Ren Cha waited for a long time at the club, but Liu Lanci never came. He smashed everything in sight.
If it weren’t for the fact that Liu Lanci looked a lot like that person from his childhood, how could he possibly have this much patience? Truly ungrateful.
“Young Master Ren, calm your anger,” the bodyguard leader advised before having the club staff clean up the room.
Just as Ren Cha’s anger subsided a bit, he received a text message from Liu Lanci containing only three simple words: Not coming.
What kind of tricks was this person playing again? Did he think he was some kind of celestial being? He had better pray that Shen Nanxian, his protective umbrella, wasn’t someone who easily tired of the old and craved the new.
His anger flared up again. He picked up a cup and hurled it toward the doorway, accidentally striking Ren’s father right on the head.
“You little punk, causing trouble day in and day out. Starting today, all your cards are frozen.”
Ren’s father rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a stick, and severely disciplined Ren Cha, this unfilial son.
Meanwhile, Shen Nanxian brought Liu Lanci to the hospital.
Liu’s mother lay in bed with her wrists bandaged. This was her second suicide attempt. She didn’t want to make things too hard for her son, and this illness was just too difficult to cure.
“Mom!” Liu Lanci choked out, rushing to throw himself over the hospital bed.
Hearing her son’s call, Liu’s mother slowly turned around. Upon seeing the person clearly before her, she immediately sat up.
“Cici, you’re here.”
Holding Liu Lanci, Liu’s mother’s mood improved a bit, but deep down she still felt immense guilt. Her child had suffered so bitterly because of her, enduring cold glances from others since he was little. Now that their life was finally getting a bit better, she had fallen ill, and with such a money-draining disease, no less.
At this thought, she felt she had failed her son.
“Mom!” Liu Lanci gently hugged his mother, his heart warming up considerably. Even though he didn’t have a father, he had a mother who loved him dearly.
Even though his mother was sick, he had already obtained the money to treat her. Thinking of this, Liu Lanci increasingly felt that Shen Nanxian was a good person. He didn’t make unwanted physical advances, respected his wishes, and even helped pay for his mother’s medical treatment.
“Mom is here. Who is this gentleman beside you? He looks so handsome.”
Liu’s mother noticed Shen Nanxian standing to the side, wearing a well-fitted suit and looking refined, cultivated, and enveloped in an air of nobility.
Hearing Liu’s mother’s words of praise, Shen Nanxian wore a warm smile on his face: “Hello, Auntie. Just call me Nanxian. I’m Lanci’s friend and boss.”
A trace of doubt lingered in Liu’s mother’s eyes. “A boss? To be a boss at such a young age makes you a very impressive person. How did you and our Cici meet?”
She couldn’t help but overthink. Her son was an ordinary person, while this man clearly looked like someone of high status. The two of them didn’t look like they would ever cross paths.
Without changing expression, Shen Nanxian spouted nonsense: “Auntie, Lanci and I met at the company. I really admire his talent. He’s wonderful.”
“Company? Cici found a job? That’s wonderful. What kind of job is it?”
“It’s at an entertainment company.” Seeing the probing look in his mother’s eyes, Liu Lanci’s brain spun at high speed, coming up with a somewhat reasonable explanation.
“I see. It’s Mom who dragged you down.”
Liu’s mother interrupted Liu Lanci. She felt everything now made sense, realizing why the hospital hadn’t been pressing them for medical fees lately, and why a specialist had suddenly come to examine her.
Her son was good-looking, and talent scouts often approached him, but Cici hadn’t wanted to be a celebrity and just wanted a quiet life. It seemed the child had chosen to become a celebrity after all, just for her sake.
“Yes, he’s going to be very popular in the future.” Shen Nanxian didn’t blush or skip a beat. As long as Liu Lanci spoke the word, he would give him anything he wanted. Wasn’t it just an entertainment company? He’d go back and start one right away.
Liu Lanci remained silent. His mother clearly had a renewed will to live. He couldn’t speak the truth and make her worry. He just didn’t know what Mr. Shen would think of him, wondering if he would view him as a habitual liar.
Yet under the present circumstances, what else could he do besides lie? He couldn’t possibly tell his mother: Mom, I’ve been kept as a kept man! Even though that would break her heart, he truly had no other choice if he wanted to save her life.
He took a deep breath and looked at Shen Nanxian. His eyes conveyed the words thank you, but they were also filled with unease.
Shen Nanxian’s smile remained plastered across his face, as if everything were entirely within his grasp: “Auntie, rest assured and focus on the treatment! You don’t need to worry about the expenses.”
Liu’s mother felt as though she was being led around by the nose by this extraordinary young man. He left a stellar impression, and his financial standing was clearly substantial.
She still felt something was amiss, and an answer hovered on the edge of her mind, but taking a closer look at her son’s expression, he didn’t look like someone who was being forced.
Her Cici’s path ahead wouldn’t be easy.
Liu’s mother sighed and said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll have to trouble Mr. Shen. Mr. Shen is a good person, right?”
With a gentle smile, Shen Nanxian said, “Auntie, you flatter me!”
In the system space, 222 watched the scene and felt it was unwatchable. If its host was a good person, its name would be spelled backward.
[Host, keep it up! Strive to win the mother-in-law’s favor, and marrying your wife later will be much easier.]
“222, you’ve got some nerve! You dare to arbitrarily hook me up in a marriage? Don’t forget the purpose of us coming to this world.”
On the surface, Shen Nanxian wore a smiling expression, while internally engaging in a debate with System 222.
In the end, it was a tie. System 222 certainly didn’t believe Shen Nanxian’s words. Having partnered with him for hundreds of years, it understood Shen Nanxian better than anyone else. He was a smiling tiger whose heart was dark enough to drip ink, treating everyone with icy detachment. In previous missions, it had never seen him invest this much care into any mission target.
Shen Nanxian’s own heart was somewhat unsettled as well. Asking himself honestly, was he really treating Liu Lanci this well just because Liu Lanci was his mission target?
Walking out of the hospital gates, Liu Lanci’s mood visibly brightened. A glimmer of the will to live had returned to his mother’s eyes. Though it was only a tiny glimmer, it was already wonderful.
“Lanci, do you want to be a celebrity?” Shen Nanxian pondered for a moment, breaking the quiet atmosphere first.
“I…”
Liu Lanci hesitated. Just as he opened his mouth, Shen Nanxian stopped him: “Let’s find a place to sit down and talk slowly.”
“Okay,” Liu Lanci agreed.
The two of them arrived at a nearby Chinese restaurant and chose a table by the window. Liu Lanci held a menu in his hands. He seemed somewhat nervous, and the sweat on his palms dampened the corner of the menu.
“I want to be a celebrity.”
Liu Lanci made up his mind. Although he hadn’t wanted to before, there was no better choice now. He didn’t want to be a caged canary, especially since Mr. Shen, his financial backer, didn’t even like him.