SFBF CH29

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Gu Huaixiang stood alone in front of Gu Huaiyù’s desk for a long moment. Then, alone, she turned and left in a huff.

The couple were in the middle of discussing diamonds — does it look nice, is it beautiful — and neither of them had spared her a single glance.

She had no reason to stand there making herself unwelcome.

The click of high heels grew distant, then faded entirely.

At this point, Tian Yi knocked and entered to report: “Director Gu — the elder Director Gu has gotten into the car and is leaving.”

“Mm.” Gu Huaiyù considered briefly, then asked: “And Duoduo and Aozai? What are they doing?”

Tian Yi: “The young masters have been in their rooms the whole time. They didn’t come out.”

He added one more thing: “…The elder Director Gu came quickly and left quickly — he didn’t ask about the young masters at all. The third young miss did ask the housekeeper about them briefly on her way downstairs, but I observed the housekeeper didn’t say much, and the third young miss didn’t press further.”

“Good.” Gu Huaiyù said. “Understood.”

With that, Tian Yi showed himself out with the good sense of someone who knew when his presence wasn’t needed, and considerately pulled the door shut behind him.

It was only when Gu Huaiyù mentioned Duoduo and Aozai that Shen Qing thought to consider the relationship between the children and the Gu family.

…He’d been living here in such ease, with so little friction, that he’d grown comfortable.

He’d only ever thought of himself as the children’s “auntie,” and had entirely overlooked the fact that Gu Duo and Gu Ao still carried the Gu surname — the same as their mother.

Which meant, by blood, these two children should be calling the elder Director Gu “Grandfather.”

And yet Grandfather had come and gone without asking after them once. And the reason Gu Duo and Gu Ao had suffered so much in the main Gu residence — struggling even to have their basic needs met — was directly connected to this grandfather of theirs.

He hadn’t looked after his own daughter’s orphaned children. He hadn’t asked. He hadn’t cared. And others, seeing his attitude, had felt even less obligation to bother.

Though — the elder Director Gu was getting on in years. Whatever his wealth and standing, Shen Qing didn’t want to moralize and demand that he take responsibility for his daughter’s children. People couldn’t be forced into that.

It was just that since he clearly wasn’t going to look after them — it was equally natural that Gu Duo and the others didn’t come out to greet him.

So Shen Qing said to Gu Huaiyù: “The elder Director Gu and the third young miss came without specifically calling for Duoduo and the others — the kids were probably in their rooms studying and didn’t even hear anything going on out here.”

He said it to forestall any possibility that Gu Huaiyù, as the children’s little uncle, might think Duoduo and Aozai had been rude.

But the moment the words were out, he reconsidered — the big boss was different from the rest of the Gu family. He wouldn’t think that.

The more likely reason Gu Huaiyù had asked about Duoduo and Aozai was that he was worried something might have happened — like that time Gu Ming had come to the house and taken the children’s toys.

Who knew whether Gu Huaixiang had brought her own difficult child along this time?

He was thinking of ways to protect the children.

Sure enough, Gu Huaiyù looked up at Shen Qing’s words with a faint expression that was hard to read.

But he said nothing. Only replied: “Mm.”

After that, Gu Huaiyù picked up a stack of documents from the desk and opened them.

Half a minute later, noticing Shen Qing was still standing there beside him, he looked up again: “You’re not leaving?”

Gu Huaixiang and the others should have gone by now.

Shen Qing’s eyes slid sideways, considering: “…Hm? Am I bothering you?”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

Not exactly bothering, but…

Shen Qing had already continued: “I was just thinking I’d stay a bit and build some rapport between us.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

“Cough, cough!”

“Build what?”

“Don’t be so serious about it.”

Shen Qing stopped hovering at the big boss’s side. He walked around to the other side of the desk and positioned himself across from Gu Huaiyù. Then he bent at the waist, propped both elbows on the desk, cupped his face in his hands, and looked directly at Director Gu.

Shen Qing: “I’m just worried you might be in a bad mood. Is there anything you want to say? Venting is fine too.”

