Chapter 57 - 2#
“I slept really well last night.”
“Today’s recording should go on all day—it’s going to be busy.”
“When it’s over tonight, if you’re free, I’ll message you~”
Jing Shun dutifully finished his update, then crawled out from under the covers to start another day of working in front of the camera.
…
The next day was the main filming content for this episode of the group variety show: a large-scale live-action scripted murder mystery game, with only one break in the middle.
At two in the afternoon, in the temporary rest area arranged by the production team.
Xiao Mo walked in carrying two cups of coffee and asked him, “Brother Jing, do you want coffee?”
Jing Shun didn’t like coffee, so he asked, “Where did these come from?”
Xiao Mo said, “The director’s assistant just handed them to me. It seems Teacher Fu’s team sent afternoon tea to the whole crew.”
In the entertainment industry, the bigger the star, the more inevitable these visible social expenses become.
Seeing his assistant gleefully gulping down the coffee, Jing Shun smiled. “I don’t like it. If you’re not afraid of staying up tonight, you can drink that cup too.”
“Sure thing.” Xiao Mo sat down beside him and, taking advantage of the moment alone, said, “Brother Jing, that Teacher Meng didn’t show up today.”
He’d deliberately taken a good look around earlier and hadn’t spotted that character anywhere.
“…”
Jing Shun indeed hadn’t seen Meng Zhide reappear. Remembering what Fu Changting and Chen Jiang had said yesterday, he felt his earlier worry had been for nothing and relaxed a little.
Not long after, a staff member came in to urge, “Teacher Jing, filming is about to resume.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
…
Filming continued until eight in the evening before wrapping up. Jing Shun finished work along with the other actors.
As soon as he entered the rest area, he saw his assistant Xiao Mo slumped over the table, looking listless and unusually pale.
Xiao Mo saw Jing Shun and forced himself to perk up. “Brother Jing, you’re done?”
Jing Shun frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
Xiao Mo said weakly, “I’ve had a stomachache all afternoon. I think it’s acute gastroenteritis.”
Jing Shun asked, “Did you overdo the coffee? Go to the hospital and see the emergency room right away.”
Xiao Mo shook his head. “I can’t—I need to stick with you.”
Besides, he’d always loved coffee like it was his lifeblood; two cups a day was routine for him. Why did he have to be so unlucky today, the only one in the whole crew to get hit?
“Alright, your health comes first.” Jing Shun glanced at the time. “It’s still early. Go to the hospital ER now. I’ll just take the car back to the hotel.”
The driver was Old Zhang—Jing Shun trusted him.
Jing Shun urged, “Go quickly. I’ll reimburse the medical expenses later.”
Xiao Mo felt like he was about to collapse. Hearing this, he was so moved his eyes welled up. “Brother Jing, I’ll be fast—just get some meds and come back!”
Jing Shun nodded and reminded him, “If the doctor says you need an IV, get the IV. Don’t tough it out.”
“Thanks, Brother Jing.”
Xiao Mo hunched over and shuffled out.
Jing Shun shook his head helplessly. He was just about to remove his makeup in front of the mirror when a knock came at the door.
“Teacher Jing!”
A staff member rushed in, visibly relieved when they saw Jing Shun. “Thank goodness you haven’t left yet!”
“Teacher, I’m the director’s assistant.”
The person showed their work ID; the name read “Li Chuan,” and the position was “Production Assistant.”
Jing Shun vaguely remembered him. “What’s wrong?”
Li Chuan seemed to have been running too fast, his voice trembling with unnatural nervousness. “The director said we need to supplement a bit of backup interview footage for post-production. Teacher Fu and the others have already recorded theirs, so we need to trouble you for one more.”
Li Chuan looked around. “Where’s your assistant?”
Hearing it was a work matter, Jing Shun cooperated professionally. “He’s not feeling well. Just take me to the interview room.”
Li Chuan agreed. “Alright.”
The two left the rest area. As they passed the corridor corner, they happened to run into Jin Yulin, who had also just wrapped up.
Jin Yulin’s assistant greeted politely, “Teacher Jing.”
Seeing that Jing Shun still had his mic on and the staff member beside him, he asked, “You’re not done yet?”
Li Chuan replied, “I’m taking Teacher Jing to record some supplemental interview footage.”
Jin Yulin nodded slightly at Jing Shun, making room for his wheelchair. He watched until the two got on the elevator, then his assistant muttered:
“Brother Lin, aren’t all the supplemental interviews on the first floor? Why are they going upstairs?”
“…”
Jin Yulin’s gaze flickered as he watched the elevator stop at the fifth floor.
He withdrew his gaze, looked at his assistant, and spoke with the indifferent tone he reserved for people when no one else was around. “Stop meddling in things that aren’t your business. Ting Ge and the drama promotion team want to boost him and give him more screen time—no one can stop that.”
The assistant caught Jin Yulin’s displeasure and shrank back. “Oh.”
Jing Shun followed Li Chuan to the fifth floor.
A fairly large suite had been converted into an interview room, with professional filming equipment set up on the left, center, and right. But right now, the room was empty.
Li Chuan was surprised. “Where is everyone?”
Jing Shun didn’t understand. “What’s going on?”
Li Chuan pulled out his phone, feigning the helpless urgency of a wage earner. “Teacher Jing, please wait a moment. Let me call them.”
