"Brother Xiao?"
Just at that moment, Xiao Chen returned from buying dinner. Seeing Liu Rulan arguing with several stalker fans and their parents over there, he walked over with a confused expression: "What's going on here? Why is Sister Liu arguing with them?"
Xiao He coughed lightly, conveniently taking over Xiao Chen's topic while standing up and walking over to him: "There was a stalker fan in my room earlier, and she even pushed Sister Liu down. Sister Liu is really furious right now."
Xiao Chen was immediately shocked: "Oh my god, is Sister Liu okay?"
"Sister Liu is fine." Xiao He shrugged. "It's just that those stalker fans are going to be in trouble."
As he spoke, he naturally took the dinner from Xiao Chen's hands, then nodded to Liang Cheng before turning and leading Xiao Chen back to his room.
Just as Xiao He was about to eat, Liu Rulan returned looking triumphant and full of fighting spirit.
Xiao He had already asked Xiao Chen to prepare water in advance. Liu Rulan directly picked up the cup and drank all the water in one gulp.
"Hoo—"
Only then did Liu Rulan let out a long sigh.
"How did it go?"
Xiao He asked.
Liu Rulan snorted coldly: "Naturally, I made them pay the price they deserved."
Those two stalker fans had built-in immunity to consequences and couldn't take responsibility? That was fine—their parents definitely couldn't escape responsibility.
And if the parents were having a hard time, did they really think their daughters would have it easy?
Liu Rulan hadn't been working in this industry all these years for nothing. With just a few phone calls, she could solve anything. Especially one stalker fan's uncle—he lost his job on the spot.
You have to understand, hotels place the highest importance on privacy and security issues. Particularly this hotel, which regularly hosts celebrities and influencers—if problems occurred here, the hotel's reputation and public image would suffer enormous damage.
So this unlucky uncle was destined to become the sacrificial lamb to be discarded.
Besides, a senior manager was essentially just a high-level employee who couldn't possibly influence the decisions of upper management.
Being fired was just a matter of one word from above.
Simultaneously, he would also face lawsuits and accountability from the hotel. Losing his job was only the first step.
What awaited him next were even more troubles.
And you could imagine how angry this uncle, who had been severely screwed over by his niece, would be next.
Family internal conflicts instantly became intense.
So before leaving, Liu Rulan even stayed to watch a "heartwarming education" session within the family.
The girls who were single-mindedly "chasing love" were slapped several times without mercy by their parents, crying and begging for mercy. The parents' resentment and roaring almost lifted the roof, but Liu Rulan had long lost interest and simply turned to leave.
Such a minor incident wasn't worth her continued energy expenditure. Coming back to eat was more important.
Xiao He gave a thumbs up: "Impressive, my Sister Liu."
"Eat your dinner."
"Oh."
Xiao He continued burying his head in his meal.
Liu Rulan then called Xiao Chen over and instructed him to check the room where Xiao He stayed every day before they returned. This included later when they returned to the villa in Shanghai—the same checks needed to be done.
Don't underestimate today's stalker fans—they're a terrifying group. Although they hadn't encountered such frightening individuals yet, it was always better to prevent problems before they occurred...
-
After finishing dinner and cleaning up, Xiao He picked up his tablet and continued reading "Corner Also."
The female lead of "Corner Also" was named Yin Lan, and she was the biological older sister of her younger brother Yin Qi. During their time as test subjects, they were the youngest among all the test subjects. After escaping the control of the alchemists, they lived with other test subjects and hid their tracks. When they finally grew into adults, they bid farewell to the few test subjects they knew well and went out into the world to adventure and explore, accompanying each other through long years.
But everything eventually comes to an end.
Yin Qi loved traveling everywhere, establishing his own influence and territories in different places, enjoying the pleasures brought by power and money. He even sometimes took perverse pleasure in instigating certain wars, then stood at important historical junctures feeling smugly satisfied, watching certain countries collapse because of his appearance while observing new historical civilizations rising from the ruins...
From this perspective, you could tell Yin Qi was somewhat pathological—he loved pursuing excitement, had some childish tendencies, acted entirely according to his whims, was fickle, and had short-lived enthusiasm for things.
In contrast to Yin Qi, the female lead Yin Lan loved stable, peaceful living. Rather than having grand adventures somewhere, she preferred quietly staying alone in a corner, then living an ordinary life with simple meals through the four seasons.
So judging from their personalities, the two were destined to part ways at some point.
------------
Sure enough, after one particular adventure ended, Yin Lan proposed ending their travels.
She said she wanted to return to where they came from, then settle down quietly and go nowhere else.
In the panel, Yin Qi, who now appeared middle-aged in appearance, lowered his head and said nothing. Most of his face was hidden in shadow, with only his visible eye filled with the reluctance and pain of being abandoned:
"So, you're going to abandon me too?"
Yin Lan held her forehead, explaining with a headache: "I'm just tired and want to rest."
"Then I'll go back with you. When you're rested, we can continue our journey, okay?"
"I don't want to go anymore." Yin Lan unusually showed some annoyance.
Annoyed with their current life, annoyed with their long lives.
"If possible, I actually want to be alone in a corner until my death comes—"
"No!" Yin Qi interrupted her, tightly grabbing her hand. The other half of his face finally emerged from the shadows, but his eyes carried obsession and madness. "You can't leave me alone, including death! Didn't you promise you would accompany me forever and ever?"
"We're not children anymore. We should have our own lives, A'Qi." Yin Lan helplessly comforted her seemingly eternally immature younger brother. "I'll be right there. If you want to see me, you can always come back. I'll always wait for you to come home."
Yin Qi stared at Yin Lan, not speaking for a long time.
Finally, he took a step back, completely hiding his face in shadow, only asking in a hoarse whisper: "Waiting for me always means... forever?"
"Forever."
Yin Lan answered with certainty. "I'll wait for you to return forever, and you'll always be my only younger brother, Yin Qi."
Only then did Yin Qi lift his head, his face blooming with an intimate, enthusiastic smile: "Okay, I remember, sister."
"Since you said forever."
"Then it must be forever."
"Not even death can stop us..."
------------------------
This chapter ended with a panel showing a little girl pulling a little boy as they ran away. Behind them were blazing flames and the panicked fleeing figures of other test subjects.
From then on, Yin Qi and Yin Lan went their separate ways, each starting their new lives.
Yin Lan didn't know where Yin Qi went, but every time she moved, she would receive housewarming gifts from Yin Qi. Later, as technology advanced and sending messages became more convenient, after getting a mobile phone, Yin Lan would receive holiday greeting texts from Yin Qi sent from different phone numbers during festivals.
So you could say that hundreds of years ago, they were the closest of relatives. But hundreds of years later, Yin Qi knew everything about Yin Lan, while Yin Lan knew nothing about Yin Qi—completely unaware of where Yin Qi went afterward or what he was doing.
So she naturally didn't know that the story of "Corner Also" was, from the very beginning, a game that Yin Qi created for his sister.
For his sister's single statement of "forever," he also began pathologically craving eternal life, even obsessively making money, then investing in scientific research, walking the same old path as those perverted alchemists from back then, conducting research on himself and even other test subject companions.
As the new era arrived and more technology trees were unlocked, finally, a researcher discovered the secret of why test subjects could achieve longevity—