After breakfast, the busy process of filming once again resumed. All filming would end today and there would be a sumptuous bonfire dinner at night to create a lively and bustling atmosphere.
The ship transporting the goods had already arrived and the workers took advantage of the filming time to arrange everything. All the cameramen had gone to film at this time and since Chu Qin didn’t have any scenes, he went to supervise the unloading of cargo.
“Qin-ge, this is for you,” Little Tian, who was unloading the goods, ran over diligently and stuffed a bag of potato chips into Chu Qin’s hands. Little Tian was the same Little Tian from Confusion who was fond of eating fruits. He had been transferred to <Bun, Quickly Run> to handle on-site matters. He would always hide a portion of any good stuff for Chu Qin.
“Stealing goods,” Chu Qin rapped him on the head. Though his mouth said as such, he still tore open the bag of potato chips and started eating them. People were like this. They wouldn’t think of eating something they shouldn’t consume if they had access to it normally. However, when they were on a barren mountain with no access to edibles, they would then crave this sort of snack.
Little Tian laughed mischievously and gave him a pack of cuttlefish strips.
The sponsor was very generous. The goods sent this time were plentiful and it didn’t matter even if they stole a little to eat. Seeing that Chu Qin was eating so happily, Little Tian diligently ran back to the cargo ship and fixed his attention on the workers unloading the goods, not allowing them to eat on the sly.
Chu Qin smiled faintly. Without paying them any more attention, he went in search of Zhong Yibin. Due to the length of time needed for today’s task, those people didn’t have the time to eat lunch and needed to complete their tasks on an empty stomach.
Zhong Yibin was currently evading several waves of people who were ‘pursuing him to kill’. With the clue and key in his arms, he hid in a narrow crack between two large stones. The cameraman couldn’t squeeze in and could only squat in the thicket, the camera pointing towards the crack in the stone.
“They definitely won’t be able to find me if I hide here, hehe,” Zhong Yibin spoke towards the camera. “Elder brother asked me to hide. This type of game is too complicated, nothing will go wrong if I listen to elder brother’s instructions.” The cameraman was amused by his seriousness, but for the sake of keeping the camera stable, he had to hold it in and prevent himself from trembling. After hiding for a long period of time, nobody came to find him. Zhong Yibin squatted on the ground. “So hungry…”
He had exercised a little last night and didn’t have much to eat in the morning. After rushing around madly in the morning, he was now famished.
“Someone’s here!” Zhong Yiin pricked his ears up nervously, indicating for the cameraman not to make a sound.
The atmosphere sank into a state of extreme tension. Half of Zhong Yibin’s head popped out from the crack in the stone and he discovered Chu Qin, who was hiding himself as he ran over. His eyes instantly lit up and he scrambled out to grab him. “Why did you come here?”
“Shh—” Chu Qin gestured for the cameraman not to film and gave Zhong Yibin a bag of cuttlefish strips and two slices of bread.
“Wow, this is too timely!” Zhong Yibin was ecstatic. Those who had wives caring for them were different; when everyone was about to starve to death, they would receive preferential treatment. After eating the cuttlefish strips, Zhong Yibin polished off the bread ravenously and Chu Qin passed him a bottle of the yogurt given by the sponsor.
The entirety of the yogurt was consumed in a matter of seconds. Zhong Yibin smacked his lips with the hopes of having more and threw the rubbish into the bag before giving it back to Chu Qin. He pecked Chu Qin on the face and even wanted to be lovey-dovey for a while longer when suddenly, footsteps were heard in the distance.
“Quickly, go!” Zhong Yibin said in a low voice as he swiftly dove back into the stone crack.
Chu Qin hurriedly picked up the bag and ran. Zhao Xu, who was pursuing him vigorously, thought that he had found the target and ran after Chu Qin. However, Chu Qin had access to staff passages and disappeared in a blink of an eye, causing Zhao Xu to end up dripping with sweat.
Upon returning to the beach, Chu Qin noticed that Little Tian was drinking a bottle of yogurt and went over to say smilingly, “There are so many fruits, why aren’t you eating those?”
“Those are for use during the night, the workers here can’t touch them,” Xiao Tian stated righteously, as if he wasn’t the one who had just stolen potato chips and cuttlefish strips.
