"Someone beat you to it?" Wan Qingsi questioned with a dark scowl on his face. Xiao Hua's head hung low on her shoulders, not daring to make a sound.
She had failed her mission and had even allowed the mysterious woman to get the drop on her. At this point, she was pretty sure the young master would remove her from the young miss' side.
"Young Master, I will go back to base to receive my punishment. But might I request that the punishment be delayed for a few days? I want to leave only when the young miss is better," said Xiao Hua.
"You don't have to return," Wan Qingsi said. "Just put it on your tab for now."
Relief and happiness coursed through Xiao Hua when she heard that. "Great! So I don't have to leave the young miss' side after all," she thought. Then, she heard a cold voice. "There will be an interest rate applied to the punishment you owe."
Xiao Hua curled her lips. "I knew it," she thought. "I knew it's impossible for the young master to be so lenient." Xiao Hua raised her head. "Should I look into it?"
"Are you certain that the woman did something to her?"
"I'm positive. Tang Yue never even woke up when the woman and I were talking. I'm pretty sure the deed had already been done by then." Xiao Hua paused in thought. "That woman is more skilled than I am." It nearly killed Xiao Hua to admit it, but it was the truth. She had to let her young master know.
Wan Qingsi frowned. "Let's wait first," he said. "See what the newspapers have to say."
The following day, the cast and crew had waited until 10 o'clock, and yet Tang Yue never showed. Instead, Tang Yue's agent came running and told everyone that Tang Yue got into an accident. Once she had left the message, the agent left in a hurry.
"What do we do now, director?"
Lin Dong laughed and said, "Notify Chu Yi and tell him he doesn't have to be on set this afternoon. As for us? It's holiday time!"
Deep down, Lin Dong was expecting a change in the movie cast soon!
Meanwhile, Ah Sha was still in bed, snuggling under her blanket. Her face was still swollen, so returning home was definitely a bad idea. Besides, the weather was cloudy and overcast outside. It was the kind of weather that was perfect for sleeping in.
Ah Sha raised her arms above her head lazily and stretched. Then, she picked up the TV remote and pressed the power button. The TV screen flashed and was then showing footage of a large crowd gathering outside the hospital's entrance. A Lincoln MKZ pulled up in front of the hospital and was soon surrounded by the crowd.
Ah Sha's eyes brightened when she saw Xunxun stepping out of the car.
The man was like a regal emperor the moment he appeared. His one hundred and eighty centimeters tall frame and Dorito-shaped body could have people swooning in just under a second.
"As expected from my man!" Ah Sha thought, reaching for the bag of potato chips.
A series of crunching sound ensued.
On screen, those female reporters looked like they were cats who had just caught a glimpse of a fish.
"Good thing Xunxun is mine ever since he was young."
Another bout of crunching sounded.
"President Wan, an actress that Stars Entertainment is representing was assaulted at home and was badly injured. What is your view regarding this matter?"
Ah Sha paused in her chewing and glared at the TV. "Since when is she badly injured? She just couldn't move her arm, that's all!"
The crunching continued.
Qi Xiu and a few other members of the security team shoved the group of reporters aside. Once a path was cleared, Wan Qingsi made his way into the hospital building.
"Ken, the Second Young Master of the Wen family just called. He demanded an explanation from us."
Wan Qingsi's steps came to a halt. He cold gaze swept sideways. "Explanation? It's not like we're his woman's nannies. What right does he have to demand an explanation from us?"
Inside the hospital room, Tang Yue was sobbing quietly on the bed while her agent and assistant whispered words of comfort beside her. When Wan Qingsi entered the room, the assistant and agent quickly stood up and greeted him.
"Boss!"
"Senior!" Tang Yue raised her head, her eyes still red with tears. Even when crying and sobbing, she looked utterly lovable and endearing. Even Qi Xiu felt that this woman was truly blessed with good appearance; all she had to do was cry a little, and men would be eating right out of her palms.
Well, too bad his boss was not included among these men.
"You can't move your arms?" Wan Qingsi asked. He knew what had happened to Tang Yue the moment he arrived at the hospital. Tang Yue could not move her arms and the doctors could not figure out why.
Tang Yue nodded. "I can't move them ever since I woke up this morning. I don't know what happened," she said wretchedly. Then, she gave Wan Qingsi an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry to hinder the movie's production."
Tang Yue bit her lip and allowed her tears to fall.
