If there was one food in this world that Sheng Xun hated the most, it had to be stinky tofu.
Not long ago, Jiang Chu’s mother had come to visit him. She had wanted to sell stinky tofu here and it had been the first time Sheng Xun had gotten angry with Jiang Chu. After arguing and persuading him in every possible way, he had finally convinced Jiang Chu to refuse his mother’s request.
He had almost wanted Jiang Chu to sever ties with his mother entirely. He wished that, for the rest of his life, Jiang Chu would have absolutely nothing to do with stinky tofu.
What on earth had happened last night for Hua Shuming to suddenly ask him to bring stinky tofu?
Sheng Xun: “Hua Shuming, are you sick? You want to eat stinky tofu?”
Hua Shuming: “Huh? Don’t you dare talk about stinky tofu like that!”
Sheng Xun: “？？？”
Sheng Xun: “You really are sick!”
Hua Shuming was baffled.
“If you don’t want to bring it, then don’t. Why are you cursing at me?”
Sheng Xun endured it again and again, forcing down his irritation before asking, “Why did you suddenly feel like eating stinky tofu?”
Hua Shuming said, “Last night, Xia Hongyu and I took Jiang Chu back to the university and he treated us to stinky tofu. Ah! I had no idea stinky tofu could taste this good! It’s even better than the lobster at Waltz Restaurant! Now I feel like lobster is completely bland and tasteless.”
Sheng Xun immediately lost control of his voice.
“He actually treated you two to stinky tofu?!”
Jiang Chu clearly knew that Sheng Xun disliked the smell of stinky tofu lingering on him yet he had gone and eaten it anyway. Not only that, he had even taken Sheng Xun’s own friends along with him!
Was Jiang Chu trying to drive him to his grave?
Hua Shuming: “Why can’t he take us out to eat stinky tofu? What, is stinky tofu some kind of food that symbolizes your love? Is he only allowed to eat it with you?”
Just thinking about it made the stinky tofu he had eaten the previous night seem even more delicious.
Sheng Xun was so furious that he couldn’t find a response. He hung up on Hua Shuming directly, then called Jiang Chu.
Still, the call wouldn’t go through.
This time, he went straight to Jiang Chu’s dormitory to look for him.
Su Qingyu was woken up by the noise made by his roommate.
It was early summer, during the second semester of their fourth year and graduation was just around the corner.
There were six people in Jiang Chu’s dormitory. Some were away doing internships, some were preparing for the civil service and public institution examinations, while others had already secured recommendations for postgraduate study and gone out to enjoy themselves.
However, with the graduation ceremony approaching, people gradually began returning to the dormitory and the number of occupants slowly increased.
It had been a long time since Su Qingyu had slept in a room with other people. Early that morning, one of his roommates returned to the dormitory, dragging a suitcase behind him and easily woke him up.
He had only just sat up in his bed on the upper bunk when one of his roommates shouted excitedly, “Jiang Chu, you’re famous!”
Su Qingyu ran a hand through his messy hair. His voice was slightly hoarse from sleep as he asked, “What?”
His roommate replied, “Check Weibo! I really didn’t see this coming, Jiang Chu. You’ve completely shocked me!”
Moving a little slower than usual, Su Qingyu climbed down from the bed and picked up his phone from the desk, turning it on.
The video of him performing pole dancing at the bar the previous night had been uploaded to the internet.
Fill Xu Bar was very famous locally and had gained a fair amount of recognition nationwide as well. The bar frequently invited bands to perform live, so people often uploaded videos from inside the establishment onto the internet.
Eventually, the bar itself began operating a Weibo account to share these videos. Since bands and moderately well known singers frequently performed there, the account had accumulated quite a large following.
The moment the video of Su Qingyu dancing on the pole was posted, fans immediately began shouting, “Holy shit!”
Through the attention and reposts generated by those followers, the video climbed onto the trending searches overnight.
It happened to be the beginning of summer, when idol trainee survival and debut competition shows were starting to become popular. Su Qingyu’s pole dance rode on that wave of attention and quickly became a benchmark against which the trainees were compared.
