Tang Yifeng blocking Lu Chenghe like this was, at most, a way to test his attitude. If there was still room for maneuver, then even sacrificing most of the Tang family wouldn’t matter. China’s domestic market was so vast, and once this crisis passed, the flesh that had been eaten away would eventually grow back.
He truly hadn’t expected the Lu brothers to be so ruthless when they joined forces. He couldn’t even wrap his head around it. He had merely touched his little lover, so why did it provoke such a relentless, wolf-like pursuit?
It was just a lover—nothing more—and a man at that. Was it really worth such a huge fuss?
He even began to wonder if the Lu Corporation was just using this as an excuse to annex the Tang Corporation, using a convenient pretext to make the takeover look less ugly.
Back when the Lu Corporation made their move, Tang Yifeng hadn’t sat still—he had tried to rally allies. The Lu family’s rise had certainly blocked the paths of many others. He had thought that with him taking the lead, even if the others only came along to stir up trouble and fish in muddy waters, bringing the Lu Corporation down was only a matter of time. After all, even ants can bite an elephant to death.
But to his surprise, every single one of them politely declined. Despite it being a golden opportunity, that cowardly bunch only dared to hide and shrink back.
What Tang Yifeng didn’t know was that it wasn’t that no one was tempted. Some people had considered leading the charge. If things went south, they could always back out in time. And if the Lu Corporation could truly be taken down, it would be an unbelievably massive cake to feast on.
Unfortunately, all those with restless ambitions were suppressed by their elders. Not to mention the Lu brothers’ maternal relatives, some were flourishing in the court like the midday sun, while others ruled outside the court like kings. And the Lu family itself? Not a bunch to be underestimated. Don’t be fooled by their surface-level warmth and gentle, indifferent manner; they were all incredibly scheming underneath.
Facing the ever-intensifying suppression from the Lu brothers, Tang Yifeng had indeed considered striking at the root. Judging by the current momentum, the collapse of the Tang Corporation at the hands of the Lu family was only a matter of time. As long as they refused to loosen their grip, Tang Corp’s fate could only be one of being carved up. Consecutive losses on projects, multiple developments stuck in the approval pipeline, several revenue-generating channels rendered paralyzed by the recent crackdowns—everything was on high alert and immobile. The capital chain was fractured. It seemed someone up top had spoken, and bank loans couldn’t be approved. Accounts payable from earlier phases weren’t even due yet, but creditors were already pressing hard. Inside and out, everything was falling apart.
And once the Lu family became alert, there was no way to get close to them again. Even those two young stars shooting dramas—don’t be fooled by the fact that they only had one or two people with them. In truth, more than a dozen people were watching them nonstop nearby. The moment there was any unusual movement, they’d be subdued before anyone got near. The Lu family’s security system, once activated, was nothing short of overwhelming. His little tricks looked utterly laughable in comparison, like child’s play.
When he returned home, Madam Tang, no longer the elegant and composed woman she once was, immediately threw herself at him, clutching Tang Yifeng’s hand with desperation. “Yifeng! Help Xinxin! She’s your sister! Please help her, won’t you? Mom begs you—please!”
Tang Yifeng forcefully pried off the hand tightly clutching his own, sneering coldly at the woman who had always looked down from above. “Your daughter is already dead. How exactly do you want me to help? Do you want me to bring her back from the dead?”
Madam Tang shook her head, weeping as she pleaded, “Xinxin loved that Lu Chenghan so much. She was thinking about him even at the moment of her death. Please, help your mother reach out to the Lu family. They refuse to see me. No matter how I beg, they won’t grant me a single audience.”
Seeing that the woman hadn’t even noticed the coldness in his eyes and was still talking on her own, Tang Yifeng let out a short laugh. “And what good would that do? You think you can make Lu Chenghan pay with his life?”
Madam Tang rushed to explain, “Xinxin loved him so much she didn’t even want to live anymore. I just want Lu Chenghan to marry her, just to agree to a ghost marriage with her…”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Tang Yifeng flung her aside, his voice openly mocking. “A ghost marriage? Hahahaha! That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. When she was alive, Lu Chenghan couldn’t avoid her fast enough, and now that she’s dead, you think he’d agree to a ghost marriage with Tang Xin? Do you really think Tang Xin was some kind of princess, that the entire world has to bend to her will? Stop dreaming!”
Madam Tang’s eyes were red as she stared at him. This mocking, sinister version of Tang Yifeng shocked her. He felt unfamiliar, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to react. Instinctively, she said, “She was your sister! How could you say such things about her?”
