HTI: Chapter 101

Xie Yang followed Qiu Xing to the room that he had opened. The rooms reserved by the crew for the actors were all on the upper floors of the hotel while the room opened by Qiu Xing was on the middle floor. He also generously booked the whole floor.

On the way to the room, Xie Yang found several strong people in casual clothing guarding the hotel lobby and elevator entrance. He realized something and turned to look at Qiu Xing. “You brought the bodyguards?”

“Yes.”

“Why bring them?”

Qiu Xing took the initiative to hold Xie Yang’s hand. “It is to avoid unnecessary trouble. This is the only hotel in this place.”

Xie Yang understood. The place where the crew decided to film was very remote and this was the only hotel nearby. Qiu Xing came here to stay and a place where the crew lived was likely to have paparazzi. Even if there were no paparazzi, there were many eyes in the crew. If anyone saw Qiu Xing with him, it might lead to unnecessary speculation and gossip. In fact, Xie Yang didn’t care if his relationship with Qiu Xing was known by outsiders but obviously, Qiu Xing thought he cared and acted carefully.

All in all, Qiu Xing rushed over, arranged for bodyguards to follow and waited up this late all for Xie Yang. Qiu Xing worked hard to satisfy Xie Yang’s wish and was careful not to cause him trouble.

Qiu Xing used the room key to open the door of a room in the middle of this floor. Xie Yang followed him inside and took the initiative to close the door. Then he immediately hugged Qiu Xing and raised his head.

Qiu Xing stopped for a while before hugging Xie Yang back.

Xie Yang was very enthusiastic. The atmosphere started to run wildly in a direction that was out of control.

“Wait…” Qiu Xing touched Xie Yang’s head and gently pressed down. He adjusted his breathing and said, “It’s very late. You have to get up early tomorrow so go take a bath and rest.”

Xie Yang looked at Qiu Xing and leaned up again.

A while later, the tired Qiu Xing held Xie Yang down a second time. “No more—”

Xie Yang didn’t give Qiu Xing a chance to speak or refuse.

The atmosphere was half out of control and Qiu Xing suddenly stopped restraining himself. He picked up Xie Yang and laid Xie Yang on the bed. He took the initiative to soothe Xie Yang, touching his face and coaxing him. “It’s late. Go take a bath and sleep. Sleeping late isn’t good for your health.”

Xie Yang lifted his hands to hook on the back of Qiu Xing’s neck and pressed it down.

……

Before going completely out of control, Qiu Xing held down Xie Yang’s hand for the third time. He touched Xie Yang’s head and coaxed in a hoarse voice. “Enough, time to rest. Be good, Yang Yang, be good.”

Xie Yang paused as he was about to approach. He realized that this was the first time Qiu Xing had called him by such an intimate name. He raised his eyes and saw Qiu Xing’s face full of patience, completely unaware of what he just called out. Suddenly, Xie Yang didn’t want to force Qiu Xing any longer.

Forget it, just follow the coward’s rhythm. There was still a long time.

Xie Yang closed his eyes, slowly adjusted his breathing and hugged Qiu Xing’s waist. “Qiu Xing, I don’t want to divorce you but I want to divorce you.”

This was a very contradictory statement but it was his mood.

He didn’t want to get divorced because he didn’t want to be separated from Qiu Xing. He wanted to get a divorce because it was the original owner, not him, who went to get the certificate with Qiu Xing. He might be the original owner now but there was always something different. Maybe this thought was a bit hypocritical but exclusivity in love was sometimes unreasonable.

Qiu Xing seemed to understand Xie Yang’s words. He hugged Xie Yang back and spoke in a low, soft and gentle voice. “Okay, it is all up to you.”

***

Xie Yang woke up the next day and Qiu Xing was gone from the room. There was a note and a document on the bedside table. Xie Yang took the note and looked at it first.

[There is a meeting in the morning. I will go first. Eat well, rest well and don’t stay up late.]

He was actually already gone. Xie Yang touched the cold bed next to him and his mood fell. He actually hadn’t noticed when Qiu Xing got up and left. In addition.. he sensed a bit of recovered ability in his ability core.

He had been too impulsive last night and forgot to direct his power into Qiu Xing. His mood fell even more as Xie Yang picked up the document. The words ‘Divorce Agreement’ could be seen in big letters. Xie Yang was stunned and scanned the divorce agreement. Then he couldn’t help smiling.

The divorce agreement looked normal at first glance but a closer look revealed that the terms written in it were actually nonsense. For the party’s signature column, Qiu Xing had actually signed ‘You said divorce but also not divorce.’

So giving the divorce agreement was considered divorced? Secretly changing the concept? Before they separated last time, Qiu Xing said they would have a good discussion about the divorce next time. Was this what he was referring to? So cunning.

His depressed mood quickly changed because of this agreement. Xie Yang looked around and found a pen. He signed ‘this doesn’t count’ under Qiu Xing’s line and then took a photo to send to Qiu Xing.

