Fu Jingzhou's message was brief, just two short lines.
Jiang Nan gave it a quick glance. The gist was that Fu Jingzhou was going abroad on business and would be back in half a month.
After reading that, Jiang Nan visibly relaxed.
He happened to have no idea how to face Fu Jingzhou right now.
They were bros. A kiss on the cheek was one thing, but a kiss on the lips was going a bit too far.
After replying to Fu Jingzhou with a nodding bear sticker, he opened his WeChat conversation with Zhu Xia.
GG Bond: [Good news. The production team for "Boundless Dreamscape" invited you to appear as a guest for one episode. Recording is next Thursday. I accepted for you.]
GG Bond: [Remember to tidy up your Weibo a bit and help the production team promote the show.]
GG Bond: ["Boundless Dreamscape" is more reliable than "I'll Give You Your Happiness." It's an immersive puzzle-solving and detective show.]
GG Bond: [Are you there?]
GG Bond: [Video call]
GG Bond: [Voice call]
The remaining twenty-odd messages were all calls Jiang Nan had failed to answer.
Zhu Xia had kept calling until three in the morning. Jiang Nan had probably driven her half mad.
Jiang Nan coughed guiltily, cleared his throat, and called Zhu Xia back.
Honor of Kings had released two new skins. Unable to resist, Jiang Nan had splurged on them a few days ago. Now he had just over five hundred left in his WeChat balance. Money was tight, and it was time to earn some.
Otherwise, he would have to keep living off someone else.
The phone rang three times before Zhu Xia answered.
She opened with a cold laugh. "Heh."
"Finished, Mr. Busy?" she asked ominously.
Jiang Nan coughed, making his voice sound weak on purpose. "Sorry, Sister Xia. I got sick yesterday and spent the night in the hospital. My phone ran out of battery and shut itself off."
Zhu Xia fell silent for a few seconds. "Got it."
The moment she said that, Jiang Nan knew she was no longer angry.
Zhu Xia gave him a few more reminders, then hung up.
Jiang Nan had just put down his phone when someone pushed the door open and came in.
It was Shangguan Feng.
Shangguan Feng wore a white lab coat with the cuffs buttoned tightly and his clothes tucked in underneath. A strong smell of disinfectant wafted in with him.
He carefully checked Jiang Nan's complexion and only relaxed when he saw the healthy color in his face.
Jiang Nan stared blankly at him. "Is this your hospital?"
Shangguan Feng nodded. He was holding two boxes of gland patches, which he casually set on the bedside table. "Your pheromones haven't settled down yet. Use these medical patches for now. A week or two should do it."
"Oh." Jiang Nan glanced at the gland patches. He had no idea why his pheromones were always unstable and couldn't help asking, "So is there something wrong with my pheromones?"
Shangguan Feng coughed, rattling off a lie. "You're still going through puberty. Your glands are still developing, so it's normal for your pheromones to be unstable."
Jiang Nan was delighted by the word "puberty."
He was a little fairy boy who would forever be eighteen!!
After leaving the room, Shangguan Feng stood in the hallway and sent a message to someone far away overseas.
-[He's full of energy and looks especially happy.]
Overseas.
The phone on the desk chimed once, a sound that was hardly conspicuous in the quiet conference room.
Yet everyone stopped moving.
Fu Jingzhou reached out and checked his phone.
Two seconds later, he casually tossed it back onto the desk.
His lips curled coldly. "Continue."
The person giving the report shuddered involuntarily.
Everyone else could plainly sense that their CEO was in a bad mood. They all feared for themselves, terrified of being the unlucky one.
Only after Shangguan Feng left did Jiang Nan open his phone and log into the original owner's Weibo account, which Zhu Xia had sent him.
The moment he logged in, countless notifications bombarded his inbox.
He opened his private messages, took one look, and backed out without a change in expression.
771 clutched his little heart. [So many people are cursing you out...]
