The next day, while starting to deal with the issues related to the marketing account, Xu Yin, with his dog, accompanied Wen Congyan to move because Wen Congyan seemed to have a strong obsession with taking him back home.
Of course, this was just Wen Congyan’s residence, and meeting his parents wasn’t happening so soon. Xu Yin felt that this would have to be taken slowly.
Upon arrival, Xu Yin couldn’t help but marvel that rich people truly lived in large places.
Wen Congyan laughed and went to take a shower, while Xu Yin found a spot in the living room and started doing push-ups diligently.
Thinking about it, with the current situation online, continuing night runs and random tasks seemed quite impractical…
As he did his exercises and adjusted his breathing, Xu Yin mentally called 018.
Fortunately, this time, 018 appeared quickly and with a calm tone: “Hmm, here.”
Xu Yin chuckled: “Where did you go last night?”
“I went to eat,” 018 replied calmly, “By the way, the bug in the random task has been resolved.”
Xu Yin asked: “Bug?”
018 explained: “This bug has been present in some systems for nearly four months, and it wasn’t just me reporting it recently. The main system acknowledged it, but they were already planning rule modifications, so they decided to completely change the world task system.”
Xu Yin was surprised and checked his task panel, finding that besides push-ups and running, there were now squats with different point values – three points for push-ups, three points for squats, and four points for running, totaling ten points.
018 added: “Random tasks are still there, but you don’t have to do them every day. Also, the bug that only showed random tasks during running has been fixed.”
Xu Yin nodded, understanding the changes, which seemed quite good.
In the future, random tasks would now be a matter of fate.
However, it seemed like they handled the issue rather straightforwardly. Xu Yin wondered: “So, what were you fighting for before?”
“Compensation for Emotional distress!” 018 replied.
Xu Yin said: “Ah, I see.”
“Then, did you succeed?” he asked.
018 hesitated: “I didn’t get some compensation, but the head of the main system took me out to dinner yesterday.”
Xu Yin chuckled: “How was that dinner?”
“It was fine. The restaurant was quite fancy, with candles everywhere, and a violinist came to our table. It was strange,” 018 described.
Xu Yin asked, “Was the person who took you out for dinner a man or a woman?”
“He was a man, and he was quite handsome,” 018 replied with a hint of annoyance. “But, well, I let him off because of that dinner!”
Xu Yin: “…Oh.”
018: “Leaving that aside, there’s something else I haven’t told you…”
With that, 018’s tone subtly changed.
018: “Well, last night, Xiao A, the head of the main system, also helped me check my body.”
Xu Yin: “???”
How did they check it?
018: “And then he found… besides the bug caused by the main system, there’s another bug on my body that resulted in the loss of some data. I don’t know which data I’ve lost, but so far, it doesn’t seem to have affected our tasks.”
Xu Yin, surprised, asked: “What do we do about it?”
018: “This bug can only be slowly fixed through my self-updates, and based on this, we can deduce that it mainly affects some subsidiary parts and isn’t particularly severe in nature. But it’s still a bug, and updating it… requires your points.”
Xu Yin: “…How many points?”
018 hesitated and said: “To repair it once, it would need about 5,000 points. The number of times needed to complete the repair depends on how fixable the bug is.”
Xu Yin smiled: “Then let’s talk about it once I have over 5,000 points.”
018 felt embarrassed.
He knew that Xu Yin didn’t have over 5,000 points at the moment, and even if he did, he should save them for the future.
He couldn’t believe he had another bug in his body. His body was already in a damaged state. Sigh!
Xiao A said that this was caused by the long period without encountering a host for a full fifty years, meaning he remained inactive, and suddenly, when he became active, things went awry.
018 said awkwardly: “But I still need to remind you, although this bug doesn’t affect task progression and doesn’t seem very important right now, it’s still a bug and could potentially affect you…”
Xu Yin furrowed his brow: “But I don’t feel anything wrong?”
018: “Hmm…”
Before Xiao A checked his body, he hadn’t noticed any issues either.
Xu Yin pondered and said: “I understand this situation, but I need to earn the points first. It only makes sense to fix that bug when we can ensure we’ll continue to live on.”
“And If we can’t survive, everything will be in vain,” Xu Yin said.
018 nodded in agreement: “Yes, that’s the idea,” and then he withdrew somewhat timidly.
Xu Yin shook his head, finished his last push-up, and got up. After catching his breath and stretching, he turned around and saw Wen Congyan standing behind him, gazing at him with deep intensity.
