.15 - Refusing to give up on their sinister schemes

When Xue Ling woke up the next day, it was already afternoon. He vaguely remembered that today was the day he was supposed to join the film crew, but after looking at the time, he guessed that Bai Hao must have requested for leave for him, so he turned over and planned to go back to sleep.

Only to be stopped by Bai Hao.

Bai Hao opened the door just in time to see Xue Ling turning over, presenting him with the back of his tousled head.

he man who had eaten his fill last night was in a great mood, and even had a smile on his face. It was like sun shining down on the top of an iceberg and thawing the ice - amazing. "Yueyue, get up and eat first."

Xue Ling turned back again and glanced at the man.

It was his first time. Although the man had gone a little overboard, his movements had been particularly gentle. Xue Ling didn't know how long Bai Hao had been secretly studying ways to make sure he wasn't injured, but it was effective; Xue Ling only felt tired and lethargic, but there was no fever or any other effects.

Bai Hao pushed over the housekeeper's cart with his meal, and said to Xue Ling: "I gave most of the staff in the villa the next to days off, leaving very few people. They are not allowed to go up to the second floor, so you can stay in my room as you like."

Xue Ling was not as shy as Bai Hao believed. Even if there were people, he would still be lying here in Bai Hao's room. What could others say? Those servants were not stupid; if they gossiped about their employers, the best result would be losing their jobs. If they were unlucky, they wouldn't even be able to stay in this city anymore.

Xue Ling sat up slowly. He was wearing pajamas that Bai Hao had given him, and when paired with those sleep-dazed eyes, he looked extremely lovely.

Xue Ling looked like he wanted to leave the bed and use the washroom, so Bai Hao picked him up and carried him over.

He did not struggle, but rather commanded the man and ordered him to deposit him in the bathroom before kicking him out in a flash.

Bai Hao was not bothered by Xue Ling's little morning tantrum; the more finicky Xue Ling was, the happier he was as he catered to him with his heart and soul. When Xue Ling called him over, Bai Hao went in and carried him out again.

Xue Ling rolled around on the bed in his pajamas before finally getting up to eat breakfast. He asked Bai Hao, who was massaging him as he ate: "What are you going to do with Lin Yi?"

Bai Hao's hands paused. His expression was unruffled, but his voice was was sinister as he said: "Compared to you and Sun Jianan, what Lin Yi cares about the most is the Lin family business."

Xue Ling nodded as though this was expected. Lin Yi's statement that 'his father threatened him to return home' was related to the Lin family businesses. After all, Lin family was the basis from which he could stand where he was now, able to afford Sun Jianan and pursue Bai Yue. Luckily, Lin Yi was this world's son of fate, and he was full of good fortune; Lin family was also very famous and noble in Hai City.

Lin Yi's father was a local tyrant who made a fortune in real estate. Lin Yi could be considered a rich second generation, but he did very well in the upwards moving circle of Hai City, and Lin Yi's family business were all profitable, so he had the capital to do so.

What Bai Hao wanted to do was to destroy his capital.

Xue Ling had not come into contact with business in this life, and only wanted to be a good second young master who played around in the entertainment circle. So, he did not interfere in this matter except to ask curiously, "Don't Bai family and Lin family have partnerships?"

"Our domains do not overlap." Bai Hao explained briefly.Bai family was a centuries-old family in Hai City. Old Master Bai's branch of the family was a prominent branch, but it was not the main branch. The strongest part of the Bain family was in the capital, and their core was not based in business, but in politics. Bai Hao's main industry was in culture, such as the entertainment circles, fiction websites, newspapers and publishing houses. To sum it up, he had many large businesses. It might seem that the potential for profit in these industries was not very high, but in fact, the industry was now flourishing and was especially profitable. In addition, by making investment in movies and other cultural media, they were relying on the growing market of spiritual civilization. There was no overlap with Lin family's real estate.

And because Bai family was a centuries-old family in Hai City, everyone would also be willing to give them some face if they wanted to make a move.

