The villa used for filming was quite remote, but there were other villas nearby.
Some residents in the vicinity noticed the raging fire.
They recorded videos and posted them online.
Netizens quickly identified the villa as the filming location for No Romance Villa based on certain exterior details.
It instantly became a trending topic.
#NoRomanceVillaFilmingVillaOnFire EXPLODES
Many night-owl netizens flooded the show’s official account, asking about the safety of the guests.
The assistant director was the first to post an update, assuring everyone that all guests were safe.
The director returned the guests’ phones to them,
allowing them to contact their families and confirm their safety.
Lin Mo had just gotten her phone when she received a call from the "Buddha of Beijing’s Elite Circles."
"Jie, are you okay?"
Secretary Zhang Nan had already reported her safety, but Shen Yihan needed to hear his sister’s voice to be at ease.
Lin Mo glanced at Shen Sizhan, who was lying on the sofa, and answered honestly, "I’m fine, but Third Brother isn’t doing so well."
Shen Yihan sighed in relief. "That’s good—wait, what happened to Third Brother?"
Lin Mo rubbed her nose. "He saw me kissing Xie Guanyan and fainted on the spot."
Shen Yihan shot up from his bed, his voice trembling. "What?! You and Mr. Xie already… That’s way too fast!"
He couldn’t accept it.
His innocent, naive eighteen-year-old sister was being corrupted by Mr. Xie!
The man in black pajamas frantically twisted the Buddhist beads on his right wrist, trying to calm himself down.
Lin Mo blinked. "It’s not that big a deal. Just a kiss."
They’d already gone much further than that.
Shen Yihan still couldn’t calm down. "It is a big deal! At the very least, you shouldn’t be kissing anyone until after you graduate!"
Lin Mo: "..."
Lin Mo pouted. "Why don’t you just say I have to wait until I’m thirty?"
Shen Yihan: "Exactly. Thirty is the right age."
Lin Mo sighed. "Alright, alright, stop worrying. The doctor already checked on Third Brother—he’s fine. Now go back to sleep."
After the previous incident involving drugging, the director had splurged on hiring an on-site doctor.
Who would’ve thought they’d need one the very next day?
Afraid that the "Buddha of Beijing’s Elite Circles" would keep lecturing her, Lin Mo hung up.
How could Shen Yihan possibly sleep now?!
Lying in bed, he twisted the beads on his wrist so fast they might as well have sparked.
His sister was still so young, and Mr. Xie was so much older—she could easily be taken advantage of!
Regret gnawed at him.
Xu Yan also received a call—from Xu Zunlong.
He had been woken up by his secretary.
Once he confirmed Xu Yan was safe, Xu Zunlong said, "Xiao Yan, just come back. There’s no hope between you and Lin Mo anyway."
Though he liked the girl too,
Xie Guanyan was playing every trick in the book. How could Xu Yan possibly compete?
Beep—
Xu Yan hung up.
No, he wouldn’t go back. He wanted to stay and see her as much as he could.
If he left now, he might never get another chance.
The fire in the villa showed no signs of dying down.
All the equipment, furniture, and even the guests’ personal belongings were reduced to ashes.
The losses were devastating.
The assistant director shook his head. "Director, with luck like yours, you might as well buy a lottery ticket."
The director gave a bitter laugh. "I don’t dare. Knowing me, I’d probably scratch off an IOU."
The assistant director’s lips twitched. "Let’s just call the police and investigate. If this was arson, we can demand compensation."
It was autumn—nights weren’t that hot. A fire wouldn’t start without a cause.
This sparked a discussion among the group.
Li Huanyu huffed. "Gu Jingchuan loves smoking in the middle of the night! They should’ve arrested him ages ago!"
She’d spent enough nights with him to know how bad the secondhand smoke was.
Jiang Wan struck a thoughtful pose, mimicking Detective Conan. "Maybe it was an electrical fire. I saw a post online about someone who bought a cheap nightlight and ended up burning their whole house down!"
Lin Mo lowered her beautiful peach-blossom eyes, recalling something.
She had been taking sleep aids prescribed by Dr. You, adjusting the dosage, but even then, she still woke up two or three times a night.
Yet last night, she hadn’t stirred once.
She hadn’t even woken up until the fire was licking at her.
Why?
A chill ran down her spine as she frowned.
One possibility came to mind.
She was originally someone who had died—was the world of this novel rejecting her?
Another possibility was that her medication had been swapped for something with an excessively strong sedative effect.
Enough to keep her unconscious while the fire consumed her.
