Chapter 24.2
[Wow, so cruel.]
Shi Qing said to the System: [This guy’s only guilty of having a dirty mouth and being unlikable. There’s no need to go so far.]
The System was looking at recipes before. It had no idea what the Host was talking about, but it was quick to echo him: [Yes, yes. He’s being too cruel.]
“I see how it is! I see how it is!! Jing Yuanqi!! Just you wait!!!”
Zhu Anhe was still wearing ancient style clothing. He flicked his sleeves in anger as he rushed off. To Jing Yuanqi, he was just a toy to play around with. He didn’t care if he left. He smiled and narrowed his peach blossom eyes while talking to to Shi Qing:
“Shi-laoshi, you have such a good temper. You don’t look mad at all after he treated you like that.”
“There’s no point. It would be a waste of time,” he summed up the situation concisely, “Not all small dogs are like him.”
The change in topic was so abrupt that Jing Yuanqi almost didn’t react in time. When he realised that Shi Qing was referring to his words from before about how ‘the smaller the dog, the fiercer its bark’, he chuckled quietly.
“I just said that to spite him. If Laoshi does like small dogs, then I’ll take back my words.”
Shi Qing: “En.”
After that, his gaze drifted to the crew who started shooting again. He acted like he didn’t want to talk with Jing Yuanqi anymore.
Jing Yuanqi was bored out of his mind here. As soon as he thought about the soft meat underneath the hard sh.e.l.l of the great film emperor in front of him, he wanted to peel it back to poke at the tender flesh within.
But he knew that some things couldn’t be rushed. When he saw how Shi Qing was behaving, the young man shrugged. He was still smiling as he said: “Then I won’t disturb Shi Qing-laoshi anymore.”
“En.”
When Jing Yuanqi left, Shi Qing remained seated in his chair.
A quiet moment pa.s.sed.
Shi Qing: [Tongtong, did you hear what Jing Yuanqi said just now?]
The System pulled itself away from its recipes once again: [?]
[He compared Zhu Anhe to a dog and said he would slap him across the face.]
[Oh……I wasn’t listening.]
[It’s so cruel.]
System: [Yes! How cruel!]
Shi Qing: [What did the poor doggies do to deserve being used as a metaphor for such a person?]
System: [……]
After a second, it recovered: [Yes! How cruel!]
[And that slap. His hands are so beautiful, so how could he bear to use them to slap others?]
The System didn’t understand how good-looking hands were related to face-slapping, but it was still convinced that ‘the Host must be right. If not, please refer to the previous statement’. It agreed wholeheartedly: [Exactly!]
[Which is why we have to spare his hands the trouble.]
Shi Qing slowly stood up as he said that. He followed after Zhu Anhe.
After walking for 4-5 minutes, he saw Zhu Anhe who was hiding in the middle of two rooms finishing up his phone call.
Shi Qing called him out directly: “Zhu Anhe.”
The slender profile of the film emperor walked straight in his direction.
[Tong, help me to check if there are any security cameras nearby that can see over here.]
The system quickly checked: [Host, there isn’t.]
[Good.]
Shi Qing walked over and smiled thinly at Zhu Anhe who was looking at him doubtfully.
He usually never smiled. But when he did, his pale face seemed to shine with a light of its own under the sun.
Zhu Anhe was puzzled at first, then jealous, then full of himself again. He sneered: “What? Did you come to beg for mercy so I don’t tell President Liu to kick you guys out?”
“Let me tell you something! Don’t even think about……What are you doing behind me?”
Shi Qing stood right behind him and reached out his right hand. It gracefully landed on the underside of Zhu Anhe’s right cheek with great skill before he could react.
——PA!
A loud clap from a hand colliding with a cheek.
A palm print appeared on the right side of Zhu Anhe’s religiously maintained white face.
He was confused.
Before he could comprehend what just happened, Shi Qing reached out with his left hand from the same position as before and swung.
——PA!
Another round of applause.
The left side of Zhu Anhe’s face was also adorned with a palm print.
After slapping, Shi Qing took a step back as if nothing had happened and left with an unhurried pace.
