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<After Everyone Awakens, Who Would Still Be Cannon Fodder?> Author: Eighth Master Party [Complete + Extras]

Synopsis:

Ye Mingzhao awakened.

He learned that he was the villainous fake young master in a novel about a real and fake heir. Adopted by wealthy parents from childhood, he resented the real young master's return to the family and constantly framed him, set him up, and sowed discord. In the end, he successfully caused the real young master's death, leaving him to be reborn on the day the wealthy family found him.

After being reborn, the real young master no longer held any hope for his family, and his killing intent toward Ye Mingzhao was even more chilling. His only purpose in returning to the wealthy family was revenge. After successfully taking revenge, the real young master dusted himself off and left the family behind, abandoning all those relatives who would later regret realizing the truth too late.

As for Ye Mingzhao, after committing every evil imaginable and having his true face exposed, he was kicked out of the wealthy family in a fit of rage and died miserably in poverty.

After reading through the original novel, Ye Mingzhao looked at the real young master whose eyes were filled with killing intent—

The good news was that the real young master had only just returned to the family, and Ye Mingzhao had not yet had the chance to make a move!

The bad news was that the real young master! Had! Already! Been! Reborn!

For the sake of his life, he could not keep being this fake young master! Not even for one more day!

So the question was, which track should he switch to after losing his job so that he could preserve his status as someone admired by others while making a fortune?

—The answer was becoming a star!

After all, Ye Mingzhao was not only good-looking! He had superb acting skills! He was talented in many fields! And he was especially skilled at crafting a persona!

So Ye Mingzhao plunged headfirst into the entertainment industry!

As he acted, he became Best Newcomer!

As he acted, he became the strongest specialist in villain roles!

As he acted, he became the brightest superstar of them all!

Everyone was won over by Ye Mingzhao's brilliant acting and believed that the reason his personality had changed so drastically was because he had become too immersed in his roles!

Only Chu Hengyi, who had once endured all of Ye Mingzhao's malice, knew that he had not merely gotten too deep into character. He was simply rotten by nature.

But that was fine.

Chu Hengyi clasped Ye Mingzhao's wrist and smiled. "Even if it's an act, you have to act with me until the curtain falls!"

*

I know you are hypocritical, cunning, and sinister. I know you are scheming, ruthless, and greedy, yet I still love you.

Proud Son of Heaven shou VS possessive, unhinged gong who knew his lover was a bad person yet still loved him beyond escape

Content Tags: Powerful Couple, Wealthy Families, Entertainment Industry, Feel-Good Story, Old-School, Spoilers

Protagonist's Perspective: Ye Mingzhao; Interaction: Chu Hengyi

One-Sentence Summary: The fake young master only wants to show off his acting skills

Theme: Do not let others' judgments affect how you see yourself!

Chapter 1

"Did you hear? The real young master of the Ye family, the one who was abducted eighteen years ago, has been found."

"Really? When did that happen? How come I didn't hear a thing?"

"It only happened a couple of days ago. Chairman Ye and President Ye personally went to pick him up. He'll be back tonight."

"The Ye family's real third young master has been found. So what happens to the current third young master?"

"You mean Ye Mingzhao? Back when the Ye family's third young master was abducted, Chairman Ye was afraid Madam Ye would suffer a mental breakdown, so he adopted Ye Mingzhao from an orphanage. Now that the real one has returned, what can an adopted son who stole the magpie's nest possibly— Ah, Third Young Master!"

The two employees drinking coffee and gossiping in the break room saw Ye Mingzhao standing in the doorway at some unknown point. Their faces turned pale with fright. They hurriedly set down their coffee cups and stammered so badly they nearly bit their tongues. "Th-Th-Third Young Master, why are you here?"

"Shouldn't I be here?" Ye Mingzhao leaned against the doorframe, his voice lazy and faintly flippant. His handsome, delicate face wore a teasing smile. "...Should I leave, then?"

At twenty, he was right at the transition between youth and maturity. His figure was still slim and lean with the air of a boyish youth, though he had already grown to six feet tall. He wore a pure white, handmade three-piece suit, with a black bow tie sitting perfectly straight at his throat. He was as elegant as a pedigreed Persian cat.

At that moment, this pampered Persian cat tilted his head and smiled at the two middle-aged men, whose foreheads were dripping with sweat as they forced out awkward laughs.

