At this moment, Sheng Yuke was deeply conflicted. He disliked Qi Yuqiu and didn’t want his favorite character to be associated with someone as disreputable as him. However, after watching the recently filmed scene, he had to admit that Qi Yuqiu had truly captured the essence of the Grandmaster Uncle.
That look in his eyes had truly shocked him.
He could hardly separate Qi Yuqiu, still dressed in white, from the Grandmaster Uncle now. He kept wanting to get closer.
His gaze kept drifting over unconsciously. Whenever he saw him, he couldn’t help but want to approach. What should he do!
Qi Yuqiu also noticed this kid constantly glancing over with a face full of Resentful Energy. He simply turned and waved at him: “Disciple, come quickly to your master.”
Sheng Yuke: …
Disgusted, yet unable to control his own footsteps.
He walked behind Qi Yuqiu’s chair, crossed his arms, and looked down at him: “What do you want?”
Qi Yuqiu smoothed his hair and said, “Your master sees a troubled look between your brows. If you have any worries, you can always share them with me.”
With this opening line, Sheng Yuke finally managed to separate the person from the character. His Grandmaster Uncle would never speak in such a cheeky tone! Wearing these robes and saying such things was just too, too OOC!
“I’m fine,” Sheng Yuke said stiffly, while his manager kept signaling him from the side, urging him to stay away from Qi Yuqiu.
Sheng Yuke turned his head, pretending not to see, and remained standing where he was.
Suddenly, Qi Yuqiu poked his sleeve and asked, “What’s this?”
Sheng Yuke was puzzled: “What?”
Looking down, he realized that when he had waved his hand earlier, he had accidentally dislodged the chocolate hidden in his sleeve. He quickly pulled his sleeve to cover it, only to find his manager’s Titanium Alloy Laser Eyes fixed firmly on him.
A chill ran down Sheng Yuke’s spine. With trembling hands, he took out the chocolate and shoved it at Qi Yuqiu: “Here, you can have it.”
Qi Yuqiu said delightedly, “Then your master won’t stand on ceremony.”
Sheng Yuke watched as Qi Yuqiu tore open the wrapper and finished in a few bites the Handmade Custom Chocolate he had hidden for so long, the one he would take out and gaze at whenever he craved something sweet. An indescribable heartache washed over him.
Was it easy for him to hide snacks? His manager searched every three days. He had racked his brains to keep this piece of chocolate safe, never expecting it would end up in Qi Yuqiu’s mouth!
Smooth on the palate, a faint bitterness followed by a delicate sweetness—Qi Yuqiu was instantly captivated by this thing called chocolate. After finishing it, he looked at Sheng Yuke: “Do you have any more?”
“That was my only piece,” Sheng Yuke couldn’t help but complain, looking at the wrapper in Qi Yuqiu’s hand. “Couldn’t you have eaten it slower? I hid it for so long and couldn’t bear to eat it.”
At least let him look at it a few more times…
“Well, thank you very much,” Qi Yuqiu said, tossing the wrapper into a box and pulling over a stool for him to sit. “As a thank you, I’ll give you a divination.”
After sitting down, Sheng Yuke scoffed. First, he ate his chocolate, and now he wanted to fool him with something so absurd. Did he think he was an idiot?
Qi Yuqiu clapped his hands and studied his face carefully. “Huh,” he said, “you come from a wealthy and prominent family. By all accounts, you don’t seem short on money. That piece of chocolate just now… was it particularly expensive?”
As the saying goes, Wealth Lies in the Nose, and the Wealth and Silk Palace in physiognomy is located precisely on the nose. Sheng Yuke’s nose bridge is straight and prominent, indicating exceptionally strong financial fortune. He must come from a wealthy and noble family, and in the short term, there is no sign of the family’s decline. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t be this poor.
Sheng Yuke froze for a moment, quickly glanced around, and noticed that everyone nearby was focused on Director Chang. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, then looked at Qi Yuqiu with a complicated expression as the latter wore a puzzled face.
He truly came from a wealthy background. His original surname wasn’t Sheng but Shi, and his birth name was Shi Ke. Although the Shi family’s roots weren’t in Jicheng, no one would be unaware of this surname. Their family had flourished for three generations, and by his generation, their businesses had spread across the entire country.
As the youngest son of the Shi family, Sheng Yuke had been pampered since childhood, with everything going his way at home. However, after graduating from high school, instead of attending a prestigious university, he insisted on entering the entertainment industry. His family was instantly thrown into an uproar, especially his father, who nearly grabbed a broom to beat him.
To prove he could survive without the Shi family, Sheng Yuke ran away from home outright. He also rejected his eldest and second brothers’ offers to start an entertainment company for him, insisting on starting from the very bottom. Now, at least, he had managed to scrape by.
Sheng Yuke had kept his identity well hidden. Everyone thought he was just an ordinary young man from a small town. He never expected Qi Yuqiu to see through it at a glance.
At that moment, Qi Yuqiu instantly grew taller in his eyes.
“So, what else did you see?” Sheng Yuke asked, his previously dismissive expression completely changed.
Not far away, Sheng Yuke’s agent could only facepalm. While others tried to stay as far away from Qi Yuqiu as possible, this naive guy of his not only approached him on his own but was also utterly confused by just a few words.
“What else do you want to know?”
“I want to know how my career will turn out. Can I dominate the entertainment industry?” Sheng Yuke whispered.
Hearing this, Qi Yuqiu thought to himself, this kid’s ambitions aren’t small. Taking a closer look, he suddenly felt as if he had eaten a lemon: “Your family is too wealthy—so wealthy that I can’t even see how far your career will go. Dominating the entertainment industry or something like that, isn’t it just a matter of a word from them?”
