Chapter 11

Ning Luo took a closer look. Holy shit, it really was!

He let out a silent scream, snatched it away, and did not know whether he should be embarrassed for himself first or for Lu Tingzhou.

My husband's been tainted, tainted, tainted! Someone else saw him! His cyber chastity is gone! His finest dowry is gone!

"Where's my bank card? I clearly put it in my pocket just now."

Seeing Ning Luo frantically search everywhere for the card as if his head had fallen off, Wang Lin snorted with laughter.

Sure enough, one's happiness had to be built on someone else's suffering.

Wang Lin's laughter left Ning Luo even more mortified. He wanted to bash his head against the ground. The blush spreading across his face quickly reached his ears, and helpless, embarrassed irritation flickered in his eyes. Even the little mole at the corner of his eye seemed about to burn as he bit his lip in humiliation.

His trembling fingers grabbed Wang Lin. "Director Wang, don't misunderstand. I'm not that kind of person."

Enough. I said enough. My heart is as cold as a fish slaughtered at RT-Mart for ten years. I'm just a pitiful, weak, innocent young man. What's wrong with being a little horny?

Wang Lin's bad mood vanished completely. He patted him and offered an insincere consolation. "I know. Someone must have accidentally put it in your pocket, and you accidentally took it out. I understand everything."

After saying that, he paused, turned his back, and shook his shoulders desperately.

Clutching his husband's cyber chastity card, Ning Luo wanted to punch this goddamn world to pieces.

Wang Lin barely suppressed his laughter and turned back around. "Ahem, what were you saying just now?"

The pale, bare abs photo had been too shocking, so Wang Lin had not heard a single word of what Ning Luo said.

Ning Luo looked utterly dead inside. "I said I want to invest in the production."

Wang Lin said, "Oh, that. It's fine. You just focus on acting properly and stop worrying about other things. If you have some money, spend it on yourselves. The production needs no small amount of funding. You can't make up the difference."

"I'll invest ten million."

Ning Luo watched the smile freeze at the corner of Wang Lin's mouth. Then Wang Lin's legs went weak, and he toppled toward him.

Startled, Ning Luo hurriedly supported him. "Director Wang, what's wrong?"

It's not like I'm refusing to give you the money. Do you really have to fake a fall this directly?

Wang Lin reached out, gripped the hand holding the little card, and shook it hard. Gazing at each other with tearful eyes, he said, "Xiao Luo, I didn't take a single look at Lu Tingzhou's abs. He's still pure. Believe me, brother."

Ten million!!

Compared across the entire entertainment industry, only productions that could afford top-tier stars could pull in investments of that scale. The actors would take up half of it, leaving very little for the production itself.

Ning Luo's ten million was enough for Wang Lin to perfectly achieve the effects he wanted. It could even benefit every department in the entire production—costumes, props, editing, post-production, dubbing, and more. Everything could be upgraded and replaced with a plus version.

Cui Xiangyang and the investor he had persuaded to pull out had invested only six million combined!

With ten million, Wang Lin could practically walk around with his back straight and sideways. He could film whatever he wanted, use the best and most expensive props for any desired effect, and never have to worry about money again.

"Ten million..." Wang Lin shook Ning Luo's hand fiercely, muttering over and over, "Ten million!"

It took him a long while to calm down. Then he looked suspiciously at Ning Luo. "Wait, where did you get so much money?" Remembering that Ning Luo had a patron, his expression immediately turned serious. "Ning Luo, you didn't do anything that betrayed yourself, did you?"

"No. What are you talking about, Director Wang? My dad and my brother gave me the money." Ning Luo subtly showed off his father.

"Your father and brother are?"

"Ning Xibai and I have the same father. I'm biological; he's adopted."

Wang Lin was stunned by the sudden bombshell. "You and Ning Xibai are brothers? Then before, he..."

He had schemed against you like that. Wang Lin swallowed the rest. Before he knew the relationship between the two brothers, he would not speak carelessly.

But none of that mattered. The production had money now!

Wang Lin swept out an arm. "Gather everyone on the production! We're starting work again!"