Xu Yin’s breath was still a bit labored, and he smiled, saying, “What are you looking at?”
Wen Congyan averted his gaze, his ears slightly red, and opened his mouth to say something when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Visitors?
Xu Yin looked at Wen Congyan with a questioning look, and he furrowed his brows, saying, “I’ll go check.”
Xu Yin was just thinking about whether he should give some space to one of Wen Congyan’s colleagues, when he heard a familiar shout from the entrance.
Wen Yan yelled, “Wen Congyan, who do you think you are?!”
Wen Congyan frowned, leaned against the door and replied, “What are you talking about?”
Wen Yan grabbed his collar, but Wen Congyan expressionlessly removed his hand, making Wen Yan stumble.
Wen Yan blushed in embarrassment and shouted, “Who gave you the right to meddle in our family’s business? You’ve always acted like you have no connection to our family, but in the end, you’re doing things like this. You’ve actually been interested in Wenxing Entertainment for a long time, haven’t you?!”
Wen Congyan was taller than Wen Yan, and at this moment, he stood his ground, looking down at Wen Yan with a calm tone, “I wasn’t interested before, but I am now.”
Wen Yan jumped as if he had been stepped on, “Is it because of A-Yin?! You’ve set your eyes on A-Yin, haven’t you?!”
Wen Yan had been ordered to stay home by his father yesterday and not to interfere with Wenxing Entertainment anymore. There would be a new manager to handle the affairs, and the various processes would be phased out step by step.
Wen Yan was shocked because it felt like he had been removed from the company altogether. However, his father would never do something like this for no reason. He had been out of touch with Wenxing Entertainment for a long time, concentrating on the money-losing financial company. If he removed him from Wenxing Entertainment, would it still be part of the Wen Jia?
Wen Yan felt that something was amiss. He secretly listened to his father’s phone calls and checked the files in his study, only to discover that his father’s financial company seemed to be making a comeback, thanks to Wen Congyan’s efforts.
At that moment, Wen Yan understood what was happening!
His father had been trying to please both the old man and Wen Congyan’s family since his business failed, but neither side was interested in him. Finally, Wen Congyan’s attitude had changed, and Wenxing Entertainment was no longer under their control. What did this mean?
Wen Congyan had made a deal with his father! Wen Congyan’s goal was to get Wenxing Entertainment!
Wen Yan was furious! His father had a financial company, while he had only Wenxing Entertainment. Besides, he had no interest in finance, and he just wanted Wenxing Entertainment!
Yesterday, Xu Yin had trended on social media, and Wen Yan could have taken the opportunity to shine, but everything had been overshadowed by this guy!
Wen Yan pointed at Wen Congyan and said fiercely, “Don’t think that by sticking to A-Yin, sending a hypocritical statement like yesterday, you can actually win him over. A-Yin likes me! We just had an argument recently, but we’ll make up soon! A-Yin couldn’t possibly like someone like you, cold and heartless, all you care about is making money, and you always act like you’re above everyone else!”
Wen Congyan responded coldly, “Is that so?”
Wen Yan said, “Of course!!!”
“Really?”
Wen Yan stuttered, “You…you big-headed jerk, I’ve already said-“
Wen Yan’s voice abruptly stopped because this “Really” wasn’t uttered by Wen Congyan.
He looked in shock as Xu Yin slowly walked out of the room, stood beside Wen Congyan, and turned to the man, asking, “What did you do to Wenxing Entertainment?”
Wen Congyan remained silent for a moment and said, “Yinyin, you mentioned wanting to terminate your contract and continue your studies. Regardless of whether your thoughts have changed or when you truly want to terminate the contract, in the days ahead, you can go your own way according to your wishes.”
Xu Yin was left speechless.
Seeing his reaction, Wen Congyan continued, “Investing in the entertainment industry was already a part of the plan, and choosing Wenxing Entertainment was a comprehensive decision. Rest assured, I won’t invest blindly. If it’s just to help you terminate the contract…”
Wen Congyan glanced at Wen Yan and calmly said, “There are more direct ways.”
Xu Yin laughed.
Because Wenxing Entertainment was about to arrive, was that why he could get involved in managing the official Weibo account last night?
But even though Wen Congyan said that…
Xu Yin lowered his eyes and whispered, “You’re too good to me.”
“It’s nothing,” Wen Congyan said as he raised his hand and lightly touched his ear, speaking softly. “There will be even better things in the future, and they’ll all be worth it.”
