Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into a novel as Cheng Lang, a malicious supporting character, Cheng Lang receives a mission to provoke the scumbag top and further the romance between Shen Huaiyu and Lu Chengxuan, but no useful system perks. He meets Shen Huaiyu at the club and recalls the tragedy that brought Shen to Cheng Lang’s university room.

• Cheng Lang nearly drops a tray of drinks at a club after transmigrating, then checks his mission in the restroom.
• The system tells Cheng Lang to play malicious cannon fodder and help Lu Chengxuan realize Shen Huaiyu is his true love.
• Cheng Lang asks for cheats and a System Shop, but the system says it has no such functions.
• Cheng Lang encounters Shen Huaiyu outside the restroom and asks if he is all right.
• Cheng Lang recalls that Shen Huaiyu’s parents died in a car accident, his younger brother was left in a vegetative state, and Shen was assigned to share Cheng Lang’s university room after missing registration.

Cheng Lang recalled how the original owner had manipulated Shen Huaiyu and tried to comfort him, but Shen Huaiyu was left shocked by Cheng Lang’s advice. Later, Cheng Lang intervened when Meng Tianye refused to sing, taking the stage and beginning a performance.

• Cheng Lang told Shen Huaiyu to seek money for his brother’s medical bills and to buy back his parents’ house if the official male lead kept pursuing him.
• The shift supervisor sent Cheng Lang back to work, and Cheng Lang earned several thousand yuan in drink commissions.
• Cheng Lang recognized Meng Tianye, who had stopped performing and was about to incur the official male lead’s anger.
• Cheng Lang took the stage, announced that he would sing in Meng Tianye’s place, and silenced the crowd with a guitar solo.
• Cheng Lang began singing to the dance-floor crowd.

Cheng Lang used a flashy, viral-song performance to help Meng Tianye while still convincing the system that he had acted tacky and scheming enough to fulfill his role. Upstairs, Qin Mu agreed to let Cheng Lang become White Jade Capital’s star performer, while his family’s political maneuvering continued.

• Cheng Lang performed in Meng Tianye’s place, energized the bar, and argued that his actions still fit the system’s instructions despite helping another cannon-fodder substitute.
• In the VIP room, Han Mingchen hosted Qin Mu and Qin Mu’s Third Uncle, who urged Qin Mu to return to the Qin family and criticized his ties to the Lu Family.
• Qin Mu let his Third Uncle have his way, then told Han Mingchen to give the Lincheng project to the main family; Secretary Lin revealed that an ancient tomb lay beneath the land.
• Han Mingchen offered to punish Meng Tianye for bringing personal feelings into work, but Qin Mu did not respond.
• Han Mingchen questioned whether Cheng Lang should be promoted as White Jade Capital’s star performer, and Secretary Lin said Cheng Lang was interesting; Qin Mu did not object.

Cheng Lang used a costly drinking order to discourage customers from asking him to drink, then met Shen Huaiyu, who brought him milk and cookies. Cheng Lang reassured Shen Huaiyu that he was not to blame for what others had done and resolved to prevent the tragic ending he remembered from the original novel.

• Cheng Lang agreed to drink with Blue Hair only for a high price, then ordered ten bottles of Rémy Martin and drank just one.
• Blue Hair let Cheng Lang keep the commission for the remaining bottles, and Cheng Lang went to the restroom.
• Shen Huaiyu gave Cheng Lang milk and cookies because he had skipped dinner and drunk alcohol.
• Shen Huaiyu explained that he understood Cheng Lang had ordered the bottles to discourage customers from pressuring him to drink.
• Cheng Lang told Shen Huaiyu that the people who had harmed him were at fault, and remembered that Shen Huaiyu's brother's accusations would lead to Shen Huaiyu's eventual suicide.
• Cheng Lang resolved to keep Shen Huaiyu from suffering the ending he had read about.

Cheng Lang learned that the boss had chosen him as White Jade Capital’s new star performer, but he worried about losing his hourly wages and drink commissions. After overhearing Lu Chengxuan strike and humiliate Meng Tianye, Cheng Lang tried to help him conceal the injury.

• Han Mingchen told Cheng Lang that he would perform on White Jade Capital’s stage from nine to eleven each night, starting the next day.
• Cheng Lang questioned the pay arrangement and went back to selling drinks instead of immediately seeking the HR manager.
• Cheng Lang overheard Lu Chengxuan accuse Meng Tianye of being a male escort and saw Meng Tianye with a slapped cheek.
• Lu Chengxuan warned Cheng Lang not to spread what he had heard, then left.
• Cheng Lang told Meng Tianye to wait and brought ice and a towel to treat his cheek.

