Just from the “conquer the world” he had heard before coming through the door, Yu Hua determined that Yuan Luori knew his true identity. 

He stepped calmly through the door and refuted these words with the language of a common social animal, at the same time giving Zhen Li an apparently careless glance. 

Zhen Li hunched his shoulders. He shook his head slightly towards Yu Hua. Yu Hua understood that Zhen Li had acted in time to prevent Yuan Luori from spilling the beans in front of Huan Zixu and Lian Yufan. He was satisfied. 

Zhen Li was cowardly and soft, but he won through by being harmless. He had no aggression and no bad intentions. He also had his petty tricks and means of self-protection. If this sort of person wanted to conceal something or trick others, it would be hard to discover it. 

Yu Hua understood this reasoning. That was why he had been interested in Zhen Li in the first place and had chosen him to establish this studio, and told him his identity. 

There were some secrets it was hard to cover up without an accomplice. In the studio, he was like a fish put back into the water. All the Protectors were firmly convince concerning his identity; Zhen Li’s contribution could not go unnoticed. 

“Have they already started recording?” Yu Hua’s gaze swept over Zhen Li, and he nodded slightly. “Well done.” 

Zhen Li understood the double meaning in these words and was instantly inspired. The small makeup brush in his hand fluttered cleverly over Yuan Luori’s face. The movements of his fingers were direct and efficient. When he was moving quickly, if there was a faint lag in the livestream, his movements would leave behind a trail on the screen, like a special effect. 

[Is he doing makeup or performing a hand seal? I keep feeling he’s about to break out some ninjutsu.]

[Watching the makeup livestream feels like watching special effects.]

[There are people who seem to be soft and cute presidents on the surface, but whose true identity is martial arts master. Look at my Buddha Palm Technique!]

[What Buddha Palm Technique? It’s clearly a ninjutsu hand seal!]

[It’s obviously a Sunflower Acupressure move!]

The barrage began to argue about the name of Zhen Li’s technique. Yu Hua, meanwhile, after making small talk with the show group, went over to Yuan Luori and watched Zhen Li do Yuan Luori’s makeup. 

Zhen Li was nimble. In a moment, the makeup was done. He had deepened the outlines of Yuan Luori’s features, making them look sharper and clearer, so icily arrogant that it was threatening. 

Yu Hua raised his hand and brought it down on Yuan Luori’s head. In a normal voice, he said, “You seem nervous. That’s unavoidable when it’s your first time on camera. Don’t worry, calm yourself, just behave as usual. Director Lian and our new Director Huan are both watching. You’re a veteran employee. Don’t embarrass yourself.” 

Yuan Luori felt cold seeping into the top of his head from Yu Hua’s hand. He was instantly frozen from his head down to the soles of his feet. The originally simple thoughts in his brain instantly achieved enlightenment. He understood what Yu Hua meant. 

“Behave as usual,” “Director Lian and Director Huan are watching,” “don’t embarrass yourself”… Yu Hua was telling him to maintain his usual attitude so the other two wouldn’t see through him. 

And-and was he also supposed to behave as impertinently towards the great master as before? 

Yuan Luori felt tremendously stressed. His fingers began to shake. Zhen Li saw that things weren’t going well and quickly grabbed Yuan Luori’s hands, looking considerate. Smiling, he came to the rescue. “Xiao Yuan hasn’t seen many people. When there are a lot of people around, he gets nervous, and he even has a hard time talking. Director Yu, don’t you still have some work to do? I remember you don’t like appearing on camera.” 

“Right!” Yuan Luori felt warmth coming from Zhen Li’s hands. Some sensation returned to his body. He straightened his neck and said staunchly to Yu Hua, “I don’t need you to encourage me. Mind your own business and get to work!” 

He had always been the person in the studio who most “looked down” on Yu Hua. His attitude towards Yu Hua had always been one of protesting with his words but obeying with his body. He was a typical case of stubborn even in defeat. It was normal for him to say this sort of thing. 

Yu Hua’s eyes curved in satisfaction. He removed his hand from Yuan Luori’s head. Holding his briefcase, he said to the show group’s workers, “You carry on. I have some things to take care of, so I’ll go inside to work. Director Huan, Director Lian, shouldn’t you two also return to your work stations?” 

Lian Yufan and Huan Zixu froze. What work did they have? 

Lian Yufan thought, Since coming to this studio, what work have I done apart from decorating and dancing? 

While Huan Zixu also didn’t know what work needed to be done, he still sensibly picked a cubicle at random and walked in, avoiding the livestream camera. 

