Do you take me for a sucker?

A Maybach traveled along a winding mountain road, its air of extravagance at odds with the remote, tranquil surroundings.

The air-conditioning was on inside the car, the temperature very low. The atmosphere seemed frozen until a sudden, involuntary laugh broke it.

"Pfft-"

Realizing his lapse, Su Yuan hurriedly covered his mouth.

A cold, low voice came from the back seat. "What's so funny?"

Su Yuan quickly took off his headphones. "Sorry, Brother Lu. This livestream was so funny I couldn't help it."

"What livestream?" Lu Yanting sounded casual, but a trace of barely perceptible curiosity showed in his ink-dark eyes.

"It's, uh, Lucky Inn." Su Yuan hesitated, coughing softly to hide his embarrassment. "Their publicity strategy is... unique."

Unique was the polite way to put it. Less politely, it was a bunch of washed-up celebrities finding unconventional ways to get attention.

They were actually selling talisman papers on a livestream.

Only Jian Ran could have come up with that!

"Give me the tablet."

"Huh?" Su Yuan failed to react.

Lu Yanting frowned. He disliked repeating himself, so he simply extended an arm, palm up.

His fingers were long and evenly proportioned, their lines beautiful.

They were especially suited to hand modeling.

Su Yuan glanced at them instinctively, looking momentarily dazed. Then realization struck, and he hurriedly offered up the tablet.

After taking it, Lu Yanting lowered his gaze to the screen. With the headphones disconnected, the sound played aloud.

"You heard right! Not three or four thousand, not one or two thousand! Just 199, and you can bring peace and harmony home!"

Jian Ran's beautiful face, deliberately magnified by the camera, was right in front of Lu Yanting. He visibly paused, then his lips curved with an unreadable meaning. "199?"

"Heh. That really is cheap."

Hearing this, Su Yuan seized the opportunity to turn around. "See, Brother Lu? I told you Jian Ran was definitely ripping you off!"

"A thousand for a lousy piece of paper! Even 199 sounds expensive to me!"

Lu Yanting raised his eyes. "Are you implying I'm stupid?"

Startled, Su Yuan hastily waved his hands. "I'm absolutely not implying that!"

The production crew had settled on the filming location three months earlier. After giving the mountain villa a simple cleaning and renovation and hanging up a "Lucky Inn" sign, they were ready to open for business.

The main reason they had chosen a tourism-and-business reality show was to recoup some costs. After all, Maple Blue Entertainment had grown afraid of losing money on its ventures. If it required ongoing investment, their fussy, penny-pinching president would certainly refuse to continue.

Before coming, Jian Ran had done some research too-casually skimmed Weibo. Someone online had revealed that this villa deep in the mountain forests was extremely well-known.

It had originally been a haunted village that gradually fell into disuse, leaving only this villa relatively intact.

What was it called again?

Jian Ran tilted his head and thought. Oh, right. Fengmen.

Standing behind the villa, he spotted low stone structures faintly visible amid the white-mist-shrouded woods, and his expression turned thoughtful.

Suddenly, a low, hoarse voice filled with dread sounded beside his ear. "You shouldn't have come here!"

Anyone else would surely have been scared out of their wits by that unexpected voice, especially in such an eerie setting.

Jian Ran, however, was calm as could be. He turned unhurriedly and saw the middle-aged driver, his face ashen, staring fearfully at a certain spot. The corners of Jian Ran's mouth lifted.

"What do you know about this? How about we talk?"

"No, I don't know anything!" Cold sweat suddenly poured down the middle-aged driver's face. He turned and ran, stumbling several steps and nearly falling.

Jian Ran did not stop him. Frowning slightly, he propped his chin on one hand.

Was I really transported into a melodramatic, angst-ridden romance novel where readers picked their favorites?!

Not some male-oriented supernatural horror mystery?!

He had only pondered this briefly when a noisy commotion came from the front of the villa, as though some welcoming ceremony were taking place. The lively atmosphere was the complete opposite of the eerie, unsettling silence behind him.

