Returning to Shengshi for the winter holiday, classmate gatherings, KTV, and dinners were, of course, unavoidable.

Jiang Ruotang and Lu Guifan also brought along Chen Dan, and played billiards with Qi Yanzhe for a whole day. Qi Yanzhe lost so badly he almost lost his temper and said he was going to sign up for classes.

“Sign up for billiards lessons?” Jiang Ruotang asked.

Qi Yanzhe rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Sign up for an MBA!”

Jiang Ruotang looked at Chen Dan, who nodded, “He wants to be an overbearing CEO with a knowledge base.”

Jiang Ruotang: “…”

The New Year’s atmosphere grew thicker. Shengshi’s streets were adorned with various red decorations. Mu Xianqing even messaged, saying that their family would have a private banquet on the sixth day of the New Year, inviting only family members and closest partners to gather. He wanted to invite Jiang Ruotang to come and have fun, and if he was worried about awkwardness, he could bring his boyfriend.

Jiang Ruotang looked at the message for a long time, then frowned and replied: [I think your true intention isn’t the wine; you’ve got your eye on my boyfriend.]

Mu Xianqing almost spat out his coffee, thinking to himself, I said it so naturally, how did Jiang Ruotang still figure it out?

[There’s a battery patent that our new energy vehicle brand really needs, and it’s in the hands of Professor Yang and your boyfriend. Does that explain it reasonably?]

Jiang Ruotang smiled, just about to tease Mu Xianqing a couple of times, when he unexpectedly received a message from Cai Ji: [Ruotang, I have something I want your opinion on.]

Remembering Cai Ji’s preoccupied look these past few days, Jiang Ruotang immediately called Cai Ji.

“Cai Cai, what’s up?”

It turned out that Cai Ji had made many friends who liked games, and several of them were students from computer-related majors. For Cai Ji, it was like finding his tribe. So, they developed a multiplayer combat game based on Classic of Mountains and Seas. They initially intended to develop it for their own play, and also invited their friends to join.

As the number of players grew, their game was noticed by a large foreign gaming company, who wanted to buy the game for a very high price, estimated to be nearly two million yuan per developer.

Although they were all university students from prestigious schools, upon entering society after graduation, it would take who knows how many years to earn two million yuan. Moreover, they had no funds and couldn’t truly develop this game. Even if they wanted to start a business, they couldn’t get enough money from bank loans or financing, and as university students, they didn’t know how to raise funds from large corporations. In the end, they would simply hand over the development rights anyway, so it was better to sell the game now and earn their first pot of gold.

Jiang Ruotang listened quietly to Cai Ji’s description and then asked, “So, Cai Cai, what do you think?”

“I… I…” Cai Ji hesitated for a moment, then answered very seriously, “I’m not reconciled! I don’t think our game’s value is just that little bit of money! It’s rumored that the gaming company is also developing a very mature and popular multiplayer combat game, and it will definitely expand into the domestic market after its overseas launch. They’re buying our game just to kill a budding competitor! They’re worried that our game will be bought and developed by other domestic companies and will take away their market… Although it’s overestimating ourselves, I just can’t help but think that way!”

“Perhaps it’s not overestimating yourselves, but actually true? What are your true thoughts?”

“I… I want to continue developing it, even if I’m the only one. But I don’t know what to do next… How do I attract investment? Can you teach me?”

Jiang Ruotang lowered his head and smiled, calmly reassuring Cai Ji: “How could you be alone? You have me, and Guifan, Changfeng, and Sasha. No matter what happens, we’ll stand by you. Send me the game to take a look, and then tell the people you’re working on the game with that you know someone who might offer a higher price, and ask them to wait.”

“Okay!” Cai Ji couldn’t help but add, “Sister Sha was right, when in doubt, ask you!”

Jiang Ruotang received the game from Cai Ji, opened it, and played for a while, listening to Cai Ji introduce various characters and skills. Jiang Ruotang’s eyes gradually widened, and he could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

The company that wanted to acquire this game was the Doyle Group, whose most famous game was Kings of the Realm, featuring characters from various European legends and myths with corresponding skills and characteristics, and also allowing for team battles.

