Chapter 6: Cultivating a Habit

"Is this for me?" Ye Leyao's apricot eyes widened in surprise at the shiny object.

Mrs. Huo, in high spirits, gently tousled his soft hair and smiled. "Of course!"

Ye Leyao placed a hand over his heart, almost disbelieving.

Five million wasn't much to the Huo family, but to Ye Leyao, it was a substantial sum.

The reason was simple; all children of the Huo family, whether Mrs. Huo's three biological sons or Ye Leyao, the adopted son, were raised under strict discipline.

From a young age, Mrs. Huo instilled in Ye Leyao that boys should have a proper understanding of money and learn to earn it early on.

Thus, Eldest Brother Huo Jing began assisting Mr. Huo with company affairs before he turned sixteen.

Second Brother Huo Yan was scouted by a director at fifteen and starred in his first film.

Third Brother Huo Ze entered an e-sports club's youth training team at fourteen, participating in various competitions.

It could be said that among the Huo family, the only one who did nothing until eighteen was Ye Leyao.

Before the age of ten, Ye Leyao received only ten thousand yuan as his monthly allowance.

After turning fifteen, Mrs. Huo increased his allowance to three hundred thousand yuan per month.

Yesterday, Ye Leyao had just checked his savings, which amounted to slightly over one million yuan over the years.

Today, Mrs. Huo generously handed him five million yuan. How could Ye Leyao not be thrilled?

"Thank you, Mrs. Huo!"

Holding the check, Ye Leyao felt a strong sense of unreality:

"Did I do something good today? Is that why Mrs. Huo is rewarding me?"

Mrs. Huo's eyes twinkled with amusement.

Helping her stubborn son see the true nature of Su Rui—wasn't that a good deed?

Counting the zeros on the check, Ye Leyao was so elated he nearly fainted. After basking in his joy for a while, he glanced at Huo Yan in the front seat.

"Should I be more reserved? After all, second brother just broke up..."

Huo Yan glanced at the rearview mirror, thinking that Ye Leyao had finally learned to consider others' feelings. Then he heard Ye Leyao's unspoken thought—

"Well, forget it. Love-struck people don't deserve sympathy! Second Brother must have given Su Rui quite a bit of money during their relationship, right?"

"I really want to interview Second Brother about what it feels like to lose both love and money!"

Huo Yan was speechless.

A mouthful of blood seemed stuck in his throat.

Could Ye Leyao shut his mouth already!

Oh, wait.

He was already keeping quiet.

Fuming, Huo Yan turned to look out the window.

In the backseat, Mr. and Mrs. Huo were in exceptionally good moods.

Thanks to Ye Leyao, otherwise, their stubborn son might have ended up gutting fish at RT-Mart.

Everyone except Huo Yan returned to the Huo residence in high spirits.

Upon arriving home, Ye Leyao retreated to his room.

Over the past few days, Ye Leyao had been pondering how to prevent the entire Huo family from meeting a villainous end.

After much deliberation, the answer boiled down to one word—"money."

With enough money, even if the Huo Group went bankrupt later, Ye Leyao could still provide for Mr. and Mrs. Huo and his three brothers.

Therefore, Ye Leyao's current primary goal was to save money!

He hadn't planned for long when his small fortune saw its first increase!

But six million yuan didn't seem enough to support an entire household?

Ye Leyao spent seven whole days lost in thought.

After seven days, Ye Leyao still hadn't figured out how to make money, and Mr. and Mrs. Huo couldn't take it anymore.

The reason was straightforward; if Ye Leyao could think quietly, they wouldn't say anything.

However, Ye Leyao's thoughts were loud—

At five in the morning, before Mr. and Mrs. Huo woke up, they heard Ye Leyao's muttering:

"Maybe I should try stock trading? But the current market doesn't look promising, and I didn't study economics in college. I'm not sensitive to market trends either. What if I accidentally lose all five million... No, no! Absolutely not!"

The last two exclamations were so loud that they sounded like thunder in their ears.

Mr. Huo was startled awake, sitting up abruptly.

Why can his inner voice still amplify in volume!

"Or... learn from Big Brother and invest? What industry has good prospects now?"

"Ah! Right, I can invest in the beauty industry! Hahahaha, I'm so smart—"

Mrs. Huo rubbed her head and sat up as well.

Not only can it amplify volume, but it can also change tone and emotion!

The couple sat on the bed, staring at each other, both seeing the dark circles under each other's eyes.

What family has a good child who wakes up at five in the morning to start thinking about making money!

Even Huo Jing isn't that diligent!

Severely sleep-deprived, Mr. and Mrs. Huo felt their eyes go dark.

During breakfast,

Ye Leyao absentmindedly took a bite of a soup dumpling, her eyes lighting up:

"The cod-filled soup dumplings are delicious! Should I buy a few cod fish to raise in Dad's pond?"

Mr. Huo choked immediately: "Cough cough cough cough—"

The koi in his pond were each worth over half a million!

What kind of havoc would raising cod fish do to his fish!

And aren't cod fish sea fish?!

Ye Leyao's attention was drawn over:

"Or health supplements? Dad is only fifty and he's choking on porridge..."

Mr. Huo coughed even harder.

This was all because of her!

Ye Leyao's thoughts jumped around, and she shifted her gaze to Mrs. Huo.

"How about the pet industry?"

"But I didn't study medicine, should I switch majors to study medicine first?"

"Ah right! It's perfect to practice on Xiao Cha!"

Mrs. Huo: "Cough cough cough—"

Xiao Cha was Mrs. Huo's pet dog, already fifteen years old.

