As it turned out, An Ru had posted a picture of her own crying face on Weibo.
As the caption, she had written, “Mei Jing, please stop coming between me and Qingsi. I will agree to any demands you have if you can do that!” The post had already been flooded with supportive and comforting comments from An Ru’s die-hard fans.
Ah Sha nearly dropped the piece of bread she was holding between her lips. “Seriously, this woman…”
The screen of her phone started flashing as it rang. She picked up the call.
“You’re awake?” Wan Qingsi said, his voice deep and tender.
Ah Sha stretched. “Yup. I even checked Weibo.”
Silence filled the other end of the line for several seconds. “Already working on it, don’t worry,” Wan Qingsi said. “I’m coming home right away.”
After the call ended, Ah Sha powered up her laptop and logged on to her Weibo account. Words of hatred filled her screen.
“Shameless homewrecker!”
“Women like you are the most shameless of all. Go to hell!”
“Your mom sure did a poor job in raising you. You disgust me…”
Ah Sha could ignore everything else, but those disrespectful comments about her parents pissed her off. Her eyes became colder as she read on. Then, all of a sudden, she received another notification; someone else had mentioned her in another post. She clicked on the notification and was instantly brought to Wan Qingsi’s Weibo page.
“Mei Jing, whatever your demands are, I can top whatever it is that An Ru gives you. You’re mine.”
Ah Sha smiled and watched the number of Wan Qingsi’s Weibo fans increase linearly. All of a sudden, Weibo users who were supportive of her began to appear in spades. This new legion of Weibo users began to make heated posts on An Ru’s Weibo, scolding her for being shameless. Ah Sha knew that this was Zhou Na’s counterattack.
By the time Wan Qingsi came home, the Weibo war was still in progress, but Ah Sha was trying to make a phone call.
“Who are you calling?”
Ah Sha tossed the phone aside and dove into his arms. “Bai Qi,” she said.
“What business do you have with him?” Wan Qingsi frowned. “When we’ve finally gotten rid of the guy, and now you’re calling him?”
“The call didn’t get through,” Ah Sha said. “He probably changed his number.”
Wan Qingsi noticed that her laptop was still on with his Weibo page displayed on the screen. He pressed his lips together, forming a tight line.
Ah Sha noticed the shift in his body language. She sat up and looked at him. “What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Ah Sha…” Wan Qingsi buried his face into her chest. “I’m regretting everything now. I regret bringing you into showbiz. I thought I could protect you. But in the end, I failed you and you got hurt.”
Wan Qingsi had already seen those comments on Weibo, and he knew those comments would anger Ah Sha. In his mind, everything was his fault.
“Tsk, tsk. This isn’t like the Brother Xunxun I know,” Ah Sha said, pinching Wan Qingsi’s cheek. “The Brother Xunxun I know isn’t going be fazed by anything!”
Wan Qingsi shifted their positions so that he was on top of Ah Sha. “Ah Sha, let’s quit the showbiz, okay?” Wan Qingsi kissed her once. “I’m really worried about you. And I’m also worried that Aunt Qing might worry.”
Ah Sha stared into the man’s dark eyes and kissed him too. “Brother Xunxun, I’m fine! Honest! I already expected this when I decided to join this line of work. This little scandal is nothing. I mean, I fare so much better compared to the victims of slander and unspoken rules!”
“I’m going to kill anyone who does those things to you.” Wan Qingsi was radiating a cold aura. He flipped their positions and allowed Ah Sha to lie on top of him. “I can’t stand to see you suffer like this. Why don’t… Why don’t I just order Wan Yi to kill An Ru and be done with it.”
Ah Sha wiggled her body against him. “All hell would break loose if you kill her,” Ah Sha said. “If you kill her and the Lin family finds out, both the Ying and the Wan families would be dragged into this mess.”
“So what? It’s not like we’re afraid of them.”
“Then my dream would be ruined,” Ah Sha said. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in showbiz, too. But I have to at least star in a few good movies and act to my heart’s content. After that I’ll stay at home and be your housewife!”
Wan Qingsi didn’t comment. He dropped several kisses on her hair and slowly stroked her spine.
Ah Sha knew Wan Qingsi wouldn’t cut off her wing and then lock her up in a cage. In fact, he started Stars Entertainment precisely because he wanted to provide her with the opportunity to spread her wings and fly freely.
Suddenly, a surge of heat rose to her chest. “Your hand…” Ah Sha said. Then, she rolled her eyes at him.
Wan Qingsi stood up and picked her up. “Come on! Time for a bath!”
On Weibo, the war of words lasted for three long days before things finally cooled down. By then, Ah Sha had already gone back to the movie set to resume filming. Ah Sha hadn’t made a single comment ever since An Ru’s Weibo post. Right now, Ah Sha was waiting to see what An Ru’s next move was going to be.
