggestion: “How about this, whoever loses gets flicked on the forehead~”

After speaking, she gave Qi Luozhou a playful wink.

Her forehead flicks were famously powerful.

Hearing that her Speed Tokens were safe, Jiang Rong grew emotional. “Okay, okay!”

As long as she didn’t have to pay, anything was fine!

She now shared the same realization as Lin Kexin:

Shen Wanwan…
She seems hard to deal with. But in reality, she’s even harder to deal with.

Only Qi Luozhou was smiling.

Was she really that confident she wouldn’t get flicked?

---

Night gradually deepened.

Shao Yuye arrived at the shooting area and started running wildly. His anxious mood, which had lasted all day, finally peaked at this moment.

He first went to the vegetable garden cottage.

It was silent and pitch-black.

The only place one could sleep was a small, shabby thatched hut. It looked fine during the day, even had a bit of rustic charm, but once night fell, the place looked pathetically miserable…

The thought of his little sister sleeping here tonight made Shao Yuye feel absolutely awful!

He set down his luggage and knocked lightly twice.

No response inside.

He knocked patiently two more times, then quietly tried the door handle.

…Locked.

Which meant Shen Wanwan wasn’t here.

At that moment, an uncertain voice sounded behind him.

“Ah Ye?”

Shao Yuye turned around. Seeing the director, his eyes lit up slightly.

“Where… *cough*, where are my teammates?”

The director pointed toward the brightly lit villa at the end of the path and sighed:

“Shen Wanwan already bought the luxurious scenic villa. They’re staying over there now.”

Shao Yuye : ???

Weren’t they staying in the vegetable garden hut?

How did they end up over there?

Seeing how confused he looked, the director suddenly felt a strong urge to vent.

“Come on, I’ll walk you over.”

As they walked, the director spent the entire way complaining to Shao Yuye.

From how Shen Wanwan sabotaged getting the vegetable garden cottage, to how she schemed against him.

Shao Yuye listened in stunned silence.

This… was not the information he’d received at all?!

Still dazed, he followed the director to the villa. The director, thoroughly traumatized by Shen Wanwan today, didn’t want to see her again and waved goodbye to Shao Yuye.

Suppressing the questions in his heart, Shao Yuye heard laughter and chatter inside the villa.

There were unfamiliar female voices too, probably the new guest helpers who joined today.

He pushed open the door.

And looked inside.

He was someone who had seen his share of storms and chaos, but even he froze stiffly at the doorway, pupils trembling.

He now fully understood.

His worries had indeed been… a bit unnecessary.

In the one day he was gone, his little sister had been doing very, very well—so well it was ridiculous—comparable to Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in Heaven.

Not only had she gone toe-to-toe with the production team in a business showdown, earned 800 coins for everyone, and bought the luxurious scenic villa…
But that evening, she had even forced the director into a price war.

And now she was curling her finger, ready to give his image-obsessed arch-nemesis…

A forehead flick…

A… fore… head… flick…!

---

1. 双扣 (shuāng kòu, lit. meaning ‘double deduction’) is a popular, fast-paced Chinese trick-taking card game played by four players in two fixed partnerships, typically using two full decks of cards. The goal of the game is for a partnership to collaboratively score points and deplete their hands as quickly as possible, achieving a rank promotion (or “deduction”) by getting both partners out ahead of the opposing team. It combines elements of games like Bridge and Big Two, emphasizing teamwork and strategic card play. ↩︎

---

After the afternoon challenge ended, Lin Kexin happily ran off to the vegetable garden again, ready to pick ingredients for dinner. Shen Wanwan signaled that she didn’t need to.

Lin Kexin was baffled. “Huh? Why not? Aren’t we earning money tonight?”

Shen Wanwan leisurely took a sip of tea and asked her quietly, “Aren’t you tired?”

Lin Kexin froze for a moment.

Uh…

Tired? Well… yes, she was a little tired.

But one meal earned them 800 coins!

“It’s fine, as long as we can make money!”

She clenched her fist, full of determination. “I’m not afraid of being tired!”

