Afraid that Shen Xici might hold a grudge, Lu Jieming quickly explained, “I was only eyeing Zhong Yue at first because he was popular and had investment. But actually, Zhong Yue is a bit too old, and his features are too harsh. He’s not quite suitable for the role of Sheng Yuen. If he were to play it, we’d have to put a lot of effort into the makeup.” He then complimented him, “You’re different. Your name really suits your looks. Xici, Xici, you really have the air of Yangzhou’s misty March, of wind and snow!”

Shen Xici saw through his purpose. “Are you afraid I’ll run away?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Lu Jieming nodded emphatically. “Yes!”

He was very self-aware. His film crew currently had nothing, just a script and a role. It was an empty shell. But Shen Xici? Although he was a newcomer, his starting point was high. He was personally chosen by the internationally renowned director Wan Shan from an open audition. After filming for a month, he had already been on the trending list several times. When the movie was released, his future would be limitless.

“I won’t run. I really like this story, and I really like the character of Sheng Yuen.” Shen Xici shook the script in his hand and said seriously, “Let’s make it together.”

It was as if he had been fighting a lone battle and suddenly found a comrade-in-arms. Lu Jieming was filled with passion and was about to express his feelings with grand words when he suddenly saw Shen Xici raise his hand, pinch his fingers like a fortune teller at a roadside stall, and look very professional.

Shen Xici opened his mouth, “I just had a sudden feeling and did a divination. Do you have a friend with the surname Wu, and you’re on good terms?”

Lu Jieming’s eyes widened, and his grand words were immediately forgotten. “How did you know?”

So there really was one? Shen Xici put on an air of ‘heavenly secrets cannot be divulged.’ “Didn’t you just see? I calculated it.” He had watched Grandpa He do fortune-telling so much that, while he didn’t know anything else, his movements for the ‘Little Six Rens’ divination were very standard, absolutely flawless.

“You figured it out just by pinching your fingers a few times?” Lu Jieming was filled with respect. “If you had told me you were a metaphysics master earlier, I definitely wouldn’t have invited you here!”

Shen Xici was curious. “Then where would you have invited me?”

“I would have at least booked a large room for 58.8, with two free bowls of popcorn!”

Shen Xici picked up his water cup, thinking to himself that the identity of a metaphysics master was only worth twenty yuan.

“How did you really figure it out?” Lu Jieming urged him. “I do know someone with the surname Wu. His name is Wu Ya. He was my good brother who slept in the bunk below me in school!”

Wu Ya, that was the name. Shen Xici took a slow sip of tea before speaking. “When I was one month old, I acknowledged a mountain as my godmother.”

Lu Jieming exclaimed, “Son of the Mountain God! You really are?”

Shen Xici put down his cup and continued in a calm and detached tone, “Near my home, there’s a fortune teller with the surname He. I’ve been very close to him since I was a child.”

Lu Jieming was even more convinced. He sat up straight, a little apprehensive. “You specifically mentioned someone with the surname Wu. Is there a problem?”

“I calculated that you have a ‘small person’ (villain) in your life, and this ‘small person’ has the surname Wu.”

The expression on Lu Jieming’s face slowly faded, and he became thoughtful. Shen Xici didn’t say any more. He couldn’t just directly say that, according to the original timeline, Wu Ya would steal his script, and even his storyboard designs, gaining both fame and fortune, and be hailed as a rising new director in China. He would also alter the script he had spent months in seclusion writing until it was unrecognizable.

Many film critics used the phrase “the flaws do not obscure the jade” when evaluating the movie “Double Face.” Shen Xici looked at the script in his hands and the hand-drawn storyboards on the paper. This real piece of beautiful jade would never have the chance to be filmed, and the truly talented person, who knows what fate had befallen him.

Calculating the time, if the movie “Double Face” was to be released during the Spring Festival, it must have already started raising funds and casting actors. It might even be close to starting filming. Shen Xici felt a sense of urgency. “We need to speed up, preferably in time for this year’s Spring Festival.”

A mouthful of tea that Lu Jieming had just drunk almost sprayed out. He choked until his face was red. He quickly wiped his mouth with a piece of paper. “Brother, you, you really think highly of me! The Spring Festival! For a small movie like ours, it’s no less than a slaughterhouse!”

Shen Xici was firm. “As long as the movie is good, the Spring Festival can also be the dragon gate for a carp to transform into a dragon.”

“Fine, then let’s aim for the Spring Festival,” Lu Jieming presented the reality, trying to persuade Shen Xici to give up his unrealistic imagination. “Today is April 22nd. The Spring Festival is on February 17th next year. In ten months, we have to finish filming, edit it, and then do the publicity and release. Do you think that’s something we can accomplish with our combined total of two hundred and fourteen thousand, eight hundred and three yuan?”

Shen Xici fell silent. The sum sounded like a lot, but on a film set, it could be burned through in less than a day.

His mind raced, and Shen Xici suddenly caught on to a keyword. “Two hundred thousand… you said, you got that two hundred thousand from a rich second-generation as compensation?”

Lu Jieming’s brow furrowed, his mouth slightly agape, an accusatory expression on his face as if to say, “You’re inhuman, you have no conscience.” “Are you suggesting I should stand on the side of the road, and when a luxury car comes by, I should rush out and let a rich second-generation hit me?” He quickly calculated, “Sixty million, two hundred thousand at a time. I’d have to get hit three hundred times to raise enough money! Shen Xici, even slave owners aren’t as black-hearted as you!”

Shen Xici laughed so hard he fell onto the sofa, tears almost coming out. “Is it possible that our film crew doesn’t need the director to make such a big sacrifice for now?”

