A Little, Maybe

But after saying that, Wen Chengze actually regretted it a little. Why was he so easily provoked? How had he blurted out something like that?

Wen Chengze was not someone who went back on his word, so he said nothing more.

Just as the two of them were about to leave, the people who had been talking over there came over at some point. More precisely, Zhong Mohan walked over, with Qiao Siyu following a few small steps behind him.

Qiao Siyu had originally wanted to keep talking to Zhong Mohan, but when she saw him suddenly head this way, she could only follow. The moment she saw Wen Chengze, a flash of disgust passed through her eyes.

A man was prettier than she was. She had heard he had joined the production team midway through—who knew how many people he had slept with behind the scenes?

"Mohan, is something urgent? Wait for me." Qiao Siyu's soft, coquettish plea did not soften Zhong Mohan in the slightest. He continued walking straight toward Wen Chengze.

Old Kong knew the entertainment industry was a mess, but no matter how messy it was, it usually stayed behind closed doors. Running into something like this so suddenly made this upright veteran artist somewhat uncomfortable. Still, Zhong Mohan was coming toward them, so it would not be appropriate to leave abruptly. Besides, Zhong Mohan and Wen Chengze seemed to know each other.

His gaze swept discreetly over the two of them.

"Old Kong." Zhong Mohan greeted Teacher Kong first, then turned as if to speak to Wen Chengze. But seeing that Wen Chengze would not even look at him, Zhong Mohan raised a brow. Had he offended him again?

Qiao Siyu, one step behind, greeted them as well.

Zhong Mohan suddenly understood. He roughly knew why Wen Chengze was angry and deliberately put more distance between himself and Qiao Siyu.

"This program will be in your care, Teacher Kong." With outsiders present, Zhong Mohan could not directly ask Old Kong to look after Wen Chengze, but he knew Old Kong would understand what he meant.

"It's my duty."

Old Kong valued Wen Chengze's talent, and the kid looked well-behaved. With Zhong Mohan behind him, his future was surely smooth sailing. But now, Old Kong suddenly felt that Zhong Mohan and Wen Chengze's relationship seemed far more complicated than he had imagined.

Seeing Zhong Mohan's gaze seem to drift toward Wen Chengze several times, Qiao Siyu pouted. "Mohan, you don't need to worry so much about this place. Anyone who passed the selection is talented. Even if someone got in through improper means, they'll be weeded out eventually. This isn't a place where looks are all that matter."

Everyone present understood who she was insinuating, and Old Kong's expression immediately darkened.

There were few people in the entertainment industry who were truly clean, and no one was really in a position to judge another. But Qiao Siyu saying it so openly was deeply unpleasant, especially when she was talking about someone Old Kong had just taken a liking to.

"Miss Qiao, please watch your words."

When Old Kong was not smiling, his presence was quite imposing. Qiao Siyu froze at once and looked at Zhong Mohan aggrievedly. But he had no intention of paying her any attention.

Noticing that Zhong Mohan's gaze had been fixed on him, Wen Chengze felt a little uncomfortable. "Teacher, I'll go inside and look over the script first."

At this point, Zhong Mohan had no reason to keep him, so he could only let him go.

The moment Wen Chengze left, Zhong Mohan changed as well, turning a sharp gaze on Qiao Siyu.

"Miss Qiao, I thought people should possess at least a basic sense of shame. Everyone in the industry should know exactly what kind of person I am. If you keep this up, I believe there will soon be some netizens online who are very interested in your past. You know perfectly well how you got onto this show. As long as you behave yourself, I won't interfere. But if you continue..." Zhong Mohan did not finish the sentence, but the threat behind it was obvious.

Dealing with Qiao Siyu would be as easy as playing around for him. The only reason he was not acting now was because he intended to use her as a stepping stone for Wen Chengze to practice on.

Whether Xiao Ze stayed in the entertainment industry in the future or not, he would never be the humble, deferential type. He should be someone flamboyant. Since that was the case, he might as well pick out some cannon fodder for Xiao Ze to practice on.

Old Kong could see it now. Zhong Mohan was absolutely protective of Wen Chengze. This was far more than simply having a powerful backer.

Having been humiliated like this, Qiao Siyu naturally had no face to stay any longer. Before leaving, though, she still gave Zhong Mohan a teary-eyed look. He remained unmoved and even frowned, a hint of disgust in his eyes.

"What is the relationship between you and Wen Chengze?" Even someone as unnosy as Old Kong could not help being curious.

Zhong Mohan smiled but did not elaborate. "Friends."

"He really is a good prospect. Even if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have been willing to let such a fine actor slip away. But I always feel like he has some reservations."

"Yes, I know. I'll talk him around later."

"That's good. With your guidance, his future will surely be limitless. By the way, I've heard some rumors lately. Are you planning to retire from the industry?"

"Not for now."

The implication was that he was already preparing to.

Old Kong sighed. "Without you, there'll be one less good actor around."

"There are still many outstanding young actors."

