Chapter 11: The Truth
On the television, Zhuang Feng was being escorted by the police into a police car. The old man actually seemed to know shame—his head was lowered so his face couldn’t be seen—but his belly, bulging like he was eight months pregnant, was far too conspicuous.
Jiang Yu was excited, staring straight at the TV. Was this pervert finally finished?
On screen, the two hosts continued discussing it.
“According to insider leaks, the evidence of Zhuang Feng’s crimes was delivered to the police in a single package, leaving him no time at all to react.
After Zhuang Feng was arrested, Huai’an Group immediately released an announcement dismissing him from his position as CEO, with Zhuang Da taking over. It looks as if everything had been prepared in advance.
Zhuang Da is Zhuang Feng’s younger brother. Many people speculate that the evidence being packaged up and sent to the police can’t be separated from Zhuang Da.”
“Hey, we can’t say things like that recklessly. Let’s just gossip a bit—no wild speculation. Still, Zhuang Da’s reputation is much better than Zhuang Feng’s. It’s probably a good thing for Huai’an Group to have a new person in charge.”
“It’s also said that Zhuang Feng may have human lives on his hands. I wonder if that’s true.”
“Hopefully it’s not.”
The two hosts chatted for a while longer, all speculation with no confirmed information. They soon moved on to other gossip news, but Jiang Yu felt restless, his gaze turning to Han Cheng.
“Zhuang Feng really does have lives on his hands. The death penalty is unavoidable,” Han Cheng said with a smile.
The death penalty. Jiang Yu’s eyes lit up, as if a huge stone in his heart had crashed down at last.
“Are you happy?” Han Cheng’s hand left Jiang Yu’s waist.
Happy? Jiang Yu wasn’t sure. The bad guy was finally brought to justice—he should be happy, right? Yet he couldn’t smile.
Some harm can’t be erased just by killing the perpetrator.
“Who gave the evidence to the police? You worked with him for so long—won’t this implicate you?”
Jiang Yu pulled Han Cheng’s hand back and placed it on his waist again, acting spoiled as he said softly, “It hurts.”
“It won’t. I was the one who gave them the evidence,” Han Cheng said calmly, dropping a bombshell. Jiang Yu looked at him sharply.
Han Cheng smiled faintly and continued. “All these years, I’ve kept records of all the trashy things he’s done, just waiting to bring him down in one blow.
“And to avoid being implicated, I naturally never took part in the things he did.”
“Weren’t you two cooperating just fine? Why bring him down?”
“I wanted to kill him four years ago. But he’s not someone who thinks only with his lower half. I worked with Zhuang Da for four years to be able to kill him in one strike.”
Han Cheng leaned over Jiang Yu, kissed his cheek, and whispered intimately in his ear, “Sorry to make you wait so long. Are you satisfied?”
Jiang Yu closed his eyes, wanting to return Han Cheng a smile, but the muscles at the corners of his mouth were stiff. He tried, failed to smile, and gave up.
Four years of revenge—was he supposed to be satisfied?
Closing his eyes, Jiang Yu recalled himself crying and begging Han Cheng back then, remembered Han Cheng’s cold, merciless face, remembered the terror of the little black room and Zhuang Feng’s twisted smile. A voice roared up from his heart: Not satisfied! How could he possibly be satisfied!
“You already planned to bring him down, yet you still sent Meng Yi to him? It was only a matter of days. Why did you have to ruin Meng Yi?” Jiang Yu demanded, his voice trembling as he suppressed the boiling resentment in his chest.
The gentle kiss on his cheek suddenly stopped, and Jiang Yu’s whole body stiffened with it.
The moment he finished shouting at Han Cheng, Jiang Yu regretted it. The consequences of angering Han Cheng were usually dire—hadn’t he experienced that four years ago? He shouldn’t have been impulsive. He’d endured four years already; how had he lost control now?
Without Zhuang Feng, there would still be Liu Feng, Wang Feng—Han Cheng had many partners. If he were sent out again, Jiang Yu couldn’t guarantee he’d still have the courage to jump off a building a second time.
The waiting was agony. Han Cheng lay on top of him without reacting. Jiang Yu kept his eyes closed, so tense that he was sweating.
After a long while, a soft sigh sounded by his ear. Han Cheng pressed his cheek against Jiang Yu’s and said helplessly, “Who did you hear all this from? This time, only Meng Yi slept with Zhuang Feng—and even that was something he asked for himself, something he willingly chose.
“The male and female leads all have their own backing. Zhuang Feng didn’t have that much power—he couldn’t just take whoever he wanted.
