Chapter 10: News
At ten o’clock, everyone in the Leisure House looked like they had just woken up—hair loose and messy, eyes still bleary. Yet each person’s skin looked so good it seemed you could pinch water out of it.
Jiang Yu couldn’t tell whether the others had put on makeup, but he could see clearly that Meng Yi had applied a thick layer of foundation, yet it still couldn’t hide the bruised bluish-purple marks on his face.
For breakfast they had a product sponsored by an Eight-Treasure Porridge brand. It tasted pretty good.
After packing their luggage, the three of them were driven back to the spot where they had gotten out of the car and walked to the Leisure House on the first day.
Their respective vehicles were already waiting to pick up the artists. With a dark expression, Meng Yi greeted Jiang Yu briefly and got into his car.
Jiang Yu had so much he wanted to say, but as he watched Meng Yi’s car drive away, he could only sigh in the end. There was nothing he could do.
“You care a lot about Meng Yi?” Ji Xu hadn’t left. Instead, he walked over to Jiang Yu’s side.
“We’re friends. It’s only natural to be concerned,” Jiang Yu said with a smile. He didn’t want to talk much with Ji Xu and lifted his foot to get into the car.
“You think of him as a friend, but he may not think of you the same way,” Ji Xu said persistently, his words loaded with implication.
Jiang Yu turned back to look at him. Ji Xu wore a mysterious smile, confident that Jiang Yu would stop.
Jiang Yu did stop, curiosity piqued. Leaning against the car door, he said calmly, “If you have something to say, just say it.”
“I heard that Director Wang’s second male lead was originally meant for you, but now it’s been given to Meng Yi. Aren’t you angry?” Ji Xu said, confidently sowing discord.
“I’m not angry,” Jiang Yu replied, looking at Ji Xu, completely refusing to play along.
Ji Xu was clearly startled for a moment, then looked at Jiang Yu with contempt. He didn’t believe for a second that Jiang Yu didn’t mind having a role taken from him. Jiang Yu had to be lying.
“You don’t need to force yourself. Don’t you want to know how Meng Yi got the second male lead?”
“I don’t.”
“Aren’t you curious who that old man was who came to take Meng Yi away last night? What kind of relationship they have?”
“You know?” Jiang Yu’s interest was piqued. He did care very much about Meng Yi’s relationship with that old man.
“Heh, I thought you really didn’t care.” Ji Xu smiled crookedly, shattering the scholarly air about him.
Jiang Yu didn’t argue, waiting for Ji Xu to continue.
Jiang Yu was too calm. Ji Xu’s mockery felt like punching cotton—unsatisfying. But Ji Xu was confident that what he was about to say would definitely strike a blow at Jiang Yu.
“That old man is Zhuang Feng, president of Huai’an Cinemas. You know Huai’an Cinemas, right? Eighty percent of our China cinema chains are his territory. Wang Hao’s film is being released this time—there’s no getting around him.”
Han Cheng has always worked with Zhuang Feng. Zhuang Feng plays things very wild—he often asks Han Cheng for young celebrities to “have fun” with. For the sake of cooperation, Han Cheng will send some minor stars over to Zhuang Feng.
This time, in order for Wang Hao’s film to be screened on Zhuang Feng’s cinema chain, even the male and female leads slept with Zhuang Feng.
Han Cheng also handed Meng Yi over to Zhuang Feng. He gave Meng Yi a choice: if he didn’t accompany Zhuang Feng, he’d only get a small role; if he did, he’d get the second male lead.
Meng Yi knew that the second male lead had originally been reserved for you, yet he’d rather accompany that old pervert just to snatch your role.
You treat him as a friend, but he may not treat you as one.”
Jiang Yu didn’t believe everything Ji Xu said, but he did believe part of it.
No wonder on the day the contract was signed, Sister Bai had looked like she wanted to say something but held back. She had seen how badly he’d been ruined by Zhuang Feng before—she was probably worried about Meng Yi, yet didn’t know how to bring it up with him.
No wonder Meng Yi had gone from a sunny, cheerful boy to someone obsessive and almost crazed, determined to play the second male lead and make it big. After being tortured like that, if you didn’t pursue benefits, wouldn’t all that suffering have been for nothing?
As for stealing his second male lead role—Jiang Yu hadn’t planned on acting in it in the first place. Sister Bai had only learned the truth later and then brought Meng Yi to put on an act in front of him.
All the strange pieces finally had answers. The real culprit was Han Cheng, that bastard of a man. Jiang Yu wouldn’t be the first person ruined by those two working together, and Meng Yi wouldn’t be the last.
No matter how much anger or resentment he felt, it was useless. The only real way out was to leave the entertainment industry—when you want nothing, you become unbreakable.
