“Mr. Xie… gege.” Ling Wei had almost called him Mr. Xie out of habit, but when she met his slightly teasing gaze, she instinctively changed it to gege. She thought that calling him that was fine, better to get used to it early in case she slipped up in other situations later.
“What is it?” Xie Qingyan had just posted on Moments and was clearly in a good mood.
“I just want to interview you. How do you manage to post such explosive updates with a completely straight face?”
Xie Qingyan’s eyes curved as he revealed a handsome smile. “Because I am Daddy Xie.”
Aside from the slightly disheveled front of his shirt due to the missing button, Boss Xie still looked refined and meticulous. For someone with such elegant bearing to refer to himself as Dad the moment he opened his mouth was enough to make one question reality.
Still, it was a very powerful reason.
Ling Wei looked as if she had been enlightened, then asked again, “And you don’t find it strange to post those things right in front of me?”
Her tone carried a hint of accusation, but Boss Xie remained perfectly composed and asked in return, “Which things?”
“The… cross country delivery, the torn button and so on.” By the end of her sentence, even her ears were burning. She did not understand why two fake lovers had to discuss such suggestive topics.
“You were the one who tore off my button first. That’s why I posted on Moments,” Boss Xie said righteously.
“I… I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Why didn’t you tear somewhere else, why the button?” he said meaningfully.
“It was just by accident… no, that’s not the point!” Ling Wei realized she was being led in circles. “The point is what you wrote!”
A beautiful curve lifted at the corner of Xie Qingyan’s lips. “What is wrong with what I wrote? I traveled a long way to see you and had my button torn off. Aren’t those facts? I was just stating the truth.”
Ling Wei: …
What Daddy Xie said actually made a bit of sense, leaving her speechless.
“But…” Ling Wei suddenly found herself unable to argue. “Those words are too ambiguous!”
Xie Qingyan leisurely took out a cigarette and put it between his lips. His eyes were full of amusement. “Baby, you’re imagining too much. Not being good.”
Ling Wei: …
An hour later, the two of them walked out after finishing their barbecue, both carrying the smoky scent of grilled food.
When the driver pulled up, Ling Wei asked the man beside her, “Where are you going next? Have you booked a hotel?”
Xie Qingyan was smoking, apparently his attempt to quit had not succeeded. He exhaled a puff of white smoke and smiled ambiguously. “Why so proactive all of a sudden?”
Ling Wei froze for two seconds before realizing she had been teased again. She could not help cursing inwardly, shameless rascal.
“Gege, can we have a normal conversation?”
Xie Qingyan raised an eyebrow. Although he did not think there was anything wrong with what he had said, he still cooperated and straightened his expression. “I have to head back tonight. There’s an important meeting tomorrow morning. After the meeting, if I have time, I’ll come visit your set.”
Ling Wei had not demanded that he visit, but since Boss Xie had offered, she naturally would not refuse. “Around what time?”
“Around noon, not certain.”
The driver soon pulled up to pick them up. Xie Qingyan first sent Ling Wei back to the hotel where the crew was staying, then said goodbye and left.
Ling Wei watched the black Mercedes merge into traffic before taking out her phone to check it. There were several missed calls, all from Zhao Ruyi. During dinner, she had set her phone to silent mode and deliberately ignored Zhao Ruyi’s calls.
After thinking for a moment, she returned the call. “Sister Zhao, are you done over there?”
“You finally decided to call back?” Zhao Ruyi spoke a bit slowly, probably because she had been drinking.
“I just finished and called you right away.”
“Come over now. We’re still singing.” Zhao Ruyi named a private club and hung up.
After a moment’s thought, Ling Wei called Chen Xiaoruo and instructed her over the phone, “I’m going to the club to find Zhao Ruyi and the others. If I’m not back before midnight, go find Sister Lan Ruo and ask her to send someone to pick me up. If Sister Lan Ruo refuses, call Boss Xie using my work phone. He has both of my numbers saved.”
Chen Xiaoruo was stunned after hearing this. “Sister, is it dangerous? Then don’t go!”
If she did not go, it would be a clear declaration of war with Zhao Ruyi. After that, Zhao Ruyi would definitely keep making trouble for her. Until she figured out a way to deal with Zhao Ruyi, she had to endure it.
After giving her instructions, Ling Wei hailed a taxi at the hotel entrance and headed to the club.
Once she arrived, she did not rush into Zhao Ruyi’s private room. Instead, she found the waiter assigned to serve that room and slipped him several hundred in tips. “If someone tries to force me to drink later, you handle the pouring for me. You know what to do, right?”
The waiter accepted the tip and made an OK gesture with a smile.
Only then did Ling Wei push open the door to the private room. Most of the people inside were already quite drunk. The room was thick with smoke and heavy with the smell of alcohol, so stifling it nearly drove her back out.
Zhao Ruyi, slightly tipsy, waved at her when she saw her enter. “Come over here and have a drink with Assistant Director Wang.”
The short, overweight, balding Assistant Director Wang had a bulbous red nose and grinned with a mouthful of yellow teeth. He chuckled, “One drink… one drink isn’t enough. At least… three as a penalty.”
The group of drunk men around them began to cheer. Ling Wei scanned the room and saw that Bai Xiaolian was also tipsy, leaning against the sofa and giggling foolishly.
With the alcohol tolerance from her previous life, three drinks would have been nothing. But this young body was not very tolerant. Three glasses would probably be enough. “Sure, let me get a clean glass,” she said, then waved to the waiter at the door. The quick witted waiter came in with a clean glass and efficiently poured her a drink.