Beside Tang Yue, her agent quickly jumped in. "Your health is more important right now," said the agent. "Don't worry about the movie for now."
"I'm sure the boss will be happy to hear me say this!" Li Pingping thought inwardly. After all, Tang Yue and the boss had a complex relationship with each other.
"That's right. You can forget all about the movie."
"Bingo..." Li Pingping was just about to start smiling when Wan Qingsi spoke again. "You take your time and recuperate. We'll just change the female lead."
Other than Qi Xiu, the other three women in the room all froze.
"Bo... Boss?" Li Pingping thought she had heard it wrongly.
Wan Qingsi shot the agent a glance. "You have something to say about my decision?"
"... No, no." Li Pingping shuddered and kept quiet after that.
Tang Yue bit her lip and nodded. "The senior is right. The movie's production can't be held up because of me." Under the blankets, the veins were already bulging at the back of her palms as she balled her fists tightly. Still, the look on her face remained piteous and wretched.
Wan Qingsi arched his brows. "Rest well. The company will cover the hospital costs."
Tang Yue's face fell when she saw Wan Qingsi leaving. Her assistant, Xiao Zhao, quickly started comforting her again. "Sister Yue, don't worry, okay? This is inevitable considering what happened. The Boss is still on your side. See? Didn't he come visit you personally today? He even had you transferred to a VIP suite. You..."
"I know," Tang Yue cut him off lazily. "You guys should go. I want to take a nap."
The production crew went back to work ten days later. Now they had to reshoot the previous scenes; because the female lead had changed to Mei Jing whereas Tian Yiyi would play Mei Jing's previous character. When Tian Yiyi learned of the news, she could not decide whether to start laughing or burst into tears.
She had now become the second female lead. Then again, Mei Jing had risen to become the lead actress. When Tian Yiyi noticed Mei Jing and Wan Qingsi arriving on set together, a wave of shock coursed through her heart. Could it be that Mei Jing had actually seduced the Boss? But right now, the Boss did not seem at all like a man who had gotten a night of action...
Wan Qingsi was walking around as if he was mere seconds away from murdering someone. Behind him, Qi Xiu was walking on eggshells. "Didn't your woman already become the new lead actress? Why are you still acting so upset?" Qi Xiu wondered. However, Xiao Hua, who was walking behind Ah Sha, knew better. The young master was pissed off because the young miss had gotten hurt.
"Miss Mei, I hope that you won't encounter any accidents during the filming. I don't want to have to change the lead actress again." Wan Qingsi's profound gaze fell upon Ah Sha. Ah Sha blinked at him a few times, looking surprised but also loved at the same time. "Bo... Boss, d... don't worry, I'll do my best. I'll definitely not disappoint the company!"
Behind Mei Jing, Zhou Na felt a sudden urge to step up and take over the conversation when she saw Mei Jing stammering and stuttering. They had all guessed that the lead actress would probably be changed after what happened to Tang Yue. But nobody had expected Mei Jing to get the role.
Even though it had been a year since Stars Entertainment was first established, Wan Qingsi never fooled around with women; not only that, but everyone had the impression that the man might even hold the attitude of women in contempt. Although Mei Jing was beautiful, she was by no means the most beautiful woman in the field. Nobody would believe the claim that Mei Jing had somehow climbed her way into the boss' bed.
Now, looking at the way Mei Jing was fumbling with her words, everyone was positive that the boss had never f*cked her. As for how Mei Jing ended up with the role? Well, everyone just chalked it up to Mei Jing's dumb luck.
Lin Dong was the only one who seemed pretty happy about all this; Mei Jing had far greater acting skills compared to Tang Yue. Lin Dong highly looked forward to how Mei Jing would play out her new role.
Wan Qingsi was most probably unhappy with Mei Jing's attitude as he merely gave her a snort before storming away from the set. Xiao Hua was all smiles when she came over quickly to stand beside Ah Sha. "Have some tea and then go have your make-up done! The tea should be able to keep you nice and warm."
Ah Sha took the offered drink and muttered thanks. From the corner of her eyes, Ah Sha noticed Tian Yiyi making a beeline towards her. Ah Sha left quickly for the make-up booth; she had neither the time nor energy to entertain an air-headed woman like Tian Yiyi. When Tian Yiyi saw Mei Jing's clear dismissal of her, she stormed away angrily.
