Shang Wan opened the character panel.
Fu Chen’s Bond Points collection progress was far ahead, already reaching 7.8.
After the System’s prompt sounded, the progress bar for the main characters also changed to 3/5.
Clearly, aside from Fu Chen, two other important characters were currently present at the Fu residence.
It was the perfect opportunity to complete tasks. Shang Wan subtly raised her gaze and met a pair of eyes that were curiously examining her.
One of the two people standing not far away had slightly narrowed phoenix eyes, the corners of his lips slightly upturned. At first glance, his face instinctively evoked the image of a frivolous and indulgent wealthy playboy, and his words only deepened this stereotype.
He scrutinized Shang Wan without restraint and asked Zhou Wei, “Assistant Zhou, who is this?”
Zhou Wei lowered his eyes and replied in a businesslike tone, “Young Master Fu, this is Miss Shang. Miss Shang is currently negotiating an important business matter with the Fu Group and has been invited as a guest to the Fu residence.”
Zhou Wei’s response was a typical piece of official rhetoric, but the person asking the question still keenly grasped the key point in his words.
He tilted his head slightly, the corners of his eyes lifting, his tone brimming with eager excitement as he pressed further, “Invited? Invited by whom? Was it my brother who invited Miss Shang? What kind of work could make him invite such a beautiful young lady to his home?”
Young Master Fu.
Brother.
From these two terms, Shang Wan figured out the identity of the person before her.
Fu Duo, the half-brother of the male lead, Fu Chen.
Beside her, Zhou Wei was somewhat overwhelmed by Fu Duo’s rapid-fire questioning and replied helplessly, “Young Master Fu, perhaps you should ask Mr. Fu yourself later.”
This was a polite way of saying “no comment.”
Fu Duo sighed in disappointment and complained, “If I dared to ask my brother about such gossip, he’d skin me alive.”
He spoke with an intimate and natural camaraderie.
Shang Wan watched quietly from the side, barely holding back a laugh.
Indeed, while reading the novel, Shang Wan had already witnessed Fu Duo’s ability to say the right thing to the right person and the wrong thing to the wrong person, but seeing it live was different from the impact of reading the text.
Even as an actress, she had never encountered someone so skilled at acting.
Fu Duo, one of the highly popular male supporting characters in the novel Star Path.
As the illegitimate son brought back to the Fu residence by his father only when Fu Chen was ten years old, Fu Duo’s appearance was ninety-nine percent inherited from his mother.
His eyes were bold and expressive, his demeanor unrestrained. Anyone seeing him for the first time couldn’t help but be stunned by his striking beauty.
Regardless of gender, he was simply too dazzling to look at directly.
In the eyes of everyone who knew him or didn’t, Fu Duo was a typical “brother-con.”
Since middle school, he had loved following Fu Chen around like a little sidekick.
Whenever Fu Chen fell ill, Fu Duo was always the first to appear at his bedside.
Even though his mother placed high hopes on him to seize the family fortune, during his senior-year internship and his first year working at the Fu Group, Fu Duo remained the most staunch supporter of Fu Chen within the entire company.
Fu Duo cared deeply about everything related to his brother.
Just like now, simply because Shang Wan seemed to be the first woman his brother had ever invited home, he poured out his curiosity in front of Zhou Wei without any restraint, like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.
But only Shang Wan knew:
Fu Duo was acting.
As a villain whose corruption value was maxed out from the start, Fu Duo was never the so-called “brother-con.”
The reason he paid such close attention to everything about his brother was simply because he wanted to take everything from him and trample him into the mud.
After all, they were both illegitimate sons of the Fu family. Why could Fu Chen enter the main house openly and rightfully become the heir of the Fu family, while he could only be the despised playboy?
Fu Duo thought, he would never accept this.
Interrupted by the suddenly appearing Fu Duo, who was bursting with curiosity and pressing for answers, Shang Wan’s mind stirred slightly. She opened the character panel to check Fu Duo’s Bond Points.
A large number appeared before her eyes.
