With Ronghua's downfall, Rongguang was finally at ease.
Zhang Qian, who had been listless and dragging himself around not long ago, instantly became full of energy. He was bouncing around every day, utterly delighted, and stopped clamoring for time off. Instead, he holed up in the company, taking such pleasure in watching Ronghua's troubles that he forgot all about going home.
With the eyesore Liang Jian gone, Zhao Zhi practically walked with a spring in his step. He set about poaching several decently-mannered artists from Ronghua, gave them a thorough brainwashing, and happily arranged work for them to make money hand over fist.
The company was thriving, a scene of prosperity. As the boss, Liang Zhou expressed great satisfaction, and then he skipped work.
Zhang Qian cursed him for being shameless.
In a rather good mood, Brother Liang Zhou sat on the sofa flipping through a newspaper, waiting for his younger brother to return from his exam so they could have dinner together. But he waited and waited, and his brother still didn't come back. After checking his watch for the third time, he decided to make a call.
...The call was ruthlessly cut off.
He put down his crossed legs, tossed the newspaper back onto the coffee table, and stared expressionlessly at his phone.
The villa door made a soft sound as it was pushed open, and Yu Shulin's voice came through.
"Brother, I'm already at the doorstep, why are you still calling me?"
He quickly put away his phone, stood up, adjusted his expression, and started making things up. "I accidentally touched the phone just now while flipping the newspaper..." He turned around and saw the bruise at the corner of Yu Shulin's eye. His face instantly darkened, growing long as he rushed over. "What happened? Did you get into a fight? Who hit you? Why did they hit you?"
Yu Shulin dodged the hand reaching for his eye, his face twitching. He shoved his backpack into Liang Zhou's arms. "It hurts, don't touch it. It's nothing. I just got a little bruise on my eye. The other guys were the ones I beat to the ground. Just a minor dispute between classmates, and I've already settled it."
"Really?" Liang Zhou frowned, looked back to see Aunt Liu still busy in the kitchen and no one else in the living room, then quickly leaned down. He kissed the bruise at the corner of his eye, then kissed his lips, asking in a low voice, "Really just a minor dispute? Settled? You're not lying to me?"
Yu Shulin grabbed his shoulders, stood on his toes to kiss him back, and said with a smile, "Why would I lie to you? I know you're worried about me, brother. Alright, I'm hungry, let's go eat."
Hit with this sugar-coated shell, Liang Zhou's expression softened a bit. He wrapped an arm around him and walked inside, nagging, "Go wash your face first. I'll get some medicine to put on it. Tonight, I'll come to your room to check if you're hurt anywhere else."
"Come to my room?" Yu Shulin's gaze fell on his lower body, his tone skeptical. "Do you want to take another cold shower?" He wasn't really a child. Every time his brother got affectionate with him, he'd stiffen up and pull away after a while. It wasn't hard to guess why... Yet he still always wanted to get close. Was it self-torture?
But come to think of it, he himself never seemed to have that kind of impulse towards his brother... Was it because he didn't like him enough yet?
"...Don't be ridiculous. Go wash your face." Brother Liang tried hard to use an expressionless face to cover his embarrassment.
Yu Shulin tilted his head, carefully studying Liang Zhou's profile, and nodded. Brother was still as handsome as ever, no pressure to kiss him. As for the lack of impulse... oh well, he'd just have to keep trying.
After a warm dinner, Yu Shulin returned to his room, took a shower, pulled out his exercise book and did a page. Then he rubbed his shoulders, turned on the computer, and typed in the address he had gotten that afternoon.
The page loaded quickly, transforming into a screen full of pink.
"Princess Liu's Fan Club..." Yu Shulin read with a frown, staring at the prominent photo of a young girl on the page. It took him a while to recognize that heavily made-up, bright-looking girl as Liu Fen.
"What the heck?" He browsed around casually, logged into QQ, sent the page link to Wang Zhi, and left a message.
Wang Zhi's gray avatar instantly lit up, beeping cheerfully.
I'm DaZhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Shulin! Why do you know about this forum? Don't tell me you really, like the rumors say, started liking Liu Fen again just because she became a celebrity!
