No one knew that a three-time best actor winner had begun questioning his life.
After cycling back to the villa complex where he lived, Xie Zhuzhou made a shocking discovery!
Only a river separated his home from the dating show's filming location.
Damn it, that driver had taken a detour yesterday!
The more Xie Zhuzhou thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
It was his first time getting scammed.
Worse, he hadn't remembered a thing. He'd forgotten the license plate number and couldn't file a complaint, so he could only swallow the loss in silence.
Once home, Xie Zhuzhou picked up a toolbox in the living room. It held a collection of exquisite carving knives.
There were also gloves inside to protect his hands.
Since I'm already home, why not sleep here tonight? I can go back tomorrow.
He put down the box, opened his phone, and called Director Wang to ask for leave.
Director Wang: ...
After hearing that Xie Zhuzhou lived in the complex across the river, which was ten times more upscale than this one,
Director Wang silently wiped his forehead.
So he'd unwittingly recruited a rich second-generation heir!
And no ordinary rich second-generation heir, either.
Although he didn't know Xie Zhuzhou's background, Director Wang finally understood why Xie Zhuzhou had been so cautious that he'd even used the director's name and phone number for deliveries...
You wealthy families really are particular.
That evening, sitting at his computer, Xie Zhuzhou remembered that the original owner of his body had died in a chair.
A sudden chill ran down his back.
"..."
In the end, Xie Zhuzhou flung himself onto the bed in terror and trembled under the covers, not daring to poke his head out. Clutching his phone, he fell asleep sometime after his head touched the pillow.
When he woke the next day, Xie Zhuzhou had dreamed again. This time, it had been an even more terrifying nightmare than the last: the original owner had urged him to hurry back and see his father.
That's some serious lingering resentment!
Xie Zhuzhou thought for a long time, rummaging through his memories before finally recalling an address.
It was the address of the main family's ancestral residence.
His biological father had never said he couldn't come looking for him.
And according to the housekeeper, the original owner also had a grandfather. His biological father's surname was Ji, and he had three sons with his ex-wife.
In other words, the original owner had three older brothers. Whether he had any younger siblings was unknown.
Forget fighting over the inheritance... what if I just go see him once, say goodbye, and come back?
Wouldn't saying goodbye be strange? Would a look from a distance count?
As the saying went, what occupied the mind by day became dreams at night.
Didn't Xie Zhuzhou also regret not seeing his father one last time before he died? His father had probably still been attending morning court when he passed away, hadn't he?
The man had merely... not come to see him, just like always.
Xie Zhuzhou sighed.
After washing up, he went downstairs, took a carton of milk from the fridge, and held a slice of toast between his teeth as he considered when to go looking for him.
He hadn't even dared seek out his own father in his previous life.
Would he dare seek out someone else's father in this one?
"Ding-"
His phone chimed with a message.
He lowered his eyes for a look and found it was from An Xinian. Why would he send me the location of an event? Must be a mass message.
An Xinian, University A's campus heartthrob, was a third-year senior, president of the fencing club, and one of the people the original owner had liked.
The original owner had dropped flirtatious hints many times, bordering on relentless pursuit, but An Xinian had continued pretending not to understand.
Hmm...
In that case, it should be fine if I don't reply.
Anyone the original owner hadn't instructed him to pay attention to wasn't important.
Xie Zhuzhou had no idea that An Xinian had just let out a tremendous sneeze in his dorm.
An Xinian had seen plenty of handsome, fickle men. Several of his own buddies were the type who looked devoted but secretly had multiple girlfriends.
So he had planned to keep this Xie Zhuzhou dangling and mess with his head a little.
But he'd never expected the guy to go on a dating show behind his back.
Still undecided, Xie Zhuzhou returned to the dating-show villa. His bicycle didn't take up much space, so he left it beneath the window by the control room door. It was so conspicuous that the director would surely watch it for him, right?
Director Wang: ...
Those little schemes of his.
Xie Zhuzhou sensed something strange in Director Wang's gaze, as though it held an extra measure of respect, though it wasn't very obvious.
Well, I did tell Director Wang yesterday that I live across the river.
He'd had a little scheme of his own, too, hinting that the director shouldn't offend him.
He hadn't expected the director to catch on so well.
Xie Zhuzhou was very pleased.
Having already eaten that morning, Xie Zhuzhou took his carving knives and prepared to return to his room.
Along the way, he passed Xuelai, who was rushing off to rehearse for a performance, and Zhuang Xingye, whose hair was a mess and who looked half-asleep. Zhang Yin and Wang Zhengxiao stood in the all-important kitchen.
Yu Wei was still in her room.
Wen Nan rolled his eyes at him.
Xie Zhuzhou: ...?
Although he was surprised that Wen Nan had rolled his eyes at him, Xie Zhuzhou wasn't someone who was curious about the plot.
So he simply chalked it up to Wen Nan having a bad temper.
What he didn't know, however, was that most people on the show had begun to think no one was more cocky or harder to cross than Xie Zhuzhou.
After all, Xie Zhuzhou dared openly stay out overnight.
Openly slack off.
Openly pass through everyone's world without greeting a single person.
Those with a little more backbone would call Xie Zhuzhou rude.
The softies just felt that Xie Zhuzhou was already so cocky he didn't even respect the director.
Not only had he snatched the director's boxed meal with its extra chicken drumstick yesterday, he'd also taken the director's Leibi soda, then even made the director collect a delivery for him!
The staff all felt they couldn't afford to cross Xie Zhuzhou anymore. He was practically an ancestor they had to serve!
If even the director feared him, they dared offend him even less.
Unaware that everyone's perceptions were growing increasingly absurd, Xie Zhuzhou was sitting out on his room's balcony, enthusiastically carving a wooden stick with a carving knife.
He had already named this creation.
Formal name: Sea-Calming Divine Needle Branch Needle.
Nickname: Golden-Hooped Rod Branch Rod.
With a photo of the Golden-Hooped Rod displayed on his phone, he lowered his head and carved with focused eyes. He was immensely grateful that he still had the original owner's memories in his head; otherwise, he would certainly have panicked and felt at a loss, and might even have wanted to drop out of school.
Carving really is a troublesome business. My eyes are about to go crossed.
He stopped to gaze into the distance.
Suddenly, he spotted Zhuang Xingye downstairs.
But he pretended not to see him, casually withdrawing his gaze and lowering his head to resume his work.
The dating show streamed live every day.
The livestreams didn't contain much scripted content. Love 5 preferred to capture couples who developed feelings over time through spending their days together.
It was Sunday, and there were no group activities today.
Wen Ruohuai set off with a camera, beginning a day in the life of a celebrity.
The viewers found it easy to immerse themselves, too. Wen Ruohuai first had breakfast that morning, then went to check in at the company. He wasn't taking the grueling trainee route. After all, he had money: the Wen Family had simply bought him a record company.
After returning to the Wen Family, Wen Ruohuai had everything he could want. The shares, companies, and cars that had originally belonged to Wen Nan had all been transferred into his name.
Wen Nan wasn't angry about having things that weren't his taken back. What hurt him most was still the attitude of his adoptive parents and older brothers toward him.
Anyone would suffer after falling from the heights into the mud overnight.
Besides, his family hadn't talked it through with him properly, but had forcibly pressured him into signing over his shares. If they'd just spoken to him a little more kindly, he could have accepted it.