【Hiss, hiss, this handsome guy is absolutely incredible!】
【He has completely surpassed everything I imagined pole dancing could be. This is on an entirely different level!】
【It’s not just his impressive dance foundation and powerful expressiveness. He’s got so much depth and creativity, too!】
【Not to be dramatic but the trainees on Let’s Debut! should all come and watch this handsome guy’s dance. One person completely overwhelms a hundred of them.】
【Handsome guy, debut already! You’re my ultimate bias. I’ll never switch!】
【Debut? They’ve already dug up his identity. His name is Jiang Chu, a student at Jin University and the recipient of the highest scholarship. (Kneeling)】
【Holy shit, I love him even more now. What am I supposed to do?!】
【Adding my ID number to that. How can someone be this perfect?】
【I’m a basic girl, so let me say it first: a talented academic genius is exactly my type.】
The two roommates in the dormitory were even more excited than he was. They were still in a state of shock.
“Jiang Chu, you… I really never saw this coming. You’re amazing!”
“You’re way too low key in your daily life! We thought you were one of those aloof academic geniuses!”
Su Qingyu smiled.
“Aren’t you two academic geniuses as well? Besides, wasn’t I aloof onstage? I’m not like those flashy, vulgar people out there.”
The two roommates burst into laughter. They couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Jiang Chu had become a little different but it was a change they liked. They found themselves enjoying his company even more now.
One of the roommates voiced the thought that had been on his mind.
Su Qingyu said, “Because we’re about to stop being students and become members of society.”
In reality, he had simply helped Jiang Chu break free.
527 didn’t understand why the repentance value had increased by several points the previous night. Those additional points had actually originated from this.
Su Qingyu had spent time studying Jiang Chu’s personality and one thing was certain: Jiang Chu was exceptionally talented and capable. He should naturally have been someone who was well liked.
He was academically gifted, attractive and possessed a good personality and character.
He had simply confined himself.
At first, it might have been because of the gap between his circumstances and expectations. He had come from a small place where he had always been the most outstanding person. After arriving here, he discovered that he seemed to be nothing at all.
It was like a frog that had struggled to climb out from the bottom of a well, only to find itself facing a brilliant world and having no idea how to fit into it.
Because of his personality, he was prone to fixating on even the smallest flaws in himself and thinking himself into the wrong conclusions.
During his relationship with Sheng Xun, Sheng Xun’s deliberate and subtle manipulation had magnified this tendency, making him increasingly insecure and closed off.
Sheng Xun was a wealthy young master, while he was a poor, single parent child from a small town. In order to remain by Sheng Xun’s side for a long time, he wanted to present himself in the best possible light, hiding every aspect of himself that he considered undesirable.
He worked hard to disguise himself, hoping to make Sheng Xun’s friends accept him by behaving in ways that would help him fit in and hoping to win the acceptance of Sheng Xun’s family.
He didn’t dare to show his true self.
That was a major source of his suffering and it was also why living had become so exhausting for him.
What Su Qingyu was doing went beyond breaking through the restrictions Sheng Xun had placed on him.
He was also showing his authentic self, facing every person and every situation with openness and honesty.
He wanted Jiang Chu to see that even his genuine self would not be looked down upon. On the contrary, he might even be more welcomed and appreciated.
More importantly, living without constantly hiding and pretending was genuinely easy and liberating.
For someone who had spent so long wrapping himself up tightly, it was probably like finally being able to breathe freely, allowing his soul to stretch out and absorb oxygen.
Breaking through Sheng Xun’s restrictions and revealing his true self were both things Jiang Chu had previously been afraid to do.
In truth, there was nothing frightening about opening yourself up and showing who you really were.
Su Qingyu was chatting with his two roommates when someone knocked on the dormitory door.
The roommate standing closest to the door opened it and said to him, “Jiang Chu, Sheng Xun is here to see you.”
Sheng Xun smiled at his two roommates before turning to him.
