Fu Tianlei was stunned for a long while, staring at the person in front of him, until the other person spoke again, at which point he finally came to his senses.

"Full sugar brown sugar latte, right? 26, please wait a moment."

Qin You noticed what was happening on his side, but didn't think too much about it, much less that one of the main characters in the gossip was right in front of him.

Soon, a full-sugar brown sugar latte was ready.

"Still looking? The person's already gone." The cashier at the front desk laughed, making Fu Tianlei blush.

"Hey, Xiao Lei, have you ever had a girlfriend?" the young woman asked him curiously.

Fu Tianlei shook his head hesitantly.

The young woman glanced at the control panel behind her and then asked, "Where's your classmate?"

Fu Tianlei finally understood, but unfortunately, he said, "Oh, him? Old Qin already has a girlfriend." He just didn't know if it was a man or a woman. Of course, he didn't say the last part out loud.

The young woman was a little disappointed after hearing this, but only a tiny bit. Thinking about it, it's true that being single this badly is a sin.

In the following days, Fu Tianlei came to the coffee shop to work part-time whenever he had free time, which was obviously for ulterior motives.

Qin You saw all of this, but he didn't say anything.

Until an unexpected event shattered this peace.

Wang Yanru, whom Fu Tianlei longed for, was in extremely poor condition—her eyes were red, tear tracks were very obvious, and her face looked haggard.

More importantly, a red mole suddenly appeared under her eyelid, a sight that Qin You found very familiar, and he had a somewhat immature idea.

"Extra strong, all ready." Qin You brought the coffee with the added 'ingredients' to the front desk.

Qin You watched as Wang Yanru drank the coffee, and soon her expression relaxed considerably, indicating that it had been effective.

'It seems the dispelling effect worked.'

Wang Yanru noticed the change in herself and thought it was because of the extra-strong coffee. Thinking of this, she took another sip.

"Could you please pack me another extra-strong coffee as well?" she said to Fu Tianlei with a smile.

Fu Tianlei chuckled and nodded in agreement.

Qin You could only shrug helplessly. "Good brother, this is all I can do to help you!"

Strangely, Wang Yanru still looked very haggard the next morning, and the red mole under her eye was even more noticeable. This time, she ordered another cup of extra strong coffee, and her eyes even seemed a little anxious.

"Have you been under too much pressure lately...?" Fu Tianlei couldn't help but ask.

"I think so." Wang Yanru replied weakly, with a hint of pitifulness. In terms of appearance, she was exactly the type of woman that most straight men would find attractive.

"You should probably go to the hospital to get it checked out."

"Okay, I'll go after work." Wang Yanru suddenly looked away, as if she had just remembered something.

Seeing this, Fu Tianlei didn't dare to say anything more. Just then, new customers arrived at the store, so he busied himself with greeting them.

After making the coffee, Qin You looked up and unexpectedly met the gaze of someone he recognized—Miss Lin.

"You're Xu Qian's younger brother, right? I'm sure I'm not mistaken."

Qin You paused for a second, then smiled and nodded at the other person as a greeting.

"Are college students doing part-time jobs?" Miss Lin quickly guessed why Qin You was there.

Qin You nodded.

Ms. Lin suddenly laughed and said to him, "Have you considered changing to a new part-time job?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the store manager looked at Ms. Lin, a stark warning sign that someone was about to snatch her away.

"I'm sorry, not yet." Qin You's thinking was simple: one persona in the entertainment industry was enough; more than that would restrict his freedom. He had many things he wanted to do, so why should he put all his eggs in one basket?

"Okay," Ms. Lin said, her smile still revealing no hint of disappointment, and handed over a business card. "If you're considering this, remember to contact me as soon as possible!"

Qin You didn't refuse; he had to give him a way out.

However, after this little incident, Qin You's 'status' in the coffee shop underwent a qualitative change.

First of all, the dear barista lady. She was already very nice, but now she's gone too far by even buying the drinks for me.

"I knew you looked familiar. Turns out Xu Qian is your brother! I've watched all his dramas, they're absolutely fantastic!"

Hearing others praise him firsthand made Qin You a little embarrassed, and he could only keep laughing awkwardly.

Ringing——

Another customer came to the shop, someone Qin You had seen before—the man who had appeared at the back door.

"Hey Yanru, you're here to buy coffee too?"

"I'm so sleepy, I came to buy a drink to wake myself up." Wang Yanru smiled shyly.

"I'm so sorry about what happened before. I've already made arrangements for the aftermath, and there won't be any more unexpected problems this time..."

Wang Yanru listened casually, it was impossible to tell whether she cared or not.

***

Returning our attention to the "Variety Show" crew, just three days ago, Xu Qian went to Xishui Village with the crew of the drama "Four Seasons" to film "Spring Chapter". The filming process went smoothly. The original plan of five days of filming was completed in four days, and an extra day was set aside as a reward for the team.