Lu Jieming breathed a sigh of relief. “Then why did you bring up that two hundred thousand?”

Shen Xici wiped the corner of his eye and caught his breath. “To get investment, of course.”

Lu Jieming’s eyes lit up. “That makes sense, that makes sense! To meet is fate! That rich second-generation looked very—” The pronunciation of “stupid” in his mouth took a hard turn, “—kind!”

He was still very confident in his own work, and now he had Shen Xici, who could really hold his own. Lu Jieming rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go try it out quickly, see if our begging can succeed!”

---

On the 51st floor of the Mingde Building, the office door was knocked on. Special Assistant Yu Zhou walked in and handed a document to Sheng Shaoyan. “President Sheng, your medical examination results are all out.”

Sheng Shaoyan flipped through them. Over the years, his team of chefs and nutritionists would adjust his meal plans for each period based on his various data to ensure his health. Although he was injured, the various results on the few sheets of paper showed no change compared to before the attack.

“The doctor also said that the knife wound on your back was treated very well, especially the suturing technique, which was beautiful. It’s healing very well.”

Shen Xici’s words, “Sui County only has one county hospital. How could the doctors there suture a wound more beautifully than I can?” echoed in his ears. Sheng Shaoyan’s finger pressed on the paper, unconsciously creating a crease.

From the early morning of the 18th until now, it was already the fifth day.

“Is that phone charging?” After blurting it out, Sheng Shaoyan felt a little annoyed. He had already made up his mind not to be affected by the people and events of that one month of amnesia.

Yu Zhou didn’t notice his boss’s internal conflict. He answered dutifully, “It’s fully charged. It’s already in your drawer.”

After a long silence, Sheng Shaoyan finally asked, “Did anyone call?”

Yu Zhou shook his head. “No.”

The neon lights outside the window gradually lit up, leaving only a deep blue in the sky. Sheng Shaoyan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking into the distance, his lips slightly tightened. “If someone stayed at your house for half a month and left without a formal farewell, what would you think?”

Yu Zhou kept his expression neutral, but inside, a level-ten earthquake was happening. This was the first time Sheng Shaoyan had mentioned what happened during that one month! It sounded like President Sheng had stayed at someone else’s house for a month? And he left without saying goodbye? There must be a story here!

“Under normal circumstances, I would be a little angry, because leaving without saying goodbye would make me feel disrespected.” Glancing at Sheng Shaoyan’s expression, Yu Zhou changed his tune. “But if I knew the other person had something urgent to do, or the timing was inconvenient, I could also understand.”

Looking at his own reflection in the glass, Sheng Shaoyan’s mind conjured up the image of the floor-to-ceiling window of the rental house on the day he proposed, with his and Shen Xici’s figures intertwined. He did indeed leave without saying goodbye. It was right for Shen Xici to be angry. But at the time, things were too urgent. He had to arrive in Ningcheng before the emergency board meeting convened—but those were all excuses.

Reason tried to make him completely erase that one month, to be unaffected. He had left a check, for the other person to fill in any amount, which was enough to repay the debt of saving his life. He was even starting to doubt whether his so-called “liking” was real or just a virtual illusion produced in a state of amnesia. After all, he had misled himself. The basis for all his emotions did not actually exist. Or rather, did this “liking” belong to “Sheng Shaoyan,” or only to “Ah Shao”? He couldn’t answer, so he had left in a rather pathetic state.

“Has there been any new check cashing record at the bank in the past two days?”

“I have inquired twice today, and both times I was told there were none.” Yu Zhou quietly connected the dots. His boss left without saying goodbye but left behind a check?

“Mmm, you can go back to your work.”

The office door closed again. Sheng Shaoyan signed a few documents and approved a few personnel changes that Lin Yueshu had submitted. Glancing at the date displayed on the computer screen, he couldn’t help but think that Shen Xici must have already returned to Ningcheng and moved into the apartment he had found. The fact that he hadn’t gone to the bank to cash the check yet could only mean one thing: Shen Xici wasn’t after money.

Since he was young, everyone who had appeared around him had an ulterior motive, coveting his status as an heir, the opportunities and channels for advancement he could provide, his power, and his money. He broke down the memories of the past month, suspecting that Shen Xici had discovered his amnesia from the very beginning and had been acting along with him all this time. If this hypothesis was correct, then, after putting in so much effort, if it wasn’t for money, what could it be for?

At this moment, the phone in the drawer let out a notification sound. The tip of the signing pen paused on the paper, leaving a deep ink dot. Knowing that he shouldn’t have any more contact with Shen Xici, shouldn’t be influenced anymore, his hand still opened the drawer at the first moment.

However, on the lit screen, the space next to the WeChat icon was empty. Only Weibo had a red notification. A few seconds later, Sheng Shaoyan clicked on it. It was a private message.

[FlippedByShenXiciToday: Hello, handsome manager! I’m the fan who visited the set last time. Thank you for not deleting the photos I took last time. I’ve made the photo cards. Do you still want the ten sets you ordered? If so, I’ll mail them to you tomorrow!]

After a long time, Sheng Shaoyan replied.

[User7e92th5yn: Yes.]

[FlippedByShenXiciToday: That’s great, that’s great! A few sisters bailed, I was worried you would bail on these ten sets too hahaha~]

[User7e92th5yn: How many bailed?]

[FlippedByShenXiciToday: Not many, some sisters I can’t contact anymore, some want to buy other photo cards, so they don’t want these anymore. There are about forty-something sets left.]

Forty-something sets? Sheng Shaoyan’s fingers typed, completely independent of his rational mind.

[User7e92th5yn: Give them all to me. I want them all.]