“Jiang Chu, let’s go. I’ll take you to the company on my way.”
Jiang Chu was currently interning at the Sheng family’s company. Once he received his graduation certificate, he would be able to transition into a permanent position.
Su Qingyu didn’t refuse. After washing up, he got into Sheng Xun’s car and went to the company with him.
On the way, Sheng Xun asked, “Why didn’t you reply to my messages last night?”
“I called you and your phone was switched off too. Don’t you know how worried that makes me?”
He began bringing up Su Qingyu’s behavior the previous night, pointing out each of the things he had done that had crossed the line.
After talking for quite a while, Sheng Xun realized that Su Qingyu seemed not to have heard a single word. He was busy scrolling through his phone, smiling at the screen.
A surge of anger immediately rose inside Sheng Xun.
“Jiang Chu! Are you listening to me? What are you looking at?”
Only then did Su Qingyu raise his head and look at him.
“The trending searches. Have you seen them?”
Sheng Xun looked at him in confusion.
“What trending searches?”
Taking advantage of the time they were waiting at a red light, Su Qingyu held out his phone for him to see.
“I’m trending.”
Sheng Xun glanced at the screen and immediately saw the name Jiang Chu among the trending searches.
For a moment, he seemed to lose himself in a daze.
“There are more ways to become an overnight sensation now than there used to be. Take talent competition shows and web dramas, for example but the prerequisite is that you have to find someone who genuinely has the potential to become a star.”
“They’ve been looking for someone like that all along. After seeing Jiang Chu on the trending searches today, they’ve made him one of their primary targets.”
Sheng Xun found it difficult to understand. “Jiang Chu? Him?”
He couldn’t wrap his head around it. It had only been a day and a night. How had that Jiang Chu, the self conscious, insecure Jiang Chu who used to listen to everything he said, the Jiang Chu who had always lived within the boundaries of his control, suddenly become someone who was being considered for a career as a celebrity?
“Of course, Jiang Chu. Didn’t you see the comments online? Everyone’s saying he’s more suited to debuting than actual trainees. They’re practically begging him to become a celebrity.” Hua Shuming pointed toward the person in the video, his voice filled with admiration. “Just look at that face, that figure, those dance moves and the way he draws people in. It would be such a waste if he didn’t become a star.”
He continued trying to persuade him. “Jiang Chu, if you agree, you’ll become one of the key stars our company focuses on developing. You don’t have to worry about anything. Our family may not have been involved in entertainment management before but we’ve been in the advertising business for decades. We have some connections and resources within the industry.”
Hua Shuming was certain Jiang Chu would agree. After all, how many people in this world didn’t dream of becoming a celebrity?
And it wasn’t merely about the money. He knew that plenty of rich second generation heirs in their circle wanted to enter the entertainment industry. Some of them had already done so.
Besides, Jiang Chu already knew that he was Gu Mengchen’s replacement. If he entered the entertainment industry, what would Gu Mengchen even amount to? Jiang Chu would surely surpass him completely and shine so brightly that there would be no way to overlook him.
527 was extremely excited. 【Host, you can do it! This is completely within your professional field! You can become a hugely popular celebrity whom countless people adore and make that scumbag regret everything! He’ll regret not knowing how to cherish you!】
Sheng Xun also felt that Jiang Chu might agree. The temptation was simply too great.
He turned toward Jiang Chu with an irritated expression, only to find him sitting there with an astonishingly calm look on his face.
After finishing a piece of beef jerky, Su Qingyu replied indifferently, “I’m not particularly interested.”
“…”
This time, not only was Hua Shuming stunned but Sheng Xun also stared at him in surprise.
Amid the relative silence that followed, Sheng Xun suddenly realized that Jiang Chu seemed to have genuinely changed.
He had always believed that Jiang Chu wanted to break away from his past, assimilate into high society and surround himself with a glamorous, dazzling lifestyle yet, when presented with such an excellent opportunity to become a celebrity, Jiang Chu had actually turned it down.
Was it that he hadn’t understood Jiang Chu well enough?
