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—
Crowded roads were a hallmark of the capital.
The taxi driver was a quiet middle-aged man who didn’t talk much. Only when Chu Zizhe tried to stick his head out of the car window did he sternly warn him, “Do you have a death wish?”
Chu Zizhe, knowing he was in the wrong, awkwardly scratched his nose.
“Young people get carried away easily. Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?”
“Something like that,” he muttered vaguely.
“Alright then, don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on that car for you. Just don’t do anything dangerous again.” After saying this, the driver stopped asking personal questions and focused on driving.
After ten or so minutes, they’d only covered a short distance.
Taking advantage of a lane change, the driver managed to overtake two cars, closing the gap. The Ferrari’s license plate was now clearly visible.
Chu Zizhe grinned smugly, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Trying to ditch him and have Xia Yan all to himself? No way.
Chu Zizhe had returned to China, this time specifically for Xia Yan. The first time he’d seen Xia Yan was on a low-budget variety show back home.
Xia Yan had appeared briefly, only for three short minutes.
But at the first glance, Chu Zizhe was captivated by his looks and charisma, and he became an instant fan. He even went so far as to register an account on Weibo, following only Xia Yan.
Unfortunately, Xia Yan didn’t get many jobs.
Sometimes, after waiting a month or two, all he’d get was some promotion for a bit part in a no-name project. As for when the drama would actually air… Sorry, it hasn’t passed the censors yet. Please be patient.
Chu Zizhe: “…”
Helpless, he turned to Xia Yan’s older dramas for comfort, especially the idol drama that had made him famous… But for some reason, he couldn’t get into it.
Chu Zizhe’s father was half-Chinese half-French, and his mother was pure Chinese.
After they married, he lived in his father’s estate, only returning to China with his mother during holidays. Naturally, he had gone to university abroad.
But after becoming a devoted fan of Xia Yan, Chu Zizhe made a decision.
He would return to China as an exchange student and chase his idol in real life.
He would buy resources for his brother, hold banners, and cheer for him at live events.
Chu Zizhe had strong action capabilities. He immediately applied for the exchange program and spent three months handling all the procedures. But to his shock… Just as he returned to China, his brother’s relationship was exposed.
As a devoted fanboy, his heart shattered into a million pieces.
He fell into an emo spiral.
Huddled in his apartment, feeling sad for days, he finally emerged from the shadows of “heartbreak,” only to find that his brother was being criticized online?
Are you okay?
Running a hand through his curls, Chu Zizhe picked up his keyboard and started a war with the haters. He could take on ten of them at once, but the haters were too numerous. He couldn’t win.
And if losing wasn’t bad enough, he also had to watch Xia Yan and Tu Xi being all lovey-dovey on TV.
Chu Zizhe: “…” Even more depressed.
He originally thought that this trip to China would end in complete failure. Who would have expected such a twist of fate? He unexpectedly ran into Xia Yan at a bar and was chosen by him!
If it weren’t for someone jumping in halfway, He would’ve already…
Chu Zizhe gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with rage as he stared at the red sports car before him.
The sports car turned, leaving the main road and entering a smaller path. The number of vehicles instantly halved, and the road became much smoother.
The driver drove steadily, maintaining a distance of about two car lengths, slowly following.
Chu Zizhe stared for a while, his eyes beginning to feel sore. He rubbed them, glanced around, and noticed that the black car ahead looked familiar.
It had also been on the main road earlier.
But this small path wasn’t exactly remote, so taking the same route was understandable.
Even so, Chu Zizhe couldn’t help but take a few more glances as the journey continued. As they traveled further, many cars changed lanes, and new vehicles joined in.
Yet, that black Volkswagen had remained on the same path as them the entire time.
No, it was following Xia Yan.
Chu Zizhe’s suspicions deepened. He took out his phone, opened the camera, zoomed in, and took several photos of the black Volkswagen.
Due to both cars being in motion, the pictures were somewhat blurry.
