Chapter 72: Garen's Vision!

There were too many secrets in the notebook, and Garen guarded them with utmost care. That was why he didn’t hesitate to buy the most expensive and, in this world, the highest-rated antivirus software to protect his computer. In reality, though, only his new laptop required such precautions; the secondhand one itself came from another world, as did its internet connection—even the most elite hacker couldn’t breach a network from another world.

Besides, top hackers wouldn’t bother spying on celebrities like paparazzi. With Feng Ke’s computer skills, he could manage to use commercially available hacking software to infiltrate hotel systems or school forums, but to break into a computer or server equipped with premium, paid antivirus software was far beyond his reach.

When Garen returned home, Chen Yingying was hanging clothes out on the balcony. The apartment itself was spotless, cleaner than ever. During the days she’d been away, Garen had paid little heed to hygiene or tidiness. People can easily slip into laziness; in the past, Garen had always taken care of the room himself, while the shared areas were handled collectively by the three men. But since Chen Yingying had moved in at the start of the month—and as Garen’s work grew busier—he had stopped maintaining the place altogether. Especially in the past few days while she was in Hasmuqi, Garen’s room had become a pigsty: dirty clothes and socks piled everywhere, dust gathering on the windowsill and floor.

Now, seeing how much Chen Yingying had done upon her return, Garen felt both guilty and moved. He walked over and gently wrapped his arms around her waist. “Excellent job! You deserve a kiss as a reward!”

“Go away, you rascal!” Chen Yingying scolded playfully, dodging and swatting at him with a clothes hanger—though not with any real force.

“Let me show you something!” Garen produced the kraft paper envelope that Mai Le had given him. “Pick a house you like. We’ll find a time to move in!”

“We’re moving?” Chen Yingying took the envelope, handing Garen the clothes rod and hanger. “You finish hanging the rest of the laundry!”

“All right…” Garen gave a wry smile and set about finishing the task efficiently.

That night, Chen Yingying fell asleep quickly. Garen, though, found himself restless. In the past, whenever they lay down together, they’d always tease each other a bit—if not a full meal, at least a sip of the soup. But tonight, his mind was too preoccupied with filming to sleep.

After tossing and turning, Garen sat up, quietly grabbed his new laptop, and went to Cai Fei’s room next door to research ancient love stories. He wanted to see how poets and scholars of old dealt with feelings and to immerse himself in their experiences. Just as he reached the door, another thought occurred to him: perhaps there were some earth-shattering love stories from the other world, ones with a strong sense of immersion. He retrieved the secondhand laptop from under his bed, slipped out of the room without a sound, and settled into the room next door, powering up both machines to begin his search.

Suddenly, a small window popped up in the lower right corner of the new laptop. The alert read: “A dangerous process has been intercepted!”

Garen’s heart skipped a beat. He opened the security log and discovered that someone had indeed tried to breach his computer. Cold sweat broke out across his back.

Damn! This computer isn’t safe after all!

Even with hidden files and encryption, the secrets stored here were still at risk.

But amid his alarm, Garen also felt a surge of relief. Thank goodness he’d installed the world’s best paid antivirus software; otherwise, all his secrets would have been exposed. No, he couldn’t keep anything on this machine. He immediately fetched a partially used external hard drive from his room and transferred all the files from the other world onto it. After working for half the night, he bought a set of disk-wiping tools from Auski online and thoroughly erased all data traces from the computer’s drive. Even if the hard drive fell into someone else’s hands one day, they’d never be able to recover the secrets.

Only when all this was done did Garen start reading those tragic and beautiful love stories from ancient times. History in the other world closely mirrored this one: the same emperors, dynasties, even the Four Great Classical Novels, and the same world-shaping inventions and philosophies, like Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, Buddhist and Daoist scriptures. The only difference lay in the arts, where things diverged greatly. The passionate love stories that were legendary in this world did not exist in the other world, because the famous poems and lyrics that preserved them were absent. Conversely, the other world had many epic tales, classic poems, and literary masterpieces unknown here.

Every encounter with the other world’s culture brought an exhilarating sense of novelty.

Unconsciously, time slipped by. At four in the morning, Garen could no longer keep his eyes open. He packed everything up and went back to bed. That night, his dreams were filled with the stories he’d read before falling asleep.

…

The next day, at exactly nine o’clock, Garen’s phone rang sharply. His eyes were sore, aching, and heavy—he simply couldn’t open them. Several minutes later, someone started shaking him awake. Garen cracked his eyes open to a slit, as if his spirit had drifted back from elsewhere.

To his surprise, it was Mai Le waking him. He waved a hand weakly, “Let me sleep a little longer. Isn’t today’s work starting at ten?”

