“Well... okay.”

Seeing Nana Toki stand firm, and her logic hold water, Sister Zhou stopped pressing. She told Chief Director Zhang to redraft the contract they’d just canceled, like tightening a loose knot.

“Then… have Miss Qiao come audition in a few days. Let’s run rehearsals a few times,” she added, voice smooth as still water.

Chief Director Zhang held the new draft like a lifeline and exhaled, a boulder rolling off his chest. Thank heaven nothing blew up; he didn’t want to poke any sleeping tigers.

“Alright, see you then.”

Nana didn’t dither. She pocketed the contract, asked about timing, then drifted off with Zhou Wen, leaving Chenyu Rushuang’s office tower like a leaf riding a quiet stream.

Showbiz… what a plane that’s hard to capture in a single breath, like fog on a lake that keeps shifting.

Sister Zhou had other fires to tend, so once Nana stepped out of Chenyu Rushuang’s crew building, the time was hers alone, like a key in her own palm. She wondered what this run’s hidden quest would be. Since this plane centered on the entertainment circle, the hidden quest would probably tie into that web, like a spider stringing silk.

Grrr—

Her belly protested like a cat caught in the rain. She rubbed the slightly flattened curve, grabbed a quick bite at a fast-food place to quiet the storm, then started thinking about her next move.

Ding! Hidden quest triggered: Scandal CEO.

Quest: Become the scandal partner of Shuyao Qin, CEO of the Qin Group, and turn the act into the real thing.

The System’s voice cut through her mind like a pebble hitting still water. Nana almost sprayed her drink like soda fizzing over a rim.

Seriously? Even dating’s a hidden quest now?

System: You trained Xiaoxiao Ji’s courage in the last plane and that counted as a hidden quest. Why can’t dating?

“...” She had no comeback. The logic slid in like a knife between the ribs.

Oh, and by the way, Shuyao Qin is this plane’s Nesting Phoenix. Please avoid extreme stunts that cause irreversible damage. That is all, said the considerate System, a bell tied to a tiger’s tail.

“...”

A bad feeling pooled in Nana’s gut like ink in water. She drained her cup in one pull and hurried out of the fast-food place, chasing a moving horizon.

She’d been wondering how to spend the leftover daylight. Now a hidden quest dropped from the sky—auspicious as a red envelope. Go, go, go. Time to find this plane’s Nesting Phoenix and play.

Humming a cheerful tune like a skylark, Nana opened her navigation app and headed toward the Qin Group’s offices, feet light as wind.

She’d barely taken a few steps when she ran right into a tall woman. The woman wore oversized black shades, a night sky for her eyes. Even without the full face, the sculpted lines promised a beauty like a blade.

“Is there something on my face that’s caught your attention?”

Her lips pressed into a fine line, cool as frost. Nana’s frank gaze rubbed her the wrong way. She stood straight before Nana, haloed by an apex aura, as if everything nearby didn’t quite belong to her world, two realms divided by glass.

Nana caught her own misstep, heat pricking like sun on snow. She tugged at her smile and offered an apology, soft as velvet. Her ink-dark eyes, though, didn’t leave that hidden face for even a heartbeat.

A hunch tugged at her sleeve like a silent guide. Maybe she didn’t need to go into the Qin Group at all. The woman before her was very likely her target.

“Mm… sorry. You look a lot like a friend I know, so I stared. That was rude. I’m really sorry.” Her voice was soft and warm as steamed milk, and paired with her naturally soft-cute face, it slipped into hearts like spring rain.

The woman in shades frowned, about to speak, when her phone rang, slicing the air like a bell in a temple. Irritation flared and then cooled.

She checked the caller ID. Her expression eased like ice under sun. She turned away and answered, her tone night-and-day from before, warm wind after a cold front: “Hey, Jinghe Chu, I’m at the spot you mentioned. Where are you?”

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Jinghe Chu?