Xu Yin looked up again, and the two of them gazed at each other.
After a moment of tenderness, Wen Congyan pointed at Wen Yan with a child-like expression, “But he said you couldn’t possibly like me.”
Xu Yin glanced at Wen Yan.
Wen Yan stared at Xu Yin, still in a petrified state, as if he hadn’t expected to see Xu Yin here.
Xu Yin said, “Oh, but I do like you.”
Wen Congyan reached out, wrapped his arm around Xu Yin’s waist, and looked at him.
Xu Yin repeated, as if he were consoling a child, “Yes, I like you, really like you.”
Wen Yan: “Ahhh!!!”
He held his head, took a step back, and stared at Xu Yin in disbelief.
Xu Yin spoke in a gentle tone, “Although it might be a little awkward at first, please treat me well in the future, Fourth Brother.”
After that, Xu Yin turned to Wen Congyan and asked for guidance, “The seniority is correct, right?”
Wen Congyan nodded, looking solemn, “That’s right.”
Xu Yin also nodded and smiled at Wen Yan, “Fourth Brother.”
Wen Yan: “Ahhh!!!”
Wen Yan sat against the wall, seemingly in shock as if his soul had left his body.
Wen Congyan asked, “Do you need your dad to come and pick you up?”
Wen Yan: “Ahhhh!!!”
Xu Yin suggested, “Or maybe contact your parents.”
Wen Congyan agreed, “Hmm.”
Seeing Wen Congyan seriously making a call to Wen Yan’s father, Xu Yin couldn’t help but let out a suppressed laugh, with a hand covering his mouth.
When Xu Yin’s gaze fell on the almost foaming-mouthed Wen Yan, he took a step forward and extended his hand.
Wen Yan was taken aback.
Wen Congyan, who was in the middle of a phone call, turned his attention.
Wen Yan, as if he had seen a turning point, grabbed Xu Yin’s hand and stood up, stammering, “A-Yin?”
Xu Yin withdrew his hand, smiling at Wen Yan, and said, “Your brother isn’t cold in personality. He’s cute, gentle, and considerate. To me, he’s the best man in the world. So…”
Xu Yin grinned and added, “In the future, please don’t let me hear you slander him, okay?”
…
A cold wind swept through the corridor, making Wen Yan shiver.
This farce ended when Wen Yan’s father arrived half an hour later.
Wen Yan’s father scolded him while shoving him into the car, saying, “Don’t ever go looking for trouble with Wen Congyan again. Do you know how hard it was for me to convince him to come? If you cause trouble with him, it’s trouble for me too. Next time, don’t come to me for money. Do you fvcking hear me!? Why are you trembling?”
Wen Yan: Ah, Dad, it’s like I just received a death threat.
On the other side, after the door closed, Xu Yin was pressed against the wall.
He took the opportunity to hook his arms around the man’s neck, and the man gazed deeply at him, murmuring softly, “Yinyin, you were so cute just now…”
Xu Yin raised his lips and, with the man drawing closer, rubbed their noses together. Suddenly, he asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me what happened between Wen Yan and me before?”
Wen Congyan paused and then replied, “No matter what happened between you and Wen Yan in the past, I don’t care. I only know that you like me now.”
Xu Yin smiled as he gazed at him.
Wen Congyan whispered, “So, from now on, you’re mine alone.”
Xu Yin smiled and leaned in to kiss the man.
Gentle and affectionate.
After a while of kissing…
The man, pressing his lips to Xu Yin’s, spoke in a hoarse voice, “Yinyin, can you gasp for me like you did just now?”
Xu Yin: “???”
Suddenly, this took a strange turn?
On the other side, inside a moving car, the atmosphere was heavy, and no one dared to speak.
Huo Shu leaned back in the back seat, his baseball cap covering most of his face.
Thinking about what happened last night, he felt agitated.
In the middle of the night, the marketing company they often worked with had angrily called him, accusing him of dragging them into a police investigation. Furthermore, they claimed that Wenxing Entertainment was taking things seriously this time. Huo Shu didn’t bother to listen to the specifics, as he was convinced that Wen Yan wouldn’t go to great lengths for such a matter. It was probably just a way to intimidate that marketing company.
Huo Shu sneered.
“Huo ge, will Taizi find out?” The assistant, unable to bear the tense atmosphere any longer, cautiously asked.
“So what if he does? My contract is about to expire. If he still wants to keep me, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me,” Huo Shu said indifferently, smirking.
