Kicked
Zhou Jueming felt only a little surprise and pity. He’d studied anatomy as an undergraduate and had seen every kind of gruesome scene by now.
It was mid-August, hot enough for bacteria to grow quickly on animal remains.
He went back downstairs and finally managed to buy a bag of lime powder at the supermarket outside. Then he found a patch of garden with deep soil, dug a hole, and buried the little snake. After sprinkling it with lime, he went back upstairs.
But he’d badly underestimated how much everyone hated the little star. Of the roughly ten packages left, aside from clothes and other items the little star had bought for himself, two contained bloody animal carcasses. Another held tiny shredded pieces of close-up photos of the little star, along with a threatening letter.
There was even a voodoo doll carved with Zhou Jueming’s name, smiling eerily at him…
Zhou Jueming made another trip downstairs before he’d dealt with the whole pile.
Then he thoroughly cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. It was small, so there wasn’t much to do. After a little over two hours of work, he’d restored it to the pristine neatness of a model home.
Stars and a crescent moon had appeared outside the window. Zhou Jueming carried the vegetables and fruit he’d ordered that afternoon into the kitchen and made himself his first proper meal since arriving here. Afterward, he went online to contact a broker about selling the sports car the little star had parked downstairs.
Only when he was finally free to think about his own situation did he realize that he hadn’t reacted quickly enough when he’d first arrived that afternoon. Afraid that acting out of character would draw attention, he’d accepted the last work contract gifted to the little star by his former backer.
Now, looking it over carefully, he saw that it was for an independent survival challenge variety show set in the wilderness, due to begin in two weeks.
Right now, no one dared hire him. Jiang Jie might have given him this contract out of charity, or simply to enjoy watching him squirm. It could also be a warning to behave, or even a reward.
He checked the pay in the contract, added the broker’s rough estimate for the car, then looked at the little star’s savings. After adding and subtracting, he could just about make it work.
Zhou Jueming had never worried about money growing up. This was the first time in his life he’d found himself in a situation like this, drowning in debt, abuse, and expulsion.
He really didn’t like it. He didn’t like living in the public eye, and he didn’t like having a job with no privacy.
He only liked the work he’d done in his original life, the career he’d loved since childhood.
It was easy enough to see how this world resembled his own, and how it differed.
The celebrities who were different, the cities that were similar but not quite the same, the news that echoed his world without overlapping with it. Zhou Jueming decided this was a kind of parallel world, one branched off from his own.
Every child had a zhuazhou ceremony. On his first birthday, Zhou Jueming had avoided the jade carvings and coins on the table and grabbed a handful of cassia seeds his grandfather had laid out to dry in the courtyard. That was how he got his name, and it had also foreshadowed that he would inherit the mantle of traditional Chinese medicine.
He’d devoted himself to it for over a decade, never once giving up. If anything, he’d only grown more passionate about it.
Even in his current situation, he’d never considered giving up.
So the little star couldn’t be expelled and left without even an undergraduate diploma. Zhou Jueming still needed that as a stepping-stone to the work he wanted to do.
Before going to bed, he took another shower. When he came out, his phone rang again. The number was unfamiliar.
In the middle of the night, he assumed it would be a threatening call from some rabid anti-fan. But when he answered, the woman on the other end spoke in a measured, matter-of-fact tone. “Hello, is this Mr. Zhou Jueming?”
“Speaking.” His voice was just as level, flowing softly through the quiet room.
“Here’s the situation, Mr. Zhou. I’m the liaison in charge for Let’s Go Adventure. After a comprehensive review, we’ve concluded that you aren’t a good fit for our show. We’d like to reserve this valuable spot for someone more suitable, so we hope you’ll understand and work with us to terminate the contract. However, our director has recommended you for another high-quality variety show that’s a better fit for you. We’ll send you the termination agreement and the new show’s contract together. Do you have any questions?”
Zhou Jueming wasn’t some sheltered innocent. He’d spent years in the circles around schools and hospitals. It wasn’t hard to understand why someone would be replaced at the last minute. The little star had too many scandals, and everyone wanted to kick him while he was down to show they were part of the crowd.
When he didn’t answer for a while, the woman on the other end asked impatiently, “Mr. Zhou, do you have any questions?”
Zhou Jueming gave a quiet laugh. “I understand what you’re saying. I’ve got it.” Then he hung up.
He didn’t care about variety shows at all, but losing that source of income left another hole in the money he needed for the contract penalty.
Still, he thought the little star’s frail health was the most urgent problem. He’d wait until the next contract arrived before deciding what to do.
Besides, even if all else failed, he didn’t think it was impossible to raise that much money on his own within six months.
The next morning, he got up early and headed straight to the nearest Chinese medicine shop. It was true that doctors couldn’t treat themselves with perfect objectivity.
