From Prince to Pauper

No one moved. Wen Rui raised an eyebrow and took out his phone to access the Weibo app. He had been scared earlier in the car but that feeling was gone now, replaced by an edge of recklessness that he couldn't explain. Maybe it was like that saying 'to smash a broken pot'. This whole idol fiasco was already a nightmare, Wen Rui couldn't care if he made it worse. He just needed to rid himself of this trouble quick.

"Rui Ge…" the sunshine boy spoke up again but didn't dare to glance up because he was fearful of Manager Qu. "Don't look at the comments…"

Wen Rui wasn't intending to but it was impossible to ignore when the entire Weibo seemed flooded with hate against him.

SisiIsMyHusband: [Bloodsucker Wen Rui GTFO of HEX4 before you affect my Sisi, what did he do to deserve a shit groupmate like you?]

HEXGirl4Ever: [Forget it, I'm tired, from today onwards I only know HEX3]

MissyLiShang: [+1]

RuiErMyLove: [Tbh I was Wen Rui's fan since debut…I guess it was because of his face…I feel so blind now to think that when I was worried he was overworking, he was clubbing with slutty women…officially announcing that I'm switching from fan to anti…]

NoMoreRui: [+1, some people aren't worth it]

Wen Rui didn't know what to say. He had never been the type to mindlessly chase celebrities, so he couldn't empathise with the fans, but he understood that at least, in a professional capacity, his old self had messed up big time. Even if he disliked the idea of his personal life being scrutinised and judged by the public, he knew that this was part and parcel of the job of being an idol. That was why, It looked like the best thing he could do would be to, as suggested, 'GTFO' of HEX4 for the sake of everyone's happiness, including his own.

It wasn't hard to find a copy of the video online because people were constantly forwarding the original post. Wen Rui watched all twenty seconds of the clip. The club in the video was one that he was vaguely familiar with, and that was because to his addled memories, he had just been there the night before.

Club Apex again.

But this time, instead of the private VIP rooms, he was standing by a table covered in drink bottles and there was a woman dressed skimpily, kneeling on the floor next to him crying. This was already a bad start because it made Wen Rui look like he was some arrogant asshole with no respect for women. A couple of men stood in front of him with their arms akimbo. Their backs were to the camera, so their faces were conveniently left out. But one of them must have said something because Wen Rui scoffed before throwing a punch out of the blue.

The video also very conveniently stopped there. A convenient start that made Wen Rui look like the culprit and a convenient stop that didn't show how he became injured. There were too many conveniences to be a coincidence.

"Your PR team isn't doing a very good job," Wen Rui commented. An entertainment powerhouse like CE had so much influence in the industry that their PR team should have been able to at least take the video down completely or issue a statement on his behalf. But a quick check of HEX4's Weibo page showed nothing besides a whole wall of fans' angry complaints. Wen Rui wasn't sure if this was the management team's idea or if Manager Qu was out for his blood. But either way, it didn't matter.

"I have discussed this matter with CEO Wang and the rest of HEX4's management. We have decided that you are going to issue a public apology for your misbehaviour. From now onwards, you will have a curfew in the dorms that starts at 10 p.m and will have to put in the extra hours to catch up on your so-called 'missing memories'." Clearly, Manager Qu did not fully believe that Wen Rui really had amnesia and was trying to punish him.

Wen Rui folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. This was a more relaxed pose but he still managed to make it look elegant.

"No can do, I'm afraid," he said. "To cut to the chase, I think that the best solution would be to terminate my contract effective immediately."

He expected Manager Qu to be super excited to get rid of him or completely become enraged because of the trouble changing a group member suddenly would cause. But neither of that happened.

"Oh?" Manager Qu said as a mocking smile spread insidiously across his face. "Now I truly believe you've lost your memories."

This made Wen Rui uneasy but he hid it.

"I've no reason to lie," he replied evenly. "I'm aware that there will be a penalty. What's the amount?"