Now, Ah Sha finally saw An Ru for who she truly was: a lunatic whose actions couldn’t be predicted based on reason and common sense. Her devotion to Wan Qingsi had turned into a kind of obsession. She was dead set on the idea that Wan Qingsi was her man and hers alone. Nothing anyone did could change her mind.
“Ken, some of our celebrities have put in requests to terminate their contracts with us. A few want to leave after their contracts end.”
Wan Qingsi stood up and walked around his desk. “Let me guess. They’re joining Sky Entertainment?”
“Yes. The few who are reaching the end of their contracts have already signed new contracts with Sky Entertainment in private.”
“Deng Ran called me this morning,” Wan Qingsi said. He sat down on the couch and loosened his tie. “He’s taking a vacation overseas.”
“He’s leaving too?!” Qi Xiu shouted. “What an ingrate! Who was the one who saved him from the mob back then? It’s all because of you that he got to where he is today.”
“I’m the one who sent him overseas,” Wan Qingsi said. “An Ru’s people are threatening him.”
“No wonder they all had strange looks on their faces when they told me about terminating their contracts with us,” Qi Xiu said with a frown. “It turns out that they had been receiving threats. What should we do, then?”
Wan Qingsi didn’t care much about the other celebrities; however, he knew that Stars Entertainment must become the leading company in the industry if he wanted to give Ah Sha the protection she needed. Turning Stars Entertainment into the best in the field had been his original intention, and that would never change.
“Tell them that they’re allowed to take a vacation outside the country if they wish,” Wan Qingsi said. “The company will cover the costs of their travels.”
Qi Xiu nodded. “I was thinking the same. But what are we going to tell the public?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Wan Qingsi said, releasing a derisive snort. “This game has just begun. It’s much to early to decide who’s going to be the final victor!”
Meanwhile, back at the movie set, Ah Sha and Tang Yue were about to film an action scene that involved wire-flying. At the moment, the two actresses were suspended in mid-air through wires attached to their bodies. Once everything was ready, the director gave the “action” cue and the camera started rolling. In this scene, their characters would leap off a tall building and then fly across a stretch of abandoned ruins. They would fight each other in mid-air before landing on the roof of a car.
Mid-flight, both Ah Sha and Tang Yue noticed that something was amiss.
All of a sudden, they heard a shout from the crew member in charge of the wires. “Sh*t! The wire snapped!”
Almost instantly, Ah Sha and Tang Yue started plummeting to the ground. Both of them were still assuming fighting stances as they fall. Moments before they hit the ground, Tang Yue panicked and gave Ah Sha a hard shove. That push gave Tang Yue’s body enough momentum to propel her body away from the movie props used to simulate the ruins. Tang Yue’s body slammed into the pavement while Ah Sha crashed into a bunch of movie props.
Xiao Hua was the first person to start sprinting towards Ah Sha the moment the wires snapped. Too bad Xiao Hua had been standing too far away to get to Ah Sha in time. The speed of Ah Sha’s fall was too fast for anyone to do anything to help. Moments before impact, Ah Sha did everything she could to protect the most vital parts of her body by curling up her body and covering her face.
Crash! Ah Sha plunged straight into the movie props.
Xiao Hua made it to Ah Sha at practically the same time as Ah Sha was crashing into the props. “Young Miss! Young Miss!” Xiao Hua yelled. Chaos broke out in the entire movie set. Xiao Hua didn’t know what was going on over at Tang Yue’s side, and frankly, she didn’t give a rat’s ass. Xiao Hua crouched down and picked up Ah Sha from the ground. Then, she carried her away. Walking beside Xiao Hua, Zhou Na was so frightened that her legs were trembling.
Ah Sha wasn’t moving and was covered in soot and ash from head to toe. Traces of blood stained her head. Depp barreled through the crowd and ran up towards them with his car keys in hand. “Hurry, let’s get her to my car,” Depp said. “I’ll drive her to the hospital.”
Just then, Li Pingping shouted at them. “Hey! Wait! There’s still Tang Yue!”
Xiao Hua turned around and shot Li Pingping a menacing glare. “If anything happens to our young miss, then Tang Yue is finished.”
“Pfft. Young Miss? Whose young miss is she?” Li Pingping shot back venomously. Sensing the impending fight, the director quickly defused the situation by calling an ambulance.
Wan Qingsi was at Ying Qingcang’s company when he received the call. Together, he and Ying Qingcang rushed to the hospital. On the way there, Ying Qingcang felt the urge to bite Wan Qingsi’s head off. But when he saw the look of agony on Wan Qingsi’s face, he couldn’t get the words out.
Then again, Ying Qingcang lost it the moment they arrived at the hospital and saw Ah Sha’s battered body on the bed. Ah Sha had refused to allow the doctors to enter her room. Right now, only Xiao Hua was inside the room with Ah Sha.
