CH 16.1

Mi Xi talked with Su Xiaopei and Cheng Jiangyi for almost an hour.

During this period, Chen Ying made himself scarce, hiding on the balcony with Wu Hao, smoking cigarettes and drinking a cup of coffee. 

Afterwards, Wu Hao received a call—the young artist Ling Xiran, who had been exposed to negative news in the media, issued a statement on Weibo, stating that she was called over by a friend to celebrate her birthday together, and she didn’t know that the place was a so-called ‘host club’. It said that she considered herself to be of good character, and she also knew the importance of an artist’s reputation, so she would never do such a stupid thing like this and willingly go to that kind of place. She also reserves the right to take legal measures against those who slander her reputation with the media.

Wu Hao was furious after hearing this. He read the statement posted on the Internet using his mobile phone, and immediately dialed Ling Xiran. Ling Xiran’s phone was turned off. Wu Hao cursed and called Ling Xiran’s manager, Brother Bing.

“What’s going on? She issued a statement. And you agreed? Why didn’t you show it to us first for discussion? I told you that until this matter is over, everything that has not been reviewed by my team is not allowed to be published. Where she is going, what she wants to say, and the clothes she wants to wear—nothing goes out to the media without our confirmation. What do you mean now? It’s too lonely not to go out and she didn’t mean to get her pictures taken? What kind of Weibo? Do you think it’s okay? Not talking will be regarded as tacitly damaging the image and cannot be remedied? Oh, yeah? Why don’t you ask me what I think?”

Chen Ying listened to Wu Hao’s one-sided argument over the phone, and at the same time watched Mi Xi obediently listening to Su Xiaopei through the floor-to-ceiling windows. He didn’t know what exactly Su Xiaopei said to her, but she nodded. Then Su Xiaopei touched her head and hugged Mi Xi into her arms. 

Chen Ying noticed that Mi Xi’s body was still tense. Even the comforting hug from a person of the same sex did not make her let go of all her defenses. Maybe she wasn’t defensive—she was just uncomfortable.

Now that he’s calmed down, Chen Ying seriously thought about what happened today. The truth was, it really hadn’t been easy for this young miss. Fortunately, she was able to find her way home after three avenues and a few corners. 

At this time, Chen Ying had the realization—only had it now, overwhelmed as it was by his original worry and anger—that he felt truly relieved. Fortunately, Mi Xi knew the way home.

Stupid little miss, she can’t even be coquettish. If it was someone else, never mind about right or wrong, just standing at the door for a few hours would be enough to make them cry for a while and make others feel pitiful towards her. 

But she didn’t cry. She was, instead, ashamed for losing Sister Feng, and anxious and sad because she couldn’t find the old woman to pay back the money. And she told him these things bluntly, without appealing to him for help. 

Really, what a stupid young miss.

Chen Ying felt his heart softening again. Well, he was also to blame. He had been too impatient. 

But she didn’t understand anything, which was really a headache.

Wu Hao was still scolding on the phone. “Why did they dare to expose it like this? You f*cking listen to me. He must still have information in hand, just waiting for you to issue some statement or clarification, so that when they send a second wave of photos or even videos or other things, that slap in the face would be strong enough, and even ordinary photos will now have other meanings. 

“You can’t even see through this, and you refuse to cooperate. You can wait to see tomorrow’s entertainment news. I shouldn’t worry? I told you to let us deal with it first, and let us find out if there was any preparation behind them. That group has been against us all the time, and they will remember the grudge when the old man didn’t give face. They could take photos of Ling Xiran entering and leaving the host club that day—it proves that they’ve had someone tailing her all this time. You think it’s a coincidence? We don’t know how long they’ve had someone on her. There must be something else that Ling Xiran was photographed doing. Ha! Did you hear her say that? I have seen too many lies in this industry—quite a few of it from her. I said it in the meeting that day, if you have anything else you know, you’d better tell me clearly.”

Chen Ying didn’t hear what the other party said in response—Wu Hao frowned and listened. 

But then that’s his job. Chen Ying was not interested at all, and the fact that he didn’t need to handle such nasty things was also thanks to Wu Hao. If Chen Ying had had to handle this phone call, he would have long ago flipped the phone, told the other guy they f*ucked up and brought this on themselves, so if they really wanna die just go to hell. 

Anyway, he really didn’t like to go down this career path. He preferred to climb mountains, surf, camp, drink and eat grilled meat. But of course, there were many things in life that he had to suffer through even if he didn’t like it.

Just like Mi Xi—she probably didn’t like it here very much, but here she was.

Chen Ying pushed open the balcony door and went in, turning from the kitchen to the living room. He heard Mi Xi and Cheng Jiangyi talking. 

“If you want to talk about the most famous caster, that is a master named Ji Jiawen. He is the famous Eighteenth Master of the Xuanqing School. He has taken in many disciples, and some of his disciples have worked in my father’s army, and told me many stories about him.”

Eh? It turned out that they weren’t teaching her about the modern world anymore… 

But they were really better at chatting with Mi Xi than he was, Chen Ying thought. They enabled Mi Xi to talk about her hometown—this was also a way to coax her into the group and cultivate a sense of trust.

“Then have you ever heard of a man named Bai Yulang? He is from Baijiazhuang, a master of martial arts,” Cheng Jiangyi asked Mi Xi.

Su Xiaopei looked up and saw Chen Ying by the doorway. She got up and pulled him to the other side.

As Chen Ying followed Su Xiaopei, he heard Mi Xi’s excited voice, “That’s the famous God of Sword Control. I heard that he and Master Shiba are good friends. Master Shiba said that he should use the sword better, and even made it for him with his own hands. Since then, Bai Butou has changed his use of swords, and since then, Yamen catchers no longer only use swords, but depending on personal habits. I don’t like swords very much. I like to use spears—it performs smoother according to my little strength.”

Chen Ying frowned; listening to Cheng Jiangyi and Mi Xi discussing eighteen kinds of weapons, his head started to hurt again. He really wanted to rub his forehead, but Su Xiaopei was looking at him seriously, so he had no choice but to be serious and upright.

“Chen Ying, we already told Mi Xi about the dangers of what happened. She knows that Feng Xin and the old lady are fine in the hospital, and she can understand why you are angry. She also understands the possible consequences if she gets lost or behaves in a way that garners too much attention.”

“Yeah? How likely is it that she really understood?”

“Well, it’s somewhat like how children know that touching a hot stove will hurt because they have been told so by adults, but they haven’t been burnt before, so they don’t know how painful it is. That’s the general idea.”

“Understood.” This explanation was really general enough ah.

“She is very insecure.”

“I understand this, and I can also see it.” 

His heart has softened once again. But this situation was only just for a while. Really. He wouldn’t agree to it anymore if it took too long.