"1,000,000 yuan."

It was a colossal sum, given that the average salary in the country was 100,000 yuan per year. But to someone of Wen Rui's financial standing, it was a figure he could splurge in a month.

"Fine. Should I transfer the amount now?" He whipped his phone out to find his banking app. A notification popped up at the top of the screen showing a message from 'Zhou Ye' that read: [Done?]

…he was still going in circles around the block?

Wen Rui replied with an [almost] before hurriedly checking his bank account.

"Don't be so hasty, Young Master," Manager Qu said. "Your group mates may not be aware of your situation but I just so happen to know a bit more. Maybe Young Master would like to check his savings before deciding whether to continue gracing us with his presence?"

His laughter was filled with unpleasant spite and Wen Rui's unease became horror when the app finally loaded his bank balance. He couldn't hide his shock anymore, eyes blown wide in disbelief as he counted the number of zeros repeatedly.

Four zeros. His bank account had 30,000 yuan left in it. The phone slipped from his fingers and clattered noisily onto the floor. He glanced up woodenly at the people seated in front of him. Sunshine boy was biting his lip, sneering boy was openly gloating like he had just discovered an amazing secret, and the last boy…wasn't even paying attention.

From across the table, Manager Qu watched him with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Manager Qu said, with false sincerity. "It must be a lot for you to take in since you're amnesiac and all, but you're no longer a Young Master, are you? Now that you've had your little reality check, are you ready to talk terms with me?"

———————————————————————————————————————————————

"Chairman Zhou, your grandfather has requested that you drop by his company at once for an urgent meeting."

At the back of the limousine, Zhou Ye shut the lid of his laptop. His secretary, Wang Lingyi, was still updating him on his grandfather's latest show of stubbornness but Zhou Ye didn't bother listening to the details. He knew what this was about. Three months ago, his grandfather had made a last-ditch effort to stop his marriage to Wen Rui by spiking his drink with a date rape drug at a dinner party and sending a business partner's daughter to his suite. It had been a close call but Zhou Ye had managed to retain his senses and lock himself in the bathroom until the arrival of security.

After that, he'd had his biggest fight with the old man till date, which had culminated in his cousin replacing him as the person-in-charge of Zhou Group's newest hotel chain IPO and Zhou Ye moving out of the main house for good.

The last thing he had heard his grandfather shouting was, "Don't call him back! That brat has gone completely out of hand, I'll like to see how long he can last on his own without our family supporting him!"

Zhou Ye had spent the last three months proving that he could last pretty damn well on his own, thanks. Without his grandfather's business distracting him, his time was dedicated to secretly running his own company, 'NJ Corporation'. But now that his useless dandy of a cousin had gone and blown the IPO preparation, the thick-skinned old man was calling him back for damage control.

It would be so easy to just refuse. But not yet. He wasn't ready to make a full breakaway yet, wasn't strong enough to bear all of the potential consequences.

"Tell his secretary that I'll be there in half an hour."

"Noted," Wang Lingyi replied before hesitating. "Also, about the commotion on Weibo…"

Zhou Ye was aware of Wen Rui's latest scandal. It would be easy for him to fix it, just as it would have been easy to follow Wen Rui to talk to his manager. But the one and only time Zhou Ye had interfered in Wen Rui's life was during their one-year cohabitation arrangement before marriage. And Wen Rui had been livid after he had found out, seizing Zhou Ye by the collar and snarling at him to mind his own business.

"I'll think about it," he said at last. Wen Rui's pride would be his downfall but Zhou Ye didn't have the heart to dismiss it just like that.

He put the phone down before calling out to the driver. "You have Furen's number," he said, shamelessly using the title of 'wife' to refer to Wen Rui because he wasn't here to protest. "Let him know to contact you once he is ready."

"Yes sir." The driver sounded confused. "But…you're going somewhere yourself?"

Yes, he was. But first…

"…do you know how I can call a DiDi?"