Jiang Nan gave him an expressionless look, then pushed the little black ball onto the floor. "What are you gloating about?"
Fuming, 771 folded his arms and sat with his back to Jiang Nan, attempting to ostracize the little dumbass with his silent back.
Jiang Nan couldn't be bothered with him and went through the original owner's Weibo more carefully.
The original owner had seven hundred thousand followers. Three hundred thousand were zombie followers Zhu Xia had bought for him. Of the remaining four hundred thousand, three hundred and fifty thousand had to be anti-fans.
Of the fifty thousand left, well over half shipped him with Luo Hang.
The original owner's latest Weibo post had been made on the day Jiang Nan transmigrated here-the day of the marriage alliance between the Jiang Family and the Fu Family.
Jiang Nan: [People always grow under pressure. Perhaps we were destined to meet, but not to be together.]
That ambiguous statement had sparked heated discussion and even made it onto the bottom of Weibo's entertainment trending list.
That day, Luo Hang and Shen Anbai had appeared on the same show. Following their previous dance, the two had collaborated on another.
Their shippers had all been thrilled, rushing to spread the news as though they wanted the heavens to celebrate with them.
Luo Hang and Shen Anbai's ship name was Luoyang Chang'an, taking one sound from each of their names.
The Luoyang Chang'an Super Topic had shot straight to the top of the Super Topic rankings.
Netizens had taken Jiang Nan's ambiguous statement as a veiled jab at Luo Hang and Shen Anbai, so they had swarmed the comments under his post.
There were all kinds of nasty remarks.
[Don't make me slap you on such a wonderful day, got it? (death smile)]
[Luo Hang and Shen Anbai are a perfect match, an absolute match, a match made in heaven!]
[Sorry, but our Baibai just dances better and sings better than you. (giggles behind hand)]
[No way? No way? Don't tell me you actually fell for Luo Hang?]
[Is he a celebrity? An actor or an idol? I've never seen him before.]
[Help, help! I'm embarrassed for you. Can you stop acting like a bitter wife? Having been your fan is the shame of my life.]
[Help, does Jiang Nan actually have fans?]
At this point, Jiang Nan decided to spare himself. He changed his Weibo username, then sensibly logged out.
Gaming was more fun anyway.
Jiang Nan stayed another day in the comfortable, luxurious hospital room before being discharged. When he came out, Uncle He and their driver, Old Yang, stood at the hospital entrance with tears in their eyes.
Jiang Nan stopped involuntarily, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had some serious illness.
"Young Madam, I missed you so much."
The words rose and fell so dramatically that he sounded ready to break into song at any second.
Uncle He wore a waistcoat and suit trousers, his salt-and-pepper hair lying smoothly against his forehead.
He approached with quick little steps.
His face solemn, he asked earnestly, "Did you have surgery?"
Jiang Nan shook his head. "No."
Uncle He asked again, "Any broken bones?"
Jiang Nan shook his head again. "No."
Uncle He said, "Then you..."
Jiang Nan raised his left hand and showed him the needle mark, which had already closed up. His face was serious. "I had a shot."
Uncle He awkwardly rubbed his aging face. "Oh."
Before getting into the car, Jiang Nan turned to look at him and asked, "Uncle He, did you study bel canto before?"
Uncle He's aging face flushed. "No."
Jiang Nan patted his shoulder and sighed. "Your not studying it was a loss for the world of bel canto."
Uncle He took out his phone, and the familiar TiMi sound rang out. Holding back his delight, he said, "But you can join me in becoming a dazzling pearl rising over Honor of Kings Canyon."
Jiang Nan took out his phone too and nodded seriously. "Okay. Let's be good pearls together."
Old Yang, in the driver's seat: "..."
He couldn't help asking, "Do you have the heart to treat me this way?"
Without looking up, Jiang Nan said, "I gave my heart to Zhouzhou long ago."
Uncle He looked touched. "Young Madam loves Young Master so much."