GRMFBS CH181

Zhan Yan was looking at messages in the family group chat.

Ji Yueming: “I’m coming home tomorrow.”

“Do any of you need me to bring anything? @Everyone”

“Is your shoot finished? @Zhan Yunkai”

Zhan Yunkai: “I can’t come back, the crew is busy”

“[Sigh]”

Ji Yueming: “It’s okay.”

“I can visit the set too.”

Zhan Yan opened the gossip system and watched his dad dejectedly make up reasons to prevent Mom from visiting.

Zhan Yunkai: “The crew is closed, no visitors allowed.”

“[Sad]”

Ji Yueming: “Pat pat.”

“@Zhan Jin Li Mom found a resort center in Wenhai District where you can fish. It’s very quiet with hardly anyone around.”

“Is the cake shop busy? If not, Mom will go with you.”

Zhan Yan watched in the gossip system as his brother fretted over how to convince Mom he really wasn’t interested in fishing. Finally, he decided to admit it.

Zhan Jin Li: “The cake shop is doing okay.”

“Mom, I’m not interested in fishing anymore.”

Ji Yueming: “@Zhan Suiru How’s the studio going? Are you tired?”

“Is there anything you want? Or anywhere you’d like to go?”

Zhan Suiru: “The studio is going smoothly. I’m not tired at all~”

“I don’t need anything. I earned a lot before and bought everything I wanted.”

“Does Mom want anything~”

“[Kiss kiss]”

Zhan Yan saw in the gossip system that his mom was both gratified and wistful. Her eldest son was becoming increasingly self-sufficient, her daughter was obedient and sweet, but she also wanted to dote on her children.

Ji Yueming: “@Zhan Yan How’s your internship going?”

“Are you busy or tired?”

Zhan Yan: “Not busy at all. The veterinary station is only busy during spring and autumn disease prevention, which has long passed.”

“There’s a lotus pond in the village here. Mom, will you come see me this weekend? I’ll take you there to have fun?”

Ji Yueming perked up.

Zhan Yunkai’s resentment deepened.

His wife had originally wanted to see him.

All Xiangliu’s fault!

Going to beat him up when he gets back!

Zhan Yan lit a sympathetic candle for Xiangliu.

Sorry for making Xiangliu take the blame, but he’d tricked Xiangliu into switching shifts with Dad to prevent his parents from being exposed. So ultimately, it was still the fault of dating while wearing a disguise.

Zhan Yan once again reflected on how inadvisable it was to date while wearing a disguise.

After dealing with all this, it was evening again. Student Gu’s goodnight kiss phone call came right on schedule.

Gu Jiancheng decided to temporarily not discuss his sister’s matters with Yanyan. It didn’t matter—he still had his other identity as Deep Shadow. His shadow was right there in Yanyan’s bracelet. No matter what happened, he could protect Yanyan. Then, continue working toward meeting the parents!

Zhan Yan was very satisfied with Student Gu’s tactfulness. Ah, they hadn’t seen each other in so long—he did miss him a bit. When could he bring his boyfriend back to meet the parents?

Calculating the current situation, the approach of the apocalyptic world was actually a pretty good opportunity. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance had united like this. The big shots were pairing up and working together—as they cooperated and adjusted, wouldn’t their relationship improve? And as it improved, they could become as close as family…

The next day, continue striving toward a harmonious and beautiful future!

Zhan Yan woke early to wash up, exercise, and eat breakfast, mentally organizing his tasks. Keep tabs on the Deep Shadow boss digging up the monster doctor, check if Dad’s shift rotation was going smoothly, discover that his brother was cooperating with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and Wan Yao Alliance to discuss setting up a joint formation in the underworld, help the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau contact Artisan, probe Hong Jing about her relationship with the apocalyptic world…

And Mom was coming next weekend!

Before he even started, he suddenly heard two “Holy shit!”s from the bedroom next door where those two hadn’t gotten up yet.

