Lackeys?

In the Hovercar, his manager Kari looked at Sheng Nian excitedly. "Young master, you really did us proud this time! Evernight Sky's publicity team contacted our team yesterday. Come with me to Evernight Sky's head office tomorrow to sign the contract, and then we'll arrange the ad shoot."

Sheng Nian had spent three days filming the show and three days playing a fool hopelessly in love with Jiang Shu. On top of that, he had fallen ill. Utterly exhausted now, he slumped in his seat and said weakly, "Kari, let me catch my breath..."

Kari's excitement subsided. "All right. Oh, Assistant Lin from President Yan's side contacted me just now."

Sheng Nian: "???"

"What did he contact you for?"

"Hey," Kari said. "Why shouldn't he contact me? I think you and President Yan will have plenty more opportunities to work together. Never mind anything further down the line-didn't you win that Evernight Sky ad together? President Yan will be coming to the shoot too."

"Assistant Lin contacted me this time to discuss the mock relationship announcement. From what President Yan's side said, they want to agree on a time to post together. Have you thought of your caption yet? If not, I'll have the people at the studio help you come up with one."

Sheng Nian hadn't expected it to be about that.

He had intended to let the studio's staff come up with a caption, but for some reason, he couldn't get the words out.

He recalled Yan Feizhuo smiling that day as he said, "I think I'm pretty lucky."

For some inexplicable reason, he felt he shouldn't leave it to someone else.

"I'll do it myself."

That was what Sheng Nian said.

Kari hadn't expected Sheng Nian to refuse. Hadn't the young master always been uninterested in anything involving Alphas other than Jiang Shu?

She gave Sheng Nian a somewhat suspicious look. "Fine. Let me know when you've decided, and I'll tell President Yan's side."

Kari dropped Sheng Nian off at his apartment near the company and reminded him, "Get that caption done as soon as you can. Go to bed early tonight, young master. I'll pick you up tomorrow to sign the contract."

"I know, I know. Go on home."

After sending his manager away, Sheng Nian went home, showered, and collapsed onto his bed. As he restlessly swung his legs, his silk pajama bottoms slid toward his knees, revealing a stretch of fair, delicate calf.

"A caption, a caption..."

Sheng Nian muttered to himself, his mind racing.

What kind of caption would keep him from being too OOC? And once he had posted it and completed the task, he would have to delete that Starblog post. That way, he wouldn't be OOC.

He suddenly remembered how, on the Ferris Wheel during their nighttime visit to Evernight Sky, Yan Feizhuo had taken the winter jasmine sprig from his head and said he would give him one that would never wilt in return.

An idea stirred in Sheng Nian's heart, and he found a pen and paper to write down a sentence.

"The winter jasmine woke first, spring's tidings have arrived, and the spring you gave me will never fade."

After writing it, he felt it was a little pretentious. He wanted to cross it out but couldn't think of anything better. In the end, he tossed the pen aside and gave up. "Whatever. This will do."

Now that his caption was written, Sheng Nian stopped hesitating and took out his Light Brain to message his manager.

[Kari, I've finished my caption for the mock relationship announcement. Could you let Yan Feizhuo's side know? Or I could contact him myself.]

His manager took quite a while to reply. [OK, I've let Assistant Lin know. Contact President Yan directly. Just agree on a time to post together.]

[I've notified Director Ren too. He said the Production Team's official Starblog account will repost it.]

Sheng Nian hadn't expected the Production Team to be so eager to join in. He added a reminder: [I'll delete the Starblog post after posting it. If the Production Team wants to repost it, remember to do it early...]

His manager didn't need to think to know why he wanted to delete it. He really was the same old young master, determined to pin all his hopes on one hopeless prospect.

Still, the young master's willingness to cooperate was already a huge improvement. She couldn't ask for too much.

[All right... I'll let the Production Team know first.]

After contacting his manager, Sheng Nian opened his chat with Yan Feizhuo.

He sent a poking sticker first. To his surprise, Yan Feizhuo video-called him the very next second, startling Sheng Nian so badly that he nearly threw his Light Brain.

He quickly sat up straight and accepted. The Alpha's 3D projection appeared in the air.

Sheng Nian glanced at the surroundings in the projection. It looked like an office.

"Yan Feizhuo, you really are a busy man."

Yan Feizhuo raised an eyebrow. The little brat was acting like they didn't know each other now that they were off the show. "Not calling me big brother anymore?"

Sheng Nian paused, his eyes darting around. Then an idea came to him, and he called in a drawn-out voice, "Big Brother Bug~"

His amber eyes curved into an arch at the success of his little prank. The sight made Yan Feizhuo's heart itch and amused him. He still loved teasing people, just as he had as a child, but every little thought was written on his face. His attempts at teasing were more like a kitten begging for affection-not remotely threatening, only making people soften toward him.

"That works too."

"Have you finished your caption, young master? Let me see."

Thinking of what he had written, Sheng Nian felt a little embarrassed. "What did you write? Let me see yours first."

Seeing his awkwardness, Yan Feizhuo didn't offer to show him. Instead, he suggested, "Then neither of us will look in advance."

"Okay. We'll find out what we wrote when we post them in a bit anyway."

Yan Feizhuo nodded and asked about his illness. "Have you taken your medicine? Do you still feel unwell?"

Sheng Nian nodded, then shook his head. "I'm fine now. Didn't Dr. Chen say I'd be all right as long as I didn't come into contact with the trigger? I feel pretty good."

As their conversation continued, Sheng Nian's stiff, upright posture changed. He lay back on the bed and picked up a soft pillow beside him to hug, almost half his face sinking into it.

Seeing his eyelids droop again, Yan Feizhuo asked softly, "Sleepy?"

Sheng Nian gave a quiet hum of agreement. "Acting is so tiring. Being an actor really isn't easy."

Yan Feizhuo chuckled and glanced down at his watch. "It's 19:22 now. Shall we post on Starblog at 20:00? The sooner we post, the sooner you can rest."

Sheng Nian agreed. After a few more words, he ended the video call.

With the Starblog post on his mind, Sheng Nian went ahead and logged into the account he hadn't used in a long time.

Before the dating show began, he had frequently been cyberbullied by Jiang Shu's fans for relentlessly chasing after him, so he rarely logged in.

Sheng Nian opened his Starblog profile. His display name was "Sheng Nian," with a cute cat-face emoji added at the end because someone else had the same name.

His latest post was still the promotional post for "Heart-Throbbing Observation Diary: Trial Season" that his studio had reposted for him.

The comments under that post had already reached 999+. Sheng Nian clicked in to look, somewhat surprised. He had assumed they would all be comments telling him to "get out of the entertainment industry," as before.

To his surprise, the comment voted to the very top was actually "Don't be afraid, Sheng Nian."

Curious, he opened the replies beneath it.

[Everyone, give us some likes and push the Lackeys' comments to the top. Don't let the young master see those lunatics' remarks.]

Sheng Nian scrolled down. Most of the top comments were either fans praising his looks or motherly fans cheering him on. Most of the rest were fans who shipped him with Yan Feizhuo, urging him not to keep pinning all his hopes on one hopeless prospect.

Sheng Nian was a little touched, then curious. What were these Lackeys?

He asked beneath that comment: [Thank you, everyone (づ￣ ³￣)づ. Also, what does "Lackeys" mean?]

When the fan named "Sliding Down the Young Master's Eyelashes" received the notification, she shrieked excitedly, "The young master replied to me! Aaaaaah!"

Once her excitement subsided, she replied to Sheng Nian: [That's our fandom name~]

[Why Lackeys? It sounds, umm...]

[Hehe~ Because those haters said we liked the young master because we liked being lackeys, so we simply made it our fandom name.

Young master, are you online now because you're about to post your mock relationship announcement? Are you? Are you? The Lackeys are all really looking forward to it~]

Sheng Nian admired his fans' mental resilience. Or perhaps anyone who became a fan of someone like him, who drew controversy wherever he went, was mentally resilient to begin with.

He thought it over. He couldn't let his fans lose out. He couldn't help them in the court of public opinion, but he could make it up to them materially.

So, before composing his mock relationship announcement, he first posted a giveaway on Starblog to thank his fans.

With money to spare, Sheng Nian chose twenty Evernight Sky 30-day unlimited-access VVVIP cards as the prizes for his Starblog giveaway, open only to [Lackeys].

The moment he posted it, his fans went wild.

[Aaaaaah, Sheng Nian spoils his fans so much!]

[They're actually Evernight Sky 30-day unlimited-access VVVIP cards! He really is giving them away!]

[Hehe~ Hehe~ Is Sheng Nian logging in now because he's about to do the mock relationship announcement? I'm already waiting to take screenshots!]

[Whoa! I would've forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. I'm ready too. We have to capture every sweet moment of Shengyan!]