Chapter 5: The Mysterious Big Shot is the Ex-Boyfriend

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Mysterious Big Shot is the Ex-Boyfriend

Nan Zhi led Nan Yi to a quiet corner where they sat down to wait for a staff member to announce the move to the next filming location.

A moment after they sat down, Nan Yi secretly furrowed his brow and shifted his legs uncomfortably.

Nan Zhi had been looking at her phone.

She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and quickly realized.

"Do you need to use the restroom?"

"...No."

Nan Yi was as stubborn as ever.

Nan Zhi simply took his small hand and stood up.

"If you have to go, then go. I’ll go with you."

After this had happened a few times, Nan Yi was no longer as resistant to Nan Zhi as he had been at first, so he let her pull him to his feet.

The restroom was just a short walk away, to the right after leaving the lounge.

Nan Zhi walked Nan Yi to the door of the men’s restroom, not forgetting to whisper a few words of caution.

Nan Yi seemed to have never experienced a mother’s care. As he turned and walked away, his back was stiff and his movements were sluggish, like a small marionette.

Nan Zhi watched him quietly from behind.

She knew Nan Yi was used to suppressing his own needs because his requests had never been taken seriously.

Remembering the frail figure always relegated to corners, margins, and shadows in the Tactician’s memories, Nan Zhi’s heart ached with a dense, needle-like pain.

She lowered her gaze, her back against the wall. Her slender profile looked cool and detached, her thoughts unreadable.

—This was the scene that greeted Fu Chao as he walked out of the restroom.

Fu Chao had always been famous for his humility, gentle nature, and good temper.

Even at the height of his fame in the industry, he had never used his status to give anyone the cold shoulder. He was usually all smiles.

But now, seeing Nan Zhi, he wore a rare, cold expression.

"You followed me all the way here?"

Fu Chao’s deep, magnetic voice sounded.

But the disgust and irritation beneath his tone were impossible to hide.

Nan Zhi was a bit lost in thought.

It took two or three seconds for her to snap out of her daze.

She turned her head, her unfocused gaze landing lightly on Fu Chao like a butterfly.

"Hm?"

As she tilted her head in confusion, her cloud-like black hair cascaded to one side of her face, effortlessly beautiful.

It was, in fact, leagues above her previous, meticulously styled appearances.

Fu Chao thought sarcastically, then warned in a low voice:

"Know when to stop. Don’t think everyone else is blind! If you keep this up, I won’t hesitate to get you kicked out of this industry!"

With that, Fu Chao gave Nan Zhi another deep look.

He recalled the first time he met Nan Zhi. The fact that he’d actually taken a liking to her just because he found her features friendly now filled him with utter disgust.

After harshly criticizing himself for his own shallowness and poor judgment, Fu Chao strode away.

As for Nan Zhi, she just found the whole thing baffling.

After some careful thought, she pinpointed the source of the trouble: the Tactician.

’Did the Tactician secretly send Fu Chao some suggestive texts?’

’No wonder Fu Chao is so furious.’

Nan Zhi closed her eyes in resignation, raising a hand to rub her temples as she mentally tallied up all the messes she had to clean up...

TAP, TAP, TAP.

The sound of unhurried footsteps approached.

Nan Zhi thought Fu Chao had turned back, so she opened her eyes to explain:

"Actually, I wasn’t the one who sent that message..."

She froze abruptly.

The person not far away also paused and looked up—

In that instant, it was as if a mountain-still idol in a temple wreathed in fragrant incense had lowered its impassive eyes to gaze coolly upon the mortal world.

He stood on a celestial plane, viewing all of creation as insignificant. In his eyes, even the most exquisite beauty was nothing more than a painted skeleton.

Such was his indifference, his distance, his mystery, that anyone caught in his gaze would suddenly feel so insignificant they might dissipate like a speck of dust at any moment.

Of course, Nan Zhi didn’t feel it to that extent.

She only felt as if she were standing in a vast, empty valley, with memories like a howling wind piercing through her soul.

In a daze, she moved her lips, about to call out that name...

"Sir?"

The assistant following behind the man spoke up in confusion.

The man casually withdrew his gaze and resumed walking, not a trace of superfluous emotion in his eyes.

In the blink of an eye, he and his assistant disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

After a long moment, Nan Zhi slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding. A scene from several years ago surfaced in her mind—

’If we broke up, what would you do?’

’I would act as if I’d never met you.’

...

’He really is a man of his word, that Lu Shixu.’

Nan Zhi clicked her tongue softly.

What does it feel like to run into your ex-boyfriend by chance, only to be ignored like a complete stranger?

Nan Zhi’s answer: It feels like nothing. In fact, it’s quite liberating.

Compared to the twelve years in the Otherworld where every step was fraught with peril and she was constantly on the verge of life and death, the relationship that had once caused her so much torment and grief now seemed insignificant.

It was like how a child might bawl their eyes out over a piece of candy they couldn’t have. When they grow up and remember it, they’ll only sigh at how innocent and naive they once were, but they’ll no longer pine for that piece of candy.

"I’m done."

Nan Yi said awkwardly, coming up behind her.

Nan Zhi gathered her thoughts and took Nan Yi to wash his hands.

As she turned, only four words filled her mind:

’Just like this, then.’

-

Lu Shixu suddenly stopped walking.

He stood there, expressionless, like a verdant mountain shrouded in mist—mysterious and inscrutable.

His assistant, Tao An, didn’t understand the situation and asked tentatively:

"Sir, do you remember that person just now?"

"Oh?"

The light tone was enough for Tao An to grasp his meaning. He nodded and continued:

"That was Miss Nan Zhi, an actress. She’s currently participating in that reality show with the kids, the one you and Mr. Tang invested in. Before this, however, Miss Nan Zhi tried to ask about you and approach you at banquets on two separate occasions, but she never succeeded."

Tao An remembered the second time. That Miss Nan Zhi had worn the fake, fawning smile common in the entertainment industry, mingling in a business banquet unbefitting her status, pretending to casually ask about Mr. Lu.

At the time, Mr. Lu had been standing behind the second-floor railing, his unfathomable eyes sweeping casually over the crowd without a single ripple of emotion.

’But just now, Mr. Lu’s expression when he stopped on his own... How should I describe it? It was as if an eternally unchanging stone sculpture had suddenly awakened, becoming vivid and alive.’

CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.

The eighty-one Sandalwood Beads clicked crisply as they were rolled between the fingers of a large, well-defined hand.

Tao An immediately fell silent. He knew that whenever Mr. Lu fiddled with this string of Sandalwood Beads, he was usually in a bad mood.

But Tao An didn’t know that for Lu Shixu, it was more than just a bad mood.

That casual glance, where their eyes met, had made his soul feel as if it had plunged into a sunless abyss.

From that moment on, life felt empty, meaningless.

Ever since the car accident five years ago that caused him to lose many important memories, he hadn’t experienced such a strong emotional fluctuation.

CLICK.

The rolling beads suddenly stopped.

Lu Shixu’s voice was flat and direct, betraying nothing as he gave the order:

"Investigate her."

Tao An was taken aback for a moment, then quickly agreed.