He clicked his tongue softly, opened a memo, and carefully noted down the license plate number, planning to have it investigated later.
Xia Yan lived in an apartment in the third ring with excellent security.
After swiping the key card at the entrance, the Ferrari drove directly into the underground parking garage, with the black Volkswagen silently following behind like a ghost in the night.
Chu Zizhe watched helplessly as they left. He couldn’t get in and was left dumbfounded.
“I can only take you this far. Call your girlfriend and apologize,” the driver said as he stopped the car. “It’s not shameful for a man to admit he’s wrong.”
But I don’t even have ‘her’ contact information, Chu Zizhe thought.
He now just wanted to go back two hours and shove his flirtatious self away.
Seeing Xia Yan had made him so excited that he’d lost his head and forgot even the simplest things. After paying the driver, Chu Zizhe exited the car and looked around. His mind wandered back to that black Volkswagen.
Could someone be stalking Xia Yan?
If it’s an obsessed fan, frustrated and desperate, breaking into his house in the middle of the night… Damn, that’s terrifying.
Chu Zizhe touched his wallet, which still had a few thousand yuan in cash that he’d put in there. He pretended to be lost as he walked up to the security booth, widening his emerald green eyes. His fluent Mandarin suddenly became halting.
“Holle, I look for uncle, here, place, photo.”
He spoke in choppy phrases with a foreign accent, looking like a foreign exchange student who had just started learning Chinese.
The security guard was a burly man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
“What?”
“Uncle, car, went in, phone, can’t reach,” Chu Zizhe said as he showed the security guard the photo. With his innocent face, he managed to coax quite a bit of information out of the guard over the next ten minutes.
The owner of the vehicle was named Huang Jiancheng. He lived in Building 13 and was a tenant, but the guard didn’t know the exact apartment.
His job was a mystery. Sometimes he’d be away for days, and other times he’d stay holed up in his apartment for long periods. He also had a group of friends who often came to visit.
The security guard was a kind man. “Leave your phone number, and if I run into him, I’ll have him contact you.”
“I’ll try, call again.”
“Alright.”
Chu Zizhe pretended to dial a number as he left the guard’s sight. His expression gradually darkened. He was certain that Xia Yan was being followed.
Huang Jiancheng’s irregular comings and goings aligned with Xia Yan’s schedule as a celebrity, with occasional work commitments keeping him away for days.
Living in the same complex, just so happened to leave the previous night, living near Tangcheng District, and returning home at the same time as Xia Yan…
So many coincidences? Do they think others are fools?
“Ugh! Crazy stalker fan, already past your prime, and you still dare to lust after my brother? Just wait, I’ll take you down.” Chu Zizhe angrily jabbed at his phone screen, spending money to have someone investigate them.
He thought it would take a few days for results, but to his surprise, the response came quickly.
“Young Master Chu, Huang Jiancheng is a private investigator. He runs a team specializing in investigating extramarital affairs. He’s quite well-known in our circle.”
“Private investigator… extramarital affairs…”
The young man gripped his phone as something flashed in his mind.
He hung up the phone, logged into Weibo, and found the account of the man he hated the most.
【Tu Xi: I will always believe in Yan Yan, believe in the truth I see, believe that he wouldn’t cheat.】
Such sincere affection! When everyone condemned Xia Yan and the evidence seemed irrefutable, Tu Xi, as his lover, unconditionally believed in him.
But now, knowing about the existence of a private investigator…
That statement, “believe in the truth I see,” twisted into a dark shadow, its tendrils wrapping around the naive and proud youth.
“Tu Xi… you pervert.”
He is obviously jealous to the point of wanting to devour the young man whole, yet pretending to be a perfect gentleman, playing the good guy.
Chu Zizhe cursed a few more times under his breath, then immediately found Xia Yan’s alternate Weibo account, intending to tell him about this. But halfway through typing, he realized he had no proof.
