Fu Jingzhou looked as though he had heard something utterly absurd. He froze for a full half minute before asking, "What do you need the money for?"
Jiang Nan scratched his head.
For some reason, he felt too embarrassed to tell Fu Jingzhou that he had run out of spending money.
So he pressed his lips together and said hesitantly, "I want to buy something."
Fu Jingzhou picked up the warm water beside him and took a sip, leaving a clear sheen of moisture on his slightly pale lips.
He said, "My phone is in the bedroom. I'll transfer it to you in a bit."
Jiang Nan immediately perked up.
His eyes shone like a kitten that had sneaked a bite of fish.
Fu Jingzhou averted his gaze.
Then his eyes fell on the tie box.
He recognized the brand. A single tie cost at least six figures.
So Jiang Nan could afford a tie worth over a hundred thousand, but not a gift worth a thousand?
He couldn't tell whether Jiang Nan had deliberately come to curry favor or was genuinely stupid.
After returning to his bedroom on the second floor, Jiang Nan was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. He washed up, changed into his little cow pajamas, and sprawled under the covers, sleeping like the dead.
When he opened his eyes the next day, the bedroom was bright, dazzling sunlight spilling through the gap in the curtains.
Jiang Nan picked up his phone and checked the time. It was already noon.
Jiang Nan opened WeChat and took a look. There were two unread messages.
Fu Jingzhou had transferred him a thousand yuan.
Jiang Nan tapped his profile picture first. After accepting the money, he sent a cute cat sticker to express his thanks.
Only then did he open Zhu Xia's WeChat message.
GG Bond: [Acting class on the company's third floor at two this afternoon. Don't forget.]
Jiang Nan replied: [Got it.]
At one thirty that afternoon.
Jiang Nan took a taxi to the company entrance.
The moment he saw the company, he wondered whether he had come to the wrong place.
He pulled off his sunglasses and examined the address plaque.
"This is the right place." Jiang Nan stepped farther away and looked again.
Before him stood an old residential building, with a sign bearing the crooked words: Transcendent Media.
771 said: [This is the address.]
Jiang Nan folded his arms and pondered for a second. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. [Could this be some shabby little company without any proper credentials?]
771: [Why are you so happy?]
Jiang Nan said: [If this company really is a pimping operation, then there's a very good chance that the two hundred thousand I owe came from the company luring me into massive debt.]
771 found this incomprehensible. [You bought a hundred-and-fifty-thousand-yuan tie without a second thought. How does two hundred thousand count as massive debt?]
[What do you know?] Jiang Nan was deeply dissatisfied with that remark. [Before I died, I graduated from a prestigious university. At school, I was student council president, I was the campus heartthrob, I ranked first in my department, I won the National Endeavor Scholarship... Then I joined a law firm and worked my ass off for five thousand a month, with over a thousand going toward rent.]
Jiang Nan spoke teasingly, yet somehow, 771 heard a trace of sadness.
[Still, your little boat has already passed ten thousand mountains. You're a third-generation rich kid now,] 771 consoled him.
Jiang Nan was about to say something when an unfamiliar voice suddenly came from behind him, pleasant and melodious, like a woodland stream striking blue stone.
"Jiang Nan?"
Jiang Nan froze and turned around, only to see a young man who looked about his age.
The young man wore a white tai chi uniform. He had a slender build, fluffy black hair falling over his forehead, and snow-white skin. His features were as delicate and refined as a misty landscape.
When Jiang Nan said nothing, the young man asked with a smile, "Don't you recognize me?"
Jiang Nan gave an awkward chuckle. "I've been out of the industry for almost a year. My brain doesn't work too well."
The young man didn't doubt his words at all. He merely said with complete sincerity, "Your brain really isn't very sharp."
Jiang Nan: "..." What kind of thing was that to say?
The young man smiled at him, his eyes curving into crescents. "Hello, I'm Song Zhusheng."
Jiang Nan paused.
Song Zhusheng...
That name really did sound a little familiar.
In the middle of the original novel, After the True Young Master Returned, the Whole Family Doted on Him, there was a major plot arc involving a certain award-winning actor. On the surface, he was an upright, refined gentleman devoted to his profession, but in reality, he was a lecherous scumbag who exploited others through casting-couch deals.
On one occasion, he set his sights on the original novel's protagonist shou.
That was just after the protagonist had been acknowledged by the Jiang Family. The Jiang Family hadn't yet had time to announce it publicly, so at the time, Shen Anbai was merely a child raised in an orphanage.
He had neither power nor influence, only a teacher who was an internationally renowned director.
On set, someone drugged Shen Anbai's food. He returned to his hotel room in a daze and fell into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night, someone swiped a key card to open the door with a beep.
Shen Anbai woke from the cold.
It was the depths of winter, and filming was taking place in a remote town. The hotel was in poor condition, with no heating, and the air conditioner in his room barely worked. His thick quilt had been pulled away, and tiny goosebumps rose on his exposed arms from the cold.
He opened his eyes blearily, only to find a man pinning him down.
The original novel was a group-pampering story, and Shen Anbai had a protagonist halo, so just as his clothes were stripped off, the protagonist gong, Fu Jinchuan, burst in.
The original novel devoted ten whole chapters to this plot.
The author wrote about Fu Jinchuan's fury and how he beat someone up for love. About the Jiang Family's outrage, and Jiang Qingye having his company's official Weibo account acknowledge Shen Anbai as the Jiang Family's true young master. About the uproar online, the jubilation among Shen Anbai's fans, and how Shen Anbai became the epitome of beautiful, strong, and tragic.
Finally, particular emphasis was given to a sweet stretch of time the protagonist gong and shou spent together.
After that sweetness, Fu Jinchuan used his connections to gather evidence of the actor's past casting-couch abuses and released it online.
One of those involved was a minor celebrity named Song Zhusheng.
Like Jiang Nan, he had debuted in a boy band and excelled at dancing. Without a powerful family background to support him, he struggled at every turn in the entertainment industry. He started with bit parts playing corpses and finally gained a little popularity through a fifth male lead role.
While his career was on the rise, Fu Jinchuan made public the time he had been sexually assaulted by the actor.
Netizens sympathized with him, but they also viewed him through a lens of prejudice.
He was an Omega and had just landed an advertisement for a gland-patch company. Citing damage to his reputation, the advertiser terminated the contract.
The second male lead role he had been in talks for also went to someone else.
At that point, Song Zhusheng sank into a low where both his reputation and career were ruined.
Shen Anbai tagged him on Weibo, saying that a rainbow came after the storm.
Song Zhusheng seemed to have taken a blow and replied directly from his main account: [These are my private affairs. They have nothing to do with you.]
His statement brought the entire affair to a climax.
For a time, the netizens who had sympathized with him changed their tune, accusing Song Zhusheng of biting the hand that fed him and failing to appreciate kindness.
Later, much later.
Song Zhusheng jumped into the sea.
He left a brief final message.
-The sea is more forgiving than the human world. In my next life, I'd rather be a fish.