Cheng Lang was promoted to White Jade Capital’s mainstay, angering Meng Tianye and prompting skepticism from Entertainment Department manager Wang. He refused to back down, telling Wang to take his objections to Chen instead of making trouble for a part-time waiter.

• Cheng Lang told Meng Tianye that Chen had named him White Jade Capital’s star performer, and Meng Tianye angrily accused him of replacing him as the bar’s mainstay.
• Cheng Lang advised Meng Tianye not to bring personal emotions to work, and Meng Tianye stormed off.
• The floor manager introduced Cheng Lang to Wang, the Entertainment Department manager, and warned him that Wang was protective of his singers.
• Wang challenged Cheng Lang’s qualifications and explained that resident singers could attract the attention of the Qin Dynasty record company, but Cheng Lang focused on wages and drink commissions.
• Wang questioned what talent qualified Cheng Lang to be the mainstay, and Cheng Lang said he could rely on being shameless and told Wang to take his complaint to Chen.

Cheng Lang learned that White Jade Capital paid its resident singers well, then protected Shen Huaiyu from prying roommates by redirecting their attention to his own success. The System warned Cheng Lang that he was straying from the plot, but he remained unconcerned.

• Cheng Lang learned that White Jade Capital paid resident singers two thousand yuan per hour and gave them twenty percent of drink sales.
• Cheng Lang treated Shen Huaiyu to a taxi ride back to school, and the two persuaded the dorm manager to let them in after curfew.
• The next morning, Cheng Lang rebuked his roommates for using his and Shen Huaiyu's names to contact girls.
• When the roommates asked Shen Huaiyu about wealthy customers at White Jade Capital, Cheng Lang claimed Shen Huaiyu had sold no drinks and redirected their attention by announcing he was a star performer.
• The System warned Cheng Lang that he was acting out of character, but Cheng Lang dismissed the warning.

Cheng Lang reassured the system and encouraged Shen Huaiyu, then looked for ways to earn money and learned that a milk tea shop near the school was closing. He left the chapter considering whether he could take over the shop.

• Cheng Lang told the system not to monitor him constantly and then took Shen Huaiyu to breakfast.
• Cheng Lang teased Shen Huaiyu and reflected that he needed to help him regain confidence by giving him a way to measure his worth in money.
• Cheng Lang overheard two students say the Forest Style milk tea shop across from the school was closing.
• Cheng Lang asked the students about the shop and said he wanted to take it over to earn tuition money.
• The students explained that the shop belonged to a graduate who had spent nearly a million on renovations, but whose expensive milk tea tasted bad and whose temper was poor.

Cheng Lang invited Shen Huaiyu to become his partner in a milk tea shop, then learned that Shen Huaiyu had been left with only one million after his uncle arranged a deeply unfair house sale and costly funeral. Cheng Lang decided to confront the uncle, while Shen Huaiyu warned him not to get involved.

• Cheng Lang asked Shen Huaiyu to partner with him in opening a milk tea shop, and Shen Huaiyu offered to lend him half of his remaining savings.
• Shen Huaiyu explained that his family home had sold for less than three million and that funerals and medical care had consumed most of the money.
• Cheng Lang realized Shen Huaiyu's uncle had taken advantage of him and urged him to fight back.
• Cheng Lang resolved to deal with Shen Huaiyu's uncle, but Shen Huaiyu warned that the uncle was influential and begged Cheng Lang not to risk getting hurt.

Cheng Lang persuaded Shen Huaiyu to let him pursue the four-million-yuan debt from Shen Huaiyu’s uncle, then visited a struggling milk tea shop and offered to take it over. The owner was shocked when Cheng Lang offered only two hundred thousand for the transfer.

• Cheng Lang convinced Shen Huaiyu to sign a contract splitting any recovered debt fifty-fifty and promised to handle the collection himself.
• Cheng Lang told the system that helping Shen Huaiyu was only a minor detour that would not affect the plot.
• Cheng Lang visited a milk tea shop across from the school and asked its owner whether it was for transfer.
• The owner made Cheng Lang a cup of Da Hong Pao milk tea, and he struggled to swallow it because it tasted awful.
• Cheng Lang offered the owner two hundred thousand yuan for the shop, and she shrieked in disbelief.

Cheng Lang persuaded the milk tea shop owner to transfer her shop to him by inventing a tragic story, and she agreed to sell it for 150,000. He also bought the shop’s remaining ingredients, while the owner hoped to stay on and help run it.