Anyway, they had a soft, comfy big bed to sleep in tonight. No matter how hard or exhausting the day was, one good night’s sleep and she’d bounce back to life!

Shen Wanwan couldn’t help laughing at Lin Kexin’s boundless energy.

She curved her lips into a smile and indicated again that there was really no need to cook.

“Don’t rush.”

Still confused, Lin Kexin sat down beside her.

The two had already spent a whole day together, so Lin Kexin had gotten a pretty good sense of Shen Wanwan.

Ever since Shen Wanwan made money and brought her into that luxurious scenic villa, Lin Kexin admired Shen Wanwan to the point of worship. She no longer underestimated Shen Wanwan the way she did that morning!

But what on earth was Shen Wanwan planning?!

She was dying to know! She was the King of Urgency—she really, really wanted to know!!!

The live chat was just as puzzled:

[What is Shen Wanwan plotting exactly?!]

[Lin Kexin is even willing to cook, why not let her?!]

[I don’t get it, truly don’t get it. Shen Wanwan, a woman you can never guess!]

After the two rested for five minutes under the tree, the production team—who had just rejoined the group chat—finally sent their first message.

They brought out the luxurious dinner set that was originally priced at 300 tokens, clearly challenging Shen Wanwan—

“Bigger portions, same price! Don’t miss out! Originally 300, now only 100 tokens!”

Come on, then. Let’s fight.

This time they were offering premium dishes!

Let’s see what Shen Wanwan can do now!

Holding her phone, Lin Kexin said anxiously, “Wanwan, what do we do? The production team is clearly targeting us!”

No wonder Shen Wanwan told her not to cook.

She had predicted this.

Thinking about the 800 speed-coins flying away, Lin Kexin felt miserable.

She puffed her cheeks angrily and was about to pick vegetables again. “I’m not cooking for them, but at least we need to cook our own dinner! Wanwan, just wait, I’ll make such amazing food tonight that the production team will drool!”

Shen Wanwan shook her head. “No need.”

“Huh?” Lin Kexin froze, looking hurt. “Do you think my cooking isn’t good?!”

Everyone said it was good…

“Your cooking is delicious.”

Shen Wanwan praised calmly, then blinked at her. “But if money can solve a problem, why go through the trouble?”

[Huh?? What does that mean? Is Shen Wanwan planning to buy the production team’s food?]

[That’s not cost-effective at all. Why not just cook their own?]

[Did her rich-girl spending addiction flare up again?]

Only Lin Kexin’s fans understood.

[Hasn’t Shen Wanwan already said it clearly? She’s worried Lin Kexin will be tired! Cooking that much takes a ton of energy!]

[Although I want to complain about Shen Wanwan never doing chores, at least she cares about Kexin. I support buying food from the production team!]

[Exactly! Kexin is a guest, why should she be working this hard?]

Shen Wanwan paused for a beat, then said softly, “You can go tell everyone not to buy from the production team yet.”

Lin Kexin was still confused.

But after being ‘carried’ once already, she decided to trust Shen Wanwan…

Shen Wanwan always had unexpected ideas!

The moment Lin Kexin left, Shen Wanwan posted in the group chat:

[Organic vegetables, fresh fruit juice, fine meats—buffet style. 80 speed-coins per set. First come, first served.]

Same message as lunchtime, only the price had changed.

The director, who was watching his phone, almost spat blood.

Indeed—

Everything on Shen Wanwan’s side cost them zero. Even the chef was a participant! Of course she could fight a price war!

Wasn’t this plain provocation?

—Come on then, price war!

The assistant fretted beside him. “Director… at 80 coins, won’t everyone pick Shen Wanwan’s side?”

The director’s eyes widened. “That won’t do!”

Shen Wanwan had already taken 800 coins at lunch. If they kept letting her earn like this, it would be a disaster!

Inside the villa, Jiang Yuan looked at his phone and asked Qi Luozhou, “Where are we eating tonight?”

On one side was the production team’s luxurious dinner, with a wide variety of dishes and specialty snacks from Luocheng.

On the other side was affordable home-style food. Lin Kexin’s cooking was very good, not inferior to a professional chef, and cheaper by 20 coins per person. For the three of them, they’d save 60 coins total.