Chu Qin pursed his lips in a smile.
Little Tian glanced at him and scratched his head in distress. “Qin-ge, I went to the coast with them just now and scrolled through my phone…”
“What new thing did you see?” Chu Qin drank a mouth of water and turned to look at him. Little Tian was usually a man of few words. Every time he spoke to him, it would certainly be something important.
“There’s gossip about the director circulating on the internet,” It was difficult for Little Tian to talk about it. He knew of the relationship between Zhong Yibin and Chu Qin, and wasn’t very sure how to speak to him about it. But this matter was too severe, and it was necessary for Chu Qin to be told. “Zhao Bo-ge will be coming here tonight, I think you should prepare yourself in advance.”
Zhao Bo was Chu Qin’s manager. Something major must have happened for him to come to the island to see Chu Qin in this short frame of time.
Chu Qin furrowed his brows and urged Little Tian to speak.
Little Tian stared at his toes that were buried in the sand and said softly, “A woman claimed she was the director’s senior high school classmate and was knocked up by him then.”
This news was originally only published in a gossip magazine and hadn’t attracted much attention. However, it was very quickly found by people on social media and people started to dig deeper into the matter. Zhong Yibin’s public image had always been on the rise and few people believed in this story that suddenly appeared.
But very quickly, someone revealed that Zhong Yibin was previously a hedonistic son of rich parents who frequently visited all sorts of bars and nightclubs. Moreover, someone found the girl from that year. The so-called Nanshan High School’s flower was now a karaoke hostess at a certain club.
Everyone’s impression of Zhong Yibin instantly took a dive. The ‘Zhong Qin’ CP fans were enraged. Some said that this was a rumor while others expressed disappointment in Zhong Yibin and that they hoped that he would stay far away from Chu Qin.
[As expected, there’s no one good among the rich second generations!]
[This is the kind of person ‘beneath a fine exterior lays rot’ refers to.]
[Wuwu, I don’t believe this, I don’t believe this. Little Director Zhong is clearly so meng.]
Zhong Yibin was not an artist in the entertainment industry. Even if there was an issue with his personal lifestyle, it wouldn’t influence his career. But there would certainly be an impact on the program <Bun, Quickly Run>. Shengshi TV had already received many complaints via call the past two days, requesting for them to replace Zhong Yibin.
However, Zhong Yibin was their boss. The television station didn’t dare to say anything, only silently keeping it under control.
Chu Qin’s brows furrowed deeply upon hearing these words. He suddenly recalled the words Wu Wan had uttered the previous day. He had asked Zhong Yibin if he still remembered the school flower from Nanshan High School.
Sure enough, Zhao Bo rushed over in the afternoon on the day itself. The news he brought was even more complete than what Little Tian knew, though it didn’t differ too much. “This matter won’t affect the program too harshly. It’ll be fine as long as we deny it. I came because I feared that you would act impulsively. Who hasn’t committed a wrong during their youth? It’s all in the past…”
Chu Qin raised his eyes and glanced at Zhao Bo. Raising a hand, he stopped Zhao Bo from continuing. “Has the company investigated the person who released the news?”
“It has already been investigated. The chairman was furious. He didn’t seem to know that the director had done something like this before,” Zhao Bo grimaced.
The more Chu Qin listened, the more the creases at his brows deepened. After listening to all the news Zhao Bo brought, he sent him off the island. “Control public opinion on the internet. Lean towards it being a rumor. No matter the evidence that appears, do not ever admit to it.”
Zhao Bo was somewhat astonished at Chu Qin’s reaction but still nodded and returned to shore to settle this issue. He needed to stabilize these ‘Zhong Qin’ fans. They were the key towards raising Chu Qin’s popularity. This mister still wanted to come out of the closet in the future, so the direction in which public opinion swayed was of extreme importance.
Chu Qin leisurely directed everyone to start the bonfire party. The eventual winners this week was the Zhong brothers. The main test this week was intellect, thus the Zhong family’s big brother relied on his meticulous logic to completely crush everyone, eventually obtaining the hidden treasure. Apart from a Golden Chopstick, a bottle of champagne was also included in the treasure.
