When he had first returned home a few days earlier, his eldest brother had given him a watch worth tens of millions, his second brother a helicopter, and his third brother a prime retail unit in a large shopping mall.
His father had given him a spacious single-floor apartment.
He had handed all of these over to Xiao Nan to manage. The apartment was rented out, the helicopter was rented out, the shop was rented out... as for the watch, he could only wear it.
Xie Zhuzhou dozed in the car for a while, his seated sleeping posture loose and languid. The phone cradled in his arms suddenly chimed. Chu Yanzhang had replied, saying he was listening to an audio drama.
Completely forgetting that Ji Wangchen was beside him, he cleared his throat and asked in a perfectly normal manner what drama it was and what it was about. He needed to keep up with the times.
Beside him, Ji Wangchen slowly opened his tightly shut eyes. A ripple actually stirred in those eyes, which were usually as still as deep water. "Are you dating someone?"
"No."
"Who's on the other end?"
"A new friend. Eldest Brother, stop prying into my business." Xie Zhuzhou did not realize he was getting a little spoiled by all the indulgence. Without noticing, he had learned to push his luck and make demands of his eldest brother. Besides, he wanted a friend of his own. It was a wish he had never fulfilled in his previous life. Though it was not particularly urgent, he still hoped he would not be too lonely in his free time.
But if Chu Yanzhang was not a good person, he would promptly sort out those ties once he found out. He was a cold person with clear goals.
"All right."
Xie Zhuzhou nodded, then remembered what had happened earlier. "Eldest Brother, you can't blame me for tonight."
"I don't blame you. You did very well."
Quite a few people had been present while Xie Zhuzhou painted. It was not just Elder An and Elder Ling; the younger members of the Sheng Family had also stood nearby, watching with great interest. The Sheng Family had a strict family culture. None of them had stepped forward to boss Xie Zhuzhou around like the overbearing Elder An, and each had their own calculations.
After today, however, Xie Zhuzhou's reputation was bound to undergo some changes.
Sure enough, the next day, everyone in their circle was saying that Xie Zhuzhou had abused and bullied an elderly man again.
The news had come from the An Family, taking things out of context and indirectly lending solid support to the earlier rumors.
"Do you want me to deal with it?" Ji Wangchen asked Xie Zhuzhou at the breakfast table the next morning.
Xie Zhuzhou shook his head. He would dare to do it again anyway. If the sky fell, his mouth would hold it up.
Ji Wangyun had also heard about what had happened yesterday. He had been at the banquet too, but had gone off to play pool with a few friends. As for the third brother, Ji Wangyan, a major out-of-town project he was overseeing had run into a problem yesterday, so he had not returned to attend. Only his gift had arrived.
Ji Wangyun said, "Little Brother, well done. That old man An does nothing but throw his age around. It's not every day he meets a vibrant young talent like you. He's just jealous!"
Xie Zhuzhou lifted his eyelids slightly and quietly agreed. "You're right, Second Brother."
Ji Wangyun sobbed inwardly, thinking that only at times like this would his little brother stop attacking him like a hedgehog and unite with him against outsiders instead.
"I heard no one in the An Family got any sleep last night. Master Elder An called out the entire household to lecture them, teaching his children that they had to be decent people. Hahaha..." Ji Wangyun could not help laughing. Their maternal grandfather had received the painting yesterday. He would surely spend days and nights studying it. How would he have any time for that old man An?
Besides, Master Elder An had failed to act his age. He was seventy, yet the older he got, the more childish he became. He had none of the bearing of the head of a great family!
Meanwhile, Qin Fang had finally managed to get leave to stay on the dating show. After secretly plotting to catch someone last time, afterward... what came afterward? He did not know what he was going to do, but he certainly would not let Xie Zhuzhou have an easy time!
He waited and waited at the production site.
Zhang Yin was also surprised to run into someone he knew there. "What are you doing here? It's not like you're looking for a partner. You're planted by the entrance like a wife waiting for her husband to return. Could it be..."
"No!" Qin Fang firmly denied it. He and Xie Zhuzhou were just good buddies.
Zhang Yin had recently uncovered some clues, and Xie Zhuzhou's background and identity were on the verge of coming to light.
What surprised him even more was how Xie Zhuzhou had once been able to lead people around by the nose. Getting involved with An Xinian at school had not been enough; there was also Qin Fang in the esports scene. He was very curious about why the current Xie Zhuzhou was no longer like his former self. Why had he stopped pretending?
"He goes to school during the day and only drops by once after classes in the afternoon. You're wasting your time waiting any longer. The director looks out for him, so his schedule is much freer than ours."
Mr. Zhang was fiercely envious. If he had not needed to keep promoting a hit drama currently airing, he would not have appeared on the show either.
Actors with good acting skills, even best actor award winners, still had to generate their own buzz. Otherwise, how could they compete with the marketing of traffic stars?
Zhang Yin sighed over how difficult it was to work in the entertainment industry without relying on his family.
"Why don't you ask the director to organize some group activities? Then you'll get to see him. Didn't you have something you wanted to tell him?"
Judging by his behavior, Zhang Yin thought he seemed unaware of Xie Zhuzhou's true identity.
"Would that really work?"
"Of course."
Xie Zhuzhou only had classes in the afternoon that day, so he went treasure hunting on Antique Street in the morning. Lately, he had divided his time into many portions and read a great many specialized books. Combined with what he had learned in his previous life, his knowledge had expanded, and he could no longer sit still. He wanted to put it into practice.
Xiao Nan followed diligently behind him, juggling multiple roles as the young master's nanny, driver, and bodyguard. Of course, being his bodyguard was the most important. The young master now had a few more enemies, and there were probably more than ten people who wanted to throw a sack over Xie Zhuzhou's head and beat him up.
Porcelain, calligraphy, snuff bottles, copper coins...
Xie Zhuzhou kept to his budget, buying things their owners claimed were family heirlooms. Everyone knew what was going on. Those willing to sell sold; there was nothing to be done about those who refused.
Once he had finished choosing, Xie Zhuzhou had Xiao Nan take everything to the car so he could study it after returning home that evening. Then he set off for the production site to check in and show his face.
Recently, he had gone from a random passerby to the guy carrying the camera. Though he disliked trouble, he liked new things.
After all, he was still an ancient at heart.
The dating show had been running for almost a month, and he had been living here for a month as well. He was no longer a beginner at life. He had gradually gotten used to taking care of himself, learned to find his own food, and even learned to take care of others!
He had also learned to get along with some people. Although they all left in a huff after being infuriated by him, he found it very interesting.