Although their previous encounter had gone badly, President Liu could not help feeling somewhat pleased when he saw such a beauty.
“Our Little Chu came today to apologize to President Liu. Little Chu, go sit beside him.” He Mingyan pushed Chu Shicha forward, pressing his shoulder to make him sit. President Liu shoved Ke Chengjiang aside and impatiently called Chu Shicha over.
Liu Xu watched Chu Shicha anxiously from the side, a storm raging inside his chest.
He was a newcomer who had only recently joined the company, and this was his first time working with Chu Shicha. Society had polished him enough to teach him to bully the weak and fear the strong, yet he still retained a chivalrous heart and a sunny sense of justice.
He thought of himself as an ally of justice. He hated the mud of society and the filth of human life; he looked down on those who willingly sank and drifted in bitter waters.
But now, watching with his own eyes as the wings of justice were shackled by reality, he stood motionless and rigid like a measuring post.
He Mingyan raised her voice and handed Chu Shicha a glass of drugged wine. “Aren’t you going to toast President Liu?!”
President Liu smiled and clinked glasses with Chu Shicha. “Little Chu dyed your hair back? This color looks good.”
“Exactly, I thought that rainbow color was ugly too. Little Chu’s skin is fair; black suits him much better. President Liu, once he drinks this glass, let’s forget what happened before, all right? Little Chu was half asleep at the time. Let him keep you proper company today, how about that?” He Mingyan tried to smooth things over, desperate to throw Chu Shicha into President Liu’s hands as quickly as possible.
At those words, lustful thoughts immediately stirred in President Liu.
He pushed the wine away, leaned back against the booth, spread his legs in a swaggering posture, and slapped his thigh. “Little Jiang, show Little Chu how it’s done.”
Ke Chengjiang lowered his head. Like a puppet, he took a sip of wine, sat on President Liu’s lap, and transferred it to him mouth-to-mouth.
“…” Liu Xu curled his fingers into a fist and hid it behind his back.
Afraid Chu Shicha would cause trouble, He Mingyan urged him to settle the matter quickly and quietly reminded him about the photographs.
Chu Shicha lowered his eyes and glanced at her. “Even a rabbit bites when it’s cornered.”
He Mingyan ground her teeth. “Don’t reject the easy way and force me to use the hard way!”
Her voice rose enough that President Liu and Ruan Qiang both heard. Ruan Qiang tugged Chu Shicha’s sleeve, her face panicked.
“Oh, still don’t understand? Ruan Qiang, demonstrate it properly for Little Chu.” President Liu’s meaning was perfectly clear: if Chu Shicha did not apologize properly today, nobody was leaving.
Ruan Qiang bit her lip. Before she could struggle for more than a second, President Liu slapped her across the face. It was a hard blow. Everyone in the business knew not to hit an entertainer’s face; the gesture was meant specifically for Chu Shicha to see.
Her cheek swelling red, Ruan Qiang gave a bitter smile, held a mouthful of wine between her lips, and fed it to President Liu.
Throughout it all, President Liu stared at Chu Shicha, intent on seeing even a trace of fear and obedience cross that cool face.
But there was nothing on it except indifference. Soft tactics had failed, so President Liu was about to turn hard. Before he could move, Chu Shicha grabbed the bottle from the table with one hand and smashed it down with a crack.
He looked strikingly heroic, while the blurred colored lights outside dyed the corners of his eyes with a trace of seduction.
Glass exploded across the table, drawing screams from everyone nearby. Chu Shicha pointed the jagged mouth of the bottle at President Liu, a smile at his lips. “Still want to drink? I’ll feed you.”
“Chu Shicha!” He Mingyan exploded. “Put that down!”
Liu Xu nearly burst into tears. The instant Chu Shicha moved, his ears roared. Justice seemed like a mountain he had never dared climb, crashing down upon him; the righteous convictions he had always been so proud of became a whip lashing his [two characters obscured] mortal body.
He could not do it. And Chu Shicha, the man he had always looked down upon, had just slapped him hard across the face without touching him.
“Brother—”
“Chu Shicha!”
