HTI: Chapter 123

Shen Yan spent a day in the hospital after finishing the recording of ‘All Walks of Life’. Then he flew abroad for his next job. Shen Yan had just learned about the situation on the Internet and was going to post a Weibo to help Xie Yang when Xie Yang called.

Xie Yang knew Shen Yan’s intentions and wasn’t polite. “Thank you Brother Shen.”

“I am clearly the one who should thank you. I’m sorry that I delayed you when recording the program.”

Xie Yang said that it was fine and also cared about Shen Yan’s physical condition. The two men exchanged greetings before Shen Yan took the initiative to ask, “What did you need from me?”

“Brother Shen, do you know how the crew received the ‘All Walks of Life’ show?”

“I know. It was from an investor. Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

It was the same as what Qin Cheng discovered. Xie Yang thought about it before explaining he suspected that someone had bought Bei Cheng to deliberately pit him. Then he said, “Perhaps I am too suspicious but it is always right to be careful. I want to be certain if people are calculating against me.”

Shen Yan’s tone became cautious. “You mean, from your participation in the show, to the attack by the black fan and then the draw in the program… everything was caused by someone calculating against you?”

“It is just a doubt. Maybe things aren’t as complicated as I thought.”

“No… it’s not right.” Shen Yan seemed to think of something. “At that time, the investors immediately set the schedule for several starring roles. Then one of the supporting actors suddenly had no time. It was the investor who suggested for the program to invite you to fill in the vacancy. I didn’t think much about it before. Now that you say this… Xie Yang, who did you offend?”

Sure enough, there was a problem from the start.

Xie Yang replied, “I didn’t offend anyone. This is just the side effect of having a rich boyfriend. Brother Shen, can you tell me the name of that investor?”

***

“Xu Chen, a shareholder in Chenyao Media. His main business is advertising operations. He likes to invest in TV dramas and movies. He has a wide network of people in the circle but he is very low-ley.” Qin Cheng’s voice was heard from the phone as well as the sound of paper being turned. “Chenyao has many partners. Since you reminded me, I paid attention to it. Chenyao does have a deep cooperation with a subsidiary of the Fenghua Group.”

Xie Yang thought about it and asked, “Did you contact Bei Cheng?”

“No, his mobile phone has been turned off. I asked ‘All Walks of Life’ and they can’t contact Bei Cheng either. A staff member familiar with him said that he often does this. If you can’t get in touch with him then it is because he is going to gamble secretly.”

“Then leave him alone for the time being. Help me find out why the supporting role suddenly had no time to appear on ‘All Walks of Life’.”

Qin Cheng replied positively and hung up. An hour later, Qin Cheng called back. “I found out. The actor suddenly received an audition invitation for a major movie. The audition schedule collided with the recording schedule of ‘All Walks of Life’. Finally, he chose to reject ‘All Walks of Life’.”

“Is Xu Chen one of the investors of the big movie?”

Qin Cheng paused before replying, “I’ll ask again.”

30 minutes later, Qin Cheng called again and he seemed to not know what to say. “Yes, Xu Chen is also one of the investors of that movie. Xie Yang, you… if it wasn’t for your investigation, I wouldn’t have believed someone has designed it step by step for us to receive ‘All Walks of Life’. I will be more careful with your work in the future.”

“You don’t have to panic. It is temporary. It won’t happen again once I catch the person staring at me.”

“Do you have a clue who is aiming for you?”

Xie Yang looked at the diamond ring on his finger and replied, “Yes… but it isn’t certain yet.” He didn’t understand why that person was going through so much trouble.

There were only a few people who wanted him to be uncomfortable. He could know who it was by the method of elimination but why? This level of design wasn’t painful and it couldn’t cause substantial harm to him.

They just wanted to see him unlucky? Or did they really want to anger Qiu Xing by hurting him? Then Qiu Xing would speed up with confrontation with the Feng family. Perhaps it was a combination of both. The person wanted to see him make a fool of himself while also forcing Qiu Xing to act against the Feng family.

Just then, his phone rang and Xie Yang’s senses returned. He saw it was Qiu Xing and immediately answered. “Are you coming back to eat at noon?”

“Let’s go out and eat.” Qiu Xing’s voice was strangely cold. “I helped you catch that Bei Cheng.”

Caught?

Xie Yang got up and inquired, “Where are we eating?”

Half an hour later, they arrived at the Century Club and were guided into a private box. Xie Yang saw Bei Cheng’s blue nose and swollen face with surprise and turned to Qiu Xing, “Did you beat him up?”

Qiu Xing led Xie Yang to the sofa to sit down and replied, “I feel dirty if I beat him up. He was being beaten up by a group of loan sharks when my people found him.” Then he glanced at Bei Cheng, frowned and raised his chin. “Say it yourself.”

“Say what?” Bei Cheng looked like he didn’t understand the situation. “Mr Qiu, I’m thankful to you for saving me but you suddenly brought me here—”

“Shut up.” Qiu Xing impatiently interrupted Bei Cheng and signaled to He Jun at the door. “Let him wake up.”

