“En?” Song Xiao was the producer for <The Golden Age of the Great Jing> and naturally recognized the second male lead Qiao Su. Hearing Chu Qin’s words, he too turned around to look.
Qiao Su’s complexion didn’t look too good and he took a few steps back. “Where is my manager?”
“Your manager is preoccupied and unable to make it. Go in first, the boss is inside,” The bodyguard said expressionlessly as he stretched out a hand, inviting Qiao Su to enter.
Qiao Su’s lips pursed up. Standing motionlessly, he picked up his mobile phone and gave his manager a call. The bodyguard didn’t have any intention of stopping him from doing so either and calmly waited for him to finish the call.
“Wang-ge, why aren’t you here yet?” Qiao Su couldn’t suppress the raging fury in his heart as he made the call while holding onto the last strand of hope.
“I’m busy here, go in yourself and chat with Mr Zou,” The manager on the other side said vaguely.
“Wang Jianguo, what is the meaning of this!” Qiao Su couldn’t hold it in any longer and questioned him in a loud voice. His manager had said that he would bring him to visit Zou Bo. Zou Bo had considerable power in the industry, but a very poor reputation. Originally, Qiao Su was unwilling to go along with it, but his manager had told him that he would meet with Zou Bo first. Yet now, he was thrown here alone.
The manager had no choice but to hurriedly placate him. “Little Qiao, your career is on the rise now and there are some people you just can’t afford to offend. Zou Bo has plenty of resources within the industry, step out of your comfort zone a little and you won’t encounter hardships for many years. Be more open-minded…”
Qiao Su’s hands trembled from anger. He hung up without listening till the end. Glancing at the bodyguards to his left and right, he inhaled deeply. “My manager isn’t present so today’s business can’t be discussed. Apologize to Mr Zou on my behalf,” He turned to leave.
Chu Qin narrowed his eyes as he witnessed the two bodyguards directly blocking Qiao Su’s way out and half-forcing him into the neighboring villa.
“Who stays in the neighboring villa?” Chu Qin asked Zhong Yibin. This villa belonged to the Zhong family. Given that they had been neighbors for so many years, they should know of this. Zhong Yibin looked towards him innocently as he spread out his hands.
Chu Qin pressed a hand against his forehead. How could he have forgotten that this guy had amnesia? He didn’t even have any recollection of his father and mother, much less his neighbor.
“We can just give the district management a call,” Butler Cao said mildly at the side. Picking up the phone attached to the courtyard’s wall, he dialed through to the district management. “Hello, this is the 16th villa. I would like to purchase the neighboring villa, do you mind revealing the other party’s surname and contact details?”
“Your neighbor is Mr Zou. You can contact your neighbor by dialing 017 through the internal line,” The management on the other end answered conscientiously.
“Zou…” Chu Qin swiftly thought back about whether he recognized anyone surnamed Zou. Eight to nine out of ten people that Qiao Su met were industry insiders, and the only one who had power and was surnamed Zou was that detestable Zou Bo.
Zuo Bo was gay and was fond of laying his hands on famous young hunks. He didn’t care if they were straight or bent. As long as he took a fancy to them, he would think of ways to obtain them.
The publicity clip for <The Golden Age of the Great Jing> had already been released and not only was it being frantically forwarded on the internet, television viewers were greatly anticipating it. Since Qiao Su was playing the graceful male empress, he had taken up an enormous proportion of the publicity clip.
The proud visage of the top scorer in the palace examinations; accompanying the Son of Heaven on a horse during autumn hunting while dressed in fine clothes; his heroic disposition during disputes in the imperial court; his bashful and helpless look on the wedding night. Within the short span of a few minutes in the publicity clip, Qiao Su had worn four different sets of clothing, each set exquisite beyond compare. Against that pure and cold charming face, he was truly made out to be a noble son with a gentle temperament akin to jade. It was unknown how many girls were smitten with Qiao Su but within a few days, the number of fans on his Weibo had skyrocketed from over a million to five million.
This sort of good-looking person naturally drew Zou Bo’s attention.
Zou Bo wasn’t the boss of an entertainment company. He could only be considered someone who mixed around in the industry, but who managed to accomplish something while mixing around. He relied on his connections with the higher-ups and pulled strings for countless people. His network of connections was extremely wide. After mixing around in the industry for many decades, his influence had spread. The resources he held in his palm were indeed rich – he was friends with a few directors of status and was also familiar with a few old directors of entertainment companies. Most importantly, he controlled a division of gossip media.
Anybody whom Zou Bo wanted to support would become popular. On the other hand, it took only a mere few minutes for him to suppress anyone.
Qiao Su had no choice but to follow the bodyguards in. A middle-aged man of average build with a beer belly lay half-reclined against a leather lounge chair behind the tea table. His hand held onto a cigar as he blew puffs of smoke out. This person was Zou Bo.
“You’re here,” Zuo Bo saw Qiao Su and his eyes lit up. Raising his chin, he indicated for Qiao Su to sit down. His eyes swept across Qiao Su’s person without the slightest restraint, appearing increasingly satisfied the more he looked.
Under the sunlight, his fair skin somewhat resembled porcelain and his five facial features were delicately beautiful. No matter if they were viewed in isolation or seen in totality, all his features were extremely pleasing to the eye. The most important thing was that he had a nice figure, a pair of slender legs, a narrow waist, and upturned buttocks. Eating him would most assuredly be a tasty affair.
“My manager isn’t around so there isn’t any way for us to talk about doing business. My sincere apologies, we can arrange for another date,” The minute Qiao Su entered, he felt unwell all over, almost like he had been slathered with toad venom.