…He’d just had a full confrontation with his own biological father. Even if Gu Huaiyù had held the upper hand throughout — even if he’d never once looked like the weaker party —

Shen Qing thought that any ordinary person would still feel something afterward.

He half-draped himself across the boss’s desk: “Anyway, I already saw some of it, so don’t feel like you have to be embarrassed. If you need to cry…”

“No.”

Gu Huaiyù cut him off with a flat expression: “I’m fine. Thank you.”

He pulled the document Shen Qing had been leaning on out from under him as he spoke, then added: “If you’re fine, you may leave.”

As Gu Huaiyù retrieved the document, Shen Qing’s torso slid forward several centimeters with it: “…All right.”

He didn’t push it.

He glanced down at the blue diamond ring on his hand.

“So — this. You’re really giving it to me?”

Gu Huaiyù glanced up: “Do you like it?”

Shen Qing: “I love it!”

Gu Huaiyù: “Then it’s yours.”

Shen Qing: “…”

He’d been spoiled by the big boss these past few days and had almost lost his sense of monetary scale.

But the expression of barely suppressed jealousy on Gu Huaixiang’s face just now had been very clear.

The third young miss was someone who had seen the world.

Even if she’d been genuinely short on funds lately — which seemed to be making her envy more naked than usual — her reaction had been a sharp reminder of just how significant these two diamonds actually were.

Shen Qing: “But why? If you don’t explain, I genuinely can’t feel right accepting this.”

He meant it.

However much he loved it, he couldn’t just keep accepting.

Taking one had already felt like more than he deserved.

Call it a lack of spine. Call it having no eyes for the bigger picture. Whatever.

He genuinely could not bring himself to take this much from the big boss in one go.

Gu Huaiyù had already returned his full attention to the documents.

But this time, he didn’t stay silent. He said, without looking up, very matter-of-factly:

“Because I have a great deal of money.”

Shen Qing: “???”

Shen Qing couldn’t hold back: “That’s… that’s quite a unique reason.”

…Genuinely unique. And very specific.

In all of Hua City, there probably weren’t many people who could say something like that.

Mostly because saying it required actually having the receipts…

Gu Huaiyù looked up from his documents briefly, fixed Shen Qing with a more serious look than usual, and said: “If I’m gone soon… after I die — how much of the assets can you and Duoduo and Aozai hold onto?”

Shen Qing: “…”

Eyes shifting, Shen Qing gave an honest answer: “Not much. Maybe whatever’s in the trust funds…?”

This kind of inheritance question was genuinely beyond him. He had no idea how it worked.

Gu Huaiyù: “Mm.”

Shen Qing: “…”

Shen Qing thought he understood now.

All these elaborate methods of giving him property and precious jewels — it was actually expanding his private reserves.

Gu Huaiyù had long since calculated that after his death, the businesses under his name would be claimed, divided, and fought over by every faction with an interest. What he could leave for him and the children in a way they could actually access and keep would come down to cash, and things that could be easily liquidated.

This way, at least their lives would be provided for.

And in the context of his enormous total assets, these items would barely register — meaning when the time came, they wouldn’t draw the kind of attention that would get them seized.

…For this strategy to work, the total assets under Gu Huaiyù’s name would have to be in the hundreds of billions…

Otherwise someone like Gu Huaixiang — whose eyes lit up at the sight of a precious stone and a fine house — would absolutely come after the jewelry and the property too.

But stepping back from all that — this was a rather bleak topic.

The big boss was nearing the end of his life.

And right now, what was occupying him was how to arrange what he would leave behind for the people who would still be here.

This unexpectedly somber subject had caught Shen Qing a little off-balance.

“Is the situation really that serious?”

Shen Qing leaned forward on the desk again, chin in his hands, looking at Gu Huaiyù, turning it over: the big boss’s assets were probably concentrated in the companies under his name, plus funds and stocks?

Those he genuinely couldn’t handle. Even if he inherited them, he couldn’t manage them — he’d need to find someone to manage on his behalf.

But the people out there were all wolves — no guarantee they wouldn’t try something. And neither he nor the children would know enough to catch it. He’d be run in circles. Honestly, it would be better to not touch any of it from the start, take the money that was there, and just live well…

But Duoduo and Aozai, when they were older, would understand.

