Bai Yingchuan replied, “This friend gave me a lot of advice, including taking on the script for ‘Boiling Era’ and guiding me to learn more from Teacher Feng. He made me realize Lin Chendong was unreliable and reminded me that only by working with Little Sweet Fruit could I break new ground. As for what to do next, I want to hear his opinion first.”

This undoubtedly told Bai Yue that this friend of his was a thousand times more reliable than Bai Yue, his own mother.

She looked at Sister Yu, who also shook her head, indicating that she hadn’t concealed anything and truly didn’t know who the person was.

After Bai Yingchuan entered his room, Bai Yue instructed Sister Yu, “Keep a close eye on him. If there truly is such a person, we, as elders, must help him manage this relationship well.”

Sister Yu nodded, but scoffed inwardly: You just want to control your son’s social circle to regain control over him.

While Bai Yingchuan’s career was soaring, Bai Yue’s own career was on the decline. Seeing her son build new connections, this sense of disparity was hard for Bai Yue to bear.

Not only would the positions of this mother and son diverge, but Sister Yu also had to consider her own future.

Sitting at his desk, Bai Yingchuan once again looked at the sketch on the wall.

To understand Jiang Ruotang, Bai Yingchuan, for the first time, read many books on painting, finally understanding the difference between a sketch and a drawing.

And this drawing in front of him… was even more casual and concise than a sketch.

The light and shadow revealed a cold, hard texture. Rather than saying Jiang Ruotang painted Bai Yingchuan, it was more accurate to say it depicted Jiang Ruotang’s own state of mind.

—You are beautiful, but I will never look back.

Bai Yingchuan closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He could now tell the other party his decision.

When his phone rang, Jiang Ruotang had just finished showering and was drinking some freshly squeezed orange juice from the table.

“Hello? Bai Yingchuan?”

Jiang Ruotang’s voice came through the phone, sounding clearer and more childish than usual.

The slightly rising intonation felt like a feather brushing Bai Yingchuan’s heart.

“Sorry to bother you so late. I just convinced my mom, so I wanted to tell you right away.”

Jiang Ruotang’s voice held a hint of a smile: “That’s certainly good news. This time, do you want to handle it yourself, or let your agent negotiate for you?”

Bai Yingchuan thought for a moment, then replied, “I want to discuss it myself.”

“That way, Little Sweet Fruit will be your own resource. Even if you change agents someday, you won’t lose this connection. Then I’ll give your phone number to Little Sweet Fruit’s side.”

“Thank you.”

Bai Yingchuan found it strange that he hadn’t asked Jiang Ruotang who he was giving his number to.

“Shall I hang up then?”

“Still doing practice tests?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The first mock exam is coming up.”

Bai Yingchuan wanted to say a few more words to Jiang Ruotang, but the phrase “the first mock exam is coming up” brought their conversation to an end.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ruotang sat expressionlessly at his desk, the web page on his laptop displaying information about Lin Chendong’s new film and television project.

It was this project that had brought infamy to Jiang Huaiyuan in his past life, emptying the Jiang family’s shares. Lin Chendong had even pretended to be a good person to Jiang Ruotang for nearly ten years, lamenting Jiang Huaiyuan’s suicide while sincerely claiming he would take care of Jiang Ruotang.

If scumbags in suits had a college entrance exam, Lin Chendong would effortlessly get into a top university.

He still remembered that day when Jiang Ruotang accompanied Lin Lu to a social event. Lin Lu drank too much, and coincidentally, Huanyu Pictures had a shareholder meeting that afternoon. Jiang Ruotang helped Lin Lu into an office to rest.

While Jiang Ruotang was using the restroom in Lin Lu’s office, Lin Chendong came in and asked Lin Lu if Jiang Ruotang had managed to sort out Director Fei.

Lin Lu, drunk, had no idea who had helped him into the office. He then began bragging to his father about how obedient Jiang Ruotang was, how he would rush forward like a hard-working mule as long as bait was thrown out, and that Director Fei was nothing.

Then, Lin Chendong uttered the words that Jiang Ruotang would never forget.

“They really are father and son. We dig a big hole for them, and they bury themselves.”