“But you still have to do your makeup and choose your outfit! This time it’s for a video recording—it’s not like yesterday’s print interview!” Mai Le was anxious; everything had been arranged at the company, and they were just waiting for Garen to arrive.

“I’m not going!” Garen rolled over, trying to tug the blanket over his head, but after several attempts, it wouldn’t budge. The next second, with a swoosh, the blanket was yanked off.

Chen Yingying stood there with her hands on her hips. “Lazybones, get up! I made you breakfast, so eat and get to work!”

“Uh…” Garen groaned weakly, glancing around as he sat up. “Where are my clothes?”

“Here!” Chen Yingying tossed him the clean set he’d washed the day before.

Dragging himself out of bed, Garen washed up hastily and was about to head out when Chen Yingying handed him a bag. “Here’s breakfast—eat it on the way!”

“Okay! See you later! Be good and wait for me at home!” Garen waved with a smile and left with Mai Le.

In the car, Mai Le nagged about things to pay attention to during today’s recording.

But Garen barely heard any of it; he’d fallen asleep against the seat.

At the company, he stumbled into the makeup room like a zombie, letting the stylists and makeup artists do as they pleased, his eyes never once opening.

At ten o’clock sharp, the Qixun Video talk show began recording. As soon as the cameras rolled, the host started, “Hello, everyone! Good afternoon, and welcome to Qixun Video’s ‘Daily Star’ interview program. I’m Lele! Today’s guest is an incredibly popular star—his recent challenge match video has racked up over ten million views on Qixun Video in just a few days! That shows just how hot he is right now. Let’s give a warm welcome to—Garen! Welcome!”

“Hello, host! Hello, everyone!” The camera cut to Garen, who instantly became animated and full of energy.

Host Lele asked, “Before you took on the challenge, did you ever imagine you’d become so famous that everyone, young and old, would know your name?”

“No,” Garen replied with a smile, “but I guessed I’d get some recognition. After all, ‘Starlight Show’ is a huge stage with hundreds of millions of viewers nationwide. As long as you step up for a challenge, whether you win or lose, whether your reputation is good or bad, people are bound to talk about you!”

Lele continued, “The last guest we interviewed who succeeded in a Starlight Show challenge was over a month ago. After such a long wait, you’ve broken through as another successful challenger, and you even set a new record for the highest score in history—surpassing last year’s challenge king, Sun Youyun, and becoming the new record-holder. Does that make you feel proud?”

“Um… actually, I feel pretty normal about it,” Garen said, glancing at the cue cards in the assistant’s hand, then continued, “I’m really grateful for the support from the live audience and the judges—everything I’ve achieved is thanks to them!”

“You managed to beat the weekly champion, Sun Youjia, and earned a spot in the ‘King of the Challenge’ finals. Have you thought about making it into the top ten and facing Sun Youjia’s brother, Sun Youpeng?”

“Who?” Garen blurted out instinctively. A staff member immediately called, “Cut! Let’s discuss this question and reshoot!”

The cameras stopped rolling.

Mai Le, as Garen’s assistant, hurried over with the script to negotiate with the floor producer.

The first time Garen had heard of Sun Youpeng was back when he performed at Wen Tao’s bar. Hearing the name again, he couldn’t help but be curious. “Sun Youpeng is Sun Youjia’s brother? His real brother?”

“You didn’t know?” Lele looked at him in surprise.

Garen shook his head. “No one ever told me!”

He only knew that Sun Youpeng had participated in five consecutive challenge matches on Starlight Show, defeating five weekly champions—including Wen Tao—to finally qualify for the annual top ten.

The rule of five consecutive challenges on Starlight Show was designed for newly debuted independent artists and unsigned grassroots talents. They had to sign a ten-year contract with Dreamstar, and only after becoming a contracted singer with Dreamstar Entertainment could they attempt five consecutive challenges.

But Garen was already signed with Yida, so he wouldn’t have that opportunity—unless he terminated his contract with Yida. At his current level, even if he did so, he wouldn’t sign with Dreamstar. He was gathering resources to set up his own studio, aiming one day to build his own entertainment empire, transplanting film, music, variety shows, literature, and even games from the other world for his own enjoyment.

“All the info is online!” Lele, seeing he wasn’t pretending, patiently explained, “The brothers used to be a duo from Treasure Island. After their contract expired, they went solo. When Sun Youpeng succeeded in the challenge, he recommended his younger brother to Dreamstar. However, Sun Youjia didn’t have his brother’s talent and couldn’t match his five-win streak, so he was allowed to challenge the weekly champions. But before he could even warm the champion’s seat, you knocked him out.”