He thought of the novel — twenty years later, the pair of them had swept through the Gu family and subdued the Shen family with terrifying force, wreaking havoc across Hua City from a position of unassailable power. Which at minimum demonstrated that Duoduo and Aozai had both the ability and the nature for this.

And that had been after years of being suppressed, only being able to study in secret, and having their assets steadily siphoned off by the original host.

If they were properly raised…

The thought arrived out of nowhere: “Things will work out once Duoduo and Aozai are a bit older.”

The hand Gu Huaiyù had been using to turn through the documents paused.

He looked up again.

Shen Qing met his eyes. From straight on, despite the pallor and the gauntness, Gu Huaiyù’s bone structure was so perfect and deep-set that it made his whole face look more sculpted — sharper, more defined.

And his features themselves were striking — strong brows, clear eyes, a bearing that commanded a room. None of the cold, shadowed quality his profile sometimes carried.

Every way you looked at it, a genuinely handsome man.

And thinking about a man this hardworking, this capable — dying young. Who could feel nothing about that?

Shen Qing also thought: Gu Huaiyù didn’t know exactly when his death would come.

So under the big boss’s steady gaze, Shen Qing gave himself over to a flight of thoroughly unrealistic speculation: “You don’t need to overthink it — just hold on a little longer. Wait for them to grow up. Duoduo is already nearly seven — give it another ten years… actually, eight years. He’d be fifteen. That’s old enough to take the helm.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

Shen Qing: “Aozai is a bit young… but that kid is sharp, and with Duoduo paving the way ahead of him — let’s say ten years for him too.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

A fifteen-year-old heir stepping into leadership of a conglomerate — even people with ulterior motives would have to think carefully before moving.

Their children were not easy to manipulate.

Shen Qing was getting genuinely excited by his own vision. He decided that this scenario sounded pretty good — everyone would come out well!

Gu Huaiyù stared at him for a long moment, then asked slowly: “And you?”

Shen Qing: “Me?… What about me?”

Watching the young man’s smile grow broader and more uninhibited, clearly deep in some private daydream, Gu Huaiyù set down his documents. “Isn’t your planning… rather long-term? Duoduo isn’t seven yet.”

Shen Qing: “He will be after his birthday.”

“…”

Gu Huaiyù took a breath and confirmed once more: “So your plan is — in eight or ten years — to have Duoduo and Aozai, still only in their teens, inherit the company?”

Shen Qing: “…Yes.”

He wasn’t sure what the big boss was getting at. He personally didn’t think this made him a wicked auntie — after all, the children were already so purposeful at this age, and they were going to be competing for this anyway eventually.

“Is something wrong with that? I think they can handle it.”

Gu Huaiyù actually paused, entirely thrown by the sheer confidence with which this was delivered.

He asked again: “…And during this period — what are you doing?”

“Oh — that’s what you meant.”

Shen Qing: “I’ll be looking after them and raising them properly, of course!”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

Gu Huaiyù gave him a long, narrowed look. Then something shifted, and he said: “You’re not as dim as you might appear. Rather than putting your hopes on children who aren’t yet seven — I should be developing you now.”

Shen Qing: “?”

Gu Huaiyù: “After I die, you’ll be responsible for the conglomerate.”

Shen Qing: “Me???”

“Mm.”

Gu Huaiyù nodded with complete gravity: “That way I can rest easy.”

Shen Qing: “…”

His instinct was that the big boss was joking.

But the big boss had already produced, as if by magic, a stack of documents from under the desk.

“No, no, no, I absolutely cannot!” Shen Qing declined without hesitation. He was a corporate worker drone. How could he possibly—

“It’s not difficult. Very simple.”

Gu Huaiyù set the documents on the desk surface: “Read these first, then give me a report.”

Shen Qing: “…”

He pushed off the desk and physically relocated himself to the bookshelves across the room, half-draping himself against them in an attempt to become one with the furniture: “Stop joking! I wouldn’t dare look at those.”

Who knew what classified information might be in there?

Besides…

“Oh, my head hurts.” Shen Qing pressed a hand to the back of his skull.