Followed by Lin Chendong’s sarcastic sneer, “Thanks to Jiang Huaiyuan for taking the blame and clearing the path for me, and for raising a good son to work like a dog for us!”

Jiang Ruotang’s hand gripped the doorknob of the restroom. He still couldn’t describe how he felt at that moment, a feeling of weightlessness as if he had shattered into a million pieces.

His own life and all of his father Jiang Huaiyuan’s efforts and trust had been negated, everything meaningless, like an ignorant and fearless clown.

Jiang Ruotang waited there, kept waiting. He had thought Lin Lu would use the restroom, but Lin Lu just slept a bit longer and then went directly to the meeting.

When he walked out of the restroom, Jiang Ruotang was so weak he could barely stand.

He stumbled back to his apartment, oblivious to the countless vibrations and rings of his phone.

His heart was so heavy, as if crushed by a colossal mountain, making it hard for Jiang Ruotang to breathe.

He had a high fever, a very high one. He had already been coughing a bit, but this high fever made it much worse.

Zhao Yunshu and Zhao Changfeng came to see him and took him to the hospital.

It was then that he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

The day he received the diagnosis, Jiang Ruotang laughed wryly. It was as if God was punishing him, this idiot, making even his hatred so powerless.

At that time, Lin Chendong was at the peak of his career in the entertainment industry, and Jiang Ruotang had no way of shaking him.

But this life was different.

Jiang Ruotang had already plucked Lin Chendong’s feathers one by one, from his money bag Huang Tengyao, to his various money-making avenues, making him anxious, uncomfortable, and resorting to crooked schemes to offend people…

Now, only the final fatal blow remained.

Jiang Ruotang leaned back in his chair, arms comfortably behind his head, while Bai Yingchuan, this knife, was getting sharper and sharper.

—Uncle Lin, be a little more greedy. Push Bai Yingchuan and Bai Yue a little harder. I guarantee you, the force with which they stab you will be just as fierce.

Jiang Ruotang would not let himself or his family get close to him again. Let that rotten ditch just fester and bubble on its own.

But because he didn’t want to get dirty, Jiang Ruotang couldn’t get involved in Lin Chendong’s rotten affairs, but Bai Yue must know many of Lin Chendong’s secrets.

Now, Bai Yingchuan could see and experience the “great future” that Jiang Ruotang had pointed out, and that would also give Bai Yue hope.

Once there was hope of escaping the quagmire, yet Lin Chendong kept dragging them deeper into the abyss, what do you think? Would Bai Yue spill all those secrets?

Jiang Ruotang felt a surge of pleasure. He couldn’t wait to see Lin Chendong riddled with holes.

Just then, his phone vibrated on the desk. It was a message from Lu Guifan: [Have you finished the big physics and chemistry problems? I’m going to sleep.]

Jiang Ruotang had just been mentally judging Lin Chendong, like Bao Gong holding court, with the guillotine opening, about to decapitate Lin Chendong, that scumbag who had no conscience in either life. Lu Guifan’s message pulled him back to reality.

[Don’t sleep! Soon, I’ll send them to you right away!]

Jiang Ruotang immediately put on a serious expression and started working on the problems.

[How long is “soon”? You haven’t even started, have you?]

[Don’t rush me, or you’ll be single forever!]

Lu Guifan, holding his phone, was choked by Jiang Ruotang’s “single forever” warning.

He rested his chin on his hand, lowered his eyes, and tapped on Jiang Ruotang’s profile picture.

Then Lu Guifan shook his head helplessly. It seemed he had completely lost his authority as class monitor when it came to Jiang Ruotang.

Just then, Jiang Ruotang sent another message: [n 55!w !]

Lu Guifan tilted his head, [Which problem is that the answer to?]

[Afraid you’ll be too bored, see if you can solve this code. No looking it up online, cheating is shameful.]

This old internet meme, Jiang Ruotang was sure Lu Guifan didn’t know.

Study god, take your time.

Jiang Ruotang calmed himself down, not letting his mood be affected, and slowly worked on the problems.

Once Lu Guifan had checked all the practice problems, Jiang Ruotang yawned and asked Lu Guifan with a grin: [Class monitor, have you solved the code?]

