abcnovels
Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Editor: SimoB
Jing Yuanqi shot into the hospital like a rocket, leaving sparks in his wake.
His legs were long and toned so he was still as quick as lightning even when holding a person in his arms. There was a dark expression on his face.
Thank goodness the hospital was sparsely populated right now, otherwise, the phrase ‘Film Emperor being Princess Carried by Upcoming Star’ would top the search charts.
The nurse-xiaojiejie who was tidying up the room jumped as the door was kicked open with a bang.
She spun around in surprise and stared blankly at the angry young man who stalked in with Shi Qing in his arms: “Mr. Jing? Mr. Shi?”
Wasn’t the discharge paperwork completed already?
Also, if she remembered correctly, hadn’t Mr. Shi hurt his back? Why was he being carried back?
Although Jing Yuanqi was insanely pissed off, some vestiges of his rationality remained. He forced himself to take a deep breath. With a stiff voice, he said: “I’m sorry. I think I left something behind.”
“Oh I see. Then you can search for it first. Let me know when you’re done.”
The nurse-xiaojiejie left.
As soon as it was just the two of them, the anger on Jing Yuanqi’s face could no longer be restrained.
He wanted to throw the person in his arms onto the bed, but a second later remembered that he had hurt his back.
He could only restrain himself again and gently lower the person onto the bed.
“Tell me right now. What’s going on with you and Chen Rong?”
Shi Qing frowned and sat upright on the bed: “I haven’t even asked you what’s going on with you and A-Rong. Are you with him? Does he know what kind of person you are?”
“What kind of person am I!??!”
Jing Yuanqi had completely lost the confidence he had gained from his previous victory. He exploded: “What, you think I’m completely different from that stepbrother of yours now that you’ve seen who I truly am? You want to break up with me now?”
The frown on the film emperor’s face became even more severe. His eyes were deadly serious as they stared into Jing Yuanqi’s: “Don’t even try to change the topic. What happened between you and A-Rong?”
“Me and him? Me and him?!! More like you and him!!!”
Jing Yuanqi was like an aggravated cat on a furious rampage. His fur would be standing on end — if he had any.
After two angry circuits around the room, he whipped around to face Shi Qing. His finger was shaking as he jabbed it in Shi Qing’s direction.
“What was that look in your eyes when you stared at him?? Why did you say those words to him?!! He’s your brother!! He’s legally your brother!!! Did you somehow forget that?!!!”
It was like he was stabbed in the heart. Embarrassment leaked onto the usually indifferent face of the film emperor. He lowered his eyes and said softly: “We aren’t related by blood. Besides, I was just thinking......”
“Fuck thinking! You’re not allowed to even think about it!”
Jing Yuanqi was so furious he was gasping for air. In order to not have an aneurysm, he could only pace around the room.
The young man took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. “The only reason you liked Cui Yunqing’s eyebrows was because they reminded you of Chen Rong. The only reason you like to see me smile is because I smile like that motherfucker Chen Rong–”
——Thud!
The words were lodged in his throat. He kicked the bedside table viciously.
Who would’ve thought.
The wild geese he hunted for so long came back to peck his eyes out.
His plan was to capture Shi Qing in one fell swoop after stimulating him.
But the other person didn’t even spare him an ounce of attention.
Shi Qing didn’t care about him at all. He would probably hire an entire marching band to congratulate him on finding a new lover if he could.
Jing Yuanqi exhaled harshly and rushed over to the film emperor again: “I knew something was wrong when you were so vigorous last night. In your eyes, it wasn’t me with you at all. It was Chen Rong, ah.”
“That’s not true.”
Shi Qing suddenly raised his head. His previously impassive face was dyed a beautiful shade of red. Even his white earlobes were not spared.
His eyelashes blinked quickly. His eyes were even a bit shy: “I never... thought of A-Rong.”
He definitely did.
When a person who was like an iceberg became embarrassed, their beauty was enough to stun others.
But Jing Yuanqi was about to explode right where he stood.
“You really thought about him when we-...?! Are you blind?? I’m clearly superior to him in every way!?! You fuckwad! You’ve been thinking about that fucking bitch this whole time??? He’s ugly! And a white lotus! And he’s been fucking scheming against you for years!”
“Jing Yuanqi!”
The film emperor’s expression darkened. He stood up, brimming with displeasure: “Don’t insult A-Rong.”
”And you still haven’t answered my question”, he continued. “What is going on between the two of you? Did you lie to him? A-Rong is a simple child so he can’t see what kind of person you are, but he’s under my protection. If you dare to do anything that hurts him, I will not let you go unpunished.”
“He’s simple??! He’s simple?!!!! He’s simple!!!!!!”