The crew had more or less heard some rumors and knew the production was facing troubles both inside and out. Those with restless hearts had already been preparing to quit and run. Now that everyone had been gathered, they had no idea what was happening and wore bewildered expressions.

Holding a megaphone, Wang Lin's voice resounded across the set. "I believe everyone knows that our production has suffered many setbacks recently, but there will always be someone discerning enough to recognize our value. That benefactor is our Ning Luo!"

Under everyone's confused gazes, he dropped a depth charge. "Ning Luo has invested a full ten million in our production!"

The crowd erupted!

Facing dozens of burning gazes, Ning Luo gave an awkward smile and waved. In reality, his toes had already started digging into the ground.

I want mountains, I want the sea, I want freedom.

Just kidding. My social anxiety is about to flare up!

Wang Lin, who had been planning to say more, paused. He could only regretfully shorten his speech.

Even so, everyone on the production was invigorated.

Oh my god, an investment of ten million!

Everyone looked at Ning Luo as though he were a walking giant gold ingot. They wanted to rush over and bite him to test his hardness.

After the production announced that work was resuming, everyone remained excited and fired up. They had even more enthusiasm than before, and even the stagehands' shouts were much louder.

Only the male lead, Shen Wenyu, wore a grave expression.

He pulled Ning Luo into a corner and mysteriously took out his phone to show him. "Xiao Luo, look."

Ning Luo looked closely and found nothing but photos of gorgeous women with fiery red lips. He looked and looked but could not make out anything else. "What is it, Brother Wenyu?"

"Can't you understand this?" Shen Wenyu was so anxious that he looked like an underground porn peddler who could not sell his discs, waving his hands wildly. "I like this mature-woman type! I like long straight black hair, high ponytails, girls!"

His sexual orientation was normal. There was no way he would read glowing scripts with Wang Lin, okay?

While investigating Fu Gangqun, the police had indeed discovered that, posing as an industry insider, he had sold smear pieces to shady marketing accounts everywhere and fabricated false news. The rumor about Shen Wenyu and Wang Lin was prominently among them.

Those articles often spun stories based on pictures. With one or two suggestively angled photos, they could concoct a relationship web proving that the entertainment industry's people played around wildly, one more complicated than the Water Margin family tree.

As far as Shen Wenyu was concerned, give that kind of person a copy of Water Margin and they could turn it into a story about 105 men and 3 women.

He urged Ning Luo anxiously. "Say something."

Ning Luo did not understand, but Ning Luo knew how to play along. "Then... I hope you find true love soon?"

Shen Wenyu let out a sigh of relief.

He finally believed him.

He patted Ning Luo's shoulder. "Including this investment, you've helped me twice. I know you have money, so I don't have much to give you. I happened to go to Europe on a business trip not long ago and brought back a lot of chocolates and desserts. Take them home and eat them."

Before Ning Luo could figure out when he had helped him the first time, six full gift bags were stuffed into his hands, all packed with delicious food.

Ning Luo immediately tossed the matter of helping or not helping to the back of his mind. His almond eyes curved into two crescents, and he sweetly said, "Thank you, Brother Wenyu. You're such a good person!"

Even though he knew Ning Luo's true nature, Shen Wenyu still blanked out for a moment. He rubbed Ning Luo's head, finally putting one worry to rest. "Go on."

Ning Luo had stocked up at Shen Wenyu's place. He had Xiao Song carry some of it back to the car, then unwrapped a piece of chocolate bigger than his own face and ate it while watching the male and female leads film. Crunch, crunch—it was so good.

As he watched, he sensed something subtle.

Wait. Mature-woman type, long straight black hair, high ponytail.

Wasn't that Sun Shaoyi?

"So it was unspoken love, and he even went for the secret-crush routine, coming to me to make some declaration to his love rival. No wonder he was acting so weird."

But Ning Luo did not like women, so Shen Wenyu could set his mind at ease ten thousand times over.

Thinking that, Ning Luo sent Shen Wenyu a message: [Don't worry, Brother Wenyu. I accepted your bribe, so I definitely won't do anything bad [cat making a heart]]

After receiving the message, Shen Wenyu suddenly felt less reassured.