The afternoon sunlight poured in through the transom at the end of the corridor, outlining Ye Mingzhao in halo after halo of light. Standing in that radiance, his slender, tall figure looked all the more pure and white.

Yet that sight only made the two men in the break room tremble even harder.

"W-We still have work to deal with, Third Young Master. We'll be going now." The two middle-aged employees bowed deeply to Ye Mingzhao before fleeing in a panic.

Ye Mingzhao watched their retreating backs, and the smile in his eyes slowly froze.

No one knew that Ye Mingzhao had awakened the instant he stepped into the break room.

A flood of information had surged into his mind, informing him that the world he lived in was actually a novel.

Chu Hengyi, the real young master who had just been brought back by the Ye family, was the male protagonist of that novel. And he, Ye Mingzhao, was nothing more than a greedy, loathsome villain.

In his previous life, after the real young master Chu Hengyi returned to the Ye family, the adopted son Ye Mingzhao regarded him as a thorn in his eye and flesh. Ye Mingzhao, who had been adopted by the Ye family, feared that Chu Hengyi would take everything that belonged to him after returning. Relying on his adoptive parents' and brothers' trust in him, he fussed over Chu Hengyi on the surface while secretly framing and sabotaging him again and again, until Chu Hengyi was abandoned by everyone, driven out of the Ye family, and committed suicide full of resentment.

Then, Chu Hengyi was reborn.

After being reborn, the real young master no longer harbored unrealistic hopes for his family. His only goal was revenge. He wanted everyone who had wronged him to pay the price. He wanted the Ye family to lose everything and be destroyed, and he wanted to expose Ye Mingzhao, the fake young master, for who he really was.

At the end of the story, Ye Mingzhao, who had done every evil imaginable, was abandoned by everyone and driven out of the Ye family, dying miserably in poverty. Meanwhile, Chu Hengyi relied on his own abilities to transform himself into a rising power among the wealthy elite.

With a sharp crack, an exquisite, beautiful coffee cup was crushed in a slender, fair hand with distinct knuckles. Drops of blood ran through his fingers and fell onto the marble island, blooming into scarlet plum blossoms.

Ye Mingzhao lowered his eyes, expressionless, and mercilessly swept the remains of his once-favorite coffee cup into the trash. He casually pulled out two tissues and wiped the blood from the island.

Then, having composed himself, Ye Mingzhao curled his lips at the mirror on the break room wall and revealed a flawless smile.

Recalling the original plot that had appeared out of nowhere in his mind, Ye Mingzhao returned to his office, picked up his phone, and made a call. "Has there been any progress on the matter I asked you to investigate? I want all the information on Chu Hengyi. Money is no object..."

After hanging up, Ye Mingzhao pondered for a moment, then made another call to the Ye family's lawyer.

Finally, Ye Mingzhao got up and opened the safe, sorted through the property deeds, stock certificates, and fund purchase contracts stored inside, and placed them all into a manila envelope.

As he left the office, Ye Mingzhao reached out and knocked on his assistant's desk. "I have something to do today, so I'm leaving work early. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them to call my private number."

The news that the Ye family's real young master had been found had already spread throughout the company. The young assistant looked at Ye Mingzhao with some sympathy and nodded. "Understood, Assistant Ye."

Ye Mingzhao, who was currently Chairman Ye's personal assistant, gave the young assistant a slight smile. That radiant smile left the assistant dazed for a brief moment.

After Ye Mingzhao left, the assistant spoke regretfully to the female secretary sitting nearby. "The Ye family's real young master is back. What will Assistant Ye do? It's such a shame. Assistant Ye is so outstanding—he graduated from university at only twenty. He has such an impressive education, such a good personality, and he's even better-looking than a celebrity. Why can't he be the Ye family's real young master?"

The female secretary curled her lips dismissively. "So what if he isn't the Ye family's real young master? Just being known as the Ye family's adopted son is enough to ensure a lifetime of wealth and luxury for him. How much do you make in a month? And you still have the leisure to pity him? I think he's already had an incredibly lucky life—if the Ye family's real young master hadn't been abducted by traffickers, and Chairman Ye hadn't been afraid Madam Ye would break down, would they have adopted him from an orphanage? If we're comparing tragedies, that real young master had it far worse, okay? He was clearly born the young master of a wealthy family, yet he was abducted by traffickers at such a young age. Who knows how much he has suffered all these years!"