“You were right after all!” Pei Yan’s indignant voice came through the other end of the phone. “Chu Hanfeng has no heart!”
What happened to the cool breeze and bright moon?
It was all fake!
“You were the one who got drunk and picked a fight with someone; what does that have to do with Chu Hanfeng?” Yu Cheng said honestly. “I think Chu Hanfeng made a lot of sense.”
Earlier, when Pei Yan mentioned causing trouble with someone from the Chu family at his own nightclub, Yu Cheng had already felt that involving Chu Hanfeng in this matter was a bad idea.
Chu Hanfeng never liked poking his nose into other people’s business, let alone with Pei Yan dragging Yu Cheng into it as well. Wasn’t that just asking for trouble in front of Chu Hanfeng?
“Look at you, claiming left and right that you don’t like Chu Hanfeng anymore, yet your elbows are still turning outward,” Pei Yan replied with a heartbroken expression. “You emotional fraud!”
Yu Cheng had put the call on speakerphone. Casually tapping open his contacts list, he said offhandedly, “You should tone down your temper too. Just take this time as paying for a lesson.”
For a moment, Pei Yan couldn’t figure out how Yu Cheng had the nerve to say something like that, considering that when it came to having a big temper, Yu Cheng could ride right on top of his head.
Before he had a chance to retort, he heard Yu Cheng say, “Getting angry at me is useless. As hard as it is to explain, I really can’t climb high enough to reach the Chu family, and my relationship with Chu Hanfeng can’t even be called good.”
After all, Song Feiwan’s background was sensitive. Back then, when Yu Zhengxiang had been with him, it was strictly a secret underground relationship. After he broke things off with Song Feiwan, they never had any further contact, and Yu Zhengxiang wouldn’t even allow that name to be mentioned in front of him.
Not to mention that the Chu family’s background was extraordinary.
Aside from Chu Hanfeng, he genuinely didn’t know anyone else from the Chu family.
As Yu Cheng spoke, he looked at the empty living room and suddenly felt a sour sting in his eyes.
To Yu Zhengxiang, Song Feiwan was like a passing traveler. After the breakup, that man had truly poured all his energy into his work.
It was just a pity…
The career Yu Zhengxiang had painstakingly built over half a lifetime might finally collapse suddenly, just like a crumbling skyscraper.
Yet a company’s insolvency doesn’t happen overnight; all of those signs must have been there long ago.
If he himself was just a minor cannon fodder, then to the protagonist group, Yu Zhengxiang was even more of a cannon fodder among cannon fodders.
In the original book, there were only a scattering of lines about him, and the existence of every single word was simply to let others know just how miserable Yu Cheng was.
According to the proper plot, later on Yu Zhengxiang would get entangled in lawsuits, his health would deteriorate day by day, and in the end, Yu Zhengxiang’s passing became the final straw that broke him.
He had poured his heart and soul into Chu Hanfeng, thinking that if he could carve out a name for himself in the entertainment industry, it would make Chu Hanfeng look at him differently and spare him a few more glances.
In the end, the outcome he traded for was the destruction of his family.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t been in contact with Yu Zhengxiang for a good half year.
Actually, he missed the old man quite a bit.
Over the past few days, he had been moving his things from the company dormitory back home piece by piece, but he hadn’t caught sight of Yu Zhengxiang even once.
Ever since he left home, Yu Zhengxiang had dismissed the live-in housekeeper. After all, Yu Zhengxiang spent more than half of every month living at the company, and the other half traveling on business trips. Once Yu Cheng started throwing temper tantrums, the times he came home naturally became even rarer.
Who knows what Yu Zhengxiang was up to right now?
Yu Cheng stared blankly at Yu Zhengxiang’s phone number, realizing there wasn’t even time to connect a call to him.
After sending a text message to Yu Zhengxiang to let him know he had returned home, Yu Cheng tossed his head back, curled up on the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest.
Pei Yan’s anxious, flustered voice drifted into his ears, pulling Yu Cheng’s thoughts back: “It’s easy for you to say, ‘buy a lesson.’ It’s one thing for me to be taught a lesson, but my old man still has to make a living! You also know how people in the business world swing with the wind. Hearing that I’ve offended the Chu family, several of our business partners have already run off.”
