Die?!
After returning to Yancheng and making his way home, Cui Leilei was still trembling with fear and unease over the extreme thought that had suddenly emerged in his mind.
He was someone who was terrified of pain and cherished his own life more than anything. There was absolutely no way he would develop such a pessimistic and absurd idea before the truth of the situation had even been uncovered.
If one Cui Leilei died, the entire family could be protected.
Even though he genuinely wanted his parents to spend their later years in wealth and peace, wanted his eldest brother to smoothly become a domineering CEO and marry a wife and have children, and wanted his good friend Xu Congcong and the others to live a life of wealth and prosperity, Cui Leilei’s personality made one thing absolutely certain.
He would never, ever give up on everything before he had even met the protagonist shou, Shen Qian!
At most, he could pack himself up and send himself into the military camp, giving himself a seemingly reasonable and justifiable excuse to stay away from his parents and elder brother.
If Cui Leilei had been the vicious antagonist in some other type of novel, he would definitely have packed his bags and immediately put as much distance as possible between himself and the protagonist couple.
But unfortunately, he was the villain in a novel about children being switched at birth.
Since ancient times, even upright and incorruptible officials had found it difficult to resolve family disputes. Not to mention that Cui Leilei was still a spoiled child who had grown up starved of affection. He simply couldn’t truly cut himself off from his parents and elder brother.
Therefore, he could only find a legitimate and emotionally reasonable way to leave for a period of time, allowing the family of four to develop their feelings for one another.
So there was absolutely no way he would take such an extreme step and seek death directly.
The more Cui Leilei thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong with him. Yet, for the moment, he had no scientific method to investigate what exactly had gone wrong inside his head.
Therefore, after carefully hiding his schoolbag, Cui Leilei opened the Green Jinjiang novel website with a depressed expression and began searching for related novels using various keywords.
He intended to use the strategy that three ordinary people together can surpass Zhuge Liang, drawing experience from novels and summarizing methods for changing the plot.
As he looked at the list of novels that appeared after refreshing the page…
The Max-Level Expert Transmigrates into the Fake Heiress.
The Real Heiress Is a God of Learning.
The Real Young Master Is Slapping Faces and Making a Comeback Again.
The Real Young Master Who Was Found Returns to the Peak of Life Through Marriage Alliance.
The Fake Young Master Becomes Famous After Debuting in the Center Position.
Several full pages of novel titles filled his screen.
Cui Leilei’s expression grew solemn. He opened the notes application on his phone and began seriously extracting and recording relevant experiences.
He had never been patient with reading books. He was even the kind of person who would only flip through the assigned reference books for his graduation thesis once or twice before putting them aside.
But at this moment, his expression was incomparably solemn.
His fingertips pressed against the keyboard as he typed. Every line of text appearing on the screen felt like an extension of his own life, his parents’ beautiful and peaceful retirement, and the money his elder brother would need to marry and start a family.
One line after another.
With dark circles gathering beneath his eyes, Cui Leilei worked tirelessly for more than half a month.
When he finally finished summarizing the most classic novel about children switched at birth, Plum Blossom Brand, Cui Leilei slumped back and pressed down on the veins protruding from his temples. He let out a painful sigh.
Of ten novels about children switched at birth, nine used the protagonist’s comeback and face-slapping as their main attraction.
The remaining one, although it emphasized the principle that two tigers cannot occupy the same mountain unless one is the gong and the other is the shou, and could develop in a more harmonious direction, was still unsuitable for Cui Leilei to use as a reference or study material.
Because in those novels, the real and fake young masters were clearly divided into gong and shou roles.
And the novel inside Cui Leilei’s head, The Movie Emperor Is Slapping Faces Again, had the following genre and attributes:
Protagonist shou. The real young master, Shen Qian, is a beloved beauty pursued by everyone!
Unfortunately…
Cui Leilei was also a shou.
Therefore, even if he hugged Shen Qian’s thigh in advance, even if he relied on his pretty little face to seduce Shen Qian, two shous still couldn’t cook raw rice into a finished meal.
As for becoming a gong for the sake of love…
Cui Leilei’s eyes suddenly lit up with an unusual gleam.
He rushed toward the bathroom at a speed rarely seen from him, one that could almost rival a hundred-meter sprint. Once inside, he carefully examined his own hardware, inspecting it over and over again.
Afterward, he nodded with satisfaction.
Although Cui Leilei was a shou in both body and soul, he could still force Shen Qian to become the gong.
After all, Cui Leilei was a complete face-con. When it came to love, wasn’t looking at the face all that mattered?
As for Shen Qian…
He was the protagonist of a comeback-and-face-slapping novel. If he could also make a comeback in terms of his sexual role and turn himself into a gong, that would be pretty good, wouldn’t it?!
Having successfully convinced himself through his own logic, Cui Leilei temporarily arrived at the most harmonious and perfect solution.
It felt no different from having a massive stone lifted off his heart.
Immediately, he couldn’t suppress a yawn.
He staggered toward the bed, wrapped himself up in the blanket, and fell asleep in an instant.
The following morning, Cui Leilei woke up full of energy and went to look for the King of Paparazzi.
The King of Paparazzi tremblingly presented the list of candidates he and his team had painstakingly screened through, working overtime day and night.
A thick stack of introductory profiles lay before him.
Cui Leilei quickly flipped through the photographs. As he continued looking, his expression gradually became more solemn.
“Look at my face. Use my face as the standard when searching.”
I finally understand why I’m so beautiful, why I’m the most handsome young man in all of Yancheng.
It’s because I’m a paper person. I exist to serve as a stepping stone for Shen Qian.
Then Shen Qian must definitely be more attractive than Cui Leilei.
With this conviction firmly established in his heart, Cui Leilei looked at the King of Paparazzi, who seemed to have something to say but couldn’t bring himself to speak.
He immediately offered some experience he had gained from reading novels.
“The age might be slightly different. I heard that some rural areas use the lunar calendar.”
Although hospitals now issued birth certificates, more than twenty years ago, remote rural areas still had the legendary midwives who assisted with childbirth. Furthermore, when registering household records and identity card information in rural areas, some people still used the lunar calendar passed down from their ancestors rather than the Gregorian calendar used internationally.
In the novel, the real heir, Shen Qian, had never celebrated his birthday.
Apparently, he didn’t know which day he had been born on, and even the date on his identity card was fake. That was why, when he had provided his information back then, he had marked the date with the words approximately in parentheses.
The King of Paparazzi listened to this explanation while looking at Cui Leilei’s completely sincere expression. He couldn’t help himself and finally spoke.
“Young Master Cui, why don’t you just give me your account? I can search by IP address. At least that would be more efficient.”
“No.” Cui Leilei’s entire body immediately tensed upon hearing this.
His mind spun rapidly, and he quickly came up with a reasonable excuse before throwing the blame elsewhere.
“My brother checks up on me from time to time. If he finds out that I privately hired someone to trace an IP address and conduct a doxxing search, he’ll think you people have led me astray. He’ll be furious, and the consequences will be extremely serious. He might even—”
Cui Leilei raised a hand and pointed at his own mouth. With a completely serious expression, he said, “Can you see the shape my mouth is making? One-one-zero! My brother really will call the police. If you don’t believe me, ask Xu Congcong.”
The King of Paparazzi was left speechless.
“Work a little harder. I’ll pay you overtime. A thick, generous overtime fee.” Cui Leilei smiled as he handed the documents back to the King of Paparazzi, repeatedly offering words of reassurance. “A very generous overtime fee.”
The King of Paparazzi: “…………”
Encouraging himself to endure it for the sake of the money, the King of Paparazzi slowly exhaled a weary breath. He cautiously looked at Cui Leilei’s head and offered a careful, extremely serious suggestion.
“Young Master Cui, think about it a little more. Is there any other information you can provide? Something objective?”
“He’s gay. Does that count?”
The King of Paparazzi silently returned his attention to the photographs.
Compared with everything else, choosing a person based on their appearance was still much easier.
Cui Leilei watched the fragile back of the King of Paparazzi as the man departed, having conquered every obstacle and never once tasted defeat.
Once he was gone, Cui Leilei quietly closed the private room door. He then raised a hand and rubbed his own head.
It wasn’t as though he had any other choice.
He had racked his brains, thinking and thinking and thinking, but what had been stuffed inside his head was text, not images.
Otherwise, given Cui Leilei’s drawing skills, he could at least have sketched Shen Qian’s approximate appearance.
Feeling depressed, Cui Leilei simply decided to organize a gathering. He called over several rich second-generation heirs he usually spent time with and planned to hold one final celebration.
======
The gathering was held at Yanyun Clubhouse, just as before.
This place was practically the designated party venue for the young master Cui Leilei, as assigned by his eldest brother.
Although it wasn’t as lively as the bars outside, the clubhouse had an abundance of entertainment options. Horseback riding, archery, bowling, golf…
As a Supreme VIP member, he could even head to the professional racing track in the mountains behind the clubhouse and go speeding around the circuit.
Overall, the wealthy idle young masters could still have a thoroughly enjoyable time there.
Unfortunately, as the host, Cui Leilei had drawn terrible luck in today’s game of dares.
After being selected for punishment once again, the slightly drunk Cui Leilei trembled as he unfolded the small slip of paper. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the words written on it.
“Hahaha, today is really turning out to be a feast for the eyes!” Someone leaned over to take a closer look at the punishment slip in Cui Leilei’s hand. The moment he saw what was written on it, he burst into loud laughter. “Which genius wrote pole dancing?”
