Chapter 2: Big Bad Wolf

Mi Yan itched to photograph the expression on Lu Chen’s face right now and broadcast it to the world—let those fans and passersby see the true face of the “Chinese entertainment industry’s Number One Alpha.”

B-King, Swagger King, the Walking Hormone—none of them existed in front of Ye Zhinian. There was only “Wife’s Most Loyal Puppy,” bouncing around like a hyperactive mutt.

After a few internal jabs, Mi Yan asked aloud, “How did you know Fangyuan would definitely pick Zhinian?”

Lu Chen sneered. “After spending all these years finally managing to hype someone up, Xu Zhenzhen will move heaven and earth to whitewash Liu Chen. The moment I learned she had her eye on Starfruit’s livestreamed friendship variety show, I knew the only candidate she could find was Niannian.

“Liu Chen is domineering and has no friends in the industry, and Utopia is built entirely on the gimmick of showbiz friendship—he’d never agree to some nobody joining the show. Compared to Fangyuan’s other artists, Niannian can be leashed with the contract-termination clause, and after filming he won’t be staying at the company competing for resources.”

“Makes sense.” Mi Yan nodded thoughtfully. “And even if Zhinian gets popular after the show, it doesn’t matter. Tied-hype marketing is Xu Zhenzhen’s specialty—with them at different companies, it’s actually easier to orchestrate. Trampling on him or leeching off him, she can do it without any scruples.”

Lu Chen smiled smugly. “So now you understand why I simply had to join this show?”

Why? When it all boiled down to jealousy, of course! A petty man so terrified of his wife forming CPs with someone else that he even wanted to hog the rights to Zhinian’s name!

Mi Yan rolled his eyes and was about to snark when a clear, bright youthful voice rang out beside them.

“Brother Chen!”

At the sound, Mi Yan’s first instinct was to shield his phone. Lu Chen locked his screen and raised his head in the same motion, his smile vanishing in an instant as the sharp edge unique to single eyelids took over—his entire aura swerving one hundred and eighty degrees.

One second he was a Samoyed; the next, an Arctic Wolf.

The newcomer, oblivious to Lu Chen’s face-changing transformation, approached them cradling an enormous bouquet, a radiant smile—the kind only the young could wear—lighting up his face.

“Brother Chen, I’ve wrapped! Thank you for taking care of me these past three months.”

With that, he bowed at the waist, his wig’s ponytail sweeping a lovely arc through the air, making the boy in period costume look all the more vibrantly youthful.

“Not at all, you’re too kind.” Lu Chen rose and returned the bow with a polite, distant nod—bearing none of the familiarity of three months filming side by side.

This was the Lu Chen of public perception.

Lu Chen had single eyelids, his long, narrow eyes slightly hooding his pupils. When his face went blank, his gaze turned piercingly cold—the look of someone you didn’t want to mess with. Combined with his sharply sculpted features and aggressively striking aura, he tended to leave an impression of icy arrogance.

In reality, he was modest and courteous, merely a man of few words who usually played the listener in any crowd.

The young man had worked with Lu Chen for three months and understood him reasonably well, so the cold attitude didn’t scare him off. Still hugging his bouquet, he asked anxiously, “Did the photo I posted help?”

At the mention of the photo, Lu Chen’s smile broke through at once, his whole presence softening several degrees. “It did. Without that photo, no amount of clarifying on my end would have mattered. Thank you, Junlin.”

Chen Junlin let out a breath of relief. “That’s good. I was worried I’d been too proactive—that I might have thrown off your team’s rhythm.”

With that, he stuck out his tongue playfully.

Seeing this, Mi Yan picked up the thread. “Not at all—if anything, we should thank you, Teacher Chen, for so righteously lending a hand and saving us a world of trouble. You even spared us the cost of taking down the Hot Search.”

Praised into beaming delight by Mi Yan, Chen Junlin’s faintly flushed cheeks looked more bewitching than the bouquet itself. “Teacher Mi, you’re making me embarrassed… I’m just glad I could help. Then I won’t disturb Brother Chen’s rest. I hope we’ll have the chance to work together again—goodbye!”

Lu Chen nodded. “Goodbye.”