Qiu Xing didn’t reply so he should still be on the plane. Xie Yang closed WeChat, flipped through the divorce agreement that had no legal effect and put it away with a smile.

Qiu Xing might’ve left but the bodyguards stayed behind. Under the cover of the bodyguards, Xie Yang smoothly returned to the room arranged for him by the crew. He joined Qin Cheng who was waiting in the room in advance.

Xie Yang found that Qin Cheng had dark circles under his eyes and they were bloodshot. He asked in a confused manner, “What’s wrong with you?”

Qin Cheng replied, “I spent all night staring at the news and inquiring. I was afraid that your hug with Mr Qiu at the hotel entrance last night would be photographed and released. I was afraid there wouldn’t be time for PR if I fell asleep.”

Xie Yang, “……”

He had a rare guilty conscience and patted Qin Cheng on the shoulder in silent apology and comfort. Then he asked, “Did anyone photograph it?”

“No, this place is too far. The crew just moved here yesterday and the paparazzi haven’t found it yet. They don’t know that the crew has changed places to film.”

“It’s been hard on you.” Xie Yang patted Qin Cheng on the shoulder and let Qin Cheng have a good rest. He grabbed his clothes and prepared to go to the bathroom to have a  shower. As he walked to the bathroom door, he suddenly stopped and said, “If Qiu Xing and I are photographed together in the future, you don’t have to guard against it so hard.”

Qin Cheng was instantly energetic. “You want to make it public?”

Xie Yang touched the baby sheep jade pendant around his neck and smiled. “Just let it go.”

***

After taking a shower, Xie Yang went to Zhou Huairen’s room to report in from his break. Then he went to the restaurant with Zhou Huairen to eat breakfast.

The set was still being prepared and formal shooting could only start in the afternoon. It was rare to have no work in the morning. Many crew members hadn’t woken up yet and there weren’t many people in the restaurant. Director Zhou swept a glance over the restaurant and shouted for the assistant director who was eating breakfast and one of the screenwriters to come over. He pulled everyone to eat while discussing the next filming.

The assistant director and screenwriter came over and congratulated Xie Yang on the awards. Then they sat down opposite the two.

Xie Yang smiled and thanked them.

Hearing everyone mention the Golden Song Awards, Director Zhou suddenly sighed. “This year’s Golden Song Award is really… well, it’s messy. Xie Yang, there are some things you don’t have to worry about. There is no point in entanglement. Stick to yourself and things will happen. As for Mu Zhouyi… in the beginning, I was very optimistic about her. I felt she had made great progress and had an aura around her. As a result… She took the wrong step. Why didn’t she make good movies? That innocent girl had to engage in some crooked ways and do this and that. Hong Zhijie and his wife had a good life—”

The assistant director pulled Director Zhou and he hurriedly stopped the conversation, returning to the topic of filming the movie. Xie Yang pretended not to hear Director Zhou’s words and followed the change in subject.

Halfway through breakfast, the crew gradually came to the restaurant. Many people came over to congratulate Xie Yang on winning awards with an enthusiastic attitude. Xie Yang responded politely.

Not long after, several leading actors entered the restaurant together. Director Zhou called them to put together a large table and continued talking about the shooting. Wen Yao sat next to Xie Yang. Xie Yang glanced at Wen Yao and took the initiative to say a greeting. Wen Yao replied and then concentrated on breakfast.

Director Zhou was very interested in talking. The stars had finished breakfast but he showed no signs of wanting to end the conversation. Everyone could only sit and listen to Director Zhou.

The waiter came up to collect everyone’s plates and then served some tea, water and fruits.

Wen Yao, who had been silent since sitting down, suddenly spoke. She lowered her voice and told Xie Yang, “I called Mu Zhouyi yesterday but she didn’t answer. She wouldn’t reply even after I sent her a message.”

Xie Yang also lowered his voice as he wondered, “Are you worried?”

Wen Yao didn’t answer and just asked, “Is she okay?”

“She shouldn’t be very good.”

Wen Yao no longer spoke.

After talking until 10 o’clock, Director Zhou finally finished enjoying himself and everyone left the table. Xie Yang returned to his room and unexpectedly found that Qin Cheng was still there. Qin Cheng hadn’t gone back to his room to sleep. Xie Yang asked, “Why haven’t you gone to bed?”

“There is something else I forgot to tell you.” Qin Cheng took out his mobile phone. He pulled up a few screenshots to show Xie Yang and spoke in a sleepy manner, “Some of the media broke these photos at three or four in the morning. They said that an unknown man went to the hospital to visit Mu Zhouyi. Then 10 minutes later, all the articles were deleted.”

Xie Yang took Qin Cheng’s phone and flipped through the news screenshots.

There were few news screenshots, once of which was a screenshot of the text. The remaining three were photos. These photos were obviously sneak shots. In the photos, a man with a hat entered and left Mu Zhouyi’s ward under the protection of a bodyguard. His head was lowered the entire way and he wasn’t photographed clearly.

