In another villa area, in a guest room at the northwest corner of the Zhou family’s new residence, an old man wrapped in a thick blanket, with disheveled hair, wailed as he leaped from the bed and frantically rummaged through his luggage. When he spotted the mirror buried at the bottom of his suitcase, a flicker of joy appeared on his face, twisted with pain.
But as the mirror reflected his face, it suddenly cracked, falling to the ground and shattering into pieces. The old man froze for a moment before descending into madness once more, his screams now filled with utter despair.
The Zhou family, hearing the commotion, rushed over. Pushing the door open, they found the old man lying on the floor, grinning foolishly, with drool and mucus smeared all over his face—he had gone completely mad.
“What… what happened? Master, what’s wrong with you?” Zhou Xingwen was shocked by the sight and hurried forward to help the old man up, but the man continued to giggle insanely.
This master had been hired at great expense from the southwest. With just a few moves, he had thrown Gu Changqing into disarray. The master had promised that Gu Changqing would face ruin and the collapse of his family within days. Zhou Xingwen had been eagerly awaiting the spectacle, but now the old man had suddenly lost his mind!
He was ruthless and capable, clearly more skilled than Gu Changqing. Yet, simply because Gu Changqing came from a privileged background, Zhou Xingwen had struggled his entire life without ever catching up to him. That piece of land—he had wanted it too, but in the end, it had fallen into Gu Changqing’s hands!
Now, even the master he had hired had gone mad. Was fate truly so unfair?
Just as Zhou Xingwen was grinding his teeth in frustration, a sudden gust of wind blew, slamming the door shut with a heavy thud.
Then, he heard a sinister chuckle echo in his ear. Terrified, Zhou Xingwen tried to open the door and escape, but found it impossible to pull open no matter how hard he tried.
“Who is it? Who’s playing these ghostly tricks?” Zhou Xingwen shouted, his legs trembling.
“Zhou Xingwen, don’t you recognize my voice?” A chilling voice echoed through the room. Zhou Xingwen followed the sound and looked down—in the shattered fragments of the mirror on the floor, he saw the face of his deceased father staring back at him…
After the paper figurine burned away, Qi Yuqiu clapped his hands. “All done.”
Seeing that everything had calmed down, Gu Changqing let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mr. Qi. You’ve worked hard.”
Night had fallen completely, and with no one else at home, Gu Changqing intended to invite Qi Yuqiu to dine elsewhere. However, Qi Yuqiu, thinking he had been out all day and that it wouldn’t be good to stay away overnight as well, declined. “Someone is waiting for me at home. I should head back.”
Gu Changqing teased with a sly smile, “I never expected someone as young as you, Mr. Qi, to already be married. I wonder which fortunate young lady had the luck to marry someone as capable and family-oriented as you.”
Qi Yuqiu felt too embarrassed to admit that he was the one who had been “married off,” so he vaguely brushed off the comment.
Gu Changqing personally escorted Qi Yuqiu to the entrance of Yuhe Bay. Seeing that Qi Yuqiu lived in such an exclusive, high-value area, he wasn’t surprised. Instead, he thought to himself that being a celebrity must merely be a hobby for Mr. Qi. Living in a place like this, how could he possibly care about that bit of money?
Qi Yuqiu, however, would have admitted that he truly did care about that bit of money…
After getting out of the car, Gu Changqing smiled and said, “It’s too late today, so I won’t disturb you and your wife any further.”
He then handed Qi Yuqiu a red envelope. “Since you enjoy acting, it just so happens that an old friend of mine has a son who runs a small company. I’ll put in a word with him when I get back and keep an eye out for any good productions for you.”
After Gu Changqing left, Qi Yuqiu held the red envelope with a complicated expression. He had actually wanted to refuse—when it came to acting, he really wasn’t cut out for it!
He opened the red envelope and found, besides a check, that dragon-shaped ancient jade. The check was for three million, while this piece of ancient jade had originally cost Gu Changchun five million to purchase.
Calculating it this way, he had earned eight million in just one day out.
Qi Yuqiu’s expression remained indifferent. Money, in his eyes now, was merely a meaningless string of numbers.
Anyway, this three million had nothing to do with him—it all had to go toward repaying debts.
Liu Hao dutifully waited at the entrance of the residential area. Upon seeing Qi Yuqiu, he approached, escorted him to the courtyard gate, and then left.
He knocked on the door, and the one who answered was not Min Yu, but an elderly man with neatly combed gray hair.
As soon as the old man saw him, he forced a very unnatural smile: “Has the young mistress returned?”
Qi Yuqiu: ?
What nonsense is this?
“Come in quickly. Dinner is already prepared, just waiting for you to return.” The old man opened the door and stepped aside to let Qi Yuqiu in.
The old man continued speaking on his own, his expression becoming much more natural as he earnestly advised: “Young couples must live together and spend time together to nurture their feelings. The young master may seem cold on the surface, but deep down, he cares about you very much. He specifically instructed the kitchen to prepare lily root and pig trotter stew for you.”
As he spoke, he cautiously and curiously glanced at Qi Yuqiu’s stomach.
Qi Yuqiu: …
Alright, it seemed this old man was also in the know about his “pregnancy.”
Upon entering the dining room, Qi Yuqiu immediately spotted Min Yu sitting at the table, while the housekeeper was bringing dishes to the table.
“Where did you go?” Min Yu scooped a bowl of pig trotter soup and placed it in front of him.
Qi Yuqiu: “Just went out for a stroll.”
Min Yu smiled but said nothing.
The evening meal was fairly normal—four dishes and one soup. Qi Yuqiu was so hungry his stomach growled, and without bothering to exchange pleasantries with Min Yu, he picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
The dishes contained many shredded scallions and ginger, which he annoyingly picked out one by one. Soon, a small pile of scallion and ginger shreds accumulated in the dish in front of him.
