As the commotion in the room gradually subsided, the “harmonious interaction between a kind ancestor and his filial descendant” segment came to an end.
Su Ran sat alone on the floor, his long legs crossed and his back straight. Despite maintaining his usual air of arrogance, the reddened rims of his eyes betrayed how miserably he’d just been “disciplined”.
Bai Songyin fetched a few cans of drinks from the fridge and walked over.
The top star shot him a cold glare, still clinging to his pride even now. “Get lost!”
Bai Songyin ignored him completely and strolled past, grinning obsequiously at Su Weisheng, who was lounging on the sofa. He eagerly set all the drinks down on the coffee table. “Great-grandfather, please take a look and see which one you’d like. I’ll even light incense and offer it up for you! These are just some cheap drinks from the house, but if you want tea, I can run downstairs to buy some right away!”
The ignored top star: “…” Damn this opportunistic bootlicker!
“No need.”
Su Weisheng glanced at the colorful drink bottles and casually picked up a red can of cola. He said leisurely, “No need for offerings. I can just drink it directly.”
Bai Songyin nodded reverently. “As expected of great-grandfather, truly a being of great power!”
Su Weisheng gave this flatterer a puzzled look, unable to understand how drinking a soda had anything to do with power. However, the modern beverage did taste quite good. It lifted his mood significantly.
Calming down, Su Weisheng reflected for a moment. Although resorting to brute force was straightforward and effective, as an elder, he should aim to guide his descendants with reason, teaching them life lessons—like the principle of repaying debts passed down through generations.
Indeed, it was clear that his unfilial son, Su Laijin—Su Ran’s great-grandfather—had wasted ancestral wealth because his father, Su Weisheng, had not properly educated him.
With this thought, Su Weisheng retrieved a carefully preserved IOU from his sleeve and placed it on the table. Then, he gestured for Su Ran to come over. “Come here, great-grandson. Grandfather has a gift for you—a lesson in taking responsibility.”
Su Ran hesitated, unsure of what scheme his grandpa might have up his sleeve. After confirming there was no intent to lure him closer for another beating, he cautiously leaned over. What he saw on the IOU were three prominent red thumbprints, accompanied by the names Su Laijin, Su Yinian, and Su Cheng.
These were the names of his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father.
Su Ran’s great-grandfather and grandfather had written lofty promises of repaying their debts “tenfold once they achieved success and fame”. Only his father, Su Cheng, living up to the character for “honesty” in his name, had written this blunt declaration: “Once my son Su Ran achieves fame and fortune, he’ll repay our ancestors a hundredfold!”
Bai Songyin, reading the note, was stunned. “Holy crap! You can even write something like this?”
I’m broke. Not a single cent. If you have the guts, let my dad come and tell me himself! Su Ran clenched his fists and screamed internally. He wanted nothing more than to flip the coffee table in frustration. But the moment he raised his head and met his great-grandfather’s pitch-black eyes, his rage evaporated instantly. Lowering his head obediently, he pretended nothing had happened.
After all, he feared that if he spoke up, his great-grandfather might actually take him to meet his father.
His biological father—what an absolute disaster of a parent!
Su Weisheng lounged leisurely on the sofa, his tone calm and unhurried as he consoled, “I’ve been asleep for nearly two hundred years and won’t be returning to my long slumber anytime soon. So, you still have time to earn money and repay the debt.”
Su Ran nodded mechanically. That’s good… that’s good… Wait, what? He suddenly caught onto a keyword. “Long slumber? Aren’t you dead?”
“Who said I’m dead?” Su Weisheng raised an eyebrow, watching as Su Ran’s expression shifted from relief to gritted-teeth frustration. Thinking back on his great-grandson’s strange behavior lately, he suddenly connected the dots. “You’re afraid of ghosts?”
That would explain why he’d been acting like such a wimp.
As he spoke, Su Weisheng noticed Su Ran looking at him with an increasingly peculiar expression.
The two stared at each other, wide-eyed, until Su Ran cautiously reached out to poke the back of Su Weisheng’s hand, his movements resembling a timid child testing the waters in an unfamiliar environment.
Su Weisheng’s lips curled slightly, his gaze softening as he found his great-grandson’s behavior unexpectedly endearing.
But this goodwill didn’t last long.
“Your hand is warm…” Su Ran murmured under his breath. “Alive. Definitely alive.”
Bai Songyin was also utterly shocked, his worldview was refreshed over and over again with an increasingly powerful impact each time. “Oh my god, alive? A 200-year-old ancestor?”
Su Ran abruptly stood up and cursed, “Sh*t! If he’s alive, what the hell am I even afraid of?”