Or had he been the one who had forced an idealized image onto Jiang Chu, seeing him through a distorted lens of his own making?
527: 【Host, Regret Value +2.】
After announcing the change in Regret Value, it immediately asked Su Qingyu, 【Host, why don’t you want to become a celebrity?】
Su Qingyu: 【I’ve already reached the top of my own world, more or less.】
527: 【…】
It didn’t quite understand its host’s strategy for completing the mission in this world. That morning, Su Qingyu had seemed determined to resign and leave the company. Now, he had turned down the olive branch Hua Shuming had extended to him.
527: 【Host, what are you planning to do next?】
Su Qingyu: 【I’ll stay here for now and wait for Sheng Xun’s parents.】
527 became excited again. 【Host, are you going to tell them that Jiang Chu is their real son? That’s great! Let’s see how Sheng Xun can keep acting so smug after that!】
Su Qingyu: 【… I’m going to ask them for a breakup settlement so I can go back and arrange a heart transplant for Mom.】
527: 【…】
527 was puzzled. 【Host, don’t you want to become a wealthy heir, then trample Sheng Xun beneath your feet?】
While turning down Hua Shuming’s offer once again, Su Qingyu continued eating and spoke to 527 in his mind.
【After looking through the plot of this world, I realized that apart from the antiques left behind by their ancestors, the shares they can’t sell and their other assets, the Sheng family can only scrape together two or three hundred million yuan in the short term. This is what you call a wealthy family?】
527: 【?】
Su Qingyu: 【I can earn that much by filming five or six dramas over two years. I might not even need that long.】
527: 【…】
Su Qingyu: 【And that’s after taxes.】
527 toppled backward from the little stool it had been sitting on.
At that moment, it finally understood.
Its host genuinely looked down on the Sheng family’s so called elite status.
Who could have possibly expected that?
Su Qingyu didn’t reveal his plans for the time being. He simply stayed comfortably at the company. Even after receiving his graduation certificate, he had no intention of becoming a permanent employee.
Every day, he made no effort to hide his displeasure toward Sheng Xun and yet Sheng Xun never had him dismissed.
Instead, Sheng Xun merely glared at him with a dark expression day after day.
Strangely enough, the Regret Value continued to rise.
527: 【…】
Never try to figure out what goes on inside a scumbag’s mind.
Su Qingyu continued going to work seriously every day. In the evenings, he would head to a bar for a few drinks and some entertainment.
Although he hadn’t accepted Hua Shuming’s offer, he took advantage of his sudden popularity and created a Weibo account. He frequently uploaded videos of himself enjoying his nights at the bar.
Whenever netizens watched his videos, they practically fell to their knees in disbelief.
How could someone be capable of dancing in a way that ensnared the soul, singing in a voice that stirred the heart and possessing a face that could rival any celebrity’s and yet not enter the entertainment industry to bless the audience with his presence?
It was practically an offense against heaven.
The Fill the Void Bar was packed every single night. If the owner hadn’t known that Su Qingyu was a top student from Jing University, he would have definitely offered him a generous salary to become a resident performer.
As one person and one system counted down the days while waiting, Sheng Xun’s parents finally arrived at the company to deal with Jiang Chu.
Just as the plot of the original world had described, they summoned the senior executives from the company’s various departments. Then, they called for only one new employee.
Jiang Chu.
Nothing unexpected happened. They told him to wait outside.
And, just as expected, he was left waiting for several hours.
The young secretary smiled at him and said, “Jiang Chu, please wait a little longer. The chairman and the others are discussing something with the marketing department first.”
“Alright.”
Su Qingyu waited.
Ten minutes later, he walked over to the secretary and said with a smile, “Miss Secretary, I’ve been waiting for ten minutes.”
Secretary: “…”
527: 【…】
The host has patience but only a limited supply.
The secretary was just about to speak when Su Qingyu continued before she could get a word in.
“Could you please tell the chairman that if he doesn’t have time today, I’ll leave first? I still have plenty of things to take care of.”