“You don’t eat scallions or ginger?” Min Yu asked. Seeing Qi Yuqiu nod, he asked Auntie to quickly prepare two more simple dishes.
Just as Qi Yuqiu was growing impatient from picking out the ingredients, two small plates of scallion- and ginger-free dishes were brought over. He gratefully smiled at Min Yu and proceeded to finish all the dishes along with a small bowl of rice.
Uncle Liu happily remarked: “Eating more is good. At times like this, you should eat more to replenish nutrients.”
Qi Yuqiu: …
He patted his stomach—he had eaten so much that his belly was slightly bulging!
After dinner, under the arrangement of the butler Uncle Liu, the two sat together in the living room to “nurture their feelings.”
Uncle Liu said that the first step in nurturing feelings was to understand each other. The old man had gone to great lengths to collect all of Qi Yuqiu’s works since his debut. As soon as the two sat on the sofa, he selected one of them to play.
As the cheerful and silly theme song played, Uncle Liu cheerfully sat on a nearby sofa, leaving the long sofa for the two of them.
Qi Yuqiu watched with great interest. In the past, when he and his master went down the mountain to handle matters, he had also watched operas at other people’s homes, but he couldn’t understand them—he could only enjoy the spectacle. This so-called television drama, however, was something he could understand at a glance.
Uncle Liu had chosen a low-budget idol drama, telling the story of a Cinderella-like female lead and a wealthy male lead—clichéd and poorly produced. The actors in it even brought their own costumes, and the original Qi Yuqiu’s peculiar taste was vividly reflected in this drama.
During a break from work, Min Yu looked up and saw Qi Yuqiu on TV wearing a pink shirt and brown skinny pants, putting on an exaggeratedly flirtatious expression.
He was startled and quickly averted his eyes. Only when he saw the fresh-faced young man sitting beside him in a white shirt and jeans did he breathe a sigh of relief.
It was better when things were normal. If Qi Yuqiu really wore the outfit from the TV show, Min Yu couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t throw him out.
“In the future, don’t join any production team that can’t even afford a stylist,” Min Yu said, glancing back at the screen where Qi Yuqiu was sitting on the floor, making exaggerated faces and wailing loudly. It was truly… an eyesore!
Qi Yuqiu, who had been watching with great interest, let out a confused “Huh?” at his words. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll take on fewer acting roles in the future.”
He had originally thought acting was something he could learn with a bit of practice. But now he realized that the skill of bursting into loud sobs on command was something he simply couldn’t master.
For him to take on acting roles would only be torturing himself and dragging others down.
Min Yu was taken aback. His intention had been to point out that such productions offered little benefit and that it would be better to participate in more high-quality projects.
He had expected Qi Yuqiu to seize the opportunity to ask for resources. If he had, Min Yu wouldn’t have minded—arranging a few substantial scripts for him would have been as easy as saying a word. But once again, this little guy had surprised him.
After one episode ended, Qi Yuqiu was still engrossed in the show. Uncle Liu turned to Min Yu and praised, “The young mistress acted really well.”
Min Yu sighed helplessly. “Uncle Liu, how many times have I told you not to call him ‘young mistress’? And your reading glasses are right next to the TV. Remember to wear them next time you watch.”
Uncle Liu chuckled. “I can see just fine! Little Qi’s acting is great—so lively!”
It was indeed lively, in a noisy sort of way. Min Yu glanced at the young man, who was still staring intently at the screen without a hint of embarrassment, and shook his head with a smile.
“Alright, it’s time to rest,” Min Yu said, turning off the TV. The cacophony of wailing from the show finally stopped.
Uncle Liu nodded in agreement. “It’s getting late. Little Qi, hurry off to bed. And you, young master, go with him and keep him company.”
Watching the two head upstairs, Uncle Liu smiled and sighed. His young master finally had a family now. Once a little young master was born, it would be a perfect family!
Upstairs, Min Yu walked Qi Yuqiu to his bedroom door. Looking down at him, he said, “I saw the video. You saved that child—you did very well.”
While at work today, Min Yu had overheard people discussing Qi Yuqiu’s rescue and decided to look it up online. To his surprise, he saw a side of Qi Yuqiu he had never seen before.
In the video, this nineteen-year-old young man was calm, composed, confident, and decisive—completely overturning Min Yu’s previous impression of him. This person was entirely different from the Qi Yuqiu he thought he knew.
Qi Yuqiu scratched his head. It was just something he did without thinking. Anyone would have done the same—no one could stand by and watch someone die. He just happened to know something others didn’t.
“Get some rest early,” Min Yu said, noticing the tips of the young man’s ears turning red again. Suddenly, he reached out and gently pinched Qi Yuqiu’s earlobe.
Qi Yuqiu touched his earlobe in confusion. What was wrong with this guy? Why was he touching his earlobe?
Seeing his reaction, Min Yu felt a mischievous urge. With a faint smile, he said, “Logically speaking, since we’re married, we should share a room—”
Here it comes! Qi Yuqiu looked at him warily. Had Min Yu taken a liking to him after just a few meetings?
His earlier worries had been completely justified!
“Um, no way!” Qi Yuqiu stammered. Just kidding—he, the revered ancestor of Qingyang Mountain, sharing… sharing a room with someone?!
Min Yu suppressed a smile and said, “But considering your ‘pregnancy,’ we’ll have to make do with sleeping separately for now.”
“Goodnight.” Min Yu opened the door for him, and after Qi Yuqiu entered, he casually closed it.
Only then did Qi Yuqiu let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Min Yu still had some sense of propriety; otherwise, if he got angry and ended up beating the guy to a pulp, it would be a real shame.