Chapter 70#
The “Devoted” Movie King (24)#
He Xiao tried to contact his agent, but the call didn’t go through. He asked the doctor, who looked at him with a surprised expression: “Your agent was sitting in the driver’s seat and was seriously injured—didn’t you know?”
He Xiao genuinely hadn’t known. He was certain this was his own body, his own name and appearance, but it was completely different from what he remembered.
His family situation wasn’t exactly happy; his parents were divorced, each with their own families. Because of that, back when he first debuted, he had even played up the tragedy a bit to establish a persona of warmth and resilience.
There were only a few numbers he could recall: his own, his agent’s, and Kong Si’s.
But when he dialed Kong Si’s number, it was out of service—probably because the course of fate was entirely different from what he remembered.
His parents’ numbers were saved in his phone, and he never bothered to memorize them. But now, his phone and his agent’s phone had both been destroyed in the crash, so there was no way to retrieve them.
Although He Xiao was now practically public enemy number one, he was still famous enough that the company covered his medical expenses.
About half a month later, he was discharged from the hospital. During those two weeks, he tried repeatedly to contact Kong Si, but failed every time.
He got a replacement SIM card and logged into his old communication accounts. The contract he had signed back then was for fifteen years. Now, with this incident damaging the company’s image, they initially wanted him to pay a hefty penalty. But because of the car accident, if they pushed him to the brink, their reputation in the industry would only worsen, and they might even face public backlash.
Besides, He Xiao had almost no money left in his account anyway. So they decided to completely withdraw all the resources they had invested in him—the apartment, the chauffeured car, even the agent and assistant—all of it taken back.
Apart from the assistant assigned by the company, He Xiao had also hired two personal assistants on his own, but they required salaries.
Now that he was being shelved by the company, there was no way he could keep paying them. He simply informed them not to come anymore and moved out of the company’s big house into a place he had bought himself with his early earnings.
Though it was much smaller than the company-provided villa, the conditions weren’t too bad.
During this time, he thought of many ways to turn things around, but most of them required leveraging contacts he would only have later in life. He had been exposed far too early. In his original timeline, even if those old scandals had been unearthed, it wouldn’t have mattered much.
No—perhaps there was still hope for a comeback. After thinking for a long time, he used every ounce of his acting skills to somehow get hold of Kong Si’s number.
Since his own number had been blocked, he got a new SIM card. The first thing he said when the call connected was Kong Si’s name.
Perhaps his voice was too recognizable; before he could say anything else, the other party hung up.
Lucky for him, he was smart enough to buy several cards. He immediately switched to a new number and called again. This time, he learned his lesson and didn’t start with a name. Instead, he said directly: “Do you know that the person lying beside you isn’t the real Lu Xingchen?”
If He Xiao had mentioned himself, Kong Si would have hung up without a second thought. But the mention of Lu Yi made him hesitate: “What do you mean by that?”
He was ready to hang up at any moment.
He Xiao said: “What if I told you that I am your true destined partner, and that person is nothing but a fake and a fraud?”
Without thinking, Kong Si retorted: “Did you hit your head too hard?”
He had to admire He Xiao—before the crash, he was ruthless but not stupid. After the crash, it seemed his brain had taken some water.
He was about to hang up when the other side recited a number: “You should remember this string of numbers very well.”
Hearing that familiar sequence, Kong Si’s finger froze in midair.
The other side then slowly revealed a secret from Kong Si’s memory.
Kong Si was absolutely certain he had never told anyone about this—not even his own family. So how did He Xiao know? Guessed? Impossible—who could guess something like that?
He had burned all his diaries long ago. Now he could barely remember many things himself. There was no way He Xiao should know.
Since he didn’t hear the click of the call ending, He Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and pressed on: “Aren’t you curious how I know this? Let me tell you—it’s because I am your original destined partner in the original timeline.”
Hearing this, Kong Si slammed down the phone. He didn’t care how He Xiao had learned that secret—one thing was certain: He Xiao was a lunatic!
Lu Yi came home for dinner. The two of them, plus one cat, had three dishes and a soup: two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, all lightly flavored.
While eating broccoli, Kong Si said: “He Xiao called me today.”
“Wasn’t he hospitalized after the crash?” He recovered that fast?
Kong Si took over: “Yeah, probably no major injuries.”
He hesitated for a moment, weighed his words, and finally decided to speak up: “Today on the phone, he said some strange things. He even claimed that he and I were supposed to be partners originally.”
Lu Yi paused with his chopsticks for a moment, then dropped a piece of broccoli into Kong Si’s bowl—it was Kong Si’s least favorite vegetable.