The heir fell out with his wealthy dad and struck out on his own?

"Mianmian," Xia Qinghe's low voice came through the phone. "Where did you go? Why aren't you home?"

His Mianmian hardly ever went out at night. He stayed home and slept after dinner, so well-behaved and so reassuring.

After finishing his business engagements, Xia Qinghe returned to his cold, empty home. Unable to fall asleep no matter how he lay, he went straight over to see Lin Fengmian.

Only to find that he wasn't home.

Anxious, Xia Qinghe went to Butler Song, who told him that Lin Fengmian had gone out first thing that morning and still hadn't returned, and that he shouldn't worry.

How could Xia Qinghe possibly not worry? "Mianmian is so good-looking, and there are so many bad people out there."

Butler Song was at a loss. Have you forgotten that Lin Fengmian is a grown man too, and that his fists are no joke?

Xia Qinghe called him as he walked toward Lin Fengmian's bedroom, leading to the scene at the beginning.

"My friend came to record a show. I came to help him."

"You haven't finished recording yet?" Xia Qinghe stopped in his tracks and headed outside.

"We're done."

"Then wait for me there. I'll be over soon. Don't wander around. It's late, and it isn't safe out there."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Lin Fengmian looked at the crew, who had already dispersed. The director and producer were chatting quietly with the mentors off to one side, and no one came to tell them whether to leave or stay.

So Lin Fengmian acted according to his own understanding. "Let's go. My friend is picking me up. He's pretty close."

The recording building and Lin Fengmian's home were both within the first ring road. It took less than half an hour to drive here from his home, and the little boxed meal Lin Fengmian had eaten had long since been burned off while arguing with the production team.

He and Chen Mu supported each other as they trudged out of the building, then stood by the road, playing on their phones as they waited.

Lin Fengmian yawned. When he looked up, he met the eyes of the director, the producer, and the mentors who had been so rude to them during the recording.

Lin Fengmian stepped in front of Chen Mu, facing the string of stares alone.

Want to see whose eyes are bigger? I've never been afraid of that.

After a long standoff, the others averted their eyes, ignoring these two ungrateful newcomers.

From this moment on, the careers of people like these, who showed no respect for their mentors, were over.

Their industry had no patience for people who couldn't read the room and had no humility whatsoever. Newcomers should act like newcomers. They had only been made to wait a little longer. If they couldn't even put up with that tiny grievance, they should just get out of the business.

Besides, did a newcomer's time even count as time? How much was it worth?

"When you edit it, include the behind-the-scenes footage of those two arguing. Let them learn the consequences of offending the production team." The producer smiled maliciously.

They could mold newcomers without any backing however they pleased.

Everyone else laughed when they heard that.

They hadn't deliberately lowered their voices, and Lin Fengmian and Chen Mu heard every word.

Lin Fengmian asked, "Are you scared?"

Chen Mu rolled his eyes. "My agency already wasted two years of my life. I've never even had a career in this industry. If they dare edit the footage maliciously, I'll sue them into the ground." They were clearly the ones who had been wronged, waiting an entire day, yet these people, so used to looking down on others, thought having resources meant they could do whatever they wanted.

"Don't worry. I recorded the audio."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If they dare sue, I'll take them on in court. Don't forget, I'm a licensed lawyer. I won't even need to hire one. I can do it myself." Though he had only properly handled one lawsuit, he had powerful backing.

These people thought they could do whatever they pleased, forgetting that there was always someone above them.

When it came to backing, Lin Fengmian wouldn't lose. When it came to being unreasonable, he was even less afraid.

"Don't worry. I'll look out for you from now on. If you ever can't make it in the business, just come to me."

The moment Lin Fengmian finished speaking, a black Cullinan stopped in front of them.

Chen Mu recognized it as a fancy car at a glance from its two enormous nostrils. As for just how fancy it was, he had never looked into that.

"Come on." Lin Fengmian opened the door and let Chen Mu get in, then climbed in after him.

Xia Qinghe engaged the parking brake and turned around. "Why are you sitting in the back? Taking me for your chauffeur?"

"I made a fuss today and put him through a lot. I'm keeping him company." Lin Fengmian stayed put on the soft leather seat, sprawled crookedly across it.

Lin Fengmian nudged the back of the driver's seat with his foot. "Find somewhere to eat. I'm starving."

Seeing how exhausted he was, Xia Qinghe unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door, and went to the back seat. He lifted Lin Fengmian out, carried him around to the front passenger seat, settled him inside, and fastened his seat belt.

Only then did he return to the driver's seat.

Lin Fengmian didn't struggle once. Not only was he too hungry to have any strength, he also knew Xia Qinghe's stubborn temper. Resisting often only made him push his luck further.

Chen Mu watched this smooth sequence of moves, dumbfounded.

They... were a couple, right?

Both of them were ridiculously good-looking, better-looking than plenty of celebrities.

At last, the Cullinan left the recording building, leaving the director, producer, and the others by the roadside.

"That car's license plate looked a little familiar."

"A plate that distinctive must belong to some big shot."

Spit anywhere in Shengjing and you could hit ten families whose ancestors had included someone important, but only a handful remained prosperous to this day.

The producer shuddered as he remembered whose car that was. "President Xia of the Xia Corporation."

When seeking sponsorship for their show, they had visited the Xia Corporation, but its business was now focused on artificial intelligence. All it needed to do was concentrate on developing impressive products, and it had no interest in sponsoring shows for advertising.

But the producer knew many of the country's major companies and brands inside out, especially those around Shengjing.

"That young man just now..." The producer didn't finish.

With those devastating looks, could he be... President Xia's little lover?!

Then the way we deliberately targeted them just now...

The group felt as though their careers were over.

"Could he be something other than a lover?" someone reasoned. "President Xia has always kept his private life clean. He wouldn't keep a lover. But people do say he has a boyfriend from the Lin Family."

Everyone looked at the speaker, furious. Nobody would think you were mute if you kept your mouth shut.

Now they were even more frightened.

The producer swallowed. "Should we invite them back to record it again? We could arrange a special recording just for them and get the best makeup artist and stylist to do their looks."

They thought of the two shabbily dressed young men standing onstage that day, and the mentors' scathing critiques.

The group felt as though the sky had fallen.

"Do you think they'd come back?"

"Whatever happens, I'll go talk to Yi Qiang first. The artist belongs to his company. Surely they'll show him some consideration?"

The producer felt like crying. Yi Qiang had really landed him in it.

Dragged out of bed, Yi Qiang was equally bewildered. "Who has connections to the Xia Corporation?"

Now, just hearing the name Xia Corporation was enough to trigger a stress response.

He still hadn't found a way to approach President Xia and apologize over Yu Huan's affair. How had another one cropped up already?!

"Chen Mu! Chen Mu from your company, the one who came to fill in for Yu Huan."

Yi Qiang finally dredged the utterly forgettable young man with the bowl cut out of the depths of his memory. "That's impossible, isn't it? If he had the Xia Corporation behind him, what the fuck would he be doing at our company? What, did the heir fall out with his wealthy dad and come out to support himself?"

Just how unlucky did he have to be to get picked as cannon fodder?