It was not that easy to crush a new family group, but Xue Ling believed in Bai Hao and no longer asked him what he intended to do. He would just wait for Lin Yi to be pulled down, and then consider how to deal with Sun Jianan.

Xue Ling rested for a day, then abandoned the Bai Hao that was all kinds of unwilling in order to join the crew for shooting. He was gone for more than a month, and Bai Hao became more and more irritable, his means for dealing with the Lin family also becoming more and more tyrannical and vicious.

At first, Lin family thought it was only a minor problem. They never thought that the minor problem would then spread out and finally affect the whole group.

Lin Yi was suddenly worked to the bone, and had no time to worry about the Bai Yue that he had not yet successfully pursued, or the Sun Jianan that he had 'broken up' with. He had a clear distinction between career and love, and obviously understood that he would be nothing without money.

But Bai Hao wanted to destroy him, and he even specifically vented with Old Master Bai so that the old man would notify several other families in advance. So this matter was absolutely not something that Lin Yi could easily weather through.

Normally speaking, as the protagonist blessed with luck, Lin Yi should always be able to pass through smoothly when he met any difficulties, just like how Sun Jianan was never barred from getting a spot in a movie. But this time, his luck was particularly bad. Several enterprises that had planned to partner with him had minor difficulties and pulled out, the problems within his own company were still unresolved, a residential complex that had completed construction and had already begun to be placed on the market suddenly had issues - the new apartment owners contacted the media and were making a giant ruckus online every day. Lin Yi was busy all day long and it was only when he finally managed with difficulty to get some time to himself that he realized that someone must be out to get him.

Thinking back carefully on what had happened during this period, he started looking towards the Bai family. Bai Hao knew that Lin Yi had cottoned on to who had been pulling strings behind his back, and so he stopped with the secretive movements and began a direct assault on the Lin family.

Lin Yi's face was a black as carbon. His father asked around for a good while before finally learning why Bai family had started causing trouble for them seemingly out of nowhere. This matter had gotten so big, but it was originally his own son that had provoked the Bai family's second young master. His face was black with anger as he found Lin Yi and scolded him severely..

He had always ignored it when Lin Yi played with his little boy toy - as long as he left him a grandson it would be fine. But now, he went and provoked the Bai family, and it was even their second young master! Why didn't he take a good look at whose child that was! Was Bai Yue someone that Lin Yi could sleep with just because he wanted to?!

Lin Yi was still unwilling to give up. He was red-eyed as he swore to his father that his feelings towards Bai Yue were really sincere, and he hoped that his father would help him settle the matter.

Father Lin was actually persuaded by him, and it was not known how he analysed the pros and cons, but he finally brought gifts to visit the Bai family, saying that he wanted to discuss the issue of marriage between the two children.

Grandpa Bai was so angry that he called people over to kick them out on the spot. He even stood at the door to curse them out - that son of yours dares covet my grandson? Did they not look carefully and see what kind of trash he was?

Many people in this rich area heard him cursing, and the entire upper class society began to joke about this matter. They all felt that the Lin family must have something wrong with their heads - who could bear to send the child that they had raised to be pressed down by others? Let alone one as rich and good looking as second young master Bai. How could Lin Yi match him?

The news was spread out, and many details were picked apart. Sun Jianan was brought up, and everyone agreed that this little actor looked somewhat similar to the second young master; Lin Yi's guts were truly big, and he was really disgusting.

The life that Sun Jianan was originally already dissatisfied with reached an even more embarrassing point because of this discussion.

Unspoken rules were known but not spoken about within the circle, but because of the things that had happened with Lin Yi, Sun Jianan became embroiled in the mess. When people discussed this piece of gossip, they would either intentionally or unintentionally bring up the fact that Sun Jianan had a backer, and some people even pitied him. "Say, he's so unlucky - he's actually a substitute."

Once these words were said, there were others who came out to satirize him. "He didn't refuse to be a substitute, and even climbed into Lin Yi's bed. Of course he has to do as his golden ticket wants. Since he's already sold himself, there's no point in keeping his dignity and pretending to be pure."

Sun Jianan turned pale as he stood to one side and listened.