“Daddy? What are you doing here?”
“My daughter would soon end up dead if I don’t step in,” Ying Qingcang said, his voice quivering with rage.
Ah Sha chuckled sheepishly. “I’m fine, daddy. It looks serious, but trust me, they’re all just surface wounds.”
“Why didn’t you give the doctors the permission to come in?” Wan Qingsi asked, staring at the huge bump on her forehead, the sight of which dissuaded him from touching her.
Ah Sha gave him a pointed look. “I’m wearing a mask, remember?”
There was a wound on her forehead. If she were to allow the doctors to examine it, she would have to take off her facial mask.
Qi Xiu rushed into the room and froze for a moment when he saw Ying Qingcang. “Ken, the reporters are all over the hospital’s entrance,” Qi Xiu said. “Tang Yue has just been brought in. Her leg is broken.”
Wan Qingsi pushed Qi Xiu out the door. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”
After Qi Xiu left, Wan Qingsi turned to Ying Qingcang. “I’m going to distract the reporters. You should take Ah Sha home first.”
After that, Wan Qingsi gave Ah Sha a deep and probing look before he left the room.
Wan Qingsi was in a hurry when he left. On the way out, he bumped into a patient in a wheelchair. He muttered an apology and left in a hurry again. Amidst the chaos, he failed to notice that his phone had fallen out of his pocket. The patient in a wheelchair picked up the device and was just about to call Wan Qingsi back when a woman appeared beside the wheelchair.
“Give it to me! I’m his girlfriend.”
The main entrance of the hospital was indeed crowded with reporters. Cameras started flashing the moment Wan Qingsi stepped out.
“President Wan, is this just an accident? Or is it sabotage?”
“Is it true that Stars Entertainment is unable to guarantee the safety of its celebrities?”
“President Wan, a lot of Stars Entertainment’s celebrities had gone overseas for vacations. Is there something you’re hiding from us?”
…
Ah Che ran into Ah Sha’s room shortly after Wan Qingsi left. “Young Master,” Ah Che said. “The back entrance is clear. Let’s leave through the back!”
Ying Qingcang picked up Ah Sha from the bed. “Call Xunxun and tell him that we’ve gone on ahead,” Ying Qingcang told Ah Che. Then, he looked at Xiao Hua. “You come with us too.”
Xiao Hua grabbed a blanket from the bed and used it to cover Ah Sha’s body before they headed out. Then, the four of them made a dash for the back entrance. In the car, Ah Che called Wan Qingsi several times, none of which were answered. After sending Wan Qingsi a quick text, Ah Che started the car and quickly drove off.
“Have you notified the doctors?” Ying Qingcang asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ah Che said with a nod.
Ah Sha stretched herself out on the backseat and removed her mask. Excited, Xiao Hua shifted her position to take a closer look at Ah Sha’s real face. “Young Miss, you look so much better like this!”
“Oh, please. You know there isn’t much difference.” Ah Sha pinched Xiao Hua lightly. “Ugh. My head is killing me. I’m going to take a nap.”
When Ying Qingcang saw Ah Sha closing her eyes, he draped a blanket over Ah Sha’s body. “Seriously, the older you are, the more we have to worry about you,” Ying Qingcang grumbled. “I’m going to smack you if your mommy ends up crying when she sees you later!”
Sure enough, Xin Qing nearly jumped out of her skin when a team of doctors showed up at Ying’s residence out of the blue. Ah Nan had tried his best to beat around the bush and downplay the severity of the incident during his explanation. Alas, despite his valiant efforts, Xin Qing still freaked out after hearing that Ah Sha had injured herself during the movie’s filming. Xin Qing was practically going bananas by the time Ah Nan had reached the part about snapping wires and mid-air falls. After that, Xin Qing pretty much coerced Ah Nan to push her to the front door where they both waited for everyone to return.
Xin Qing started yelling the moment she saw their car pulling up to the car porch. “Ah Sha! Ah Sha!”
Ying Qingcang got out of the car first and quickly ran up to Xin Qing. “It’s okay, it’s okay! Calm down, she didn’t suffer from any internal injuries. She didn’t break any bones either. Just a few scratches on her face, that’s all.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Xin Qing snapped, bursting into tears. “Would you have called the doctors to the house it it were only a few scratches?”
“Where is she? Can she walk?” Xin Qing asked.
“Mommy!” Ah Sha limped over, leaning against Xiao Hua for support. “See? I’m totally fine!”
In the meantime, back at the hospital, Wan Qingsi left Qi Xiu to deal with the reporters while he hurried back to the hospital room. When he got there, he saw Ah Sha lying on the bed alone. He entered and closed the door gently. Then, he climbed onto the bed and hugged her from behind.