Ding Mingyao came Thursday, and Xiao-Zhang and Xu Qingqing have been on high alert since he did, watching over his every step so that he canât pull any schemes behind them.
Though, credit to him, nothing happened that they could see, all the way until Shao Yanxi came to visit at noon, when Liu Yuâan has just finished a scene where he is suspended in midair on a wire, currently being let down gently.
Liu Yuâan looks over at the source of the commotion to see Shao Yanxi being led inside with glamour. Though, given that Shao Yanxi doesnât enjoy intimate contact much, thereâs some space surrounding him, so Liu Yuâan could see him clearly.
When Liu Yuâan is looking at him, so is Shao Yanxi, and they lock eyes. Liu Yuâanâs eyes curl into a smile. Although Shao Yanxi isnât smiling, his expression is visibly softer.
Immediately, though, Liu Yuâanâs smile turns into a frown of anger.
Close to where Shao Yanxi is walking past, Mu Ruiâs assistant happens to be throwing away remains of fruits she has been eating into the trash; nothing out of the ordinary, if not for the fact that she âtripsâ and her trash, mainly consisting of banana peels, flies right out, several of which lands right by Shao Yanxi.
While others might think she tripped accidentally, but Liu Yuâan could see clearly from his angle that she clearly observed for a moment after opening the door and âaccidentallyâ tripped by the doorframe after she is sure Shao Yanxi is in the way.
This is when Liu Yuâan is screaming âwatch out!â Though it all came too late, as Shao Yanxi, looking up at him, fails to notice the banana peel in time and, though he reflexively takes a step back, he steps right into a banana peel behind him.
âFuck!â Liu Yuâan cusses, hurrying the staff member unlinking his wire, âplease, faster.â
Unfortunately, Liu Yuâan hasnât had the chance to learn about wires and the unlinking thereof in his multitude of otherworldly adventures. He can only wait patiently.
The staff member is actually distracted then, curious about the commotion some distance away, but then he hears the rather terrifying tone underlying Liu Yuâanâs voice and âmmâs, quickly letting Liu Yuâan go.
Out of his âbounds,â Liu Yuâan immediately rushes over towards Shao Yanxi, where the surrounding people all seem shocked and are asking if heâs ok while telling the assistant off.
âMr. Shao, careful!â
âMr. Shao, are you alright?â
âJesus! What the hell, did you not see people here?â
âŚ
Liu Yuâan pushes into the crowd, and rushes towards Shao Yanxi. He can see that Shao Yanxiâs hand is scratched. While itâs not severe, itâs bleeding still.
Liu Yuâan is quite angry right now. He asks, grabbing Shao Yanxiâs hand gently, âdoes it hurt?â Then telling assistant He, âcall the doctor.â
âAlready done,â the assistant replies, âthe director said thereâs an on-call doctor. I asked people to call him over to have a look first.â
The director is pretty shocked to see the interaction between the two, but, of course, he knows what is important right now, and does not think further on the matter; though, he is quite certain Liu Yuâan and Shao Yanxi are an actual couple rather than in an unequal relationship.
The others are even more shocked, to see how Liu Yuâan is interacting intimately with Shao Yanxi, and speaking in an ordering tone to the assistant.
Heâs not just any assistant, heâs Shao Yanxiâs assistant. Not just everyone present, but perhaps even if the producer himself came he wouldnât dare order the assistant around, but Liu YuâanâŚ
It causes a whole shift of evaluation of Liu Yuâanâs standing in their minds; while many thought Liu Yuâan is a kept man, but now⌠at least, he perhaps is in an equal, romantic relationship, or, of a formidable family background.
Anyway, on the surface, they all concur, saying, âthe doctorâs been called.â
âAn-ge, donât worry, the doctorâs coming. Maybe we can help Mr. Shao that way to take a rest first.â
Shao Yanxi also says, âIâm fine, donât be so jumpy.â
Though his hand is scratched and hurts a little, itâs actually not that bad; actually, his lower back is hurting the most. When he slipped on the banana peel, both his legs gave out and he landed butt-first, so it hurts the most.
If he wasnât in public, heâd want to just lie down on his front right now.
Liu Yuâan âmmâs, then soothes him saying, âweâll have the doctor look at you soon enough,â then, he continues, telling the assistant, âassistant He, please call the police.â
Itâs another shock to all those present.
Especially the director, who, after working with him for a while now, knows that Liu Yuâan is not only not one to hold a grudge, but is usually generously forgiving as well.
ââA misstatement, perhaps. It is more accurately described by the word âlaziness;â an overall uncaring attitude towards such things.
He is confidently Liu Yuâan would not call the police for trivial or accidental occurrences.
That said, he certainly feels conflicted. Shao Yanxi isnât just anyone. If it were an accident, sure, itâll be fine, but if this was an intentional, deliberate act, happening in his movie shooting⌠Gods.
If the police are called, the media will surely follow like dogs chasing a biscuit trail; the dramaâs reputation will drop through the floor before it even airs from all the dissing, irreconcilable fans of Shao Yanxi.
But, just thinking about who Shao Yanxi is is enough to convince the director to agree; itâs alright even if this drama fails spectacularly. There is always next time.
If he pisses off Shao Yanxi though⌠There will never be a next time.
