Chapter 19

Chapter 19

That evening, the Ye family, under Yu Mingze's arrangement, stayed at the only five-star hotel in Hengzhou Film and Television City.

Ye Mingzhao, along with other actors and crew members, stayed at a hotel closer to the set for the convenience of starting makeup and filming early the next morning.

It was then that the Ye family learned Ye Mingzhao had to begin his makeup as early as four o'clock in the morning.

"Your profession is truly demanding," Madame Ye remarked with a sigh.

Yu Mingze immediately responded, "Auntie, don't worry. I'll take good care of Zhaozhao and ensure he's not too exhausted."

Chairman Ye waved his hand. "No need for special treatment. Since he's chosen this path, he's likely prepared for the hardships. Just treat him the same as everyone else."

After wrapping up work and rushing to the set, Li Zhengzheng couldn't help but inwardly roll his eyes. "It sounds noble, but why did they all come for something so minor?"

In over twenty years of working in the industry, Director Li had never experienced a luxurious lunch prepared by a Michelin-starred chef on set. All the ingredients were air-freighted from abroad, and even the vegetables and eggs were freshly harvested from the Ye family's own farm.

Insiders later estimated that the meal cost at least six figures, with airfreight costs alone starting at $20,000.

While everyone enjoyed the feast, to Director Li, this extravagant meal felt like a veiled warning, much like the famous "Feast at Hong Gate" in Chinese history, signaling the Ye family's high expectations and their dissatisfaction with the incident during the production launch event.

Clearly, wealthy families operate on a different level.

Of course, while he silently criticized it, no one dared show any disapproval in front of the Ye family.

This attitude continued into the next morning's shoot. No matter how Ye Mingzhao performed, Director Li, sitting behind the monitor, always called it a wrap on the first take and praised his acting non-stop.

Had Ye Mingzhao not noticed something off during the playback, he might have started believing he was a natural-born leading man.

"Director Li, this is Zhaozhao's first time acting. If there's anything he could improve on, please let him know. We're all here for the project's success, so please don't hesitate to give feedback," Madame Ye said with a smile.

The Ye family could also sense something was amiss. Madame Ye spoke up with a smile, and Director Li laughed along, still unwilling to point out any issues.

An hour later, the Ye family decided to leave on their own accord.

Ye Mingzhao saw his family off outside the set. Before parting, he handed a newly bought phone to Chu Hengyi. "This is for you."

Ye Mingxi, slapping his forehead, remembered that he had accidentally sat on Chu Hengyi's phone the previous day and forgot to compensate him.

Luckily, Ye Mingzhao had thought of it.

Ye Mingxi gave his brother a warm hug, playfully ruffling his hair. "Our Zhaozhao is so thoughtful."

Then, turning to Chu Hengyi, he laughed shamelessly. "Consider this phone my compensation to you."

Chu Hengyi thanked Ye Mingzhao with a neutral expression.

Upon landing back in Xinhai, the first thing he did was find someone to dismantle the phone and check for any listening devices.

The technician gave Chu Hengyi a puzzled look. "This is a brand-new phone... Are you sure about this?"

Chu Hengyi curtly ordered, "Take it apart."

The technician shrugged and disassembled the new phone completely, finding no listening devices. Inwardly, he thought that Chu Hengyi must have watched too many spy dramas—perhaps suffering from a bit of persecutory delusions.

Chu Hengyi took out a few hundred dollars and asked the technician to fix the phone.

The moment he turned it on, Chu Hengyi was momentarily stunned—there was a new contact in his address book, which was supposed to be blank. The contact was labeled 'The Person You Care About Most!'

Chu Hengyi glanced at the phone number and his face darkened. Just as he was about to delete the contact, the phone rang. The caller ID displayed 'The Person You Care About Most!' in bold, vibrating slightly with the ringtone.

Chu Hengyi took a deep breath and let the phone ring a second time before reluctantly answering, "What kind of trick are you playing?"

Ye Mingzhao's gentle voice, tinged with a hint of soothing laughter, came through from the other end. "Why are you so angry? Did you take the phone apart, only to find out you wasted your time and money?"

Chu Hengyi impatiently emphasized the main point, "The phone note!"

"Ah~" Ye Mingzhao responded playfully, propping his chin on his hand. "What I noted, isn't it correct?"

Chu Hengyi was at a loss for words. He felt a bit frustrated and changed the subject, "We're not close, are we?"

At least up until now, they hadn't had much interaction.

Ye Mingzhao chuckled and leaned back in the new chair the crew had just provided. "My second brother broke your phone, and I'm compensating you for it. But both of you broke my chair. Shouldn't you make it up to me?"