• The female owner rejected Cheng Lang’s initial offer because she believed her decorated shop was worth far more.
• Cheng Lang claimed he was an orphan struggling to pay tuition and described his partner Shen Huaiyu’s family tragedy to win her sympathy.
• The female owner lowered her demand to 150,000 and agreed to transfer the shop, explaining that she was wealthy and mainly wanted people to recognize the shop’s quality.
• The female owner asked to keep working at the milk tea shop, but Cheng Lang hesitated because he feared her drinks could make someone sick.
• Cheng Lang agreed to pay 30,000 for the remaining tea leaves, fruit, milk, and other ingredients, and the female owner accepted.

Cheng Lang signed a four-year lease for the milk tea shop and recruited Shen Huaiyu to help promote it by secretly photographing him for romantic posts online. That evening, Cheng Lang reported to work at White Jade Capital but stayed glued to his phone, preoccupied with a serious situation.

• Cheng Lang and the landlady agreed to a four-year lease with rent tied to the shop’s profits, and Cheng Lang promised to pay the market rate if the business succeeded.
• After completing the transfer, Cheng Lang told Shen Huaiyu that they were opening the shop together and asked him to lend his face.
• Cheng Lang arranged Shen Huaiyu by the window with a book and fruit tea, then secretly took photos that did not show his face.
• Cheng Lang created alternate accounts on the campus forum and Weibo and posted romantic promotions written as if by a girl with a crush on Shen Huaiyu.
• Cheng Lang reported to White Jade Capital that evening and repeatedly checked his phone, telling the shift supervisor that his problem was more serious than a breakup.

Cheng Lang’s first night as a headliner at White Jade Capital turned into a hit when his guitar playing and singing impressed the bar’s customers. He ended the chapter taking paid song requests and eyeing a customer who asked him to sing Peking opera.

• Cheng Lang worried that his social media posts had failed to attract attention or customers to the milk tea shop, and he tried boosting them with alt accounts and proxy IPs.
• The shift supervisor and Wang asked Cheng Lang about his first headliner performance, but Cheng Lang said he needed no rehearsal or special outfit.
• When customers demanded to know where Tianye was, Cheng Lang explained that he was filling in and began playing guitar.
• Cheng Lang sang “Hotel California” and several classic songs, earning the crowd’s applause and drink orders.
• Cheng Lang invited customers to pay extra for song requests, then grew wary when one asked whether he could sing Peking opera.

Cheng Lang performed successfully at White Jade Capital and tried to stop Meng Tianye from ruining his voice after Meng lost his chance to become the club’s top act. As Cheng Lang went downstairs, Lu Chengxuan confronted him for showing concern for both Shen Huaiyu and Meng Tianye.

• Cheng Lang sang for two hours, earned money from customers, and received more attention on his social media accounts.
• Cheng Lang found Meng Tianye drinking heavily in the VIP lounge and took away his bottle, warning him to protect his voice.
• Meng Tianye said Qin Dynasty Records signed only White Jade Capital’s top act each year, and Cheng Lang suggested he try a talent show instead.
• Cheng Lang told Meng Tianye to care for his voice and warned him not to trust people too easily.
• Lu Chengxuan confronted Cheng Lang on the stairs, accusing him of being interested in his people, including Shen Huaiyu and Meng Tianye.

Cheng Lang defended his lucrative singing and drinking for customers after Lu Chengxuan tried to restrict him, then explained his approach to Han Mingchen. Han Mingchen struggled to address Cheng Lang’s extraordinary drinking volume and earnings, leaving the issue unresolved.

• Lu Chengxuan ordered Cheng Lang to stop accepting customers’ drinks and song requests, but Cheng Lang pointed out that the change would cost him about nine million a month and asked who would compensate him.
• Cheng Lang returned to the bar, where Kevin envied his earnings and Cheng Lang predicted customers’ enthusiasm would soon fade.
• The floor manager summoned Cheng Lang to meet Han Mingchen, who questioned him about drinking twenty-five glasses and charging customers for song requests.
• Cheng Lang defended his conduct as good customer service and offered to give half his tips to White Jade Capital, but Han Mingchen said that was not what concerned him.
• Han Mingchen worried that Cheng Lang’s ability to drink so many glasses in a short time could let him earn excessively through sheer volume.

Han Mingchen tried to limit Cheng Lang’s lucrative singing tips to protect White Jade Capital’s customers, but Cheng Lang negotiated around the restrictions and asked to sell the bar’s drinks at his milk tea shop. Han Mingchen suggested Cheng Lang could source the products himself, leaving their proposed partnership unresolved.