Lu Guifan had no clue about the string of characters, but since he had promised Jiang Ruotang not to look it up online, he could only try to figure it out himself.

[You haven’t given me enough information; I can’t find the answer.]

Jiang Ruotang couldn’t suppress the smirk on his face, [Class monitor, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, you’ll definitely find the answer. Good night!]

Lu Guifan could almost imagine Jiang Ruotang’s gloating expression just by looking at the words “Good night!”.

Knowing that Jiang Ruotang was teasing him, and that the string of characters likely had no meaning at all, Lu Guifan couldn’t help but try to find the answer.

He put down his phone, went out to pour a glass of hot water, and sat back at his desk. His phone was lying upside down, and he finally understood what the seemingly random characters meant. He immediately covered his eyes and laughed.

On the desk near the wall was Jiang Ruotang’s water cup. Lu Guifan couldn’t pat Jiang Ruotang’s head, so he could only pop the straw in and out of the cup.

“You scamp.”

Looking at Jiang Ruotang’s thoughtless tone in the message, Lu Guifan guessed that he hadn’t considered the meaning of the answer when he sent it.

As if only his own heart was stirred, Lu Guifan pressed Jiang Ruotang’s water cup several more times with more force.

The next morning, Bai Yingchuan had just finished washing up when his phone vibrated.

“Hello, is this Mr. Bai Yingchuan?”

A rich male voice came from the other end.

“It is, may I ask who this is…”

“I’m Gao Cheng, CEO of Little Sweet Fruit.”

At that moment, Bai Yingchuan paused. He had expected someone like a copyright manager or a public relations manager to contact him.

He never imagined that Jiang Ruotang could get his phone number to Gao Cheng. Even Bai Yue couldn’t pull off that kind of influence.

“Hello, I’m Bai Yingchuan.” Bai Yingchuan’s throat involuntarily tightened.

Due to time constraints, the two didn’t talk much, but Gao Cheng briefly discussed the direction of cooperation with him.

First, he hoped Bai Yingchuan would join Little Sweet Fruit, where he would have his own video column and fan community, just like other bloggers.

Bai Yingchuan could publish updates, share his life, and explain movies and TV shows there. Of course, as a close friend of Little Sweet Fruit, he should also introduce more animation and comics.

While bringing external traffic to Little Sweet Fruit, he could also attract Little Sweet Fruit’s users to follow him, a truly win-win situation.

According to Gao Cheng’s introduction, Little Sweet Fruit couldn’t always just do animation. Once operations were stable, it would also produce its own TV dramas and animations, and even invest in movies, becoming a comprehensive, large-scale platform.

The more he listened, the more Bai Yingchuan felt that Lin Chendong was just a opportunistic fool, with no vision, only fawning over Cloud Maple Video.

Bai Yingchuan and Gao Cheng had a great chat. After hanging up, he walked out of the door, where Sister Yu was waiting to pick him up.

“Sister Yu, I just had a chat with President Gao of Little Sweet Fruit. They’re very sincere about cooperating. I’ve arranged to meet him at Little Sweet Fruit’s conference room on Sunday to talk. Would you come with me?”

Sister Yu was stunned. “Which President Gao?”

“Their CEO, Gao Cheng.”

Sister Yu’s mouth immediately dropped open.

“Gao… Gao Cheng actually called you himself?”

“Yes, my friend helped set it up.”

Mentioning this, Bai Yingchuan couldn’t hide his pride.

After all, he had always been arranged by Sister Yu, and now he could finally arrange Sister Yu.

Bai Yue heard the voices and came out of her room.

She looked at Bai Yingchuan in disbelief: “You mean… Gao Cheng called you himself?”

“Mm.” Bai Yingchuan nodded. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go to class now. I’ll tell you what we talked about in detail tomorrow.”

With that, Bai Yingchuan grabbed his backpack and left.

Sister Yu sighed, “Yingchuan’s friend is truly capable… miles ahead of Lin Chendong!”

Bai Yue listened, her heart stirring. She truly envied Bai Yingchuan’s good fortune; he could meet truly useful people, while she was stuck on Lin Chendong’s sinking ship and could only go down with him!