Chu Hengyi's face darkened again, catching the implication in Ye Mingzhao's words—

Ye Mingzhao and Ye Mingxi were close, so he could compensate on Ye Mingxi's behalf. But since Chu Hengyi and Ye Mingzhao weren't close, Chu Hengyi should pay for the chair he had broken.

This was clearly a jab at Chu Hengyi's earlier comment that they weren't close.

Chu Hengyi burst out laughing, though it was more out of frustration than amusement, and blurted out, "Don't worry, I'll buy you the sturdiest chair. Even if four people sat on it, it wouldn't budge!"

This remark clearly mocked the shoddy construction of Ye Mingzhao's rest chair.

Ye Mingzhao grinned and shot back, "I like the color blue. Blue represents melancholy. What color do you like?"

Chu Hengyi didn't want to engage in such pointless conversation and hung up the phone.

He then opened an e-commerce app and immediately ordered a rest chair to be sent to Ye Mingzhao's filming location.

That afternoon, upon receiving a blue and white rest chair, Ye Mingzhao couldn't help but smile. He casually took a photo and sent it to Chu Hengyi, "Chair received. Why is it blue and white?"

After sending the message, Ye Mingzhao didn't receive a reply from Chu Hengyi for a long time.

Deep in thought, Ye Mingzhao was just about to send a second message when Jiang Shangyun approached him hesitantly, holding his phone. "Can we add each other on WeChat?" he asked carefully.

Ye Mingzhao smiled and said, "Of course."

Jiang Shangyun eagerly pulled up his WeChat and showed Ye Mingzhao the QR code.

Ye Mingzhao casually scanned the code with his phone.

Immediately, a friend request notification popped up on Jiang Shangyun's phone.

Ye Mingzhao's WeChat name was his real name, and his profile picture was his ID photo, looking unexpectedly formal.

Jiang Shangyun's fingers trembled slightly as he clicked accept. The moment he added Ye Mingzhao as a friend, he felt so overwhelmingly happy that he thought he might faint.

"Then I won't disturb you anymore." Jiang Shangyun bowed to Ye Mingzhao and walked away in a daze, still clutching his phone.

Ye Mingzhao smiled slightly as he watched Jiang Shangyun's back. His gaze fell on Jiang Shangyun's WeChat account.

Jiang Shangyun's profile picture was a chubby little dog, and his WeChat name was "Clouds on the River." Ye Mingzhao lightly tapped the screen and opened his Moments, where the background image was a heartwarming family portrait of a couple and their child.

Ye Mingzhao's eyes rested on the woman who still retained her charm. The next second, a text message popped up on the phone screen.

"I'll only pay half for that chair!"

Ye Mingzhao's lips curled into a faint smile, the coldness in his eyes softening just a bit. He casually sent a friend request to Chu Hengyi with the message: "Which half is yours?"

This time, Chu Hengyi didn't reply at all. Nor did he accept Ye Mingzhao's friend request.

Ye Mingzhao propped his chin up and sent the friend request again: "Do you believe in miracles?"

In the original novel, just after his rebirth, Chu Hengyi lacked the capital for revenge. To quickly seize the first opportunity, Chu Hengyi relied on memories from his previous life to invest in a "magic stock" that would hit the upper price limit forty times in just over a month.

Ye Mingzhao blinked, clearly recalling the name of that stock—

Lanheyao Base

The stock surged by over 810%, allowing Chu Hengyi to amass tens of millions in just a month and a half. This also laid a solid foundation for Chu Hengyi to bribe informants, set up traps, frame Ye Mingzhao, and aggressively invest in futures and stocks, as well as collaborate with competitors of the Ye family business to short the *Ye family business*.

Ye Mingzhao opened his mobile banking app. The real estate, stocks, and funds under his name had already been managed by a lawyer when Chu Hengyi first returned to the Chu family. Most of them had been transferred to Chu Hengyi's name. He had intended to give the Chu family a spacious apartment in the heart of Xinhai City, but the Chu family was too incompetent, and it eventually ended up in Chu Hengyi's name as well.

But Ye Mingzhao wasn’t completely stripped of his wealth. After all, there were still millions in pocket money in his account, plus the payment just transferred from the *Prince of Beggars* production team. All in all, he still had about four million.

Ye Mingzhao lazily raised an eyebrow and used the four million to purchase Lanheyao Base—

At this moment, the stock that would soon soar to unprecedented heights was still flying under the radar.

Seeing the stock price rise instantly, Ye Mingzhao’s eyes softened, a faint smile playing on his lips. On a whim, he sent Chu Hengyi a third friend request—

"Do you believe anything in this world is truly absolute?"