He walked up to Su Huaiming with a guilty look and said quietly, "Huaiming, whatever the reason, I stole your endorsement. I owe you an apology, and I hope you can give me another chance."
Su Huaiming looked up at Ning Lei in a daze, a puzzled expression on his face. "Endorsement?"
He suddenly said, "Oh! So that was you."
Ning Lei: "..."
The viewers in the livestream: "..."
How could he be so unconcerned?!
Ning Lei didn't believe Su Huaiming and thought he was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
But that really was unfair to Su Huaiming.
Whether the brand had backed out of its promise or someone else had stolen the endorsement, the outcome was the same.
For those few days, the butler had kept a close eye on Su Huaiming and refused to let him go on Weibo, afraid it would affect his mood. Su Huaiming had also thought the outcome was already settled, and looking at all that random stuff would be a waste of time, so he hadn't paid the matter any further attention. He really didn't know the brand had replaced him with Ning Lei.
Ning Lei, however, thought Su Huaiming was highly skilled and grew a little wary of him. Afraid Su Huaiming would get the upper hand, he hurried to speak first. "I know you must be angry with me, but I really didn't mean to. I didn't want to do this, I also..."
Ning Lei paused at just the right moment, biting his lip hard and looking vulnerable and aggrieved.
Su Huaiming watched Ning Lei quietly and asked, "If you didn't mean to, why did you do it?"
Ning Lei: "..."
The viewers in the livestream: "..."
[Is Ning Lei being a little green tea?]
[I didn't think so at first, but compared to Su Huaiming, Ning Lei is such a green tea!]
[Wow, I've never seen anyone be so blunt. Su Huaiming is the best!]
[Hahaha, this is the most satisfying green tea takedown I've ever seen!]
[Su Huaiming should buy insurance for his mouth. He's the new king of comebacks.]
Ning Lei stared at Su Huaiming, stunned. He hadn't expected Su Huaiming to be so unrestrained as to openly turn against him right in front of the cameras.
Put on the spot by the question, Ning Lei could only brace himself and say, "There were some reasons. Someone else... It wasn't my own intention."
Su Huaiming paused, then suddenly looked as though he understood.
The original owner hadn't willingly gone on the elective variety show either. Ning Lei was probably in the same situation.
Su Huaiming sighed, his gaze utterly sincere. "Did your agency force you? It's all right. You can do what I did and sue your agency to protect your lawful rights and interests."
Ning Lei: "..."
Ning Lei: "..."
Ning Lei: "..."
He had spent years in the world of green tea and seen all kinds of highly skilled green teas, but never one like Su Huaiming.
Was this... the sincere type of green tea?
Ning Lei wasn't the only one. Ji Mingzhe and Yu Ruicheng also looked at Su Huaiming with complicated expressions, struggling to keep their mouths from twitching.
Thoroughly confused, Su Huaiming looked back and forth between them several times before suddenly realizing something.
He glanced at the camera, covered his face with his hand, and lowered his voice. "Am I allowed to say that?"
Chapter 27
Everyone: "..."
That wasn't the issue here!
Did he even hear what he was saying?!
Ning Lei felt as though Su Huaiming had put him on a stove to roast. He had already seen that although Su Huaiming looked lazy and indifferent to everything, he was actually quite skilled. But he hadn't expected Su Huaiming to have reached the grandmaster level, with his green tea techniques honed to perfection, catching him completely off guard.
Ning Lei didn't have a powerful enough backer. He wouldn't dare go up against his agency, nor would he dare smear it for his own selfish benefit. He hurriedly said, "Th-this has nothing to do with my agency. They treat me very well and haven't forced me to do anything I dislike. Not at all!"
Hearing this, Su Huaiming asked in puzzlement, "If it wasn't your agency, who else could have forced you?"
Ning Lei: "..."
Both his cheeks felt as if they were burning, as though Su Huaiming had slapped them nearly swollen.
Wasn't the subtext of that question, "Did someone else hold a knife to your throat and force you to sign the contract?"
Ning Lei looked at Su Huaiming's face and felt as though it said, "We're both fox spirits, so why are you putting on an act in front of me?"
He was completely shaken. He stammered, unable to get a complete sentence out, looking utterly awkward and troubled.
Seeing this, Su Huaiming suddenly understood, as if struck by inspiration.
"It's all right. I understand. Some things really can't be said in front of the cameras." Su Huaiming thought that, as a successful senior, he ought to give those who came after him some encouragement. He clenched his fist and looked at Ning Lei with determination. "Keep it up, you can do it!"
"..."
At that moment, Ning Lei felt as though his face had swollen into a pig's head.
A man could only be killed once, yet Su Huaiming was so ruthless, stabbing him so many times in one go!
Seeing Ning Lei's expression turn even uglier, Su Huaiming became more certain that he had touched on what was in Ning Lei's heart.
He walked over to Ning Lei and patted him on the shoulder, a trace of pity in his eyes.
Seeing this, Sun Siyuan tried so hard to hold back his laughter that his stomach hurt. He bent over, clutching his stomach, and laughed until tears came out.