But if someone wanted her dead, why not just replace it with poison?
Why go through the trouble of setting a fire?
Unless they wanted it to look like an accident.
A sudden blaze, combined with her sleep disorder and medication, would make her death seem tragically plausible.
Whoever it was probably hadn’t expected her sleep issues to be severe enough that even that dosage wouldn’t knock her out completely.
And even if she had been completely unconscious, Xie Guanyan had arrived just in time.
She wouldn’t have burned to death either way.
Digging deeper—if this fire was intentional, then what about the car accident that was supposed to have killed her?
The more she thought about it, the more unsettling it became.
Who was trying to kill her, not once, but twice?
Her second uncle, Shen Feng?
But she’d dealt with him for years. If he’d had the guts to kill her, he would’ve done it when she was fourteen or fifteen. Why wait until she was eighteen?
Lin Mo pinched the bridge of her nose, lost in thought.
Xu Yan had no theories about the fire. Without more clues, any conclusion would be pure speculation.
He was more concerned about something else.
"Director, is the show still going to continue filming?"
The current villa was much smaller than the one that burned down—hardly suitable for production.
The director lifted his head at a 45-degree angle, refusing to let his tears fall. "We’ll film even if I have to crawl out of my grave! I’ll figure something out!"
Lin Mo couldn’t make sense of things yet.
For now, she needed to discuss this with her boyfriend.
She glanced around but didn’t see Xie Guanyan in the living room.
Jiang Wan, noticing her search, giggled behind her hand. "He went upstairs."
Lin Mo winked at her and headed for the second floor.
Xie Guanyan listened to Gu Jingchuan’s threats, his dark eyes glinting with cold fury.
Memories from when he was seventeen flooded back.
After impulsively beating up Gu Jingchuan and Gu Jingzhou that day, he had planned to return to the slums.
But while resting on the beach, he encountered Shanshan.
Seeing him covered in blood, she called an ambulance for him.
That single encounter made him unable to leave.
If fate allowed them to meet like this, then they were meant to be. He had to fight for her.
After getting his wounds treated at the hospital, he returned to the Gu family.
He sought out the old man, Gu Song, and said, "Please transfer me to First High."
It was the first time he had ever begged.
For Gu Song, it was a simple request. The man scoffed. "Go apologize to Jingchuan, Jingzhou, and your Aunt Zhang first."
When he apologized, all three wore expressions of disdain, ignoring him completely.
Zhang Meixia, the matriarch of the Gu family, even demanded he kneel.
But in the end, he got into First High. The result was what mattered.
Yet Shanshan was the top student, the school belle, the brightest star in every major event.
Meanwhile, though he lived with the Gu family, he was confined to the servants’ quarters, with no allowance for clothes or food—he had to fend for himself.
Always wearing faded T-shirts and sneakers with worn-out soles,
he never had the courage to speak to her.
He could only follow her in secret, appearing wherever she went.
Some days, he survived on just two steamed buns, saving every penny from odd jobs to buy a camera.
Like a bug in the gutter, he did many unspeakable things.
Until one day, Gu Jingchuan decided to frame him by claiming a watch had gone missing and searching his living quarters.
All his dark thoughts were laid bare before Gu Jingchuan.
Shocked, Gu Jingchuan called him a disgusting pervert.
From then on, Gu Jingchuan had leverage over him, threatening to keep him away from Lin Mo—forbidding him from even speaking to her.
Worse, he was forced to help Gu Jingchuan pursue her.
If he refused, Gu Jingchuan would show Lin Mo the evidence he’d gathered.
To avoid her hatred, he reluctantly offered Gu Jingchuan advice.
This included cooking meals for Gu Jingchuan to deliver to Lin Mo.
At least this was one silver lining—Shanshan got to taste his food.
Yet no matter how much she ate, she never seemed to gain weight, so he worked even harder to improve his cooking.
Gradually, Shanshan warmed up to Gu Jingchuan, even spending time with him.
Jealousy festered in his heart, his gaze growing darker—but there was nothing he could do.
Then came the soccer match.
Gu Jingchuan, unwilling to let him steal the spotlight, lured him to the hillside and injured his leg.
When Uncle Fang asked if someone at school was bullying him, he stayed silent.
This threat haunted him throughout high school.
Eleven years later, hearing it again,
his heart still trembled uncontrollably.
This was something Shanshan must never know.
But years of wealth and power had honed Xie Guanyan’s composure.
He maintained a calm smile. "Gu Jingchuan, you wouldn’t want to be blacklisted or see the Gu empire crumble overnight, would you?"