It couldn't withstand any tossing and turning!

After breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Huo sat together, their expressions complicated and still shaken.

This wasn't going to work.

Mrs. Huo spoke up first: "How about... you let Leyao learn at your company?"

Starting to chant at five in the morning was really unbearable!

Mr. Huo's expression suddenly changed: "If he's in the company, forget me, even the eldest will probably suffer too!"

In the Huo family, once the children reached adulthood, they could move out.

After returning from the private room that day, Huo Yan returned to his residence the next day. In recent days, it was only Mr. and Mrs. Huo and Ye Leyao living in the old house.

Mrs. Huo suggested again: "Then how about buying a house for Leyao and letting him move out?"

As soon as she said this, Mrs. Huo shook her head: "No... Leyao is different from the other three children. They moved out after starting their own careers. If we suddenly buy a house for Leyao and make him move out now, he'll definitely overthink it..."

Mr. Huo: "Then..." Suddenly, his eyes lit up, "How about letting the second son take Leyao to the film set?"

Mrs. Huo was taken aback: "Film set?"

Mr. Huo covered his ears, as Ye Leyao started chanting upstairs again. He slightly raised his voice: "Leyao has been thinking about making money these past few days, why not just let him debut? Anyway, our family has industries, it doesn't matter if he becomes popular or not, as long as he has something to do!"

Mrs. Huo's eyes also lit up, covering her ears and nodding repeatedly: "That's a good idea!"

The couple acted immediately, calling Huo Yan right away to tell him that Ye Leyao would be visiting the set tomorrow.

Before Huo Yan could ask for details, Mrs. Huo hung up the phone and went upstairs to find Ye Leyao.

When she heard Mrs. Huo telling her to go to the film set, Ye Leyao subconsciously wanted to refuse, but then she heard Mrs. Huo says: "The prospects for the entertainment industry have really been good recently. Your second brother had a setback in love recently, it's time for him to succeed in his career!"

"Entertainment industry..."

Ye Leyao's eyes suddenly widened.

"Right! How could I forget about the entertainment industry!"

"The fastest way to make money, aside from the legal provisions in criminal law, is the entertainment industry!"

Mrs. Huo's eyelids twitched at this.

What did she mean by legal provisions in criminal law?

It seemed that in order to push Ye Leyao into the entertainment industry, not only would they need to find a better agent team, but they'd also need to hire a top-notch legal team!

"Mom Huo, I'm in!" Ye Leyao agreed immediately.

Mom Huo's eyes crinkled with laughter. "Good, then I'll have the driver take you there tomorrow."

The next day, precisely at five o'clock.

Upon opening her eyes, Mom Huo saw Dad Huo sitting up in bed. She was taken aback. "I didn't hear Little Yao this morning..."

Dad Huo shook his head, pressing his temples that were throbbing. "No, he's still asleep."

He had just checked upstairs.

Mom Huo was puzzled. "Then you—"

Dad Huo sighed wistfully. "Seven days, and I've formed a habit..."

Mom Huo: "..."

She silently turned over. Who could say otherwise?

Waking up at five in the morning was truly a bad habit!

At nine o'clock, Ye Leyao finally woke up. After a satisfying breakfast, he bid farewell to Mom and Dad Huo and got into the car heading for the film set.

But it wasn't clear if it was his imagination, but he felt that Mom and Dad Huo seemed... overly delighted when they saw him off.

"It must be my mistake—"

An hour later, the driver parked the car at the city's film studio complex.

The film studio complex had been built only in recent years, attracting many fans who came to check in nearby, so security around the area was relatively tight. Fortunately, Huo Yan had already informed the security team, so the Huo family's car drove straight through without any hindrance.

As they approached their destination, the driver found a spot to park and called Huo Yan's agent.

Perhaps the other party was busy, as the call did not get through.

"The young master might have to wait in the car for a bit," said the driver.

Ye Leyao said, "Then I'll go for a stroll."

Although he read a lot of novels in his spare time, this was Ye Leyao's first visit to a filming location, and everything was new and interesting to him.

After informing the driver, he got out of the car.

The sun in July was scorching hot, and Ye Leyao walked along the shaded eaves for a while before his sharp eyes caught sight of a line of words—

"The Grand Tycoon's Frail Beauty" Production Launch Ceremony.

Ye Leyao's interest was piqued instantly.

Wasn't this the web drama that flopped spectacularly in Second Brother's novel?

Because it was the slap-in-the-face counterpoint to Su Rui's production, there was a short section of related plot in the novel.

In the early stages of airing, "The Frail Beauty" was a leader in ratings and word-of-mouth among its contemporaries. Unfortunately, halfway through the broadcast, one of the actors playing the lead role was exposed for...

Ye Leyao thought of those unspeakable words and took a step back, only to bump into a chest.

Startled, he hopped forward and turned to apologize. "Sorry, sorry..."

The man was dressed casually, tall and imposing, wearing a large hat and a black mask, revealing only a pair of deep-set eyes.

"It's fine," he said in a muffled voice.

Ye Leyao nodded, moved aside, and continued to look at the launch ceremony for "The Frail Beauty," sighing as he watched:

"Pity, such a grand production, yet the series couldn't even finish airing."

The man paused mid-step and looked back.

Ye Leyao did not notice his gaze, still muttering to himself:

"I wonder who the investor of this series is."

"This fool Chun would be left with nothing to wear after compensating?"

Qin Yao, the real-life Chun, stopped in his tracks.

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