“Put the bottle down!”
Chu Shicha watched everything with cold eyes. “Put it down? Do you know what kind of feelings made me raise it? How can you ask me to lower it so easily?”
He was facing He Mingyan, yet Liu Xu felt those words were meant for him. They sounded like a silent accusation, like the final cry of a beautiful swan before death, and Liu Xu’s heart clenched violently.
Just as the scene spun beyond control, an arrogant, unruly voice suddenly came from behind them. “What the hell are you doing?”
Chu Shicha turned. A man had risen from a booth behind them, backlit, his features deep and sharply cut. His hair had been freshly styled and dyed, the tips carrying a rebellious edge, his gaze cold and dark.
“I said, shards of glass just stabbed this young master’s hand. Anybody planning to explain themselves?”
The lighting shifted back to a normal color, revealing most of his face. He was extremely handsome in a hard, masculine way, his mouth pressed into a curve that practically announced, “I’m fucking annoyed.” He wore gleaming designer labels, and the watch on his wrist cost ten times more than Chu Shicha’s entire twenty-square-meter apartment.
Wealth had packaged this man and tempered arrogance into his bones. From his lawless swagger and conceit, two points were immediately obvious.
First, he was not someone to provoke.
Second, he had apparently never met an opponent he could not crush.
Lower down, he shifted his bleeding arm. A small greenish shard of glass could faintly be seen embedded in it. He looked like he had come demanding compensation, except his aura resembled someone arriving to smash up the venue.
He Mingyan had rolled over knives and waded through blood in the entertainment industry. She recognized him at a glance and shuddered so hard she nearly wished she could chop the troublemaking Chu Shicha into dumpling filling.
Unable to think of any way to deal with this master, she forced a smile. “Best Actor Gu… this…”
She did not get to finish.
Gu Hanjian frowned, pinched the shard between two fingers, and raised a brow. “You making fun of me? How could I count as a Best Actor? But the famous Sister He—what exactly have you done to this young fellow? You’ve brought out his whole spirit of resistance. Want me to whisper something to the media so tomorrow the whole world can praise every artist under Sister He for choosing death with honor over life in disgrace and carrying the revolutionary spirit to the bitter end?”
“Hahaha… Brother Gu, show mercy. You can see this is already hard enough to clean up.” He Mingyan’s face felt as though Gu Hanjian had slapped it swollen himself.
If there was one person in the entertainment industry who was hardest to offend, it was Gu Hanjian. This walking disaster had both background and connections. Everyone who entered this arena of fame and profit wore their desires on their faces. Gu Hanjian was different—impossible to read. Things others exhausted themselves trying to reach were no more than something he could touch by stretching out a leg.
If he still had any unfulfilled wish, it was probably to scrub away the mockery in the nickname “Triple-Crown Best Actor” and actually win a Best Actor trophy for once.
Most of the surrounding attention shifted toward Gu Hanjian, and the drawn-sword tension around Chu Shicha eased. Thanks to Gu Hanjian barging in, both sides suddenly had an invisible step they could use to climb down.
In the dimness, Gu Hanjian looked at Chu Shicha by the available light. Perhaps the memory of that seven-colored Super Saiyan hair had been too strong; for a moment, he did not recognize him.
He persuaded him good-naturedly, “Little friend, put down what you’re holding. What can’t be talked through properly? Look at you—you’ve stood there all this time and still haven’t stabbed anyone. Scared, huh?”
Hearing Gu Hanjian seemingly urge Chu Shicha to stab him, President Liu broke into a full-body cold sweat. So did Liu Xu. At this rate, the whole matter was about to become impossible to salvage.
Even if this incident were somehow settled, would He Mingyan ever let Chu Shicha go? This was the same as cutting off every escape route he had. Liu Xu could not understand why Chu Shicha was doing this. He had only one vague thought.
—He wanted to die.
Gu Hanjian continued, “If you never really counted as raising it, then naturally you can put it down. President Liu, Sister He, you can’t push someone this hard. Harmony brings wealth; we don’t do forced seizure around here. Everybody cool down. Little friend, put the bottle down and come over here. Your Brother Gu needs you to disinfect this properly.”