Shulin: What nonsense. Some students gave me trouble today, saying they wanted to get back at me for Liu Fen. They're the ones who gave me this address.
I'm DaZhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Thank goodness, thank goodness. It's good you don't like that woman. You have no idea, ever since she joined that Ronghua talent show, Liu Fen has been getting more and more full of herself, saying she's going to be a big star. Later, when that show got interrupted, she started saying some company wanted to sign her, to train her! How blind! Which company is planning to sign her? They must be ready to lose a fortune!
Shulin: ...
I'm DaZhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: And she's so shameless, telling everyone everywhere that you're chasing her again now, but she's already out of your league and doesn't want you anymore. Damn her! Our class is a mess because of her. Everyone's hoping she does poorly on the placement exam and gets sent to a regular class.
Shulin: I see. Thanks.
He closed the chat window and skimmed through a few pinned posts on the forum. Sure enough, in one titled "The Love and Hate of the Campus Belle," he found a section about himself.
The post said something like this: The high school Princess Liu Fen attends is extremely prestigious. The princess's grades are excellent, so she was placed in the honors class right away and made class monitor. In this class, there's an insufferably arrogant, school-first-place ranker who got in through backdoor connections and whose family has a bit of stinky money...
Yes, the number one ranker in the grade who got in through the backdoor.
Well, that was true. No need to dwell on it.
Then, the gentle, understanding, and kind-hearted Princess Liu Fen met the arrogant, domineering, and disdainful number one ranker. The ranker fell in love with the princess at first sight, was smitten upon second meeting, pursued her relentlessly and clung desperately. He sent roses, cakes, candlelit dinners, jewelry, and gifts like crazy. But how could someone as noble and pure as Princess Liu Fen accept such things? Of course, she firmly rejected the ranker's advances and returned all the gifts!
Unexpectedly, this made the ranker like her even more! He was not only captivated by her beauty but also won over by her noble character!
Gradually, the ranker shed his arrogance, lowered his proud head, and began acting like all ordinary boys, madly... writing love letters to Princess Liu Fen...
But how could Princess Liu Fen be someone who engages in puppy love? She rejected the ranker once again and returned all the love letters!
The ranker was heartbroken. He actually grew to hate her because of his love and started targeting Princess Liu Fen everywhere! Someone as kind as Princess Liu Fen naturally gave way at every turn. And so, they entered their second year of high school.
In the second year, Princess Liu Fen had even more admirers. The ranker, now placed in a different class, grew jealous and angry. After his forceful demands yielded no results, he actually went to the teacher and falsely accused Princess Liu Fen of puppy love, even claiming that she had been pestering him all along!
Despicable! Vile! Shameless!
The poor Princess Liu Fen was bullied like this for a whole year. It wasn't until she participated in the Ronghua talent show that she finally cleared her name, stopped being ostracized by her classmates, and became even more beloved than before!
Everything was going smoothly. Now, all that was left was to drive that scumbag, the top-ranked student in the grade, out of school and give him a good thrashing. Then, Princess Liu Fen's high school life would be perfectly happy and fulfilling!
The fans replying to the post were fired up, unanimously vowing to back the princess up, to stand up for her, to unite and take down that scumbag top student!
Top student scumbag Yu Shulin, after reading the post: "..."
"The story is written quite well," Liang Zhou offered a fair evaluation. "However, I am very dissatisfied with the description of the male lead."
Yu Shulin was startled, his hand jerked, and the mouse moved, opening the chat window with Wang Zhi.
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Shulin, why aren't you saying anything! Don't be angry, tomorrow I'll go to school and warn those people talking nonsense!
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Shulin, Shulin, go check the class group chat we made in first year. Liu Fen is smearing your name in there. She's taking advantage of the fact you have the group muted and can't see the messages!
...
............
Cold sweat began to bead on Yu Shulin's forehead. He stiffly turned his head to look at Liang Zhou, who had been standing behind him for who knows how long, swallowed hard, and said dryly, "Brother..."
"Open it." Liang Zhou bent down, resting his head on Yu Shulin's shoulder, and nudged the hand holding the mouse. "Open the class group chat. Let's see how that girl is smearing your name..."
He shifted uncomfortably, resisting. "Being this nosy isn't good, is it..." He had a feeling his brother's tone of voice was a bit suspicious right now.