Jing Yuanqi has reached critical mass.
“Do you know why he came with me?!! He just wanted to make you jealous! Is that what a simple child would do?! Where did the brains you use when dealing with me go?! Why are you blind and deaf when it comes to him!?!”
The film emperor was stunned. “A-Rong isn’t your boyfriend?”
Seeing that there was still a chance, the young man tried to push down his anger. He replied forcefully: “No, he pretended to be with me to provoke you. He did it on purpose. Do you understand?”
“On purpose......”
Shi Qing’s eyes gradually brightened.
Jing Yuanqi suddenly had a very bad feeling.
Sure enough, in the next moment, the film emperor looked up at him with hope in his eyes. His cold voice couldn’t hide the fact that he seemed to be jumping for joy: “Why would he want to provoke me? Could it be that he also has feelings......”
Jing Yuanqi: “???”
Jing Yuanqi: “......”
Jing Yuanqi: “No!”
He was becoming delirious with rage, “Are you blind? Can’t you see that he’s a scheming bitch?? You might like him, but he hates you, ah!”
The young man was far past the point of trying to cover up his investigation into the other man. He angrily spelled it all out for Shi Qing: “When you were young, he deliberately pretended to be sick on the day of your awards ceremony so that your dad would stay with him. When he was 15, he actually locked you in the bathroom. When you were 18, he stole the car your dad gave you, took it for a joyride and caused an accident. Then he framed you for it! When you first went to university......”
“Those were all misunderstandings.”
Shi Qing interrupted Jing Yuanqi’s words. His eyes were filled with disapproval: “He got a cold because he tried too hard to finish his homework and come watch me receive my award. He only locked me in the bathroom because I was teasing him before. It was normal for him to get angry. And he only had an accident because he drove out to buy me a gift.”
The System peeked out: [Host, is that really what happened?]
[Nope. The awards ceremony thing was totally on purpose. And Chen Rong intentionally locked the original owner in the bathroom because he hired a group of thugs to beat Chen Rong up. The original owner knew that Chen Rong wanted to ride in his car, so he deliberately damaged the brake pads to kill him. Chen Rong was just better at the game and pushed all the blame back onto the original owner.]
System: [.....]
Jing Yuanqi concurred: “......”
The youth restrained himself for a long time before finally spitting out four words: “You are beyond saving.”
He’s never been as powerless as he was now. He had thought he was the one who controlled their relationship.
It turns out that he was just a replacement, and for a disgusting thing like Chen Rong no less. It was already commendable that he hadn’t gone insane yet.
Jing Yuanqi believed himself to be a powerful person with many tricks up his sleeves.
But he met his match in Chen Rong, a cunning white lotus bitch.
And Shi Qing, who was blind and deaf to Chen Rong’s charade, didn’t think about his feelings at all as he tugged at his sleeve with bright eyes.
“In other words, you and A-Rong are not together?”
Jing Yuanqi: “......Are you going to pursue him again if I say no?”
The film emperor’s ears were the colour of fresh blood.
He was actually stuttering a little. “Ma-maybe.”
Jing Yuanqi: “??? You really want to fucking pursue him??!!”
He detonated in place again.
After the explosion, the young man’s anger turned into despair after noticing that Shi Qing didn’t respond to his anger in the slightest.
He should’ve been used to it. Wasn’t it the same as always?
There was no reaction no matter how he teased or harassed the other.
Before, he assumed it was just Shi Qing’s personality.
But where was that cold attitude now?! It’s clear now that he just didn’t give a damn about Jing Yuanqi!
If he didn’t care, then naturally his emotional outbursts would have no effect on the other.
Jing Yuanqi tried his best to restore his former calmness.
He had only one thought running circles in his mind.
To hook and reel the blinded Shi Qing, back from Chen Rong’s side.
The young man took a deep, deep breath.
He sat next to the film emperor and slowly gathered the man into his arms. He layered on his usual charm as he coaxed him in a soft voice:
“Shi-laoshi, he is your younger brother. Even if there is no blood relationship between the two of you, you are a family in the eyes of the law. Even if you have some...”
Jing Yuanqi clenched his teeth: “Irrational, unstable, blind, impulsive and mistaken ideas, you still need to know that it is impossible for the two of you to be together.”
Shi Qing pushed him, but couldn’t break away. Instead, his actions made the young man hold him even tighter.
Jing Yuanqi continued: “But it’s different between us. We are a couple ordained by fate herself. What part of me is worse than Chen Rong?”
He slowly lowered his body to lean on Shi Qing’s knee. He pulled on the film emperor’s hand, imploring him to touch his face with his slightly cool fingertips.
