A Plan for the Old Man
On the tenth day after Luo Lan arrived in this world, he decided to take the old man mountain climbing.
He’d already gone to scout the place.
The old man lived in a villa halfway up the mountain. Following the winding road uphill, you came to a stretch of dense forest, with a lake nestled among the trees. The day before Luo Lan went to check it out, it had rained in the mountains, leaving the ground around the lake slippery.
The old man had a camera. When the time came, Luo Lan could have him stand by the lake and take some pictures…
Who was the old man?
He was the father of the original owner whose body Luo Lan had transmigrated into, the chairman of Yuantang Group, and the source of Luo Lan’s biggest headache.
It all went back to ten days earlier.
Ten days ago, Luo Lan had transmigrated into this leveling novel. The original owner had died suddenly, just like that, leaving Luo Lan a mess to clean up.
Luo Lan had automatically inherited the original owner’s memories, along with the plot. The original owner was the son of Luo Yuntang, chairman of Yuantang Group. He was rich and handsome, yet had fallen for a man. That man was Jin Fengqi, the novel’s protagonist.
At the time, Jin Fengqi was a senior in college. He’d made a name for himself on a talent show, catching the original owner’s eye. The original owner had gone out of his way to set up a studio for him and sign him. The original owner had been generous with money and resources, but lacked the skill to manage things properly. In just a year, he’d taken Jin Fengqi from a promising talent to someone so obscure he might as well have ceased to exist.
After transmigrating, Luo Lan had looked into the studio’s past business dealings and immediately found plenty of problems. It turned out that although the original owner had signed Jin Fengqi, he’d had his own agenda. He’d worried that if Jin Fengqi became famous and got too big for his boots, Jin Fengqi would kick him to the curb. So he’d kept his options open and made sure the resources he gave Jin Fengqi were never anything special.
Luo Lan couldn’t help thinking the original owner had been a fool. Jin Fengqi was the protagonist, after all. Even if the original owner handled things that way, all he could do was delay the man a little. A phoenix was bound to take flight sooner or later.
Besides, Jin Fengqi didn’t like him. The original owner had money and looks. Why go to such lengths?
After transmigrating, Luo Lan had wanted to cut his losses. He had money and looks. There were plenty of other things he could do. But some unseen force, the plot will, wouldn’t let him. He had to follow the original novel’s plot and make Jin Fengqi famous, or the plot will would erase him.
When Luo Lan realized this, a chill ran through him.
He had a theory.
The original owner had been in good health. The family had a doctor on call, and he’d had a checkup every six months. There was no reason for him to die suddenly. The only possibility was that he hadn’t followed the plot will and worked to make the protagonist famous. Instead, he’d let his own selfish desires take over, trying to clip the protagonist’s wings and gradually make him his own. So the plot will had erased him.
And as Luo Lan took in the original owner’s memories, they seemed to be viewed from a god’s-eye perspective. As if… as if they were just a past that had been arranged in advance, and the original owner was an outsider, not the one who’d lived through them.
So Luo Lan suspected that perhaps the original owner, like him, had been an outsider who’d transmigrated into this world, tasked with moving the plot along. It was a wild, far-fetched theory, but not impossible. There was no way for Luo Lan to find out now.
Luo Lan had latched onto one thing: he had to play his role as cannon fodder in the book to the letter, do his best to make Jin Fengqi famous, and be his simp.
In the original novel, once Jin Fengqi became a triple-award film emperor, he couldn’t wait to terminate his contract with “Luo Lan.”
What happened to “Luo Lan” after that was brushed aside in a single line. The author said only that the Luo family had suffered a sudden upheaval and that he had gone abroad, and never mentioned him again. This disposable simp had probably served out his cannon-fodder duty. The author’s mercy lay in not having him completely destroyed.
Luo Lan couldn’t help sighing. He used to enjoy reading these leveling novels on Qidian, but it was depressing to be the protagonist’s stepping stone. Still, looking on the bright side, once Jin Fengqi became a triple-award film emperor, Luo Lan could make his exit. The author had written that the Luo family would suffer a major upheaval, but even a starved camel was still bigger than a horse. If Luo Lan saved up a little more money, he could still live pretty comfortably.
With his plan in place, Luo Lan accepted his cannon-fodder role and decided to map out Jin Fengqi’s career properly, helping him claim the triple-award film emperor title as early as possible.
The next day, Jin Fengqi came to see him with a request. “Have you heard about the Clever Miss project? I want to play Wu Ling, the second male lead.”
Luo Lan had only been here for two days and wasn’t familiar with the new project, Clever Miss. After looking into it, he found out that Wu Ling had already been cast.
“I’ve been signed with you for almost a year. I’ve acted in a few shows, but I haven’t gotten a single decent role…” Jin Fengqi stood in front of Luo Lan’s desk. “Whether you did it on purpose or just couldn’t get me good resources, I’m not going to pursue it. Clever Miss is only a web drama, and Wu Ling isn’t exactly a hotly contested role. It shouldn’t be hard for you to get me the role, should it? Is there really nothing you can do?”
Luo Lan looked at Jin Fengqi.
Objectively speaking, Jin Fengqi was a real beauty. His features were fine and striking, his lips red and his teeth white. His slender build still had a hint of boyishness, while his slender dark brows and sparkling glances were full of spirit, and his eyes were like shimmering autumn water. Even his faintest smile seemed to hold a deep tenderness.
But Jin Fengqi was very cold toward “Luo Lan.” For one thing, the original owner had been such an embarrassing simp that it was hard to stomach. For another, Jin Fengqi was the protagonist, naturally brilliant, and had long since worked out the original owner’s ulterior motives.
He bitterly regretted failing to see through “Luo Lan” before signing with him, and nearly a year of wallowing in terrible dramas had left him more and more disheartened.