"Let's see." Liang Zhou turned his head and took Yu Shulin's earlobe into his mouth, giving it a gentle bite.
This kind of intimacy had never happened before! Brother was definitely upset!
Yu Shulin's whole body jolted. He hurriedly opened QQ and clicked into the long-muted first-year class group chat.
As soon as he opened it, messages started pouring in rapidly.
Princess Liu Fen: All those were said by my fans, I didn't know about it.
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Bull! If you didn't tell your fans, how would they know?
Sese: Liu Fen, don't go too far. Shulin never did anything to you. You've been the one causing all the drama. Don't get cocky just because you have a bit of popularity now. Karma's a bitch.
Wang Jie: What's going on? What's going on? Just finished exams and you guys are already making a fuss. What's so fun?
I'm Na Na: Yang Sese, don't talk nonsense! It's clearly Yu Shulin who's being shameless. He saw Xiao Fen getting famous and started clinging to her again. Disgusting!
Monitor Liu Ze: What's happening? That 'Na Na' person isn't from our class. How did she get in?
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: I know! That's Xu Na from Class Nine. She loves kissing up to Liu Fen. For a girl, she's really rough! Every time we run into her, she's all snide and sarcastic. Not cute at all.
Chitter chatter, chitter chatter... Ten minutes later...
Princess Liu Fen: Hah, what's there to say? Since you're all so supportive of Yu Shulin, why don't you tell him to stop clinging to me? Just the sight of him makes me sick.
Li Tao: Bitch.
Chen Lu: Liu Fen, that's enough. Have you no shame? We all know whether Shulin has been clinging to you at school or not. Can't you at least make up lies with a bit of brains?
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: ...What am I seeing? Li Tao actually showed up. A miracle.
Sese: Lying through your teeth! Li Tao, well said!
Monitor Liu Ze: Watch your language, watch your language.
I'm Na Na: You're the bitch! Your whole family are bitches! I #$%&#...
Several onlookers: ...
[I'm Na Na has been removed from "First Year, Class Two Group Chat"]
Princess Liu Fen: Liu Ze, what right do you have to kick Xiao Na out! Let me tell you, I'm now a signed artist with Rongguang. Rongguang, you know? That's the biggest, oldest entertainment company in City B! I'm going to be a big star. Cross me, and you'll regret it.
I'm Da Zhi, Who Am I Afraid Of: Liu Ze, well done! Liu Ze is awesome!
"Rongguang?" Yu Shulin frowned, turning his head to bump against Liang Zhou's. "How do you guys pick people? You're taking talent show contestants that Ronghua didn't want? This Liu Fen didn't even make it to the top ten in the elimination rounds, did she?" He had watched one round of that competition and seen all the top ten. Liu Fen wasn't among them.
Liang Zhou also frowned, reaching for the keyboard and typing rapidly.
Shulin: Which department of Rongguang?
Sese: Shulin, you're finally here! Hurry up and say you haven't been clinging to Liu Fen. She's been slandering you all along!
The group chat instantly became lively again. Liu Fen's reply came after a while, seeming somewhat lacking in confidence.
Princess Liu Fen: The training department. What about it? Once I pass the training, I'll be a formally signed artist. Let me tell you, it's too late to try and suck up to me now. I don't care.
Shulin: Which class?
Liu Fen didn't say anything more.
"Probably a practice class in the training department. You can get in by paying. I handed that department over to Zhang Qian a while ago. Wait a moment, I'll ask him." Liang Zhou stood up and started calling Zhang Qian.
One minute later, he hung up and started typing again.
Shulin: You don't need to go to Rongguang tomorrow. The company will refund your tuition for the practice class. Rongguang doesn't accept people with character issues.
Class onlookers: Whoa... What is this...
Princess Liu Fen: Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to say that? What are you to Rongguang anyway?
Liang Zhou curled his lips, glanced at Yu Shulin, kissed his cheek, and typed out a line.
Shulin: I am the most important person to Rongguang's boss.
The group chat instantly exploded. Even lurkers surfaced in droves. Classmates started frantically spamming the chat, asking what this "most important person" business was all about.