Zhu Anhe stood where he was for several seconds before he covered his painfully swelling face and roared: “f.u.c.k you Shi Qing! &*（￥%##!!!!”
Then he immediately held his face and gave chase.
Shi Qing’s legs were deceptively long. Even when he looked like he was moving slowly, he was still able to sit back in his chair before Zhu Anhe could catch up.
“Shi Qing!!!”
Zhu Anhe rushed over and immediately raised a hand to him. He was quickly pushed away by a wide-eyed Gao Zhi who had just returned from buying some juice.
“What are you doing! Why are you going around hitting people unprovoked ah?!”
“Unprovoked? Unpro……I, I. Look at my face! Look at my face!!”
Zhu Anhe was so angry that he couldn’t speak coherently anymore. He dropped the hand covering his face to let the crew who gathered here from the noise see how swollen it was.
“Oh my gosh! It’s so swollen!”
“There’s even an imprint of a palm there. The five fingers can be distinguished very clearly.”
“Zhu-laoshi, who did this to you?”
Zhu Anhe was about to shed tears because of how badly it hurt. While he carefully protected his face, he glared furiously at the quiet man sitting on the chair:
“Who else could it be?! Shi Qing! What have I ever done to you? You came over and hit me for no reason! Is there a screw loose in that head of yours?!
Everyone’s eyes soon fell on the seated film emperor.
In front of his audience, the actor who has always been reluctant to talk frowned slightly. He looked somewhat irritated, “It wasn’t me.”
“Ha?! Do you think whatever you say will become true?? I personally witnessed you hit me!! Aren’t you just jealous of my popularity? Let me be crystal clear, this isn’t over between us! There’s no way I’m going to keep quiet about this! I’m going to expose you and show your fans what kind of person you really are!”
Jing Yuanqi squeezed to the front of the crowd. As soon as he got out, he saw a cold and slightly frowning Shi Qing being verbally abused by human loudspeaker Zhu Anhe. Every inch of his body was filled with impatience.
Maybe because he was annoyed by all the noise, but Shi Qing spoke in a frigid voice with a trace of annoyance: “Whatever.”
That was exactly what he said before when he wanted to get away from Jing Yuanji when he was bothering him. This person was willing to admit to something he didn’t do just to end the conversation faster.
Jing Yuanqi didn’t believe that Shi Qing would personally hit someone.
How could he dirty his own hands like that?
The child who was beaten made a ruckus: “Look! He admitted it! The film emperor hit me with his bare hands! Just you wait, I’m not going to rest until I tell everyone–
Zhu Anhe’s noisy voice annoyed Jing Yuanqi. He wanted to plant a dozen more slaps on his swollen face to shut him up.
He quickly glanced across both of Zhu Anhe’s cheeks, then sneered and stepped forward: “You say that Shi Qing slapped you twice, but how are you going to explain the fingerprints on your face?”
“What the f.u.c.k are you talking about, Jing Yuanqi? Don’t tell me that you’re in cahoots with him!”
Jing Yuanqi’s face, which has always had a sunny smile on, was filled with scorn at the moment. He casually grabbed Gao Zhi who was carefully protecting his boss.
The two of them stood face to face. The young man stretched out his right hand and gestured to the left side of Gao Zhi’s face. “If it really was someone else who hit you, the thumbprint on your face should be facing out.”
“But look at your face, the thumb was clearly facing in. The only explanation is that you slapped yourself. Gao-what’s-your-name? Demonstrate.”
“Ah, okay.”
Gao Zhi gently put his right hand on his own face. His thumb was turned inward.
Jing Yuanqi: “See? It’s obvious that you hit yourself and blamed Shi-laoshi. Do you think we’re all blind here? ”
Zhu Anhe: “……”
“T-this was an exception!! He circled around to hit me from behind! From behind! Do you understand?!”
“Tsk.”
Jing Yuanqi crossed his arms as he chuckled again: “Who slaps people from behind? Zhu Anhe-laoshi, I know you had a little dispute with Shi-laoshi earlier. I also joked that your complaint to the old president supporting you would be more effective if you slapped yourself. I didn’t expect you to act so quickly.”