Besides — who would even want this?

He had a few hundred million yuan. That was enough to live on.

The hundreds of billions — whoever wanted that could have it…

Mm, though it felt a bit disloyal to the big boss to think that way, given that this was the empire he’d spent his life building.

But Shen Qing wasn’t about to delude himself into thinking he could carry that kind of weight.

Way out of his field.

And besides — you’d have to be spectacularly naive to believe Gu Huaiyù was actually asking him to manage his fortune.

This was probably just the big boss messing with him.

In which case he’d play along.

Watching the young man’s slight frame practically disappear between the bookshelves, Gu Huaiyù felt another impulse to let the corner of his mouth lift.

“Come here.” He called to Shen Qing.

“No, no, no.” Shen Qing: “Put those things away first, and we can still be friends.”

“…Friends?”

Gu Huaiyù raised an eyebrow at that, then leaned back slightly in his chair, tapped his fingers on the desk, and said again: “Come here.”

Shen Qing: “…”

He had no choice but to go.

He stood in front of Director Gu’s desk in a posture so correct it looked like an employee receiving instructions from their superior.

Gu Huaiyù asked: “You really don’t want to learn anything? While I’m still here — if you wanted to work, becoming a deputy director wouldn’t be difficult.”

“…That doesn’t seem necessary?”

Shen Qing shook his head with extreme conviction.

Having him manage assets was probably not real. But being made a deputy director might be very real.

And if that happened he’d be much easier to observe — to be watched!

Shen Qing refused firmly: “Big boss, have you forgotten? My dream is to be a salted fish!”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

Gu Huaiyù: “But they’re not mutually exclusive.”

Shen Qing: “…No, a salted fish can only lie flat.”

Gu Huaiyù nodded, apparently unconcerned: “You may work lying down.”

Shen Qing: …

Big boss, whatever happened to the cold, demanding employer image you were supposed to have?

Shen Qing: “…”

He immediately switched to a tragic expression:

“You’ve gotten tired of me. You want to send me away to work so you don’t have to see me. You just don’t want me around.”

He felt his acting ability was reasonably convincing.

But Gu Huaiyù remained entirely unmoved: “Not at all. You can also work here.”

Shen Qing: “…”

Is letting me be a peaceful salted fish really so painful for you?

Gu Huaiyù: “You’re still very young…”

“Stop — hold on!”

Sensing the big boss was about to launch into another motivational lecture, Shen Qing hastily redirected.

Change of subject. Immediately.

He raised the hand with the blue diamond and gave it a little wave: “Anyway — I’ll accept this… I’m still a bit embarrassed though. Should I get you a return gift?”

Gu Huaiyù: “Cough, cough!”

“A return gift… what would you give me?”

The big boss’s voice had gone slightly rough.

Shen Qing smiled: “Don’t worry — I’m definitely not giving you another Peppa Pig.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

“What to give… let me think… I’ve got it!”

Shen Qing pulled out his phone: “I’ll give you a hand warmer.”

Gu Huaiyù: “? Cough, cough, cough… What?”

Shen Qing: “A hand warmer. You’ve heard of those, haven’t you, big boss?”

Gu Huaiyù’s brow had already unconsciously furrowed, his expression genuinely uneasy: “What kind of thing is that.”

Shen Qing: “Oh wait, is it called a heat pack? Let me look it up.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…There’s no need.”

Shen Qing: “Don’t be polite — I’ll order it online, delivery comes fast.”

Gu Huaiyù: “Really, there’s no need.”

Shen Qing: “Found it! It’s called an electric heating hand warmer…”

Gu Huaiyù: “Shen Qing!”

“?”

Shen Qing: Why is the big boss calling his name with such sudden severity?

Gu Huaiyù raised a hand in his direction: “If you’re buying one, fine — come here. I’ll choose it myself.”

Shen Qing: “Hm?”

Gu Huaiyù kept a straight face: “Not pink.”

Shen Qing: “…”

How many times did he have to say it — he genuinely did not like pink.

He would not deliberately choose pink!!

Shen Qing went over anyway.