There was a charming purr in his voice: “Am I not good-looking? Am I not strong? That Chen Rong looks weak because he is weak, in both body and mind. I lasted for seven rounds yesterday, can he do the same? I don’t think he can hold on for even three.”
“Also...” The juvenile snake slithered up slowly. He deliberately lengthened his words as he whispered them into Shi Qing’s ear.
“I like to drink porridge a lot. Especially if... you’re the one who made it.”
Shi Qing: [He’s such a good negotiator. I want to agree so badly.]
The System that modified and locked away its own memories became a pure and lovely child again.
[What porridge? Where is the porridge?]
Shi Qing’s heart was wavering.
But for the sake of the future, he resolutely pushed away the sticky youth. His voice was cold: “Don’t belittle A-Rong.”
Jing Yuanqi: “......”
He felt that he had become a pufferfish.
One poke would be enough to make him burst.
“Good!! Good!!!”
The young man suddenly stood up in uncontrollable rage: “Just you wait! I’m going to make you realize sooner or later what kind of trash you have a crush on! ”
——Bang!
Having slammed the door on the way in, he slammed the door on the way out as well.
Shi Qing shrugged and rose as well.
The System asked quietly: [Host, was this all part of your plan?]
Shi Qing: [Yes, isn’t it very simple? According to Jing Yuanqi’s personality he’ll definitely find someone to provoke me if I don’t agree to his demands. As for who to find, the worse their relationship with me, the more effective this trick will be. When he goes through the information again, only Chen Rong will fit the bill.]
[It’s a good thing that Chen Rong is also a troublemaker. I’m too lazy to deal with him, but Jing Yuanqi guards his food like a dragon guards its treasures. In this situation, he will definitely deal with Chen Rong for me. Maybe Jing Yuanqi’s morally defective brain will also wake up and perform normal routine operations.]
The System quickly wrote down: [Normal routine.]
***
Jing Yuanqi and Chen Rong were inseparable for the next few days.
He spent money on Chen Rong like it was water and constantly took him to play and buy luxury goods.
Chen Rong was Shi Qing’s stepbrother. He had a very generous allowance each month, one that was even more than the income of normal families, earned simply by flattering his stepfather. Unfortunately, he also had to pretend to be a clever little son in front of his stepfather, so he could not spend it all frivolously. He personally thought his life was very hard.
But then Jing Yuanqi appeared.
These days, Jing Yuanqi didn’t conceal anything about his family from Chen Rong.
His identity as the Jing family’s eldest young master might not be impressive in and of itself, but Jing Yuanji also happened to be a genius businessman. After so long, his own company was already much more powerful than that of his entire family.
Any one of his individual accomplishments, like being the founder of C company or the chairman of N group, was enough to slap Jing family in the face.
And so, apart from Jing Yuanqi’s inexplicable anger that day, Chen Rong was extremely satisfied with him.
Besides, Jing Yuanqi came to him later on to apologize.
Chen Rong put all his eggs in Jing Yuanqi’s basket. He was just too powerful. Even Shi Qing was just an artist contracted to C company .
If he was with Jing Yuanqi, he would no longer need to constantly please his stepfather or try to get rid of Shi Qing. He would directly ascend to a higher station in life.
The more Chen Rong lost himself in his idealistic daydreams, the more he made himself believe that Jing Yuanqi’s feelings towards him were genuine.
Usually, when he was with the other, they were either playing around in various places or he was listening to Jing Yuanqi complaining about Shi Qing.
Chen Rong would usually join in and add fuel to the fire.
After a week or so, Jing Yuanqi mentioned how Shi Qing’s wound had healed completely and the crew had asked them to return.
He sighed and confessed that he really didn’t want to work with Shi Qing. It would be great if he could get caught in a scandal right about now. Like... beating up his brother or something.
Wasn’t this exactly Chen Rong’s specialty?!
He immediately thumped his chest confidently. He promised to visit the crew tomorrow and ensure that Shi Qing suffered a big loss in reputation.
That night, Jing Yuanqi went to where they were filming in advance and searched it inside out. Finally, he found a good, secluded place that the cameras couldn’t see.
He wanted Shi Qing to see who Chen Rong really was. He had no intention of letting Chen Rong actually damage his reputation.
***
The next day, Jing Yuanqi tried to invite Shi Qing to meet him but got rejected.
He tried to suppress his bubbling rage as he called Chen Rong and told him to try instead.
Chen Rong had no confidence that he would be any more successful, but sent a text anyways. But somehow the other person agreed to come immediately.
He felt more and more like Shi Qing was acting strange these days.
But it didn’t matter. From today onwards, Shi Qing would be just another one of his stepping stones, crushed underneath his foot forever.