“Don’t be so serious, come over and sit,” Zou Bo sat up and patted the seat beside him, signaling him to go over. “This business was originally meant to be discussed only with you. There isn’t a need for the manager.”
Qiao Su clenched his jaw tightly. It wasn’t like it was his first time encountering such a thing. It was fine if others treated him with no tact, but Zou Bo was not someone easy to deal with.
Yu Tang ate the barbecued meat while listening to Chu Qin describe Zou Bo. Disgusted, he couldn’t continue eating the meat. He raised his chin towards a back-clothed person squatting in the shade eating roasted potatoes. The black-clothed person quickly finished the potato skewer. With a smooth fling, a bamboo stick hung securely on the wooden dummy beside butler Cao. Then, he leaped over the wall.
Zhong Yibin couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration, “What skill! Is that your family’s bodyguard?”
“He’s called Solitary Darkness, an adopted son of Tangtang’s house,” Song Xiao smiled and explained.
Chu Qin smacked his lips. This was a real aristocratic family was like – raising an adopted son from young to be a killer, and letting him protect their son…This was illegal, right…
Not long after, Solitary Darkness leaped over again and moved over to whisper into Yu Tang’s ears expressionlessly.
Yu Tang furrowed his brows simultaneously. “That Zou Bo appears to be on the brink of forcing himself on him.”
The reality of the situation did indeed match up with Solitary Darkness’ observations. Zou Bo coerced Qiao Su to his side and pushed him down, preparing to bully him. Qiao Su kicked him aside and made a run for it, but was captured by the bodyguards and pressed down on the floor.
“Little prostitute, you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink even more,” Zou Bo rubbed his chin. “You don’t want to be in the industry any longer?”
Qiao Su glared at him. “I don’t need your resources, there’s no business to talk about. Let me go and I’ll take it that nothing happened today. If you dare to force yourself on me, I’ll expose you even if it means leaving the industry!”
“Oho, expose me then. Let’s see if someone who sold his ass can still attain public sympathy,” Zou Bo said and made to rip Qiao Su’s clothes.
Qiao Su was pressed down by the bodyguards, his back against the couch. The old man on top of him smiled nefariously as he pinched his body. Qiao Su gazed at the splendid villa’s ceiling, inundated by waves of despair.
“Be good, don’t be scared. As long as you serve me well, I’ll let you pick from the best resources,” Zou Bo said with twinkles in his eyes. This small beauty was really pretty, he was even more captivating than that other popular one he just had two days ago. He was worth using a large amount of resources to support.
“Ding-dong—” The doorbell suddenly rang, stunning everyone in the house.
The courtyard was completely sealed, and the scene inside could not be seen by those outside. A bodyguard went over to answer the videophone and Zhong Yibin’s face appeared on screen.
Zou Bo knew that the neighboring villa belonged to the Zhong family but hadn’t thought that Zhong Yibin would actually be present today. He gestured for the bodyguard to speak.
“Seeing that Boss Zou is here, I wanted to deliver some good things to eat,” Zhong Yibin raised the plate full of slices of barbecued meat in his hands.
If it was an ordinary neighbor calling on him, it would be all right if he let the bodyguard accept the items. However, Zhong Yibin was different. Shengshi was an existence in the entertainment circle that few people provoked. The main reason for this was because the company produced everything on its own. It had its own entertainment company, artists, television station and even funding. They didn’t lack anything and had massive influence within the country. Zuo Bo didn’t dare to casually offend Zhong Yibin either, so he could only tidy his clothes and let the bodyguards look after Qiao Su, while he went out personally to receive him.
“Director Zhong is in such good spirits, did you also come out to have fun?” Zuo Bo saw that Chu Qin was following behind Zhong Yibin and his gaze sparkled, smiling as he greeted Chu Qin.
Chu Qin was not only good-looking but also eloquent. It wasn’t that Zou Bo had never been interested in him, but the minute he showed some interest, Zhong Yibin let it be known that Chu Qin belonged to him. Hence, nobody dared to express any devious ideas. Moreover, hosts were not considered artists and weren’t very reliant on resources.
Zhong Yibin pushed the plate of barbecued meat in his hands to Zou Bo. “Not inviting me in for tea?”
Zuo Bo smiled stiffly and invited the two of them in. The bodyguards attempted to chase Qiao Su into the house, but after Qiao Su heard Chu Qin’s voice, he immediately put all his strength into struggling free. He rushed out as if he were grasping at a life-saving straw.
“Ah!” Chu Qin collided head-on with Qiao Su.
Zhong Yibin hurriedly reached out to support him. Only then was the tragic scene of the two people falling prevented.
“Qiao Su! Why are you here?” Chu Qin deliberately asked in a tone of surprise.
“I was supposed to come with my manager to discuss business, but my manager didn’t come so I was just about to bid goodbye to Boss Zou,” Qiao Su held onto Chu Qin’s hand tightly, hoping that he would understand his meaning.
Chu Qin didn’t appear to feel anything, replying happily. “Just nice, let’s go, come over to our place to have some fun. We were just searching for people to play Fight the Landlord.”
Zhong Yibin made small talk with Zou Bo while Chu Qin dragged Qiao Su out the door.
Zuo Bo’s complexion was ashen, but he couldn’t say anything and could only give a forced smile as he went back and forth in conversation with Zhong Yibin.
The author has something to say:
Small theater: <Unspoken rules are very scary>
Villain Bo: Wahaha, nobody will care even if you shout yourself hoarse!
Qinqin: Oh, how coincidental, come play Fight the Landlord
Villain Bo: …F*ck, ruining my fun
Er Bing: Wahaha, nobody will care even if you shout yourself hoarse!
Qinqin: Oh, how coincidental, come play Fight the Landlord
Er Bing: … All right, I’ll go first then, a pair of JJ