As for Wen Congyan, he wasn’t afraid of him either. Wen Congyan might speak up because he was present and had some connection with Xu Yin, but that man would never get involved in the entertainment industry.
“What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go to the company,” Huo Shu removed his cap and said coldly.
Huo Shu had temporarily left his group for work today, and coincidentally, he heard that the director of that major production was going to visit Wenxing Entertainment today. He needed to seize this opportunity.
When he arrived at the company, he ran into his manager. The manager pulled him aside and whispered, “I was just about to call you. You had nothing to do with the online incident yesterday, right?”
Huo Shu hesitated for a moment, then sneered, “Why are you asking that?”
As he had told his assistant in the car, he wasn’t afraid of Wen Yan finding out. Of course, he couldn’t admit it so easily either.
The manager was about to speak when Huo Shu’s gaze fixed on someone not far away. The director, around sixty years old, was walking out with an unfamiliar man in a suit who seemed to be in his forties.
Huo Shu wanted to go over, but his manager stopped him. Shortly after, he heard the director ask with a smile, “Hey, that guy Xu Yin… he made quite a splash on trending yesterday. I think he has a good image. Is he not interested in the role of Hu Sheng?”
Huo Shu’s face changed.
The unfamiliar man in the suit smiled and said, “Director Lu, you are as consistent as ever in your choices.”
Director Lu rubbed his beard, “What?”
The man in the suit said, “Fearless and trendy! You haven’t even seen Xu Yin yet, and you’re already interested in him like this?”
“Of course, should old folks like me refrain from enjoying the excitement?” Director Lu was very experienced. “I find him interesting. If there’s a chance for us to collaborate, it might be quite fun. Of course, we’ll need to assess his acting skills. I’m not so reckless.”
The man in the suit smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll convey that to him. Director Lu, it seems like you’ve become quite the gossip enthusiast!”
Director Lu laughed heartily.
As they walked away, Huo Shu’s manager whispered to him, “I inquired about your situation earlier. Director Lu thinks your image doesn’t quite match the character of Hu Sheng. His message is pretty clear.”
Huo Shu froze.
Director Lu was known for his unconventional casting choices. Just like Huo Shu, if the image didn’t fit, no amount of popularity or acting skills would matter, and he wouldn’t be chosen. It was also the same for Xu Yin. Anyone interesting would catch Director Lu’s attention.
Xu Yin… it was Xu Yin again!
He had brought Xu Yin some heat, and he had even placed him right in front of Director Lu!
When has Huo Shu ever done something as foolish as throwing a stone at his own foot? He was so angry that he couldn’t even utter a word.
Once he had calmed down, Huo Shu clenched his fists and said in frustration, “Who is the guy next to Director Lu? I’ve never seen him before.”
“He’s a new leader, surnamed Li. He works in Wen Yan’s office. Wen Yan hasn’t been here since yesterday,” the manager explained. He didn’t know much about Wen’s internal affairs, and it wasn’t his concern. They needed to focus on their own work. However, he added, “Just now, Mr. Li mentioned your case, Huo Shu. I’ll ask you again, does that trending topic from last night have anything to do with you?”
Huo Shu replied defiantly, “So what if I did it?”
The manager sighed and shook his head while looking at him.
Huo Shu asked, “Is that Mr. Li trying to give me trouble because of this?”
The manager adjusted his glasses and spoke with a completely flat tone, “Well, that would work out just fine since your contract is about to expire. I could just not renew it.”
Huo Shu’s expression darkened, “What do you mean?”
The agent replied, “Based on the company’s current stance, they might not renew your contract either.”
Huo Shu couldn’t believe it and asked, “They don’t want to renew my contract? Just because of the Xu Yin incident?!”
In Huo Shu’s eyes, he was the one who had the upper hand, and he couldn’t fathom why a small company like Wenxing Entertainment had the audacity to consider dropping him.
“Huo Shu, you’re overestimating yourself. Do you really think that your past actions, which you didn’t listen to my advice on, have gone unnoticed by the company?” his manager replied calmly. “Wen Yan might have turned a blind eye to what you did, but Mr. Li is clearly different. The purpose behind Wen’s family sending him is also quite evident.”
Wenxing Entertainment might be a small company at the moment, but it was uncertain how things would change in the future. However, it was clear that the new Mr. Li was not going to accommodate Huo Shu.
Huo Shu’s face turned pale.