"Oh, Emperor Lu, this way, please. Your timing is perfect. We've only just started streaming." The assistant director led the way attentively, his smile warm and exceedingly friendly. "Your room is ready. The view is superb. You can see the entire Taihang Mountains the moment you open your eyes."

"Keep the camera away for now. Let Emperor Lu rest. Go over there. Where's Jian Ran?! Find him!"

"Doesn't he love showing off?"

"Let him show off all he wants!"

Jian Ran, who had just come around from the back, was speechless.

Show off what? More advertising?

Better not.

After all, the prices weren't exactly consistent...

Just as he was about to step onto the stairs, Lu Yanting glanced over from the corner of his eye, an intriguing curve on his lips. A moment later, his flat voice sounded. "199?"

"Ahem!" Jian Ran coughed twice, guilty and embarrassed. "A promotion!"

"I'm running a promotion right now!"

Exactly, a promotion. All previous deposits were nonrefundable!

Lu Yanting said nothing, his cold eyes fixed on him. "..."

Does he take me for a sucker?

Do I look like one?

The assistant director looked back and forth between them, secretly marveling. Holy shit, there's something going on between these two!

With that look of utter loathing in Lu Yanting's eyes, Jian Ran must have thrown himself at him before!

He was not the only one who thought so. Fans in the livestream reached the same conclusion and took to their keyboards to hurl abuse.

[Stay away from our darling! That godlike face isn't for you to covet!]

[I thought shamelessly selling stuff was rock bottom, but now he's shameless enough to set his sights on our darling too. Doesn't he have any freaking self-awareness?!]

[I'm seriously going to puke. Can we kick Jian Jianjian off the show?! He's such an eyesore!]

[Compared with Jian Jianjian, the other guests' scandals are nothing. With him around, clearing their names is easy!]

[Lu, darling, stay away from Jian Jianjian...]

Watching the livestream's viewer count soar from behind the scenes, the director could not help but feel delighted.

He had thought he had taken on a hot potato, only to discover it was a fresh lease on his career. "Quick, add separate camera feeds!"

"Assign one to every guest!"

"Especially Jian Ran!"

On a reality show, it did not matter who got cursed out. As long as they brought in traffic, they got more screen time!

The assistant was about to answer when he suddenly cried out, pointing at the livestream screen. "Ah-"

"What are you howling about?!" The director turned to glare at him.

"S-s-something floated past!" The assistant's eyes widened, his face terrified.

The director turned and examined the image carefully. Apart from the busy crew members, there was nothing outside the villa. He rubbed his brow irritably. "Have you been reading too many rumors online?!"

"Hurry up and get things ready. Stop making a fuss!"

The assistant rubbed his eyes hard. Finally deciding his eyes had played tricks on him, he left the office sheepishly.

The villa had three floors.

The ground-floor lobby handled reception and dining.

The second floor was provisionally designated for guest rooms, with the number adjusted according to demand.

The third floor housed the cast and crew.

As a female guest, Yang Ruoxi got second pick of the rooms. Naturally, Emperor Lu, who brought his own traffic, came first. The entertainment industry was simply that pragmatic.

Having dropped her manic persona, she looked somewhat shy and reserved. After hesitating for a long while, she finally pointed to the room right beside Lu Yanting's. "This one."

Everyone silently understood Yang Ruoxi's intentions. They curled their lips but raised no objections.

When Jian Ran's turn came, he lazily lifted his chin and looked toward the dimly lit corner at the end of the hallway. "The last one."

Du Yunmeng immediately breathed a sigh of relief, even patting her chest in lingering fear.

Once the room assignments were finalized, the assistant director glanced at his watch. "It's five thirty in the afternoon. Take half an hour to unpack, then come downstairs to prepare dinner."

"Okay."

"Got it."

Everyone answered and was about to head into their rooms when a flat voice suddenly rang out. "I'd like to change rooms."

The assistant director immediately leaned over with a fawning smile. "Emperor Lu, which room would you like? How about I vacate mine for you?"

Lu Yanting leaned against the hallway's old wall, half his features shrouded in shadow, his jaw still sharp as a blade. His pitch-black eyes drifted toward someone. "No need."

"I want to stay next door to Jian Ran."