Ji Xu had been watching Jiang Yu’s reaction the whole time. Instead of the anger he’d expected, what he saw was sudden understanding.
What had Jiang Yu realized? That reaction felt off.
Seeing that his goal hadn’t been achieved, Ji Xu had to spell things out more clearly. “Han Cheng has sent quite a few artists to Zhuang Feng. In Han Cheng’s eyes, no matter how popular an artist is, they’re just tools for profit.”
“Oh.” Ji Xu’s words left Jiang Yu puzzled. He’d known this for a long time—why was Ji Xu telling him this? He wasn’t even popular.
“I’ve met Zhuang Feng too. To be honest, I really hated the way he looked at me. If Han Cheng hadn’t stood in front of me, I might have turned on Zhuang Feng on the spot.”
“Oh.”
“This time Zhuang Feng went all out. If you want to act as the male or female lead, or even the second male or female lead, you have to sleep with him at least once. Even some of the supporting roles he took a liking to couldn’t escape. Han Cheng arranged for me to play the second male lead’s assistant because he didn’t want me to be targeted by Zhuang Feng.”
“Oh.”
“Han Cheng doesn’t care at all about people he isn’t interested in. He doesn’t even care about someone as popular as Meng Yi, let alone some small-time nobodies.”
“Oh.”
“……”
Another “oh.” Ji Xu was genuinely angered by Jiang Yu’s dull reaction and finally blurted out his true intention. “Han Cheng cares about me—that’s why he helped block Zhuang Feng’s disgusting intentions toward me.”
“Oh.” Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow, finally understanding. Ji Xu was showing off. But Jiang Yu had long known that Han Cheng cared about Ji Xu, so he didn’t feel much about it.
“You—” Jiang Yu’s calmness left Ji Xu with no sense of satisfaction at all.
“Take care of yourself,” Jiang Yu said, tossing out a single sentence.
Fuming, Ji Xu got into his car.
Watching Ji Xu’s car disappear into the distance, Jiang Yu sighed. What a mess—all of it.
Climbing into his own car and lying down in the back seat, Jiang Yu said to Wang Huan, “Take me home. I miss my bed. I want to lie in it for three days and three nights. I’m exhausted.”
After four hours on the road, they returned to the seaside villa. Jiang Yu finally collapsed onto the bed he’d been longing for, so comfortable he didn’t want to move at all.
The door opened, and the fragrance of wontons drifted into Jiang Yu’s nose.
He’d only had a can of eight-treasure porridge at ten in the morning. Four hours on the road, another hour lying at home without eating—he was starving. As soon as he smelled the food, Jiang Yu opened his eyes and looked toward the door.
Han Cheng walked in with a bowl of steaming wontons, smiling as he set it on the bedside table. His hand, warmed by the bowl, slipped under Jiang Yu’s clothes and kneaded his waist as he said with a smile, “Hungry? Aunt Chen just made shrimp wontons.”
Ji Xu’s words hadn’t been without effect on Jiang Yu. At the very least, seeing Han Cheng now made him feel some instinctive physical and psychological resistance. Even looking at the bowl of wontons made him feel slightly nauseated.
“I don’t want shrimp wontons. I’ve been eating them for too long—I want to change flavors,” Jiang Yu said, acting spoiled while subtly rejecting him. Showing outright disgust toward Han Cheng would be suicidal.
“What flavor do you want?” Han Cheng was still the gentle lover. The pressure on Jiang Yu’s waist was just right, and the aching soreness slowly faded.
“I want meat—pork or beef, either is fine.” Jiang Yu closed his eyes, not looking at Han Cheng, focusing instead on the growing comfort in his waist. His stomach gradually stopped churning.
“How about beef? I just brought back some beef.”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll have Aunt Chen make another portion.”
Han Cheng went downstairs to tell Aunt Chen to make beef wontons, then came back and continued massaging Jiang Yu’s waist.
“Want to watch some TV?” After a moment of silence, Han Cheng suddenly asked.
“Sure.” Jiang Yu wasn’t really in the mood, but he wouldn’t refuse Han Cheng’s suggestion.
“Then turn over. You can watch while I massage you.” Han Cheng helped Jiang Yu turn around, turned on the TV at the foot of the bed, and flipped through channels until he landed on an entertainment gossip news program.
Jiang Yu watched for a bit. There was no news about Han Cheng and Ji Xu, which puzzled him slightly—he’d thought Han Cheng wanted to show off their relationship in front of him.
[Breaking News]
Zhuang Feng, CEO of the Huai’an Group, was arrested today at 2:00 p.m. He will face multiple charges including embezzlement of public funds, accepting bribes, organizing group sexual activities, use of violence, and intentional injury.
According to insiders, Zhuang Feng may also be involved in a homicide. If confirmed, he could face the death penalty.
The news on the TV left Jiang Yu stunned.