"You're still young too. These youngsters nowadays, aside from chasing traffic, how many of them are serious about acting?" Perhaps it was a common flaw among older-generation artists—they could not help feeling disappointed when they saw the younger generation like this.

The two chatted a little longer before Zhong Mohan finally left.

After Wen Chengze returned to the lounge, his expression looked completely normal. But the four boys who knew him well could still sense that something seemed different about him from before. The pressure around him felt a little low.

Just as the four of them were wondering whether they should ask, Wen Chengze's phone chimed.

A WeChat notification.

When he picked it up and unlocked it, he saw a friend request from Zhong Mohan.

Only then did Wen Chengze suddenly realize that although they had known each other for so long and had even slept together, they apparently did not have each other's contact information.

Wen Chengze's finger hovered over the accept button for a moment. In the end, he did not tap anything and simply closed his phone.

He did not want to accept it for now, but visibly, Wen Chengze's mood improved quite a bit.

Though they did not understand what was going on with Wen Chengze's emotions, seeing that he seemed better made the others breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother Wen, we're planning to choose this script. Do you think it's okay?"

Wen Chengze glanced at it. It seemed to be an excerpt from an ancient political intrigue drama. "Mm, that's fine."

The other four were still very happy. Though Brother Wen had connections, apart from not talking much, he had never put on airs around them. In fact, most of the time, they made the decisions and Brother Wen simply went along with them.

What good deeds had they done in their previous lives to encounter such a benefactor as Brother Wen in this one?

Not knowing what the four boys had imagined, Wen Chengze felt that their looks were rather strange.

"Aren't you going to report it to Teacher Kong?"

"Oh, right, we'll go now."

Once every group had decided on their performance piece, this episode of the program came to an end. Everyone dispersed and prepared to return to their rooms.

Wen Chengze ran into Qiao Siyu again in the hallway.

He glanced at her, said nothing, and intended to walk straight past.

But Qiao Siyu stopped him. "Wen Chengze, you seem awfully pleased with yourself."

Wen Chengze stopped and looked at Qiao Siyu with a mocking smile. "Miss Qiao, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand."

"Don't think that just because you're Old Kong's student now, you can be smug. In the entertainment industry, I have ten thousand ways to ruin your reputation. If you know what's good for you, get out of the industry on your own."

From the first time Qiao Siyu saw Wen Chengze, she had felt an enormous sense of crisis.

Logically, men and women could not really be compared together. But the moment she saw Wen Chengze, she keenly felt threatened. In recent years, she had not had any particularly breakout works. That face of hers—innocent yet faintly seductive—was all she had to rely on. And then Wen Chengze suddenly appeared. It was practically a death sentence for her!

Besides, Zhong Mohan had seemed to be staring at Wen Chengze all afternoon.

Her agent had originally arranged for her and Zhong Mohan to promote a couple pairing, but Zhong Mohan had refused. She had thought that a woman pursuing a man was separated only by a thin veil. If she were enthusiastic enough, surely she could win Zhong Mohan over. Yet from beginning to end, Zhong Mohan had given her nothing but a cold face. But the moment he met Wen Chengze that afternoon, he had practically wanted to glue his eyes to him. It was simply an insult to her!

Threatened like that, Wen Chengze looked at Qiao Siyu as though she were an idiot.

A mocking smile hung at the corner of his lips. "How does Miss Qiao plan to deal with me? Tell Mr. Zhang, or whisper sweet nothings into Mr. Lin's ear?"

After saying that, he left directly, ignoring Qiao Siyu's stunned expression.

She had come looking for trouble with him on the first day. How could he possibly do nothing? He had already investigated Qiao Siyu thoroughly. He had only been too lazy to deal with her because, aside from throwing a few barbs at him, she had not done anything too out of line. But after provoking him again and again like this, he did not have that much patience.

It was not until that night, after showering and lying in bed, that Wen Chengze opened his phone again and remembered something. He switched back to the friend request screen and accepted a certain man's request.

Whether Zhong Mohan happened to be holding his phone or not, the moment the request was approved, his message came through.

MH: [Still awake?]

[Yeah.]

Wen Chengze took a look at Zhong Mohan's profile picture. It was a little white fox lying softly sprawled across a gray blanket, looking very lazy.

Tsk. It completely clashed with Zhong Mohan's image.

MH: [Were you angry this afternoon because of what's-her-name? That woman.]

Zhong Mohan thought for a long time but still could not remember what that woman was called.

Seeing Zhong Mohan's message, Wen Chengze could not help curling his lips. Strangely enough, he understood what Zhong Mohan meant.

[No.]

A few seconds later, another message popped up, but this time it was a voice message.

Wen Chengze tapped it open.

"Really? I thought Xiao Ze was angry because that woman got close to me. Looks like I was being presumptuous."

Zhong Mohan's voice was extremely pleasant. With that deliberately aggrieved tone, Wen Chengze's bones almost went soft.

After a long while, he replied, [Maybe a little.]

Two seconds after sending it, Wen Chengze immediately recalled the message, his face turning bright red. What the hell had he just sent?