He came back to Gu Huaiyù’s side, bent forward, and held the phone out in front of the big boss so they could look at it together.

Shen Qing’s phone was still the original host’s, with a privacy screen protector — you couldn’t see the display from the side. If he wanted to look at it together with the big boss, he naturally had to lean his head in close.

A fresh wave of strawberry scent arrived without warning.

Gu Huaiyù’s peripheral vision drifted to the side.

The young man’s profile was clean and clear — a high nose bridge, long lashes.

Seen this close, his skin was fine and bright, luminously pale.

The bright-and-tidy young man was focused on the screen: “Let me check — best sellers… actually, this is a gift for the big boss, so let’s go with the most expensive.”

He immediately sorted by price, highest to lowest, and clicked into the top-ranked shop.

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

“I wouldn’t say your approach to gift selection shows much care.” He offered the objective assessment.

He was referring to the young man’s method of choosing.

But Shen Qing took it to mean he wasn’t putting thought into the gift, and explained: “When giving a gift, you’re supposed to choose something the person actually needs. Look at your hands — they’re ice cold. Am I supposed to come up here every day and warm them for you?”

“…”

Gu Huaiyù heard this. His gaze shifted back to the young man’s profile, and he was quiet for a moment.

He neither agreed nor disagreed.

After a while, Shen Qing’s voice broke the silence in the office again: “So have you decided? Which color, which style do you want?”

Gu Huaiyù kept a straight face, thoroughly serious: “Still looking.”

Shen Qing: “They’re all basically the same — same function, just different appearances. Pick any one and it’ll work.”

Gu Huaiyù: “Requires careful consideration.”

His expression was more solemn than an executive conducting an inspection.

Shen Qing: “…”

He truly hadn’t expected the big boss to have decision paralysis when it came to shopping…

If it weren’t impractical to buy so many, Shen Qing would have been tempted to just get them all.

Noticing Shen Qing had stopped scrolling, Gu Huaiyù tilted his head slightly to look at him, then gave a small lift of his chin: keep scrolling.

Shen Qing knocked his own back — it had been bent forward long enough to start aching: “Could you pick a little faster? My back’s about to give out.”

Gu Huaiyù pointed to the chair nearby: “You could pull that over.”

“No thanks, too much effort.”

Shen Qing simply placed the phone directly into the big boss’s hand: “You choose. Tell me when you’ve decided.”

Done, he straightened up, rolled his back, and let out a small yawn.

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

Just then, someone sent Shen Qing a WeChat message. Notification banners flashed in rapid succession across the top of the screen, brief glimpses of message previews visible.

Gu Huaiyù, holding the phone, paused. Then he passed it back to Shen Qing: “Someone’s messaging you.”

Shen Qing: “Who?”

Gu Huaiyù glanced down: “Looks like a work contact. Your agent?”

Shen Qing: “Oh, that one. Don’t worry about it.”

Meeting Gu Huaiyù’s appraising look, Shen Qing explained: “I want to leave the industry, right? He doesn’t want me to quit, so he bothers me every day.”

He’d gotten used to it.

But since he genuinely hadn’t been treating Miao Feiyu or anything related to that world as a real concern, none of it had affected his mood in the slightest.

Gu Huaiyù, however, pressed: “Because from what I can see — he seems to be saying you’ve been getting hate online?”

“Yeah, for a few days now.”

Shen Qing waved a hand with zero concern: “It’s fine. That sort of thing comes with the territory.”

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

He remembered that agent — he couldn’t fully trust what the man said, but wasn’t the young man’s attitude a bit too calm?

This person was twenty-one years old.

That young, and faced with rumors and deliberate defamation — able to be this composed, even indifferent…

“You really don’t care what people say about you?” Gu Huaiyù asked, genuinely curious.

Shen Qing thought about it honestly: “More or less… If I’d genuinely worked hard at something and it wasn’t recognized, or I got attacked for it, then yes, that would sting. But I haven’t actually done anything here? So it doesn’t matter.”

A let-it-go person cannot be hurt.

He kept that last part to himself. Didn’t want the big boss launching into another lecture.

