CH 11

After Lin Meng finished her work, she hurried back, fearing that Xia Xingchi, who was “timid and weak,” would be bullied if she was not around.

As a result, as soon as she came through the door, she saw Xia Xingchi wave his hands and give up the performance rather stubbornly, and while packing up his things to leave, he was verbally warring against the other stars……no, warring against lackeys.

He didn’t speak much, but every word was a gem, and each time he opened his mouth, he made people so angry that they almost tried to start a gang fight.

“What’s going on?” Lin Meng was taken aback by the battle.

Xia Xingchi handed over the advertisement script, and she hurriedly stepped up to glance over it.

Just now when these angry people saw his agent approaching, they were full of anticipation, thinking that there was finally someone who would discipline him.

Look at how this ignorant kid was still struggling to live as his doom approached.

The atmosphere stagnated for a moment, before there was a pa! as Lin Meng threw the script aggressively onto the table!

Under the expectant eyes of everyone who thought Xia Xingchi was going to be scolded, she said angrily: “Xia Xingchi, we’re leaving! What a bullshit script, don’t perform.”

Everyone: ……?

Were low-tier artists and third-rate agents so capricious nowadays? 

Lin Meng had always been very protective of her artists, and things that hit her bottom line were completely off-limits. Naturally, she wouldn’t even consider such an obviously insulting script.

She found that Xia Xingchi, who used to be timid and cowardly, had finally stood up for himself and would no longer be kneaded like dough by others. Instead, she felt the kind of happiness of watching her family’s child grow up.

Seeing that both of them were so unyielding, the project manager couldn’t help being dumbfounded. He was speechless for a long time before saying with insufficient confidence: “……You are in breach of contract! You can leave, but you must make reparations!”

Xia Xingchi had already packed his things, and he was smarter than anyone else when it came to money: “Didn’t you violate the contract by changing the script randomly? Doesn’t the revised content violate advertising law?”

This hit the nail on the head and revealed the root cause of the project manager’s lack of confidence.

Even if this brand had the investment of Han Ningyu’s patron, in fact, it was impossible for them to change the content of the advertisement blindly.

It was nothing more than a tactic to scare the ignorant newcomer to the circle. They would wait for Xia Xingchi to bow his head, apologize, and admit his mistakes, and then pretend to change it back.

Xia Xingchi smiled and kindly reminded: “You broke the contract, remember to call us for liquidated damages.”

The project manager couldn’t help but grit his teeth. Bullying newcomers was a common occurrence, but judging by the situation, he still had to give in to him.

Otherwise, paying the damages was a small matter, but having personal influence in the shooting was a big deal that he wouldn’t be able to explain later.

The two parties were at a stalemate. Then the door opened with a boom! that was Han Ningyu’s signature high-profile way of making appearances, and he rushed in with hurried strides.

His target was quite clear, as if he were a human-shaped bazooka aiming straight at Xia Xingchi.

Xia Xingchi watched him suspiciously, wondering if he was going to pick a fight. Would he have to switch from literary combat to martial combat?

Just as he was preparing to toss him over his shoulder, Han Ningyu quickly snatched the outrageous script that had been tossed aside and then eagerly thrust his own script into Xia Xingchi’s arms.

“Gege!” In the blink of an eye, Han Ningyu had transformed into a smiling face like a chrysanthemum blooming, and “gege’d” at him for a long time.

“It is my eyes that failed to see the sacred Mount Tai![1] I’ll give you my script, you use mine, don’t remember this insignificant person, Sir! I’m sorry, I was wrong!”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback by this Sichuan opera-style face change, and didn’t know what the hell this guy had been smoking. Was it because he was wearing sunglasses and couldn’t see where he was going, so he ran into a wall and damaged his brain?

That was really miserable. He wasn’t smart in the first place, which really added insult to injury.

Including the project manager who was currently flabbergasted, no matter if it was the one who kindly persuaded Xia Xingchi to apologize or the one who taunted him for being full of himself, they were all dumbfounded when they witnessed this scene.

Xia Xingchi’s advertising fee was only 20,000 yuan, and the liquidated damages were calculated according to the advertising fee, so it wasn’t much.

Seeing Han Ningyu urging him to stay, was it possible that the man could lose his family fortune?