The two words "sold himself" was already enough to make him hate the speaker to death, but the truth was, he really had sold himself.

Regardless of whether it was the 'unintentional' selling of himself to Lin Ye in his previous life or the 'intentional' selling of himself in this life, there was little difference. He waited for the highest bidder and then sold himself to Lin Yi, all under the banner of 'true love'. It was no wonder that others laughed at him.

It was unknown what Sun Jianan was thinking about, but after that, his expression was always gloomy and depressed.

The shooting of "Male Consort" went very smoothly, and Xue Ling successfully cleared all the acting scenes in two months. He netted himself a lot of gifts from the crew, and returned home all tired out.

During this period, Bai Hao had come to visit once, and they spent the night together, applying for leave the next day and spending it cozied up before they separated again.

His family situation was still the same. Grandpa Bai called over his younger grandson for a chat and comforted him over Lin Yi's affairs before telling him not to worry; Bai Hao would resolve everything. He just needed to shoot his films and act in his movies as he liked without any worries.

Xue Ling always found this kind of concern to be very beneficial, smiling as he accepted it. He then spent some time to coax Old Master Bai into laughter and gifted him with an ancient text that he had picked up while shooting before going to his room to take a bath.

Bai Hao came back at dinner time. Although he wanted to skip work to see his younger brother, the old man was still at home and the two of them could not go too far. He could only exchange glances with Xue Ling while pressing down the urge to respond to the small foot teasing him under the table, and when dinner was finished the two entered Bai Hao's room after giving Grandpa Bai the excuse of discussing investments. The two locked the door and rolled together.

They had been reunited after a long separation, let alone the two of them were both young and vigorous. Xue Ling was tossed around once before lazily asking from within Bai Hao's embrace: "How do you plan to deal with Grandpa's side?"

Bai Hao rubbed his head and said, "During the time while you were gone, I already came out of the closet with Grandpa." He said it casually, as though it was as easy as calling someone over for dinner.

Xue Ling looked up at him in some surprise and received a kiss on his eyelids. Bai Hao laughed and said, "Grandpa was not surprised. After all, I've been alone for so many years. He said that it was fine as long as I'm not asexual. As long as I give him a great-grandson, he doesn't care whether I like men or women."

Xue Ling squinted at him, before reaching out as though wanting to strangle his neck and said: "If you dare to find a woman to have a great-grandson with, I'll kill you."

Bai Hao liked his unreasonable 'as long as you betray me I'll kill you' desire for exclusivity. He bowed his head and kissed him again. "Should we find a surrogate? If you don't like it, we can adopt a child from the family situated in the capital."

Xue Ling held his hand and played with it. Bai Hao also did not speak to give him time to think. After a long time, he heard his voice: "I want twins, one for you and one for me."

Bai Hao blinked, and then righteously rejected this proposal. "Let's just wait for adoption within the family. I definitely don't want to see any woman giving birth for you at all."

Xue Ling pouted, thinking in his heart that it was only fair Bai Hao also got a feel for how unpleasant that would be, and hummed before finally saying, "I'll tell mother that we hope they stop using contraception. If not… We can go to the orphanage and adopt a child. It's weird for me to adopt other people's children."

Bai Hao expressed that everything was up to him, and he had no objections.

As long as the child's last name was Bai, he was not so insistent about bloodlines. For a family to be able to exist for so long, it was not based on blood alone, but also relied on the Bai family's methods of education. Even if they were not able to bring up a child as good as Bai Hao, they would definitely still be able to keep the businesses stable.

The next day, Xue Ling had not yet gotten out of bed when he received a message from Sun Jianan.

Sun Jianan's message was very simple. He just wanted to meet and talk with Xue Ling.

Xue Ling thought about this time point in relation to the plot to try and understand why Sun Jianan would invite him out, and then looked at the address of the bar that was to be their meeting point. His expression turned cold.

Ah, he had purposely left him some leeway, but he hadn't thought that Sun Jianan's malicious intent would be increasingly deep.

The system looked at its host's face and silently lit a candle for Sun Jianan.

editor: alamerysl

one more chapter to go in this arc~