Chapter 15: Ambush
Ji Xu: [Han Cheng and I grew up together as friends. We are not lovers. Please consume gossip rationally.]
Han Cheng: [Jiang Yu and Meng Yi are both artists managed by our company’s top agent, Bai Ling. They’ve known each other for four years and have always had a good relationship.
Jiang Yu does indeed have a waist injury. His resources were all arranged by Bai Ling and have nothing to do with me.]
Although Han Cheng’s supposed romantic scandals were denied by the two of them, these two Weibo posts only made Ji Xu’s and Meng Yi’s fans dissatisfied.
Ji Xu had marketed his “relationship” with Han Cheng excessively, and his fans had been fervently shipping the two based on the occasional videos and photos released.
Now Ji Xu suddenly said they were just friends, making some CP fans feel deceived. They immediately refused to accept it—after all, they had relied on Han Cheng’s name to bully the fans of other small celebrities more than a few times.
[How could this be? Brother Xu, did you and President Han have a fight?]
[Just a few days ago in an interview you were smiling sweetly, saying good news was coming soon. Why deny it today?]
[He’s just one of President Han’s little lovers, and you really thought Ji Xu was the legitimate partner?]
[What nonsense are you talking about? Brother Xu and President Han are childhood sweethearts.]
[Antis, get out.]
And when Han Cheng said that Meng Yi and Jiang Yu knew each other, were friends, and even shared the same agent, Meng Yi’s fans were also unhappy.
If the two really were friends, and Jiang Yu truly had a waist injury, then Meng Yi staying silent now would make him look disloyal—failing to speak up for a friend.
[President Han, Little Yi and Jiang Yu may know each other, but is it really more than just acquaintance? Artists under the same agent don’t spend every day together. Little Yi is so busy—he and Jiang Yu can’t be that close, right?]
[Sister Bai clearly follows Little Yi all the time. I attend every one of Little Yi’s events and always see Sister Bai there. Little Yi flies all over the world year-round—how could he be close with Jiang Yu? Just nodding acquaintances.]
[No wonder Jiang Yu is leeching off Little Yi’s popularity—it turns out they share the same agent. Sister Bai can’t let Little Yi be bullied like this.]
[Whether they’re close friends or not, if you see someone you know being dragged like this, you’d at least say a few words out of courtesy. Meng Yi hasn’t said a damn thing. I’ve long thought he looked sharp and mean—someone without loyalty.]
[Antis, get out.]
…
Aunt Chen must have seen what was going on online about Jiang Yu. Today she kept coming upstairs to check on him, bringing all kinds of food and offering roundabout words of comfort.
Jiang Yu obediently listened to Aunt Chen’s consoling words and ate all the snacks she brought up, so full that there was no room left in his stomach for lunch at all.
Feeling a bit too full, Jiang Yu decided to take a walk by the seaside.
The sea breeze was a little chilly today, and there weren’t many people around. With a mask and a hat on, Jiang Yu blended right in among the crowd—people who were afraid of the sun and wrapped up even more tightly than he was.
Though he was technically a celebrity, he was a washed-up nobody. After walking around for a while, he even sat by the roadside, took off his mask, and drank an iced milk tea, yet no one recognized him.
Watching the leisurely crowd by the sea, Jiang Yu felt that being an ordinary person was really nice. The entertainment industry was a hellhole—whoever wanted to go there could go.
He opened his phone and watched a movie for a bit. After holding back again and again, he still couldn’t resist opening Weibo to take a look. If Meng Yi had already clarified things for him, he wouldn’t want to miss it.
As soon as he opened Weibo, Jiang Yu saw Leisure Life’s statement sitting at number two on the trending list.
Thinking back, he realized he really hadn’t mentioned his waist injury on the show.
He wouldn’t blame anyone for not asking—after all, he was a small fry, and most of his screen time had been pulled in by Meng Yi.
Besides, he himself had intended to hide it. He didn’t want to show his injury on the program and have people think he was hyping himself up.
If he could lie down, he wouldn’t sit. Propping up his chin and watching Meng Yi work, the footage really did make him look like an arrogant slacker.
He just hadn’t expected that his concealment would end up making it look like he was deliberately stirring up publicity.
Jiang Yu didn’t bother reading the comment section—he could guess they were all cursing him.
When he saw Han Cheng’s post, Jiang Yu only smiled faintly. That man was really afraid of being associated with him; his speed in clarifying things was impressive.
Meng Yi still hadn’t made a move, and Sister Bai hadn’t spoken up either. What on earth were those two doing?
Jiang Yu frowned, turned off his phone, leaned back in his chair, and took a sip of iced milk tea.
Suddenly, everything went black.
