Chapter 23: An Increase of Zero Point One Percent

The staff member dared not look Huo Yanzhi in the eye after speaking. Having worked in the industry for years, they had seen many artists with wealthy benefactors, but none were as audacious as Pei Baoyuan, who dared to speak to her patron in such a tone.

The others were even more terrified to meet Huo Yanzhi’s gaze. Heavens, just how much was Pei Baoyuan favored to be so fearless of Huo Yanzhi’s wrath? Even the general manager, who stood by, feared that Huo Yanzhi might snap and tear the entire studio apart. He looked at Pei Baoyuan with a touch of pity; she was clearly a naive newcomer, unaware of the need to temper her sharp edges.

When Huo Yanzhi heard her, he felt a sting of discomfort; he felt that Pei Baoyuan had changed. Regardless of the circumstances, she had always left him a shred of dignity in the past, yet now she had told him in front of outsiders not to interfere in her work.

Huo Yanzhi restrained himself again and again, finally swallowing his anger. The Pei family’s political career was currently at its zenith, and the Song Group was a titan not just in the capital, but nationwide. For the Pei family, crushing the Huo family would be no different than crushing an ant. Even though the Huo family had marital ties to the Ke family in Hong Kong, the Ke family's influence was not in the mainland; their reach could not extend to the capital, especially since his aunt had passed away years ago, and their relationship with the Ke family was not as close as it appeared on the surface.

He forced a smile. "Go tell Yuanyuan that I understand. I’ll be waiting for her backstage so we can leave together after the recording."

"..." The staff member internally wished for death but remained respectful on the surface. "Understood, Mr. Huo." *Why do you rich people have to drag us working stiffs into your games as NPCs?*

The staff member dutifully ran to Pei Baoyuan and relayed Huo Yanzhi’s words. Pei Baoyuan said nothing more and continued to focus on the script in her hands.

In contrast, the general manager sitting beside Huo Yanzhi was bewildered. *Wait, is young Mr. Huo really that indulgent of Pei Baoyuan? He said not to interfere, and he really stopped? But why is the air getting colder, and why does Mr. Huo look even more foul-tempered?*

The manager felt he should say something to ease the tension. "Mr. Huo is truly doting on Miss Pei. I suppose... good news is on the horizon?"

As soon as he said it, he wanted to slap himself. What good news? Just a while ago, Huo Yanzhi had asked him to provide resources to Song Yiren. At best, this was just Huo Yanzhi moving on to a new favorite—after all, men like him, especially those in his position, were all the same.

Just as he was about to find a way to backtrack, Huo Yanzhi suddenly nodded in response. "Almost. Our family hopes that Yuanyuan will marry into our home soon."

"..." Huh? A blind strike had hit the mark. He had risen to this position seven parts through skill and three parts through luck. The manager chuckled, "Then our program is incredibly honored."

He decided that when Pei Baoyuan recorded the next episode, he would definitely secure a long-term collaboration with her. Given Huo Yanzhi’s tone, she might very well be the future mistress of the house. His mind turned, and he thought of Song Yiren.

If Huo Yanzhi intended to marry Pei Baoyuan, perhaps the resources allocated to Song Yiren could be reduced...

The manager sat with Huo Yanzhi for as long as the recording lasted. Though his eyes were dull, his mind was racing, calculating every contingency. In short, the top priority now was to keep Pei Baoyuan happy. However, he knew when to step back; after finishing her work, Pei Baoyuan simply gave a polite nod and left the space to Huo Yanzhi and the others.

Pei Baoyuan had been thinking about Huo Yanzhi throughout the recording. While his sudden change in attitude was initially baffling, after the time spent on the set, she understood: Huo Yanzhi was killing her with kindness.

From the moment she started working at this platform, it had been broadcast that she had "connections." Perhaps everyone was respectful on the surface, but given Huo Yanzhi’s two displays of dissatisfaction today, the staff's resentment would only continue to grow. No one knew who Pei Baoyuan really was; they only knew her benefactor was Huo Yanzhi.

Huo Yanzhi didn't show up often, but she did. Over time, she would be ostracized by everyone behind her back. Even a sponge, when compressed to its limit, will eventually rebound—let alone people who already had heavy workloads and were forced to take on more because of her. If this continued, she wouldn't just lose her hosting gig; even getting future work would be a problem. And if she didn't work, the Huo family would have the perfect excuse to pressure her into marrying Huo Yanzhi immediately.

Finally... she dared not think further, sitting in Huo Yanzhi’s car with a heavy face.

Seeing Pei Baoyuan silent, Huo Yanzhi freed a hand to hold hers. "Yuanyuan, you aren't still angry with me because of what happened earlier, are you?"

Pei Baoyuan pulled her hand away and denied it. "How could I be? I know you’re just concerned for me. I was just wondering why that program decided to replace me."

"Replacing you was their lack of vision. We should just focus on ourselves. How was work today?"

"It was fine," Pei Baoyuan turned to look at him. "You’ve already spoken to the platform, so who would dare treat me badly? And if someone did, you’d just have them lose their jobs, wouldn't you?"

On the surface, it sounded innocent, but the more Huo Yanzhi pondered it, the more he felt something was strange about her tone. After dropping her off at the Pei residence, Huo Yanzhi drove away. This time, he did not turn midway to visit Song Yiren but returned to one of his own private properties.

Parking the car in the garage, Huo Yanzhi leaned back against the seat, exhausted. With no one else around, he summoned 011 without hesitation.

"Has there been any change in the purity of the 'fortune'?"

011 replied, "The purity has increased by 0.1 percent today."

Huo Yanzhi let out a breath of relief. "That means what I’m doing now is working." But he was not satisfied with this number. He had spent an entire day just to achieve such a small gain.

Huo Yanzhi asked, "Is there any way to help me increase the purity of the fortune faster?"

"..." 011 was silent for a long moment before saying, "The system does not provide assistance for free. You must pay a certain amount of 'fortune points' in exchange. Given that your current purity is low, the system will charge a double fee."

Huo Yanzhi: "..." He stared at the project bar in his mind. A double fee? Wouldn't all his hard work be in vain?

*Idiotic system.* Who the hell set such a ridiculous rule?

At the same moment, the barrage of comments replayed Huo Yanzhi’s monologue in the car.

【Is the male lead actually suffering from schizophrenia? As a child, I find this a bit scary.】

【I don’t understand what he’s saying. What is 'fortune purity'? What did he do today? What is the point of it all?】

【I suggest he go to a psychiatric clinic to get his brain checked. No matter who he is with, I would feel sorry for that girl.】

Pei Baoyuan watched the comments calmly. Everything Huo Yanzhi did today was related to her. In other words, the secret behind Huo Yanzhi had a direct connection to her. He had done so many things—no matter which one, it might be related to the "fortune purity" mentioned in the comments.

She and Huo Yanzhi could be considered childhood sweethearts, having grown up together, yet she never expected that he would harbor so many secrets.