Everything was just his speculation and assumptions.
As long as Tu Xi didn’t admit it, there was nothing he could do.
Stay calm. He can win this.
Chu Zizhe’s emerald eyes glimmered with excitement as he dialed the number of the person who had messaged him earlier. He spent a large sum of money to have them investigate Huang Jiancheng further, determined to find out who his client was.
The person on the other end hesitated, “We’re all in the same line of work. If I do this, I’m ruining his business.”
“I’ll pay triple.”
“Alright, boss. Consider it done.”
Once Yan Yan sees Tu Xi for who he really is and comes to be with him, he’ll take him straight to France to get married and lock him down.
Living in France would be ideal. He heard Yan Yan isn’t very good at studying, so learning should take a while. He can teach him French and English… Hmm, probably for five, six, seven, eight years.
Chu Zizhe had just been cursing Tu Xi for being a pervert, but now he was fantasizing about isolating Xia Yan from everyone through language, completely unaware that he was even more of a pervert himself.
–
Chu Zizhe was too enthusiastic.
So enthusiastic that Xia Yan could barely keep up. After finally managing to shake him off, Xia Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As for the man beside him…
Well, pretending to be angry meant he didn’t have to talk to him.
Traffic in the capital was heavy, stop-and-go.
Xia Yan and the system in his head discussed how to complete the final task.
[How about… when you meet, you get the first word in and start scolding Tu Xi?] 999 suggested. [Nobody likes an unreasonable partner.]
Xia Yan didn’t think that would work. Tu Xi had an incredible tolerance for him.
But there wasn’t any other option at the moment, so he had no choice but to give it a try.
The apartment had two elevators and four units per floor. Xia Yan lived in Building 13, Apartment 1702. His next-door neighbor was in 1701, and the safety exit was on the side, usually closed but easy to push open.
The corridor was clean, regularly cleaned by the janitor.
Xia Yan occasionally forgot his keys, so he replaced the lock with a keypad one for convenience. He slid the cover open, revealing the small keyboard underneath, and glanced at the man behind him. “Do you have no sense of privacy?”
Just as he finished speaking, the heavy iron door of the safety exit beside them was suddenly slammed by something.
“Bang bang thump…”
The loud noises echoed through the silent corridor, striking unexpectedly at people’s hearts. The young man was startled, taking two steps back, his eyes wide.
The word ‘damn’ was already on the tip of his tongue but he managed to stifle it.
“Bang… thump…”
Another collision sound followed, mixed with the rustling of clothes, a faint groan, and the scraping sound of something heavy being dragged… all blending together.
Xia Yan swallowed, cautiously tugging at the man’s clothes. When the man looked at him, Xia Yan silently asked, “We’re not going to stumble upon a crime scene, are we?”
“……”
“Should we run?” the young man continued to ask silently.
“……”
“Speak.”
“……” Zhao Wenxiu, who was preoccupied with thoughts of ‘he’s so cute, I want to hug him,’ finally snapped back to reality. His voice was extremely low as he said, “You move back a few steps, and I’ll open the door to check.”
“Too dangerous.”
Xia Yan wanted to stop him but didn’t dare to pull too hard, fearing that someone behind the door might notice and rush out with a knife… He would have to shield the protagonist gong if something really went wrong.
Zhao Wenxiu and Tu Xi are the protagonists of this small world and also the pillars of the world.
If either of them dies, the world would collapse.
Fortunately, the system can adjust the sense of pain, so injuries only cause mild pain.
The man grasped the safety door, pulling it open slightly. The corridor inside was dim and stuffy. He stood at the edge of light and shadow, half of his face hidden in darkness, his chiseled jawline tense then relaxed.
“It’s just a cat, Yan Yan.” Zhao Wenxiu turned to him, the shadows of his eyelashes falling on his lower eyelids, his eyes as cold as ice, yet his face wore a calm and gentle expression.
Xia Yan hesitated and walked to the door.