If Jiang Ruotang remembered correctly, this game would officially launch overseas at the end of next year in his previous life, sweeping the globe with immense momentum. Two years later, it would officially enter the domestic market, with continuously growing revenue, reaching billions in revenue the year Jiang Ruotang passed away.

However, Cai Ji’s game was based on Chinese traditional mythology, with very localized character designs and moves, and also a sense of mystery. Several important characters even displayed different skills as they leveled up, adding to the mystique.

Moreover, it was impossible for Cai Ji and his team to have played Kings of the Realm, meaning this was entirely their own creativity.

If Cai Ji and his team were given sufficient funding, team support, and technical assistance, it was highly possible to achieve a breakthrough in two years and launch before Kings of the Realm!

Remembering Cai Ji in his previous life, such a young genius was persecuted by trash like Cai Chuan and Li Chun, which was simply outrageous.

Jiang Ruotang now felt that merely imprisoning those two scumbags was too lenient.

“Cai Ji, I want to try developing this game. Tell your friends that I’ll try to preserve their original shares if they’re willing to stay. If they’re not willing to continue and are eager for money, they can sign a non-disclosure agreement, and I’ll offer twice the amount of the Doyle Group.”

Of course, Jiang Ruotang would ask Mr. Zheng and Lawyer Dai to investigate and confirm whether the game currently had any copyright disputes, if it was their original work, and if there were any insurmountable technical problems. But regardless, he needed to first stabilize the people in Cai Ji’s team.

“Okay! I’ll definitely tell them!” Cai Ji’s voice sounded cheerful.

---

Although many people were not in the mood for work before the New Year, after Jiang Ruotang told Mr. Zheng and Dai Ming about the game, they knew Jiang Ruotang was about to do something big again. They immediately switched to high-efficiency mode, and various legal and evaluation tasks began.

Just a week before Chinese New Year, Little Sweet Fruit’s splash screen was an advertisement for the drama version of Drunken Immortal Terrace, which stunned a lot of users.

Everyone couldn’t believe it; what they wished for came true. The drama version of Drunken Immortal Terrace, which they had been anticipating for so long, had finally arrived!

This news spread across the entire internet. Gao Cheng didn’t even pay to put it on trending searches, yet it still landed at the top of Weibo.

While Qilin and Yunfeng belatedly suspected Little Sweet Fruit, when the news broke, there was a sense of finality.

Anyway, even if it was directed by Jiang Huaiyuan, there was no guarantee the story would be good or resonate with the audience. And how many drama viewers would pay for a Little Sweet Fruit membership just for one drama? Wouldn’t resources be flying everywhere then?

But they seemed to forget that their drama inventory was generally poor, and for the winter holiday slot, they simply had no works that could compete with Drunken Immortal Terrace. The drama’s premiere gave audiences, accustomed to fast food, a long-awaited taste of exquisite cuisine.

Perhaps because Jiang Huaiyuan simply wanted to make a good drama and never intended to stretch it to dozens or even hundreds of episodes, every episode was a highlight, leaving audiences utterly captivated.

[You know what? I was holding a plate of dumplings, but Drunken Immortal Terrace was too good, I couldn’t even bother to eat, and the dumplings got mushy!]

[Haha, me too! I was holding a bowl of instant noodles, and the soup was almost completely absorbed before I remembered I had made noodles!]

[I don’t want to miss a single second of Ye Linzhou’s breathtaking beauty!]

[Ling Song’s lines are superb! That seemingly aloof but actually innocent feeling is perfectly conveyed!]

[No top-tier actors, but every single one’s acting is on point!]

[Director Jiang is simply a god of cinematography! He shouldn’t make movies anymore, movie cycles are too long, please just let him live in TV dramas!]

The overwhelming positive reviews ignited the entire internet. The first three episodes immediately topped the ratings, with a significant gap between them and the second and third place.

Ling Song’s popularity soared. He wasn’t just a handsome male star; his lines and demeanor were strong, and he possessed movie-level acting skills recognized by Jiang Huaiyuan. Industry insiders unanimously believed that he would become a top-tier powerhouse within the next two to three years.