Yu Shulin looked helplessly at the constantly refreshing group chat messages, his mouth twitching.
Great. There's no explaining this at school tomorrow.
Sure enough, starting from the moment he entered the school gates the next day, he was surrounded by classmates who had heard the gossip.
The incident of "Yu Shulin putting Princess Liu Fen in her place" in yesterday's class group chat had spread rapidly throughout the school. For this astonishing speed of dissemination, the enthusiastic masses owed a great debt to Wang Zhi.
The whole story had gotten around, and of course, the phrase "the most important person to Rongguang's boss" had spread as well. Everyone was speculating about just how important this "most important person" was.
Wang Zhi had been lying in wait early at the door of Class Two's classroom. As soon as Yu Shulin appeared, he pounced, grabbing his shoulders and exclaiming, "If we're brothers, give me a straight answer! Do you know what it's like to be tortured by curiosity and unable to sleep?! You just dropped that line and went offline! Where's your humanity?! Speak! What's your relationship with Rongguang's boss! Huh? Why is the corner of your eye bruised? Did you get in a fight?"
Yu Shulin had a solid stance. Let others rage, he remained unshaken. Calmly, he said, "No, I fell. Rongguang's boss is my brother. The one who came for the parent-teacher meeting in first year. You've seen him." There was no hiding this anymore. After careful consideration, he decided to tell the truth.
Wang Zhi's mouth hung open, stunned. "B-but online they all say Rongguang's boss is the actor Liang Zhou..."
"It's him." Yu Shulin scratched his cheek, feeling somewhat helpless inside. His brother's identity was finally exposed... all because of that guy's careless talk!
Wang Zhi remained in a state of shock. "B-b-b-but... he didn't look like him at all... No, no, actually he kinda did... back then, Sese and I even joked about it... Wait! What the heck is going on?!"
"Um, he did a bit of disguise. He can't change his facial features, so he still looks similar," Yu Shulin continued to explain.
Wang Zhi fell silent, switching to a constipated expression that screamed "Are you fucking kidding me?" as he looked at Yu Shulin. What kind of disguise could make someone look so different from on TV? No, he didn't believe it! He absolutely refused to believe he had missed the chance to hug, shake hands, take a photo, and get an autograph from a film emperor!
"It's true," Yu Shulin nodded. "My brother is an actor, very good at imitating other people's mannerisms and habits, plus changing his style... Actually, the difference is pretty big, but nowadays that kind of disguise isn't very useful anymore, fans have sharp eyes."
WTF?
Wang Zhi took a step back, his mind in chaos.
This world is truly fantastical... Shulin never lies, so... the film emperor's brother has been my classmate for two years? And I've met the film emperor? Even talked to him?
He pinched his own cheek. It hurt. He looked up at Yu Shulin, looked down at his own hands, hopped in place a couple of times, then suddenly dashed back into the classroom, grabbed a stack of blank paper, and rushed back, thrusting the papers in front of Yu Shulin. His eyes were sparkling, his face flushed red. "Shulin, can you ask your brother to sign these for me?"
"...Okay." Yu Shulin was a bit stunned by this series of reactions. The corner of his mouth twitched as he took the thick stack of paper.
"Good bro! I'll treat you to a big meal another day!" Wang Zhi patted his shoulder and excitedly returned to the classroom.
Yu Shulin: "..."
Walking into the classroom and sitting down, he put down his backpack and glanced sideways. "Why are you looking at me?"
Li Tao's gaze swept over the white paper in his hand before he slumped back onto his desk. "You really are a rich second-generation heir."
"...Likewise, likewise."
After the first class ended, Liu Fen stormed into Class Two, planted her hands on Yu Shulin's desk, and demanded, "Yu Shulin, what right do you have to get me kicked out of the training class! I don't want any refunded tuition!"
Yu Shulin looked at his pressed-down exercise book, then raised his eyes. "Yesterday, while you all were chatting, my brother was standing right behind me watching."
"Your brother?"
"The boss of Rong Guang."
"You're lying! How could your brother be the boss of Rong Guang! I've met your brother, at the parent-teacher meeting in first year. He clearly, clearly..."
"You know perfectly well whether it's true or not." Yu Shulin didn't want to say more.