Capture Progress, Fu Duo: 0.
Shang Wan: “…”
She knew it!
That damn drama queen!
Shang Wan gritted her teeth.
Since he had delivered himself right to her doorstep, if she couldn’t secure his Bond Points today, she wouldn’t bear the surname Shang!
With this thought, Shang Wan’s steps unconsciously began to falter.
Her feverish body, already struggling to withstand walking in the cold wind for so long, had earlier shown signs of her mind turning into a muddled mess. It was only the sense of crisis from being in an unfamiliar environment that kept her going.
Now, with just a deliberate moment of relaxation, she naturally stumbled and fell toward Fu Duo.
Unaware of the situation, Fu Duo saw Shang Wan falling toward him and instinctively reached out to support her arm, inadvertently pulling at her wound.
The wound, which had only been covered with a large sanitary pad to stop the bleeding, immediately reopened.
A few seconds later, faint traces of blood began to seep through the thin, light-colored sleeve of her shirt.
Shang Wan’s face turned deathly pale in an instant, and even her lips lost their last trace of color, making her look as though she had suffered a severe injury.
Beside her, Fu Duo, who had been fully immersed in playing the role of the good younger brother, was instantly shocked.
He stammered an explanation: “I-I-I… I didn’t mean to!”
Shang Wan was in so much pain that her head spun. It took her a long moment before she raised her face, pale as a corpse, and gave Fu Duo a very “green tea” smile.
She said, “It’s not your fault. I accidentally cut myself earlier.”
Fu Duo’s hand hovered above Shang Wan’s arm, unsure whether to raise it or lower it, completely at a loss.
He said, “You look seriously injured. Should I take you to see a doctor first?”
“No need.” Shang Wan took a breath and, as if unintentionally, wrapped her blood-stained coat tighter around herself. The thin collar of her shirt slipped slightly with her movement, just enough to reveal a section of her neck marked with bite marks.
Those were left last night when Fu Chen, under the influence of the drug, had pinned her down in the bathtub and bitten her.
Shang Wan looked at Fu Duo and said weakly, “It’s fine. President Fu has already arranged for a doctor. I’ll go get bandaged right away.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the System notification sounded in Shang Wan’s mind.
“Fu Duo’s Bond Points have increased to 2.1.”
Just as expected.
Compared to inviting someone who might be a potential business partner home to discuss work, it was this kind of ambiguous hint that truly piqued Fu Duo’s interest.
Shang Wan silently noted this down in her mind about Fu Duo.
Capture method: Make him think your relationship with Fu Chen is unusual.
Shang Wan had just discovered this Capture secret and was feeling quite pleased when, the next moment, she faced the consequences of her wound.
Her arm, which had been violently treated several times, persistently continued to bleed onto her sleeve, soon staining a large, irregular blood-red pattern on her light-colored shirt.
Shang Wan, battling a high fever while enduring blood loss and pain, suddenly felt a ringing in her ears and nearly collapsed to the ground.
At the critical moment, the gentleman who had just emerged from the corner of the corridor with Fu Duo but had been quietly watching Fu Duo and Shang Wan’s acting showdown subtly raised his hand, steadying Shang Wan’s swaying body.
He gestured for the gardener trimming the shrubs nearby in the Fu family courtyard to bring over a work chair, then signaled with his eyes for Shang Wan to sit and rest first.
Shang Wan slumped into the seat, her gaze finally shifting away from Fu Duo and being drawn to the person before her.
The moment her eyes settled on him, she swallowed hard, stunned for a second by his face, which resembled a masterpiece crafted by a divine creator.
Unlike Fu Duo’s flamboyant and unrestrained demeanor, the man before her had a jade-like complexion and an aloof expression, perfectly embodying the unattainable, lofty flower often depicted in romance novels.
Even after years of working in the entertainment industry, where she had encountered countless handsome men and beautiful women, Shang Wan couldn’t recall anyone more striking than him.
A few seconds later, she heard him say to Zhou Wei, “Assistant Zhou, it seems Miss Shang isn’t feeling well. Let’s have the doctor come and examine her.”