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

The notification banners had only shown a limited amount of content, but from everything he could piece together — it seemed Shen Qing was being criticized online, and it was connected to that variety show he’d turned down before.

Shen Qing’s agent was half-threatening, half-negotiating, hoping Shen Qing would come forward and resolve the situation.

And almost certainly still trying to get him to participate in the show.

Gu Huaiyù asked: “What exactly is happening?”

Shen Qing: “Honestly… it’s nothing much.”

He felt entirely unbothered internally, primarily because the reason he was being criticized was genuinely bizarre. It traced back to that home-living variety show that had originally rejected him.

No contract had even been signed — and yet the show’s production team had posted on Weibo calling him out by name, implying he had no integrity, saying he’d pulled out last minute after agreeing to participate, promised to lend the villa and then didn’t, seriously disrupting their production schedule, and so on.

The show had been running for several seasons without ever becoming a major hit, but it had its following.

Combined with the fact that “Shen Qing” had briefly climbed into third-tier relevance two years ago — forgotten by now, but good news rarely travels and bad news always does —

Once he was called out publicly, and netizens heard he’d stood up a production team and caused them losses, they gathered en masse.

His Weibo comments section became lively with exclusively people coming to yell at him.

After running out of things to yell about on the original topic, people started digging for old dirt, which led to another round of mockery.

Through all of this, Shen Qing had initially known nothing.

He genuinely did not go on Weibo.

At the time, he’d been absorbed in figuring out how to repair his relationship with Young Director Duo and Young Director Ao.

It was only when he showed no reaction whatsoever that Miao Feiyu had purposely called him, asking what he was going to do.

After his humiliating exit from Gu Huaiyù’s property the last time, Miao Feiyu had not dared provoke Shen Qing openly again.

But Shen Qing knew he was only behaving himself on the surface — in private he was clearly up to something. This whole situation of getting called out by the variety show was almost certainly connected to Miao Feiyu.

After all, no contract had been signed with the show. If Miao Feiyu had wanted to, he could have issued a statement from the agency’s account the moment the post went up, and the whole thing would have been over.

On the phone, Miao Feiyu’s explanation was that he had reached out to the show immediately after it happened, tried to reason with them, and urged them to take down the Weibo post attacking Shen Qing.

“But they’re a major broadcaster in the end — we have to give them some face. If the company posts an announcement directly on Weibo, isn’t that basically telling the whole internet that the show started it? And look, even though there’s no signed contract, everything was verbally agreed — Qingqing, you pulling out now really does cause major disruption, and it’s understandable that they’re upset. What we need to think about now is how to make it right…

I’ve already talked it through with them. If you go ahead and join the show now, they’ll put out a statement saying their social media editor made a mistake. At that point you become the wronged party, the victim who suffered unfairly. We get a wave of attention ahead of time — that’s not a loss! It’s not a loss at all — in fact, you might even get popular off this!”

The whole speech, top to bottom, was still trying to get Shen Qing back into the show. And to lend them the villa.

Shen Qing even suspected the original callout post had been coordinated between Miao Feiyu and the production team from the start.

The agency thought this would pressure him into participating — if Shen Qing brought the villa onto the show, the company could push one of their other clients in alongside him.

If he didn’t participate, there was nothing.

For the show’s side, since Shen Qing’s own agency wasn’t going to pursue it, the show could say whatever they wanted, eventually pin it on a “small editor who made a mistake,” issue an apology, and consider it done. And even if Shen Qing still refused to appear on the show in the end, they’d already gotten their wave of attention. Not a bad deal.

Unfortunately, Shen Qing was not someone his company could easily maneuver. He’d said on the phone right then: “Isn’t that ‘editor who made a mistake’ a bit too innocent?”

Miao Feiyu had gone speechless on the other end. “…You have the energy to worry about other people?”

Shen Qing also saw no point in joking around with him. He stated his position clearly on the call: if the agency allowed the show to continue spreading false claims about him, he would post on Weibo under his own name and lay out the entire sequence of events in full.

Not only would he expose the fact that no contract had ever been signed, he would also describe the agency’s failure to act.

The previous Shen Qing would never have dared threaten Miao Feiyu like this.

