Mo Ming first met Zhou Xu at the KTV where he worked.
The KTV owner told Han Shao Zhou that it was rare to see a big star in such a remote and impoverished place, so the event left a deep impression on him.
After the event, the team that had accompanied the star came to the KTV to relax. The owner didn’t notice how Zhou Xu and Mo Ming started talking, but by the time he found out, Mo Ming had already resigned.
Later, the owner heard from another kid that Zhou Xu had sponsored their education—not just Mo Ming, but all the underage workers at the KTV.
But none of the other kids were as smart as Mo Ming.
He had dropped out of school early and was far behind in his studies, but he managed to catch up quickly, skipping grades to match his peers.
After his father found out that Mo Ming was being sponsored, he constantly harassed Mo Ming for money, even causing such a scene at school that Mo Ming was forced to drop out and work.
During the last two years before the college entrance exams, Mo Ming left his county school and disappeared from the town.
Some people saw him with a backpack, boarding a private car in the middle of the night.
There were rumors that he had run away with a wealthy man from the city, or that he had transferred schools to escape his father’s harassment.
Whether he continued his studies, got into college, or how he lived after that, no one knew.
Han Shao Zhou had investigated Mo Ming’s school records before he moved to Chuanhai, knowing that Mo Ming had indeed transferred schools with Zhou Xu’s help.
He suddenly realized that the rumors about Mo Ming running off with a wealthy man referred to Zhou Xu, though not in the sordid way people in the town had imagined.
In fact, if it hadn’t been for Zhou Xu, that teenager might have been lost to this remote town.
In the dim, snowy night, Han Shao Zhou had Ah De pry open the lock on the Qiu family’s house.
What was likely Mo Ming’s old room had long since become a storage space for junk. Cobwebs clung to the corners, and dust coated the walls.
On the farthest wall, a few yellowed certificates of merit were still stuck up. Ah De cleared a path for Han Shao Zhou, who walked over to the broken, dusty desk.
The surface was covered in faded stickers of pop stars. Han Shao Zhou wiped away the dust, revealing the faint outline of Zhou Xu’s face on one of them.
He felt as if he could see through a swirling vortex of time, back to when the young boy was hunched over the desk, studying hard with these stickers as his inspiration.
It was like a beacon of light in the darkness of his difficult youth.
Han Shao Zhou realized he didn’t even need to consider the difference between himself and Zhou Xu; even having the thought was naive.
Mo Ming would never compare anyone else to Zhou Xu on an equal level.
That boy had been given a galaxy by Zhou Xu; why would he care about the dim starlight others could offer?
His sincere feelings for Mo Ming, beyond his own self-pity, were truly worth nothing.
Nothing at all…
In the drawer of the desk, Han Shao Zhou found a two-inch photo of Mo Ming wearing a blue and white school uniform. The boy had a hint of baby fat on his cheeks, but his dark eyes were full of cold determination, with little light in them.
Han Shao Zhou held the small photo in his palm, as if trying to warm it with his own body heat.
The snow continued to fall throughout the night.
By 3 a.m., lying in his hotel room, Han Shao Zhou was still restless. He kept searching for information and photos of Zhou Xu on his phone, as if torturing himself over and over. All that was left was an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
His heart ached for Mo Ming, to the point where it felt like it was bleeding. But he was also afraid—afraid that he couldn’t change anything, that he was destined to gain nothing…
Whatever little confidence he had left when he found out he was a stand-in had completely evaporated by the end of this trip.
After Mo Ming signed on for “Temperature,” Liu He Kun took him to various events, making other young actors in the industry green with envy.
Everyone had initially assumed that the role of the male lead in “Temperature” would undoubtedly go to Wen Ci; it seemed like a sure thing.
But who would have thought that the once top-tier star who could effortlessly secure any resource would now lose out to a small actor who had once been considered his inferior?
Was it because his talent was lacking, or because he had lost the support of the capital behind him?
Most people guessed it was the latter since it had been a long time since they had seen the young master from the Han family lavish money on Wen Ci.
The tabloids couldn’t even catch a picture of them together anymore, whereas in the past, related gossip would top the trending lists every other day.
The casting of “Temperature” sparked quite a bit of debate online.
Annoyed by the lack of positive comments about her son, Shen Peiling tossed her phone aside and began complaining about her husband’s business skills.
Recently, the Wen family’s company had hit a rough patch. They sought help from the Han family patriarch but received no response, leaving Shen Peiling anxious.
She and her husband were both painters in their early years; they had stumbled through business ventures by sheer luck, with the Han family handling things behind the scenes.
When they left Chuanhai for Y Country, they had nearly lost everything.
Now that they were back, they hoped to rely on the Han family once more to regain their footing.
Without the Han family’s support, they wouldn’t be able to establish themselves in Chuanhai’s upper echelons again.
They wouldn’t be able to return to Champagne Hills, and they wouldn’t even be able to afford their current villa…
“Xiao Han actually turned against us for Mo Ming. It’s unbelievable…” Shen Peiling said. “I still need to find a way to see the old man. He used to like our Wen Ci a lot. If he decides Wen Ci is the one for the Han family, do you think Xiao Han can defy him?”
“Forget it, don’t make things worse. Have you forgotten how Xiao Han treated Wen Ci at the hospital that day?”
“That’s because he’s been blinded by that Mo Ming. Wait until Mo Ming’s true nature is exposed. Do you think Xiao Han will still want him then?” Shen Peiling retorted. “Families like the Han family care deeply about their reputation. Han Changzong may be old, but do you think he’s shameless? Do you think he’ll allow his grandson to bring something so dirty into the family?”
Shen Peiling had already prepared for this. Two days later, at a grand charity gala for the entertainment industry, she knew Liu He Kun would be bringing Mo Ming as a guest. She and her husband, leveraging Wen Ci’s fame in the industry, had successfully secured an invitation.
It was a golden opportunity. With dozens of media outlets present and countless entertainment industry elites in attendance, even the slightest commotion would spread across the internet like wildfire.
The snow had stopped.
Mo Ming was walking Xiao Han downstairs, letting the dog play in the snow. Xiao Han was rolling around, his gray fur almost turning white as he barked excitedly.
Bundled up in a hat, mask, and scarf, Mo Ming’s entire body was covered, with only his eyes visible. When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled down his mask, bit off one of his gloves, and fished the phone out of his down jacket.
“…Yes, I understand.”
Mo Ming crouched down and scratched Xiao Han under the chin, his dark eyes reflecting the cold light of the snow. “Proceed as planned. Make sure it plays out in the most embarrassing way possible.”
Author’s Note: In the next few chapters, we’ll finally deal with the characters everyone dislikes…