Wu Ling in Clever Miss was his last desperate attempt.
Jin Fengqi had already figured out how to force Luo Lan to agree. What he hadn’t expected was for Luo Lan to nod without hesitation.
“I’ll get it for you,” Luo Lan said firmly, without a trace of doubt. “The role of Wu Ling will definitely be yours.”
Luo Lan had spent years at the top of the sales world. He might not have been number one, but he’d never fallen out of the top three. He was exceptionally good at dealing with people. Salespeople sold products, and agents, when you got right down to it, polished stars until they gleamed and “sold” them too. Even though he’d changed fields, Luo Lan wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
Clever Miss was a Zhixin Media project, and Zhixin Media had close business ties with Yuantang Group, the company of Luo Lan’s father, Luo Yuntang.
Using that connection, Luo Lan successfully persuaded Zhang Chi, the producer of Clever Miss, to give Jin Fengqi the role of Wu Ling.
On the fifth day, Zhixin Media signed a contract with the studio.
On the seventh day, Jin Fengqi joined the cast.
After two days on set, Jin Fengqi had taken his costume photos, the production had officially launched, and the cast and crew were gathered for a script reading when Zhang Chi came to find Luo Lan.
Luo Lan’s father, Luo Yuntang, had called and told Zhang Chi to replace Jin Fengqi. The production had already launched, but shooting hadn’t started yet, so replacing an actor wouldn’t be a problem. Zhang Chi had agreed to give Luo Lan the role in the first place out of deference to Luo Yuntang. Now that Luo Yuntang had personally given the order, Zhang Chi had no choice but to talk it over with Luo Lan.
Looking troubled, Zhang Chi said, “Luo Lan, go home and talk it over with your family. I’ll hold the role of Wu Ling for you for two days. If you can’t convince your dad by then, we’ll have to recast.”
Luo Yuntang had never wanted his son to get involved in the entertainment industry. What’s more, in the past year, Luo Lan’s studio had made no progress at all and had only been losing money.
So when Luo Yuntang heard that Luo Lan had used his name to ask Zhang Chi for a role, he was very displeased. The person who’d passed the news along had embellished the story, also telling him about the original owner’s simping. Luo Yuntang had been so enraged that he called Zhang Chi immediately.
On the ninth day, Jin Fengqi’s work was put on hold, and Luo Lan prepared to go home.
Before leaving, he promised Jin Fengqi he’d take care of the matter as soon as possible and told him to spend the next two days going over his lines and getting ready.
Jin Fengqi’s beautiful face gave nothing away, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes. He said nothing, only asking his assistant, Chen Song, to drive Luo Lan home.
Luo Lan sat in the car, thinking about the expression Jin Fengqi had worn just now.
As he drove, Chen Song said, “Boss Luo, Brother Jin’s had it rough. He was over the moon when you got him the role of Wu Ling… Now the role’s gone again. He must be crushed!”
“Just call me boss. You don’t have to call me Boss Luo. It makes me sound old. Isn’t that why I’m going home now, to sort out the role?”
“Really?” Chen Song clearly didn’t believe him.
Luo Lan could only sigh. It seemed the original owner had been such a jerk that making promises he never kept must have been a regular thing.
He changed the subject and asked Chen Song to pull over by the roadside. Then he went into a health-products shop and bought some nutritional supplements to take home.
The Luo family villa stood halfway up the mountain. Chen Song drove up to the entrance, and Luo Lan told him to head back. Carrying the supplements, he set off toward the villa.
Chen Song swung the car around and drove off. Luo Lan had barely taken two steps when it started raining. He gave a dry laugh, not at all surprised. He’d been plagued by bad luck since childhood. It had troubled him for a while, until his chuunibyou phase began. Then this very uniqueness only made him all the more convinced that he was the chosen one!
Yes, although he was already an adult and looked sweet and well-behaved, inside Luo Lan was still a teenage boy with delusions of grandeur. He didn’t think there was anything strange about that. The chosen one could bend and stretch as needed. He just had to keep up his sweet, quiet façade and make sure no one found out.
So when he discovered he’d transmigrated into a book, he’d felt, if anything, a strange calm: “Ah, so this day has finally come.”
He hurried to the gate of the Luo family villa. The rain stopped just as the gatekeeper ushered him inside.
Following the route in the original owner’s memories, Luo Lan headed toward the main house.
When the housekeeper saw him come back drenched, she hurried to run him a bath and get him some clean clothes.
“Is my dad home?”
“Mr. Luo won’t be back until this evening.”
Luo Lan nodded, went upstairs, and got into the bath. Halfway through, the water heater broke. By now, he was used to these aggravations. He dried off, changed, and went into the original owner’s bedroom.
He had the original owner’s memories, so the room felt familiar. The housekeeper cleaned it every day, and it was neat and tidy. Of course, that was also because the original owner rarely stayed here.
After reaching adulthood, the original owner had moved out of the villa and bought an apartment not far from the studio. It was a full hundred and sixty square meters. Now it was where Luo Lan and Jin Fengqi lived together. The original owner had used the lack of staff quarters at the company as an excuse to get Jin Fengqi to share the apartment with him.
After transmigrating, Luo Lan had spent one night there and never wanted to go back.
Not that there was anything wrong with the apartment. It was just that the original owner had filled the bedroom with Jin Fengqi’s photos, pillows, and personal belongings!
Thank goodness there was nothing like that in this bedroom at the old house. Otherwise, if he woke in the middle of the night and saw Jin Fengqi staring back at him from the wall, he’d be bound to have nightmares.
Luo Lan sat down at the desk and got to work.
At that moment, there were ten hours left before Luo Lan planned to put his mountain-climbing scheme into action.