HTI: Chapter 58

Qiu Xing looked at his hands and then at Xie Yang, who never turned back. His cold voice became twisted and his breath was blocked. A quarter of an hour later, Xie Yang returned to the living room after eating breakfast to find that Qiu Xing was still there. He asked, “Aren’t you busy today?”

Qiu Xing was silent and stared down at his email intently. Xie Yang raised his eyebrows. He sat on the armchair next to Qiu Xing and took out his phone. Weibo was lively. Lu Zhi had issued a statement in the early morning to end his cooperation with Mu Zhouyi. Now this statement was hanging high on the hot list. The Mu fans couldn’t believe it.

Huangtian’s Weibo forwarded Lu Zhi’s statement and expressed their support while Mu Zhouyi’s side was a quiet as a chicken.

Xie Yang was surprised. Wasn’t this directly shedding all pretence of cordiality?

It seemed that after removing the influence of the golden finger, Lu Zhi’s good impression of Mu Zhouyi on its own wasn’t good enough to endure Mu Zhouyi looking for a new home. Huangtian seemed to be provoked by Mu Zhouyi and decided to hit her. It was a pity that he couldn’t implant a vaccine in Lu Zhi. After Mu Zhouyi used her good will skill on Lu Zhi again, the situation that was unfavourable to Mu Zhouyi might be reversed.

Xie Yang tapped on the phone case. He also couldn’t keep pursuing Mu Zhouyi’s poison in such a passive manner. His ability had just awakened and it wasn’t strong enough to cure Qiu Xing yet. He didn’t have a lot to waste on Mu Zhouyi. He had to find a way to prevent Mu Zhouyi from using her golden finger so brazenly.

Xie Yang fell into deep thought. Mu Zhouyi’s golden finger wasn’t unlimited. Each use required a certain amount of love value. If he compared the golden finger to a machine, the love value was the energy of the machine. It was well known that all things required energy to operate. Once it lost energy, it would become a waste product.

Waste. Xie Yang liked this word. He opened Hu Biao’s WeChat and sent a message.

Xie Yang: Help me gather something.

Hu Biao replied in seconds: What is it?

Xie Yang: Photos or videos of Mu Zhouyi always ‘accidentally’ touching others.

Hu Biao: Mu Zhouyi? What’s wrong with her? Why are you gathering this?

Xie Yang told Hu Biao a simple love story about a sly woman and a brain-dead relative who met each other and were poisoned. Then he concluded: I don’t like Mu Zhouyi and I want to pit her.

Hu Biao sent a row of ellipses.

Bang.

Just then, there was the sound of something falling to the ground. Xie Yang raised his gaze and looked at where the sound came from. He saw that Qiu Xing was leaning against the sofa and had fallen asleep. The mobile phone in his hand slid down from his relaxed palm and hit the carpet.

Xie Yang looked at the time. Approximately an hour had passed since he poured his ability into Qiu Xing. One hour. It seemed this was the time it took for his ability to function autonomously in the patient’s body without being manipulated.

Xie Yang got up and walked over. He lay Qiu Xing down flat on the sofa and pulled out a blanket. Perhaps it was a psychological effect but Xie Yang always felt that the shadows under Qiu Xing’s eyes were a bit lighter. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough.

It was mentioned in the original novel that in addition to brain cancer, Qiu Xing also had a slight heart disease and a very serious stomach problem. The heart disease was congenital and the stomach disease was caused due to his management of Rongding.

The brain and the heart—the two core areas of the human body had problems. The stomach that absorbed nutrients also wasn’t in a good condition…

Xie Yang helped cover Qiu Xing with the blanket. It seemed that in addition to upgrading his ability, he had to find a way to help Qiu Xing dispel death and let Qiu Xing actively receive treatment.

***

Qiu Xing woke up when it was dark. There was the constant sound of keyboard tapping and the headache that tormented him had disappeared. His body was relaxed like he was still in a dream.

“You woke up?” Qiu Xing quickly sobered up, sat up and stared in the direction of the sound.

Xie Yang was sitting on the armchair with his laptop on his legs. His fingers were tapping quickly on the keyboard and the coffee table in front of him was covered in documents.

“If you’re awake, wash up and get ready to eat.” Xie Yang didn’t raise his head. His fingers were so fast that there were almost afterimages. Qiu Xing unknowingly stared at Xie Yang’s hand. Then he looked back and frowned as he saw the sky outside. He searched around for his mobile phone.

“I helped turn it off for you. Rest assured, I gave an explanation. If a major event occurred in the company then they would’ve called me. Since they haven’t called, it seems that today’s Rongding is peaceful.”

“……”

Qiu Xing lowered his mobile phone and looked at Xie Yang. Xie Yang arranged the best notes and sent the first draft of the score to Long Shuyou. Then he turned his head towards Qiu Xing. “Qiu Xing, are you hiding from me?”

Qiu Xing’s expression froze for a second before he declared coldly, “Xie Yang, you really think too much.”

“Leaning back, hands together and moving your gaze sideways to avoid mine. Replacing positive responses with rhetorical questions and offensive language. These are the behaviours that people will unknowingly do when defending themselves.”

Qiu Xing stiffened and looked at his hands pressed together. He also sensed his posture of leaning back against the sofa. His face tensed as he put down his hands and leaned forward. He frowned and said, “You are talking nonsense again. Put away your laptop and prepare for dinner.”

Xie Yang obediently put away his laptop before opening his mouth. “Changing the topic is a sign of a guilty conscience.”