As soon as Yu Hua left, the barrage instantly became lively. 

[I was so scared. When Yu Hua put his hand on Yuan Luori’s head just now, I had the feeling he was going to crush it.]

[Me too. It’s strange, Yu Hua was just doing normal work, giving normal instructions to an employee, and even comforting Yuan Luori in a gentle voice, so why did I get a feeling of danger like the god of death had arrived even through the screen?]

[You’re not wrong. It looked like the show group’s Xiao Fu also didn’t dare to breathe just now.]

[Ah! I feel like I’ve been watching a horror movie! This feeling of my adrenal glands going into overdrive is great!]

[Yuan Luori really is a man of iron. In front of Yu Hua’s despotic rule, he still retaliates dauntlessly. How cool!]

[It’s not that Yuan Luori is dauntless, it’s that Zhen Li held his hands and gave him the strength to resist the vicious power. LiMingLuoRi is real. This CaoYuanLuoRiLiMing girl is moved to tears.]

[I was wrong, I always thought that the name LiMingLuoRi was no different from saying ZhenYuan, but adding the “cao” character…it’s so vivid! An inspired name!¹]

The show group had originally meant to use Zhen Li to promote Yuan Luori’s popularity, use post-production editing to make Zhen Li appear on the show as a contestant’s friend. The rest of them were no good; if they wanted to appear in post-production, they would have to pay. 

Xiao Fu watched as the images of the four handsome men were filmed, as well as the strange image of Yu Hua pressing on Yuan Luori’s head; she sighed inwardly. These were such good images, but they couldn’t use them. They would definitely have been enough to set off countless conversation topics. Currently the Zhen Li Studio didn’t allow its livestreams to be recorded. They didn’t follow up on previous videos, but in the future, only the studio would be able to post videos concerning itself. The copyright belonged to the studio. Reposts were forbidden. 

Huan Zixu was an expert observer. He felt that Yuan Luori hadn’t been as fearless just now as he had made it sound. He seemed to be afraid of Yu Hua. So Huan Zixu went to Lian Yufan’s cubicle, borrowed a pen, and wrote: Won’t there be trouble if Yuan Luori goes to film this show? There won’t be problems if he trains with the other contestants?

Huan Zixu thought along the lines of a leveler. If a new leveler came and simultaneously saw, on the one hand, Zhen Li, Huan Zixu, and the others all together on the livestream, and, on the other hand, Yuan Luori all on his own, they would definitely choose to go find Yuan Luori. After all, there were few people in the Clearing League who would dare to provoke Huan Zixu, but Yuan Luori was only cannon fodder in the eyes of the ten managers. 

Lian Yufan also wrote on the paper: The show is a taped broadcast. After Yuan Luori has gone to practice with them for a couple of months, they’ll cut the footage and broadcast the first episode. By the time they play the first episode, he’ll already have been kicked off and come back. Furthermore, apart from public performances, the locations of the show group’s training are confidential. If the Destroyer goes around asking about the training location, their wording will sound different from a fan’s, and they’ll be exposed. We’ll instantly be able to catch them. This will make it easier to locate Destroyers. 

It was for this reason that Lian Yufan hadn’t protested against Yu Hua’s policy decision too much. Otherwise, he definitely would have thought of a way to prevent this collaboration from coming into effect. 

So it’s like that… Huan Zixu frowned and looked towards Yu Hua’s cubicle. He kept thinking that there were too many coincidences around Yu Hua. 

He had coincidentally been employed by Zhen Li’s studio, coincidentally acquired the approval of the Protection Organization, coincidentally chosen this path for Yuan Luori that would make it easier to located Destroyers but was also comparatively safe… This many coincidences gathered around a single person weren’t coincidences anymore. 

Putting all the coincidences together, there seemed to be only one answer…

Huan Zixu had a paranoid nature. He fixed his eyes on Lian Yufan and wrote his guess on the paper: Is Yu Hua a Protector? On the leadership level, like Director Xiao?

Lian Yufan: “…!”  

He sucked in a breath, nearly stifling to death on it. 

Huan Zixu didn’t think there were any flaws in his reasoning. If Yu Hua wasn’t someone who knew the Protectors inside and out, if Yu Hua didn’t have Protectors near him to guard him at all times, how could the Protection Organization allow an ordinary person to stay at the studio?  And Lian Yufan’s attitude towards Yu Hua was very unusual. Sometimes it seemed like he as avoiding some subject. There had to be some private connection between them! 