Unless……Xia Xingchi was the real hidden boss.

The few people who hadn’t participated in the mocking and ridicule were instantly relieved and exchanged glances. Those who played Han Ningyu’s henchmen were presumably very regretful.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head slightly — The world of the rich was really full of chaos. If you turned your head 180 degrees and weren’t afraid of twisting your head off, you could see it everywhere.

He had a good guess as to what was going on, so he perfectly reproduced Li Chengyuan’s terrifying fake smile and asked Han Ningyu quietly: “But didn’t you just say, ‘you remember me’ earlier?”

“No, no, no! I just meant for you to remember that you will always be my ge!”

When Han Ningyu thought that Xia Xingchi was not only the young master of the Xia family, but also Li Chengyuan’s lover, he wanted to slap himself.

“You are so old, who is your ge, ah?”

Having another person who misidentified him as a brother even though they had nothing to do with each other, just like Xia Yu, was already a headache.

Witnessing this abrupt change in demeanor, Lin Meng was the most confused.

She knew that Han Ningyu was well-known for stepping on the weak and flattering the strong, and this whole scene seemed to be some kind of bug. Her bleak career suddenly ushered in a bright moment —

After the arrogant project manager answered a phone call and returned, his attitude made an abnormally sharp turn. He served tea and water again, and kindly invited her to experience this brand of massage chair.

She knew her silly didi quite well, and working as background support had never been like this. The more she thought about it, the more she had a guilty conscience. If it turned out that they had the wrong person, it would be extremely awkward.

Xia Xingchi had already gone to shoot the commercial, so she had no choice but to pretend to be calm and knowledgeable for the time being – then wait to catch that little bunny when he came back and torture him to extract a confession.

– – –

It was nearly midnight when Xia Xingchi finished the advertisement and called it a day.

He was very happy when he thought about the salary of tens of thousands he would receive in a few hours, and the little money-grubber began to joyfully plan in his heart:

In the past, he maintained three or four jobs at the same time, but now he was debt-free.

As long as he concentrated on making money in the entertainment industry and played the role of Li Chengyuan’s lover, he would be rich!

Wait……Li Chengyuan?

In the middle of leisurely studying and fiddling with the massage chair, Xia Xingchi’s hands froze.

He’d felt like he was forgetting something, and at this moment, he finally realized that he had failed to remember the most important person! 

Xia Xingchi had always lacked relatives or friends, and was completely unaccustomed to suddenly being accompanied. Coupled with the fuss of all kinds of comedy scenes tonight, the matter of feeding the big cat was simply forgotten.

He hurried to the window in just a few steps and tremblingly opened the curtains to see —

In the dense night, the dazzling Shelby was still parked there quietly in front like a husband-watching stone.

……Why did he suddenly have the illusion that he was an irresponsible scumbag?

Shouting in his heart that he was dead meat, he jumped up as if he had received an electric shock and rushed into the dressing room, grabbed all of his things like a whirlwind, and then dashed out.

Fortunately everyone had already dispersed, and no one noticed him silently sprinting 100 meters in the dark.

He ran to the front of the car before barely managing to stop, lying on the windshield to look inside: Li Chengyuan’s eyes were closed as he leaned back in the car seat. In sleep, his hostility was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a quiet and fragile beauty.

Xia Xingchi blinked, his gaze subconsciously wandering between his long, thick eyelashes, the high bridge of his nose, and his pale, thin lips.

In the end, it inadvertently landed on the attractive jut of his throat.

The hand that he originally wanted to knock on the car door with paused for a moment, and then he silently put it back down. Regardless of the fact that this was the frightening villain, his title of “pinnacle of attractiveness” in the book was really well-deserved.

While Xia Xingchi was watching intently, Li Chengyuan suddenly felt something and opened his eyes just in time to meet the gaze of this sneaky peeper.

In the middle of the night, anyone who opened his eyes and saw the horrifying scene of a face lying on the car windshield and watching him with wide eyes would probably be shocked.

— But Li Chengyuan only squinted slightly when he saw this, as if he was not fully awake. He was in an uncharacteristically good mood, as if he was very satisfied with the picture outside the glass —

The corners of his lips were slightly raised when he saw Xia Xingchi’s face so close, finally revealing a faint smile as if he were in the middle of a dream.

