Xi Nian had no idea he had already been recognized by Lu Xingzhe. Late at night, he drove back to the apartment he lived in. This place was arranged by the company; it couldn't be considered high-end, just barely livable.

With less than two hours until dawn, Xi Nian felt no sleepiness at all. He went online to check the news and discovered that Su Ge's sob story on Weibo was being frantically reposted, the number of likes skyrocketing.

Tch.

Xi Nian thought, 'This is the first time I've seen someone more shameless than myself.'

The bedroom was very small, nothing like the villa he had lived in after becoming famous in his past life. Xi Nian lay down on the sofa, one hand behind his head, while his other, injured hand hung quietly over the edge, fingertips almost touching the floor. The searing pain from his flesh clung to him like a cancer on the bone, impossible to shake off.

But there was nothing he could do at the moment.

With no popularity and no money, faced with this kind of situation, most of the time, he could only choose silence.

This sense of powerlessness was more frustrating than any other setback.

Xi Nian closed his eyes, silently counting the time. At daybreak, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone. As expected, he saw the trending topics had been updated. After fermenting overnight, the news of Su Ge being injured and missing the competition had climbed to second on the hot search list. The top spot was the cheating scandal of the famous male movie star Jian Yihong having a late-night rendezvous with his mistress.

Needless to say, this had to be Lu Xingzhe's handiwork.

Xi Nian moved his stiff and numb leg, then got up to pull open the curtains. The instant the daylight poured in, it stung his eyes, and he instinctively shut them. It took him a good while to recover. The room's furnishings were laid bare—a minimalist palette of black, white, and gray, which, like its owner, exuded a cold hardness.

The entertainment circle was a place where you stepped on others to climb up. It was either the east wind prevailing over the west, or the west wind prevailing over the east; he understood this truth better than anyone. Xi Nian's fingertips swiped idly across his phone screen a couple of times before he finally dialed the number he already knew by heart.

At that time, Lu Xingzhe still hadn't left the hospital. The moment his phone rang, he raised an eyebrow, eyeing the string of unfamiliar numbers on the screen. He crossed his arms, remaining impassive, his expression inscrutable. But in the end, he pressed the answer button, his voice as hoarse and lazy as usual, "Who?"

He had a good idea who was calling, but he deliberately asked anyway.

Xi Nian stood before the French window, his gaze passing through the glass just in time to see the eastern sky break into dawn. With one hand in his pocket, he slowly uttered two words, "Your grandpa."

"Your grandpa!" Lu Xingzhe reflexively shot back.

Xi Nian chuckled. "Know who I am now?"

He had a deep, pleasant voice, as unforgettable as those eyes of his.

Lu Xingzhe glanced at his phone screen but said nothing. He had a habit of assuming the worst in every situation. Ever since discovering Xi Nian's identity the day before, he felt the other man must have a reason for approaching him, or rather, a specific agenda.

An unknown little celebrity and a notorious paparazzi.

When these two types got together, it was highly likely that no good would come of it.

Lu Xingzhe was a good actor himself. He didn't breathe a word about having already guessed Xi Nian's identity, saying nonchalantly, "I haven't seen your face, so how would I know who you are? Could it be... the kind soul who saved me yesterday?"

Those last few words landed in both of their ears with a certain profound meaning.

Xi Nian had never considered himself a good person. "That's not important."

Lu Xingzhe's fingertips tapped rhythmically on the edge of the bed. "Then what is important?"

He lowered his gaze, waiting for Xi Nian to reveal his purpose for getting close. For some reason, he suddenly felt a bit bored by it all, but then again, he felt there was no need to be surprised. After all, very few people in the entertainment circle were clean.

It was like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, day after day. Without external interference, even if Xi Nian were reborn, he would still walk the same old path as his past life, following the predetermined trajectory of fate.

To put it bluntly, a leopard can't change its spots.

"I have a business proposition for you. Expose Su Ge's dirty laundry, and I'll pay you double."

Xi Nian, his belly full of schemes blacker than ink, still hadn't given up on the idea of using Lu Xingzhe. However, before he could get the words out, it was as if his throat had been glued shut. He couldn't make a sound. His pupils instantly dilated in shock, and cracks appeared in his usually placid expression, revealing his alarm and uncertainty.

A blue ball of light quietly materialized before his eyes. Its rigid, mechanical voice held a hint of seriousness. 【Dear Host, this action violates Article 32 of the Interstellar Moral Reformation Regulations. Please cease your incitement immediately, or an electric shock punishment will be administered.】

...

'Fuck.'

If Xi Nian weren't unable to speak, he would have definitely sworn out loud. He glared coldly at the System, a visible darkness churning in his eyes.

The System had no room for compromise in this matter, yet it still cowered for a moment under such a gaze, whispering a reminder, 【This is not right. We must reform ourselves and turn over a new leaf.】

After it finished speaking, it lifted the ban on his speech.

On the other end of the line, Lu Xingzhe heard no reply for a long time. He tapped the back of his phone, making a low thud, and raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you talking?"

Xi Nian: "..."