Liu Fen's face paled. She bit her lip. "But he can't... he can't..." She had already been kicked out of the training class. Arguing about whether it was true or not was pointless now.
"He's the boss of Rong Guang. Of course he can. The purpose of Rong Guang's training class is to select outstanding talent. You slandered me in front of him. He thinks your words and actions are improper, your character is lacking, you're not good enough. He doesn't want to keep you. Is he wrong?"
Liu Fen opened her mouth, then closed it, saying nothing.
"Can you let go of my exercise book now?" Yu Shulin looked directly into her eyes and asked calmly. Towards Liu Fen, he really couldn't muster a good attitude. This girl had gone too far with the things she'd done.
Being stared at so directly by him, Liu Fen's heartbeat uncontrollably sped up. After a dazed moment, her face turned even paler. She suddenly reached out and grabbed his sleeve, speaking softly, "Please... I shouldn't have spoken nonsense. I'll go clarify things with the fans right now, I'll apologize, I apologize... I'm sorry. Please don't kick me out of Rong Guang. I worked so hard to get in..."
"I can't do anything about it." Yu Shulin shook his head. He didn't like reducing a girl to this state either, but some things, once done, come with a price. Moreover, he didn't want to interfere with company matters.
"You can! You're Liang Zhou's brother! Why can't you do anything? You're still holding a grudge because I slandered you, right? I just like you... I like you..." Liu Fen's eyes reddened.
Yu Shulin frowned. "Thank you for your feelings, but I can't accept them." This kind of twisted affection was too terrifying.
Li Tao looked up from his book, giving her a cold glance. "Class is about to start. Don't disturb us."
"You... why are you all so cruel!" Liu Fen's eyes were completely red, her expression desperate. She lowered her head in silence for a moment, then suddenly reached out, grabbed an empty stool nearby, and swung it at Yu Shulin.
Yu Shulin nimbly stepped back. Li Tao, however, raised his hand to try and block it for him. In his urgency, Yu Shulin shoved Li Tao hard to the side. By then, it was too late to dodge again. The stool hit his arm squarely.
Thud—
The stool struck the textbooks, its leg swinging down, hitting Yu Shulin's arm directly.
The classmates gasped in shock. One or two quick-tempered ones had already run out to call the teacher and the school nurse.
"Shulin!" Li Tao, pushed off-balance, steadied himself and rushed over to him, trying to pry open the arm he was holding. "How is it? Is it bad?"
Yu Shulin shook his head, loosening his right hand to reveal the watch with its shattered face. "It's fine. The stool hit at an angle, the force wasn't that great, and the watch cushioned the blow. It's just bruised."
He took off the watch and rubbed his wrist. "The place where I wore the watch is bruised too."
Li Tao grabbed his wrist, stared at the long red mark and large bruise for a few seconds, then looked up and said to the terrified Liu Fen in a heavy tone, "Liu Fen, forget for a moment how serious the nature of intentional assault is. Do you know how much this watch of Yu Shulin's is worth?"
"H-how much..." Liu Fen retreated, somewhat frightened by the commotion her impulsive action had caused. Pressing against a desk, she braced herself and said, "It's just a watch. It's not like I can't afford to pay for it. I earned a lot of money from an event recently..."
"Heh, a lot? How much is 'a lot'?" Li Tao gave a humorless smile. "This watch has a market price of a hundred thousand. Shulin has worn it for a while, so accounting for depreciation, and considering we're classmates, let's not ask for too much. Just pay sixty or seventy thousand, how about that?"
"What kind of watch costs a hundred thousand! I don't have it! You're lying!" Liu Fen was terrified. Although she had indeed earned some money, she had already spent it all on clothes and makeup. Sixty or seventy thousand? How could she possibly afford that!
"You don't have it?" Li Tao's expression darkened, looking quite frightening. "Then we'll just have to notify your parents and have them pay for it."
Notify her parents?
Liu Fen trembled, thinking of her mother's terrible temper. Her vision darkened, and she almost fainted.
Listening to their conversation and looking at the broken watch on the desk, Yu Shulin frowned. Didn't this watch only cost a little over ten thousand? Why did Li Tao say it was a hundred thousand?