After all, they had known each other for so many years. If he were to just leave the guy to fend for himself and let the plot from that book play out…
This guy kept dancing on the protagonist group’s trigger points every single day because of him, and his family would fall into ruin even earlier than Yu Cheng’s own.
This made Yu Cheng feel rather distressed.
Fair is fair, Pei Yan had always treated him very well.
If he could guide the guy onto the right path, perhaps things wouldn’t turn out too terrible?
“Your nightclub is a smoky, chaotic mess; why don’t you just close it down?” Yu Cheng said after a great deal of internal struggle. “Wouldn’t it be better to follow your dad and properly run the restaurant business?”
“That sounds so boring.” Pei Yan refused without a second thought.
“But the other party is overbearing and unwilling to negotiate with you. If you want to smooth things over, you have to show some attitude first,” Yu Cheng said, using such a patient, earnest tone for the very first time. “Song Feiwan is hosting a private banquet recently, and people from the Chu family might show up as well. I have an invitation. If all else fails, we can go try our luck.”
“Song Feiwan? That Song Feiwan who used to be with Chu Shiping?”
Pei Yan was stunned, then pondered something: “How do you have an invitation to Song Feiwan’s private banquet?”
Yu Cheng: “…”
Pei Yan: “Did you go through all sorts of desperate lengths to get it for Chu Hanfeng again? Didn’t you say you don’t like him anymore?”
Yu Cheng had no way to answer.
Last month, when rumors circulated that Chu Hanfeng had been injured while filming, he had shamelessly tracked down Song Feiwan, wanting to ask about Chu Hanfeng’s recent condition.
Perhaps because her impression of him from those years wasn’t bad, not only did Song Feiwan not put on a cold face, but she even chatted with him amiably for nearly ten minutes. She had dropped a mention that she was hosting a private banquet at the end of the year, that Chu Hanfeng would be attending as well, and asked if he was going, adding that if he went, he could bring a friend along.
At that time, he had naturally agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
The past was too painful to look back on. Yu Cheng urged him: “Stop asking so many questions. Are you going or not?”
Pei Yan doubted: “Are you sure that once you see Chu Hanfeng, you’ll still have the mental capacity to care whether I live or die?”
Yu Cheng was speechless: “I’ve already asked around. Chu Hanfeng has other schedules and won’t be staying long. Instead of chasing after Chu Hanfeng, you’d be better off trying your luck with Song Feiwan. After all, on one side you have that illegitimate son you offended who can’t be brought out in public, and on the other side you have Chu Hanfeng’s biological mother, who, though divorced, has started walking frequently with the Chu family again in recent years. Which side carries more weight goes without saying.”
“Who knows, maybe we’ll even run into other elders from the Chu family. As long as we put on a good surface show, those messy rumors won’t spread around anymore. When the time comes, I’ll walk further away so I don’t cause you any trouble.”
Pei Yan was half-skeptical about Yu Cheng’s attitude, only feeling that Yu Cheng was once again making excuses for his deep-rooted infatuation.
Yu Cheng couldn’t be bothered to explain and continued to instruct: “You just need to remember to keep a good attitude, don’t offend anyone, and don’t force things.”
Pei Yan felt deeply aggrieved: “But my attitude toward Chu Hanfeng yesterday was already good enough.”
Yu Cheng sympathized: “Have you ever heard of the fish in the moat catching fire when the city gates burn?”
Pei Yan: “?”
Yu Cheng: “To tell you the truth, right now Chu Hanfeng gets upset just looking at me. You saw how things were last night, Chu Hanfeng’s expression when looking at me could freeze someone to death, and his eyes were practically carrying knives. Remember not to mention me to him again, or you might get buried alive by him.”
Pei Yan: “…”
Yu Cheng: “By then we can all just go into the ground together, and we won’t have any worries for the rest of our lives. Don’t you think that’s wonderful?”
Pei Yan: “Indeed.”
Pei Yan didn’t see it that way.
The fact that Yu Cheng could pull hair out of a tiger’s tail wasn’t a one-day or two-day occurrence, and wasn’t he still standing here safe and sound right now?
Pei Yan couldn’t help gossiping: “Are you really planning to give up on Chu Hanfeng? When did this happen?”