Chen Junlin waved, then turned and sprinted toward the producer, shouting “Sister Yuqing!” as he went.

Watching his retreating figure, Mi Yan couldn’t help marveling, “This kid’s barely twenty-something and already a seasoned old fox of the industry. The young are truly formidable.”

His words fell into silence, with no response forthcoming for a long while. Looking down, Mi Yan discovered Lu Chen was already buried in his phone, not listening to a word.

Mi Yan: “…”

Wife-slave. Ptui!

Mi Yan turned away in disgust—but Lu Chen triumphantly held up his phone, insisting on showing him Ye Zhinian’s reply.

Nian Bean Bun: I want to visit too, but I just took a variety show. Recording starts Saturday, and I need to learn my persona and memorize materials.

Nian Bean Bun: [Puppy Eyes Attack.jpg]

“Fine, fine, fine. You win. When you get sentenced to the sofa, don’t come wailing down my phone at midnight.” Mi Yan cupped his hands in a perfunctory salute and turned away—out of sight, out of mind.

At the words “sleeping on the sofa,” Lu Chen’s expression stiffened—then quickly firmed up with resolve.

To escape this humiliating “men’s virtue” treatment and show off his marriage in the open—what were a few nights on the sofa!

Besides, the only person allowed to CP with Niannian is me!

Fighting spirit blazing in his eyes, Lu Chen lowered his head to type.

Big Bad Wolf: Huh? What variety show? It has a persona and materials? Is it a Werewolf-game type thing?

Nian Bean Bun: No, it’s a friendship variety show. The company wants me to play along with Liu Chen and help whitewash him [Eye Roll]

Big Bad Wolf: Who? That guy from your company who trended before New Year? Does he even deserve you?

Big Bad Wolf: [Cat Clenching Fists.jpg]

Pfft!

The laughter from the back seat broke the oppressive atmosphere. Wei Zilu relaxed in turn, glanced at the rearview mirror, and said impishly, “That’s all it took to make it up to you? Brother Chen’s scandal is still hanging on the Hot Searches, you know!”

Ye Zhinian shot her a sidelong glance. “What scandal? You know perfectly well it was a calculated ambush against the unprepared. Why are you joining in the hullabaloo?”

“Yes, yes, yes, I’m just stirring up trouble~” As long as Ye Zhinian wasn’t in the middle of a rage, Wei Zilu’s courage knew no bounds—one moment cowering like a quail, the next full of snide sass.

“But Brother Chen reacted so fast this time! Was that even half an hour, start to finish?”

“Their crew had a dinner yesterday to celebrate early—the B-team wrapping. One of the actors took a group photo, and he posted it not long after the Hot Search blew up.”

As he spoke, Ye Zhinian opened Weibo to check the Hot Searches. The related topic had already dropped past thirtieth place—another while and it would be off the list entirely.

Tapping into the topic, the first post on the feed was still from a Marketing Account—but the second was a repost from Lu Chen.

@Lu Chen V: Congratulations on wrapping. // @Chen Junlin V: Celebrated the B-team’s wrap early with everyone! I’ve learned so much these three months. Looking forward to working together again [Yearning][Crew dinner group photo.jpg]

The photo was taken inside a private dining room, and everyone in frame was an officially announced cast member of the film The Long Night Before Dawn, which Lu Chen was shooting. To fit everyone in, the photographer had stood at the doorway of the private room—the entire room laid bare, and Lin Siying was nowhere in it.

Thanks to this photo, the Marketing Account’s decontextualized video became a laughingstock. The feed was overrun by Lu Chen’s fans in full mockery mode and justice-seeking gossip passersby, sprinkled with rival fans of Lin Siying kicking her while she was down, plus the die-hard CP Fans still stubbornly chewing on their “destined lovers” sugar.

A long-premeditated hype campaign had thus gone down the drain.

Whoever was behind it had racked their brains to choreograph this entire production, all to ignite a fan war for traffic, brainwash the passersby into remembering, and deepen the tied-hype association.

And who could have guessed it would all be ruined by a single photo? You could say Chen Junlin, single-handedly, wasted the hype-planners’ marketing budget while saving Lu Chen’s team a PR fee.