This man clearly held significant status in the Fu household.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Wei followed his instructions without hesitation and went to fetch the doctor.
Shang Wan let out a long sigh of relief.
Listen to his words!
Look at this man!
How considerate!
Shang Wan looked up gratefully, about to express her thanks, when suddenly, the System’s congratulatory announcement echoed in her mind:
“Congratulations, Host! The collection progress of the villain Gu Xun’s Bond Points is promising. Gu Xun’s current Bond Points have risen to 6. Your first-day Capture Progress has surpassed 87% of hosts. Your Capture journey is surprisingly smooth!”
Shang Wan: “?”
Baffled, she looked at the villain before her, whose Bond Points had inexplicably surged. The words of thanks stuck in her throat, leaving her unsure whether to speak or remain silent.
Then, Shang Wan saw the villain Gu Xun staring intently into her eyes. After a long pause, he said, “Miss Shang, your eyes are very beautiful.”
His tone was flat, as if he were merely discussing what to eat for dinner.
But Shang Wan was so startled by his words that she broke out in a cold sweat.
…She had been grateful too soon.
She knew it—there were hardly any normal people in this novel!
Gu Xun, the villain, was a tycoon in City A, as renowned as the male lead, Fu Chen.
A life winner who inherited a vast family business at a young age—and the most deeply disturbed character in the Star Path novel.
In a typical romance novel, the villain should be someone who loves the female lead unrequitedly, turns resentful, and becomes corrupted.
Alternatively, the villain should be cruel and brutal to others, reserving the only purity and sincerity in his heart for the female lead, tormented by love and wounded by affection.
But Gu Xun was different.
He was an outright psychopath.
Even after winning the female lead’s love, he was solely fixated on gouging out her eyes.
In the original novel, Gu Xun had a white moonlight who died of illness during their middle school years.
The novel didn’t elaborate much on this white moonlight. Shang Wan only knew she suffered from congenital leukemia and died on the operating table at the age of fifteen.
From then on, Gu Xun completed his descent into darkness.
Simply because the female lead had eyes strikingly similar to his white moonlight’s, Gu Xun kept her as a caged canary by his side.
After the female lead completely fell for him, Gu Xun used drugs to blind her and pushed her onto the operating table with a few calculated moves.
If Fu Chen hadn’t arrived in time, the female lead’s eyeballs would have been extracted and preserved as specimens.
Shang Wan clearly remembered the original novel’s description:
“Gu Xun hadn’t seen those eyes from his dreams for many years. He missed her so much that every crevice between his bones seemed to howl, and every heartbeat throbbed with pain.
“So, he couldn’t restrain himself.
“He wanted to completely dig out Shen Hui’s eyes, preserve them in formaldehyde, and have those eyes gaze at him ceaselessly.”
The afternoon sky gradually darkened. In the dimly lit corridor of the Fu residence, Shang Wan watched Gu Xun’s focused expression as he studied her eyes, her breath catching for two seconds.
Damn the author of Star Path!
How could someone have so many niche fetishes?
The men written were each crazier than the last!
Perhaps the terror in Shang Wan’s eyes was too obvious, as Gu Xun slightly curved his lips and apologized gently, “I’m sorry, I was being presumptuous.”
Shang Wan: “…”
That sounded even more terrifying.
Shang Wan swallowed hard, calming her breathing slightly, and forced out a dry laugh.
The smile on Gu Xun’s lips deepened.
He handed a business card to Shang Wan and said, “If you don’t mind, Miss Shang, after your injuries heal, you can contact my assistant. The marketing department is currently looking for a spokesperson who fits the brand image of the Gu Corporation. I think your appearance would be quite suitable.”
Shang Wan: “!”
Oh no, oh no! This cursed villain really wants to dig out her eyes!
In the original novel, when Gu Xun first met the female lead Shen Hui and was captivated by her eyes, which resembled those of his white moonlight, he used work as an excuse to hand her his business card exactly like this!