CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: MALICE

Ruan Xingwen felt there was nothing bad about going to Huasheng, it just seemed to trouble Yu Xiaozhe a bit.

[Wen Xingcui: Brother Ze, if I go, will it trouble you a lot?]

[YU: No trouble. I don’t have any scenes the day after tomorrow, let’s discuss the endorsement matter then.]

Ruan Xingwen paused while typing.

[Wen Xingcui: Weren’t we scheduled for next week?]

[YU: What, do you have something the day after tomorrow?]

No, it’s just that he wondered if Brother Ze was a bit changeable?

[Wen Xingcui: No, it’s fine. I’m just curious why Brother Ze suddenly moved up the schedule?]

It was rare for Yu Xiaozhe to reply slower.

[YU: I’ll introduce you to someone then, and we can talk about signing the contract as well.]

[YU: I’m starting filming here, just message me directly if you need me, I’ll reply when I see it.]

After replying with a couple of messages, Yu Xiaozhe handed his phone to Li Mu, "Call me if there are any messages." Without looking back, he walked out of the lounge, no longer paying attention to the three behind him.

The three in the lounge looked at each other, slightly confused, wondering if Yu Xiaozhe had settled it? Otherwise, why was he smiling?

Thinking of this, they shivered in unison. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?! Why was it so frightening!

Over on Ruan Xingwen’s side, after seeing Yu Xiaozhe’s message, a thought suddenly occurred to him—he wanted to see a real filming crew.

Having been in the industry for over three years, he had never been to a real crew, which was quite sad. Thinking of this, he lightly tapped the screen and sent a message.

[Wen Xingcui: Brother Ze, can I visit the set?]

Realizing what he had sent only after seeing the words on the screen, he quickly retracted the message, pretending nothing happened. He simply replied "Received" and ended the chat.

With nothing else to do, Ruan Xingwen lay back on the bed, suddenly remembering the villa Yun Jing had mentioned yesterday. Thinking about it, he called the number he had saved and made an appointment to visit Zerui Real Estate for a talk the day after tomorrow morning.

Ruan Xingwen thought about it and sent Yu Xiaozhe another message.

[Wen Xingcui: Brother Ze, can we meet in the afternoon the day after tomorrow? I have something in the morning.]

Since Yu Xiaozhe was busy, he didn’t wait for a reply, but got out of bed to find something to eat.

Due to Yu Xiaozhe never changing his phone settings, Li Mu and the others could see the chat content on Yu Xiaozhe’s phone, and their reactions were varied.

Li Mu remained expressionless, just glanced at it lightly, then prepared to get up and find Yu Xiaozhe.

Yu Yue, seeing the remark "Xingxing", smiled mysteriously, took out his phone and intended to discuss with Ah Kai about his brother and his "sister-in-law’s" progress.

Zhang He...Zhang He was a bit confused. Xingxing? Brother Ze? Given Yu Xiaozhe’s current status, very few people call him so affectionately; usually, it’s Mr. Yu, President Yu, or the like.

Even Fang Wenkai and their childhood friends usually addressed him as Brother Yu. This "Brother Ze" seemed somewhat special, and this "Xingxing" appeared unusual considering the Yu brothers’ attitudes. She decided she had to meet this "star" the day after tomorrow.

Ruan Xingwen had no idea what he would face the day after tomorrow; he just knew he was starving.

Looking at the empty fridge save for a carrot and the empty snack cabinet, he felt a bit agitated.

Little Yuan must have taken all his snacks! Now that he had no job, why were they still restricting his diet!

Taking out his phone, he forcefully pressed the screen.

[Wen Xingcui: Little Yuan! Did you take my snacks!]

Little Yuan was perhaps looking at his phone right then, replied with [Fangfang: It was me. You always skip meals and only think about snacks.], and then stopped paying attention to Ruan Xingwen’s complaints, busying himself with his own affairs.

Feeling miserable, Ruan Xingwen opened his bank info, glanced at the pitiable four-digit balance, and with trembling fingers, opened the food delivery app. After browsing for a while, he decided to order an economically priced BBQ rice.

Soon, the food delivery arrived. Ruan Xingwen snapped a photo of the BBQ rice on the table, posting it with "Delicious!"

A few hours later, after finishing filming, Yu Xiaozhe took the phone handed over by Li Mu, first checking Ruan Xingwen’s messages, casually replying with [YU: Sure, I’ll pick you up then.]

He then noticed the red notification dot, clicked open the Moments, and casually skimmed through. This was his private WeChat, with friends mainly being his old pals.

Planning to close it after glancing at the uninspiring posts, he saw Ruan Xingwen’s post featuring an unappetizing-looking dish, prompting him to gesture for Li Mu to take a look,

"What’s this?"

Li Mu, who was busy packing up miscellaneous items brought to the set, looked up after hearing him,

"BBQ Rice," he added after a thought, "It actually tastes pretty good."

Yu Xiaozhe frowned, visibly skeptical, thinking the dish didn’t look appetizing at all, yet his fingers wrote, [Looks good, how about having it together sometime?]

After waiting a few minutes with no reply, Yu Xiaozhe stood up from the chair prepared for him on set, with Li Mu having finished packing as well, readying to head back to the lounge for some makeup removal.

A familiar face with a gloomy expression approached them — Zeng Xu.

"As expected of the film emperor, the treatment is different. Others have small stools, and here you get a parasol, folding chairs. Truly can’t compare with you!"

This remark was obviously loaded with meaning, implying that Yu Xiaozhe was acting high and mighty on set.

The surrounding staff, busy preparing props for the next scene, subtly shifted their gaze toward Yu Xiaozhe’s group upon hearing this.

Though they found Zeng Xu quite problematic, it didn’t stop them from enjoying the gossip, curious about how Yu Xiaozhe would respond to Zeng Xu’s provocation.

However, Mr. Yu didn’t acknowledge Zeng Xu, merely considering it annoying background noise, finding Zeng Xu’s emotional and mental shifts rather odd — was it just his rejection and Xu Yang’s words that agitated him?

Yu Xiaozhe didn’t care about Zeng Xu’s issues; it was his usual attitude. Casually he pocketed his phone, bypassing Zeng Xu and headed toward the lounge.

Ignored, Zeng Xu’s expression grew increasingly ugly, while the set personnel occasionally glancing his way carried a hint of ridicule, making his situation even harder to swallow.

At that moment, a girl carrying a box of props accidentally bumped into him, triggering his pent-up anger, leading to him pushing the girl forcefully.

———Crash———

Props were scattered everywhere, with some glass ornaments shattered completely. Zeng Xu’s malicious voice came from above her head,

"Are you blind? I was standing here, yet you bumped into me. Great, now the props are ruined, can you afford them!"

The girl felt very wronged; she simply had too much to carry and didn’t notice anyone ahead.

"Boohoo, I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t see you, sorry."

This girl was Zhang Yue.

She knew Zeng Xu and his reputation, but being just a small assistant herself, she couldn’t afford to offend him.