Isn’t money good?

Chapter 17

“What are you looking at?” After finishing a problem and letting Xia Linqiu slowly digest it, Ji Yunnian turned his head to look at him.

Yan Shiqiu had been looking openly, and when caught, he wasn’t afraid at all. He smiled cheerfully, “Looking at how handsome you are.”

“Just a little bit less handsome than me.”

Ji Yunnian’s mouth twitched: “…Where’s your shame?”

“Right here.” Yan Shiqiu touched his own face, then flashed him another brilliant sunflower smile.

Ji Yunnian didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

At nine o’clock, everyone got up. Yan Shiqiu and Ji Yunnian also packed their things, planning to leave.

Tu Ya was leaving with them too – she had an event in S City that afternoon.

“I can’t bear to part with you!” Wu Shan squeezed out a few tears, his eyes watery.

Zhang Xiaowen and Xia Linqiu also stared at him longingly. If they had dog tails and ears, they would definitely be drooping dejectedly right now.

Yan Shiqiu’s gaze swept across their faces, then he crossed his arms and smiled with curved lips, “Are you reluctant to part with me, or reluctant to part with my cooking?”

“These aren’t mutually exclusive.” Wu Shan immediately answered.

“Mm-hmm.” Xia Linqiu and Zhang Xiaowen nodded rapidly.

Lu Ze sighed beside them, “Otherwise, Shiqiu, why don’t you just stay and become a permanent resident? Then I won’t have to be scorned by them every day.”

Su Yunmu chimed in, “Yes, yes, don’t leave.”

The next second, she frowned with distress again, “But if you become a permanent resident, I’ll have to worry about my weight. The food is too delicious – I unconsciously eat too much.”

Lin Xue frowned slightly, glanced at her, and said: “We do so much work every day, our exercise already exceeds the standard. We won’t get fat.”

Of course Yan Shiqiu knew Lu Ze’s words of persuasion were just joking. He smiled and played along, spreading his hands: “I really want to stay, but the production team only paid me for one episode. I’m very realistic – I won’t work for free.”

Wu Shan immediately picked up the thread, shouting at Chen Feng: “Director team, you heard that!”

Chen Feng replied matter-of-factly: “Didn’t hear it. We’re poor.”

So everyone started complaining about the production team’s stinginess again.

After chatting a while longer, the production team’s car arrived. The three of them formally said goodbye to Lu Ze and the others, got in the car and left.

Returning home, it was already past three in the afternoon. Yan Shiqiu took a shower, then threw himself on the bed and had a wonderful sleep.

When he woke up again, the sky outside was completely dark. The entire city had lit up, and he got up and looked out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, with thousands of neon lights reflecting in his eyes.

The night view is really beautiful, Yan Shiqiu thought.

After stretching, he turned on the lights, glanced at the time, then left his room to prepare dinner.

He simply made some noodles, and after eating, Yan Shiqiu walked around the living room to aid digestion while casually scrolling through Weibo.

Soon he came across a Weibo post Wu Shan had posted that afternoon: [Big Goose misses mom and was super fierce today.]

The attached image was an expression pack of his new little follower Big Goose looking super fierce.

Lu Ze and the others filled the comment section with “hahahahaha” and @’ed him.

Yan Shiqiu couldn’t help laughing and directly replied with his main account: [Big Goose is clearly super well-behaved.]

Within seconds, Wu Shan replied: [Only to you!!!]

Yan Shiqiu had no fame yet, so his account would normally be buried among the many comments, completely unremarkable. But with Wu Shan’s reply, he was immediately brought to the front row.

Lu Ze and the others had all @’ed him earlier, so fans had long been curious about who he was.

When Ji Yunnian’s fans saw this, they held back from explaining. They remembered the instructions from several big fans – wait until the show aired before mocking, couldn’t give Ji Yunnian any trouble.

Therefore, the comment section under Wu Shan’s Weibo remained fairly harmonious.

But on the other side, in Ji Yunnian’s fan groups, they had no such reservations.

[Does Wu Shan’s Weibo mean that the goose listens to Yan Shiqiu?]

[Laughable, how is that possible.]

[It’s just marketing hype. As long as the goose doesn’t chase after Yan Shiqiu in the show, this Weibo won’t backfire.]

[Do you really believe that someone with such low EQ who’s so good at causing trouble like Yan Shiqiu would have Wu Shan genuinely befriend him? I bet the six permanent guests are sick to death of him.]

[Confused, what exactly does Ye Peiyuan see in him?]

[The answer is his beautiful appearance, his empty soul, his low IQ that makes him easy to fool, convenient for future affairs.]

[Damn, you’re making me start to pity him.]

…

The internet was very lively today, with all kinds of gossip emerging endlessly. Yan Shiqiu’s interaction with Wu Shan didn’t make it to trending topics. A few marketing accounts simply reposted it, then rushed off to chase bigger gossip, flying around the homepage.

Yan Shiqiu also went to eat some gossip for a while.

After digesting enough, he turned off his phone, picked up his script and curled up on the sofa. Finding a comfortable position, he focused intently on reading.

With complete immersion, time passed quickly. When he put down the script and pulled his emotions back out, the clock hand on the wall was already pointing to eleven.

He stood up, moved his arms and legs to loosen his stiff limbs, then sat back down, picked up the laptop from the coffee table, and began new translation work he’d taken on.

For the next two days, Yan Shiqiu didn’t leave the house, staying home to read scripts and translate articles. Fu Baiqing asked him out four times, and he refused them all.

This angered Fu Baiqing so much that he continuously sent him “I’m angry” emoji packs for over half an hour.

