The friend mentioned by Shen Suyun is actually his own older brother, Shen Sufeng. Of course, he does have other friends and such, but since this matter involves Lan Zhou's personal emotional issues, it would be embarrassing for Lan Zhou if it were said that he is gay or if his ex-boyfriend used naked photos to threaten him. As for Shen Sufeng, he is his own brother. If it came to that, it wouldn't be so embarrassing for Lan Zhou.

He recounted the incident to Shen Sufeng on WeChat, and after a moment of contemplation, Shen Sufeng asked:

"What is the name of your friend? Lan Zhou?"

"Yeah, it's the one who rented the apartment with me," Shen Suyun rarely mentioned her own situation since she moved out of the house, and she had never mentioned anything about Lanzhou to Shen Sufeng, but today was the first time she brought it up.

However, the reaction from Shen Sufeng caught him off guard: "Is it that somewhat effeminate-looking guy, whose ex-boyfriend's name is Zhang Daze?"

Shen Suyun: ?????

"Huh? How did you know, bro?"

Shen Sufeng looked at his phone, a smile playing on his lips. He lifted his head and his gaze fell on the empty space not far away, as memories of that evening under the streetlight flashed in his mind. The image of that fair and delicate face, on the verge of tears but still stubborn, appeared before him. How coincidental, he thought.

"I've happened to run into him before."

Shen Suyun found this sentence quite clever, but didn't think in the direction of "Shen Cheng Song Chengxian" that Lan Zhou mentioned before. After all, he never thought that his eldest brother looked like Song Chengxian!

He sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in Qin You'an's study, watching the stars and neon lights outside, feeling a sense of wonder at how small the world truly is. He then said, "It's good that you guys know each other. What do you think is the best way to handle this situation?"

"I'll take care of it. Where did you arrange to meet with Lan Zhou tomorrow?"

"Do you want to go together too?" Shen Suyun asked.

No, I won't go with you. Instead of appearing as your brother, it would be better to appear as a stranger. He would feel less awkward that way.

"What should we do then?"

Tomorrow, I'll go and find him before you do, take him away, and then you can ask him why he disappeared when both you and your friend went to see him."

Shen Suyun pondered a moment and thought that this method was particularly good. It not only protected Lan Zhou's self-esteem, but also cleverly resolved the situation.

His eldest brother is such a gentle person. I hope Zhou Zhou doesn't dwell too much on that someone named Shen Cheng Song Chengxian, and spends more time with his eldest brother. Haha.

"Alright then." Shen Suyun pondered for a moment before instructing, "And also, don't mention anything about me or our family to him, okay? I've been hiding it from him all along, and I'm afraid that he might develop some ideas about me once he knows."

At first, Shen Suyun kept it a secret from Lan Zhou because they were not close yet, and Shen Suyun was afraid to abruptly reveal their private matters to him. However, as they grew closer, Shen Suyun discovered that Lan Zhou was an honest and righteous person, so they covertly asked their cousin, Shen Wanyun, to help Lan Zhou find some jobs as a flat model. Shen Wanyun happened to be a very famous fashion magazine editor, so she had more than enough resources to support Lan Zhou's livelihood. Shen Suyun did all these things secretly, without telling Lan Zhou, fearing that Lan Zhou might think they were giving him charity. Of course, there was also a worry about creating a conflict over "owing favors" or similar concerns, so in short, Shen Suyun never mentioned it to Lan Zhou.

"Understood," Shen Sufeng replied concisely and clearly.

Shen Suyun resolved a major issue in her heart, and then she breathed a sigh of relief. She sent a WeChat message to Lan Zhou, confirming the meeting location for tomorrow, and then she turned around and sent a message to her own elder brother.

After finishing these tasks, he picked up the original copy of "Journey to Jinzhou at Night" placed beside him to read. He had an audition scheduled for tomorrow morning, so he had been poring over the original copy these days, studying the personality and character of the protagonist, Ye Pian. He even wrote a short character biography himself, but he didn't have enough time to complete it due to time constraints.

"Are you preparing for the audition tomorrow?"

A familiar voice sounded from behind. Shen Suyun turned around and saw Qin You'an dressed in a sharp suit, holding a briefcase in one hand and draping a black down jacket over his arm. He was wearing white house slippers on his feet, and his bare, slender, and sexy feet were clad in black socks.

- He just finished overtime work and returned home. It's close to the end of the year and the company is probably busy. These days, he comes back very late every day, so they basically only see each other at night.

"Mm, the audition starts at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I don't know which scene Zhuang Huiyan and the director will have me perform, so I'll take a look at the original work first." In reality, he was quite nervous. After all, he had always played the role of the third male lead, and he hadn't even touched the role of the second male lead before. He was afraid of messing up his performance.

Qin You'an casually placed the briefcase on the desk and tossed the down jacket onto the sofa. As he walked, he said, "There shouldn't be any major issues."

Shen Suyun revealed a somewhat unconfident smile and said, "I hope so."

Qin You'an had already walked up to him and looked down at him from a superior position. His expressionless face arched his eyebrows slightly and said, "Don't quite trust your own abilities?"

Shen Suyun turned around and propped her elbow on her thigh. She bent over and supported her cheek with her hand, feeling the cool touch of fingers on her slightly warm face, caused by the central air conditioning.

He looked at the vibrant city in the distance, and slowly said, "I've always known that I didn't have much talent or charisma in performance. The peak of my career was probably the protagonist in my graduation project... The more I continued, the more common and boring my performances became. I know my father was right when he said that I wasn't cut out for this line of work. The only reason I persisted was that I couldn't bear the thought of failure."

He often thinks about the words his father said to him in the quiet late nights of the film and television city's small hotel room, on the small bench waiting for winter scenes, and when he finishes a fight scene covered in sweat but without the conditions to take a shower. He mulls over these words repeatedly, wondering whether he should continue to persevere or not. But he always thinks, maybe, just maybe, if he perseveres, he will succeed? And so, he continues to persist.

So what sustains him to keep going is not confidence in his own performance, but rather a sense of fortunate luck in fate.

Qin You looked steadily at him, his ink-black eyes carrying a complex and inscrutable depth.

The study was shrouded in silence. The floor lamp emitted a soft yellow light, casting a warm glow on Shen Suyun's back as he stood there. The night had fallen outside, with neon lights flickering, and a faint reflection of two figures appeared on the window - one sitting, one standing, creating a serene and picturesque scene reminiscent of a movie.

Shen Suyun straightened her body and rubbed her slightly cold, slightly warm hands. She then smiled and turned her head to look at him. There was no trace of exhaustion in her spirited eyes. "Anyway, I will do my best. If it works out tomorrow, I will personally cook dinner for you as a way to thank you... Can you get off work on time?"

Qin You'an didn't even think twice before replying, "Yes."

It seemed like he realized that his answer was too affirmative, so he added, "I basically finished all the work today."

"Oh, that's good." Shen Suyun got up and walked towards him. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly noticed a suspicious lipstick mark on the collar of his suit. Her mind buzzed, and she couldn't help but think that Qin You'an might have a girlfriend. There was a bubbling sensation of acidity in her heart. After thinking for a moment, she reached out and pointed at the mark, "You have...something dirty here..."

Qin You'an lowered his head, glanced in confusion, and asked, "Where?"

His suit was black, so it wasn't very clear in dim lighting. Shen Suyun walked over and grabbed the lapel of his suit, lifting it up to show him.

"Here. This looks... a lot like a lipstick stain!"

As she spoke, she raised her gaze to see his reaction, but unexpectedly met a pair of profound and deep black eyes.