And don’t feel bad for Meng Yi. That kid is more ambitious than you. He wants a lot, and he’s willing to bear the cost that comes with his ambition.”
“Only Meng Yi?” Jiang Yu was stunned. Han Cheng had no need to lie to him—so it had been Ji Xu lying.
“Yes. The entertainment industry does have plenty of unspoken rules, but it’s not that exaggerated.
And Wang Hao has a bad temper, but he’s capable. Plenty of people are willing to invest in his films. If one investor doesn’t work out, he can just switch to another. He’s willing to protect the artists he chooses, and investors wouldn’t dare touch them.
I told Meng Yi that since it was his first time acting, it’d be best just to get his face known. He was the one who insisted on playing the second male lead and actively chose to go find Zhuang Feng.
Since his debut, aside from me, he’d never experienced unspoken rules. Everything had gone smoothly for him, which made him overconfident. In his mind, accompanying Zhuang Feng probably meant nothing more than sleeping with him once.
He spent one night with Zhuang Feng, then came straight to me and said he wanted to kill him.
I gave him a second choice: either act as the second male lead safely and steadily, or accompany Zhuang Feng one more time and steal evidence of Zhuang Feng’s murder.
He chose to accompany Zhuang Feng again, and he successfully stole the evidence of Zhuang Feng killing someone. This time he helped me a great deal. I’ll promote him properly in the future.
Don’t be angry anymore, okay? Who did you hear that nonsense from—that even the male and female leads were ruined?” Han Cheng pinched Jiang Yu’s cheek and asked indulgently.
“Ji Xu. When he left Leisure House today, that’s what he told me. He said that if you want to act in Wang Hao’s movie, you have to accompany Zhuang Feng first—male and female leads, second male and second female, all of them have slept with Zhuang Feng.
He also said that the reason he’s only playing a minor role is because you’re protecting him and don’t want him to have to accompany Zhuang Feng.”
Jiang Yu was in a very bad mood today and didn’t mind blocking Ji Xu a bit, even though Han Cheng probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.
A low laugh suddenly sounded by his ear. The chest pressed against him vibrated, making Jiang Yu tremble along with it.
“Are you jealous?” Han Cheng bit Jiang Yu’s earlobe and asked ambiguously.
Jealous? How did he arrive at that conclusion?
Jiang Yu couldn’t keep up with Han Cheng’s train of thought. His ear itched from the biting, his clothes were stripped off, and Jiang Yu let out a helpless sigh. There was no escaping it today.
All he could do was feel sorry for his poor waist and hope Han Cheng would go a little easier on him.
Jiang Yu didn’t get to eat the beef-wonton filling until he woke up hungry in the middle of the night. Han Cheng left after satisfying himself, and even woke Aunt Chen to keep the wontons warm for Jiang Yu the whole time.
Supporting his waist, Jiang Yu cursed Han Cheng for being inhuman. Aunt Chen smiled and comforted him. Jiang Yu pulled Aunt Chen over to have a late-night snack together, then went back to sleep.
Han Cheng didn’t come again. With no work to do, Jiang Yu ate, slept, then ate again. His waist finally got some rest and gradually recovered. Occasionally he’d go to the beach to enjoy the sea breeze—life was carefree and pleasant.
With the evidence conclusive, and with people wanting him dead, Zhuang Feng’s trial quickly reached a verdict: the death penalty—a universally satisfying outcome.
In his happiness, Jiang Yu even ate an extra bowl at dinner. Seeing the braised pork completely gone, Aunt Chen looked Jiang Yu up and down and tactfully reminded him that he seemed to have put on some weight lately.
There was fresh gossip in the entertainment industry every day. After Zhuang Feng’s heat died down, Wang Hao’s film finished casting and announced that it was about to start shooting.
With Wang Hao’s approval, the cast list was released, along with the costume stills.
Jiang Yu scanned through the list and realized that the second male lead’s assistant was no longer Ji Xu. It had been replaced by a newcomer Jiang Yu didn’t recognize.
In the costume stills, the assistant was played by a lively, somewhat reckless-looking young man—completely different from Ji Xu’s scholarly, successful-professional aura.
The role was changed? Jiang Yu’s interest was immediately piqued. He flipped through the list and the stills again—Ji Xu’s name wasn’t in any of the other roles either.
So he’d been replaced? Oh ho—another piece of good news.
In high spirits, Jiang Yu polished off a big bowl of ice cream while Aunt Chen looked on, wanting to say something but clearly worried.
