Chapter 21

A sliver of silvery moonlight shone through the crack in the doorway and into the corridor, stretching the originally short shadow into something long and distorted. Li Rongxiu once again thought of some ill-timed "rumors," and a chill rose from his tailbone, whooshing through his entire body.

A white figure flashed out from behind the door, and a soft, eerie female voice drifted out. "Xiu Xiu, you finally—"

"Ah!" A scream shattered the nighttime silence of the Li family's old residence. Birds perched in the garden trees and beneath the eaves flapped into the sky in fright. Li Rongxiu instinctively hurled the proposal in his hand behind him. Sheets of white A4 paper scattered through the air, fluttering down like snowflakes.

But Li Rongxiu had no time to care about that. He ran wildly while slapping at the doors on either side, shouting, "Someone, come quickly! There's a ghost! Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Zhong, Mama Cheng, Li Eleven..."

At the nursery door stood beauty-loving Madam Zhuang Meiru, who had waited so late that she had changed into soft, comfortable white silk pajamas, put on a whitening face mask, and let down her hair because the bun she had worn for too long was giving her a headache. She stared dumbfoundedly as her son vanished like a streak of lightning, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry—

She had sacrificed her beauty sleep and brewed a strong pot of rose-mint tea to stay awake. Feeling nostalgic because her younger son had finally grown up, she had brought Father Li and Eldest Brother Li, who had also been waiting, into the nursery to reminisce over those old objects and their earlier days.

Then she heard her younger son cough softly in the corridor. Without thinking much of it, Zhuang Meiru immediately opened the door to greet him. She wanted to tell him that everyone in the family loved him and supported him, that he was not facing everything alone. Yet before any emotional words could leave her throat, Li Rongxiu had already—

The Li father and son standing behind Zhuang Meiru sighed helplessly and exchanged a glance. Li Rongyu patted Zhuang Meiru on the shoulder and said, "Mom, let me go take a look. If Xiu Xiu keeps making this much noise, he'll wake Grandpa and Grandma too."

But Li Rongyu's concern was unnecessary, because every master and servant in the Li residence had already been awakened by Li Rongxiu's hoarse shouting.

One crystal chandelier after another lit up. In an instant, the pitch-black residence became brightly illuminated, while the guards patrolling the garden and even the family dogs began making a commotion.

Half an hour later, Li Rongxiu sat awkwardly on the soft, comfortable sofa in the first-floor hall. On the coffee table before him lay the proposal that had originally been scattered across the corridor and then picked up page by page by Zhuang Meiru. Grandpa Li, Grandma Li, Father Li, Mother Li, Fourth Uncle Li, and Eldest Brother Li sat properly beside or opposite him. Behind them stood Uncle Zhong, the male butler; Mama Cheng, the female housekeeper; Li One, the head of security; and the maid Xiao Man, who brought over several cups of hot milk and placed them one by one on the coffee table.

Zhuang Meiru stroked Li Rongxiu's head, picked up a cup of hot milk from the coffee table, and pressed it into his hands. "It's Mommy's fault. Mommy scared Xiu Xiu. Hurry and drink some hot milk to calm yourself down."

Before Li Rongxiu could speak, Grandpa Li, who had been awakened, snorted coldly. "I said long ago that our Xiu Xiu is far too timid, not at all like a boy. He ought to be properly trained. As the old master said, 'The wise do not speak of strange things, violence, disorder, or spirits.' How can a man of the Li family be so frightened by ghosts and gods that he loses his composure—"

"Enough. Xiu Xiu is already frightened like this, yet instead of comforting him, you're standing here saying all this nonsense. What's the point?" Grandma Li shot Grandpa Li a sidelong glance and said with some dissatisfaction, "Besides, I said years ago that the corridors in this house were too dark and that the lights should be kept on all night, so people coming and going could see where they were walking. You refused. You old fossil. Now that you've scared Xiu Xiu, you bear some responsibility too."

"You—" Grandpa Li glared at Grandma Li, only to find her glaring right back at him. The anger in his chest vanished with a puff. Somewhat sheepishly, he grunted and waved his hand. "Who is it that gets more and more nervous with age, unable to sleep at night with even the slightest bit of light?"

"Who are you calling old?" Grandma Li asked ominously. Grandpa Li's heart jolted, and he hurriedly pointed at his son, Li Bingheng. "A child's failure to learn is the father's fault. Xiu Xiu turned out like this because you two spoiled him too much."

Seeing the old man vent all his anger on him, Father Li could only shake his head helplessly. Who was it, back when they learned that Li Rongxiu was afraid of the dark and unable to sleep at night, who stuffed the child into their room and insisted that the couple sleep with him? Fortunately, he and his wife had been clever enough to pass the child to his older brother to soothe, or over the years, how much time alone would they have had to sacrifice?

The old man really was becoming... more and more irresponsible.

Leaving aside Father Li's inward complaints about the old man, Li Rongyu quietly picked up the proposal from the coffee table and read through it while the Li family members were busy "blaming and complaining about one another." Then he looked at Li Rongxiu, who was taking tiny sips of hot milk, and said, "If you're scared tonight, sleep in my room. We can discuss the proposal tomorrow. It's getting late. Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Uncle, you should all get some rest. You still have to go to the company tomorrow morning."

Li Bingru, who had said little from beginning to end, gave his dejected little nephew a half-smiling glance and was the first to stand. "I have an appointment to go fishing at sea with Baron Hernand tomorrow morning, so I'll turn in first."

Before his words had even faded, Uncle Li paused and smiled at Li Rongxiu. "...But if Xiu Xiu is really scared, Uncle can sleep holding you too. It's been a long time since Uncle last slept with Xiu Xiu. Do you remember the last time? You were two and a half, and you even wet the—"

"Uncle!" Li Rongxiu instantly bristled and sprang to his feet. In one stride, he darted before Li Bingru, covered his mouth with a hand, and said with a flushed face, "Don't say another word, or I'll get angry!"