“Sister?” Tang Yifeng’s voice twisted with bitter sarcasm. “You really think she was my sister? Did you ever truly treat her like one? In your eyes, I’ve always been the dirty bastard born of a mistress, and Tang Xin was your noble little princess. I wasn’t even worthy of carrying her shoes! When did either of you ever look at me properly? And now you say she was my sister? Sorry, someone as lowly as me doesn’t deserve a sister born of such noble blood.”
Madam Tang stood frozen, staring at the now-twisted face of Tang Yifeng, unable to comprehend what had become of him. She couldn’t understand. How had he turned into this? Though he had been gloomy as a child, he’d grown more poised and graceful with age, always modest and polite, showing her great respect. When had he changed so drastically, become someone so terrifying, so unfamiliar?
Her shocked and helpless expression stirred a strange sense of satisfaction in Tang Yifeng. He reached out and grabbed the retreating Madam Tang, his grip so strong it felt like he could crush bone. “Since you’re the one who brought me into this world, then you damn well should have treated me better! What did you take me for? When you didn’t have Tang Xin, I was like a pet you teased and played with. And once she came along, I became the one you could just shove out of sight, out of mind? Why? What gave you the right? And your servants—who among them ever looked me in the eye growing up? In their eyes, I was trash. Not even worthy of living under the same roof, breathing the same air, as your precious little princess!”
Madam Tang was clearly frightened by the deranged Tang Yifeng. She couldn’t help but try to struggle and pull away from him. “Yifeng…”
Tang Yifeng shot a vicious glare at the servants who tried to move forward. “All of you, get the hell out of here! You lowly trash!”
The servants all froze, not daring to move a muscle, because in Tang Yifeng’s hand was a gun. A real one. A single bullet from that weapon could easily take a life. None of them knew whether this young master would suddenly lose control—or rather, perhaps he already had.
Tang Yifeng’s own men quickly surrounded the room. They were people who had followed him for many years and knew his temperament all too well. They were already used to cleaning up after him, always prepared to deal with the aftermath.
Looking at those servants who had only ever treated him with cold indifference now standing there in fear, Tang Yifeng let out a sneer. Then he looked down at Madam Tang, whom he was still gripping tightly. Her face had gone pale. His mood, however, was only getting better.
“That woman Tang Xin, she never once looked up to me,” he said coldly. “Whenever we accidentally brushed against each other, she’d react like she touched something filthy. Tell me, what do I need a sister like that for? In front of me, she always held her ‘noble’ head high, not even sparing me a single glance. I, Tang Yifeng, don’t deserve such a ‘high-born’ sister. And since I don’t deserve her, why should I let her keep walking around in front of me, making me sick? Now that she’s gone, isn’t that so much better? Don’t you agree?”
Madam Tang stared at him in disbelief, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. “You… it was you! It was you who killed Xinxin?! You murdered my Xinxin?! Why?! Why would you do that?!”
Tang Yifeng suddenly grabbed her by the throat, squeezing so tightly that not a single sound could come out of her mouth. His voice dripped with malice, like a demon crawling straight out of hell: “Because this is retribution. This is karma for everything you people ever did to me!”
Zuo Ning was about to start school again. That night, after misunderstanding what Tang Yifeng meant and making a fool of himself, Lu Chenghe had immediately started going through documents.
Zuo Ning stood by nervously, sneaking glances at the materials. The names of the schools on them alone were enough to give him a headache. Pitifully, he tugged at Lu Chenghe’s sleeve. “Didn’t we agree that I’d go to drama school in September? School’s about to start. I don’t have time to take another short course. That time in the car, I was sitting too far away. I didn’t hear it clearly. It’s not that I didn’t understand, really.”
Lu Chenghe gently patted Little Pudding’s head, speaking with heartfelt sincerity: “Being a celebrity is like living under a magnifying glass. Even if you’re just putting on an act, you can’t let people see you’re uneducated. Be good. Learning more will only benefit you.”
Zuo Ning couldn’t help letting out a dramatic howl. He spun around, stripped off his clothes, and in the blink of an eye, the bare-skinned little pretty boy turned into a big white dog. Feifei, who had been biting a rubber ball, instantly perked up his ears. His jet-black eyes sparkled as he looked at the big white dog. With an excited wiggle of his little butt, he pounced forward: “Woof!” Daddy!
Zuo Ning lifted a paw and smack, pinning the pouncing Feifei flat to the ground. Then he started rubbing him back and forth across the floor, full of righteous indignation. You little mutt, your daddy here has to go study, and you’re at home goofing off all day.