The production's scheduled holiday was canceled, and filming resumed suddenly. Ning Mother was the least pleased about it and asked whether he was going to live on set again.

Ning Luo thought that the filming location was only two hours from home, so he could commute. Besides, the beds at the Ning Family home were incredibly soft, and Aunt Zhang's cooking was super delicious. He went to ask Wang Lin whether it would work.

What a joke. This was the production's biggest financial backer, so Wang Lin naturally agreed without hesitation.

Ning Luo then began living a stable routine between two points. When he got hungry, he could even grab extra food at the food street beside the set. Life could not have been more enjoyable.

Before the day arrived for his collaboration shoot with Lu Tingzhou, Xu Ling came by first.

She had just returned from abroad after accompanying an artist on a travel variety show. Without resting after getting off the plane, she had ridden for three hours to get here, yet she still showed no signs of fatigue. When she saw Ning Luo and Xiao Song, she said, "Get in."

The first thing Ning Luo noticed was the iced Americano by her hand.

Seeing him look at it, Xu Ling gave it a shake. "Want one? It can reduce swelling."

Ning Luo shook his head. "No, no."

I don't like coffee. It's even more bitter than my life.

Xu Ling froze, touched her forehead, and muttered to herself, "Do I have a fever?"

Ning Luo was shocked to hear that. Without making a sound, he moved farther back, trying to get away from the source of infection.

He absolutely could not catch it.

As he moved back, he discovered someone else sitting in the rear of the car. The person was wrapped up tightly and only showed his eyes as he watched people. When he saw Ning Luo, he acted as though he had not seen him at all. Not only did he remain planted there, he stretched out his leg and blocked Ning Luo's path.

Ning Luo said, "Excuse me."

Seeing that the other person had no intention of responding, Ning Luo squeezed his way in himself.

The man's phone was knocked down by the squeeze. He glared at Ning Luo. "What are you doing?"

Ning Luo said, "Watching a mummy with a tangled-up brain talk."

He was not stupid. He had already guessed that this person was deliberately targeting him.

"What did you say!"

Xu Ling noticed the commotion in the back, signaled the driver to start the car, then turned around and said, "Zhou Wenyu, can you behave yourself?"

Zhou Wenyu was dissatisfied. "Why are you blaming me? He was obviously the one who carelessly knocked my phone down."

Ning Luo looked in disbelief at the mummy, whose two eyes together were not as big as one of his, and sighed. "When you make a mistake, you criticize others first and comfort yourself second. Your mental state is already a hundred years ahead of the world."

Zhou Wenyu glared at him. "Say that again?"

Xiao Song silently stared at him, intentionally or not displaying his impressive biceps.

"Enough, shut up. Why are you making so much trouble over sharing a car?" Xu Ling interrupted them, then said to Ning Luo, "I just picked him up after he came back from abroad. You two happen to be going the same way, so there's only one car."

"Abroad?" Ning Luo froze. "Could he be filming that travel variety show with Best Actor Wang Jiang as his partner?"

"You're pretty well-informed." Zhou Wenyu rolled his eyes.

Ever since he had teamed up with the Best Actor on the variety show, everyone on the program had treated him with the utmost respect. Yet right after returning to the country, he had been snapped at by this blind Ning Luo.

Zhou Wenyu sneered. "For Sister Ling's sake, I won't hold it against you. Apologize to me, then get out of the car and take a taxi yourself."

Ning Luo murmured, "Someone save me..."

Zhou Wenyu, that's Zhou Wenyu! The Zhou guy who had outdoor sex with the Best Actor, got secretly filmed, and had the footage posted on porn sites before it ended up on a legal affairs program!

The video later went viral in the country. After one of the male protagonists watched it, he got excited and copied the position with Ning Xibai.

Ning Luo had already despaired of this world adapted from an adults-only novel.

This concubine accuses Consort Zhou of having an illicit affair and corrupting the harem. His crime deserves death!

Xu Ling crushed her iced Americano cup in her hand.