He Jun walked over and smiled at Bei Cheng. Then he took out a document and put it in front of this person. “Your account suddenly received a large sum of money five days ago by a person called Wang Xiaoyan. You also handed over your resignation to ‘All Walks of Life’ and bought a flight ticket to V Country tomorrow. Unfortunately, you have been listed as a dishonest person this afternoon by the government due to your loan problem. Forget going abroad, you can’t even ride the train now.”

Bei Cheng scanned the words on the document. He snatched it and flipped through the pages quickly.

Xie Yang raised his eyebrow. Bei Cheng was actually ready to run.

Bei Cheng quickly read the documents, glanced between Qiu Xing and Xie Yang and gritted his teeth. “You have specially ‘invited’ me over. You must’ve discovered it so I won’t lie. Yes, I got paid to embarrass Xie Yang but I swear that I didn’t really do anything to him. The other person just asked me to find a way to get Xie Yang to pick the job of cleaning the exterior wall and to take more photos of Xie Yang’s collapse due to his fear of heights.”

“That’s it?” Qiu Xing sneered and looked terrifying. “Don’t you know that people with severe fear of heights might experience dizziness and shock when standing in high places? Do you want to kill Xie Yang?”

“No, of course not!” Bei Cheng was frightened and quickly denied it. “How can it be so serious? In any case, isn’t Xie Yang fine? He doesn’t have a fear of heights… no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know I was wrong. I just rushed to accept money. I will never dare do so anymore.”

Gamblers had no dignity to speak of.

Xie Yang held Qiu Xing’s hand and told him, “I want to chat with him alone, okay?”

Qiu Xing frowned at Xie Yang.

“I also want to eat pigeon. Go and order it for me. Remember not to put in green onions.”

Qiu Xing held Xie Yang’s hand, glanced at Bei Cheng and suppressed his temper. He got up and told He Jun and Wu Shui, “You stay here and sit next to Bei Cheng. Don’t let him move.” Then he touched Xie Yang’s face and stepped out.

The door of the box closed and Bei Cheng hurriedly looked at Xie Yang. “I really didn’t want to intentionally hurt you. You didn’t get hurt, did you? In addition, you are in the limelight. I promise that after this episode is broadcasted, you will be able to attract many fans! You know, you might not get such an effect if you took the job of delivery man. You don’t know but the director of the takeaway job arranged for several actors to act as strange customers. You would surely be angry if you took that job. Don’t be stubborn okay?”

Xie Yang watched quietly as this person spoke. Once Bei Cheng finally finished with his nonsense, Xie Yang asked, “Are you done?”

Facing Qiu Xing’s obvious hatred, Bei Cheng might be scared but he still had some ways to deal with it. Now confronted with the calm Xie Yang, Bei Cheng’s heart thumped. His mouth moved but he didn’t know what to say. Finally, he nodded.

“It is my turn. Who gave you the money?”

Bei Cheng replied quickly, “Feng Dian.”

Xie Yang smiled and nodded, “Yes, Feng Dian. It is Feng Dian again. Tell me, how much did the person who bought you pay for you to give Feng Dian’s name to fool me?”

Bei Cheng’s expression changed and he shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It is money that Feng Dian gave me. That Wang Xiaoyan is Feng Dian’s girlfriend. You can check if you don’t believe me.”

“Of course, I can find this out. Let me guess what calculations you are doing now. In any case, it is a society ruled by law. Even if Qiu Xing and I have money, we can’t do anything to you. If you insist and don’t tell the truth, we can only let you go. Once we let you go, you can find the real employer and let her find a way to send you abroad. You have such a good handle that I don’t know how much blackmail money can be obtained.”

Bei Cheng looked a bit dazed and he shook his head fiercely, “No… how could I think this? No, this—”

“Is it Tao Yi?”

Bei Cheng was shocked and accidentally bit his tongue. He covered his mouth and stared at Xie Yang with disbelief.

“It seems I have guessed right.” Xie Yang smiled at Bei Cheng again. “Then I will guess again… didn’t you get paid to embarrass me? Since you chose to go abroad, you don’t need to care about anything in the country anymore. You can break the news as an insider, saying I’m bullying people and acting like a diva while shooting the program… or perhaps create a scandal with me and Shen Yan?”

Bei Cheng was barely holding on. Then once he heard the last sentence, he couldn’t help staring in a visibly uneasy manner.

“It looks like it is a scandal.” Xie Yang got up, walked to Bei Cheng and patted him on the shoulder. “Bei Cheng, have you forgotten one thing? Tao Yi can indeed send you abroad with the Feng family’s contacts. However, have you ever thought of it? Once you go abroad, won’t there be the Qiu family’s business abroad?”

Bei Cheng was shocked as he finally realized the biggest loophole in his escape plan. He stared at Xie Yang before collapsing, “I just wanted to start again. I didn’t want to gamble anymore. I just wanted to start again… Xie Yang, sorry, I didn’t mean it. Please don’t retaliate against me. I just want to start again. It is Tao Yi, it is indeed her. It is Xu Chen who helped me and followed her lead. I’m sorry, I know it is wrong.”

Xie Yang stared in a condescending manner at Bei Cheng before wondering, “Bei Cheng, do you want to be a person again?”

Bei Cheng raised his head and stared at Xie Yang with tears in his bruised eyes.

Xie Yang stared into Bei Cheng’s eyes. “I will give you a chance to climb ashore.”

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Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten