Was it still possible to make it to the memorial service?

Fang Han's male protective instincts instantly surged. He held Zhuang Luo and comforted him while finding a moment to demand that Xu Su apologize immediately.

Xu Su remained unmoved. His thoughtful gaze moved between the two for a while before he suppressed a smile, spread his hands, and blinked innocently. "Why should I apologize?"

Fang Han was furious. "Are you fucking playing dumb with me? You just called Luoluo a dung beetle! Shouldn't you apologize to him?"

Xu Su kept blinking. "When did I call him a dung beetle?"

"Just now!"

Without thinking, Fang Han repeated Xu Su's words. "You said that when you run into a dung beetle, you're afraid it'll leave empty-handed and feel disappointed if you don't crap something out!"

"..."

Cheng Nan, who had been frantic a moment earlier, briefly went blank when he heard that.

He suddenly understood why Fang Han, despite being the son, could only get one-third of the family business, while the other child, despite being the daughter, could inherit two-thirds.

It turned out he simply had too few brain cells.

Xu Su burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Tell me, Mr. Fang, did I identify Zhuang Luo by name as the dung beetle anywhere in that sentence?"

He propped his left hand on his right and rested his chin on his left. As he looked at Fang Han, even his individually defined lashes fluttered with teasing amusement.

"So you interpreted it that way because, deep down, you think Zhuang Luo is a dung beetle too. Is that right?"

"I-!"

Right, my ass!

Fang Han turned livid with anger, but he had no idea how to refute him.

He knew Xu Su had a sharp tongue. That variety show was now popular across the country, and he knew something of what had happened on it.

But he had thought that, back in real life, Xu Su would show at least some wariness toward a wealthy heir like him, especially now that he occupied the exalted position of Xu Su's paying client.

Never had he expected Xu Su to show him so little respect and act just as brazen and rude as he did on the show.

Absolutely outrageous!

"Are you going to keep your artist in line or not?"

Fuming over what had happened but unable to outargue Xu Su, Fang Han could only turn his fire on Cheng Nan.

"Do you people seriously not want this partnership anymore?"

"No, no! Please calm down, Mr. Fang. Calm down..."

Cheng Nan was not Xu Su. He had far too many things to consider, so he could only keep apologizing.

Whether Zhuang Luo feared wasting time would affect his plans or was determined to cement his "understanding and considerate" image, he took the initiative to smooth things over:

"Let it go, Mr. Fang. I'm really fine. Let's get this promotional video done first, okay?"

After speaking, he reached out and gave Fang Han's arm a little shake.

Fang Han was probably destined to die at a beauty's feet. Most of his anger instantly dissipated. "All right. Whatever you say."

"..."

Xu Su was glad he had skipped breakfast that morning. Otherwise, he would definitely have thrown some of it up.

Seeing that Fang Han was no longer pursuing the matter, Cheng Nan found an excuse to drag Xu Su aside and sternly ordered him not to clash with Fang Han or Zhuang Luo again.

Instead of answering, Xu Su asked, "Do you know why he wants me and Zhuang Luo to shoot this endorsement together instead of simply giving it to Zhuang Luo?"

Cheng Nan gave him a look that said, "Do you think I was born yesterday?" and snapped, "He practically has 'scheming' written across his face. How could I not know?"

Anyone with eyes and a functioning brain could see what Fang Han was planning.

If he let Zhuang Luo have the endorsement all to himself, given how everyone currently wanted a piece of Zhuang Luo, it would undoubtedly only make matters worse-

The public would simply extend their dislike of Zhuang Luo to the brand.

But having Xu Su and Zhuang Luo endorse it together would be a different story.

If the two went from fighting up a storm on a variety show to immediately shooting an endorsement together like "best buddies," people could hardly help suspecting their previous drama had been scripted.

Then the popularity Xu Su had worked so hard to recover-though he had not actually made any effort-would disappear overnight, leaving him back at square one.

And Zhuang Luo might very well return to the public eye because of it. After all, "Luoluo is innocent! It was all that bitch Xu Su's doing!"

Somewhat impressed by Cheng Nan's precise analysis, Xu Su asked, "Then why are you still making me shoot with him?"

Cheng Nan gave him a sidelong look. "Remember what I told you this morning?"

Xu Su tilted his head back to think, and that thunderous roar suddenly rang in his ears: "I'm the manager who decides whether you earn five million or pay out fifteen million next!!!"

Oh...

"So he's willing to pay me five million for this endorsement? And the penalty for breaching the contract is as high as fifteen million?"

Cheng Nan waved a hand. "You're dreaming. You're not at the level where a single endorsement is worth five million yet."

"..."

The light called "anticipation" in Xu Su's eyes instantly dimmed.

"That was a little too insulting. Watch it next time."

Cheng Nan rolled his eyes, then volunteered an explanation:

"There are five endorsements in total right now. The combined payment is five million, and the combined penalties are fifteen million."

"But unfortunately, all five clients have some connection to Fang Han. They're either companies belonging to his relatives or companies belonging to his friends, so..."

He said no more, because that was already enough for Xu Su to understand the connection-

If they breached the contract, Fang Han might very well join forces with the other clients in his anger and make them pay dearly.

So they could only put up with it for now and take things one step at a time.

"After all, fifteen million is no small sum. It'd be enough to make you cough up ten liters of blood, at least."

Cheng Nan looked worried. "Besides, even if you were willing to pay, your future in show business would be completely finished."

"Oh."

Xu Su nodded as though enlightened, thinking, Life really has improved these days. The average fee for an endorsement has actually gone up to a million.

Tsk. No wonder so many people want to break into show business.

After a pause, he set aside the temptation of money and changed the subject. "How did Zhuang Luo hook up with Fang Han?"

And so openly, too. Did they think Li Weizhou was dead?

As though seeing through Xu Su's thoughts, Cheng Nan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's pretty much dead."

Xu Su: "?!"

What happened?!

I only went two days without checking my phone. How did things get this far?!

Xu Su was utterly shocked, but quickly accepted it. "Can I still make it to the memorial service?"

"..."

Cheng Nan rolled his eyes. "He's pretty much dead, not already dead."

"Oh..."

Xu Su expressed his regret. "What a shame."

"..."

Cheng Nan nearly rolled his eyes into oblivion. "Please try to hide your intentions a little. I don't mean he's literally 'pretty much dead'!"

"Oh..."

Xu Su continued to express his regret. "What a shame."

"..."

Cheng Nan was certain that if Li Weizhou ever died an unnatural death, Xu Su would definitely be a suspect!

Xu Su then learned that Li Weizhou had an international film contract, and after that incident, the client had begun planning to terminate it and demand compensation.

-The contractual penalty plus damages came to exactly two hundred million.

For Li Weizhou, whose reputation was currently in tatters and who was facing who knew how many contract breaches, this was far more than merely losing half his life.

So from a certain perspective, Li Weizhou really was pretty much dead.

Back inside the filming area, Xu Su saw that Zhuang Luo had already gotten his makeup and styling done at lightning speed.

"..."

Impressive.

He had no idea how Zhuang Luo had won Fang Han's favor without clearly breaking up with Li Weizhou, but he was certain of one thing-

This guy was definitely trouble.

Something was a little strange.

Xu Su vaguely remembered that in the original novel-and according to the usual conventions of fiction-even if the male lead was not a flawless paragon, he ought to at least be reasonably tolerable.

But what was going on now?

As the original novel's bottom male lead, Zhuang Luo had actually abandoned Li Weizhou, the top male lead, when disaster struck and gone looking for another backer???