That night, after much consideration, Li Rongxiu, who felt he had embarrassed himself, ultimately decided that peaceful sleep was more important than his intangible pride. So, deliberately ignoring the meaningful looks from the Li family adults, he obediently hugged his pillow and pajamas and knocked on the door to his eldest brother Li Rongyu's room.

Fortunately, Eldest Brother Li Rongyu had always known to protect his chuunibyou little brother's fragile self-esteem. He glanced at Li Rongxiu, who had not even changed out of his clothes, and immediately understood. "I still have a document to read. Go wash up and get to sleep."

At those words, Li Rongxiu nodded rapidly like a pecking chick, rushed into the bathroom, showered and brushed his teeth at top speed, then dashed back into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed before even drying his hair.

Looking at Li Rongxiu's dripping-wet hair, Li Rongyu sighed helplessly. He closed the document in his hands, went into the bathroom for a dry towel, returned to the bed, pulled Li Rongxiu up, and helped dry his hair. Only then did he rub Li Rongxiu's now fluffy head and say, "Go to sleep. You still have school tomorrow morning."

Li Rongxiu did not answer his brother. Drowsily rubbing his eyes, he threw himself onto the bed, wriggled around under the blanket, and finally found a position he found comfortable before falling deeply asleep. Li Rongyu silently looked at his younger brother, who had taken up more than half the bed and the entire blanket by himself, and raised an eyebrow. He pressed the bell, and shortly afterward came a knock at the door. A maid of the Li family stood outside, holding the blanket from Li Rongxiu's room.

Eldest Brother Li took the blanket, returned to the remaining small half of the bed, lay down, and closed his eyes in a standard, proper posture.

The night passed without incident.

Chapter 21

Li Rongxiu and his spoiled rich friends suddenly discovered that their schedules had become extremely packed lately. In order to persuade the adults in their families to willingly sponsor their new film, all of them had to study seriously, work hard on proposals, and then call their elders' offices like adults, arranging meeting times with their secretaries or assistants.

And under this proper, public process, to ensure their plans could attract and persuade the company shareholders, the spoiled rich kids had no choice but to imitate adults, rehearsing their presentations before one another over and over, listening to the serious, even harsh suggestions of Second Brother Li, the professional, and their friends around them, then revising their proposals again and again.

Determined to give it everything they had, they tacitly canceled their nightly bar-hopping, joyrides, and dates. Instead, they spent their time in the library or poring over information on their computers. They often worked from morning until night, and combined with their heavy schoolwork, they practically had to fight for every second of every day.

But every effort brought results.

Three days later, Zhao Qijun, the little follower, was the first to secure sponsorship from his father. On the condition that "in the 110-minute film, interior scenes of the Zhao family's Rongxing Club must appear for a total of three minutes; after the film's release, without affecting plot development, the prominent Rongxing Club logo must appear in the frame three times, for at least three seconds each time; and the ending credits must include specific written special thanks," Zhao Qijun obtained a sponsorship fee of 2.75 million Imperial currency from the Zhao company, as well as the privilege of building sets inside the club free of charge during filming, so long as it did not affect the club's normal operations. The contract contained more detailed provisions defining what constituted "not affecting normal operations."

Through the spoiled rich kids' efforts, the first sponsorship contract had finally been secured. Although the sponsorship fee was not high, considering the length of the film and the Zhao company's specific requirements for product placement, they had not gotten the short end of the stick.

Zhao Qijun's successful start further encouraged the others. Just one day later, Li Rongxiu finally reached an agreement with the Li Meihua Group. During filming, the luxury houses, vehicles, furniture, props, and so on needed by the production crew would all be provided by the Li Meihua Group's real estate company, department store, and automobile company. In return, throughout the filming process, the male and female leads as well as the major supporting characters had to mention special advertising lines containing the words "Meihua Department Store" in various situations. After the film's release, during exterior shoots, advertisements and landmark buildings belonging to Li Meihua Department Store had to appear frequently in the frame, and when required by the plot, scenes were to be filmed inside Meihua Department Store.

At the same time, with a stroke of Eldest Brother Li Rongyu's pen, a sponsorship fee of ten million smoothly flew into Li Rongxiu's pocket.

Soon afterward, Allen Yaksa also secured sponsorship from his family, meaning the branded clothing needed during filming would be provided. Allen Yaksa also brought in one million Federal credits in sponsorship, which converted to more than 8.8 million Imperial currency.

Xin Mengmeng's family ran beauty salons, and because the plot required scenes set in one, Xin Mengmeng argued her case and secured five million in sponsorship fees for the crew, along with free use of the beauty salon during filming.

The Zhou and Wu families operated in similar fields to the Li family, primarily real estate. The Zhou family had not made any major moves recently, while the Wu family had developed a seaside resort on the western side of South Bay in Wancheng. Therefore, after hearing Wu Zhiheng's proposal, the Wu family gladly wrote a five-million check for sponsorship, asking only that the crew promote the Wu family's newly opened seaside resort in South Bay during filming.

The Zhou family, meanwhile, provided two million in sponsorship fees, hoping the crew would promote one of their housing developments during filming. But in everyone's eyes, perhaps the Zhou family merely did not want to hurt Zhou Ruixin's pride or dampen his enthusiasm, and was only showing token support. Even so, their action ultimately hurt Zhou Ruixin. Having lost considerable face before his friends, Zhou Ruixin gritted his teeth and swore that he would make the film a success and show those who looked down on him that he, Zhou Ruixin, was not merely a spoiled rich kid who knew how to spend money.