“This person is practically a living saint,” Wei Zilu teased. “There are still good samaritans like this in the industry?”

Ye Zhinian chuckled softly and said nothing.

Wei Zilu knew when to stop, and asked instead, “Since the B-team has wrapped, doesn’t that mean Brother Chen will be home soon?”

At the mention of this, Ye Zhinian couldn’t help sighing. “No. He just said filming’s being pushed back a month, and asked me to mail over some spring and summer clothes. I’ll sort them out in a bit—help me ship them, would you?”

“Sure.”

Wei Zilu assented and settled into quiet, focused driving, while Ye Zhinian silently stared at Chen Junlin’s Weibo post.

After a moment, he pressed his lips together, switched to his alt account, and posted a Weibo.

@My Husband Is a Big Bad Wolf: Just wait until I’m free of this contract—you’re all in for it! [Angry Cat with Paws on Hips.jpg]

With the post published, as if exhaling the last of a foul breath, he set down his phone and turned to look out the window.

Before long, the Nanny Van pulled into an upscale residential compound on the Third Ring Road of the Capital.

Every inch of land here was worth gold. The residences were all sprawling flats of three hundred square meters or more, at minimum one household per elevator, home only to the rich and powerful—the very last place you’d expect to find a Third-Tier celebrity like Ye Zhinian.

Yet not only did he live here—the property deed bore his name.

This five-hundred-plus-square-meter property, worth nearly a hundred million, was the marital home Lu Chen’s parents had prepared for the two of them. They had paid in full before the wedding and put only Ye Zhinian’s name on the deed, making their stance unmistakably clear—

Full support. Never interfering again.

Ye Zhinian hadn’t taken the luxury flat for free either—he had promptly bought a villa in the Capital’s suburbs, deed under Lu Chen’s name, so both sets of parents would have somewhere to stay when visiting from their hometowns.

Four years married, and thanks to the compound’s tight security, their love nest had never been exposed. Not even the people at Fangyuan Culture knew he lived here.

Taking the elevator up from the underground parking garage, Ye Zhinian led Wei Zilu straight toward the walk-in closet.

The moment she stepped inside, Wei Zilu couldn’t help marveling. “No matter how many times I come here, I just have to say it—your walk-in closet is way too big.”

And this wasn’t merely the bigness of rich people with lots of clothes. This was deliberately expanded, beyond-imagination bigness, built for a very particular purpose.

In a five-hundred-plus-square-meter home, the closet alone occupied about a hundred square meters—half of it floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, half display cabinets filled with every manner of fabric and thread.

On the central island, the small front section displayed assorted watches and accessories, while the larger back section lay scattered with fabric, dress forms, and sewing machines—one glance told you it was a workstation for designing, cutting, and making clothes.

Dragging two suitcases out of the wardrobe by the entrance, Ye Zhinian said with a smile, “Lu Chen’s recording studio and dance practice room aren’t exactly small either.”

“That’s it, I’m taking you rich people down with me…” Wei Zilu grumbled, following Ye Zhinian to the wardrobe where the spring and summer clothes were kept.

Gazing at the dazzling array of clothes behind the glass doors, Wei Zilu asked, “Which ones should I take?”

Ye Zhinian pointed at random. “Nianchao’s spring/summer line from last year.”

Wei Zilu opened the wardrobe and, knowing the way perfectly, dug out the streetwear brand Ye Zhinian had indicated. She asked curiously, “Why not this year’s line?”

Taking the clothes and sorting them into the two suitcases, Ye Zhinian replied offhandedly, “Well, isn’t Liu Chen afraid of me dressing too well? Nianchao may be positioned as mid-range, but wearing this year’s spring/summer line already would be a touch too early. If it got dug up while I’m on the show, that’d be trouble.”

“Then why not grab Brother Chen a few new pieces?”

“Why should I wear old while he wears new? He wears costumes on set anyway.” Ye Zhinian declared this with utter self-righteousness.

Wei Zilu was speechless. “…Then at least pack Brother Chen a couple of YOUNG pieces? He’s their ambassador. Wearing nothing but his own group company’s mid-range line in private—is that a good look?”

