Chapter 21

When Xia Xi and Da He entered the private room, Fang Zichen had already ordered the dishes and was waiting for them. The moment he spotted Xia Xi trailing behind Da He, a flicker of disdain flashed in his eyes.
Yes, disdain, and he made no effort to hide it. He gave Xia Xi a cold glance, frowned, and said, "Da He, why did you bring her along?"
"What, you’re not welcoming her?" Da He frowned slightly at Fang Zichen’s words, casting him a casual glance as he replied indifferently, "If you’re not welcoming, we’ll just leave."
Seeing this, Fang Zichen immediately stood up from his chair, strode over, grabbed Da He’s arm, and pulled him back into his seat. He sighed, "Da He, can’t you just talk to me properly? I thought, never mind."
"You were the one who started it," Da He snorted coldly. "When you called, we were just deciding where to eat. I wasn’t even planning to come, but she was really curious about you, so we showed up. Otherwise, who’d want to see that deadpan face of yours?"
Xia Xi sat quietly to the side, secretly observing their interaction. She blinked innocently, pretending to be completely detached, but her perked-up ears betrayed her keen interest.
"Da He, the reason I asked to see you today was to clarify something, have you thought about what I mentioned the other day?" At this point, Fang Zichen glanced at Xia Xi again and sighed. "But since you brought her along today, I think I already know your answer."
"Are you really planning to be a manager for the rest of your life, always taking care of Yan Wei’s little sister for him?"
Yan Wei, Yan Wei, The name sounded familiar. Xia Xi frowned, silently repeating it in her mind, trying to find even fragmented memories from the original host.
Unlike previous futile attempts, this time the system responded noticeably. A panel appeared in Xia Xi’s mind, displaying character attributes. In the previously blank field for "Xia Xi’s Brother," the name Yan Wei was now clearly written.
Yan Wei is Xia Xi’s brother?
Da He, Fang Zichen, and Yan Wei know each other?
From what Fang Zichen implied, Da He became her manager because of Yan Wei. What exactly is their relationship?
Questions bubbled up in her heart, one after another.
In the character attribute panel, although the system had clearly marked Yan Wei and Xia Xi as siblings, there were no further explanations beyond that. The system, which held the most knowledge of the truth, remained completely silent no matter how Xia Xi called out to it, clearly leaving her to explore the answers to these questions on her own.
"Fang Zichen, shut up!" Da He's furious voice snapped Xia Xi back to reality. She stared blankly at the two people confronting each other, her mind still a tangled mess.
A flicker of regret flashed in Da He's eyes. He sincerely regretted impulsively bringing Xia Xi to meet that troublemaker Fang Zichen today. How could they possibly resolve this situation now? How could he explain to Xia Xi that he had been hiding the fact that he was acquainted with her brother? He cautiously glanced at Xia Xi,
Huh? Why is she spacing out?
Contrary to his expectations, why was Xia Xi's reaction so calm?
Before Da He could figure out what Xia Xi's strange reaction meant, he saw Fang Zichen leisurely walk over to the table, pick up a folder, and hand it to him with a knowing smile. Then came the crushing blow: "This is the material Luo Chu'an originally planned to leak to the entertainment weekly. It contains evidence of you hiring internet trolls to smear Lin Wei on Weibo. Do you think you're qualified as a manager?"
Qualified?
Qualified or not?
Probably not, it seemed like he hadn't done anything right.
Fang Zichen watched as Da He's face gradually darkened upon hearing his words. Feeling somewhat reluctant, he sighed helplessly and advised, "Da He, I've told you many times that you're not cut out for the entertainment industry." You're too straightforward and lack the cunning needed. But you never listen, insisting on being Xia Xi's manager. At a time when Luo Chu'an is recklessly attacking everyone like a mad dog, most people are choosing to lay low, yet you're rushing to hand him evidence." Da He was taken aback, his expression complex as he accepted the folder." He silently opened it, his originally handsome brows gradually furrowing the more he read, his eyes growing increasingly worried.
Perhaps finding Da He's worried expression too glaring, Fang Zichen narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't need to worry too much. I've already put in a word with the entertainment weekly about the exposure on Xia Xi. They'll probably hold back out of respect for me."
Solved?
Why do others always manage to solve these things so easily, while I struggle and fail no matter what?
It seems like I'm always the incompetent one.
Da He's expression was complicated. He looked up and happened to meet Fang Zichen's gentle gaze, feeling somewhat lost. His hand under the table involuntarily clenched into a fist, then slowly relaxed. After wrestling with his thoughts for a while, he finally whispered a quiet "thank you" to Fang Zichen.
His voice of thanks was so soft that it would have been inaudible if one didn’t listen carefully, yet Fang Zichen heard it. And it was precisely that simple expression of gratitude that softened the otherwise cold edges of his brow.
"You should listen to me and leave the entertainment industry, this chaotic environment really isn’t suited for you."
"You know my brother?"
After being stunned for a long while, Xia Xi finally untangled the mess in her mind and found her voice again. Frowning, she glanced at Fang Zichen, who seemed completely detached from the situation, then turned to Da He, speaking to him word by word as if seeking confirmation. "Did my brother send you to be my agent? What’s your relationship with him? Why do you follow his instructions so obediently?"
"Yes." Seeing Xia Xi in such a state, the pale-faced Da He could only nod awkwardly. There was no point in hiding things any longer; it was better to admit it outright. "Xia Xi, I know you have a lot of questions right now, but the reason I came to be your agent is a long story. You can ask your brother directly the next time you see him. What I can tell you now is that your brother sent me to be around you because of my skills, originally, he intended to assign someone like a bodyguard to protect your safety. And also, your brother genuinely wants what’s best for you."
A bodyguard?
Da He’s words did not clear up Xia Xi’s confusion; instead, they made her even more bewildered. She couldn’t understand, wasn’t she just a small-time actress? Why would she need someone specifically assigned to protect her?
It didn’t make sense.
Frowning, she carefully pondered the situation, searching her mind for any key evidence that could unravel these mysteries.
Yan, Yan, Yan, Yan Wei, the Yan family!
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Xia Xi’s mind. She grasped the crucial clue, and the fog obscuring her vision began to clear one layer at a time. The truth of the matter was right before her eyes. If Xia Xi was connected to that Yan family,
Thinking of this, she immediately opened the character panel she had just accessed and noticed that the entries for Xia Xi’s father and mother now displayed names: Yan Changqing and Xia Jing. And in the family section, the Yan family was clearly written.
How could this be?
Xia Xi had originally thought that having the plot outline was like having a golden finger, but only now did she realize that she had been like a frog at the bottom of a well, seeing only a small part of the sky.
This was no longer simply a book titled Pampered Love; it was a three-dimensional world filled with countless vivid individuals. In this world, the hidden threads that even the author was unaware of had been rationalized by the rules of the world.
It could be said that only today did Xia Xi notice that there was no description of the original host’s family in Pampered Love. The book only mentioned that she had an agent who was exceptionally good to her, but it never explained why.