While he might only be a second-tier artist in the entertainment industry, he was the top dog at Wenxing Entertainment. He had always been treated with respect, and neither Wen Yan nor his manager could challenge him. When had he ever been treated this way?
Huo Shu was seething with anger, and he pointed at his manager with his fingers while the manager coldly observed him.
Huo Shu turned around and stormed out. He slammed the car door shut when he got in, which startled his assistant.
“What’s wrong, Huo ge?” his assistant asked in a hushed tone.
Huo Shu was still breathing heavily. He suddenly kicked the front seat with force, causing his assistant to lurch forward. The assistant dared not utter a word.
Huo Shu clenched his fist and, a few seconds later, let out a cold laugh.
What was so great about Wenxing Entertainment? Did they really think he, Huo Shu, had nowhere else to go? He had plenty of choices, and he would choose the best one. The next time they met, he would make sure to trample Wenxing Entertainment under his feet.
After that thought, Huo Shu picked up his phone and made a call.
The call was quickly answered. Suppressing his distaste, he cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Huang, I’m in City C today.”
He lowered his head and gently flicked a piece of lint on his knee lazily. “Do you have time tonight? Can we meet up?”
The old gentleman who had delivered the banner to Xu Yin was quite persistent about the matter. Three days after the incident, local police officers had come to deliver the banner to Xu Yin’s hands with the words “Noble Character and Valor” inscribed on it. It left Xu Yin both amused and touched.
A few days later, a well-known law firm issued a legal letter directly to the marketing company that had posted the long article on the day of the incident. The message was very clear. Following this, Wenxing Entertainment, Wen Congyan, and Xu Yin all retweeted the content. The whole internet buzzed with discussions. It seemed like they were really taking legal action, and they were swift in their response. Since that day, the marketing account in question hadn’t dared to post any more Weibo content and had become inactive.
In addition to this, since Xu Yin could easily earn ten points every day with the three exercises, he decided to get a gym membership. Regarding new job opportunities, Qin Yue had mentioned that the director of the big production, previously brought up by Wen Yan, seemed to have some strange interest in him.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yin found the director quite cute but declined the offer. Qin Yue wasn’t surprised and said, “Alright, I understand.”
He hadn’t initially planned to arrange new work for Xu Yin. They had discussed the matter and felt that they could delay resolving the contract termination until after all promotional work for the Chaos Pearl was completed, during which time Xu Yin could enjoy complete freedom.
Xu Yin: To be honest, it’s great when someone is looking out for you.
He wasn’t the type to make things difficult after being taken care of by a boyfriend; it wasn’t his style.
Now that his future in the entertainment industry was set, Xu Yin started preparing for his career as a designer. On one hand, he contacted the authors who had messaged him previously, discussed assignments, and accepted three new design projects. On the other hand, he began researching information about art schools in this world.
After his research, he settled on a prestigious art school. This art school was among the best in the country and had an admission process that accommodated students of various ages. The teaching and examination methods differed from traditional undergraduate studies, closer to adult self-study graduate exams.
Xu Yin was particularly drawn to the design style of a professor at this art school. After making up his mind, he started preparing for the entrance exam. This also led to the appearance of a new phased mission: [Get accepted to XX Art School, rank among the top ten in the national comprehensive exam. Reward: 3,000 points.]
Xu Yin raised an eyebrow. Well, he’d give it his best shot. He had to prepare for the entrance exams in both regular subjects and his artistic pursuits.
When Wen Congyan came out of the small bathroom in his apartment, he saw Xu Yin’s sketches and smiled, saying, “You’ve drawn beautifully.”
Xu Yin smiled, finished the last stroke, admired it for a moment, then set it aside to start drawing a character design for an author.
Wen Congyan looked at the screen again, this time with a puzzled expression. “…”
The two men on the screen, depicted in a somewhat ambiguous pose, were intertwined. The style was strikingly similar to the cover image of his sister. How could they resemble each other so closely?
Before he could ask about it, Xu Yin’s phone vibrated.
Xu Yin glanced at the caller ID and paused his work.
The caller was displayed as “Mom”.
Wen Congyan also noticed and furrowed his brows slightly.
Xu Yin picked up the phone, looking at the caller ID for a couple of seconds.
Since he woke up in this world, this was the first time his mother had called him. Based on the memories of the original host, it probably wasn’t good news.
Nonetheless, Xu Yin decided to answer the call.
On the other end, a middle-aged woman’s cheerful voice came through, “A-Yin, it’s Mom. It’s been a while since I called. Do you miss your mother?”