Secretary: “…”
The secretary had probably never encountered anyone who dared to speak to the chairman that way. Her smile nearly slipped.
“What are you saying, Jiang Chu? Please wait a little longer.”
Su Qingyu nodded.
Then he turned around and walked away.
The secretary stared at him in shock as he actually left. She hurriedly went to knock on the door and inform the people inside about what had happened.
Half an hour later, Su Qingyu finally met Sheng Xun’s parents, both of whom wore expressions as cold as frost.
After Sheng Xun’s parents learned that he and Jiang Chu were together, they immediately launched an investigation into Jiang Chu.
After looking through Jiang Chu’s background information, the two of them looked down on him from the bottom of their hearts.
Of course, they would have looked down on any man who dated Sheng Xun but Jiang Chu’s background only deepened their contempt.
Someone from a small, insignificant place had desperately studied his way into a prestigious university, only to turn around and cling to the son of a wealthy family. His intentions were obvious at a glance. In their eyes, that was even more despicable than a beggar clinging to Sheng Xun.
Sheng Xun’s mother, Qin Yin, asked, “You’re Jiang Chu? The person who’s dating Sheng Xun?”
Su Qingyu answered in the same way Jiang Chu would have.
Qin Yin got straight to the point. “Let me make this clear to you. Our family will absolutely never accept you. You’d better find another way out as soon as possible.”
Su Qingyu replied, “No. Sheng Xun loves me. He’s madly in love with me.”
“…”
Those words immediately infuriated both of them.
Qin Yin’s expression darkened and her words became even more unpleasant. “What nonsense are you talking about? Sheng Xun is going to marry a girl from a family that matches ours! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, clinging to another man like that? Your mother went through so much trouble to send you out of that little place, didn’t she? And you still have the nerve to behave this way!”
Su Qingyu said, “I haven’t stolen anything or robbed anyone. Why should I be ashamed?”
Qin Yin was furious and was about to continue but Sheng Xun’s father, Sheng Yunkai, stopped her.
His stern eyes turned toward Su Qingyu and he spoke coldly. “Don’t make a fool of yourself by continuing to provoke people and make yourself unwelcome. State whatever demands you have. Let’s preserve each other’s dignity and avoid making this any uglier than it needs to be.”
Su Qingyu remained silent for several seconds before looking at the two people sitting opposite him.
He did, in fact, bear some resemblance to them, especially Qin Yin. All three of them had a pair of charming, almond shaped eyes that carried a naturally alluring quality.
He tugged the corners of his mouth into a smile and let out a quiet, mocking laugh.
“Are you trying to force me to leave Sheng Xun? And if I refuse to leave, will you use your power and influence to suppress me?”
The two of them said nothing.
Clearly, that was exactly what they intended to do. It was good enough that he could understand it on his own.
“You really can force someone like me, someone with no one to rely on, into a situation where there’s nowhere left to turn.” Su Qingyu nodded slowly. “You could even drive me into depression and madness and none of that would matter to either of you, would it?”
“Sheng Xun and I were both born to our parents. Have you ever considered what would happen if your own son were treated this way?”
Aaaehhhh! I know that what happened in past life, real parents didn’t know! They did what typical parents do to get rid of partner, they think isn’t suitable for their child but!! I really wanna see their reaction when they find out that the guy they thought was leaching of their son Is ACTUALLY THEIR REAL SON!
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator has been bribed with exactly zero coffees so far. Fix this. 😭
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 30 · Fengdu Underworld (1)Chapter 31 · Fengdu Underworld (2)Chapter 32 Part 1 · The Humble Young Master (1)Chapter 32 Part 2 · The Humble Young Master (1)Chapter 33 Part 1 · The Humble Young Master (2)Chapter 33 Part 2 · The Humble Young Master (2)Chapter 34 Part 1 · The Humble Young Master (3)Chapter 34 Part 2 · The Humble Young Master (3)Chapter 35 · The Humble Young Master (4)Chapter 36 · The Humble Young Master (5)