Ye Zhinian’s eyes flashed and he snapped the suitcase shut with a clap. “What’s wrong with mid-range? Nianchao is merely positioned mid-range—the quality is perfectly fine! If Yang Muxin has a problem with it, she can come take it up with me!”

Yang Muxin was the executive president of YOUNG, that top-luxury brand—and also the daughter of the chairman of Huarong Group, the conglomerate behind both YOUNG and Nianchao.

At those words, Wei Zilu conceded defeat and picked up the suitcases to leave.

“Wait.” Ye Zhinian stopped her, pulling several shopping bags from the wardrobe. “Here—women’s spring/summer from Nianchao and YOUNG, this year’s lines.”

“Whoa! Thanks, Brother Nian! Long live rich people!” Wei Zilu accepted the bags in delighted glee, happily opening them to poke through the contents.

“All right, take them home and gush over them later. First, get Lu Chen’s clothes shipped out.”

“Yes, sir!” Wei Zilu saluted, grabbed the bags, dragged the suitcases, and took her leave.

After seeing her out, Ye Zhinian didn’t go back to packing. Instead he walked to the fridge, took out the sandwiches the housekeeper had made, and ate while reading over the persona and materials Xu Zhenzhen had given him.

The persona looked lengthy and clause-riddled, but it could be summarized in one word: Simp. Everything revolved around Liu Chen—strike wherever he pointed, and smooth things over promptly when needed. In function, it was barely distinguishable from a nanny.

Ye Zhinian skimmed through it once, then began reading the material on Liu Chen. Time slipped rapidly by in the tedium of rote memorization, and soon enough the day of departure arrived.

Before joining the crew, Ye Zhinian made a point of looking up Utopia’s officially announced guests online—and was surprised to find the official Weibo had only announced four.

Apart from Liu Chen, the other three were famed Starfruit Satellite TV host Ren Li, Star Dream Entertainment’s First Sister Li Nanshuang, and CCTV’s celebrated talking head Zheng Yunqi.

The announcements took the form of character stills plus videos, with the remaining four guests hidden inside each announced guest’s video.

Ye Zhinian watched the four videos one by one, eyebrows rising in mild surprise.

Setting aside himself and Zheng Yunqi’s mysterious friend from another generation—if the people Ren Li and Li Nanshuang were alluding to really were the two he suspected, then Utopia would have a hard time not exploding.

Sharing Ye Zhinian’s line of thought were the vast multitudes of drama-hungry netizens.

—Wait, the person Ren Li mentioned—it isn’t Lin Siying, is it? Isn’t she feuding with Li Nanshuang? Utopia put the two of them together? [Shocked]

—The company junior Li Nanshuang mentioned has to be Chen Junlin, right? His fans and Liu Chen’s fans have been at each other’s throats, and now the stars themselves are going on the same show?

—OMG! This isn’t Utopia, this is a straight-up battlefield Rashomon! Hurry and air it, I love to see it [Excited]

—Liu Chen’s image only just imploded before New Year—if going on this show isn’t for image rehab, I’ll wash my hair upside down! And with that snobby, looks-down-on-everyone personality, how could he possibly be friends with some no-name artist [Doge]

—Hold on, isn’t Ren Li’s industry bestie Bai Hongyi? Zheng Yunqi has all those CCTV colleagues and friends, and instead she found herself a friend from another generation???

—Scheduling conflicts are normal, but rival artists on the same show is absolutely not! This Saturday 8 a.m., right? Elegantly parking my butt here until broadcast.

—Am I the only one curious who Zheng Yunqi’s cross-generational friend is? A CCTV news anchor and an entertainment industry artist feel like completely different circles! And a young actor at that… I literally cannot imagine who this person is [Facepalm]

—Zheng Yunqi’s nearly 50, right? Her friend must be some veteran acting great.

—Do you know what a friend from another generation even means? Honestly I’m more curious how Zheng Yunqi and her friend even met. Isn’t she the host of a CCTV finance interview program?

Discussion sparked by the announcement videos stayed white-hot, with netizens debating furiously in Utopia’s Hot Search topics. Even Ye Zhinian’s enthusiasm for joining the crew rose several notches.

After all, who wouldn’t want a front-row seat to the drama, tea in hand?