Chapter 123: "Just mind your own business.
Li Zexing didn’t even look at it. Instead, he turned and tasked Qin Shuangshu with finding Fu Cheng.
"I need you to find out the current whereabouts of Fu Cheng, the eldest son of the Fu Family."
Unlike his older brother, Li Qian, Li Long was a pure businessman.
After all, someone so lovesick could never be a soldier. He’d never be able to just obey his superiors’ orders and adhere to military discipline.
One brother was in business, the other in the military. They generally stayed out of each other’s way, only helping one another when absolutely necessary.
’Since my cousin didn’t even bother his own father,’ Li Zexing thought, ’it seems Uncle doesn’t want him meddling too much in another family’s business either.’
’My dad probably feels the same way, so I’ll just have my manager find him.’
Entertainment companies might be lacking in other areas, but they were certainly good at finding people.
Qin Shuangshu froze, not expecting Li Zexing to ask him to do something like this.
"Why are you looking for Fu Cheng?"
"Do I need a reason?" Li Zexing’s tone was less courteous with Qin Shuangshu than it had been with Li Zenan. "Are you going to help or not? If you won’t, I’ll find someone else."
"I understand. Just remember to read the script. I’ll have someone look for him."
"Alright. I’m heading out."
Li Zexing adjusted his mask and hat, ready to leave. Just as he stood up, he received a message from Shen Lan.
Shen Lan: Ze Xing, are you free today?
Li Zexing initially planned to ignore the message, but then he had a second thought. If Shen Lan didn’t hear back from him, she would definitely go to his mother.
’What a hassle.’
Li Zexing: What is it?
Shen Lan: I want to meet with Princess Ruoxin. Can you help me?
Shen Lan didn’t sleep at all last night.
She simply couldn’t fall asleep.
She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she had acted that way last night. And her mother, too. It was as if they had both been possessed, saying those things in front of so many people.
Shen Lan dreaded to think what Princess Ruoxin must think of her now.
She still wanted to become the Crown Prince Consort. She had to salvage her image.
Li Zexing was tempted to reply, ’What’s the point? Even if Princess Ruoxin liked you, she’d never let you become the Crown Prince Consort.’
The Royal Family never chose its princesses based on the princes’ personal preferences. It was all about family background and mutual interests.
The Shen Family wasn’t even considered a prominent family in the Imperial City; they were absolutely not in the running.
But he also knew the saying about a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Since Shen Lan was ambitious enough to dream such a dream, she wouldn’t give up easily.
Li Zexing: Fine. I’ll let you know once I have confirmation.
Shen Lan, who had been waiting anxiously, felt like she had just grasped her last straw. She sent several thank you messages in a row.
Mrs. Shen, who was beside her, asked, "What did Li Zexing say? Did he agree?"
Shen Lan nodded excitedly. "He agreed! Mother, don’t worry. When Li Zexing promises me something, he always follows through."
Mrs. Shen’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Is your relationship with him really that good?"
"Of course."
"In that case, even if you can’t become the Crown Prince Consort, marrying Li Zexing wouldn’t be a bad alternative. He’s a few years younger than you, sure, but his family background is excellent, and he’s handsome."
Shen Lan’s smile stiffened. It wasn’t as if the thought hadn’t crossed her mind the first time she met Li Zexing.
But Li Zexing’s eyes, as cold and distant as stars, seemed to see right through people, exposing the dark, sordid thoughts she kept hidden in the depths of her heart.
Shen Lan didn’t like that feeling of being seen through. In fact, she hated and feared it.
"Mother, please don’t ever say things like that again. Everyone in the Upper City District knows Princess Ruoxin has a crush on Li Zexing. Are you trying to make me compete with her for him?"
Mrs. Shen raised an eyebrow, took a sip of water, and fell silent.
’She had a point. Princess Ruoxin was no pushover. If Shen Lan went up against her, she’d likely be eaten alive, and she might even drag the whole Shen Family down with her.’
Shen Lan changed the subject, "Mother, did you and Father make up last night?"
At the mention of this, Mrs. Shen’s expression turned awkward.
"That’s grown-up business. Children shouldn’t pry."
"I was just concerned about you and Father..."
"I don’t need your concern," Mrs. Shen cut her off coldly. "Just worry about yourself."
Ever since marrying into the Shen Family, Mrs. Shen had spent every single day being cautious with her words and actions. She knew all too well how hard she had worked to get where she was.
Her resentment toward Shen Changrong had been building for a long time.
Admittedly, she owed her upward social mobility entirely to Shen Changrong, but her husband’s condescension toward her was bone-deep and innate.
Mrs. Shen always had her grievances, but she kept them buried deep in her heart, never speaking of them to anyone.
Last night, after she had returned to her senses, she had shamelessly tried to explain to Shen Changrong that she hadn’t meant what she said—that some strange power had been controlling her.
Shen Changrong had no patience for her excuses and told her to sleep in the guest room.
Regardless of whether Mrs. Shen had meant what she said, the damage was done. The Shen Family had become the laughingstock of the Upper City District.
Shen Changrong couldn’t help but wonder what he had been thinking all those years ago to have married Xie Mei.
’If I had just followed my family’s arrangements and married a woman of equal social standing, I wouldn’t be in this frustrating and embarrassing situation, would I?’
But it was no use thinking about that now.
Time couldn’t be turned back, and he couldn’t just divorce Xie Mei and remarry.
Life must go on.
A strange silence descended upon the Shen Family, each member lost in their own troubles.
Meanwhile, the culprit behind it all was already in high spirits, preparing for the lunch rush.
On her second official day of business, Shen Lu stuck with the same menu from day one.
What about the customers who had been poached by Boss Cao, you ask?
Do nothing. Let them be.
It wasn’t that she *couldn’t* sell things like fried rice or stir-fried noodles; she just didn’t want to do it because she felt forced to.
Besides, Boss Cao’s strategy wasn’t very clever. To put it bluntly, he was just trying to start a price war.
But her costs were completely different from Boss Cao’s.
She didn’t have to rely on customers physically coming to her restaurant to earn popularity value.
As long as people approved of her and her restaurant, she would gain popularity value.
In other words, even someone watching one of her videos and thinking her food looked amazing could generate popularity value.
This also applied to customers who had eaten at her place before. If they went to another restaurant today, found the food mediocre, and were left thinking that the food at Little Deer Cuisine was better, that counted as approval of Shen Lu and would generate a bit of popularity value.
So Shen Lu wasn’t feeling much pressure on the cost front. As for Boss Cao... she was curious to see just how long he could keep it up.
Shen Lu reviewed the previous day’s results. Her video, which piggybacked on the hype from the crawfish competition two days ago, had been quite effective.
It had not only attracted customers but also gained her account a good number of new followers.
Shen Lu planned to film again today to keep driving traffic.
’Worried about the subject matter getting repetitive and boring?’
’Then just switch up the angles and try a different editing style.’
Shen Lu had plenty of ideas about that.
In her original world, netizens could take a single TV show and re-examine it endlessly, using all sorts of bizarre angles to edit it into unbelievable yet addictive new videos.
She wasn’t that skilled, but she could certainly borrow a trick or two.
As the meat was stewing, Shen Lu suddenly clicked her tongue. "Tsk."