Xiao Fen rejected Lu Jin’s invitation. Less than half an hour later, Lu Congxin personally called. He warmly asked about his injuries and whether they were serious, adding that the Lu Family had the top medical team available at his command at any time.
Xiao Fen politely but distantly refused.
If you really wanted to provide medical aid, you could fly a helicopter right onto the hospital rooftop.
Though he still would have refused.
Who knew if treatment afterward meant death or disability.
After beating around the bush, Lu Congxin finally got to the point of the call. “Little Fen, I checked with your agent. You have no schedule tomorrow. Our group is throwing a small banquet for you. Got time to come?”
Xiao Fen glanced at Song Hui beside him.
Song Hui hurriedly shook his head and mouthed that he hadn’t leaked his schedule.
What an injustice.
“Sure, my agent and I will both be there tomorrow. Please have your assistant send me the exact time and location,” Xiao Fen readily agreed.
————
The next evening, Xiao Fen arrived right on time.
The moment he appeared, the entire banquet hall erupted in cheers. Cannons fired from both sides, and golden confetti fluttered through the air.
“Welcome Xiao Fen for successfully escaping! Congratulations to Xiao Fen for wrapping up the second season filming!”
He had just received the news: the show had ended in Tengcha, and tonight they would fly straight to the scene.
But in most people’s eyes, the show ended the instant Xiao Fen successfully escaped and the cameras shut off.
After that, the ratings plummeted off a cliff.
Aside from Fang Si Ting’s and Ou Yu’s live stream chats still holding some popularity, the audience data for the other guests was downright dismal.
This only made Lu Congxin and his son feel even greater goodwill toward him.
Lu Chengze warmly draped an arm over his shoulder, showing off their friendly relationship in front of the live-streaming media cameras at the banquet.
The whole banquet felt more like a publicity stunt.
A dignified and elegant middle-aged woman emerged from the crowd—Madam Lu, Qin Shuhui.
She was fair-skinned, slim, and tall, with deliberately drawn thin eyebrows arched over narrow eyes. At first glance, she had the gentle charm of a delicate beauty from a humble family, but her haughty gaze always betrayed a calculating vigilance. Her smile hadn’t even reached him before her eyes had already sized him up completely.
“Congratulations.” She finally flashed a smile that passed for polite, though it was a bit skin-deep, and proactively extended her hand to shake his.
“Thank you, Madam Lu.” It was Xiao Fen’s first time seeing her in person.
Their hands touched and parted immediately. Neither had any intention of lingering politely for even a second.
“You’re so young, and right at the peak of your fame. You need to seize the opportunity.” Qin Shuhui said warmly and enthusiastically, “If you fancy any young master from a wealthy family, I can introduce you. Wait another few years, and it’ll be too late to find a good match.”
“Really?” Xiao Fen wore a smile too, his eyes flicking toward Lu Jin, who was approaching.
Qin Shuhui’s demeanor instantly sharpened.
Lu Jin spotted Xiao Fen in his black coat and red scarf, and his gaze blurred for a moment.
He didn’t even know how he ended up walking over to him.
As soon as he stopped, he saw Xiao Fen raise his hand toward the back of his own neck.
Lu Jin instinctively flinched away, shrinking back and clutching his neck.
By the time he realized what happened, the guests who saw it and the live stream chat viewers burst into laughter.
【Hahaha, look how scared Boss Lu got—it’s become a conditioned reflex!】
【Boss Lu, check your neck. Bet it turns into a sprinkler when you drink water now.】
【Boss Lu, check your neck.】
The entire live stream chat was flooded with those words, sending the phrase straight to trending topics. Everyone was memeing it into hellish jokes.
Xiao Fen hadn’t expected such a big reaction either. He withdrew his hand, hovering in midair, and laughed. “Boss Lu, I just saw some confetti on your shoulder. No need to be so standoffish, right?”
He had planned to act deliberately intimate to make Qin Shuhui misunderstand. But seeing the look in her eyes—like she wanted to devour him—this outcome was even better.
What could hurt a mother more than seeing her beloved son suffer?
That casual move instantly reminded Qin Shuhui of everything Lu Jin had endured on the show.
What she couldn’t stand even more was the surrounding laughter and the whispers rippling through the crowd.
Lu Jin checked his shoulder. There was no confetti.
A hand wrapped in bandages reached over again. Freshly healed fingers pinched a piece of confetti from behind his shoulder.
“Here.” Xiao Fen showed it to him, proving he wasn’t lying.
Lu Jin looked at his hand, and words of concern slipped out unbidden. “How’d you get hurt so badly?”
He had watched the live stream of Xiao Fen climbing the cliff and seen the raw scrapes on his hands at the summit.
“I’ve got some imported medicine. If you…”
“No need.” Xiao Fen refused without a second thought.
The wounds had already healed. Late concern was cheaper than weeds.
“A-Jin.”
A soft, timid voice came from behind. Jiang Xu stepped forward and took his arm.
This was his first time making such an intimate move in public, because he sensed that Lu Jin’s gaze had been fixed on this Xiao Fen ever since.
The man before him was slender yet tall, with refined and striking features—bold and sharp. No one could easily ignore him.
Jiang Xu immediately thought of a rose, but dismissed it.
A rose had thorns, but it was still a fragile flower in the end.