A steady stream of organic traffic poured in. Various fan-created works, short videos analyzing the plot and characters almost dominated Yunfeng and Qilin Video. Gao Cheng also hadn’t expected that the prepared marketing budget seemed to be unspent? So he simply decided to go bigger. After discussing with other executives, Gao Cheng decided to sign dozens of offline fan meetings with the drama’s main creative team. As long as they were paid users of the drama, they could participate in a raffle for offline meetings and signed merchandise from the main creators by simply checking in.

Initially, many viewers didn’t plan to subscribe to another platform just to watch a drama, especially since they had already spent money on Qilin and Yunfeng.

However, the character of Ye Linzhou was so beloved by the audience that many viewers, in order to appreciate his stunning beauty in 4K quality, still subscribed to Little Sweet Fruit for a quarter. After all, a quarter wouldn’t be a loss or a scam, and they might even get to see Ling Song offline?

Thus, during the drama’s broadcast, Little Sweet Fruit’s paid users experienced a second peak in growth.

No need to wait for the reports; all of Little Sweet Fruit’s shareholders knew they had made a killing at the start of the year.

As for Qin Zhanchao, he also watched the drama with his mother.

“I didn’t expect Director Jiang’s film-level cinematography to have such powerful energy when applied to a drama,” Qin Zhanchao said.

Madam Qin spoke, “It’s not just the cinematography, but also the narrative ability, the control of scenes. The entire crew had to listen to him, and he had to have a keen eye for talent, willing to take a risk and cast Ling Song as the male lead. Director and actor, if this drama lacked even one point, it wouldn’t have achieved today’s effect. Zhanchao, traffic is actually the audience’s attention; it doesn’t appear out of thin air. You want to capture traffic, but Director Jiang can create traffic.”

The experiences of these days also made Qin Zhanchao realize that he had been too arrogant and eager for quick success, and that he had missed out on a good opportunity to cooperate with Jiang Huaiyuan due to his narrow-mindedness.

Seeing that her son had understood, Madam Qin didn’t continue speaking.

---

However, Han Ming wasn’t as magnanimous. He watched as Ling Song, whom he had once tried to control and domesticate, transformed overnight like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

His popularity was skyrocketing, resources poured in, and even his speech and demeanor during interviews became more confident. He was no longer as paranoid as before, filled with rebellion and defensiveness against everything; he became gentler and more composed.

Han Ming began another round of maneuvers, finding marketing accounts to leak online that Ling Song was an ungrateful fellow, practically possessed by a manic disorder, with videos of him smashing people’s heads and flipping tables, trying to smear Ling Song.

Chen Qian, aware of the feud between Han Ming and Ling Song, was already prepared.

As soon as the negative news broke, Chen Qian unceremoniously released a voice recording of a certain boss pressuring the production team to exclude Ling Song and leave him jobless. There was also a testimony from other retired artists who attended the so-called dinner, stating that there was a speaker from a certain boss at the dinner, trying to persuade Ling Song to accept that boss’s terms.

Unlike Han Ming’s emotionally charged smears, the insider information Chen Qian prepared had authenticated evidence and material proof.

Coupled with Ling Song’s looks and acting skills, it was unbelievable to netizens that he would be relegated to being an extra for several years, even if he couldn’t be the male lead. They felt indignant.

More and more people started discussing how Ling Song lost that role back then. Netizens immediately felt sympathy for Ling Song and began to condemn “a certain boss.” “Who is a certain boss?” even ranked in the top three trending searches. Everyone wished they could drag this person out for public humiliation, driving cranes repeatedly over “a certain boss'” grave.

It was almost Chinese New Year, and the public relations manager of Cefeng Pictures was swamped, wishing he could kneel on the spot to Han Ming. Why couldn’t he make trouble after the New Year?

Was he rushing to give the opponent a head start?

Ling Song never expected that Chen Qian would be so diligent in finding evidence and witnesses for the injustices he suffered in the past.

“Little CEO Jiang reminded me of this. He thinks that Han Ming is a big landmine for you, and what goes around comes around. He used to be so arrogant and overbearing, did no one have an opinion of him, did no one hold back? This time, he has to kneel. We didn’t get revenge for you before because we were still collecting evidence. Now we have so much evidence we can summon a divine dragon.”

