Chapter 36: Midnight

Zhang Wei is an independent jewelry designer who runs a fairly well-known studio. Because she is currently in a period of career growth and is extremely busy, she frequently works overtime late into the night.

One day, just as she was preparing to leave work, she suddenly received a WeChat message.

[Ms. Zhang, I would like to custom-order a microphone.]

When business comes knocking, there is no reason to refuse, regardless of the time or place.

Looking at the sender, Zhang Wei immediately closed her door, turned the air conditioning back on, and returned to her workbench.

If the request was urgent, it wouldn't be impossible to grind out a preliminary draft overnight.

The reason her studio had become popular was because, two years ago, she had created an exceptionally stunning set of red carpet jewelry for Gu Lanxi.

Therefore, Gu Lanxi was her benefactor.

The two had always enjoyed a pleasant collaboration. Gu Lanxi's requests were always precise and clear, never changing her mind every other minute, and Zhang Wei always met every demand. No matter how outrageous a request the other party made, Zhang Wei would treat it as the most important matter at hand.

Even though she was a jewelry designer, a microphone... well, it wasn't impossible.

It was just...

[President Gu, are you looking for a functional custom microphone?]

If that were the case, she would need to contact microphone manufacturers immediately to strive for a partnership. She was merely a jewelry designer; she did not possess the technical skills for microphone manufacturing.

On her first night living under the same roof as Lu Nanting, Gu Lanxi suffered from insomnia.

Having too much money was a disadvantage; whenever she couldn't sleep, she felt the urge to spend money to find peace.

The reply came immediately after she sent the message, which did not surprise Gu Lanxi in the least.

Because in the business world, the speed at which a person replies usually depends on the client's net worth.

As she became wealthier and more powerful, there would only be more and more people willing to cater to her every whim.

To be honest, this feeling was actually quite intoxicating.

Having achieved fame at a young age and easily mastered vast wealth, anyone else might have taken a wrong turn, but she was a person of immense self-control who always understood exactly what she wanted.

[You can think of it as jewelry in the shape of a microphone.]

If she wanted to custom-order the kind of microphone used on a stage, why would she look for a jewelry designer? Wouldn't it be better to go directly to a microphone brand?

Lu Nanting had many exclusive custom microphones, each with different commemorative significance, and all of them possessed superior performance.

She was making this just to use at home.

One-on-one. If she wanted to stay one meter away, she'd stay one meter away; if she wanted to stay half a meter away, she'd stay half a meter away. It wasn't as if she couldn't hear him.

She simply felt that the stainless steel clothes hanger from today was a bit of a mood killer.

A perfectly fine god, but with the wrong equipment, he turned into a total clown in a second.

Searching through the whole house, that was the only ugly thing she could find.

It was truly too much of an injustice to him.

Zhang Wei understood instantly.

As an ultimate entrepreneur who could immediately show up with a measuring tape if an employer wanted a solid gold, diamond-encrusted toilet, a mere microphone ornament was absolutely no problem!

Yes, this is how the professional jewelry designer positioned her new work.

Because she truly couldn't imagine what use a non-functional microphone could possibly have.

[Understood. Could you please provide more detailed requirements?]

Gu Lanxi had been tossing and turning for two hours, and that microphone had already appeared vividly in her mind. Describing it now was exceptionally smooth

[Solid gold, encrusted with pavé diamonds all over, with large colored diamonds spelling out the letters "NT." Every single diamond, even the small ones, must be sufficiently brilliant.]

Considering the issue of weight, fearing that Lu Nanting wouldn't be able to hold it, she thoughtfully added

[While maintaining structural stability, please control the weight so that it is comfortable to hold for extended viewing.]

Alright, Zhang Wei immediately grasped the client's needs.

Hollow, but it had to be sturdy; it couldn't be some cheap-looking piece with just a thin layer of gold skin.

Covered in real diamonds, including the colored diamonds that formed the two capital letters, and all of them had to be top-tier. This order was terrifyingly large; compared to these, the lump of gold in the middle was nothing.

The reason for making it hollow wasn't to save money, but simply so it wouldn't be too heavy to hold.

In that case, the weight would have to be carefully managed.

Zhang Wei agreed to everything and immediately opened her computer to start grinding out the design drawings.

After placing the order, Gu Lanxi casually sent the deposit and finally fell into a smooth sleep.

Next door, Lu Nanting was still working on revising musical scores under a desk lamp.