Jing Yuanqi arrived first. He took the opportunity to look around again. It was only after he was sure no one was monitoring him that he asked Chen Rong to invite Shi Qing over again. He made sure to assure him: “Don’t worry, I’ve put up cameras. You just need to frame him and I’ll do the rest.”
After double-checking everything, he set up a telescope and laid in wait.
He could make a pretty good guess as to what this kind of white lotus would do.
He would manipulate his surroundings to create the visual effect so that, from a certain angle, it would look like Shi Qing hit him. Then creating some slight wounds on his face would be all he would need to complete the illusion.
Chen Rong arrived brimming with confidence.
He agreed to meet with Shi Qing in this deserted corner. He was all too familiar with how to provoke this stepbrother of his.
“Let me tell you a secret, brother. Dad told me that I’m much better than a trueborn son like you.”
He had planned out a few more things to say, but had no time to react because his stepbrother immediately socked him in his face.
The force behind this blow was truly excessive.
Chen Rong’s tears and snot flowed all at once. His vision began to go black as he fell to the ground. He struggled to get up as he wiped the blood from his nose.
Has Shi Qing become easier to provoke since the last time they had met?
Chen Rong could not help but laugh through the pain. He raised his head and looked at the stepbrother he could never exceed: “You’re still as dumb as ever.”
But the silent film emperor now had a look of panic on his face. He knelt down and helped him up. “A-Rong, are you alright?”
Chen Rong: “???”
He shook off his stepbrother’s hand, and climbed up himself. He scoffed: “It’s no use. What you did just now was caught on camera. Just wait quietly for your downfall.”
Jing Yuanqi saw that it was done. He sauntered over smugly.
“Jing-ge!” Chen Rong hurriedly approached him. “Look at what he did to me!”
Jing Yuanqi glanced at the confused film emperor before examining Chen Rong’s bloody nose and darkening bruises. He clapped his hands.
“Very convincing. You’re a true professional at this. The makeup almost looks like it’s real.”
Chen Rong quickly explained, “No Jing-ge, it is real. Shi Qing just hit me. You have to help me get revenge!”
It was Shi Qing’s turn to play. He quickly stepped forward to pull at Chen Rong’s hand. His expression was both confused and frazzled. His voice had a slight quiver to it: “A-Rong, it wasn’t me. I didn’t hit you. Are you alright? Do you need a doctor......”
“Fuck off! Now you know to be scared?!” Chen Rong threw off his hands. He was feeling very satisfied right now.
Jing Yuanqi was also very satisfied when he saw Shi Qing standing there helplessly.
He stepped forward and hugged Shi Qing from behind: “Shi-laoshi, do you see now? Chen Rong is not as innocent as you think. He hates you enough to wish for your death. In order to frame you, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest while creating this scenario.”
He held Shi Qing tighter. “Just take a look. You didn’t hit him, but he’s clearly trying to insist that you did. Now you can clearly see who the superior choice is.”
Chen Rong was blindsided by this scene: “???”
Chen Rong: “What are you doing, Jing-ge?? I really did get hit by him! The wounds on my face are because of him!!”
It would be strange if Jing Yuanqi believed a word he said.
Shi Qing liked Chen Rong so much. How could he willingly hit him?
He only hugged the little prey in his arms and raised his eyebrows impatiently: “Whatever. Your part is done. Go wash the wounds off your face and fuck off.”
Chen Rong: “......But they’re real! My wounds are real!”
Jing Yuanqi squinted as he took a closer look. It did appear to be real.
“Wow. I didn’t think you had it in you. You actually got someone to beat you up for real, just to frame Shi-laoshi. I applaud your dedication.”
Chen Rong: “......”
He was about to go insane: “Shi Qing was the one who hit me!! Shi Qing, ah!! He just punched me in the face! Jing-ge didn’t you see it??”
It hurt him to even talk. He tried to model what happened just now: “I just said a word from right here when he punched me. Jing-ge, look at how much my nose is bleeding! Look!”
“Oh come on. You even got yourself a script? Stop pretending already. You’re dismissed. Shoo shoo.”
As he said this, Jing Yuanqi looked at the stiff body held in his arms. A pair of shining black eyes dimmed as they stared at Chen Rong’s ugly expression.
Jing Yuanqi’s heart felt both proud and distressed.
He kissed the film emperor gently on the cheek.
“Shi-laoshi, take a good look at him. He’s still trying to frame you even now. This is a classical example of a white lotus. You were wrong about him.”
Chen Rong watched with a swelling face as Shi Qing, who had swung his fist without hesitation just a few moments ago, was now staring at him with red-rimmed eyes and a sorrowful expression.
Who the hell was the real white lotus here ah!!
Everyone please give a warm welcome to the new editor for this novel, SimoB!