• Han Mingchen asked Cheng Lang to stop letting customers request songs and send him drinks while he sang, and Cheng Lang agreed to use his judgment if customers insisted.
• Cheng Lang clarified that the restriction applied only to his two hours onstage and asked to keep working his three-hour drink-promotion shift; Han Mingchen offered to pay him to stop coming in, but Cheng Lang said he wanted to meet potential business contacts.
• Han Mingchen invited Cheng Lang to raise any difficulties, and Cheng Lang asked to speak with White Jade Capital’s purchasing department about supplying drinks for his milk tea shop.
• Cheng Lang pitched selling White Jade Capital’s alcohol and beverages as a way to attract students and introduce them to the bar’s upscale image.
• Han Mingchen said the drinks were common products that Cheng Lang could order directly from distributors.

Cheng Lang secured Han Mingchen’s permission to negotiate with White Jade Capital’s purchasing manager for his milk tea shop, then returned to the dorm and shared food with others. By morning, Shen Huaiyu had returned and brought breakfast for their roommates.

• Cheng Lang explained the supply-chain and pricing problems behind his milk tea shop, and Han Mingchen let him approach the purchasing department manager privately.
• Cheng Lang discovered Shen Huaiyu had been called away by Lu Chengxuan, then brushed off a coworker’s teasing about liking Shen Huaiyu.
• Cheng Lang brought a roasted sweet potato to the dorm manager auntie, who gave him a lunch box of dumplings in return.
• Cheng Lang shared dumplings with his two roommates after returning to the dark dorm room.
• Shen Huaiyu returned the next morning and brought tea eggs, millet porridge, and pickled vegetables for the roommates.

Shen Huaiyu told Cheng Lang that President Lu had bought his family’s house from his uncle and used it to pressure him into staying with him. Determined to recover the money for his brother’s treatment, Shen Huaiyu asked Cheng Lang for help, and Cheng Lang agreed.

• Shen Huaiyu brought breakfast for his roommates, who insisted on paying him for future meals after Cheng Lang pointed out his family’s financial hardship.
• Shen Huaiyu told Cheng Lang that President Lu had bought his family’s house from his uncle for 7.8 million and used the house and his brother’s treatment as leverage.
• Shen Huaiyu explained that he had sold the house to his uncle for less than three million while his family needed money urgently.
• Shen Huaiyu said he would confront his uncle and reclaim the money to help save Shen Wojin, then asked Cheng Lang to help him.
• Cheng Lang agreed to help Shen Huaiyu and reflected on how the boy’s resolve differed from his character in the original novel.

Cheng Lang helped Shen Huaiyu plan how to prove his uncle had cheated him over the family funeral expenses and house sale. He also urged Shen Huaiyu to discreetly raise the suspicious sale price with Professor Tan, then asked whether Shen Huaiyu could demonstrate Tea Whisking for the milk tea shop.

• Cheng Lang told Shen Huaiyu to list the funeral expenses he remembered and obtain bank transaction records as evidence against his uncle.
• Cheng Lang asked whether Lu Chengxuan had forced Shen Huaiyu after he refused his offer, and Shen Huaiyu said he had not.
• Shen Huaiyu explained that his uncle was close to Professor Tan, and Cheng Lang suggested mentioning that Lu Chengxuan had bought the family house for 7.8 million.
• Shen Huaiyu realized Professor Tan's recent coldness might have been influenced by his uncle's rumors about him.
• Cheng Lang asked whether Shen Huaiyu knew Tea Whisking, explaining that the milk tea shop needed a promotional gimmick.

Cheng Lang investigated how much Shen Huaiyu’s uncle had overcharged him for his parents’ funeral and arranged to confront him at his calligraphy and painting exhibition. At White Jade Capital, Cheng Lang won over Manager Chen by explaining Shen Huaiyu’s situation and hinted at the burden of his classmate’s younger brother’s medical bills.

• Cheng Lang told Shen Huaiyu to focus on living well and sent him to class.
• Cheng Lang compared Shen Huaiyu’s funeral expense list with local prices and found that the funeral should have cost no more than four hundred thousand.
• Cheng Lang asked Shen Huaiyu to find out when and where his uncle’s exhibition would be, while Professor Tan began asking questions about the family dispute.
• Cheng Lang and Shen Huaiyu took a taxi to White Jade Capital, where Manager Chen confronted Cheng Lang for keeping him waiting.
• Cheng Lang explained Shen Huaiyu’s family situation to Manager Chen, who grew indignant and offered to send people to help at the exhibition.
• Cheng Lang declined the offer and told Manager Chen that Shen Huaiyu’s younger brother was in a vegetative state and required over two hundred thousand a month in medical bills.