“……”

Qiu Xing got up to leave.

“Avoiding conversation is something a coward will do.”

Qiu Xing’s movements stiffened as he straightened and glared. “Read fewer messy psychology books. What is avoidance and a guilty conscience? It is nonsense! Get up! Go and wash your hands to eat.”

Reprimanding someone was a manifestation of anger.

Xie Yang swallowed down these words and got up to wash his hands. During the meal, Xie Yang gave a brief report about what happened in the crew and then mentioned how he planned to pit Mu Zhouyi.

Qiu Xing’s attitude was cold. “Why do you care so much about what she does? Just take care of yourself.”

“No matter what, Mu Zhouyi will affect Feng Qinglin. Feng Qinglin will affect you and you will affect me. In order for my life to be better, I have to control her.”

Qiu Xing’s chopsticks paused. “Don’t say such strange words. How can I affect you?”

Xie Yang answered in a timely manner. “Yes, you don’t affect me. After all, our relationship is just a landlord and tenant, a buyer and seller.”

“……” Qiu Xing’s indifference couldn’t last and he had a gloomy expression. “Have a good meal. If you want to eat before sleeping, don’t talk!”

He had become angry again.

Xie Yang picked up his chopsticks and gave Qiu Xing a piece of fish. Qiu Xing pushed the fish to one side.

***

Before going to bed, Xie Yang received the videos and photos from Hu Biao. As he had guessed before, Mu Zhouyi had ‘accidentally’ touched many people and a lot of them were collected at random. There were common touch movements such as handing over an umbrella, handing over water or handing over various items. The more difficult actions included wrestling, hitting someone while waving, touching a person’s body with an object, etc… It was just like a person touching flowers.

Hu Biao had collected the materials all day and discovered something wrong. After sending the materials, he asked: Does this Mu Zhouyi have a hobby of touching people? These actions are nothing but once combined, they look very strange.

Hu Biao: It seems like she intentionally bumped ‘accidentally’ into the other guests when participating in events. It is really obvious after slow motion.

Hu Biao: Suddenly, she feels so greasy. She is just like a sleazy uncle who likes to take advantage of others. The key thing is that she touches both men and women. I really don’t understand her hobby. Does she like them all?

Xie Yang felt that Hu Biao’s guess was really good and typed: Just follow your thoughts and make the rhythm flow along this path. Instead of looking for a marketing account, create a new account and post to a high-traffic entertainment forum. Then release the materials little by little.

Hu Biao once again sent a row of ellipsis before asking: Will you come to the company tomorrow?

Xie Yang: Yes.

Hu Bi: Then shall we talk tomorrow?

Xie Yang agreed.

The next day, he got up early and went downstairs to find there was only breakfast for one person set on the table. He didn’t see Qiu Xing at all. He asked the housekeeper and learned that Qiu Xing had woken up half an hour earlier than usual. He had finished breakfast and went to work early.

“……”

Xie Yang sat at the table, looked across at the empty spot opposite him and picked up his chopsticks to eat breakfast.

On the way to the company, he looked at Weibo and found that Mu Zhouyi had responded to Lu Zhi’s statement. She didn’t send a formal statement but a personal one, thanking Lu Zhi for his help and companionship for over a year. Her words were very emotional and sad, giving people the feeling that she and Lu Zhi were forced to stop working together as a last resort.

At this response, the Mu fans felt that Mu Zhouyi must’ve been suppressed by Huangtian. They all felt that Mu Zhouyi was being wronged and that she shouldn’t stay in Huangtian. They encouraged Mu Zhouyi to take Lu Zhi to find a better entertainment company.

Xie Yang finally understood what it meant by ‘I just want to make your idol into paste while you want to make your idol die.’ He imagined the expression on the faces of Huangtian’s senior management when they saw this and laughed.

***

Xie Yang arrived at the company and called Hu Biao to his office alone.

Hu Biao opened the door and stated, “I am willing to transfer positions.”

Xie Yang had expected this but he still double-checked. “You’ve thought about it?”

“I thought about it.” Hu Biao sighed. “I’m really not suitable to be an agent and I’m dragging you down… No, you don’t have to comfort me. I’m not trying to stab at you. I really thought about it. Before you came back, I have already told Vice-president Liu. Once your new agents are in place, I will officially move to the background. Don’t worry about Tong Jian and Ke Lan. I have talked to them separately and they understand and respect my choice. They said they will fully cooperate with the new agent’s work.”

Xie Yang didn’t say anything. He just stood up and extended a hand to Hu Biao.

Hu Biao also smiled and shook Xie Yang’s hand.

Once this matter was over, the two of them talked about gossip.

Hu Biao took out his phone and turned to the post he made on the forum according to Xie Yang’s instructions. He handed it to Xie Yang and said, “The post has become popular. There are now over 1,000 comments and many people are bringing more material to the thread. Many of them mentioned the scene where you were hit by Mu Zhouyi in the parking lot. It turned out that more than one person thought it was strange for Mu Zhouyi to hit you.”

Xie Yang took the phone and looked through it. “Her behaviour is very strange. This rhythm is okay. You can continue to post. Once a marketing account moves the post to Weibo, delete it and cancel the account.”

Hu Biao nodded in understanding.

Xie Yang finished chatting with Hu Biao and went to Liu Sha. Liu Sha took out a folder and placed it in front of Xie Yang. “This is a list of agents who want to switch to Yang Xing after I released the news. I have screened through it and the ones remaining are in line with your requirements. You pick one.”

Xie Yang took the folder and opened it.