Huan Zixu wrote: Being candid with you about my guesses demonstrates my sincerity. Feng Kui is in your hands, I’m willing to cooperate with the Protection Organization’s work. Please don’t exclude me.

The more clever and paranoid a person was, the less of a sense of security they could have. Without a definite answer, they would always go around suspecting everything. Huan Zixu wasn’t as satisfied with his lot as Zhen Li and Yuan Luori. Though he had lost his power and had been forced to part from Feng Kui, he still had to grasp the initiative, find a role to play within the Protection Organization. 

Lian Yufan silently read Huan Zixu’s reasoning and thought that the majority of it was right. 

The reason the Protection Organization trusted Yu Hua was that they had already investigated him. The reason they had let him stay at the studio was You Zhengping. You Zhengping was responsible for the Xuyang District, one of the Protection Organization’s best. During each battle, he revealed astonishing talent. Hidden in the shadows, he had enough strength to protect Yu Hua. He was still growing up, not mature enough yet. The Protection Organization didn’t want to throttle his potential for growing up. 

Therefore, You Zhengping’s identity was top secret. He had to remain in the shadows. 

Lian Yufan put their dialogue into the shredder, shook his head, and told Huan Zixu, “Be content with your work. Don’t make wild guesses.” 

The more he acted like this, the more likely Huan Zixu thought it was that his guesses were true. 

During their confrontation, Yu Hua said, “Come over here, you two.” 

The two of them went to Yu Hua’s cubicle. Yu Hua instructed: “Lately there have been quite a few advertising companies coming to ask us to promote their products. I’ve selected carefully among them and chosen three brands. One is clothing, one is snacks, and one it facial cleanser. I’ve seen their ads. Their quality is good, and so is public opinion about them. They have their eyes on Zhen Li’s popularity. It’s our first collaboration of this type. We need to perform well.” 

There was nothing but Destroyers on Lian Yufan’s mind. He was in no mood to care about the studio’s business. He agreed carelessly. But Huan Zixu was different. He knew he would most likely have to live in this world. While he was dealing with the Protection Organization, it was best if he made some money to support himself, at least enough to rent an apartment so he would be able to bring Feng Kui to live there later. He couldn’t stay at the studio and sleep on a folding bed like Yuan Luori. 

“Let me see the price,” Huan Zixu said. 

Yu Hua had intended to test Huan Zixu’s abilities. He gave him the price lists and commission tables. Huan Zixu quickly entered working mode. He looked up these companies and the prices of their products online. After some calculating, he gave an informed opinion: “There’s latitude to drive the price of the products down.” 

Yu Hua raised his eyebrows and waited for Huan Zixu to continue. 

“No matter what the promotion format, for livestreaming and online shopping, what attracts the most traffic is to be the lowest. At base it’s a price war,” Huan Zixu said. “I’ve researched the effectiveness of these companies’ events and the stock of their second hand goods. I think there’s still room to drive down the price. I can negotiate the price with a bet-on agreement. The studio can take 20% more of the revenue than the estimate. The ordinary income will be treated according to our contracts, and of the excess 20%, I want half, or else I won’t negotiate and no one will get that money.” 

Director Ha had come over and looked at Huan Zixu in shock. He truly was a warrior. He could haggle with Yu Hua, and he had precisely seized on Yu Hua’s weak point! 

Huan Zixu didn’t wait for Yu Hua to agree. He added, “Of course, if there are problems with the quality after sale, that will be for Director Lian to take care of. I trust that with Director Lian’s supervision, there will be no problems. If there are problems, then Director Lian can pay for the losses out of his own pocket.” 

He smiled at Lian Yufan, who had been planning to stay out of it. 

Lian Yufan: “…”

Look at Huan Zixu, threatening him with compensating out of his own pocket if the quality was no good. This amounted to forcing him to use the Protection Organization’s power to supervise the advertisers to avoid them perpetuating a fraud and impacting the studio’s public image. 

---

Author's Note

Huan Zixu: Incessant life, incessant scheming. 

Yu Hua: Very good, he can make money, he’s a genius, I’m not letting him go. 

Huan Zixu’s entire deduction process is correct, but he reached a totally wrong answer. 

---

Translator's Note

¹From the top: 黎明落日 (li ming luo ri) and 真圆 (zhen yuan) are ship names, one using their given names to put together the expression “sunrise and sunset,” the other based on homophones of their surnames. is the 草原落日黎明 (cao yuan luo ri li ming) adds the character 草 (grass) to Yuan Luori’s full name to get “grasslands sunset.” It is all rather poetic.