Chapter 68 - 1#
Jing Shun had sent Chi Gui the restaurant address ahead of time.
Just before eight, he walked out of the restaurant, spotted his lover’s license plate in the parking lot at a glance, and got in with a smile.
Chi Gui met his curved lips and leaned over to fasten his seatbelt unprompted. “How come it ended so quickly?”
“Hmm?”
Jing Shun took in the handsome face so close to his, seized the chance to steal a kiss on the corner of his lover’s mouth, but before he could pull back, Chi Gui caught the back of his head and deepened the kiss.
The kiss ended.
Jing Shun’s cheeks were flushed from the heat. Though he had no experience dating anyone else, he just felt that Chi Gui’s kissing skills were superb—
Every time they kissed with tongues, it left him dizzy and unable to tell north from south.
Chi Gui used his thumb to wipe the glistening moisture from his lover’s lips. Instead of driving off right away, he brought up the earlier topic again. “How did the talk go? Did you get enough to eat at dinner?”
Jing Shun shook his head, and just thinking about the scene at the restaurant made him want to laugh. “I didn’t eat at all. As soon as Brother Yu sat down, he started asking about the movie stuff. Xie Er told him everything truthfully in front of me.”
Trusting Chi Gui completely, Jing Shun relayed everything he had learned—the movie’s production details, the internally recommended audition slot, and so on.
After hearing the full rundown, Chi Gui gave his approval. “Sounds like a great opportunity.”
Actually, if his lover were willing—
He could easily allocate funds under the name of the Chi Group at any time, whether for the movie script or the production setup, making it top-notch, with the other person as the sole and only lead!
But Chi Gui knew Jing Shun wanted to carve out his own place in the film industry through his own efforts. Even if it was just a minor role, it was better than buying his way in through connections.
Jing Shun nodded. “Yeah, if I get the chance to be in this movie, even just a tiny supporting role, it’d be a great new starting point for me.”
Chi Gui asked again, “How did Xie Er think to give you the internal audition recommendation? No strings attached?”
Just from those few encounters on the cruise ship, it hardly seemed enough to warrant such a big favor, right?
Jing Shun recalled the gossip he had just picked up and grinned. “He did have a condition: he wanted to get Brother Yu back on WeChat and demanded that Brother Yu not block him.”
“……”
Chi Gui couldn’t help but chuckle. “Xie Er and Yu Xiuzhu?”
Jing Shun had originally planned to keep Yu Xiuzhu’s secret, but seeing how obvious his own relationship with Xie Congjin was, he nodded.
“I think they might have dated before? But they broke up for some reason.”
“From the looks of it now, it seems Xie Er still has feelings and is trying to cling on relentlessly.”
To keep Yu Xiuzhu from backing out, Xie Congjin even set up a three-person group chat, calling it a “witness” for Jing Shun so Yu Xiuzhu couldn’t go back on his word.
Jing Shun laughed without restraint in front of his lover, relishing the gossip. “No choice—my dear agent, Brother Yu, had to agree for my sake.”
Chi Gui listened to his lover’s gossip-sharing and laughed along.
He had never cared much about other people’s romantic histories, so he certainly wouldn’t spread these things around.
Jing Shun picked up the flower tea prepared in the car and took a sip. “Xie Er said he’ll find someone to contact the company about the audition notice in a while, and told me to be patient.”
“I can tell he’s just using me as a ‘tool’—his real goal is to mend things with Brother Yu.”
Jing Shun felt he had been “bought off” by Xie Congjin’s favor and also sensed that Yu Xiuzhu wasn’t entirely resistant to Xie Congjin—
So, showing good judgment, he used the excuse that “Chi Gui is waiting for me outside” to slip out of the restaurant first, leaving the two of them alone.
After finishing his story, Jing Shun patted his slightly hungry stomach. “Is there dinner at home? Let’s go back and grab a quick bite—I’m tired, and I don’t want to deal with eating out anymore.”
“Alright.”
…
Forty minutes later, the two returned to the North Wing of the Chi Estate.
Jing Shun had no sooner stepped into the living room on the first floor than he eagerly called out for his beloved dog. “Baby~”
“Woof!”
Bao is here!
Hearing the noise, the doggy rushed down from the second floor. In its excitement, it even slipped a few times on the steps. “Awoo woof!”
Bao misses you so much!
The dog burst in front of Jing Shun, then performed an emergency stop on the spot.
Seeing Jing Shun standing upright without his cane, the doggy stared with bright, sparkling eyes, circled him several times, and even sniffed around his legs.
Jing Shun was amused by its antics and rubbed the puppy’s head. “Don’t recognize me? I’m all better now~ From now on, I can take you out for walks together~”
“Woo woo!”
The dog pawed at Jing Shun, standing up on its hind legs and wagging its tail excitedly, as if it knew its owner had fully recovered.
Chi Gui watched the scene, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Just then, Uncle Lin emerged from the kitchen carrying a pot of noodle casserole. “Both gentlemen are back? Better eat it while it’s hot.”
Jing Shun’s appetite was instantly stirred by the aroma. He patted the dog, then pulled Chi Gui along to sit down. “Thank you for the trouble, Uncle Lin.”
“No trouble at all.”
Uncle Lin hurried off to fetch their bowls and chopsticks.
Chi Gui handed Jing Shun a wet wipe to clean his hands, and the two sat down to eat. The dog, having just finished gnawing on a meat bone, obediently crouched beside Jing Shun.