Zhan Yan and Bao Qingshan were eating breakfast. The two looked up at each other and completed the following exchange through eye contact:

“They probably saw another video?”

“Probably. We’ll know soon enough.”

“Let’s keep eating.”

Old Bao never talked while eating—Ancestor Granny would rap his knuckles with chopsticks if he did back home.

Granny looked thin and frail, but she was strong—one chopstick strike could make you yelp.

Not long after, the two from the other room came out with messy bedhead.

Their eyes were wide as they rushed toward Zhan Yan.

Chu Chengcheng: “Damn! Zhan Yan, is this you?”

They held up their phones showing a game advertisement video.

Zhan Yan looked at the screen.

Ah, the game ad he’d filmed had been released. After filming, Zhan Yan hadn’t paid attention to it. So the game was officially launching.

He nodded.

Bao Qingshan had just finished his last bite and craned his neck to look too.

“Hey Yan, you went to shoot an ad! So handsome! When did you film it—why are you two so excited?”

Both their faces were red.

Cheng Yichu: “Are we excited?”

Chu Chengcheng: “We’re jealous!”

Cheng Yichu: “You got to work with Lan Xiqiao!”

Right, these two were Lan Xiqiao fans.

Lan Xiqiao was beautiful, came from opera background so her acting and singing were excellent, knew some martial arts, had outstanding charm and presence. In their view, she was far better than the entertainment industry’s pushed traffic stars with terrible acting who were hyped as beauties and handsome guys. She was their goddess!

Now their goddess had collaborated with their classmate, and the classmate was so calm about it!

Jealous! Indignant! Why didn’t you show off—we want autographs!

Zhan Yan swallowed his last mouthful of congee. The two began pressuring him about how he’d worked with the goddess.

Zhan Yan: “Ah… actually it didn’t have much to do with me. Hiring big stars is too expensive, so they paired me with her to save money.”

Zhan Yan received a WeChat from his sister forwarding two links.

Opening them, one was a video posted by the game’s official account, the other was Lan Xiqiao reposting the video from her account.

Now her comment section was much livelier than under the official game account.

Fans were frantically praising how beautiful beautiful beautiful she was.

Indeed it was beautiful. The makeup artists were two experienced bird demons with superb aesthetics. There was no discord from 3D people cosplaying 2D images. The filming team was also the best from Mingtang Pictures. With Xia Yuexian overseeing, everything was done perfectly.

Some felt Lan Xiqiao shooting a game ad was beneath her.

“Sis, you’ve even been on the Spring Festival Gala. With your current achievements, shouldn’t you be moving toward films? You should be selective even with TV dramas now. Why are you shooting game ads? Aren’t those for washed-up actors?”

“Lol, fans keep hyping up the opera background making her sound so high-class, but she turns around and shoots a game ad. Really taking any job for money.”

“Is the previous comment a fake fan? Didn’t you see this was a friendly shoot without payment? This game was invested in by Shoude Company.”

“What obscure little company is Shoude?”

“Lol, you probably only know a few entertainment companies? Calling it a small company. They do venture capital, and not just for profit. Shoude has done many public welfare investments. They previously invested in touring and filming for Xiqiao’s Meihu opera troupe. That’s when she rose to fame. This is not forgetting her roots.”

More people’s attention focused on Zhan Yan who collaborated with Lan Xiqiao in the ad.

“Does anyone know who the person working with Sister Lan is?”

“The young guy looks really good. Is he a newcomer the company is pushing?”

“But if he’s a newcomer, why isn’t even his name listed?”

The comment section dug for ages without definite information, just wild speculation. The most reliable theory was that this was a newcomer Lan Xiqiao’s company would promote next, but they couldn’t find an official account anywhere.

Then commenters split into three camps. One thought the newcomer was so handsome they loved him and demanded his account to follow. Another was indifferent about who she paired with. The third felt Lan Xiqiao was being leeched off.

Lan Xiqiao asked Shoude Company about it. After getting their agreement, she picked a comment to reply and explain.

