Chapter 19

Recently, He Ransheng had been riding a wave of success. Ever since whispers from his team spread news that he had already established connections with a major smartphone brand, his fanbase had grown considerably. Yet this surge was not one born of affection, but rather one akin to investors buying shares—after all, the popularity of Qi Linyuan had been immense. With Qi Linyuan now playing a supporting role to him, and the news of Qi Linyuan accepting several endorsements far beneath his stature, He Ransheng’s own prowess stood out even more.

Especially now, with the filming progressing smoothly, although He Ransheng had many takes, Qi Linyuan was hardly any better. He truly believed there was little difference between their acting abilities. As for why Qi Linyuan always made mistakes during scenes with him—He Ransheng never pondered this. Whenever Zhang Qingke called for a cut and then singled out Qi Linyuan, he simply assumed the fault lay with Qi Linyuan.

In reality, however…

“Cut! Linyuan, come here for a moment.” Zhang Qingke called again. He Ransheng watched from afar, smug and content, feeling that life was simply delightful.

Qi Linyuan walked over naturally. Zhang Qingke gestured for him to look at the monitor, feeling his head about to split. “Linyuan, from your perspective, was Ransheng’s performance watchable?”

He Ransheng was no lost cause, but his self-satisfaction often led him astray, pulling him out of character at a moment’s notice. Just some time ago, he’d been steady and grounded—why had he started drifting again these days?

Qi Linyuan knew exactly where He Ransheng’s problem stemmed from, and he also knew the root was tied to himself. But what could he say…he was innocent, too.

He glanced at Zhang Qingke’s noticeably thinning hair, wanting to offer comfort, but couldn’t force himself to lie. “Uh…I don’t think it’s quite watchable…there’s a strong sense of disconnect from the rest.”

Zhang Qingke pressed on, unwilling to give up. “From the perspective of young people, is it still unwatchable?”

Qi Linyuan paused, then replied tactfully, “Actually, young people are very picky…and this isn’t meant to be an idol drama.”

Zhang Qingke felt a wave of dizziness. He had already been considering a reshoot, but had hoped to lower his standards. Now, it was clear he couldn’t.

He sighed and waved Qi Linyuan away, then turned and called out, “Ransheng! Come here!”

…

Although he was coached again and had to redo several takes, He Ransheng’s good mood remained undisturbed.

But what puzzled him was that after a day, then two, Qi Linyuan hadn’t left the set. He still sat on his little folding stool, whether he had scenes or not, always lingering under He Ransheng’s watchful gaze.

“There’s no reason for this!” He Ransheng muttered to his assistant. “Didn’t you say his company was ready to sign the contract?”

His assistant felt a chill crawl up his back, quickly shifting the blame. “Yes! My relative said days ago they were ready to sign. If they still haven’t, maybe…maybe…”

His eyes darted, finally landing on Qi Linyuan. “Could it be he discovered something?”

He Ransheng, saying “No way,” walked up to Qi Linyuan.

Qi Linyuan was hardly surprised to have someone block his view. Before he looked up, he even sighed. “What is it?”

He Ransheng suspected Qi Linyuan had omitted the word “again,” but lacked proof, making his tone a bit more sardonic. “Why are you always here on set? Don’t you have any commercials to shoot?”

If Qi Linyuan had only suspected before, He Ransheng’s words now confirmed that this was indeed his doing.

Qi Linyuan looked at him with an indescribable gaze, as if he were watching a fool. After a moment, he said, “What if I told you, ‘No, I have no commercials to shoot’?”

He Ransheng assumed everyone was as stubbornly proud as himself, so Qi Linyuan’s words left him stunned, staring in disbelief for a long moment before stammering, “But you do have commercials to shoot!”

Qi Linyuan countered, “Just because I have commercials, do I have to shoot them?”

Of course not, He Ransheng thought. But if you don’t, how can I one-up you? It makes no sense—your company is so shortsighted…

Qi Linyuan saw through him easily.

Indeed, even He Ransheng could see his company’s shortsightedness, knew that taking these endorsements would do him more harm than good, yet his company insisted. Anyone who knew would realize it was just his management company, but outsiders might think it was a loan shark coming to collect debts.

Just then, Qi Linyuan’s phone rang. The contact was simply labeled “Agent.”

At last, Qi Linyuan felt a sense of closure, his expression softening into a subtle smile as he answered, “Hello?”

“What hello!” The voice on the other end was so loud, even without speakerphone, anyone within two meters could hear clearly. “Qi Yuan, how has our company wronged you? We worked so hard to make you famous, and now you want to leave?”