Xia Xingchi was stunned, and when he came back to his senses after a long moment, he quickly took a few guilty steps back.

Li Chengyuan also seemed to realize that something was wrong. His eyes swiftly regained their calm indifference along with a bit of impatience, and he raised his hand to signal him to get into the car.

— The villain could actually dream?

Xia Xingchi wondered who or what he was dreaming about just now that could make him smile so nicely.

Just as he was about to walk around to the passenger seat and get in, Lin Meng’s voice suddenly came from behind him: “Xingchi? Why haven’t you left yet? What are you looking at?”

It was too dark, and she wouldn’t be able to see anyone inside the car unless she got closer, so she saw Xia Xingchi studying the car carefully and stupidly alone.

Xia Xingchi suddenly trembled, as if someone had caught him in a love affair.

He instinctively blocked Lin Meng’s view of the front seat and quickly changed the topic: “Sister Mengmeng, why haven’t you left yet?”

Lin Meng temporarily canceled the online rideshare she had booked. Although the vehicle was heading here, it was still a few kilometers away.

This was just right. She didn’t have a chance to “torture” him just now, and had no choice but to say goodbye to Xia Xingchi as if nothing had happened. But now that there was no one around, she happened to catch him alone.

“Child, tell me quickly and truthfully, what happened with them today? Are you hiding something from me?!”

“Ah–” Xia Xingchi drew the sound out guiltily when he heard these words, and said in a low voice, “It’s, it’s a long story.”

He didn’t know where to begin with the identity of the real young master and the forced marriage.

Because it couldn’t be said that the marriage was only an agreement. How could Lin Meng accept that someone other than pregnant single mothers could want a flash marriage for no reason?

Xia Xingchi was organizing his words quickly when he heard the soft sound of the car door opening behind him – It was over. It seemed that Mr. Money Tree was tired of waiting.

Facing Agent Lin, he hadn’t figured out how to talk his way out of this yet when the boss actually showed up directly. Xia Xingchi’s mouth twitched as he drew a blank on how to introduce him.

Lin Meng was startled, never having expected that there was a person in the car all this time.

The man had a tall, upright figure with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. His legs were long and lean, and his height could be estimated to be 1.9 meters.

In the hazy darkness, one could vaguely see his handsome face. It was almost seductive, so good-looking that he almost didn’t look like a real person, and his complexion was extremely pale……

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Lin Meng shivered. Could this be a ghost in the middle of the night?!

Then she saw the “ghost” turn his head away from the wind, cover his lips, and cough a few times.

Xia Xingchi heard Li Chengyuan cough, and quickly turned around and pushed him: “It’s cold outside, you get in the car first.”

In the end, he didn’t know what this big guy was thinking again, but he just stood there motionless, as if determined to remain there and stare at him.

The problem was that he couldn’t leave Miss Lin Meng and simply get in the car with Li Chengyuan. There were wolves before him and tigers behind, so he had no choice but to pray that a certain madman would not suddenly do something outrageous like kidnap him and leave on the spot.

“Sister Mengmeng, this……” Xia Xingchi thought for a moment and said, “He is my friend……”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Li Chengyuan frown slightly and cough again.

Maybe he was still waking up or wasn’t feeling well, but he didn’t look as strong and indifferent as usual.

Xia Xingchi had never witnessed such a fragile side of him, and had been soft-hearted and caring since he was a child, so he immediately felt distressed upon seeing it.

Disregarding everything else, he quickly turned around and buttoned up the windbreaker the other was wearing.

But the moment he lowered his head to do up Li Chengyuan’s buttons, he failed so see the change that came over his face —

Looking at him now, where was the slightest vulnerability and sickness?

Lin Meng was watching the two blankly at first, but was caught off guard by Li Chengyuan’s fierce and terrifying gaze. A huge sense of oppression suddenly overwhelmed her!

Immediately afterward, she watched Li Chengyuan incline his head and lightly kiss Xia Xingchi’s forehead, his eyes full of possessiveness.

It was like he was claiming true sovereignty. This was obviously not a “friend” like Xia Xingchi had alleged he was.

[1] This idiom means a “failure to recognize a person of importance/eminence.” ⮐