Acting Cute and Playing the Victim

"What exactly happened last night? Was it real? How did you guys mess this up? Shen Qing didn't even come in today. I heard he took leave."

Song Mingzhou looked around and, sure enough, didn't see Shen Qing anywhere.

Cheng Xin hadn't come either.

So among all the people involved, he was the only one who had obediently come to the set.

Song Mingzhou clicked his tongue and said lazily, "Of course I was set up."

"I think so too. That Cheng Xin practically has her eyes glued to Shen Qing every day. I refuse to believe it was such a coincidence that she had nothing to do with it."

"You're so smart."

Song Mingzhou winked at him. Qin Xiao was briefly dazzled, his expression going blank. After a moment, he glared at Song Mingzhou with mock reproach. "Don't flirt with me. I can't handle that. I'm a tough, straight-as-steel man."

Song Mingzhou: ...You're overthinking it.

Qin Xiao saw the speechlessness in his eyes and burst out laughing too.

Ding-dong.

Song Mingzhou's phone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw a text message. He tapped it open...

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million...

Hiss.

Song Mingzhou's vision went dark, and he nearly fainted. What the hell was this huge deposit??

Noticing something strange about his expression, Qin Xiao leaned over to take a look. Song Mingzhou quickly angled his phone toward his chest and smiled. "More people cursing me out. Better not look."

"Huh? Those people online again?"

"Yeah."

"You really shouldn't read that stuff. Read less of it. They're all just haters."

"Mm... yeah." Song Mingzhou's mind had already drifted elsewhere, and he had no time to keep talking nonsense with Qin Xiao. He found an excuse to slip away and examine the text more closely.

Of course, he wasn't naïve enough to think the money had come from the original owner's father.

It could only have been... Duan Xun.

Song Mingzhou curved his lips and immediately called him. The call had only rung twice before the other side picked up, and a man's low, deep voice came through. "Zhouzhou."

Ahem.

Even though he had heard that before, hearing it again still made his heart race. It was a little too much to bear.

Song Mingzhou tried to keep his expression and voice normal before speaking softly. "Brother, why did you give me money?"

Duan Xun's voice sounded even more devoid of emotion. "Oh, your salary."

"??? Salary?"

Had he worked for Duan Xun??

Duan Xun said, "Mm. Salary."

Song Mingzhou clicked his tongue, still unable to understand. "But why did you suddenly send me a salary, Brother?"

"Mm..." Duan Xun seemed somewhat embarrassed as he quietly explained, "It was written in the contract we signed."

"???"

Oh, right.

But he hadn't really read the contract carefully at the time. The plot was supposed to go this way anyway, so there couldn't be any problems. Even if there were problems, he still had to sign it, so there was no need to read it.

As for Duan Xun...

He was so busy that he certainly wouldn't have read it either. He had only learned what was in the contract after his assistant, Lin Cheng, reminded him just now.

The two newcomers, both unfamiliar with the sugar-daddy arrangement process, fell into an awkward silence.

"Teacher Song, the director is calling you over to film." Chen Fei shouted from far away.

Song Mingzhou turned to look, then quietly said to the person on the phone, "The director's calling me. I have to go."

"Go on."

"Then... I'll go now?"

"Mm."

"Can I call you again tonight?"

"Okay."

After hanging up, Song Mingzhou's mood improved considerably, and he happily went off to film.

Half a day passed.

The public discussion from last night fermented once more. A hotel employee came forward with information, saying that they had received a request for help from Mr. Song Mingzhou last night and had delivered water and hangover tea to him.

There was even corresponding video evidence.

And when Shen Qing fainted, Song Mingzhou had promptly caught him. The anxious shock on his face had clearly been the most genuine reaction in that moment.

With this reversal,

Gu Yanting and Shen Qing were once again dragged into the incident. They had remained silent for so long, allowing the public discussion to continue escalating while Cheng Xin alone was singled out and cursed at.

No one knew who was secretly steering the narrative, but Gu Yanting was also dragged into the center of the storm and criticized.

— "Gu Yanting is way too irresponsible. He must know exactly what happened, but he's kept silent this whole time."

— "Exactly. He's letting Cheng Xin get cursed at all by herself. I think she was set up too."

— "Could this be some weird game they enjoy? Did they do it on purpose? Are they happy making other people get cursed at?"

— "Does anyone remember how everyone used to say Song Mingzhou relentlessly chased Gu Yanting and loved him to death? But did you watch that variety show last time? It was live, so it should've been pretty real, right? Song Mingzhou clearly couldn't care less about Gu Yanting."

— "I watched it, I watched it. I think Gu Yanting kept looking at Song Mingzhou. Is he stringing two people along at once? I'm dying."

— "He wants it both ways. Sending some love to our Zhouzhou."

— "Sending love to baby Zhou. Mommy loves you."

— "Baby Zhou is my husband."

Song Mingzhou was forced to learn about all this from his manager. At that moment, even Lu Fenghai's tone was no longer as arrogant as usual; it actually carried a hint of cautious probing.

"Mingzhou, tell me... could someone be secretly helping you?"

Song Mingzhou curled his lips. If someone was helping me, who else could it be besides Duan Xun?

But hearing Lu Fenghai's cautious tone, Song Mingzhou found it somewhat amusing. Rather than saying it outright, he deliberately led him on. "What do you think?"

The moment Lu Fenghai heard that, he knew it was over. This kid really had latched onto someone powerful.

He wiped the thin sweat from his forehead and forced a smile. "Then who do you think it is? Could it be Gu Yanting? Or..."

Song Mingzhou let him guess before finally dropping a chilly sentence. "You'd better behave yourself. If you make me unhappy, I can make you disappear from this industry anytime."

It was naturally a bluff, borrowing someone else's authority to make an empty threat. But it was precisely the vague figure behind him that inspired fear. Though Lu Fenghai was furious, he didn't dare argue back and could only nod repeatedly.

The moment the call ended, Lu Fenghai's smile vanished. He slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Fuck, what the hell are you? You think you're so great just because you latched onto someone? I'd like to see exactly who you latched onto!"

After cursing, Lu Fenghai made a phone call.

Meanwhile,

The moment Song Mingzhou hung up, he received a call from Duan Xun and answered seamlessly.

"Who were you talking to just now?"

Duan Xun's cool voice came through the phone.

Song Mingzhou immediately switched to a soft, pitiful tone. "Brother, I was talking to my manager just now."

[Ding, plot point triggered. The host acted cute and played the victim before Duan Xun, complaining that Lu Fenghai had bullied him and wanting Duan Xun to back him up.]