Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 818: Never-Stop Sister Liu

"Ding——"

Xiao He stepped off the elevator, just brushing past the distinguished guests who were about to head upstairs.

Bao Xingsheng, who had kept his attention fixed on the other two families, didn't notice Xiao He's presence at all. He was still cheerfully chatting with his two sons beside him, his words barely concealing how much he valued and admired them.

Xiao He only glanced at them once before looking away.

For this kind of selective doting father, he uniformly labeled them as "hypocrites."

A man who gambled all his descendants' futures on feng shui and metaphysics—how much genuine affection could he truly have for them when it came down to it?

It was nothing but calculation and arrangement.

Thinking of everything he had uncovered during his investigation, Xiao He sneered coldly in his heart.

But immediately after, his steps faltered almost imperceptibly.

He didn't need to think twice. Just from their attire and demeanor, he could tell they were from the island nation.

But at this moment, they were trailing behind the team of the three organizing families, blending in without any sense of discord and not standing out at all.

Yet that peculiar sensation of shared kinship still allowed Xiao He to spot them instantly.

Unlike Bao Xingsheng, who was utterly oblivious, these two were far more sensitive to stares. The moment Xiao He's gaze landed on them, they both lifted their heads in unison and looked straight at him.

Xiao He didn't flinch or look away. Their gazes locked across the distance.

The two islanders immediately furrowed their brows.

Xiao He, on the other hand, smiled at them, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"Don't be nervous,"

one of them said to his companion. "I know him. Just a minor actor from China. Nothing to be wary of. Probably trying to latch onto some big shot."

"An actor?"

The companion relaxed. "He's terrifying. I thought he was—"

"Shh. Keep a low profile. We'll talk about it when we get back."

"Got it."

-

Dong Huai, following behind his parents, reached into his pocket and touched his phone. He deliberately let out a lazy yawn, then said, "I'm not going up with you guys. Banquets are so boring. I'd rather go back to sleep."

Dong Zhizhuo had no strong opinion and just nodded casually. Only Chen Yuehui turned her head to glance at Dong Huai, her gaze cold as she scrutinized him from head to toe: "You haven't been up to something behind our backs again, have you? Why have you been so obsessed with sleeping lately? You look like you never get enough."

She had been busy recently and hadn't paid much attention to Dong Huai's behavior for a while.

Seeing how oddly he was acting today, suspicion began to grow in her mind.

Dong Huai's body stiffened, but he quickly replied nonchalantly, "No way. Since you won't let me go out, I just stay cooped up at home playing games all day! You can't even control that, can you?"

Chen Yuehui said nothing, but her expression turned even colder. Dong Zhizhuo, however, stepped in as the peacemaker between mother and son, deflecting the topic: "Forget it. This isn't the place to discipline kids. The banquet upstairs is about to start, and everyone's waiting for you to give a speech. No need to lecture him now."

Chen Yuehui glanced at her husband once more and ultimately said nothing, merely nodding curtly: "We'll deal with this after everything here is settled."

Dong Zhizhuo smiled and patted his wife's hand, then turned to Dong Huai: "Then go back to your room for now. But you're a grown man now. You should have some life plans instead of wasting all your time on gaming—"

Hearing that Chen Yuehui wouldn't press him further about "gaming," Dong Huai breathed a sigh of relief. But at his father's words, he couldn't help rolling his eyes and snorting softly in contempt: "What business is it of yours?"

"Dong Huai."

His mother's voice was ice-cold, laced with a heavy warning.

Dong Zhizhuo fell silent and turned his head away.

Dong Huai immediately dared not keep taunting, but he still turned around and walked off with a stubborn air.

Behind him, the man let out only a sigh.

And his mother said dismissively, "Let's go. Don't bother with him. We'll deal with him later."

Dong Huai's lips curled into a particularly sardonic grin.

-

On the other side, when Shu Han broke away from the program team to find Liu Rulan, she was leaning against the railing, chatting with Lao Qi while enjoying the cool sea breeze.

Seeing Shu Han approach, Liu Rulan was a bit surprised. She craned her neck to check around Shu Han and noticed there was no camera crew following him.

"Why are you here? I remember that 'Journey Across Mountains and Rivers' has been live streaming all night, right? Isn't it a problem for you to just come over like this?"

"It's fine. They've already stopped the livestream. We're about to start recording the official variety show segments."

Shu Han shook his head with a smile. "I was still a bit worried about you all, so I came to check in."

Then he looked around and asked, "Where are Xiao He and the others?"

It was just Liu Rulan and Lao Qi.

"Xiao He was invited upstairs. As for the other one, I have no idea where he is. Probably holed up in his room."

Liu Rulan shrugged. "Anyway, they all have their own plans, so I can't be bothered to care."

The truth was, she couldn't control them at all.

She'd just given up completely.

Shu Han looked at Liu Rulan's expression and gave a helpless smile in return. "Then don't worry about them. I just heard from Director Hu of the program team that Director Gao from Hong Kong is also at this banquet event. Are you interested in going to chat with him?"

Liu Rulan was taken aback, then her eyes lit up, as if she'd finally found her calling: "Director Gao is here today too? I didn't see any media reports about it."

"He likes peace and quiet these days. He keeps a very low profile, so he took a special entrance. But the main cast of the movie he's currently filming did walk the red carpet."

"No wonder."

Liu Rulan pondered for a moment. The lazy, vacation-mode heart that had wanted to slack off suddenly perked up again.

Maybe this was the competitive king in her—even at a time like this, her first thought was still about work.

"Let's go, let's go say hello. He helped you out a lot back in the day. Since we're all on the same boat this time, we really should at least greet him."

Shu Han had started his career as a martial arts actor. Back then, though Hong Kong cinema was already in decline, it still shone brightly, so he had collaborated with several directors from Hong Kong over the years. Director Gao was definitely one of Shu Han's greatest benefactors. But later, Shu Han went abroad, and many of those connections fell into disuse and slowly faded.

"Alright."

Shu Han knew Liu Rulan's restless nature well. He smiled and nodded, then turned to lead her toward the lower-level banquet venue.

The banquet was on the third floor, in the largest hall. So the two of them headed to the elevator area on the other side to wait.

As the elevator descended slowly, someone else arrived behind them.

Then a second person followed.

Liu Rulan instinctively glanced back and saw a familiar face.

Liu Rulan: ...

Shu Han noticed her reaction and turned around too, then fell into a brief silence.

Tong Junhui had somehow lined up behind them.

And he was acting like a complete stranger, as if they had never met before.

Behind Tong Junhui stood another young man.

The young man was thin, with a vacant look in his eyes. He was currently staring down at his phone, completely indifferent to his surroundings.

But soon, he frowned slightly.

What was going on?

He swiped at his phone and found that the internet connection was perfectly fine.

So why was it stuck?

Dong Huai scratched his head in frustration. That feeling of being interrupted halfway through something was agonizing. He looked up and glanced around, wanting to see if only his network was having issues or if others were struggling too—

But then his gaze landed on the man's phone in front of him, and he couldn't look away for a long time.