More noise came from the side as Wade walked out of the first-floor office.
Taking advantage of the two men eating, he took the initiative to bring something up. “Sir, the matter you asked me to investigate earlier has yielded results.”
He glanced at Jing Shun as he spoke.
Jing Shun was chewing on a piece of fresh shrimp and didn’t react right away. “What?”
“Last time you met with Auntie, didn’t you ask me to look into her second husband?” Chi Gui reminded him simply, then gestured to Wade. “Just go ahead and say it.”
Wade nodded. “Alright.”
Jing Shun snapped back to reality and focused part of his attention on listening to the background check.
Xu Jia’s second husband was surnamed Jiang, named Jiang Keshan, a producer in the film and television industry.
“Jiang Keshan first worked at Huan Yu Film & Television in the imperial capital, primarily handling script project screening and development. He rose to a senior level in the original company’s department and had three or four hit shows listed under his name as ‘producer.’”
Jing Shun raised an eyebrow slightly.
Imperial Capital’s Huan Yu Film & Television was one of the top-tier film and TV companies, focusing mainly on project investment and development in the early years.
In recent years, the company had started branching into artist training and agency business, but he remembered that when Xu Jia and Jiang Keshan got together, the latter was working as an independent producer?
Sure enough, Wade continued. “Nine years ago, Jiang Keshan divorced his ex-wife, Fu Meng—who was the operations director at Huan Yu—and gained custody of their son. At the same time, he left his old employer.”
From that day on, Jiang Keshan moved back from the imperial capital to Haishi, set up a private studio, and frequently traveled between Haishi and Hengcheng.
“After his new studio was established, the first film project was Ye Chang’an.”
At this point, Wade deliberately paused.
Hearing the title of this TV series, Chi Gui immediately thought of something—
Before his lover came of age, the last TV drama he acted in was Ye Chang’an, in which the role of Xiao En, the young marquis, was a fairly brilliant and important character.
Jing Shun knew the inside story better than they did, and let out a helpless laugh. “Yeah, I know.”
He only found out later—
Before Ye Chang’an officially started filming, Xu Jia had already been introduced to Jiang Keshan through an acquaintance, and there were even signs of a romantic involvement between them!
That was how Jing Shun landed the role of the young marquis without auditioning. Of course, he proved with his own ability that the production team hadn’t made a wrong choice. Even today, Xiao En, the young marquis, remains one of Jing Shun’s iconic roles.
In the same year Jing Shun learned the truth about his parents’ divorce, a pregnant Xu Jia and Jiang Keshan held a belated wedding and settled in Haishi.
At the end of the year, Xu Jia gave birth to a lovely daughter, named Jiang Ci—Jing Shun’s half-sister on his mother’s side.
“In the first five years, Jiang Keshan’s studio developed quite well and even expanded into Yuanshan Film & Television Company. Three years ago, his career ambitions grew—”
Jiang Keshan began to feel unsatisfied with the TV drama industry and turned his sights to the more profitable film industry.
Over a year and a half, Jiang Keshan agreed to collaborate with his old employer and invested in three movies in succession.
“Based on the publicly available financial statements we can access, it’s conservatively estimated that his film company invested over 500 million—if my deduction is correct, that’s basically the entire company’s current capital pool.”
Chi Gui, being more versed in business, clearly disapproved upon hearing this.
Such an amount was nothing to the commercial juggernaut of the Chi Group, but for a developing small-to-medium film and TV company, it was essentially a huge gamble.
If any of the invested movies ran into trouble, the capital chain would easily collapse. Ambition was good, but blind ambition wasn’t necessarily so.
Jing Shun recalled what Xu Jia had said, frowning slightly. “So, the investments didn’t succeed?”
“One movie billed as a ‘major military production’ mainstream film hit theaters during last year’s National Day holiday, but due to fierce competition, it bombed hard, earning less than 100 million at the box office.”
“The other two commercial films starred the same lead actor, Li Yan. In August last year, news broke about his tax evasion, and the higher-ups ordered a soft ban on him.”
For movies that had already finished filming, this was undoubtedly the most devastating blow.
Jing Shun had some recollection of that celebrity’s scandal, and the timeline of both incidents was very close to the fall accident on his own set.
“Jiang Keshan’s company laid off many employees at the end of the year and indeed sold off two houses in Haishi. The apartment where Xu Jia now lives is rented.”
“Not only that, I found her account on a second-hand trading website. Based on the history, she’s sold quite a few designer handbags and clothes.”
“……”
Jing Shun listened in silence, feeling a mix of emotions.
Seeing his lover quiet, Chi Gui looked at Uncle Lin and the assistant by the dining table. “It’s late—you two should head back to your rooms and rest.”
“Yes.”
Wade and Uncle Lin withdrew.
Jing Shun was only half full and had lost the appetite to eat more. He took a sip of water, then said to Chi Gui beside him, “Let’s go back to our room too.”
“Alright.”
That night.
The sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and soon, a fresh-from-bathing Jing Shun walked out.
Chi Gui had already showered in the outer bath and was waiting for his lover.
Their eyes met, and he immediately pulled Jing Shun into his arms, leading him to the bed.
“Woo~”
The dog gave up struggling and lay down at the foot of the bed on its own.
It had already accepted its place in the household—second only to Chi Gui. As for affection, it would fight for that properly when Chi Gui wasn’t home.
Jing Shun nestled in Chi Gui’s embrace, letting his guard down, and let out a deep sigh.