Xishui Village is located in the northernmost part of Licheng, with four distinct seasons, making it a very suitable place for retirement.

The early spring breeze still carried a hint of coolness. Xu Qian and Yan Lang walked along the stream. Yan Lang kept marveling at the air quality and even had the idea of ​​retiring here.

"What, you don't want to work hard anymore?" Xu Qian smiled.

"Hehe," Yan Lang scratched his head, "I still have to work hard, we haven't bought a house yet."

Xu Qian exclaimed "Huh?" "They're already thinking about houses so early? That's quite an awareness."

"However, I'm not considering houses in Weicheng; they're too expensive." Yan Lang still seemed a little hesitant when he mentioned the housing prices.

"Are you planning to go back to your hometown to buy it?" Xu Qian asked him again.

"Yes, it should be my hometown, my parents are there too."

"He is filial."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Lang looked at him with a "I knew it" look, which showed how deeply Xu Qian's "old cadre" persona was ingrained.

As the two walked and talked, they heard rhythmic tapping sounds coming from ahead. Upon closer inspection, they saw two women with headscarves cleaning fish by the river.

This scene suddenly reminded Xu Qian of the famous 21st-century internet celebrity UP – Hua Nong Brothers.

Sigh, I wonder if they're still raising bamboo rats...

...

At the same time, Feng Tang released the first game trailer for "For the Emperor", which immediately swept through the entire I Station game circle.

[This is the first time I've heard... Lao Xu's voice...]

[Am I seeing things? Emperor Wen's voice actor is Xu Jinglei?!]

[Voice-activated users are gaining fans]

[After visualizing it with Lao Xu's face, I have to say, I absolutely adore the sickly beauty!]

[Gained 1 more fans]

[The plot seems interesting; I'll pre-order to check it out.]

As mentioned above, Xu Qian's first voice acting role is as the hidden big boss, Emperor Wen, in "The Emperor". Among the 32 endings set by Feng Tang, only two endings reveal Emperor Wen's true face, making him a relatively difficult NPC.

However, these issues are not important right now; what matters is that the buzz has picked up.

Fengtang's publicity department has been closely monitoring the reservation index on various platforms. In just one morning, the number of reservations has exceeded one million, which is good news for them.

"Keep the promotional campaign going! Don't stop!"

So when Xu Qian returned to Weicheng from the information-poor Xishui Village, he saw the internet flooded with stories about becoming emperor.

Feng Tang's art department is quite impressive; the posters are exquisitely designed and have a grand, sophisticated feel, just like the game's name.

Xu Qian once again realized Feng Tang's status in the gaming industry; it truly was... extraordinary.

"Brother Xu, are you going home?" Yan Lang asked him.

Xu Qian thought for a moment, then gave the address of the coffee shop, saying, "I'm going to meet someone."

"Ah, okay."

It's nearly 16 kilometers from the company to the coffee shop where Qin You works. If there's no traffic, it takes half an hour by car, but if there's traffic... well, it's hard to say.

Fortunately, the peak hours had passed by then. When the two arrived at the coffee shop, it was noon, and the number of people was slowly increasing.

"Consider this afternoon a day off. You've been running around with me for a few days now, go back and rest." Xu Qian didn't let Yan Lang continue following him.

"Ah, but this..." Yan Lang looked around at the growing crowd and thought to himself, "You're a celebrity, after all. This isn't right."

“It’s okay, my cousin works part-time there. We’ll go back after he gets off work,” Xu Qian said, fully 'armed' (wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a mask).

Yan Lang had been following Xu Qian for quite some time and naturally knew his personality. With that in mind, he could only leave with 'reluctance'.

After dismissing his assistant, Xu Qian pushed open the door and entered the coffee shop.

Fu Tianlei was still the cashier. Today they were on the early shift, and they didn't have classes until the afternoon.

"A glass of Blue Mountain coffee, please."

"Okay, one Blue Mountain, 28." Fu Tianlei had no idea that the person in front of him was Xu Qian, nor did he expect it at all.

Qin You didn't even look up; he had already started preparing long before Xu Qian placed the order.

Two minutes later, a Blue Mountain Latte was brought to the table.

"Sir, your Blue Mountain coffee is ready."

Xu Qian, holding his coffee, found a quiet corner and waited for Wang Yanru to appear.

Xu Qian was somewhat bothered by the red mole on Wang Yanru's face. Ever since the last time, he felt like he had seen it somewhere before, giving him a strange sense of familiarity.

At 12:30 pm, a crisp bell rang, and a woman wearing a black A-line dress walked in. The mole on her face was as red as blood.

—Delusion

Author's Note: Fixed a bug...

I must have hit a brick wall...