No, if he killed Liu Xingyu—even if he did it in secret—if Liu Xiaokai ever found out, would he forgive him? It was too much of a risk. No, he needed to make Liu Xingyu leave on his own. He needed to make him abandon Liu Xiaokai again, make the both of them think they were better off without the other. But even then—even then Liu Xiaokai might still figure out the truth, if Liu Xingyu ever got back into contact with him for whatever reason, they could figure out together Bai Xue’s machinations and turn against him together again.

No, no, no, no—

What to do then? How to fix this? How to ensure that he had Liu Xiaokai under his control? How to ensure that Liu Xiaokai would stay by his side?

If—

If he managed to get Liu Xiaokai on his own, talk to him, coax him into an understanding—if Liu Xiaokai left Liu Xingyu on his own, if he rejected Liu Xingyu on his own, if Liu Xingyu tried to talk to him and Liu Xiaokai would just refuse to answer or listen on his own—

Or, better—

If Liu Xiaokai disappeared from Liu Xingyu’s life entirely and there wasn’t any chance for Liu Xingyu to contact him in the first place…

If Bai Xue and Liu Xiaokai lived somewhere else, if he gave Liu Xiaokai a new name like he’d given himself a new name, maybe Mei Hua,24 and then it would really be impossible for Liu Xingyu to find them, or Sun Yue—or anyone who knew Liu Xiaokai in this life—to find him ever again. He’d get him alone, would tell him that he’s his heir, and then his Mei Hua wouldn’t hesitate to leave his position and Liu Xingyu once he knew he had better options waiting for him. His Mei Hua would have eyes for Bai Xue and Bai Xue alone.

ZHANG WEIRAN GOT a special pass to go with Xiaokai and Xingyu backstage. The staff asked several times if he’d like a seat in the audience, but Weiran knew that the audiences were sometimes shown on screen—especially if they knew the guests, and especially if they knew guests like Liu Xiaokai and Liu Xingyu. Instead, he stayed just past the stage, watching the interview from the side.