Meanwhile, at the Jiang family home, Zhao Yunshu and Jiang Huaiyuan were in the study, one looking at a script, the other at a project proposal.

“Huaiyuan, do you remember that project that got scrapped, the xianxia one?” Zhao Yunshu asked.

“I remember, ‘Drunken Immortal Pavilion,’ right? The original novel’s dialogue and setting were quite interesting, but unfortunately, Lin Chendong produced two xianxia dramas before, and their reputation wasn’t great, so xianxia themes were hard to get approved.”

Zhao Yunshu asked, “But can we invest in this TV series under our names, without going through Huanyu?”

“Hmm?” Jiang Huaiyuan, upon hearing this, took the script from Zhao Yunshu’s hand with interest. “Do you have any ideas? Share them with me?”

“I think as long as the script is good, we don’t need to find popular stars to act. The actors Lin Chendong chose were too expensive, and their temperaments didn’t suit these characters at all.”

Jiang Huaiyuan sighed, “Alas, Chendong still has old ways of thinking, always treating TV dramas as traffic consumption. The story can’t even put old wine in new bottles… many of his recent projects have been rejected in meetings.”

Zhao Yunshu added, “I bet he hasn’t even read what ‘Drunken Immortal Pavilion’ is about. It’s a shame such a good story is rotting in Huanyu Pictures’ hands.”

“Then why don’t we buy this IP from Huanyu, and then we’ll open a film and television company, put together a team, and shoot it ourselves. I haven’t directed a xianxia TV series yet, so it’s a good chance to try.” Jiang Huaiyuan looked eager to try.

“I was just waiting for you to say that, Director Jiang!”

Zhao Yunshu acted quickly. Jiang Huaiyuan already owned a small film and television company, and Zhao Yunshu used that company to buy the copyright. Jiang Huaiyuan then began selecting students from the film academy.

Lin Chendong scoffed at this. Without traffic stars, who would watch his drama? Jiang Huaiyuan was trying to challenge the audience’s already fatigued aesthetic by himself.

But when Jiang Ruotang saw this news, he smiled, his eyes curving into crescents.

Since they were buying copyrights and making a TV series, it meant they would spend a lot of money.

Jiang Huaiyuan was a soft-hearted person. If Lin Chendong was down and out and came to him for help, he would certainly lend a hand.

But now, this TV series had tied up all of Jiang Huaiyuan’s liquid funds. When Lin Chendong came begging Jiang Huaiyuan, even if he knelt down and knocked his head raw, Jiang Huaiyuan wouldn’t have any money!

Immediately after, entertainment news that almost made Lin Chendong choke on his coffee broke – Bai Yingchuan had actually signed on as an “E-generation close friend” of Little Sweet Fruit!

Bai Yingchuan’s haters finally had something to talk about.

[He used to work with Qilin Video, a site with tens of millions of users. Now he’s switched to Little Sweet Fruit, which only has a few million? That’s a huge downgrade in resources, right?]

[He offended Qilin Video with his fan-pleasing antics, huh! I’m actually looking forward to it, Bai Yingchuan can cross-dress and cosplay!]

[One is a traffic idol abandoned by Qilin Video, the other is a small website almost bankrupt after being sued by Qilin Video. League of Losers – unity is strength!]

…

Sister Yu was initially worried that Bai Yingchuan would be upset by these comments, so she immediately called him during class break to comfort him, but he was calmer than she expected.

“Looking at today’s data, paid users have already reached 3.4 million. This growth rate is significantly faster than when Qilin and Cloud Maple first launched their VIP services.”

Hearing that Bai Yingchuan was genuinely calm, Sister Yu felt much more at ease.

Bai Yingchuan hung up the phone and walked into the classroom, where he saw Jiang Ruotang, Cai Ji, and Jian Sha sharing the limited edition chips from the capital that Zhao Changfeng had sent back.

Jiang Ruotang snatched the last piece, and Cai Ji and Jian Sha shouted that they would kill him, but neither of them could bring themselves to do it. They just pressed closer, cornering Jiang Ruotang against the back wall.