As soon as those words were spoken, all of Cui Leilei’s drinking buddies broke into laughter as well. Their eyebrows rose and their expressions became animated as they chimed in one after another.
“You drew it, so you’re not allowed to back out! Young Master Xu, you’re not allowed to play the knight in shining armor this time, either. Someone, hurry up and hold him back!”
Xu Congcong’s expression changed the moment he heard that. He hurriedly said, “Stop stirring things up! Little Stone, hurry up and choose a different dare. If this gets out and your brother comes charging over here, we’ll all be finished!”
By the time he finished his final sentence, his voice was filled with a heavy warning as his gaze swept across the entire group.
Cui Leilei actually had quite a talent for dancing. It was precisely because he danced the peacock dance so well that he had earned the nickname Little Peacock Minghuang. However, the Cui family still cared rather deeply about their reputation. In the end, when Cui Leilei had chosen his major for the arts entrance examination, he had opted for Broadcasting and Hosting.
“It’s fine! If I die beneath the peony flowers, I’ll still be a happy ghost!” One of the drunk young masters immediately spoke up without the slightest hesitation. He slapped his chest and declared, “At worst, I’ll just have one of my legs broken from getting beaten!”
“My dad will only deduct three months of my allowance at most. But for the sake of seeing our Little Peacock Minghuang’s dancing with my own eyes, I’m completely willing!”
“Ooh, ooh, ooh! Get up there and dance! Get up there and dance!”
“…………”
Looking at the crowd’s overwhelming enthusiasm, Cui Leilei patted Xu Congcong’s shoulder reassuringly and lowered his voice.
“Actually, I was the one who wrote it myself. Alcohol gives cowards courage, and besides, the law doesn’t punish everyone when everyone’s involved! Awooo!”
The drunk rich young masters immediately followed along.
“The law doesn’t punish everyone when everyone’s involved! Awooo!”
Xu Congcong directly covered his forehead. Seeing that Cui Leilei also looked like he had deliberately set himself up for mischief and was ready to completely let loose, he waved his hand expressionlessly.
“All the companions, get out.”
The others hadn’t missed the whispered exchange between the two. Upon hearing this, they laughed even more recklessly and began driving out the companions they had brought along as well.
Their companions were indeed a mixed bunch, with varying levels of reliability. If someone without a brain happened to go around bragging about what they had witnessed, it would only create trouble for everyone.
Once they had confirmed that only their own people remained, the group burst into unrestrained laughter. The music and their boisterous voices blended together, carried outward by the wind.
As a result, other guests arriving at the clubhouse couldn’t help turning their heads toward the western district, where the music was shaking the heavens.
General Manager Li glanced at the gloomy expression of the A-Total he had invited, then looked sideways at the manager.
Seeing this, the manager cautiously offered an explanation.
“Gentlemen, I’m truly sorry. The entire western district has been booked by the young master of the Cui family today. The guests he invited are also all young masters. They’re young people, so they tend to be a little more lively and energetic.”
Upon hearing that the culprit was the beloved younger brother of his good friend, General Manager Li shifted his peripheral vision toward A-Total, who preferred peace and quiet.
Sure enough, he saw that the man’s face was tinged with displeasure, his brows drawn tightly together, as though the noise had already given him a headache.
Seeing this, General Manager Li immediately opened his mouth, intending to speak. However, before he could say anything, the man’s thin lips parted, and he asked, “The legendary Great Peacock Minghuang? I’ve heard of that illustrious reputation even in Haicheng. I hear that Xu Congcong, the maternal grandson of the Li family of Haicheng, who, if we count the generations, would be my grandnephew’s grandson, is this person’s younger brother?”
For some inexplicable reason, General Manager Li felt that the other man had deliberately emphasized the words grandnephew’s grandson.
Unfortunately, when he tried to examine the other person’s expression more carefully, he found that his features were shrouded in an indistinct darkness, making him impossible to read.
Therefore, General Manager Li could only follow along with his words and smile.
“That’s right, A-Total. When you put it that way, we really are connected through family. My father is also extremely fond of that little rascal Leilei. He practically wishes he could take him as his adopted son. That child has always loved making a commotion ever since he was young.”
“Mm.”
Completely unaware that someone outside had stopped because of their laughter, Cui Leilei danced merrily to the music.
Although he had ended up shooting himself in the foot and hadn’t managed to witness any of his friends embarrassing themselves, dancing was still something he could confidently pull off. No matter what kind of dance it was.
And now that he was dancing the pole dance, it could also be considered a way to relieve stress.
After warming up in advance, Cui Leilei stepped to the rhythm, gripped the pole, and launched into a dazzling aerial maneuver.
His body remained suspended in midair for two seconds in a posture that ordinary people would have found impossible to comprehend. Then he performed a backward somersault and landed firmly on one foot.