Yu Cheng replied vaguely: “Just some time ago.”
Pei Yan issued a soul-searching interrogation: “Some time ago? Weren’t you still buying a Christmas gift for Chu Hanfeng some time ago?”
Yu Cheng was caught off guard and froze: “A gift?”
Pei Yan reminded him: “Doing the math, it should have already been delivered to Chu Hanfeng by now, right?”
Yu Cheng: “…”
The gift was a pair of global limited-edition sneakers.
He hadn’t been clear on what Chu Hanfeng actually liked, so he could only send what he liked himself.
A pair for him, and a pair for Chu Hanfeng; come to think of it, it could even count as half a couple’s item.
If Pei Yan hadn’t brought it up, he would have forgotten all about this!
Yu Cheng felt a jolt in his heart, but upon second thought, so what if he sent shoes?
It was just a pair of shoes!
He immediately hardened his tone: “I was just reminding him.”
Pei Yan didn’t understand: “Reminding him of what?”
Yu Cheng’s face didn’t flush and his heart didn’t beat fast: “I’m running away.”
Pei Yan had a sudden realization, and when he thought about it carefully, it really did carry that implication.
Before he even had a chance to praise Yu Cheng for his bizarre train of thought, the next second he saw a WeChat voice prompt saying the other party’s signal was poor, and dialing back yielded only a busy tone.
Immediately following that, the message pop-up of the entertainment app appeared:
[A-list rising star Yu Cheng has been missing from the public eye for a long time, suspected of being frozen by his agency! A review of the top ten scandal-ridden celebrities in the entertainment industry who met a miserable end!]
Among the top ten scandal-ridden celebrities, nine were truly scandalous indeed, ranging from infidelity and cheating to tax evasion, each one more eye-catching than the last.
Yet the one with the highest discussion volume was none other than Yu Cheng, who was rumored to have backing from a financial backer and an explosive temper.
[What kind of popular star is Yu Cheng? Don’t be too absurd.]
[Yu Cheng really does have someone supporting him from behind, otherwise how could he walk sideways.]
[I wanted to say this last time when he beat up Tong Shi: this kind of artist lacking morals should hurry up and scram!]
[I heard that his sugar daddy ran into trouble recently, so Yu Cheng probably won’t be strutting around for much longer.]
[How did someone who sells his body based on his looks ever have the nerve to use Chu Hanfeng for marketing back then? Acting like a pure, devoted fan, yue.]
[A time for public celebration! Chu Hanfeng finally doesn’t have to be used as a stepping stone for hype by some vase all day long!]
[Who is Yu Cheng’s backer? Suggest investigating them too.]
[I heard his last name is Pei, and his family runs catering clubs.]
[Speechless. Looking at Yu Cheng’s temper, I thought his backer must be someone terrifying.]
The half-true and half-false remarks grew increasingly intense, and Sun Can was also burning with anxiety, unable to understand why Yu Cheng had gone and provoked Zhong Kun and Tong Shi all over again.
One after another, anyone with eyes could see what was really going on; it was just the marketing accounts and paid trolls kept by the company.
When the company originally planned to promote Yu Cheng, they had once praised him to the heavens and down to the depths of the earth, but now, turning around, it looked as though they had all collectively gone blind.
“Putting you together in a discussion with those immoral artists is a deliberate move. Once that dirty water really gets splashed on you, washing it clean later will probably be difficult,” Sun Can felt his head splitting into two. “Didn’t Zhong Kun and the others already soften their stance?”
Yet the emperor wasn’t anxious, while the eunuch was frantic. Yu Cheng wouldn’t answer his phone, and his WeChat was busy, leaving Sun Can with no choice but to send Yu Cheng a few voice messages.
After gulping down a large mouthful of water, he added another sentence: “Also, what’s going on with this ‘Pei-surnamed backer’ mentioned in the posts?”
Sun Can suffered a myocardial infarction, terrified that his career had reached its end.
Amidst his dizziness, he abruptly heard a furious roar coming from the adjacent lounge:
Tong Shi let out a defensive roar: “Yu Cheng, you have no shame! What on earth did you say to President Zhong?!”
Sun Can: “?”