Su Huaiming was baffled by Sun Siyuan's behavior. Then he remembered that Fu Xiaoxiao was strange sometimes too. The two of them were the same kind of person, so there was nothing wrong with Sun Siyuan behaving like this.
Su Huaiming ignored Sun Siyuan and turned to walk into the inner room.
Sun Siyuan, that troublemaker, hadn't had enough of the show. He forced himself upright, only to get a stitch. With one hand on his waist, he laughed and cried out in pain.
"Hehe, ow... ow... haha, ow, haha, gah... gah, ow, heh."
The three children had been playing in the courtyard. Hearing such a terrifying sound, they all pressed against the glass and looked at Sun Siyuan in fear, thinking he resembled a monster from a cartoon.
The steady and mature Ji Mingzhe stood to one side. Seeing the scene descend into chaos, he didn't know how to ease the atmosphere and could only silently cover his face with his hand.
Meanwhile, Su Huaiming, the one who had started it all, concealed his accomplishment and slipped into the kitchen to see what there was to eat in the fridge.
Before he could open the fridge door, Sun Siyuan came limping after him, dragging his battered body along and crying out in pain.
Su Huaiming looked at him and asked, "Are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine." Sun Siyuan waved a hand, his voice unsteady. "I just laughed so hard I got a stitch."
"What are you laughing at?" Su Huaiming was bewildered.
Sun Siyuan blinked, thinking Su Huaiming was joking. "How could you not know what I'm laughing at? Huaiming, you were incredible. Ning Lei's expression was priceless. Why didn't I think to take a picture with my phone?"
Whenever Sun Siyuan laughed, his stomach hurt, making his laughter extremely short, like a few loud birdcalls.
Su Huaiming: "..."
Sun Siyuan sat on a chair and said between breaths, "I've learned it. If anyone ever dares to make snide remarks, act all vulnerable, and try to climb up by using me again, I'll use that move to give them a good comeback. Let's see what they can say then!"
Su Huaiming: ????
Making snide remarks, acting vulnerable, and using someone to climb up?!
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Sun Siyuan looked at Su Huaiming's bewildered expression and froze for a few seconds. "There's no one else here now, so stop pretending with me."
Su Huaiming shrugged. "I'm not pretending. I really don't understand what you're saying."
Sun Siyuan: "Huh?"
Su Huaiming: "Hmm?"
Sun Siyuan: "Hmm?"
Su Huaiming: "Ah!"
It was as though the two had reverted to infancy. Only after two rounds of unconscious humming and ahing did they understand what the other meant.
Sun Siyuan shot to his feet in shock and slammed his hand on the table. "No way. You didn't realize Ning Lei was a green tea, setting a trap for you and trying to pin all the blame on you?!"
Su Huaiming shook his head. "Wasn't he talking about his own situation? He seemed pretty pitiful. How could that be a trap for me?"
Sun Siyuan still found it absurd. "If you didn't realize it, how did you give him such masterful comebacks and find his weak spot every time? His face was almost swollen into a pig's head!"
At that, he suddenly realized something. "Don't tell me... you meant everything you said just now."
Su Huaiming nodded. "Yes. I just got away from my shady agency, and I saw that Ning Lei had run into the same problem as me, so I wanted to give him some advice. Maybe it could help him."
Looking at Su Huaiming's sincere expression and the stars sparkling in his eyes, Sun Siyuan fell silent for a long time.
Sure enough, sincerity was always a sure-kill move.
He had never expected things to turn out this way. He heaved a long sigh and decided that, as a senior, he ought to teach the innocent Su Huaiming a lesson. "Ning Lei is a green tea. You have to be on your guard around him and carefully analyze everything he says. Otherwise, he'll take advantage of you behind your back, and you won't even be able to settle the score. It's so frustrating!"
Sun Siyuan looked as though the past was too painful to recall.
He had a bad temper, was foolish and had plenty of money, and often invited scolding. Green teas frequently approached him and deliberately provoked him into scolding them, so they could gain attention and sympathy and climb up by stepping on him.
These were lessons learned through blood and tears. Sun Siyuan had been through too much, and that was how he had gained some experience, though his methods of dealing with green teas were far inferior to Su Huaiming's.
Sun Siyuan had come to learn from him, but Su Huaiming knew nothing, and now he had to educate Su Huaiming instead.
"A green tea is..." Under Su Huaiming's curious gaze, Sun Siyuan got stuck. He blinked, then said, "Look it up on Baidu Baike yourself!"
Su Huaiming: "..."
"What's wrong with that? When you explained what a soul was to Xiao Xiao before, didn't you turn to Baidu Baike too?"
Su Huaiming took out his phone and searched for the meaning of green tea on Baidu.
"Green teas often disguise themselves as weak and considerate, but they are usually deeply scheming, skilled at sowing discord and manipulating people's feelings."
Su Huaiming carefully recalled Ning Lei's words and actions just now, and a question mark appeared over his head. "Did he toy with me?"
Sun Siyuan: "..."
Could he watch his wording?!
He made it sound like he and Ning Lei had some kind of unhealthy special relationship!