“Huh?” Sheng Yuke immediately frowned, looking utterly dejected. He worriedly said, “I just want to prove myself. What does my family’s wealth have to do with me?”
Qi Yuqiu felt that eating a lemon wasn’t enough to describe his current mood. It was more like drinking aged vinegar mixed with lemon juice—that sour!
Seeing Sheng Yuke genuinely distressed, Qi Yuqiu sighed deeply. People are different, after all. Could being a wealthy Salty Fish really be this painful for him?
“Don’t worry too much. There are still many things in this world that money can’t solve,” Qi Yuqiu patted his shoulder. “I see your Red Luan Star Moves, and you’re about to have some Rotten Peach Blossom Luck. Be careful—if you’re not careful, it could lead to big trouble.”
Sheng Yuke gave his agent a complicated look and said, “If I say even one extra word to a girl, I get lectured for half a day. There’s no way I could have rotten peach blossoms.”
Qi Yuqiu chuckled and said, “Young man, when peach blossoms come, can you really stop them? But the person you’re about to meet isn’t a good match. I’ll give you a piece of advice: avoid water, and stay as far away from it as you can.”
“Alright.” Although he felt he had no chance of interacting with the opposite sex, Sheng Yuke still took Qi Yuqiu’s words to heart. After all, he was aiming for an idol career path and absolutely couldn’t afford any scandals right now.
During lunch, Qi Yuqiu ate a specially prepared nutritional meal sent over by Uncle Liu—four dishes and a soup, with both meat and vegetables. Meanwhile, Sheng Yuke held half a bowl of salad, casting a resentful look toward Qi Yuqiu.
Poor kid, Qi Yuqiu thought as he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth, expressing deep sympathy for him.
In the afternoon, Qi Yuqiu had another scene to film. Since Film Emperor Liu Rui, who was supposed to act opposite him, hadn’t arrived yet, Chang Yan told him to wait while they shot the male lead’s scenes first.
As his disciple, Sheng Yuke naturally had no scenes either. The two of them sat under a sunshade, each holding a small fan as they leisurely watched others act.
While everyone else was busy, a minor crew member quietly approached the sunshade where the two were sitting. From a distance, Han Chen, who was filming, saw this and revealed a malicious smile.
This person was named Zhang Ming. He loafed around the crew, earning only a basic salary and never putting in much effort, yet he never seemed short of money. That was because he had a special way of making cash.
For instance, this time, all he had to do was create a false conflict with Qi Yuqiu, and a few thousand yuan would be his.
Zhang Ming deliberately kicked the support pole of the sunshade, causing it to rattle loudly. Sheng Yuke and Qi Yuqiu turned to look at him.
“What’s going on?” Sheng Yuke frowned.
Zhang Ming replied in a sloppy tone, “The sunshade needs to be moved over there. The actors need it for their breaks. You two should find somewhere else to rest if you’ve got nothing to do.”
Sheng Yuke bristled. What was that supposed to mean? Weren’t they actors too?
Just as he was about to stand up and argue, Qi Yuqiu grabbed his arm.
“Disciple, calm down,” Qi Yuqiu said, taking a sip of water before turning to Zhang Ming. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. With hands and feet, there are so many honest ways to earn money, yet you insist on making money that Damages Yin Virtue. Young man, there’s No Shore to Turn Back To.”
“What nonsense!” Zhang Ming sneered. This Qi Yuqiu was no saint either—he was practically doing everyone a favor by taking him down. “Hurry up and move. I’m busy.”
Qi Yuqiu slumped in his chair, yawning. “You lost your father at three, your mother at eight, and were raised by your grandfather. You stole and swindled from a young age. At eighteen, you had a leg broken for theft. At twenty-two, you gambled away your grandfather’s life-saving money, not only losing it all but costing him his life.”
Zhang Ming initially wore a careless smirk, but as he listened, his expression grew increasingly alarmed. Everything Qi Yuqiu said was true—every single thing he had done.
“At twenty-three, you tricked a girl into getting an abortion for you, resulting in two lives lost. At twenty-four, you started mingling in the entertainment industry, earning quite a bit by secretly framing others and trading information. Year after year, your sins piled up, little by little, and now your time is running out.”
Qi Yuqiu spoke lightly, but his words sent chills down the listener’s spine. Zhang Ming’s face turned deathly pale, and he could barely stand. He wanted to refute, but when he met Qi Yuqiu’s gaze, no words came out.
Pointing at Qi Yuqiu, he forced himself to say, “Y-you’re talking nonsense!”
Qi Yuqiu smiled. “You know better than anyone whether it’s true or false. Denying it won’t erase the fact that everything I said is true. Let me give you one more piece of advice: within ten steps, bloodshed is inevitable. Take care.”
Zhang Ming dared not look Qi Yuqiu in the eye, lowering his head and snarling viciously, “Ghosts fear the wicked—I’m not afraid at all!”
After saying this, he stumbled away.
Sheng Yuke stared dumbfounded at the scene, and when he looked back at Qi Yuqiu, his eyes practically sparkled with admiration.
“What will happen to him?” Sheng Yuke asked.
Qi Yuqiu stroked his chin and replied, “At best, he’ll end up crippled and destitute; at worst, he might accidentally lose his life.”
Then he glanced in another direction and smiled at a young man resting in the shadows.
The young man had been holding his phone pointed toward them the whole time. Seeing Qi Yuqiu meet his gaze through the screen, he couldn’t help but shudder.
What happened next made his scalp tingle even more. As the assigned crew member walked out from under the sunshade, a nearby tricycle carrying props eerily shifted, causing a long spear on it to topple over and plunge straight toward the crew member.
Though it was just a prop, it still left a bloody gash on the crew member’s forehead.