And even if he had, the agency probably wouldn’t have taken it seriously.

But now Shen Qing’s position was firm, and — perhaps more importantly — he might genuinely have backing behind him. Miao Feiyu had backed down.

He didn’t know how Miao Feiyu had negotiated it, but the other side had taken down the post attacking Shen Qing that same day.

The situation, however, was far from resolved.

The post was gone, but neither side had offered any explanation.

The audience following the drama was not satisfied with this — halfway through a story, having it simply disappear with no resolution was uncomfortable for anyone. The internet filled with speculation.

At first, some people said Shen Qing had major financial backing that had pressured the broadcaster into removing the post.

That theory quickly fell apart though — if the backing was that powerful, why hadn’t they also made the show put out an explanation? Leaving things this murky, open to everyone’s imagination, just meant more suspicion on Shen Qing’s end.

So obviously the backing, if it existed, wasn’t particularly effective.

Or perhaps Shen Qing had just fully committed to the controversial-reputation approach — didn’t care about appearances anymore, was willing to do anything for attention.

…But then again, if he really had powerful backing, who would pursue that route?

An anonymous “insider” then claimed that Shen Qing and the show had indeed never signed a contract — and the reason there was no contract was that Shen Qing didn’t actually own a large villa, had nothing to lend the production, and had backed out at the last minute.

This version fit the circumstances as people understood them, and aligned with what most netizens had already been assuming.

So the current talking points online were all about calling him out for putting on airs, for being so desperate to be known that he’d deceived an entire production team, ridden their coattails.

Some people were even claiming that because he’d been so obscure for so long, he’d become delusional under the pressure.

Shen Qing also suspected that the fact the show had removed the post without any explanation was itself intentional on Miao Feiyu’s and the agency’s part.

“Shen Qing” had entered the industry through a recommendation from the Shen family’s young master, after all. Even though the original host had never asked Shen Yuan for any actual resources over the years, the relationship between the original host and Shen Yuan was there — and because of it, Miao Feiyu didn’t dare do anything too overt.

So since Shen Qing wasn’t following his lead — Miao Feiyu could only make things difficult for him indirectly.

Probably still hoping that Shen Qing would eventually crack and come crawling back.

Or perhaps he was still probing — trying to figure out whether Shen Qing actually had any standing with Gu Huaiyù.

But in all their calculation, they’d miscalculated one thing: it wasn’t about resources or not. The current Shen Qing didn’t think of himself as belonging to that world at all, and his constitution was broad.

He wasn’t even on Weibo. He didn’t care how netizens evaluated him. The entire incident had had zero impact on him, and everything Miao Feiyu was doing was wasted effort.

Even his instruction to Miao Feiyu to find a way to get the post taken down had been offhand — said only because Miao Feiyu had called to bother him and he’d been irritated by the obvious scheme.

He’d only learned when the post was actually removed through the original host’s other showbiz “friends” who’d come to “check on him.”

…Utterly unbothered.

It was just that starting last night, after wave upon wave of marketing accounts had pushed him onto the trending hate-list and Shen Qing had still shown zero reaction, Miao Feiyu seemed to have run out of patience.

He’d started calling again, sending more WeChat messages, feeding Shen Qing information about what was being said online, deliberately trying to frighten him, and then pretending to ask what Shen Qing planned to do.

If Shen Qing wouldn’t say, he wouldn’t act.

Presumably waiting for Shen Qing to panic before moving in.

Shen Qing had simply continued ignoring him.

Now Gu Huaiyù was asking what was going on. Shen Qing knew that even if he didn’t say anything, the big boss could find out on his own if he wanted to. And being too inconsistent about it would look suspicious — especially since the big boss was prone to turning things over in his mind, and who knew what conclusions he might jump to and decide to investigate himself.

Better to just explain it briefly.

So Shen Qing gave the short version: he was currently being called out online for “putting on airs,” and the whole thing was being tacitly enabled by his own agency.

Gu Huaiyù: “…”

By coincidence, just as Shen Qing finished the brief summary, another WeChat message from Miao Feiyu came through.

Shen Qing’s phone was still in Gu Huaiyù’s hands.