Jiang Rong looked around, kind of wanting to eat the deluxe meal. After all, she’d tasted Lin Kexin’s cooking several times already, but the one from the production team looked so luxurious.

But she was too embarrassed to bring it up.

Both of them looked toward Qi Luozhou.

Qi Luozhou chuckled.

“Don’t rush.
“Just wait a bit. The production team is about to lower the price.”

Jiang Yuan was shocked. “No way?”

That deluxe meal was worth 300 Speed Tokens.

If the production team lowered it to 100, that would already be the absolute limit!

Jiang Rong also felt it was impossible.

God Zhou was really daydreaming this time.

Yeah.

Normally, it would be impossible.

But this was Shen Wanwan.

Qi Luozhou’s brows curved with a smile, his fingers tapping the table lightly and lazily.

The next second, the production team really did send out a new message—

“Limited-time offer! Deluxe meal only 70 Speed Tokens per set!!!”

[!!!]

[No way? God Zhou is insane!! He predicted this?!]

[I get it! Shen Wanwan is using this method to force the production team’s food prices down!!!]

Jiang Yuan held his phone and almost jumped up in excitement.

“No way?! They really lowered the price?!”

This was truly an unbelievable bargain!

A deluxe meal for 70 tokens, totally worth it!

Jiang Rong was also stunned.

“My god…”

Qi Luozhou propped his elbow on the table, chin resting on his hand. “She should be able to get them to 50.”

“50?!”

“She?”

“Who?”

—Obviously, Shen Wanwan.

In the group chat, Shen Wanwan quickly sent a message.

Just two simple characters:

[60]

But the storm it stirred up was anything but simple.

Next, the production team would probably have to drop it further to 50…

Jiang Yuan and Jiang Rong huddled over the phone, both nervous.

“Will they really drop it to 50?”

“No idea. Honestly, 70 already feels like a steal…”

“I’m so nervous, I feel more tense than waiting for my college entrance exam results!”

“Hurry up and reply already…”

At this moment, Qi Luozhou took the phone from them, typed a few words, and sent it.

Qi Luozhou : @ShenWanwan We’re coming over.

Jiang Rong let out an “Ah…?
“God Zhou, aren’t we going to eat the deluxe meal?”

Why were they going to support Shen Wanwan?

But Jiang Yuan understood.

God Zhou was cooperating with Shen Wanwan, playing along perfectly…

[Ahhhh, God Zhou is amazing!]

[I’m laughing so hard, I feel like a hyperactive ferret darting through every camera angle!]

[This coordination is god-tier. Shen Wanwan laughed when she saw it too, God Zhou already guessed her intention!]

The director had already struggled a long time before lowering the price to 70. He only gritted his teeth and did it so Shen Wanwan wouldn’t make money.

But Shen Wanwan didn’t even blink, immediately lowering it to 60. She was seriously going to drive him insane!

Looks like that vegetable garden setup was too overpowered!

He’d delete it tomorrow!

But the priority now was to stop her from earning money!

The assistant tried to stop the bloodthirsty director. “Director, we can’t keep lowering it! Any lower and it’s practically giving it away…”

Their original goal was to take Speed Tokens from the guests!

The director coldly brushed off his hand and growled:

“Too late.”

The arrow was already shot.

The price war had begun. No matter what, today he had to fight Shen Wanwan to the bloody end!!

He gritted his teeth and typed in the group : [60]

The confidence he had at the start was long gone, replaced only by nerves…

The big fish had taken the bait.

Shen Wanwan curved her lips, sent her final [50], put away her phone, and slowly walked toward the production team.

Sweat began to drip along the director’s forehead.

50 was his limit.

He anxiously lowered the price to 50 and prayed Shen Wanwan would stop here.

At 50 coins, it was basically the cost price…

The director closed his eyes and crossed himself over his chest.

If he could redo everything, he absolutely would not have tried to punish Shen Wanwan.

Amen.

As if answering his prayers, a clear voice sounded beside him.

“Director, two deluxe meals please!”

Here it comes!!

Business had arrived!!!

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