The other person’s hysterical voice rolled in overwhelmingly through the crack in the door: “So what if you smeared me in front of President Zhong? Do you really think I let you have the drop-in slot because I was afraid of you?”
Originally hearing that Yu Cheng had caused a massive uproar at Zhong Kun’s place, Tong Shi had wanted to add fuel to the fire and get Zhong Kun to think of a way to fix Yu Cheng.
Who would have thought that before he even opened his mouth, he would be subjected to a torrent of humiliation from Zhong Kun, being heavily disciplined right there in the office to the point where both his knees and the corners of his mouth were rubbed raw.
At this moment, Tong Shi felt blood rushing straight to the top of his head, and all those words he had bottled up inside burst out at once.
“I’ve already asked around; Chu Hanfeng is completely just a gimmick, and he doesn’t even have time to record a show.”
“Like Chu Hanfeng? Take a look in the mirror and see if you’re worthy.”
“When you were rolling around in bed with your sugar daddy, you were probably thinking about Chu Hanfeng the whole time, weren’t you? Doesn’t that Pei kid feel disgusted in his heart?”
“Are you done talking?”
Tong Shi was hoarse and dry-throated. After pausing for half a second, he heard Yu Cheng casually reply to him: “Don’t project your own behavior onto others. Do you think everyone is as unselective as you?”
“I…”
“What about your ‘I’?” Tong Shi didn’t even get a sentence out before Yu Cheng cut him off mercilessly. “Instead of having the spare time to call me and put on airs, you’d be better off spending it figuring out how to please your dear older brother. Do you really think you’re some amazing cash cow? A little sapling whose leaves haven’t even grown in fully, and this is the only trick you’ve got.”
As soon as the words fell, Yu Cheng cleanly hung up the phone.
Leaving behind a stiff-faced Tong Shi staring blankly at his phone screen, feeling a breathless, suffocating rage for a moment as the veins on his temples bulged.
Yu Cheng’s words buzzed relentlessly in his mind. Countless ways to retort spun back and forth on the tip of his tongue, yet every single time he was mocked by Yu Cheng, somehow not a single word ever came out.
Just like that day when he had been grabbed by the collar and threatened by Yu Cheng, feeling that exact same powerlessness.
He simply couldn’t stand Yu Cheng’s high-and-mighty attitude.
Why should Yu Cheng be able to act however he pleased without putting anyone in his eyes?
Why should he have to fawn and beg, enduring Zhong Kun’s foul language and those unbearable touches and tortures every single night?
Tong Shi closed his eyes and breathed heavily, remaining silent for a few seconds before suddenly and uncontrollably bursting into wild laughter.
So what if he acted as he pleased?
Right now, wasn’t Yu Cheng just like him, relying on hooking up with others to create opportunities for himself?
He had seen far too much of this sort of thing; once you step into the mire, you can never turn back.
No one can stay completely unblemished.
Even Yu Cheng was no exception.
A moment later, Tong Shi adjusted his state, took a selfie, and posted it to Weibo.
The photo showed Tong Shi lying flat against a pillow looking listless and drowsy, accompanied by the caption: [Caught a cold. The temperature has dropped recently, everyone please take care of your health too!]
Beneath it, a sea of fans whimpered and cried out in heartache, instructing Tong Shi to get some rest.
Immediately following that, some people comforted Tong Shi not to waste energy worrying about unworthy people or things, saying that trash like Yu Cheng definitely wouldn’t be arrogant for long.
On the other side, Zhong Kun glanced at the photo Tong Shi had sent him. Aside from the one of him lying against the pillow, there were a few others with an even more innocent expression, his collar slipping downward due to his posture, exposing a large expanse of fair skin.
The ecstatic sensation from venting his frustrations on Tong Shi just moments prior quietly overflowed to the back of his throat. Although he knew Yu Cheng’s words probably didn’t have half a cent to do with Tong Shi.
Tong Shi’s current glory relied entirely on him; how could he possibly let Yu Cheng get hold of that kind of leverage?
Yet Tong Shi was willing of his own accord to let him toy with him, so why wouldn’t he indulge himself?
Amidst his reminiscing, the assistant lightly knocked on the door a few times, and before waiting for a response, spoke cautiously: “President Zhong, the new boss came to the company today and asked you to go upstairs. There are some things they want to discuss with you.”