The Heartless Mechanical Voice

The staff member was about to say something else.

But Shen Yan turned around and slammed the door shut.

After closing the door, Shen Yan grabbed his phone and called his eldest mother.

It had only rung once when she answered.

"Mom, mom, good mom, you're my good mom! Only mothers are good in this world, children with mothers..." Shen Yan adhered to the principle that when asking someone for help, one had to sweeten one's words, so he immediately sang "Only Mothers Are Good in This World."

His eldest mother was getting a beauty treatment.

The moment she heard his voice, her whole body jolted.

She turned to Mothers Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine beside her and said, "Oh no, Xiao Yan might have killed someone."

Whoosh!

All nine mothers went on high alert.

His eldest mother steadied her breathing. "How many did he kill?"

Shen Yan: ...

Here was the question.

How had mothers with such excellent mental states raised the original owner into someone who would commit suicide over a dog breed like Lu Xingchuan?

Clearly.

Not everything could be blamed on one's family of origin.

"I haven't killed anyone yet. I just have something I'd like to ask Mom to help me with."

His eldest mother took a deep breath, then turned to her sisters. "Xiao Yan might want us to help him kill someone!"

The eight younger sisters spoke in unison, "Tell him to die!"

Shen Yan: ...

His family of origin did bear some responsibility.

"No, I wanted to ask whether anyone is managing that villa you gave me for my birthday this year. I want to change the villa's password."

His eldest mother was full of confusion. "Didn't you say that villa was us using money to humiliate your love? Didn't you say you wouldn't take it even if you died? What? You want to be humiliated now?"

Shen Yan: ...

His lips twitched. He genuinely had no idea how to answer, so he ultimately chose, "How did you know? Not only do I want to change the password, I also want to paint several big words on the door: Lu Xingchuan and dogs are forbidden from entering. Yes, yes, that's exactly it. It'd be best if it could be done within twenty minutes. Thanks, Mom. Bye, Mom."

Five minutes later.

Shen Yan came downstairs with his suitcase.

Xie Li stood there with a face full of remorse, bowing to everyone.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Xingchuan and I were careless for a moment and made a huge mistake, dragging everyone into it.

"I originally thought everyone was hungry, so I wanted to cook something for you. But Xingchuan and I both forgot the requirements in the contract. The landlord didn't want us touching the things in his refrigerator.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

"Fortunately, Xingchuan has a villa nearby where we can continue filming the show. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to face everyone.

"You can scold me."

Xie Li had lowered his stance so much that no one would possibly scold him after he said all that.

They would only curse out that troublesome landlord.

A few rotten tomatoes and spoiled eggs had forced them to move.

Facing Xie Li's pitiful expression, Bai Jing smiled. "It's fine. The fifteen-minute break is over anyway, so we can just treat it as one of the production team's games."

Song Qianshan gave a mocking snort but said nothing.

Pei Heng raised a brow at Xie Li. "Why do I feel like you're calling the landlord a troublesome bastard?"

Xie Li's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly shook his head. "No, no. President Pei, you misunderstood. I didn't mean that."

He had always felt that Pei Heng was somewhat hostile toward him. Xie Li didn't dare let Pei Heng say more. Seeing Shen Yan coming downstairs, he hurriedly said to him, "I'm sorry. I dragged all of you into this."

Shen Yan wore gray sweatpants, a white T-shirt, and a crisp button-up shirt over it.

He carried his suitcase one-handed as he hopped down the last two steps.

"I heard we're going to a new villa to film? I can't wait!" Ignoring Xie Li, Shen Yan looked toward the director with an excited expression.

Seeing that all the guests were cooperative, the director breathed a sigh of relief.

Twenty minutes later.

Following Lu Xingchuan's directions, the production team's vehicles stopped steadily before the gates of the villa facing that private beach.

Then—

Dozens of eyes stared dumbfoundedly at the large, blood-red words on the gate ahead.

Private villa. Lu Xingchuan and dogs are forbidden from entering.

[???]

[What does this mean? Isn't this Lu Xingchuan's villa?]

[It must be the work of antis. So disgusting!]

Lu Xingchuan's expression stiffened slightly, but he remained fairly calm inside.

Although this villa belonged to Shen Yan, Shen Yan had once knelt before him and said he wanted to give the villa to him, just to beg him to love him.

Hmph!

Did a mere villa deserve to be exchanged for his love?

What an overconfident toad.

If he did not need to solve the current problem, he would not even spare this villa a second glance. It only insulted him.

Lu Xingchuan still remembered the first time Shen Yan brought him to this villa, when Shen Yan had personally changed the password to Lu Xingchuan's birthday right in front of him.

Taking several steps forward, Lu Xingchuan smiled at everyone and said, "This house has been empty for quite a while. I didn't expect this kind of mess to happen. I'll open the door first. Everyone, go inside." As he spoke, he entered the password.

Beep beep—

Incorrect password.

The mechanical voice delivered its heartless reminder.

[...]

[Did he forget the password because he hasn't been here in so long?]

[Did his hand slip?]

Lu Xingchuan's face stiffened, and he frowned as he glanced at Shen Yan.

Had this bitch changed the password?

Or had he entered it incorrectly just now?

Clinging to a sliver of hope, Lu Xingchuan carefully entered it again.

Beep beep~

The mechanical voice did not care in the slightest about Lu Xingchuan's carefulness.

Xie Li comforted him from the side. "Xingchuan, have you been away too long and forgotten the password? Why not call someone at home and ask?"

Lu Xingchuan looked at Shen Yan with an ugly expression.

This bitch must have changed the password.

Sure enough, in order to get him, Shen Yan was so despicable and shameless that he would stop at nothing.

Meeting Lu Xingchuan's gaze, Shen Yan immediately bared his teeth in a grin. "Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and enter the password so everyone can get inside. You two have already dragged everyone down once. You can't keep dragging everyone down a second time, can you?"

Lu Xingchuan gritted his teeth.

Not caring that the cameras were right there.

He strode over and grabbed Shen Yan's wrist, intending to drag him aside and demand an explanation.

At worst, to resolve this predicament, he could lower himself and kiss Shen Yan once.

But—

Just as Lu Xingchuan's hand was about to grab Shen Yan's wrist, Shen Yan shot three meters away.

"I don't want to throw up again. Stay away from me.

"You being unable to open the door has nothing to do with me. Don't try to pin this on me.

"Get lost!"

Lu Xingchuan froze there, his face full of fury.

[Why would Lu Xingchuan look for Shen Yan if he can't open the door?]

[I'm curious too.]

Standing behind Lu Xingchuan, Xie Li suddenly recalled Lu Xingchuan mentioning that Shen Yan wanted to give him a villa.

Xie Li immediately said to Shen Yan, "Shen Yan, could it be that you know the password to this house?

"Although I don't know how you would know the password to Xingchuan's house, but...

"If you're still angry over what happened with me, I can apologize to you, okay?

"Open the door first. Don't affect everyone's filming."

Shen Yan would definitely fly into a rage and tell everyone that the house was his.

Then—

Everyone would condemn him for using personal grievances to settle public scores, for failing to distinguish between public and private matters, and for delaying the filming schedule.