But Yan Shiqiu had already turned off his phone and wasn’t bothered by it at all.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Yan Shiqiu had stayed up until 3 AM last night, finally finishing the last two paragraphs of translation and sending them to his employer, earning 1,500 yuan. He didn’t truly fall asleep until 4 AM, so when the knocking woke him at 7 AM, his mood was extremely low.

He rolled over, pulled the blanket over his head and tried to continue sleeping, but the knocking was persistent. After more than ten seconds, it switched to phone attacks.

Grabbing his phone for a look, he discovered it was Ye Peiyuan, which made him even angrier.

The phone kept ringing while outside came endless knocking. Yan Shiqiu finally couldn’t sleep anymore. He got out of bed, stomped heavily, and went to open the door with a dark expression.

The man standing outside wasn’t Ye Peiyuan. The original owner’s phone had photos of Ye Peiyuan – honestly speaking, he was handsome, the type who could make appearance fans follow their looks over their principles.

However, while the person in front of him wasn’t Ye Peiyuan himself, he was definitely someone Ye Peiyuan had sent.

Yan Shiqiu was now severely hypoglycemic and sleep-deprived. He didn’t want to say much, keeping it extremely brief with just one word: “Speak.”

The man’s attitude toward him wasn’t respectful either. There was even undisguised contempt in his eyes. “Mr. Ye asked me to give this to you.”

With that, he handed him a folder.

Yan Shiqiu took it and was about to close the door.

“Mr. Ye has one more thing for me to tell you.” The man repeated Ye Peiyuan’s words word for word: “Xiao Qiu, this is the last chance I’m giving you. Don’t disappoint me again.”

There’s such good news?

Yan Shiqiu perked up immediately.

He’d been thinking about how to create an opportunity for a breakup.

And the opportunity had fallen from heaven.

He wanted to throw his arms up and cheer, but suppressed it, staying in character: “I understand.”

The man left.

Yan Shiqiu waited until the footsteps outside disappeared, then opened the door again, stuck his head out around the doorframe and looked around to confirm the other party had really left. Only then did he close the door and happily jump in place, humming “Today is a Good Day.”

—

Tonight’s banquet was much more formal than last time, with invitations extended to B City’s wealthy families, prestigious clans, and top talents from various industries. The venue was the ballroom of B City’s only seven-star hotel, starting at 6 PM.

Fifteen minutes before the opening, Yan Shiqiu reached his destination.

He didn’t have a car and had taken a taxi.

At this time, other guests were also arriving one after another. They recognized him and, seeing him get out of a taxi, looked at him with various expressions.

Yan Shiqiu’s expression remained unchanged. He calmly allowed everyone to scrutinize him, showed his invitation, and entered the venue.

Having been an actor for so many years and filmed so many productions, he was used to all kinds of gazes. His heart was strong enough to ignore them completely.

Walking into the ballroom, everyone noticed him and the atmosphere quieted for a moment.

Yan Shiqiu didn’t even lift his eyelids. He took some desserts from a nearby table, strolled to a corner to sit down, pulled out his phone and started playing a match-three game.

Ji Yunnian hadn’t arrived yet, and Ye Peiyuan wasn’t there either. The show couldn’t begin yet – no rush.

After playing just two rounds, someone came over, standing not far from him and deliberately speaking for him to hear:

“What thick skin. He must have asked Ye Peiyuan for that invitation.”

“Tch tch tch, who else could it be?”

“What do you think Ye Peiyuan sees in him? Could it be good bedroom skills, servicing Ye Peiyuan very comfortably?”

“I heard his body is especially flexible. He can probably play many tricks.”

…

Yan Shiqiu: “…”

Sorry, we never did anything.

Your minds are really unhealthy with all this fantasizing. You should recite the socialist core values a few more times. If you don’t know them, I can teach you for free.

Putting away his phone, Yan Shiqiu was about to speak when he heard: “Hey, you guys talking behind someone’s back – don’t you have any manners?”

Somewhat surprised, he turned toward the voice and saw Sheng You standing not far away, frowning at those people who were deliberately saying disgusting things for him to hear.

The group’s expressions changed slightly, and they quickly walked away.

Sheng You strode over to him and sat down beside him. “Don’t mind them. They’re all people who had crushes on Ye Peiyuan and got dumped by him. That they could come today probably means they’ve latched onto some sugar daddy.”

“Oh.” Yan Shiqiu smiled. “Thanks.”

Sheng You waved his hand. “No need to thank me. I just find their double standards annoying.”

Yan Shiqiu: “…You didn’t need to say that last part.”

Sheng You was very direct: “Wasn’t your invitation from Ye Peiyuan?”

“If I said it wasn’t something I actively asked for, would you believe me?” He pointed to his own eyes. “My gaze is so sincere.”

Sheng You rolled his eyes. “Like hell I’d believe you.”

Yan Shiqiu sighed lightly and didn’t explain further. Either way, he couldn’t make it clear. He took out his phone again and continued playing match-three to pass the time.

Sheng You didn’t leave, and didn’t talk to him anymore either. Like him, he took out his phone to play.

Five minutes later, the ballroom grew louder as many guests walked toward the entrance, forming a small surrounding circle there.

“Ji Yunnian is here.” Sheng You suddenly stood up.

Hearing this, Yan Shiqiu shifted his gaze from the match-three game, looked up toward the entrance.

Surrounded by a crowd, Ji Yunnian’s nearly six-foot height stood out like a crane among chickens. His gaze swept over and happened to meet Yan Shiqiu’s eyes.

They exchanged a knowing look without any change in expression.