Inside a restaurant.
"Tsk, Clown Lan got beaten up pretty badly, and she didn't even fight back. Where did all that energy go when she was beating up that pregnant woman?"
Li Jiu looked at the video on Weibo, with his handsome face full of disdain; there wasn't a shred of concern or pity for Lan Jin, even though she was supposedly his fiancée in name.
The more meticulous and composed Best Actor Mu Yunhuai, however, noticed something unusual. He replayed the video over and over, studying it for a long while until his expression became increasingly weird...
Xiang Liangzhou was rather carefree. He glanced at the empty seat next to him and complained,
"Isn't it Sunday today? Where's that kid Jun Yang? Is he on a date with Lan Jiaojiao again?"
"I heard Lan Jiaojiao composed a new piece, and he went to listen to her play the piano."
Li Jiu threw his phone aside and lay back lazily in his chair, his dark eyes comfortably squinting.
"Tsk tsk tsk, he really is a guy who forgets his friends at the sight of beauty. But then again, Lan Jiaojiao does play the piano quite well."
Xiang Liangzhou said somewhat enviously, then suddenly his tone changed, and his eyes lit up with excitement—
"Hey, I'm telling you, I really noticed that Lan Xiaojin is different now."
Xiang Liangzhou's mind was filled with the image of Lan Jin's arrogant dominance before, so handsome that it almost made him weak at the knees.
Even his way of addressing her had changed from Clown Lan to Lan Xiaojin, perhaps even without his own realization.
"She's different alright, getting more lovesick and stupider by the day, and such a coward, just a useless person," Li Jiu said disdainfully, curling his lip.
"Bullshit!"
Xiang Liangzhou countered, "You didn't see how fierce she was when she was doling out pain today. She stripped both of her best friends, and that posture looking down on others, with utter disdain for the masses—it was freaking awesome. Let me imitate it for you..."
"Go away, go away, go away!"
Li Jiu interrupted him in disgust, "Since you think she's handsome, then you go pursue her. It would be good for us to get this over with sooner. I feel nauseous just looking at her ghastly face."
"Pursue then pursue! Who's afraid of who, damn it!"
Xiang Liangzhou was actually just bluffing. Truth be told, he hadn't mustered up the courage to chase her just yet.
After all, that ghastly look really was... too much to handle.
No sooner had he spoken than Li Jiu and Mu Yunhuai felt like setting off firecrackers in celebration, looking at Xiang Liangzhou as if he was their savior, brimming with gratitude.
Right away, Li Jiu sent a message to his younger brother Li Junyang, who was in the music room listening to Lan Jiaojiao play the piano:
[I've got good news for you, kid—we're going to be set free. Liangzhou says he's going to chase Clown Lan, and once he gets her, we can move out.]
The contract was clear in black and white—
If any one of them became Lan Jin's real boyfriend, rather than just a contractual relationship, the others could move out of that villa and be free.
Otherwise, they would have to wait until Lan Jin safely reached her 20th birthday before they could be free.
But Lan Jin was only 18 now, they would have to endure two more years, which would drive them insane.
If they broke the contract, each person would have to compensate Lan Jin with ten billion as damages.
Ten billion… Fuck, why not just rob a bank!
What was even more outrageous was that... this one-sided contract was signed for them by their family patriarch, leaving them with no choice but to comply.
So, as long as Xiang Liangzhou pursued and got together with Lan Jin, they would regain their freedom.
Suddenly felt like crying...
"Liangzhou, on behalf of our brotherhood, I thank you. You have to try your hardest; Clown Lan, that lovestruck fool, will be easy to chase. I believe you can nail it with just one move," Li Jiu said, sticking a toothpick in his mouth as he stood up and took Xiang Liangzhou's hand earnestly.
He would remember the favor of him stepping forward to free his brothers from misfortune for the rest of his life.