His entire body moved like the softest ribbon, capable of dancing along with the wind.
The spectacle left the other people present utterly stunned. One after another, they began applauding and slapping the table in excitement.
However, Cui Leilei, who was receiving their cheers, could only twitch the corners of his mouth.
The truth was that, according to the formal, textbook definition, pole dancing was a new form of dance that used a pole as a prop and incorporated different styles of dance, including jazz, ballet, Latin dance, belly dancing, as well as acrobatics and artistic gymnastics.
Unfortunately, because it had become extremely popular in certain entertainment venues, it had gradually acquired associations with ambiguity, desire, and sensuality.
But whatever.
In his previous life, he had practiced dancing for nothing more than the desire to gain his father’s attention. He had even been willing to become a money-making tree in his father’s hands, all for the sake of becoming a major celebrity.
Now, however, he was dancing simply for the enjoyment of it.
After all, muscle memory wasn’t something he had been born with. It was something Cui Leilei himself had trained and developed through countless hours of practice.
It belonged to Cui Leilei himself!
With that thought filling him with pride, Cui Leilei felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration spread through his entire body.
It was as though the entire world had been reduced to nothing but the purest enjoyment of music and dance. Nothing remained except Cui Leilei, the dancer, standing on the stage and proclaiming his absolute mastery.
Mastery over his own body.
Mastery over the stage.
At this moment, he, Cui Leilei, was the king.
The absolute king of kings.
Everyone had to bow down at his feet!
As Cui Leilei’s disdainful gaze swept across the crowd, everyone present felt a sudden shiver run through their bodies. Instinctively, they felt as though their knees had gone weak.
Xu Congcong heard the cheers around him rising higher and higher, one wave surpassing the next. A wary look flashed through his eyes as he swept his gaze across the surroundings.
Cui Leilei usually looked rather foolish, but the moment he stepped onto a stage to perform, he still possessed an unmistakably sharp, commanding presence.
And yet, his beauty became even more unrestrained.
He truly resembled his nickname, the Peacock, beautiful, proud, and arrogant. He was particularly prone to attracting certain perverts.
This was also one of the reasons why the Cui family refused to let Cui Leilei continue practicing dance during university.
As Xu Congcong was looking around, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He froze in shock as he stared at a group of people who had arrived at some point without his noticing.
In the middle of the crowd, surrounded by their assistants, stood two men.
Xu Congcong swallowed nervously.
General Manager Li, Li Lian, the good friend of Cui Baocheng, Big Brother Cui.
Cui Leilei was doomed.
As for the person standing beside General Manager Li, unless Xu Congcong’s eyes had suddenly stopped working, that man was the legendary Regent King of the Shen family.
Just as the rumors described, the man was beautiful yet sinister, with a mobile you owe me a hundred billion in debt coffin face.
At this moment, the features of his face were drawn taut, his sharp contours resembling blades. His thin lips were pressed into a tight line, and his entire body radiated a suffocating, murderous hostility.
Meanwhile, the voices surrounding them rose to a deafening roar.
“Lift it higher! Lift it higher!”
Xu Congcong instinctively turned his head.
He saw Cui Leilei, who had become completely absorbed in the dancing, lifting his shirt and revealing half of his fair, firm waist.
Under the illumination of the lights, his waist appeared dazzlingly white, inviting the imagination to run wild.
Xu Congcong’s entire body stiffened.
He hurriedly shouted, “Stop fooling around! Stone, get down here right now!”
As he spoke, Xu Congcong rushed onto the stage to pull Cui Leilei down.
Their enjoyment had been interrupted without warning. Everyone’s expressions darkened, and they were just about to start cursing when they caught sight of the group of people who had suddenly entered.
The rich young masters instantly sobered up from their drunkenness.
All of them were so frightened that they stood trembling, not daring to utter a single word.
Cui Leilei, who had initially been struggling against Xu Congcong’s attempts to pull him down, followed the direction of everyone’s gazes and looked over.
His eyes narrowed immediately.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he rolled his eyes upward and allowed himself to go limp. Relying on Xu Congcong’s support, he fainted in a delicate, weak manner.
Good heavens! There goes my allowance, and now I’ll probably be punished by being made to copy science formulas!
Xu Congcong understood immediately.
He cooperated without missing a beat, throwing his head back and shouting in a heart-wrenching voice.
“What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and call 120!”
The other young masters immediately sprang into action.
General Manager Li watched this display of extraordinary unity. He glanced at A-Total from the corner of his eye, deeply worried that the man might lose faith in the intelligence of the business leaders in Yancheng because of this group of ridiculous rich young masters.
As for A Total, who was being silently assessed by everyone, he smiled darkly at the sight.
What a familiar fainting and playing the victim routine.
