"Young Master Ji Yan, are you going out? Would you like a car prepared for you?"

Upon hearing the butler's question, Ji Yan waved his hand gently: "No need."

He lingered in front of the Ji family mansion for nearly ten minutes, pondering where he should go.

In his previous life, Ji Yan was an orphan who never experienced the warmth of family. His two experiences as a "real and fake young master" made him realize that family was just a luxury for him, and it would be the same in this life.

The atmosphere among the Ji brothers was not something an outsider like him could intrude upon. Ji Yan didn't want to stay here and listen to Ji Xuekong's sarcastic remarks, and he had no interest in competing with Ji Ruan. Ji Yan knew very well that he couldn't win against Ji Ruan, especially when the Ji brothers already had a bias in their hearts.

This is probably what they call learning from one's mistakes. He's already learned from two mistakes, and the consequences are still fresh in his mind. It would be really unreasonable if he didn't learn from them.

"Young Master Ji Yan, it's hot outside. Would you like to come in and have some tea?" the butler said gently. "If you're not in a hurry."

"Uncle Zhou, thank you." Ji Yan smiled slightly. "I still have work to do."

Of all the family members, only the butler, Uncle Zhou, treated Ji Yan with the most gentleness. No matter what mistakes Ji Yan had made, or how badly he was scolded by Ji Wei and Ji Yu, he remained the same to Ji Yan, even treating him better than he treated Ji Ruan. However, he was not the master of the Ji family after all, and could not control the thoughts of Ji Wei and the others. He could only comfort Ji Yan when he was scolded.

Ji Yan drove his old car out from the corner of the parking lot and waved to the butler as he left: "Goodbye, Uncle Zhou!"

The butler, who usually only smiled and gestured to him, waved at him this time. Ji Yan stopped the car, only to see the butler's brows furrowed: "Young Master Ji Yan, you... won't be coming back?"

Ji Yan was silent for a few seconds, and the butler immediately understood his thoughts: "You and Madam are really alike, not only in appearance, but also in the way you are determined to do something."

"Uncle Zhou, I will come back to see you."

Ji Yan grasped the butler's hand: "Don't worry, I'll definitely be fine."

“I’ve never worried about that,” Uncle Zhou said with a smile. “When Madam was young, she was even more lively than you. If you look at old newspapers, you’ll see that she used to be a regular on the front page of the entertainment section.”

I will go see it.

Ji Yan hadn't really decided where to go at first, but he just received a message from his assistant on his phone with his schedule for the month. Ji Yan immediately thought of the house the company rented for him and decided to stay there for the time being.

Affected by Ji Yan, the activities of the "Wings" group have become less and less. They can barely manage to get endorsements and magazine covers, but there are almost no stage activities. Not to mention concerts, even general music stage organizers rarely invite "Wings" to participate. When "Idol Century" first formed, "Wings" still had a considerable number of fans. Now, the popularity of Xie Mingxuan, Fang Yu and Lu Wei has been almost completely destroyed by Ji Yan.

Ji Yan certainly didn't want things to continue like this.

Ji Yan's current personality is very Zen. He doesn't mind just giving up. Anyway, no matter how hard he tries, the ending will be miserable. He just wants to quietly give up on life and doesn't want to harm anyone else.

In his memory, Xie Mingxuan, Fang Yu, and Lu Wei were all people who loved the stage very much.

Back at his residence, Ji Yan packed his things briefly. He had very few personal belongings, while the Ji family's place was filled with designer bags and watches, but Ji Yan didn't take any of them with him when he left. It's no exaggeration to say that after experiencing three stories of real and fake young masters in wealthy families, Ji Yan didn't care about any designer brands in front of him. He wanted to live well and leave behind some meaningful memories before his tragic death, and do some things that he truly loved.

...

The next morning, Ji Yan drove to the company.

DW Entertainment is a mid-sized entertainment company in the industry, mainly featuring idol artists. It doesn't have any top-tier stars who can command attention. Since launching "Idol Century," DW Entertainment has gained immense popularity, and all the contestants who debuted from "Idol Century" have signed with DW Entertainment. In fact, the reason for DW Entertainment's booming development is partly due to the investment from the Ji family, but this relationship is not known to outsiders, and the Ji family is trying their best to avoid it. Of course, with this factor involved, no matter how much Ji Yan ruins "Wings," he can still act arrogantly at DW Entertainment.

But today, as Ji Yan walked through the conference room, many of the company's employees stared at him with astonishment.

"Did I see that right? Ji Yan greeted me?"

"Did I fall for some kind of doom flag? Ji Yan actually greeted me first?"

"Based on my visual estimation, Ji Yan's entire outfit today costs no more than 500 yuan," the head of the fashion team said confidently, adjusting his glasses.

"Did Ji Yan's family go bankrupt? I thought he would be the boss's father until the company went out of business."

In the memories of DW Entertainment employees, Ji Yan always had to wear clothes costing the price of a Porsche sports car whenever he appeared in public. The bigger the logo on his clothes, the better, and his watches were always multicolored, exuding an air of nouveau riche. It's no exaggeration to say that his "fashionable" looks often made people forget what he originally looked like. But today...

Ji Yan was wearing only a white T-shirt, and the combination of blue jeans and sneakers looked particularly refreshing. He seemed to have dyed his hair black again, which made his facial features look more defined.

"How come I never noticed Ji Yan was so handsome before?"

"Ji Yan's outfit today makes him look like a perfect member of the 'Wings' group. What was up with Ji Yan's previous looks?"

"It's not the stylist's fault. He always requested his own styling, wanting it to be glamorous and luxurious."

"...Magnificent, luxurious? What misunderstanding does he have about these two words?"