Qi Linyuan laughed lightly, his tone relaxed as he retorted, “Wronged me? Where did you ever do right by me? You claim you worked so hard to make me famous—what exactly did you work hard at? Don’t think I don’t know you took money to send me to ‘Best Actor Challenge,’ and not a cent was given to me. You even told me the company spent so much to get me in, so I had to perform well…”

The other side paused, then quickly replied, “That money all went to marketing…”

Qi Linyuan continued, unhurried, “Right, you spent it on marketing, and none of the excess came out of your pocket. So what did you work so hard for? The company hired a performance coach once, for three days, in a class of ten—that’s your only contribution, isn’t it? And me? For ‘The Book of Souls,’ you took eighty percent of my pay. By my count, you profited handsomely from me.”

He added, “Ah, and don’t forget the penalty fees. Like you said when convincing me to take the ad—no effort, just profit. A sure win, right?”

The agent was livid. “So you’re dead set on leaving?”

Now Qi Linyuan was genuinely amused. “What else? Am I here just to annoy you?”

“Qi Yuan!” the agent shouted, “Just you wait! I want to see if someone as ungrateful as you can survive in a new company!”

Qi Linyuan couldn’t be bothered to argue further and hung up decisively.

The two beside him stared in shock, clearly never expecting the frail, innocent Qi Linyuan to possess such a side.

He Ransheng was dumbfounded for a long time, then suddenly grew excited, as if he’d seized some evidence. “Qi Linyuan! Your innocence and harmlessness are all an act! I’m going to expose you! Ha! Let’s see your fans abandon you!”

Perhaps after enduring the agent’s shamelessness and lies, Qi Linyuan now looked at He Ransheng with a kind of pity reserved for fools.

He watched He Ransheng for a while, until the latter’s excitement faded and unease crept in, causing him to take a step back. Then Qi Linyuan blinked, enveloping himself in the aura of an innocent flower. “Teacher He, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Seeing that the other wasn’t about to curse him, He Ransheng regained some confidence. “Don’t pretend! We all saw how you acted just now!”

“We?” Qi Linyuan asked. “Who’s ‘we’? Did you record it? Take a photo? No? Then where’s your evidence?”

He Ransheng was taken aback by such shamelessness, fumbling around for his phone, but Qi Linyuan went on, “Tell me, with our images, if you told a random passerby what happened just now, would they think I’m an innocent flower being slandered by you, or that I’m scheming and you’re a wise judge seeing through me?”

He Ransheng froze, blurting out a curse.

He had never encountered someone so brazen!

And that wasn’t all. No sooner had he cursed, than Zhang Qingke’s cold voice sounded behind him. “He Ransheng! If you spent as much effort studying the script as you do picking fights with Linyuan, you wouldn’t be making so many mistakes! We’re all part of the same team, our interests aligned. When will you understand that? Get back to studying the script!”

He Ransheng wanted to protest, but Zhang Qingke didn’t even give him a chance, offering only a chilly back.

He Ransheng had never felt so stifled in his life. He angrily kicked Qi Linyuan’s little stool. Qi Linyuan said nothing, simply stepped forward and picked it up, refusing to set it down, as if worried He Ransheng might kick it again, intending to wait until he left.

For a moment, He Ransheng felt several eyes upon him. He wanted to shout, “I’m not bullying him!” But looking back at Qi Linyuan’s quiet, pitiful demeanor, he realized even he couldn’t believe such a claim.

He glared at Qi Linyuan, his last shred of intelligence finally kicking in, prompting him to storm off with his assistant.

“Scheming dog! Such a big scheming dog!”

“Damn it! Why does no one believe me! He’s the one bullying me—not the other way around!”

“I’ve been gathering information, planning strategies, working so hard to craft a flawless scheme, and now it’s ruined! Why is he pitiful? I’m the pitiful one!”

He Ransheng muttered as he marched on. His assistant wanted to say, “The plan was made by your agent, who said after this last attempt to suppress Linyuan, you should stop. You’re not exactly the one suffering,” and, “What you’re describing doesn’t sound pitiful—it sounds like you had it coming,” but dared not speak, and merely nodded along.

He Ransheng continued his indignant march, then suddenly remembered something. “That phone call just now…does it mean he’s terminated his contract with his old company and joined a new one? Which company is it?”

He looked at his assistant, who looked back, equally baffled.

They had been at the forefront of the gossip for so long, but only ended up gnawing the rind.

Where was the fruit? Where did it go?