After a while, the filming of the first scene was wrapped up. That was when Chu Yi approached Ah Sha. "Can I sit here?" Chu Yi asked politely.
"Yes, you may." Ah Sha raised her head and waited for the man to continue.
Chu Yi smiled at her. "I just came to say hello," he said. "After all, we have to spend months with each other to shoot the movie."
"I understand," Ah Sha said, nodding. "It'll benefit our acting if we get to know each other better."
"You act really well, you know. You don't seem like a rookie at all!" Chu Yi was not trying to butter her up by saying that. He did notice Mei Jing back at Stars Entertainment's dinner party. Back then, he had wondered what a girl who looked as pure and innocent as her was even doing in showbiz.
But when he saw her again on set, gone was the lively and animated girl from the dinner party that night. In her place was a girl who was cold and aloof to just about anyone. But when it was time to film a scene, she could instantly and seamlessly step into her role. Then, there was that little slapping incident involving Tang Yue. Regardless of whether the incident was just an accident, everyone knew that Tang Yue would be walking away with a swollen cheek of her own after Mei Jing left.
On the surface, Mei Jing seemed like an innocent and harmless girl. But that could not be any further from the truth. Mei Jing was by no means weak and fragile.
"That's only because you had led me well," Ah Sha said politely. "As expected from the king of acting."
Her words damn well sounded very genuine, but Chu Yi could not help but feel that she was merely saying it out of politeness. Chu Yi stood up and smiled at her. "Then I hope we enjoy working together. Let's make this movie a hit!" After that, he nodded at her and left.
Xin Enterprises.
Ah Nan poked his head into Ying Qingcang's office. "Young Master, Xunxun is here."
"Get his ass in here!" Ying Qingcang said, slamming the newspaper on the floor.
Xunxun walked in with long strides and sat down on the couch. "You shouldn't get angry that easily at your age," Xunxun remarked. "My mother-in-law will ditch you if you start growing wrinkles."
Ying Qingcang released a humorless chuckle. Then, he picked up a telephone on the table and hurled it at Xunxun.
Xunxun tilted his head to the side and easily dodged the flying telephone. Xunxun sighed. "I didn't even blame you guys for hiding Ah Sha's return from me. And now you're trying to kill me? Seriously?"
"When did you find out?" Ying Qingcang did not sound the slightest bit surprised. It was just like Xunxun had said: he might as well just kill himself if he failed to recognize his own woman.
"I knew the moment I saw her," Xunxun said, staring at Ying Qingcang. "Let's save the discussion about how you old folks were all in cahoots together to lie to me for later. Right now, let me remind you that Ah Sha still doesn't know that I've recognized her. You guys shouldn't let the cat out of the bag just yet."
Ying Qingcang ignored him and pointed at the newspaper on the floor instead. "What's the deal with this woman?" Ying Qingcang had only found out yesterday that this Tang Yue woman had slapped Ah Sha. There would be hell to pay indeed if Xin Qing ever found out about this.
At first, Ying Qingcang had planned to deal with the woman in secret. But when he noticed that Xunxun— this damned brat— had yet to make a move, Ying Qingcang immediately felt that something was off. That was why he had asked Xunxun to come here today so that he could interrogate the brat.
"When my people got there, someone had beaten us to it," Xunxun said with a frown. "Not even the hospital could figure out the cause of her injury. This isn't something that ordinary people are capable of."
A look of suspicion formed on Ying Qingcang's face. "Who do you think is behind this?"
"The military. Maybe someone from the base." The gears turned inside Xunxun's head. "Or bounty hunters."
"This is no trivial matter if any of those three parties is involved," Ying Qingcang said slowly. "That woman, Tang Yue, did you look into her?"
Xunxun shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with her. She's just a man's plaything, that's all. Right now, her sugar daddy is the second son of the capital's Wen family."
Xunxun did not divulge anything about Tang Yue's own intention towards him. In Xunxun's eyes, that woman was outright foolish and revolting.
"The oldest son of the Wen family is a force to be reckoned with. Ignore the younger brother."
Xunxun stood up. "The assailant did not leave any evidence behind. We can only wait until she shows up again. But you don't have to worry. At least for now, it seems like she means Ah Sha no harm." Xunxun opened the door. "I'll be off now. Ciao!"
Ying Qingcang was left alone in his office with a glare. "Goddamn brat. He's even more annoying than when he was young!"