Fu Jingzhou came out of the shower in a bathrobe, his black hair soaking wet and dripping.
Unconcerned, he took a towel and dried the ends.
The white bathrobe was tied loosely around his waist, outlining his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his long calves extending beneath its hem.
His wheelchair stood in a corner of the bedroom. In slippers, he slowly walked over to the bedside table.
Though his steps were slow, they were firm, and his body remained steady.
He looked nothing like someone with disabled legs.
His phone was vibrating. He picked it up and glanced at it.
In the group chat with his childhood friends, Shangguan Feng was frantically sending messages.
[Guys, our Zhouzhou is one lucky man.]
[I told you that kid had a crush on you.]
[You two are really nailing this marriage-before-love thing.]
A drop of water slid down his forehead. Just before it reached his eye, Fu Jingzhou blinked.
He scrolled up.
Shangguan Feng had sent a screenshot.
[Shit Hits the Fan, Time to Stir]: So what? Having him in my heart is the same as having him by my side.
At those words, Fu Jingzhou froze for a second.
He typed: [Who is this?]
Shangguan Feng: [Who else? Your wife.]
Shen Xingli sent a flurry of messages: [Fuck, fuck, fuck, I just went off to film something! What did I miss???]
Shen Xingli: [Wasn't yours an arranged marriage between families?]
Qin Feng popped up: [This is obviously a longtime crush.]
Fu Jingzhou pressed his lips together and replied: [Sweet talk is what he's best at. You can't trust it.]
Shangguan Feng: [Fine.]
Jiang Nan played five rounds with Shangguan Feng and won them all.
Winning games really did lift the spirits. When they finished, Jiang Nan posted in the team chat: [Bro, let's play again sometime.]
Shangguan Feng: [OK.]
Then Jiang Nan happily went off to scroll through Douyin, completely unaware that his new bro had already sold him out completely.
After enjoying Jiang Nan's favor all night, his Consort Douyin now knew what he liked to watch.
Short videos played one after another.
At first, 771 kept up its aloof act, but eventually it flopped down beside his pillow to watch videos with him.
The human and the ball laughed at the same time.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
Jiang Nan glanced at the caller. The saved name read: Damn Eunuch.
"Who's this?"
771 said, "Why don't you answer and find out?"
Enlightened, Jiang Nan said, "That makes so much sense."
He swiped the screen and answered. "Hello?"
A shrill female voice came through the phone. "A stand-up comedy show has invited you on. Come out tomorrow to look over the contract."
Before Jiang Nan could speak, she sneered, "I have no idea what kind of dumb luck you stumbled into, actually making the trending searches."
The more Jiang Nan listened, the more something seemed off. "What am I trending for?"
Damn Eunuch paused, then asked suspiciously, "You haven't seen it?"
"No." As he spoke, Jiang Nan quickly opened Weibo. When he tapped on the trending list, his vision suddenly went dark.
Trending #1: When is Shen Xingli coming back from the remote wilderness?
Trending #2: What species is Jiang Nan, exactly?
Trending #3: National Day holiday makeup workdays
Trending #4: Feeling sorry for Luo Hang
With a trembling finger, he tapped the second trending search.
The first thing he saw was the content-farm video he had watched before.
During the two days he had spent eating, drinking, and having fun, the video had somehow lucked its way into a traffic gold mine, rocketing from ten thousand likes to three million.
It had over ten million views.
The comments were just as varied.
[Is he actually mentally sound?]
[Well... how is he not?]
[Luo Hang waking up in the middle of the night: seriously, is this guy okay?]
[A world where only Luo Hang gets hurt has been achieved hahahahaha.]
[This is scarier than not being able to shit.]
[We've found this year's greasiest male celebrity.]
[Chinese entertainment might suck at everything else, but when it comes to sleaziness, it's definitely number one in the world.]
[Thirteenth Road Psychiatric Hospital? You there? One of your patients has escaped.]
[I've sinned. I actually badmouthed Luo Hang. He managed to stay calm even while dealing with a sick freak like Jiang Nan. I was wrong.]
"You're the sick freak." A freakish smile curled Jiang Nan's lips as he spoke in a sinister voice.
"Jiang Nan, I dare you to say that again!"
The shrill voice blasted through the phone, carrying the woman's unrestrained fury.
Jiang Nan said, "I wasn't even talking about you, but you just had to make it about yourself."
Zhu Xia sucked in a breath. "Jiang Nan, did being shelved by the company for six months rot your brain???"
Utterly fearless, Jiang Nan said, "My brain was rotten to begin with."
Zhu Xia: "..."
After a long silence, she said, "Add me on WeChat. I'll send you tomorrow's address in a bit."
With that, she hung up.
Jiang Nan's Fruit 15 Pro Max beeped.
He stared at his phone for a few seconds, then picked it up and went back to reading the Weibo comments.
771 asked, "Aren't you going to add her on WeChat?"
Jiang Nan said, "I have only one dream, and that's to never work."
771 sneered. "Dream on. Once the protagonist shou returns to the Jiang Family, your marriage to Fu Jingzhou will be over too. Who's going to support you then?"
Jiang Nan's finger abruptly stopped.
771's voice was flat. "You only have two options now. One, find a salon and become a hairdresser. Two, take this job and keep striving in the entertainment industry."
Without hesitation, Jiang Nan added Zhu Xia on WeChat.
He searched her phone number, and the result appeared under Zhu Xia's real name.
Jiang Nan clicked his tongue. "Her name is so cute."
771 wore an expression that said, "Are you crazy?" "What's cute about it?"
"What do you know?" Jiang Nan casually changed Zhu Xia's contact name.
771 flopped down beside his phone for a look, and its entire spherical body froze.
The contact name was just two simple words: GG Bond.
"Isn't it cute?" Jiang Nan asked again.
771 said, "...Too cute."
When Jiang Nan got up the next day, it was already nine in the morning.
He changed, washed up, and went downstairs.
His appointment with GG Bond was at eleven.
He could still make it if he hurried.
In the living room, Fu Jingzhou sat on the sofa, his wheelchair beside it.
He wore a light gray suit, and his hair had been styled. Light streaming through the diamond-shaped window fell right across his profile, making his jade-like face look even more hazily handsome.
It was still the weekend.
Fu Jingzhou indeed wasn't working.
"Good morning, Zhouzhou."
Jiang Nan greeted him with a beaming smile.
Fu Jingzhou nodded. "Morning."
Jiang Nan dug a pouch of yogurt out of the fridge and held it between his teeth.
Looking at his phone, he went to the entryway to change his shoes.
Fu Jingzhou raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
Jiang Nan said mournfully, "To discuss a job."
Fu Jingzhou seemed a little surprised. "You actually have a job?"
Jiang Nan's face went taut. "I'm going to get mad."
Fu Jingzhou turned a page of his book. "Get a few more while you're at it."
Jiang Nan: "..."
What could he say?
That wife he'd acquired without lifting a finger was as reliably sharp-tongued as ever today.