He was a soft sword: lithe silver light concealing a throat-slitting edge. Beautiful and razor-sharp, with the arrogance in his eyes of someone toying with the world. If he wanted, everyone had to bask in his radiance.
He just stood there in the banquet hall and effortlessly drew every eye.
He won everyone’s affection so easily.
And Jiang Xu clearly felt that Xiao Fen was gunning for Lu Jin.
That simple gesture left Lu Jin speechless for a long time, just staring at Xiao Fen.
Even with another man’s arm linked through his and that man calling his name affectionately, he hadn’t noticed.
Jiang Xu felt a pang of gloom.
He couldn’t compare to Ou Yu, whom Lu Jin had pursued so diligently. Nor to someone as dazzling as Xiao Fen.
Sometimes he wondered why Lu Jin had chosen him at all.
As he thought that, he noticed Xiao Fen looking at him with keen interest.
His heart skipped. He subconsciously released Lu Jin’s arm.
Xiao Fen smiled and turned to Qin Shuhui.
“Madam Lu, is this your son’s partner? Why not introduce him to everyone?”
Qin Shuhui’s gaze swept darkly over Jiang Xu. She forced a polite smile. “Just a friend.”
She looked at Xiao Fen. “You’re the star tonight. Have fun.”
“If we’re talking fun, the show was way more entertaining.” Xiao Fen said playfully. “Who knows what new ‘death’ the next season will bring Boss Lu. The audience is dying to see. Too bad Madam Lu can’t join.”
There was nothing she could do to stop him off-camera.
Even if she threw a fit at the program crew or threatened Director Wang, anyone in management knew the real power in the Lu Family lay with Lu Chengze and Lu Congxin. A pampered housewife like her, who never meddled in group affairs, got nothing but surface platitudes from anyone with real authority.
“But it’s just fake death. It’s all a game—nothing to take seriously, right?”
Qin Shuhui froze in place.
Xiao Fen raised his champagne flute and clinked it against the red wine glass in her hand.
With the crisp chime of glass, the banquet guests cheered once more.
Fang Si Ting’s Pursuit Team and Ou Yu’s group smoothly arrived at the banquet site.
Xiao Fen unhesitatingly left the pair and headed toward Ou Yu.
Lu Jin saw them exchange a few greetings with people around before slipping out of the crowd into a lounge.
He brushed off Jiang Xu and followed. At the door, he hesitated on whether to go in—then heard deliberately lowered voices inside.
He hadn’t caught any words before it went quiet.
He released the door handle, about to leave, when the door opened.
Xiao Fen stood there expressionless. Seeing him, his face soured even more.
“I was just… passing by. Why stare at me like that?”
“Purely seeing your face makes me want to puke,” Xiao Fen said. “Brother Ou Yu and I were having a private chat. What’re you doing eavesdropping?”
Lu Jin snorted coldly and walked off with an air of smug superiority.
As if that would make him jealous. In his dreams.
“What a weirdo.” Xiao Fen shut the door again.
“Does Boss Lu know?” Ou Yu asked worriedly.
“Even if he does, no big deal.” Xiao Fen winked at him. “Don’t worry.”
Ou Yu relaxed, his eyes gleaming with schadenfreude. “If we’re pranking, let’s go big. I’ve had it with Madam Lu acting like her precious son is some rare treasure everyone wants to stick to.”
They chatted a few more minutes before parting.
He greeted the schmoozing Song Hui, then sneaked out of the banquet hall. He was about to hail a cab home when a car pulled up in front of him.
The window rolled down, revealing Fang Si Ting’s stiff face in the deep purple driver’s seat.
“Get in.”
“Where to?”
“Talk business.”
Xiao Fen arched a brow teasingly. “Inspector Fang, this car’s gotta be eight or nine million, right? How many rides you got at home? Rotating them daily? Not scared of the disciplinary committee sniffing around?”
“I’ve just got one car under a hundred thousand. No daily rotations.”
“I saw you with a Coaster before.”
“That’s the team’s.”
“Then this one’s yours, at least?”
“It’s yours.”
“You’re really giving me a sports car?”
“Didn’t you say in Tengcha you wanted to sit in a sports car and listen to the rain?”
Xiao Fen couldn’t help chuckling. “I was joking. You actually bought one.”
“Yeah.”
He never took jokes lightly.
The whole car was painted flashy hot pink, with Hello Kitty decals on the doors, rhinestones edging the lights and handles—gaudy and eye-searing.
“Get in already.” He urged, like he wanted to roll up the window that instant.
“What’s the rush?”
Fang Si Ting looked at him like life was unbearable. “What do you think?”
First time in his life owning something so girly-pink, and he’d already drawn a crowd of gawkers on the drive over.
Xiao Fen clutched his stomach laughing.
“Get in or I’m leaving.”
“What kinda owner bails before the driver’s even in?”
Xiao Fen yanked open the door and slid into the passenger seat.
“What’s to be shy about? Great color.”
“You’re serious?” He was starting to worry about the guy’s taste.
“It looked tacky at first, but you sitting in the driver’s seat makes the whole car look classy.” Xiao Fen laid it on thick, clenching and unclenching his fist in the air. “The entire pink is sparkling now.”
Fang Si Ting’s composure cracked, and he cracked a smile.
What sparkled wasn’t the hand—it was Xiao Fen’s grinning face, head tilted as he looked at him.