Following Gu Hanjian’s lead, both deadlocked sides caught their breath. Chu Shicha was physically frail; once Gu Hanjian splashed a bucket of cold water over his fury, he set down the broken bottle—but in a blind spot no one noticed, he quietly palmed one shard of glass.
Reluctantly, he walked over to Gu Hanjian. Gu Hanjian hooked an arm through his and pulled him into the curve of the booth.
Besides Gu Hanjian, another young man sat there, currently accepting an emergency first-aid kit from a waiter.
“You old beast, you actually tricked him over here. Liu Quan and He Mingyan must be dying of rage.” Lu Yi met Chu Shicha’s face, froze, then recovered.
First he was stunned by that heaven-bestowed beauty; then he remembered that this was the scandal-soaked Chu Shicha and silently shifted half a meter away.
“I’ll do it.” Chu Shicha took the first-aid kit, his voice calm and cool.
His movements were practiced, quick, and light.
When he finished, he even added, “I’m sorry my personal grudge injured you. My reputation isn’t good, so I’d better not invite you to dinner. Let this glass count as my apology.”
Chu Shicha poured himself a drink from the table and downed it in one swallow.
Gu Hanjian was very satisfied. “Straightforward!”
Chu Shicha turned the empty glass upside down. Only then did Gu Hanjian clearly see his face. He truly had the looks of someone descended from heaven; letting such a face gather dust in the entertainment industry was a waste. Especially when he moved and a strip of porcelain-white skin showed at his waist, drawing heated gazes from more than one person.
Chu Shicha had shown full sincerity, so Gu Hanjian did not make things harder for him.
After Chu Shicha left, Gu Hanjian finally savored the memory and poked Lu Yi. “Isn’t your crappy show still picking its concubines? I recommend him.”
Lu Yi’s eyes nearly popped out. “Are you fucking insane? You didn’t recognize him? That’s Chu Shicha!”
Young Master Gu genuinely had no idea who Chu Shicha was.
Lu Yi said, “The cancer of the entertainment industry. Dirty tricks, disgusting to everyone he touches. Didn’t he deliberately stir up shipping rumors with Mo Wenyu before? Mo Wenyu’s fans nearly tore him apart with their bare hands.”
“…”
“Why do you think he came to entertain Liu Quan today? Imperial Radiance plans to promote Mo Wenyu and was already preparing to sacrifice him for it. Not long ago, when everyone was kicking Chu Shicha while he was down, Imperial Radiance was the first one pushing. Hey, Young Master Gu, with eyes so high they’re practically in the heavens, how did you break through the atmosphere and notice this mortal?”
Gu Hanjian rubbed his arm. “…His waist is pretty damn good.”
“…”
Liu Xu stood beside He Mingyan while she repeatedly apologized to President Liu. President Liu had never run into anyone so fierce and felt as though he had taken a trip through the gates of hell. Too frightened to make any declaration, he took his two little lovers and went to a private room.
He Mingyan had managed strong-tempered artists before, but this was the first one who had driven her so furious. With nowhere else to vent, she ordered Liu Xu to light one of her slim cigarettes.
Liu Xu said, “Sister He, don’t be angry.”
“Don’t be angry? What bullshit!” He Mingyan snatched the lit cigarette and pressed it against Liu Xu’s thigh. Cold sweat instantly poured off him.
He Mingyan said, “You think I didn’t have hardheaded bastards under me in the old days? Plenty couldn’t take it and killed themselves. If they won’t obey, they die.”
The cigarette tip went out.
Liu Xu clenched his teeth against the pain, his temples throbbing.
In her fury, He Mingyan let everything spill out. “When you reach my position one day, you’ll understand. An artist’s future means jack shit. One dies and there are ten more waiting. With Chu Shicha’s face, he should never have had to worry about food or clothes in this industry. But there’s nothing to be done—I never planned to promote him from the very beginning.”
Something inside Liu Xu snapped with a click.
Chu Shicha walked over. He Mingyan said she wanted to speak to him alone, and Chu Shicha agreed.