He suddenly reached out, grabbed the IOU, and tried to tear it apart. When that failed, he simply tossed it aside with disdain, his arrogance completely replacing his earlier cowardice. “Grandpa, it’s modern society now. There’s no such thing as inheriting debts from one’s ancestors. I don’t have money. Even if I did, I’d invest it in films, not spend it buying mountains for you. If you want to stay here, I don’t mind—do as you like. As for the debts… whoever owed it, go find them to collect! I’m going to bed now. Goodnight, Grandpa.” With that, Su Ran strode off, feeling triumphant.
Watching Su Ran swagger back to his room to sleep, Su Weisheng frowned slightly. Clearly, his earlier approach had been wrong. No matter the era, arrogant brats like this deserved a good beating.
“Great-grandfather?” Bai Songyin’s voice pulled Su Weisheng back from his thoughts. He turned to look at the hesitant young man, gesturing for him to speak his mind.
Su Ran’s quick shift from submissive to defiant left Bai Songyin completely at a loss for what to do next or how to approach this unexpected ancestor. Considering the legendary status of the person before him, he decided to tread carefully.
Bai Songyin tentatively asked, “Great-grandfather, so… what now? Do you want to rest first? I can help tidy up the guest room for you.”
“No rush. Servant boy, go fetch me another drink,” Su Weisheng said unhurriedly.
Realizing the elder enjoyed cola, Bai Songyin brought back two cans and even corrected him, “Grandpa, I’m Brother Ran’s assistant. I handle his schedule and daily needs. I’m not a servant boy.”
Su Weisheng replied matter-of-factly, “Isn’t that the same thing? What’s the difference?”
Bai Songyin: “…” That sounds right… but also feels wrong? After thinking for a moment, he explained, “There is a difference. In this era, everyone is equal. There’s no such thing as indentured servitude. I’m Brother Ran’s junior from school. After graduating, I became his assistant. We have an employer-employee relationship.”
Su Weisheng appeared thoughtful. “So there have been significant changes over these 200 years. If I want to quickly understand this era, is there a way?”
“Yes, absolutely!” Bai Songyin perked up, expertly pulling out a computer and a smartphone from the living room. Like a treasure hunter, he eagerly brought them over. “Grandpa, let me tell you: the best way to understand this era is by going online. Whatever you want to know, you can just search for it!”
“This is a search engine; that’s a forum. This icon here is a messaging app. And this one—this one is called Weibo. It’s the best for checking news, especially entertainment news. Like, Brother Ran often trends on Weibo’s hot searches…”
The internet had a magical allure, capable of captivating anyone who interacted with it. Su Weisheng was no exception. He learned with intense focus, displaying the same dedication he once had while studying the mystical arts.
One taught, and the other learned. The scene was unexpectedly harmonious.
Watching his ancestor study so earnestly, Bai Songyin found the whole situation surreal. Was he really teaching a 200-year-old high priest how to surf the internet? This was beyond bizarre!
Just then, Su Weisheng clicked on Weibo and received a notification. “What’s this?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Bai Songyin looked closely. On the screen was a familiar photo. Even though it was a bit blurry due to the night setting, it unmistakably showed someone dressed in a white robe with golden embroidery and wearing a mask. The mysterious and cold aura emanating from the figure was strikingly similar to the person sitting in front of the computer.
The post was captioned:
PearlsOfTheWorld: [I heard Ran-Sansui (Su Ran’s nickname) is up to his usual antics and filming again. While fans were waiting to block him, they stumbled upon a newcomer actor suspected to be collaborating with him. The guy was masked, so his face wasn’t visible, but his aura and voice were stunning. He’s just way too into character… especially during scenes with Ran-Sansui. No need to take it this seriously! [Attached photo]]
The post was shared in Su Ran’s dedicated fan forum. The original intention was to rant with fellow fans, but it unexpectedly garnered over 999+ comments in no time. The fans’ discussions were all over the place.
[Judging by the costume, is this for High Priest 2? Don’t scare me like that!]
[Does anyone have high-definition pictures? The outfit looks so detailed it doesn’t seem like a costume.]
[Even though we can only see half the face, doesn’t this guy look a bit like our childish Ran-Sansui? Props to them for being so meticulous in casting.]
[Sis, being meticulous isn’t always a good thing! Just imagining such a serious actor debuting in Ran-Bao’s project… well, let’s just say they might as well quit the industry afterward.]
Occasionally, a passerby would jump into the discussion and ask curiously, “This is your fanbase, right? Why are you stepping on your own idol to hype up an unknown newbie? Don’t tell me there’s a PR team mixed in here!”
The small fans sincerely responded to her: “Sis, there’s no stepping on our idol to hype up an unknown newbie. We genuinely feel sorry for this new guy!”
While fans of other idols were busy trying to promote their stars by overshadowing others, only the uniquely thinking small fans stood out with their sincere, self-deprecating humor, so much so that even passersby couldn’t refute them.