Jing Shun didn’t make things difficult for him. “No rush.”
Li Chuan bowed to him and hurried to the doorway to make the call.
Just then, Jing Shun’s smartwatch lit up.
Unexpectedly, it was a voice call from Chi Gui.
Seeing Li Chuan still out in the corridor, Jing Shun turned off his lapel mic and answered, lowering his voice. “Hello?”
Chi Gui asked, “Are you done for the day?”
Jing Shun smiled. “How did you know? I didn’t get nervous during the recording this time—my heart rate shouldn’t have changed much, should it?”
Chi Gui said, “Weibo pushed me a video of Fu Changting wrapping up. Some of his fans were staking out the hotel entrance.”
“…”
Jing Shun couldn’t help but laugh.
On the other end of the line, Chi Gui sounded resigned. “What’s so funny?”
Jing Shun brought up an old point, now with solid evidence. “You said you weren’t jealous! You secretly search for Ting Ge’s news on Weibo all the time, don’t you? Otherwise, how would the algorithm push it to you?”
Chi Gui was silent for a few seconds, then said solemnly, “Know your enemy, know yourself, and you’ll never be defeated. Are you back in your hotel room?”
“Not yet—I’m still not done~”
Jing Shun couldn’t help but add a playful lilt. “The director said we need to record some supplemental interview content. I’m waiting for people right now.”
Chi Gui’s tone shifted slightly, sounding uneasy. “At this hour? Still doing interviews?”
The moment the words left his mouth, a heavy “bang” came from the door closing.
Jing Shun frowned and looked up, his expression changing abruptly.
Meng Zhide had appeared in the interview room without a sound, and right in front of him, he closed and locked the door. As for Li Chuan, who was supposedly on the phone at the doorway—there was no reaction at all!
“…”
Without missing a beat, Jing Shun pressed the screen off on his watch but didn’t hang up. He stared at Meng Zhide, who hadn’t shown up all day, and did his best to keep his composure.
“Teacher Meng, what are you doing here?”
Meng Zhide approached him, an overly scrutinizing look hidden behind his glasses, yet he spoke without a hint of shame or a racing pulse. “I’m here to do your supplemental interview on behalf of Director Ning Qiu.”
His gut instinct had been right.
Jing Shun suppressed the revulsion, not wanting to provoke him further. “Sorry, Teacher Meng. I’m tired right now. Let’s do the interview another time.”
He maneuvered his wheelchair, trying to skirt around Meng Zhide.
The next second, Meng Zhide yanked hard on the back handle of the wheelchair, his words now laced with insinuation.
“Jing Shun, you’re a smart guy. You should know why I went to all this trouble, right?”
“Your assistant isn’t here right now. Apart from Li Chuan, no one knows you’re on the fifth floor, do they?”
“…”
Jing Shun’s eyes turned cold. The scattered clues from today suddenly clicked together in his mind—
He suddenly remembered that Xiao Mo had said the director’s assistant gave him those two cups of coffee. Now it seemed likely the other party had used Fu Changting’s afternoon tea as a cover.
His voice was low. “You bribed Li Chuan? And those two cups of coffee were laced?”
Meng Zhide leaned closer to him. “I knew you were a smart guy.”
When they first met at Haishi, Meng Zhide had noticed that Jing Shun didn’t like coffee, so he was sure Jing Shun wouldn’t touch the two doctored cups.
That meant only Jing Shun’s assistant would suffer.
Even if this trick hadn’t worked to get rid of the assistant, Meng Zhide would have found another way.
“…”
Jing Shun didn’t waste more words. Instead, he seized the chance to swivel his wheelchair, using the momentum to break free from Meng Zhide’s grip. “Stay away from me!”
But the man was relentless!
Meng Zhide quickly circled back around to the front of the wheelchair and, without warning, dropped to his knees at Jing Shun’s feet.
“Don’t go! Tonight, you’re not going anywhere!”
Meng Zhide didn’t care what Jing Shun thought. His trembling hands grabbed Jing Shun’s ankles. “Jing Shun, do you know? The first time I saw your crippled legs, I fell in love with them!”
This was Meng Zhide’s deeply hidden fetish.
He’d been in the entertainment industry so long without any scandalous rumors because he’d never found the right target!
He pushed up the pant leg, revealing pale legs. They weren’t as frail and bony as he’d imagined, but they were enough.
“Beautiful… so beautiful.”
“…”
Jing Shun looked down at Meng Zhide’s manic expression, disgust shaking him to the core. The greasy sensation on his ankle made his stomach churn instantly.
He tried to break free, but Meng Zhide was gripping too tightly, too painfully.
Jing Shun forced down his nausea and scanned his surroundings, looking for something he could use to fight back.
His momentary silence only emboldened Meng Zhide.
The man almost prostrated himself on the ground, leaning in obsessively close to Jing Shun’s leg, dry-mouthed and hoarse. “Jing Shun, just let me touch it a little—lick it—just two licks—”
“I promise, I’ll get you any variety show resource you want!”
“You pervert! Dream on!”
Jing Shun suddenly threw his weight backward, reaching for the camera equipment standing diagonally behind him.
Bam!
The entire wheelchair tipped over backward!
Almost at the same moment, a camera weighing over ten pounds smashed straight into Meng Zhide’s head, splitting it open with a spray of blood!