Other classmates were also curious about what kind of chips could make such good friends fight each other.

Who knew Jiang Ruotang also had a mischievous side when he was fooling around with his friends?

He shouted, “Come and get it if you dare! I’ll feed you!”

With that, he bit the chip between his lips, leaning towards Jian Sha one moment, then tilting his head to provoke Cai Ji, shaking his head in a way that made you want to punch his head.

“You… you’re too shameless, aren’t you?” Jian Sha pinched his arm, exasperated.

Although Cai Ji usually seemed like a gentle lamb, he was actually quite strong. He pinched Jiang Ruotang’s cheeks, forcing his mouth into a little octopus shape, so the chip would fall out.

They didn’t actually care about eating the last chip; they just didn’t want Jiang Ruotang to have it.

“Mmm… wuwuwu…” Jiang Ruotang protested with sounds from his throat to Cai Ji.

Cai Ji actually lowered his head and said, “Ruotang, you look so cute like this, like Paul the Octopus!”

You’re like Paul the Octopus, your whole family is like Paul the Octopus.

The first mock exam was only a few days away, and the students were inevitably nervous. Seeing them goofing around, everyone laughed in unison.

Just as Jiang Ruotang was at his wits’ end, Lu Guifan returned from Teacher Song’s office. He saw the scene and paused at the back door of the classroom.

Jiang Ruotang immediately looked at him with pitiful eyes.

Helpless, innocent, like a good dog bullied by bad guys.

Jian Sha immediately exposed his false act: “You ate two-thirds of a whole bag of chips, and you still have the nerve to pretend to be pitiful? You just want to trick the class monitor into saving you, don’t you?”

Cai Ji wasn’t actually that strong; Jiang Ruotang could easily break free, but he genuinely wanted to trick Lu Guifan into saving him.

Cai Ji huffed, “Even if this last piece falls on the ground and crumbles to dust, you won’t get it.”

Lu Guifan came up to them and, without warning, lowered his head and took the chip that Jiang Ruotang was stubbornly holding with his lips.

Jiang Ruotang froze there, motionless. There was a faint pressure between his lips and teeth as the thin chip was dislodged, gently brushing his upper lip as it came loose.

Just as he pulled back a little, Lu Guifan’s tongue pushed upwards, and he took the entire chip into his mouth, including the part Jiang Ruotang had bitten.

The crisp “crunch” made Jiang Ruotang instinctively shrug his shoulders.

He widened his eyes, his soul seemed to scatter in all directions, unable to collect itself.

A collective gasp echoed throughout the classroom.

Lu Guifan’s lowered eyelashes as he leaned in close, that heart-stopping image still lingered in Jiang Ruotang’s mind. He didn’t know if Lu Guifan’s nose had touched him, but as the sensation of the chip’s other end traveled from his lips and teeth to his brain, Jiang Ruotang’s heart paused, a tingling sensation shot through his veins, and the sound of his heartbeat roared like a distant train, ceaselessly thundering.

Lu Guifan gently tapped Jiang Ruotang’s forehead: “Classmate, stop being silly, hand in your math test.”

One sentence brought the ambiguous atmosphere back to reality. The heartless laughter of Jian Sha and Cai Ji could be heard around them.

“Hahaha, Jiang Ruotang—you finally got what was coming to you!”

“Only the class monitor can handle you!”

“Look up, who can escape the wrath of heaven!”

The previously static time instantly began to flow.

Everyone went back to what they were doing, but they couldn’t help but discuss in low voices.

“Wow, the class monitor even learned how to joke! What is this? A prank or teasing?”

“Whatever it is, the class monitor only acts like this towards Jiang Ruotang.”

“By the time I realized what happened, my heart was already in my throat!”

“You are what you associate with. The class monitor is no longer the class monitor he once was!”

Jiang Ruotang lowered his head and rummaged in his drawer for a long time before handing over his math mock test.

Lu Guifan, like he was reading a newspaper, unfolded the test and read it from beginning to end, his lips slightly curved. He held Jiang Ruotang’s test the entire time as he collected other students’ homework.

Why else would Jiang Ruotang send him “n 55!w !” late at night?