Looking at the big and little Samoyeds, their appearances almost identical, they really did look like a father and son. But transforming at this hour… it looked like tonight he’d be sleeping in dog form again. In this weather, it was seriously hot.
After months of filming the TV drama, Zuo Ning finally wrapped up his scenes in mid-August. He barely had time to catch his breath before being told he had to attend military training, which would last for half a month. Zuo Ning had originally thought Lu Chenghe would probably help him find an excuse to skip it. Not that he was afraid of the hardship—he did morning runs with Lu Chenghe every day, and his stamina was pretty solid from sticking to it long-term. But going half a month without going home and having to stay in shared dorms? That was a real challenge for him.
What he didn’t expect was that Lu Chenghe simply patted his head, told him to go without worry, and even promised he had a way to let him turn back into a dog now and then to “recharge”.
Zuo Ning was a homebody. Ever since his debut, he had never been the type who couldn’t sit still and had to go out playing, which made his manager and assistant both very at ease. Because of that, to this day, Zuo Ning himself didn’t even have a clear sense of how famous he actually was.
When he went to report with his admission notice in hand, the paparazzi, who had never once managed to tail Lu Ning, suddenly saw him appear on campus, and he was obviously looking like a freshman. In that instant, it was like they’d been injected with stimulants, swarming toward him in a frenzy. Back when the Xing Ze scandal blew up and made such a huge splash, the paparazzi had used every trick in the book trying to dig out dirt, but Lu Ning had completely disappeared without a trace, as if he’d vanished from the human world.
By the time things finally settled down, the people around him had increased. Even if they wanted to sneak in for a scoop, they couldn’t get close. They were stopped outright by a group of clearly tough, unapproachable people. Up to now, aside from the occasional official promotional photos for that drama, Lu Ning had never been tied to any gossip or tabloids. So seeing Lu Ning now, suddenly appearing on campus, how could they possibly hold back? They swarmed him all at once.
They had long anticipated that such a situation might occur, so Zuo Ning’s agent, Bei Xiao, personally came along this time. Several staff members were also present to maintain order, and on top of that, there were bodyguards for protection. Not a single reporter could get close. However, things like taking photos couldn’t be prevented.
Suddenly faced with so many people surrounding him for interviews, Zuo Ning instinctively hid behind Bei Xiao. His whole person was still a little dazed. He felt like every reporter who had been lurking around the school had gathered here. He had no idea when his popularity had grown to this extent.
The news didn’t even wait until the next day. Almost as soon as it happened, it was broadcast and immediately made headlines: Lu Ning Appears at Drama Academy. Freshman Pretty Boy’s Looks Off the Charts. In the photos, Zuo Ning was wearing a very simple white T-shirt and a pair of casual jeans. His whole person seemed to be glowing white. That lowered head and faint smile as he was being escorted through the crowd made him look both handsome and obedient. A bunch of face fans were screaming wildly, dying of envy toward those lucky enough to be classmates with “their” Lu Ning.
The first day was just for registration and picking up the orientation schedule—it wasn’t the official start of military training yet. After finally making it through the crowd and returning home, Zuo Ning collapsed onto the couch, drinking an icy fruit juice as he said to Lu Chenghe,
“I really didn’t expect to be this popular. Almost all the reporters came swarming over. So many cameras pointed at me. I wasn’t used to it at all at first. Even smiling felt a bit awkward. I was surrounded by so many people the whole way… Chenghe, do you think this is what my life will be like from now on?”
Lu Chenghe glanced at Little Pudding who had no sense of proper sitting posture. “Isn’t that what you chose?”
Zuo Ning thought for a moment, then nodded. “It actually feels pretty fresh. No wonder so many people want to become celebrities. Being the center of attention like that… It’s actually kind of awesome.”
After saying that, seeing that Lu Chenghe was ignoring him again, Zuo Ning simply walked over and flopped onto his back. “I’m going to military training.”
Lu Chenghe gave a soft “Mm” to show he heard.
Zuo Ning pouted and reached right out to touch Lu Chenghe’s abs. “I’m going to military training!”
Lu Chenghe caught his mischievous hand and turned to look at him. “I heard you.”
Zuo Ning grinned and clung to him. “I’m going to military training~~”
Lu Chenghe simply scooped him up and tossed him straight onto the bed. Zuo Ning rolled once across the mattress, then hugged a pillow to his chest. One fair, slender leg, exposed under his shorts, rubbed against the pillow as he looked at Lu Chenghe with a cheeky smile.
Lu Chenghe narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, go a few days without a beating, and he’s ready to tear the roof off. Definitely due for a lesson.