“But I was the one who said it, so you should be blaming me ah. What? Are you afraid of being exposed if you try to frame me, so you targeted Laoshi who isn’t good with his words?”
“I! You! You guys!”
Zhu Anhe’s face hurt and his words were blocked. He could barely stutter out a sentence after a long time: “You’re all in this together!! You’re working together to sabotage me, aren’t you?!”
Jing Yuanqi’s words were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with sarcasm: “Yes, we’re obviously working together. Laoshi went around and slapped you twice from behind. Then I came out and said that you slapped yourself based on the direction of the handprints on your face. Zhu Anhe-laoshi, aren’t you tired of acting so childishly? You’re an adult, not some kid in primary school. Can you be even a little bit rational and take responsibility for your own actions?”
“We’re all just trying to make an honest living here. None of us are like Zhu Anhe-laoshi who can tattle to their sugar daddy when you can’t win your own battles. Even if you are a lowlife, can’t you at least prepare decent evidence? Why resort to slapping yourself? If you really wanted to frame Laoshi today, why not just get someone else to slap you from the front? Then he wouldn’t be able to explain it if he tried. Don’t you think it’s humiliating for a grown man like you to fail so spectacularly at framing someone?”
“You! You two!”
Zhu Anhe was almost about to spit blood in public. He looked at Jing Yuanqi, and then at the Shi Qing who was frozen like a statue, as if this had nothing to do with him. It seemed impossible to disprove his innocence. Zhu Anhe shook out of rage like a volcano about to erupt. He couldn’t speak for a long time.
“I. You! I……I’m going to beat you two to death!!!”
As soon as he lost control and rushed forward, the crew was quick to restrain him.
“Zhu-laoshi, Zhu-laoshi! Please calm down!”
“Hold on to him!!! Hurry up and hold onto Zhu-laoshi!!!”
“Zhu-laoshi, why don’t you get your face looked at first……”
Seeing Zhu Anhe being held back, Jing Yuanqi’s mouth twitched upwards in a humourless smile.
It wasn’t stimulating at all to deal with someone with such a low IQ. Holding a grudge against him was a waste of saliva.
He simply turned around and walked to Shi Qing’s side. “Shi-laoshi, were you scared?”
The gloomy film emperor was still as calm and reticent as always even after being falsely accused of a.s.sault. Jing Yuanqi felt like he really didn’t understand this film emperor-laoshi at all before.
[Ding! Jing Yuanqi’s animosity value: 97/100]
Shi Qing’s eyes were focused slightly downwards. His voice was cool and closed off. He had no intention of thanking Jing Yuanqi for helping him out: “No.”
Jing Yuanqi didn’t mind his cold response. Instead, his smile towards Shi Qing widened: “That’s good to hear.”
“Nowadays, there are more and more psychos who are all talk and no bite. He even thought that we were working together. His IQ is truly astounding.”
Behind the two men, Zhu Anhe was held down in a death grip. He couldn’t break free no matter how hard he fought. He could only scream himself hoa.r.s.e:
“Jing Yuanqi!! You helped Shi Qing slander me!! Don’t think I’ll let you go!”
Occasionally, the voices of the other cast members drifted over: “Zhu-laoshi, Zhu-laoshi. Please calm down. Why don’t we take you to see the doctor first, alright?”
“Everyone come help hold him down! Please stop struggling, Zhu-laoshi. Don’t hurt yourself anymore. Okay, let’s get him to the doctor.”
Zhu Anhe wasn’t cooperating, so the crew had no choice but to lift him up into the air. His struggles were futile, so he could only howl in desperation:
“Let go of me!! You’ve all been deceived!! They’re in this together!! Let go of me!”
“Believe me ah!! Believe me!! Why don’t you guys believe me aahhhhh–”
“Shi Qing really did beat me up!!! It was really him ah!”
Jing Yuanqi took a backward glance because it was so noisy:
“It’s rare these days to find such a persistent liar.”
“The world really is full of wonders.”
Ok guys. I’m a big dummy and accidentally put this out a day early. This was supposed to be Wednesday’s release, but I guess you get to read it now lol. See you guys on Thursday then.