This Weibo post didn’t gain massive attention. It only sparked some discussion within the fan forum, staying within its bubble and not breaking out into wider circles. However, it was quickly noticed by Yanyi Entertainment.
The first to notice was Su Ran’s manager, He Heng. After seeing the post, alarms immediately went off in his mind.
Su Ran was filming a new project—High Priest 2? That couldn’t be. The company hadn’t received any information about it! Who was this person? Which small celebrity was trying to ride on the heat, or was there something else He Heng wasn’t aware of?
He Heng immediately called Bai Songyin. At first, Bai Songyin tried to resist, “Brother He, it’s not that I don’t want to say, but this situation is really hard to explain…”
Once He Heng confirmed the existence of this mysterious person, his voice immediately darkened, sternly pressing, “Bai Songyin, do you know the kind of responsibility you’re taking on if something goes wrong with Su Ran? I sent you to follow him, and this is how you’re doing it? Are you thinking of quitting?”
“Brother He, I swear I’m innocent!”
“Now, tell me everything clearly—who is this person, where did they come from?”
Bai Songyin nearly cried, answering with difficulty, “They came from outside… Ah, no, it was Brother Ran who personally brought them here.”
“What’s their relationship?”
“It’s hard to say.” Bai Songyin hesitated for a moment as if thinking about how to describe it. Finally, he managed to say, “Well, it’s… a very close relationship!”
He Heng’s face immediately darkened. “Personally brought here and a very close relationship?” This could only be a blatant hint that Su Ran had secretly taken a lover.
He Heng immediately thought back to last year’s incident. The company had refused to let Su Ran film, so the brat had gone behind their backs to find his own investors. He had spent a fortune buying a nonsensical script from a scammer and was even fooled into thinking that the scammer, who supported his dreams, was his soulmate. In the end, he lost tens of thousands of dollars.
The cosplayer in the photo was definitely a small internet celebrity, trying to scam money and gain attention under the guise of a romance. Su Ran was unbelievable—how could he make the same mistake twice?
“Where are you now?” He Heng ground out, his teeth clenched.
Bai Songyin answered immediately, “At the company’s dormitory.”
“Wait for me!”
He Heng grabbed a thick stack of documents from a bookshelf, storming out while muttering curses under his breath, “If I don’t drive that little demon away today, I’ll never be the number one manager in the industry!”
As he left, he bumped into several members of the Ruby boy band.
One of them, known for his social prowess, greeted He Heng with a radiant smile, “Brother He, off work?”
He Heng gave them a quick glance, his face darkening as he spat, “Useless!”
The six band members stood there, confused: ???
He Heng continued to scold, “You six can’t even keep Su Ran’s heart, and now someone else is stealing it? You’re all bound to end up as discarded wives!” After finishing his rant, he stormed off.
The six of them, like stray dogs kicked on the street, stood bewildered. “What’s going on? What’s got our manager so worked up? Did someone push him to his breaking point?”
Ten minutes later, He Heng slammed his fist against the door of the company dormitory.
Bai Songyin opened the door, only to be greeted by his manager’s stormy face. He Heng marched in with cold authority, surveying the room before asking, “Where is he?”
“Who?”
He Heng repeated each word slowly, “The one that Su Ran personally brought here, with the very close relationship…”
The door to the guest room opened. A young man, freshly changed into a white shirt, walked out. He Heng’s voice stopped dead.
The person’s figure was slender, with pale skin and a strikingly beautiful face that could capture anyone’s attention. Yet, his aura was cold and aloof, like a crescent moon in the sky, unreachable. His pitch-black eyes glanced at He Heng indifferently. He Heng subconsciously tensed his body.
He felt like an open book, his entire life flipped through in an instant, completely defenseless and exposed.
The person asked him, “Are you the boss of Xiao Ran’s company?”
“…I’m his manager.” He Heng instinctively responded.
“Sit.” Su Weisheng slightly raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit down. He himself sat on the opposite side of the sofa. He pointed to the file He Heng was carefully holding in his arms, “What’s that?”
He Heng blurted out, “Su Ran’s dirt!” Only after saying it did he realize he had been led by the nose. He watched the young man across from him warily. This person, both in terms of presence and appearance, was obviously not Su Ran’s lover. More importantly, this person seemed to have some sort of power over him. During their standoff, if he wasn’t careful, his mind could easily be controlled.
He asked, “Who are you? What’s your relationship with Su Ran?”
Su Weisheng glanced at Bai Songyin.
The assistant, eager to please, brought over a new drink and then nudged He Heng. “Brother He, don’t be so rude. That’s Brother Ran’s great-great-grandfather.”
“Great… great-grandfather?”
He Heng: ???
— Are you kidding me?!
Su Ran already forgot his ancestor can make him kneel by sheer pressure, hr rl forgets pain fast