But Zhou Jueming’s own sensations, and the symptoms reflected in his body, were already quite clear. These were basic ailments. He’d been able to prescribe the right remedies for them since middle school.
The little star had spent years eating and sleeping irregularly, staying up all night and sleeping through the day, eating carelessly, and getting no exercise. As a result, his heart and spleen were deficient, dampness had built up in his body, and his liver qi was stagnant. Zhou Jueming wrote himself two prescriptions, each to treat a different set of symptoms.
Considering the little star’s unusual “popularity,” he wore a large mask and a hat.
But while he waited for the apprentice at the medicine shop to fill his prescription, two girls who looked like high school students behind him leaned over their phones. Their angry voices carried easily to his ears.
One of them spoke quickly. “Ugh, I’m so mad. I hate Zhou Jueming. How can he be so disgusting? He’s riding Chen Yueqian’s coattails. Who does he think he is? He’s so ugly, with that weasel face.”
“He’s not that bad-looking…” the other girl said, then quickly added, “But he really is shameless.”
Zhou Jueming almost wanted to rub his forehead helplessly. Chen Yueqian had been a child star. He’d appeared in a movie in high school, then shot back into the public eye. Handsome, good-natured, and talented, he was an idol loved by both the public and his many fans.
And the little star, who’d clung shamelessly to him, had certainly attracted a huge amount of “attention” of his own.
After picking up the medicine, Zhou Jueming stopped at a nearby market on his way home and bought a clay pot.
Even though many places, including their hospital, had switched entirely to specialized machines for brewing Chinese medicine, Zhou Jueming might have taken after his grandfather. He preferred traditional earthenware and clay pots, and brewing the medicine by hand.
After half an hour on the stove, the apartment finally filled with the familiar, delicate scent of mixed medicinal herbs: the mellow sweetness of dried tangerine peel, the beany aroma of astragalus, the warm bitterness of atractylodes… Gradually, the room was layered with the long, lingering fragrance Zhou Jueming had always known.
It was the scent of the air he’d grown up breathing, and in some ways, it gave him a special sense of security.
When he was halfway through the first course of treatment, several documents arrived from the people behind Let’s Go Adventure. He signed his name, Zhou Jueming, on the termination agreement without much hesitation. But when he reached the contract for the new show, he paused.
Jiang Jie had been a generous backer. That was clear in the little star’s memories. Otherwise, he could never have risen so quickly on the little bit Jiang Jie had let slip through his fingers.
And now Jiang Jie hated him. The little star had hurt the person Jiang Jie loved, so Jiang Jie was paying him back in kind.
The last contract he’d offered the little star to choose from was the last resource he’d provide before cutting ties. It was also a subtle warning and consolation, telling him not to entertain any more delusions or schemes, and above all, to stay away from Chen Yueqian.
A slap followed by a sweet treat. By accepting the contract, the little star had also tacitly resigned himself to his fate and promised to behave.
So he had to sign this one. Whatever happened along the way, whether he was replaced, the terms were changed, or he was treated unfairly in some other way, he’d have to put up with it.
Zhou Jueming opened the new contract.
His lashes fluttered slightly. It was for a medical education variety show funded and organized by a public hospital.
Having spent years in medicine, Zhou Jueming knew that shows like this might be called educational, but in practice they were advertisements and promotions. They were more serious than entertaining.
The other non-celebrity guests invited were either famous doctors long retired, students from top universities with a passion for medicine, or even medical PhDs who’d returned from overseas.
He remembered what the person in charge of Let’s Go Adventure had said, that the director had recommended him for a more suitable show.
The previous show might have been grueling, but it was well-known and paid well. That was why someone had directly taken his spot and kicked him off.
By comparison, this serious medical show was starting from scratch. Its focus was on outreach, promotion, and even education. It didn’t even offer an appearance fee, only a small stipend. No one in show business would willingly expose their own weaknesses and ignorance on it.
Besides, the contract from this established hospital was full of ironclad terms, including one that barred contestants from quitting midway, for fear of damaging the show’s image. Breaking it would mean paying an enormous penalty.
But the show’s deep pockets showed in its final prize. At the end, one guest would be chosen as the most valuable, based on both audience votes and recommendations from the expert panel. The prize was substantial, enough to cover the hole in his contract penalty.
But the little star, Zhou Jueming, knew nothing about medicine and couldn’t even look after his own health.
Putting him on such a supposedly rigorous variety show was a way to make him embarrass himself even further, stir up wider dislike among other circles and the general public, and nail him to the pillar of shame with no chance to recover. It would also cement his image as a clown in the audience’s minds.
And he seemed to have no choice. He was saddled with a huge contract penalty, expelled from school, and kicked out of the drama he’d been filming. After all that, someone had painstakingly selected this one option for him, a sure path to disaster.
What they didn’t know was that Zhou Jueming was now a completely different person, right down to his soul.