After Chu Qing finished filming his final scene, he said goodbye to the director, several actors he got along with reasonably well, and the crew, then dragged his exhausted body back to the hotel.
He rubbed his temples, took a shower, wrapped a bath towel around himself, and picked up the hair dryer.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he thought his complexion looked rather poor. He had probably been sleeping too little while rushing to finish filming.
It seemed as though he was terribly busy and his career was flourishing, but in reality, all he had been playing were minor roles. He was exhausted, yet he had barely earned any money.
There was no helping it. He had been suppressed from a second-tier actor all the way down to an obscure eighteenth-tier one.
Chu Qing did not regret it in the slightest. He refused to trade his body for opportunities. Besides, he had become an actor because he loved acting, not because he wanted to become a celebrity. He did not need anyone to pour money into resources to promote him. As long as he had roles to play, that was enough.
The one thing he had always found puzzling was that he was not exceptionally beautiful—or, more accurately, exceptionally handsome—so why did male bosses and female executives alike keep taking an interest in him?
Chu Qing did not realize that although his looks were not the most dazzling among the many actors and celebrities in the industry, there was something exceptionally clean and untainted about his bearing.
He had kept himself out of trouble for years, and that was precisely why he stood out. Some people simply wanted to drag him into the dye vat and stain him with color.
The studio he belonged to had been founded by a senior from his university who had become a Best Actor. If that senior had not been willing to give him some protection, Chu Qing's acting dream would probably have ended long ago.
It was only after Chu Qing accidentally learned that his senior had secretly been married for years and even had a child in kindergarten that he finally felt comfortable remaining at the studio and taking whatever work came his way.
But after so much time, he was inevitably growing tired. He had begun considering moving behind the scenes.
He was getting older too. It was probably time to find a partner.
Because of his sexual orientation, he had never dared to look seriously. Perhaps only after moving behind the scenes would he be able to think about finding a boyfriend.
He switched off the hair dryer and went into the bedroom.
It was a twin room. The other actor who had been sharing it had already finished filming and left, so Chu Qing was now the only person staying there.
He did not care about that. His head hurt, and all he wanted was a long, proper sleep.
Perhaps because he had been thinking about finding a boyfriend, after falling asleep he dreamed that he was lying on a bed when a man suddenly pressed him down and tried to get intimate with him.
The man's face was a blur, but his body was powerful. He held Chu Qing down so firmly that he could barely move, and his movements were rough enough to hurt.
The dream felt frighteningly real. Chu Qing could actually feel the pain and could not help pleading, "Be gentler…"
The other man's movements paused. He finally became somewhat gentler, but he still kept Chu Qing pinned beneath him and did not seem inclined to stop.
Chu Qing had no idea how long it went on before he finally slept more peacefully.
• • •
The next morning, Chu Qing woke feeling as though his entire body had been taken apart and put back together. His head was heavy and foggy. He lifted one weak arm and rubbed between his brows before realizing he was lying in an unfamiliar room.
What was going on?
Chu Qing sat up to look around. The instant he moved, a certain part of his body throbbed with pain.
He sucked in a sharp breath and shifted away from the sore spot, only then noticing a strange man lying on the other side of the bed.
The man's features were sharply defined, with slightly deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips. He was very handsome, and his physique was even more impressive.
But even in sleep, his brows were furrowed and his lips pressed into a hard line. He did not look easy to deal with.
Chu Qing froze. Last night had not been a dream at all. He had actually slept with a strange man.
What had happened? How had he suddenly ended up in another room and in bed with someone he did not know?
Even if someone had set him up, this man was not any of the bosses who had tried to proposition him before.
While Chu Qing was still thoroughly confused, unfamiliar memories suddenly surged into his mind, and his expression turned ugly.
Those extra memories told him that he had transmigrated into a male-pregnancy novel.
It was even a novel that an actress from one of his previous crews had recommended to him.
In the novel, a character also named Chu Qing had used underhanded means to spend a night with Gu Weixuan, president of the Gu Group. Naturally, once Gu Weixuan realized he had been schemed against, he treated Chu Qing coldly. Not only did he refuse to give him any resources, he even had him suppressed.
Two months later, however, Chu Qing discovered he was pregnant. He used the baby to cling to Gu Weixuan and even began acting as though he were the president's spouse.
When Gu Weixuan later fell in love at first sight with the novel's receptive male protagonist, Chu Qing caused trouble again and again until he even lost the child.
Gu Weixuan eventually lost all patience and had Chu Qing thrown out of the Gu family.
Chu Qing's status then plummeted. He was suppressed and blacklisted, and later, in order to get a role, he tried to hook up with a notoriously sleazy assistant director. Photographs were taken and exposed. The consequences were easy to imagine.
At the thought of that ending, Chu Qing shuddered. Ignoring his physical discomfort, he hurriedly got dressed and left.
He took the elevator downstairs and happened to see a taxi preparing to leave.
Chu Qing walked over, opened the door, and got in.
The driver glanced back at him. "Where to, sir?"
Chu Qing searched the additional memories in his head, found the address of the apartment the original owner had rented, and gave it to the driver.
Only then did the taxi pull away from the hotel.
• • •
In the hotel suite, Gu Weixuan woke not long after Chu Qing left.
He frowned at the empty side of the bed. Remembering what had happened the night before, his expression darkened.
He had never expected that even after taking so many precautions, he would still be schemed against.
He sat up, picked his suit jacket off the floor, pulled out his phone, and called his assistant.
After telling the assistant to bring him a fresh suit, he went into the bathroom to wash up.
When the doorbell rang, Gu Weixuan, wearing a bathrobe, opened the door and accepted the bag handed to him by his assistant, Yan Su. Then he went back into the bathroom to change.
