They had developed from a team of just a few people to today, becoming inseparable partners.

Moreover, when Lu Chiyuan took over the family business, he never forgot to bring Lu Mingxuan along.

[Host, Lu Mingxuan has a girlfriend. Clean up the nonsense in your head.]

Snowball yawned and looked at Jiang Chen with disdain.

Lu Mingxuan earned the title of "rumored boyfriend" purely because their relationship was too good. Lu Chiyuan was devoted to work and brought Lu Mingxuan along in their intense grind, making them inseparable not only during work hours but also during lunch breaks and meal times.

It was hard for people not to gossip.

[He has a girlfriend now, but he won't later, right?]

Jiang Chen greeted Lu Mingxuan cordially, and under the other's strange gaze, consciously kept his distance, sitting in a relatively far position. While showing concern for Lu Chiyuan, he didn't forget to gossip with Snowball.

Snowball jumped onto his leg and lay down, wagging its tail: [Falling in love with a commercial spy won't end well. His girlfriend is an undercover agent arranged by the male lead. Poor Assistant Lu thinks he finally found a girl who understands him—considerate, never argues with him, doesn't blame him for slow responses or working overtime. He poured his heart out to her, but was deceived and left with nothing, and his work was also affected.]

Jiang Chen couldn't help but sigh, looking at Assistant Lu with sympathy.

Lu Chiyuan also looked at Lu Mingxuan with surprise. He had heard mention of Lu Mingxuan having a girlfriend but hadn't asked for details.

So she was a commercial spy—what did she want?

Lu Chiyuan hoped Jiang Chen would reveal more, but Jiang Chen's attention was obviously not on this.

[The male lead targeted our cub so early?]

[The book is from Shen Zhiyi's perspective. Of course you wouldn't know from her viewpoint. Lu Chiyuan and the male lead are prominent figures in the business world—commercial competition is normal.]

Jiang Chen understood and pondered secretly: [I need to find a way to warn our cub. Can't let him suffer losses.]

[There's a good opportunity right now. Lu Mingxuan wasn't home last night, and his girlfriend brought her lover home. If he goes back now, he might still catch the exhaust fumes!]

Jiang Chen choked. This poor guy was really miserable! Being deceived was bad enough, but also being cheated on, and in his own home.

Jiang Chen's sympathetic gaze was almost tangible as he said considerately: "Assistant Lu, you worked hard last night. Go home and rest. I'll stay here to take care of Brother Lu."

Lu Mingxuan was curious about his relationship with Lu Chiyuan and didn't want to leave yet, waving his hand: "It's fine, I'll sit a while longer."

Lu Chiyuan turned to look at him: "This has nothing to do with you. Go home and rest, and send me a message when you get there."

Lu Mingxuan had a sudden realization and smiled meaningfully: "I understand. I'm disturbing you two. Should have said so earlier—I'm leaving now."

Lu Mingxuan didn't want to be a super-sized light bulb. The hospital lights were bright enough without him adding his own glow.

Jiang Chen stood up, opened the fruit basket, took out a green apple, and handed it to Lu Mingxuan: "Assistant Lu, here you go. I think this color suits you perfectly today."

Lu Mingxuan said: "Thanks. Come on, let's add each other as friends. I'll send you the care instructions."

Lu Mingxuan didn't think much of it, wiped the apple in his hand, and took a crunchy bite.

Jiang Chen took out his phone to add friends. Lu Mingxuan's profile picture was of himself, probably a very old photo. Jiang Chen immediately noticed his dyed green hair.

Jiang Chen's mind heated up: "Your profile picture is very fitting."

Lu Mingxuan laughed embarrassedly: "I was young and foolish. This is my private account."

He was famously steady at work and naturally wouldn't use such a profile picture.

Jiang Chen understood. He also liked to separate work and life, though the original host obviously mixed them together. He'd find time to set up a new one later.

Once Lu Mingxuan left, the hospital room became quiet.

Jiang Chen casually browsed through the original host's friend list but didn't find Lu Chiyuan's contact. He held his phone and looked at Lu Chiyuan, hesitating for a moment before boldly striking: "Brother Lu, let's add each other as friends."

Lu Chiyuan looked at him without refusing.

Jiang Chen happily clicked on his Moments—completely blank.

[Ah? Can't view it? I thought I could peek at our cub's past.]

Jiang Chen's disappointment was visible, but it was only momentary. He quickly perked up again.

[No worries, keep trying. I need to work hard to enter our cub's heart.]

Lu Chiyuan's lips moved slightly. He wanted to say he had never posted to Moments—the chat tool in his hands functioned purely for communication. Lu Mingxuan often said he blocked everyone and enjoyed life alone.

He simply lacked the desire to share, feeling it unnecessary.

His life didn't need to be shown off to others.

Jiang Chen exited Moments and received a message from Lu Mingxuan.

Lu Mingxuan: [Brother Lu's injury isn't serious. No dietary restrictions—whatever you eat, he can eat. No need to fuss. But he can't leave the hospital today; he still needs IV drip.]

Jiang Chen: [I understand. Haven't you left yet?]

Lu Mingxuan: [Waiting at a traffic light. Gotta go.]

Jiang Chen: [Go, go.]

Jiang Chen put away his phone: "Brother Lu, is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll have my housekeeper prepare it and bring it over."