He was slightly dissatisfied with a small part of the song he wrote today and needed to make some fine adjustments.

Gu Lanxi didn't like overly perfunctory names, so he had to put some thought into that as well.

Just as he was working with great enthusiasm, he suddenly received a call from property management saying there was an issue with his car and he needed to come down.

Lu Nanting couldn't help but frown. "Where is the butler?"

The property management assigned a dedicated butler to every household with 24-hour service. It was just a car issue; the butler should have figured out what happened and informed him tomorrow. Why insist on making him come down in the middle of the night?

The property management in this community was top-tier nationwide; for them to suddenly do something so inappropriate made Lu Nanting frown.

Helpless, the property management could only explain softly

"An owner returned late with her boyfriend and saw a pool of red liquid flowing from your car in the garage. She was so frightened she screamed on the spot and called the police. The police are downstairs now and need you to drive the car to cooperate with the inspection."

"What?"

Lu Nanting was completely stunned. He stood up and walked to the door, only then remembering that he was currently trending on the hot searches. No matter what happened, it was best not to go to crowded places.

Thinking that he hadn't done anything illegal or against regulations, he hung up the phone directly and called his bodyguards to handle it.

However, opening the car door to figure out what was going on wasn't difficult.

The bodyguards and drivers lived in the adjacent community and arrived within ten minutes. Upon inspection, they found it was merely a coolant leak. After the police collected evidence, they left.

The property manager called personally to express apologies and stated they would arrange for repairs immediately the next day. Since he had his own people, he wouldn't allow outsiders to touch his private car, so he refused.

After hanging up, he checked the time: 12:30 AM.

Having lost all motivation to continue creating, he simply shook out his quilt and lay down to sleep.

In his line of work, he was often a nomad; he could fall asleep in any random hotel in seconds. Even though Gu Lanxi had made the bed smell wonderful for him, he wasn't picky about beds and fell asleep shortly after.

Little did he know that the owner who called the police tonight had a bit of a problem.

She was an influencer who had recently been caught up in some negative news. To distance herself from it, she had quickly found an influential media professional to be her boyfriend, attempting to whitewash her reputation.

That night, after the two finished dinner, they agreed to return to the woman's residence for further intimacy. As soon as they reached the basement, they saw a pool of deep red liquid.

The lighting in the basement wasn't very good, and perhaps the color wasn't actually deep red, nor did the viscosity suggest anything major had happened. But the problem lay with the man, who recognized the license plate.

The man was a former paparazzi. Because he frequently fell into legal disputes due to his work, he had gradually transitioned into a self-media creator related to the entertainment industry. Naturally, he remembered the common vehicles used by top-tier celebrities very clearly.

When the influencer saw this situation, her first reaction was to contact property management to handle it.

Because the property management in their community was practically omnipotent.

Even if they wanted to "have a go" in the middle of the night and didn't have "little umbrellas" prepared at home, the butler could thoughtfully deliver them.

It was just a minor car malfunction; they were more than experienced in handling such things.

But the so-called boyfriend had no intention of doing that.

"What do those negative news stories of yours even matter now? This is the big news. If he stays on the hot search list for a few more days, who will remember your little troubles?"

The influencer had sought out such an aesthetically unpleasing boyfriend specifically for this purpose. Without hesitation, following her boyfriend's guidance, her hands trembling, she dialed the police. The moment she spoke, she claimed to suspect a murder and a body disposal, crying, "Police officers, please come quickly, I'm so scared!"

Thus, by 7:05 AM, Gu Lanxi stretched and got up. She reached for her phone to unlock it and immediately saw the news: "Lu Nanting Suspected of Involvement in a Criminal Case."

Clicking on it, she saw a censored license plate, a circle of police officers, and a pool of dark red liquid on the ground.

The photos were taken very professionally, leaving much to the imagination.

The heat that had just begun to subside instantly surged back!

If marriage wasn't considered a scandal—aside from some fans being unable to handle it—involvement in a criminal case would absolutely cause a total collapse of reputation in a second.

Gu Lanxi knew immediately that someone was stirring up trouble. She took a deep breath, sat up, turned right out the door, and pushed open the door to the guest bedroom.

The CEO's catchphrase: *It was truly too much of an injustice to him.*

To be honest, I don't even know where the injustice lies.

Being "love-brained" is a matter for two people, yet he alone bears the infamy. This is all something he deserves.

(End of Chapter)