System No. 009 didn't leave. Its tiny body floated up and down in midair, faint bluish-purple currents occasionally flashing around it. The crackling sound was enough to make one's ears go numb, carrying a silent threat.

Seeking advantages and avoiding harm is a basic instinct. Xi Nian was silent for a moment before deciding that a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. After a pause, he asked, "...How's your leg?"

Lu Xingzhe had waited a long time, not expecting this to be what he wanted to say. He retorted with an unreadable tone, "You called me this early in the morning just to ask about this?"

Under the System's menacing watch, Xi Nian couldn't really do anything. Perhaps the sunlight by the window was too bright, for he sat back down on the sofa, his body making a soft sound as it sank in. He answered perfunctorily, "Yeah. Afraid you'd end up crippled."

Lu Xingzhe: "..."

He clutched his phone, saying nothing, but a thin layer of sweat had formed on his palm. This unfamiliar emotion left him feeling a little unsettled. He muttered under his breath, "It's none of your business if I'm crippled."

Xi Nian's hearing was sharp. "If you're crippled, there'll be no one to take care of you."

After all, Lu Xingzhe's parents were long dead.

Lu Xingzhe pursed his lips at that. He was naturally suspicious. After that fleeting, subtle emotion passed, he began to subtly probe Xi Nian. "I owe you one for yesterday. If you need any help, you can just ask."

Of course, that didn't mean he would actually help if asked.

Xi Nian did, in fact, have many things he needed Lu Xingzhe to do. But he glanced at 009, which was hovering by his side like a persistent ghost, and could only suppress those thoughts for the time being. His voice came through the phone, slightly distorted, "No need. Just rest up and get better."

He hung up as soon as he finished speaking, crisp and clean. He hadn't made any of the requests Lu Xingzhe had anticipated, as if he were simply concerned about his injury.

Listening to the busy tone from the other end, Lu Xingzhe was momentarily stunned. He came to his senses and glanced at his phone screen, lost in thought. After a good while, his fingers moved, and he saved Xi Nian's number.

Tomorrow was the second round of the men's archery selection match for the Star Games. It was just a matter of meeting; how hard could that be? He refused to believe Xi Nian wouldn't be there.

The entertainment circle hadn't been very peaceful recently. Netizens were already in an uproar over Su Ge losing the competition, and then came Jian Yihong's cheating scandal with his mistress. Swallowing down all this huge gossip at once was nearly enough to make them choke.

Having been a paparazzi for so many years, Lu Xingzhe had seen it all. One look at Su Ge's Weibo and he knew the guy was intentionally playing the victim. The injury was, in all likelihood, also fake—probably a stunt to save face. Only his fans were still in the dark.

Although the comments section was a one-sided tirade against Xi Nian, he was just too obscure, so there were hardly any fans to defend him. The haters stopped when they got tired of cursing, and now the comments were mostly filled with cold sarcasm and ridicule—

Mocking him, saying he'd only gotten first place by luck.

Lu Xingzhe, for reasons unknown, suddenly picked up his phone and sent a message. Ten minutes later, a video arrived in his private email inbox. It was, startlingly, the unedited footage of the match between Xi Nian and Su Ge.

The quality was high-definition, incomparably clearer than the blurry clips circulating online. Lu Xingzhe dragged the progress bar, not letting a single detail escape his notice. He finally discovered that Su Ge's hand had shown no sign of injury during the match; it was perfectly fair and unblemished, a stark contrast to the bruised photo posted on Weibo.

On the other hand, it was Xi Nian who had been subtly adjusting his posture throughout the second half of the match. The movement of his right hand as he drew the bow was visibly stiff, though one wouldn't notice without looking closely.

"Tsk." Lu Xingzhe unexpectedly recalled the gauze wrapped around Xi Nian's hand. He pursed his lips and muttered to himself, "Don't tell me you were the one who got hurt…"

There were a total of 32 contestants in the men's archery group, and the first elimination round had already weeded out nearly half of them. That evening, Xi Nian received the list of who had advanced from Sun Ming.

"This is your match schedule for tomorrow. Don't be late."

Sun Ming felt incredibly aggrieved being his manager. In all his life, he had never met an artist as difficult to handle as Xi Nian. His tone was consequently unfriendly as he lectured nonstop, "I told you not to beat Su Ge. Now look what's happened. His fans are tearing you to shreds everywhere. What was the point of that momentary triumph? What's the use?! The big boss called and chewed me out yesterday. Do you know why? Because you're so damn short-sighted!"

Xi Nian was not the type to bow his head and take a scolding. He grabbed a magazine from the coffee table and casually flipped a page. "Being short-sighted is still better than being blind."

"You—!" Sun Ming was left speechless. He felt that Xi Nian had been getting more and more audacious lately. On the other end of the line, he was so angry his eyes felt like they were about to pop out. "Xi Nian, you've really grown a spine, haven't you?! Don't come crying to me for help when you get into trouble in the future!"

Xi Nian said, "Mm. Don't worry, I absolutely won't."

In the future, they would each go their own way. They were like perfume and toilet bowl cleaner—never meant to mix.