Nana’s brow arched, a hook catching a fish. Wasn’t that one of the later Protagonist Lords in the reverse-harem arc, the domineering CEO type? Why was a Protagonist Lord showing up here? And from the sound of it, he had ties to the woman before her. The thread itched for a pull.

“What? Do you have another question?”

Call done, Shuyao Qin slid the phone back into her pocket and faced Nana, her gaze steady as a blade on a whetstone. She’d already lost enough time here. She didn’t want to waste another minute on a strange, odd-mannered woman.

“Ah… no. I’m not a reporter. What would I even ask you?”

Nana wanted to pry about Jinghe Chu, but that might nudge the plot’s keel. She sealed her lips, a cork in a bottle, and let the current run.

Yes. Finding the Nesting Phoenix this smoothly was rare. She didn’t want to break the toy before the game got good.

Good games should be savored, one bead at a time.

“...”

To Shuyao Qin, the pretty woman in front of her had already merged with tabloid ink, a headline with legs. Some people never did serious work, just spied on their group like crows on a wall. When this mess ended, she’d have someone check what paper owned this woman’s shadow.

With that thought, Shuyao Qin gave Nana a deep, measuring look, then left without a backward glance, heading for an upscale café, heels clicking like metronomes.

Nana drifted after her, a mink shadow on winter stone. She wouldn’t ask, but she could find out. The System said they’d meet nearby. A closer look and she’d sniff out the seams.

She slipped into the café behind Shuyao Qin. In a blink, she spotted the man waiting, profile turned like a sculpture in clean light. One glance was enough. As the System’s plot dump had said, Jinghe Chu was breathtaking, alabaster and blade lines. A single look tugged the soul like a hook in clear water.

So this really was a female-targeted urban romance. The men the heroine liked could crack stone with their looks.

Around them, distant fangirls whispered like sparrows in a bamboo grove. Nana’s temples throbbed.

To get closer, she ordered her favorite coffee at the counter, a ritual as smooth as pouring tea. Then she slipped to a table near Shuyao Qin and pricked her ears, a fox in the reeds.

“Go on. What important thing did you call me here for?”

She set her tote by the table, voice level as a lake.

“No big business. Just something to discuss.”

Jinghe Chu flashed a smile at a girl trying to snap his photo, a blade-sheen grin. “I think we should break up.”

“...”

After a beat’s pause, Shuyao Qin lifted her cup and took a calm sip, steam wreathing her like mist. “Alright. I agree. Our relationship wasn’t our choice anyway. A clean break is best.”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m breaking up with you?” Jinghe Chu turned, his mouth tilting, beauty sharp enough to blind, like sunlight off a sword.

A man this pretty should break the law, Nana thought, lips twitching, a silent heckle drifting like smoke.

“What’s there to be curious about? I don’t like you. You don’t love me. I won’t intrude in anyone’s private life.” She set her cup down, porcelain kissing wood. She met his eyes, each word a nail. “If that’s all, I’m leaving.”

“As you wish.” He shrugged, light as ash. From his inner pocket, he drew a check and laid it before her, a white feather on dark wood. “You’re right. A breakup is a notice, not a request. Either way, we should cut ties. Consider this a small compensation. With this, your company can stay afloat for a while.”

He left without lingering, a door shutting on a draft. He embodied a scumbag’s clean exit, cruelty dressed like courtesy.

“Tsk, tsk. What a mutt,” Nana murmured, tongue sharp as pepper. “If I were you, I’d have splashed the coffee in his face. A scar would finally do that pretty face justice.”

Familiar voice at her ear, Shuyao Qin looked up from the fat check, her expression storm-dark. “You heard all that?”

This woman was relentless, a shadow that didn’t lift.

“Mm. I heard everything. I also know the Qin Group’s cash flow is choking. That’s thorny, President Qin.”

Nana lifted her coffee and slid into the seat Jinghe Chu had warmed, a cat claiming a patch of sun. She smiled, half-moon and mischief. “How about this? Since you just got dumped, here’s my advice. Consider getting kept. You’ll taste a sweet-and-sour romance, and you’ll get funds to carry your company through the rough water.”