Yan Su entered the room and closed the door. He waited until Gu Weixuan had changed into his suit and returned to the living room before saying, "I'm sorry, President Gu. I failed in my duty."
After the banquet the previous night, Gu Weixuan had been tired and had not wanted to return to the old family residence, so Yan Su had booked him a suite.
He had never imagined that after seeing Gu Weixuan safely into the room and leaving, someone would manage to slip into the suite.
"Investigate the waiter from last night. Find out who bought him off, then have the hotel manager deal with him." Someone had actually dared to drug his wine—and with something that took effect later.
It was only while showering that Gu Weixuan realized he had lost control and that his mind had not been entirely clear. Otherwise, he would never have ended up sleeping with a young man in such a muddled state.
Thinking of the young man from the night before, Gu Weixuan had to admit that once he had slowed down, the experience had not been bad. But the feeling of having been set up still infuriated him.
"And investigate the young man who slipped into the suite." After saying that, Gu Weixuan strode out with a dark expression.
"Yes, President Gu." Yan Su immediately followed.
• • •
Chu Qing returned to the roughly fifty-square-meter apartment. The furniture, television, and air conditioner were all old, but the place had been kept very clean.
After changing into slippers, he rubbed his temples. He was exhausted and desperately wanted to sleep.
His body still felt sticky, so he decided to take a shower first.
He went into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, found a clean set of pajamas, and carried them into the bathroom.
No matter how much he washed, he still felt unclean. His face burning, Chu Qing cursed a certain man several times before finally drying himself with a towel.
After changing into pajamas and rubbing his hair with a towel, he stared at the face in the mirror, both familiar and unfamiliar.
The original owner looked very similar to him, only with slightly more delicate facial proportions, making him a little more refined and handsome.
He was also several years younger. It seemed that not long after graduating from university, he had caught the attention of Feng Qiang, an agent who was constantly scouting newcomers.
Feng Qiang had coaxed him with grand promises and signed him to an obscure entertainment company. In truth, that lousy company had a terrible reputation in the industry, but the original owner had not known that. He had muddle-headedly signed a five-year contract.
After that, he had repeatedly been arranged to accompany investors at dinners so those investors might help place him in productions.
Of course, the so-called dinners were not as simple as merely eating together. Fortunately, the original owner had possessed enough sense to avoid trouble several times.
This time, however, he had failed. Feng Qiang had physically shoved him into the suite, which was why everything had happened.
Chu Qing remembered that when he woke, besides the dizziness, weakness, and soreness throughout his body, there had also been the faint taste of red wine in his mouth. That wine had probably not been ordinary wine.
The original owner might have been somewhat scheming and fond of playing innocent, but he still had boundaries. This incident was most likely entirely Feng Qiang's doing.
The original owner had probably drunk drugged wine as well, leaving him unable to resist when Feng Qiang pushed him into the suite. Perhaps the drug then triggered some physical problem and cost the original owner his life.
As for Chu Qing himself, exhausted from overwork, he somehow transmigrated at that exact moment and took over the original owner's body.
Thinking back on his blurred memories of the previous night, he guessed that Gu Weixuan had been furious and had pushed the original owner onto the bed just as Chu Qing transmigrated.
Because the body was under the influence of drugs, Chu Qing's consciousness had not been clear, and he had mistaken everything for a dream.
Gu Weixuan probably had not wanted to touch the original owner at all. He had likely pushed him onto the bed only because he was angry. But once the drug took hold, he had lost control and treated the newly transmigrated Chu Qing rather roughly.
When he thought about it, Chu Qing felt terribly unlucky. He had spent days and nights rushing from one shoot to another, possibly died from sheer overwork, transmigrated into a novel, and immediately been slept with.
He definitely did not want to become entangled with President Gu. He would keep as far away as possible. As for Feng Qiang… if the opportunity arose, it would be best to send that man to prison. It could count as revenge for the original owner.
The more Chu Qing thought, the more his head hurt.
Enough. He could not keep thinking. He needed sleep and proper rest.
He hung up the towel, returned to the bedroom, and lay down.
Before long, he fell asleep.
Perhaps because he had skipped breakfast, he even dreamed of eating an extravagant breakfast with a golden spoon.
It felt absurdly luxurious.
• • •
Two hours later, a little after nine, Chu Qing was awakened by his ringing phone. He opened his eyes blearily, looked at the unfamiliar room, and only then remembered that he had transmigrated.
He stretched out an arm, picked up the phone from the bedside table, and frowned when he saw the caller ID.
Agent Feng Qiang.
Chu Qing steadied himself, switched on the call-recording function, and only then answered.
"Hello…"
Before he could finish, Feng Qiang's impatient voice came through the phone.
"How did it go? Did it work? Did President Gu say what benefits he'd give you?"
Disgust flashed in Chu Qing's eyes. "No. President Gu was furious. He isn't going to give me anything."
"How could that be…?"
Chu Qing sneered. "Someone like President Gu was set up. Why would he give me benefits? I'll be lucky if he doesn't come after me."
The other end fell silent for a moment before Feng Qiang said something even more revolting. "Then you clearly didn't satisfy President Gu properly. Otherwise…"
Chu Qing hung up with a sharp tap. If he listened any longer, he was afraid he would start cursing.
But for now, he still could not completely fall out with Feng Qiang. He could not afford the five-million-yuan contractual penalty.
That bastard Feng Qiang was actually still thinking about benefits.
In the novel, the original owner later became pregnant, yet President Gu had still never given him any real benefits.
At that thought, Chu Qing's expression suddenly changed.
Wait. The original owner got pregnant?
Now that he had transmigrated into the original owner's body, could he get pregnant too?
The possibility made Chu Qing feel distinctly unwell.