Not even a this time, if heâs offended enough.
Though Shao Yanxi says, âIâm fine, you donât need to get the police involved.â
The assistant, phone in hand, is hesitant.
Everyone else is also gasping. Police are the worst people they could call to a movie studio. Even if nothing at all happened, as long as the police have made a visit, it wouldnât be two days before a new topic hits it onto Trending.
Even if they have all the evidence on their side, many will be in blind keyboard warrior mode and continue to diss them.
Mu Ruiâs assistant, currently surrounded by a crowd, seems terrified. She keeps saying, âIâm sorry, Iâm sorry, I didnât mean to, Iâm sorry!â
âYou didnât mean to?!â Liu Yuâan is so angry thereâs a hint of laughter in his tone.
If she was a man, heâd be kicking her ass right here and now already.
âYou think everyone is as fucking blind as you?!â Liu Yuâan rarely cusses, though this is one of the exceptions, âdid you think you were really discreet? But the moment from when you opened the door to look around, to making sure that Yanxi is walking exactly there, before pretending to trip over and throw the banana peels out, I saw it allâŚâ
Though Liu Yuâan is rather curious about her motive.
If it were Liu Yuâanâs enemies in business or his siblings, they would certainly not employ such an easily busted scheme.
If itâs someone after him instead⌠How would they know when Shao Yanxi is coming?
And⌠It shouldnât affect him on the surface either.
So Liu Yuâan is really confused about why she is doing this.
Though the director is shaking uncontrollably from what he has just heard. He doesnât even need Liu Yuâan to hurry him again before immediately calling the police.
He can take the disses, he can take a fall.
One drama vs. one Shao Yanxi. Itâs Shao Yanxiâs completely victory; and, heâs even the investor behind this.
Shao Yanxi stops him, âdonât call the police here,â then tells assistant He, âyou see her off to the police station.â
Then, Liu Yuâan helps him onto his nanny van.
âNo, please! I donât want to go to the police station! Itâs my fault, but I didnât mean to!â She is in tears at this point.
Nobody is giving her a sympathetic eye though, until Mu Rui is back from her short trip to the loo.
The young girl immediately brushes off the people dragging her away and runs towards her, â biaojie ! Save me! They want to send me to prison.â
Mu Ruiâs assistant is a rather special case here. She is her biaomei . At only 19 years old, she forewent further studies to be her biaojieâs assistant.
An assistant only in name, really; sheâs young, and a close relative. Besides, Mu Rui herself is quite the independent spirit herself. She does a lot of things herself, so the assistant doesnât need to do much herself.
âWhat is it?â Mu Rui pats her biaomei on the back, and asks the others. She is of course unhappy that a close friend of hers is being treated like this.
But after hearing what everyone else says, that unhappiness vanishes, giving way only to a âbiaomei, why would you do this to me?â
Insignificant actresses like herself wouldnât even dare to displease the middle manager of a normal everyday entertainment company, but her biaomei went and intentionally harmed Shao Yanxi.
Shao Yanxi. Shao, Yanxi .
Even if Shao Yanxi himself is generous enough to not do anything to them, there will always be shortsighted individuals attempting to please him by sacrificing insignificant âpawnsâ like them.
Her career might end here and now.
She pushes the assistant off her, and asks, âJingli, was it something I did?â That you would betray and hurt me where it hurts the most?
The girl trembles even more strongly and is crying even more, âno, itâs not you, I did it, but I didnât do it on purpose. I was outside to throw away the trash, but I tripped on the doorframe, and the banana peel just happened to land there and Mr. Shao stepped on itâŚâ
Suddenly, Mu Rui recalls how her biaomei kept telling her to buy bananas this morning. Neither of them had a thing for bananas much, but today⌠They even made a detour just to visit a grocery store to buy fruits.
Mu Ruiâs face goes grim. She closes her eyes and pushes the girl away again, saying, âsend her to the police station,â then she turns and walks back into her resting room.
As for Liu Yuâan and Shao Yanxi, well, obviously, Liu Yuâan is gently holding Shao Yanxiâs hand and asking, blowing a little breeze on it, âdoes it hurt?â
Shao Yanxi wanted to say the truth at first, but quickly says âit hurtsâ in the end.
Assistant He ââŚâ
Didnât somebody say it didnât hurt earlier?
His boss sure is getting more and more complacent appealing via showing his weak side.
Jeez. The dog food.
He decides to quietly leave the nanny van and close the door behind him, and wait for the doctor outside.
Inside, Liu Yuâan is wiping around Shao Yanxiâs wound carefully with the clean tissues in the van. He is wary about pressing them directly on the wound.
After disposing of them, he asks, âdoes your butt hurt,â as he puts his hand where he is asking.
Shao Yanxi quickly grabs it, and glares at Liu Yuâan.
âI can massage it for you.â
â⌠A bit.â
âLie down, please?â
The nanny van has a sofa that can even act as a bed, convenient.
âThe doctor is going to be here,â he says, not lying down.
âDonât worry, the assistant is outside,â he says, pushing him down, âheâll remind us when heâs here,â and Shao Yanxi doesnât fight back anymore.
Authorâs notes: Do you know why I wrote this chapter?
Because itâs snowing here. I slipped.
So I quickly wrote a chapter up to share that with you all.