Someone nearby jeered, “Why bother with a glass? Drink straight from the bottle!”
Ling Wei turned and shot him a sharp, gloomy look. “Do you drink your liquor straight from the bottle? If you can’t do it yourself, don’t make things difficult for a woman.”
The man had only been shouting along under the influence of alcohol. After being confronted by Ling Wei, he did not dare make another sound.
Ling Wei took a small sip first and found the alcohol indeed tasted diluted. Only then did she feel at ease and down it in one go. After finishing three glasses in succession, her expression remained unchanged.
Assistant Director Wang, somewhat muddle headed, was the first to clap and cheer. He patted the seat beside him and said to Ling Wei, “Come, come, sit here.”
Ling Wei glanced at the seat and smiled. “I’d better sit next to Sister Bai. She seems quite drunk.” Without waiting for a response, she squeezed herself down beside Bai Xiaolian.
Bai Xiaolian stared at her blankly, then said resentfully, “Don’t sit next to me. Go away, go away.”
Ling Wei could not be bothered with her and remained seated without moving.
Before long, the people in the room resumed drinking and singing. The atmosphere was lively, as if everyone had forgotten they still had work the next day.
Zhao Ruyi pushed something through the crowd to Ling Wei. When Ling Wei looked at it, she saw it was a room key card.
“It’s late. I booked several rooms upstairs. We’re all staying here tonight.”
The moment Ling Wei saw the key card, everything became clear.
When Zhao Ruyi had insisted in the afternoon that she come drink tonight, Ling Wei had known it would not be so simple. Now, seeing the key card, she finally understood her intention. This woman was truly vicious, ready to sell her off without batting an eye.
In Ling Wei’s memory, nothing like this had happened in her previous life. Perhaps at that time Bai Xiaolian had not joined the production of Palace Willow Behind the Walls, and Zhao Ruyi had not shown up either. Once history deviated from its original track, many things changed along with it.
If Ling Wei lacked sufficient life experience, she might have foolishly accepted the key card and gone upstairs. But now she was well aware of the industry’s tricks. Compared to those, Zhao Ruyi’s method seemed crude and overly direct.
Holding the key card, Ling Wei smiled at Zhao Ruyi, then turned and began deliberately encouraging Bai Xiaolian to drink.
Bai Xiaolian had already been tipsy. After a few more drinks pushed on her by Ling Wei, she became completely disoriented, clutching Ling Wei’s collar and repeatedly saying she hated her.
More than half an hour later, Ling Wei also pretended to be drunk. Pulling Bai Xiaolian up, she said to Zhao Ruyi, “Sister Zhao, Sister Bai says she wants to go back to her room. I’ve had too much to drink as well. I want to sleep.”
Zhao Ruyi glanced at her. “Did you bring the key card? Don’t lose it.”
“Got it, got it.”
Supporting each other, they staggered toward the door. Ling Wei pointed to the waiter from earlier. “Handsome, could you help me get Sister Bai back? She’s so heavy!”
The waiter nodded repeatedly with a smile and came over to help carry Bai Xiaolian out.
Once they entered the elevator, Ling Wei dropped her drunken act. The waiter was not surprised, after all, he had been the one pouring her diluted drinks.
Ling Wei led the waiter to the room Zhao Ruyi had arranged for her, swiped the card, and went inside. With his help, she laid Bai Xiaolian on the bed. Bai Xiaolian was already fast asleep.
Ling Wei thoughtfully pulled the blanket over her, covering her securely, even pulling it halfway over her head. Then she followed the waiter out. Before closing the door, she casually switched off the main light, leaving only the small light by the entrance on.
“Handsome, where’s the emergency stairwell? I’m taking the stairs down.”
The waiter looked at her oddly but pointed the way. Ling Wei slipped him another tip and said, “If anyone asks, just say I went back to my room to sleep. Thank you.”
He nodded repeatedly, clutching the bills.
When Ling Wei returned to the crew’s hotel, it was not yet midnight. Chen Xiaoruo was waiting anxiously in the lobby like an ant on a hot pan. When she saw Ling Wei, she jumped up and shouted, “Sister Wei!”
Ling Wei quickly stopped her from yelling and pulled her upstairs.
“I was worried sick. If you hadn’t come back, I was about to go find Sister Lan Ruo.”
“It’s fine now. Go back and sleep,” Ling Wei reassured her, thinking that things were fine for now, but she did not know whether tomorrow would bring a storm.
Early the next morning, a huge piece of news spread like wildfire through the production.
Assistant Director Wang slept with Bai Xiaolian last night!
Author’s note: Please allow me to move the plot forward. Everyone is focused on Daddy Xie, I wonder if anyone still remembers this story actually has a plot. Bai Xiaolian is not innocent either, she knew about Zhao Ruyi’s plan.
Tomorrow Daddy Xie will make a domineering entrance.
Side story:
Daddy Xie’s Moments:
“Let me tell you all, behind this button lies an unknown story…”
The attached image was still that torn off button.
Friends’ replies:
“Your Majesty, will you die if you don’t show off?”
“Daddy, you should frame that button as a souvenir.”
“A newly taken man is terrifying.”
“Daddy, you’re so flirtatious. Does your baby know?”
“Why can’t you behave like a normal person?”
“Why haven’t I blocked this guy yet?”
…