Not only that, Qi Yanfeng, Chen Qian, and even Gao Cheng called the chairman of Cefeng Pictures. The message was simple: this Han Ming is narrow-minded and has endless dirt on him. Ling Song is making money for Juxing Media and Little Sweet Fruit. Han Ming doing something like this is clearly declaring war on them. It all depends on whether this is Cefeng Pictures’ intention or just Han Ming’s personal grudge.

The chairman of Cefeng Pictures, hearing this, realized that they had provoked not only other industry peers but also platform owners, which was no laughing matter. Moreover, if the name of “a certain boss” were revealed, Cefeng’s stock would plummet to the core of the earth, and once their reputation was ruined, any future projects would face massive audience boycotts. The day before the New Year, an emergency shareholders’ meeting was convened, stating that an internal investigation would be conducted on Han Ming. Once Han Ming’s illegal actions were confirmed, evidence would be submitted to relevant departments, and Han Ming’s shareholder status would be revoked.

At this point, Han Ming could be said to have nothing, and he faced public condemnation online. After the New Year, an even more severe investigation awaited him.

---

Soon, it was New Year’s Eve.

Logically, Lu Guifan should have gone back to Lu Village with his parents, but considering the villagers’ attitude towards Xiao Wei, and the little girl finally cheering up, Father Lu and Mother Lu absolutely did not want Xiao Wei to recall those unpleasant things.

“Guifan, wouldn’t it be too lonely for you to stay at home with Xiao Wei? It’s supposed to be a family reunion day.”

“Your mother and I originally said we wouldn’t go back to the village this year, but your grand-uncle is ninety-eight and his health doesn’t seem to be doing well. This year, I’m afraid…”

Lu Guifan picked up Xiao Wei. The little girl’s hair had grown long, and she had two pigtails tied with candy hair ties that Jiang Ruotang had bought before university started.

“Then I’ll take Xiao Wei to find Ruotang.”

“Won’t it be a bother?”

“No bother. Just be careful on your way back, Dad, drive slower.”

So on New Year’s Eve, Lu Guifan took Xiao Wei to the Jiang family. As soon as they entered, everyone rushed to hold Xiao Wei, saying she was rosy-cheeked like a New Year’s painting doll. Her pockets were instantly filled with candy and red envelopes. Finally, Xiao Wei sat on Zhao Changfeng’s shoulders, giggling.

But Jiang Ruotang noticed a ring on Lu Guifan’s finger. It was black, like stone, but under the light, it shimmered with a metallic luster. At first glance, it was unremarkable, but the more you looked, the more it exuded a special texture.

During the New Year’s Eve dinner, Jiang Ruotang curiously played with Lu Guifan’s fingers, touching the ring. The sensation was wonderfully strange.

Every time he tried to take the ring off, Lu Guifan would hook his finger, subtly pushing the ring back.

After this happened several times, Jiang Ruotang declared himself angry. He had even touched Lu Guifan’s boat; why couldn’t he touch a mere ring?

That night, when Lu Guifan went to shower, Jiang Ruotang thought he would take the ring off. To his surprise, he wore it into the shower, which made Jiang Ruotang so angry he punched the bathroom door.

Zhao Changfeng walked past and said with a chuckle, “If you have the guts, go in and hit him. Don’t just swing your wild punches out here.”

“Am I still your brother?”

Zhao Changfeng replied, “You’re my brother, but not my biological brother, hehe.”

Before Jiang Ruotang’s foot could kick him, Zhao Changfeng darted back into his room.

Lu Guifan walked into the bedroom, wiping his head, and saw Jiang Ruotang sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking like an angry squirrel.

“What’s wrong?”

“You know perfectly well. Whose ring is this that you treasure so much? I want to see it!”

Jiang Ruotang extended his hand towards him. Unexpectedly, Lu Guifan lowered his head, kissed his palm, and slowly said, “Kiss me, and if I’m satisfied then…”

The next second, Lu Guifan’s collar was yanked by Jiang Ruotang, and a kiss, full of willfulness and abandon, crashed against him. Though his lips were soft, his tongue forced its way in with such force, wickedly sweeping across Lu Guifan’s teeth, making it impossible for Lu Guifan to catch up.