A black plastic bag was yanked tight around his neck. If he hadn’t been drinking milk tea with one hand raised, blocking it a little, the bag cinched that tightly around his neck might have already suffocated him.
Jiang Yu tried to struggle, but the attacker was far stronger. He was dragged down in one motion and fell off the chair.
As he hit the ground, his waist was suddenly kicked hard. Instantly, a wave of searing pain shot from his lower back straight into his brain.
“Bastard, this is for bullying our Little Yi. Kick him a few more times—let him learn the consequences of bullying our Little Yi,” a young boy’s voice sounded above him.
The plastic bag around his neck tightened again. Even with his hand blocking it, Jiang Yu could feel himself suffocating.
Another kick landed on his waist. A girl’s voice said, “Don’t you have a waist injury? If you’re sick, go to the hospital—why are you on a show? Stay away from Meng Yi from now on, or watch out for your miserable life.”
“Hey! What are you doing over there?” an elderly man’s loud voice rang out from a distance.
The bag around his neck suddenly loosened. The sound of two people running away grew farther and farther.
The pain in his waist was unbearable. Jiang Yu clutched it, his face contorted in pain inside the plastic bag.
Heavy footsteps approached. The bag was removed from his face, and an elderly man in a security uniform looked at him with concern. “Young man, are you okay?”
“My waist hurts, sir. Could you help me call 120? My phone fell under the table,” Jiang Yu said, unable to move his waist at all, pointing weakly beneath the table.
“I can do that, but I’m on duty and can’t go to the hospital with you. I’ll call your family first.”
“Then please call Aunt Chen for me.”
The man picked up Jiang Yu’s phone, found Aunt Chen’s number, and dialed it.
When the call connected, he held the phone to Jiang Yu’s ear. Jiang Yu explained the situation, and Aunt Chen hung up in a panic, saying she’d be there right away.
The man then called 120. Since Jiang Yu hadn’t gone far, Aunt Chen arrived before the ambulance.
“What happened?” Aunt Chen ran over, sweat covering her forehead. When she saw Jiang Yu’s condition, she broke into a cold sweat from anxiety.
“Did this young man offend someone? I just saw him get ambushed by two kids not very old.
A boy and a girl—the boy was choking him, and the girl kicked his waist twice. It shouldn’t be too serious,” the man explained, having seen everything clearly.
Aunt Chen’s hair practically stood on end. “What?! Kicked his waist?! Oh heavens, what a sin—kick anywhere but the waist! Mr. Jiang, can you move at all? We need to get to the hospital right away. Should we call an ambulance?”
“It’s already been called. The hospital isn’t far—help will arrive soon,” the man said, holding back the frantic Aunt Chen.
“Thank you so much, sir. Sir, are there surveillance cameras here? Can we catch those two kids?” Aunt Chen asked as she looked around.
“Yes. There are cameras right at the entrance of our complex—should’ve caught them. Almost every shop over there has cameras too.
They ran in that direction, and that road is full of cameras as well. Don’t worry—go to the hospital first. They won’t get away. Kids these days are really outrageous—how can they beat someone like that?”
“Exactly—how can they hit someone? Mr. Jiang, I’ve already called Mr. Han. He’ll definitely catch those two kids.”
Jiang Yu felt like his entire back had gone numb, yet the pain throbbed all the way up to the back of his head. Hearing Han Cheng’s name made his stomach churn.
If Han Cheng hadn’t given him some resource every time he was photographed dating someone—just to shut him up—and then forcibly shoved Leisure Life onto him, he wouldn’t have had to go film with a waist injury.
Recording the show together with Ji Xu and Meng Yi—his first love, a former lover, and his current lover all in one place—there was no way that was a coincidence. Han Cheng was definitely behind it.
That bastard was probably watching that episode of Leisure Life and smugly admiring his own romantic “achievements.”
After the show aired and Jiang Yu was misunderstood as bullying Meng Yi, the company didn’t say a single word to defend him. Even Meng Yi and Sister Bai had vanished as if off the face of the earth. There was no way such silence from the company—and from Sister Bai and Meng Yi—didn’t have Han Cheng’s approval.
After all, the clarification posts from Ji Xu and Han Cheng had gone up immediately today. He was definitely watching this whole thing unfold.
He had called Han Cheng to ask for help, but that bastard still hadn’t replied to this day—clearly he had no intention of helping. Right now he was probably holding his phone, watching the gossip, laughing at him.
He had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet he was misunderstood as bullying someone—and on top of that, he had been ambushed by Meng Yi’s fans. All the grievances of the past two days surged up in his heart at this moment.
Tormented by pain, Jiang Yu no longer cared whether his suspicions had any evidence. Right now he was just full of bitterness and wanted to vent, pinning all the blame on the so-called culprit, Han Cheng.