Ji Yan wasn't particular about his appearance, since he wasn't in the fashion industry. However, he didn't like walking around with his yellow-green hair, so he simply dyed it back to black and bought a few outfits that he liked the most.

The moment Ji Yan pushed open the conference room door, his new look surprised his teammates.

Fang Yu exclaimed, "Ji Yan?!"

Ji Yan nodded: "It's me."

Xie Mingxuan and Lu Wei appeared calmer, but their gazes lingered on Ji Yan for a moment. Among the "Wings" boy group, Fang Yu was the youngest and followed the cute route, Lu Wei was the lead vocalist, and Xie Mingxuan was the lead dancer and composer. However, the fact that they were able to fight their way out of the fiercely competitive "Idol Century" shows that all three of them were quite outstanding and had no weaknesses.

On the night the group was formed, fans cried and laughed, hoping to send the three to the pinnacle of the entertainment industry. The media also wrote articles saying that "a new era of idols is about to arrive." However, when the lineup of the "Wings" boy group was officially announced, the fans couldn't even cry anymore.

No matter how well Xie Mingxuan, Lu Wei, and Fang Yu perform, as long as Ji Yan is there, the "Wings" boy band will always make it to the trending searches for all sorts of terrible performances. In the words of fans, Ji Yan has no limit to how bad he can be.

Since Ji Yan joined the group, the Weibo account "Did Ji Yan leave Wings today?" run by fans has 2.16 million followers, which is 300,000 more than the Wings boy group's fan club. Therefore, some fans say that Wings will never flop, and Wings will only flop after Ji Yan leaves the group. His haters are much more loyal than his fans.

"I called you here today mainly to discuss the album," said manager Ye Ying. "You've been in the industry for half a year now, and the fans are really clamoring for an album. Also, since the group was formed, the group's popularity has been declining, so we have to use this time to make an album."

They all understood Ye Ying's subtext: if they didn't release an album now, they might not have the chance to do so in the future.

Not only has attention decreased, but during this period, "Wings" has been reducing its activities, and many groups that were less popular than them have come from behind and taken away most of their popularity.

"I have something to say," Ji Yan said, raising his hand.

Ye Ying glanced at him: "Go on."

"I'm thinking I should leave the group."

As soon as Ji Yan finished speaking, Xie Mingxuan, Lu Wei, and Fang Yu all stared at him at that moment, and Ye Ying also frowned: "Ji Yan, what are you planning to do now?"

"Is this your true thought?" Ye Ying's face darkened. "I would have been happy if you had said this before the group was formed, but now, please realize that 'Wings' is a group. To leave the group before releasing an album? Don't you think your actions are incredibly reckless?"

“But I did drag others down… It would have been better for them if I left the group.” Ji Yan looked directly at Xie Mingxuan and the other two, his eyes full of sincerity. “I’m really sorry for the past six months. You all love the stage, but because of my influence, you lost a lot of opportunities and were ridiculed by many people.”

Xie Mingxuan, Lu Wei, and Fang Yu remained silent for a long while before Xie Mingxuan, who was usually taciturn, uttered two words: "Indeed."

“It’s not wise to leave the group before releasing an album.” Lu Wei looked at Ji Yan. “Many people may think that ‘Wings’ is a joke right now, but I know very well that if you leave the group, ‘Wings’ will become an even bigger joke, because many people are waiting for this to happen.”

"If you really want to apologize, then learn to be a good idol." Xie Mingxuan said seriously. "I truly cannot tolerate any behavior that betrays the stage, because I love performing and I love being an idol. I've always felt that it's a sacred thing, do you understand?"

“I don’t want to abandon my teammate just because he’s not good enough. Or even if he leaves the group, I don’t want to be burdened with that reputation. Although I don’t like you, I hope you cherish the opportunity to be on stage.”

“I think the same way they do.” Fang Yu shrugged. “You can leave the group, that’s your freedom, but I don’t want it to be now.”

Ji Yan: "..."

To be honest, his three teammates' reactions were beyond his expectations. He thought they would send him away like he was a plague carrier, or at least throw him a farewell party.

“Because everyone wants this to happen, you leave in disgrace, and the three of us are branded as abandoning our teammates,” Lu Wei laughed. “But I would rather we stand at the very top with our heads held high, slapping all those who didn’t believe in us in the face. It’s not too late to part ways then, is it?”

"Ji Yan, if you have such determination, we will agree to your withdrawal from the group."

Ji Yan pursed his lips, and just when his teammates thought he was about to say something, they saw that Ji Yan, who had just spoken in a heavy tone, had reddened his eyes.

Fang Yu quickly reached out his hand: "It's not true that I don't like you, don't cry!"

"It's okay if it's a little bland, I don't mind!"

Xie Mingxuan handed him a tissue: "That's enough."

Fans have always thought that the "Wings" boy group is incompatible, but in fact, the relationship between the four members is not bad. This is because Ji Yan is not a bad person at heart, and the others have also seen his tough exterior but weak interior nature. When the group encounters trouble, Ji Yan is usually the one who rushes to the front to solve it.

Xie Mingxuan, Lu Wei, and Fang Yu's families were not well-off, but Ji Yan secured the highest percentage of their earnings for them within the group. DW Entertainment dared not deduct from his income, so he demanded that everyone be treated equally.

Ji Yan was just hot-tempered and always wanted to outdo Ji Ruan, so he often did all sorts of irrational things. But it wasn't tiring to be around him. Ji Yan had also told them about his time in the Ji family.

To some extent, Ji Yan's acting skills are truly lacking. He doesn't have much talent in acting. He entered the entertainment industry to compete with Ji Ruan, not to deliberately influence the other members of "Yi". It's just that DW Entertainment put him in there to please the Ji family.