Qin Cheng continued, “When you went to eat breakfast, there were new articles on the Internet saying that Mu Zhouyi was discharged from the hospital. She isn’t actually pregnant and it was a misreport by the media.”

Xie Yang returned the mobile phone to Qin Cheng. “I understand. Send me these photos and then go rest. You’ve worked hard.”

Qin Cheng nodded, sent the photos and left.

Xie Yang sent the photo he received to Feng Qinglin as well as an inquiring text.

Xie Yang: Is the man in the photo Feng Qingbai?

Feng Qinglin replied in seconds: Yes, Mu Zhouyi lost the child.

It was so fast.

The phone vibrated again.

Feng Qinglin: Mu Zhouyi is showing signs of amnesia.

Amnesia?

Xie Yang called Feng Qinglin directly to ask. “What did Mu Zhouyi forget?”

“She has very fragmented memories and…” Feng Qinglin’s tone suddenly became a bit complicated. He couldn’t bear it and sighed. “The news I heard was that Mu Zhouyi had a stroke. Her reactions have become slow and her language function is also affected. She often opens and closes her mouth but no sound is made. Her mental state is very bad.”

Slow reactions?

Xie Yang frowned. “You mean, Mu Zhouyi is a fool?”

***

Mu Zhouyi was really a fool. That evening, Huangtian issued a formal explanation announcement.

There were three main points to the announcement. Mu Zhouyi’s sudden abnormal performance at the Golden Song Awards was due to an illness, she wasn’t pregnant, the aftereffects from this illness were serious and she would go on hiatus indefinitely.

Public opinion was boiling over again.

Xie Yang looked at Weibo while raising his eyebrow.

He was very suspicious that Mu Zhouyi’s state was related to the confidentiality mechanism mentioned by the system and the operation of clearing the data of the previous host. If it was really related, would he be forced to become a fool by the system after he drove the system away?

This guess was too terrible and Xie Yang’s mood became worse again. The system must be handled.

Xie Yang recalled the plot again as he tried to find more information about the system from the plot. However, it was useless.

The original book was a brainless and superficial novel and the plot was summed up in one sentence: Mu Zhouyi’s successful life. The plot focused on how Mu Zhouyi used the cheat and how successful she became after using it, not what the cheat actually was.

Moreover, the original novel didn’t mention how Mu Zhouyi got it at all. The plot of the original novel started with the encounter between Mu Zhouyi and Feng Qinglin. At that time, Mu Zhouyi had already been bound to the system and had been using it for some time.

So this was a golden finger that came from an unknown place. The mechanism of operation was unknown and it wasn’t certain what harm it would do to its host. Wasn’t it crazy for Mu Zhouyi to rely on such an unknown system?

Xie Yang suppressed his emotions and sensed his ability in his ability core. He suppressed the impulse to check the system. He decided to wait until his ability upgraded again or his ability core was full to test it.

After this day, news about Mu Zhouyi on the Internet suddenly disappeared. Even her performance video at the Golden Song Awards was deleted. Other topics related to the Golden Song Awards filled the hot topic and public attention was diverted. Xie Yang understood that this was the Feng family wiping after Feng Qingbai’s ass.

On the third day of filming in N City, Xie Yang received a call from Feng Qinglin.

“The marriage contract between Feng Qingbai and Fang Jia has been terminated. Old man Feng is very angry. He removed Feng Qingbai from the position of boss of the branch company and is asking him to reflect at home. Now Feng Qingbai’s father has moved against Mu Zhouyi and has decided to send her away abroad. She will never be allowed back in the country. Xie Yang, the Feng family truly has no heart. They only know how to blame others and won’t reflect on whether something is wrong with themselves.”

Xie Yang told him, “You are also part of the Feng family.”

“……”

Feng Qinglin silently hung up the phone. After his call with Feng Qinglin, Xie Yang called Liu Sha and entrusted her with getting rid of Huangtian’s stocks.

Liu Sha asked, “Aren’t you going to use this to stir up muddy waters in Huangtian?”

“It won’t work.” Xie Yang replied. “Huangtian is over.”

The Feng family would never just be angry at Mu Zhouyi. The resources and endorsements that Feng Qingbai gave to Huangtian under Mu Zhouyi’s lure would be taken back by the Feng family. They might also give Huangtian a revenge package. All in all, Huangtian hadn’t been developing well since the reorganization. This time, they should really be over.

Work was about to end that day when Xie Yang received a call from Qin Cheng.

“Ge Zhuo has started buying the hot search.”

Xie Yang had been annoyed by the system these days and almost forgot who Ge Zhuo was. He paused for two seconds before reacting. “Then follow the original plan to send him some heat.”

Qin Cheng replied affirmatively before saying, “Today, I sent someone to scare Zhou Zibin and he said the person who bought him was Mu Zhouyi. She asked him to seduce you and take indecent photos of you.”

“……”

Xie Yang said, “I see.”

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Proofreader: Mnemo & Paranoid Kitten