Gu Huaiyù tapped into the conversation with Miao Feiyu directly from the notification.

He scanned it with unhurried movements of his thumb across the screen, and within moments had a general picture of the situation.

“Your agent,” he said at last, with cool detachment, “has maneuvered himself into a very narrow corner.”

“Right.” Shen Qing agreed completely.

Gu Huaiyù: “In that case — you can terminate the contract with the agency. I’ll cover the penalty fee.”

Shen Qing: “…Mm.”

His eyes slid away for just a moment.

Gu Huaiyù caught the hesitation: “What? I thought you wanted to leave the industry?”

“I…”

Shen Qing found himself registering, not for the first time, that Gu Huaiyù’s mind worked significantly faster than most people’s — and that the man was exceptionally efficient. He heard the big boss already continuing: “If you’re not considering leaving the industry after all, the online situation is also easy to resolve — leave it to me. But I’d still recommend you change agencies.”

Gu Huaiyù: “Don’t worry. I’ll find an agency that suits you for a new contract.”

Shen Qing: “…No, please don’t!”

He spoke up quickly to stop it. He genuinely worried that before he had a chance to react, the big boss would summon his assistant and have a new contract signed on the spot.

Terminating with the current agency was actually simple — the penalty fees wouldn’t be significant. The original host had entered the company through Shen Yuan’s introduction, and the agency had never dared saddle him with a high-penalty contract.

So Shen Qing’s instinct to keep Gu Huaiyù out of this was because it was genuinely not a big deal.

Though Gu Huaiyù’s point did remind him — it was better to terminate that kind of contract sooner rather than later.

Shen Qing indicated he’d take care of it himself in a few days.

“…It requires a few more days of rest before handling it.” Gu Huaiyù was nearly amused by the young man’s thoroughly unhurried approach to everything.

Shen Qing: “Right, I should at least say something to my young master first…”

“Your young master?”

The faint upward curve that had been forming at the corner of his mouth went flat immediately. Gu Huaiyù looked at Shen Qing sharply.

Shen Qing: “Oh — Shen Yuan. The Shen family’s young master.”

Using “my young master” to refer to Shen Yuan was entirely a habit borrowed from the original host’s memory.

Shen Yuan had been the original host’s white moonlight, after all — the original host had entered this substitute marriage specifically to protect him. That kind of devotion ran deep.

And “my young master” was the private term of address the original host had given Shen Yuan, whispered only to himself.

Since Shen Yuan was literally a young master, no one who overheard it would find it strange. But when the original host said it, there was always an undertone of something tender and adoring.

Of course, Shen Yuan was the novel’s main romantic lead, and Shen Qing understood clearly — whatever the original host’s feelings had been, Shen Yuan and himself had never had any possibility together.

Which Shen Qing was genuinely glad about.

He delivered the answer without much weight to it.

But this, landing in Gu Huaiyù’s field of observation, read very differently — the young man’s gaze flickering, his reluctance to say more.

…Shen Yuan.

If Gu Huaiyù remembered correctly — Shen Yuan had originally been the one intended for the alliance marriage with his family.

Only later to be replaced by Shen Qing.

Gu Huaiyù had been indifferent about which Shen family member he married. His agreement to the union had been nothing more than going along with something already in motion.

But why the switch had happened — that was worth understanding.

What he’d heard was that Shen Yuan already had someone he cared about and had refused the marriage.

And Gu Huaiyù had also heard — it was hard not to have heard — that Shen Qing and Shen Yuan were close.

“Shen Yuan — your young master… He’s the one who got you into this agency. No wonder…”

No wonder the young man’s eyes had shifted when he’d offered to handle the contract termination. No wonder he hadn’t agreed.

Gu Huaiyù’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze settling on a point in the middle distance. No one could read what he was thinking.

At that moment, the phone still in his hand rang.

Shen Qing heard his ringtone and instinctively looked down.

Gu Huaiyù also came back to himself, lowering his gaze.

Both of their eyes converged on the screen at the same moment.

And both of them saw, displayed on it:

[Incoming call: My Young Master]

[Saved as: Yuanyuan]

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