Jiang Chen had been anxious about Lu Chiyuan's condition this morning and hadn't considered food. Now that he confirmed Lu Chiyuan was fine, he began thinking about getting him some good food for recovery.

Lu Chiyuan had no appetite: "Not hungry."

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang. Lu Chiyuan looked and saw it was a video call from his parents.

They must have heard the news and were calling to inquire.

Lu Chiyuan looked at Jiang Chen, who understood, selected some fruits from the basket, and said: "I'll wash some fruit for you."

He deliberately got up and went to the water room outside, giving Lu Chiyuan privacy.

The hospital's VIP rooms were on a separate floor, not mixed with regular wards. Everything was complete inside the rooms, and the shared water room outside was particularly quiet.

The two-section layout had a corridor as a buffer, with sinks and water heaters on opposite sides, separated by a wall. You couldn't see inside from outside.

Jiang Chen washed the fruit and deliberately stayed a while longer, wanting to wait until Lu Chiyuan finished his call before returning.

The inner section of the water heater area had a small balcony outside. The sun hadn't reached it yet, and a cool breeze was blowing on the balcony.

Jiang Chen pushed the door ajar and went out for air. Standing on the balcony, he could see the scenery outside the hospital. The city's skyscrapers gleamed in the morning light, their glass exteriors reflecting orange halos. A few white clouds drifted leisurely across the azure sky.

Jiang Chen was enjoying the morning tranquility of the city when he suddenly heard a coquettish voice.

"Stop it, do you have to do it in this kind of place?"

Jiang Chen was startled. Snowball jumped onto the balcony railing, eyes glowing: [There's gossip! There's gossip!]

[Calm down. Why are you so excited about gossip?]

[I'm a gossip system, host.] The little kitten shed tears of grievance. Eating gossip was its core function. It was already sad about being mistakenly bound to a strategy-focused host—how could it not be allowed to eat gossip?

"Ah~ don't."

Strange moaning sounds came from the water room, making Jiang Chen's scalp tingle instantly.

No way! No way! There are people here!

Couldn't you check before doing... that?

[How do I get out?]

Jiang Chen was going crazy. The ambiguous sounds continued, giving him goosebumps.

Snowball shook its head: [The host lacks gossip spirit. The little kitten is very sad.]

Jiang Chen: [... I'll eat it, but we need to find a safe place to eat it.]

This balcony wasn't safe, and the door he came out of wasn't closed tightly. If a gust of wind blew it open, how embarrassing would that be for everyone?

Jiang Chen was extremely frustrated. If he hadn't thought it would be strange to randomly sit on a chair outside a hospital room, he wouldn't have had to hide here.

He could only silently pray that the other party was just making out and would leave quickly after finishing.

However, Lady Luck didn't seem to be on Jiang Chen's side. His phone suddenly rang—a crisp ding on the balcony.

The panting sounds from the water room stopped. The improperly closed door was opened, and a tall figure emerged, making eye contact with Jiang Chen on the balcony.

Jiang Chen was extremely embarrassed. At times like this, he could only hold his phone and pretend to be very busy.

He clicked on the message—it was from Lu Chiyuan, containing nothing but a period. Probably meant to tell Jiang Chen he had finished his call.

Jiang Chen: "..."

Messages with nothing to say didn't need to be sent.

Snowball jumped onto Jiang Chen's head, its tail hanging over the back of his head, gloating: [Oh ho, it's the male lead! Host, you hit the jackpot.]

The male lead?

Only then did Jiang Chen notice the extraordinary aura of the person before him. Just like described in the book, he wore a well-tailored suit, had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and possessed a handsome face that was between roguish charm and heroic spirit.

Seemingly not expecting someone on the balcony, he frowned slightly, his narrow eyes squinting with a sharp and dangerous gaze. Like a leopard ready to pounce, staring intently at its prey.

Jiang Chen had been embarrassed initially, but upon learning this person was the male lead, his embarrassment vanished completely, replaced by a speechless "so that's how it is" feeling.

When a female-oriented work featured such a rotten cucumber of a male lead, nothing he did was surprising! Because the author's operations were even more outrageous.

Jiang Chen still hadn't forgotten the author's claim of "mutual purity." Although the male lead had slept with many people, he always used protection. Only when he met the female lead did he not use protection, so it was "mutually pure"!

Jiang Chen had endured this stupid thing for Lu Chiyuan's sake throughout the entire book, and thinking about it now, it was truly disgusting.

He ignored the other's three parts domineering, three parts cold, and four parts dangerous gaze, and looked up: "Please move aside. You're blocking my way."

Gu Tingsen let out a light chuckle from his throat. He found this little lamb before him very interesting. He lazily leaned against the wall, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, drew one out, and lit it.

Jiang Chen immediately held his breath and quickly walked past him.

The other person in the water room wore a red dress with lazy waves, and wasn't embarrassed by Jiang Chen's appearance. Instead, she was leisurely touching up her makeup.

Jiang Chen thought of Gu Tingsen's countless female companions, not knowing which cannon fodder on the male and female leads' love path this girl was. Moved by sympathy, he deliberately said loudly: "Beautiful sister, this stingy man who won't even pay for a room will only lower your standards."

The beauty in red looked up, couldn't help but laugh, and looked teasingly toward the door.

Jiang Chen shook his head and quickly left, afraid that if he stayed a moment longer, he'd be contaminated by something dirty.