Zhong Yibin held the champagne and opened it while standing on the reef. Everyone cheered as they watched the champagne gush out. They sat around the bonfire as they feasted on an extravagant barbecued dinner.
This beautiful time came to an end and everyone took a yacht that very night to rush back to shore. Nobody wanted to continue sleeping in those hot and damp tents. The moment Zhong Yibin got back to shore, he received several calls. The company called, partners called, and even his father gave him a call.
“Look at the good things you did in the past. Settle it cleanly for me within three days. If this affects the stock price, you won’t need to manage Shengshi Entertainment any longer,” Father Zhong’s clearly infuriated voice sounded from the phone, thundering till it pained his ears.
Zhong Jiabin knew the whole story and was silent for a moment before turning to speak to Chu Qin. “The authenticity of this matter has yet to be determined. Yibin has amnesia, don’t blame him.”
Chu Qin was stunned for a moment. He nodded. “I know, you can rest at ease.”
Yu Tang immediately offered his aid after hearing of this issue. Old Waves was now under his control and it was no effort at all for him to change the way the wind was blowing on social media. Very quickly, a popular person on Weibo appeared to analyze the matter, stating that this matter was odd in all aspects. They just had to choose the period when Zhong Yibin was filming on the island without any phone signal to release this. They were clearly harboring unfathomable motives.
But the moment a wave evened out, another rose. Zhong Yibin had just returned to the company when a few hoodlums sat outside the company entrance carrying a bedboard with a paralyzed, elderly person lying on it. The elderly person’s son sat on the ground screaming and crying, saying that Zhong Yibin had ran into his mother two years ago while street racing. After that, they had agreed on a private settlement and for Zhong Yibin to give them living expenses every month. But in the past six months, they had not received any. The elderly person was unable to see the doctor due to lack of money and was almost unable to hold on.
He lost his memories seven months ago, so if it was six months ago that he stopped giving them money, it was possible for such a thing to happen.
Zhong Yibin stared blankly as he stood on the spot, shutting his eyes. He had no recollection of all these things. Was he truly this sort of unbearable person in the past? Zhong Yibin was in a daze and unexpectedly didn’t avoid the man rushing at him with his fists.
Fortunately, the bodyguards were at his side and they instantly went forward to subdue the incessantly twisting man. The few ruffians who had came with the man immediately made a fuss, loudly proclaiming as they pulled at the calico curtain with black words written on it. This scene was captured by the paparazzi and it very quickly circulated on the internet. Those who had started to ignore those gossipers were once again stirred and they continuously shouted for Zhong Yibin to leave <Bun, Quickly Run>.
[Both were born to the same parents but why is Zhong Yibin’s character so different from his elder brother?]
[Zhong Yibin was originally not as outstanding as his elder brother. He has probably abandoned himself to despair.]
[This sort of spicy chicken isn’t suited to be with our Qinqin!]
Zhong Yibin looked at the comments on the internet, at a loss. Chu Qin passed him a cup of hot water and removed the tablet. “Stop looking at it, rest for a while.”
“Chu Qin…” Zhong Yibin looked up at him with pain deep within his eyes. “Was I really such a bad person in the past?” His head was now a huge mess and he was completely incapable of recollecting any past episodes. Powerlessness and distress raged in his heart. If he were truly such a disappointing person, he was completely not suited to be with Chu Qin. He was trash…
Chu Qin watched him fixedly and spoke with a grave expression, “Zhong Yibin, you’re insulting me.”
Zhong Yibin was shocked, his entire body stretching taut.
“What kind of person am I, Chu Qin? How could I be with a spicy chicken?” Chu Qin used a severe tone of voice. Even when saying internet slang, he was still a picture of dignity. “You won’t do such things.”
The originally dark and gloomy eyes suddenly emitted dazzling rays of light. Zhong Yibin wrapped Chu Qin tightly in his embrace. “You…you believe me?”
“Don’t worry, it’s just a few tricks. It’ll be resolved very quickly,” Chu Qin smiled as he hugged him back. “Now, the crucial question is – who divulged the fact that you have amnesia?”
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Er Bing: They called me a spicy chicken
Qinqin: Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. You’re not a spicy chicken
Er Bing: How are you so sure?
Qinqin: Because you’re Zhong Chick. You’re too small to become a spicy chicken