Lan Xiqiao: “Little brother is handsome, right? Hahaha. He’s the child of the investor’s family, dragged over by his elders to save money.”

“Sister Lan replied to me!!! Sis, point us in the right direction! Little brother is so handsome. Any intention to shoot more ads or TV dramas?”

Lan Xiqiao: “Can’t do that. Little brother is still in school and currently has no plans to enter the entertainment industry. Don’t go bother him, okay?”

With this explanation, the comment section became more harmonious. Pairing with the investor’s child wasn’t degrading at all, naturally also because he looked good and the promotional video seemed harmonious.

“Does Shoude have any plans to invest in film and TV dramas? Drag little brother over again to save money!”

His sister sent another private message.

Zhan Suiru: “Hahahaha Yanyan, we’re so polished and proper—don’t we deserve a big red envelope?”

Zhan Yan: “…Sis!”

Hmph! I haven’t even settled accounts with you for deceiving me with your disguise!

Zhan Suiru: “Looking at your arm definition, your training is very effective.”

Zhan Yan: “Then I’ll teach you morning exercises and you’ll learn with me?”

In this family, only he and his sister really needed exercise and health maintenance. They should start practicing now!

Zhan Suiru: “Talk to me after you can beat me at arm wrestling, Teacher Yanyan.”

Zhan Yan: …

Infuriating!

I’m not trying to trick you into calling me teacher.

Why is Sister so strong?!

Zhan Suiru finished teasing her brother, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

She turned and called to Xiao Ran: “Come here, stand still, don’t move.”

The puppet butler obediently stood before her.

Zhan Suiru took a deep breath.

After being connected to the network for so long, her long-dormant mental power had become sharp again.

In this world, mental power wasn’t allowed to be used directly. Zhan Suiru had studied how cultivators in this world used their divine sense. Though not entirely applicable, she’d indeed gained some inspiration. She was attempting to make her mental power operate like a cultivator’s divine sense. Though currently still unable to release it outside her body, she’d achieved small results.

Now, she would begin her attempt.

Before important attempts, relaxing by teasing her brother was important!

Zhan Suiru dismissed her scattered thoughts and quietly gazed at the puppet before her.

The puppet butler’s chest rose and fell with breathing. The realistic arterial blood vessel on his neck pulsed rhythmically. His expression was calm, the gears in his pupils rotating at uniform speed.

Zhan Suiru raised her hand and lightly touched his cheek.

Xiao Ran didn’t move.

Zhan Suiru cupped his face.

Every bone structure line on this face had been polished by her own hands. The realistic skin was colored by her personally. She’d once covered mechanical structures with false skin, using Xiao Ran’s ability to create the illusion of him being alive.

Now, she wanted to make that illusion real.

“Now, I’m suspending all your commands. Until I restart commands, you don’t need to do anything—unless you want to.”

The gears in the puppet butler’s pupils stopped rotating.

As if after stopping program operation and losing commands, revealing the essence of mechanical creation.

Zhan Suiru pressed her forehead against his.

Vast mental power circulated within her body, condensing like brilliant gemstones. She tried with all her might to transmit this radiance outside her body to sense another person’s spirit.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Only an empty shell of a puppet.

Not enough. Not enough. It still wasn’t enough.

She needed to get closer, sense more deeply.

Zhan Suiru embraced the unresponsive puppet.

Her mental power sensed with all its ability. She went deep into the puppet’s chest cavity, sensing the hidden box inside…

“…Sui…”

She sensed it!

A weak will pierced through layers of barriers, giving her a difficult response.

Zhan Suiru trembled at this.

The connection between them broke. Zhan Suiru released her hands, staring blankly at the unresponsive puppet before her.

She’d heard it and felt it.

Yang Ran’s soul was hidden deep within the ability core, but he couldn’t come out—because of weakness, and because of those dense barriers as numerous as broken mirror fragments. Even using all his strength, he could only transmit a faint response.

What were those barriers? Were they because of the cracks on the ability core?

Most importantly, why was there a contaminated aura in his ability core?!

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