Chapter 26: He Has His Own Plans for Tonight’s Dinner
Halfway through his explanation, Han Chi paused. He lowered his head, a look of pity flashing across his face.
“Maybe he felt ashamed. As soon as he saw me, he made an excuse about feeling unwell and bolted from the room”.
Chen Wei pursed his lips.
As a fellow actor, he could actually empathize with Jiang Chuan’s state of mind at that moment. It was one thing to fail to live a better life after leaving Han Chi, but it was quite another to have his most pathetic moment caught red-handed by the very manager he had once looked down upon.
“Later, when I went to the restroom, I accidentally bumped into him crying all by himself”.
Originally, Han Chi intended to pretend he hadn’t seen anything. He planned to wash his hands and leave. But Jiang Chuan stopped him recklessly, grabbing his arm with bloodshot eyes and questioning him like a madman:
“Are you satisfied now?”
If Han Chi had initially felt a sense of tragedy that they had both fallen into the same predicament, then looking at Jiang Chuan now, he could only think of one phrase: pitiable people often have hateful traits.
Prying Jiang Chuan’s hand off him, Han Chi simply tossed back a casual remark:
“As the first artist I ever managed, there is no ‘satisfied’ or ‘not satisfied.’ Falling to this state is the result of your own choices. You can’t blame anyone else”.
Han Chi stepped past Jiang Chuan, intending to leave. To his surprise, Jiang Chuan suddenly collapsed to the floor, clutching his head in despair and sobbing uncontrollably.
As if emotions he had suppressed for a long time finally found an outlet, Jiang Chuan wept as he poured out his grievances.
It was only after he had sought out Zhang Chen that he realized the man had severe sadistic tendencies. To compensate for his physical deficiencies, Zhang Chen took a large amount of stimulant pills every time before going to bed with someone. Even so, the longest he could ever last was no more than three minutes.
A man like Zhang Chen suffered no sense of inferiority; instead, he became manic and violent out of fear that his little secret would be exposed. The pain caused by his physiological defects could only be channeled by inflicting perverse methods onto others to achieve psychological satisfaction.
For the sake of resources, Jiang Chuan had gritted his teeth and endured Zhang Chen’s abuse. But Zhang Chen was despicable. After abusing him, he would hand him over to other old men, squeezing every last drop of value out of him.
Seeing Han Chi appear tonight and learning he was there for Chen Wei’s sake, Jiang Chuan’s emotions had finally snapped. In a fit of agitation, he had lost his composure and said those things.
However, Han Chi had no interest or time to stop and understand his plight. He walked away without looking back.
Chen Wei, however, accurately captured a key phrase. He swept his gaze over Han Chi’s body from head to toe:
“Since Zhang Chen has sadistic tendencies, then you…?”
Using his free hand, Han Chi pulled up his pant leg in front of Chen Wei.
“At the banquet yesterday, I used a few tricks to get Zhang Chen dead drunk. After returning to the room, he slept through the entire night, which is why he only flew into a rage at me the moment he opened his eyes this morning”.
Fortunately, Chen Wei had arrived in time. Aside from the whip marks on his back, there were no issues elsewhere.
Only after confirming that Han Chi was truly alright did Chen Wei finally feel at ease.
Perhaps because he hadn’t slept well the night before, Han Chi fell into a deep sleep shortly after the IV drip was started.
Tucking the blanket around Han Chi and listening to his steady breathing, Chen Wei finally had the chance to pull the phone from his coat pocket. While he was chatting with Han Chi, the phone had vibrated several times, but he had silently declined the calls.
Looking at the screen full of missed calls from Xu Cheng, Chen Wei’s lips curled into a cold smirk.
With an expressionless face, he dragged Xu Cheng’s number into his blacklist.
Now, it was Xu Cheng’s turn to experience the anxiety he had felt just moments ago.
Things were exactly as Chen Wei had imagined.
At this moment, Xu Cheng was as anxious as an ant on a hot griddle.
That suicidal madman, Chen Wei!
How did he dare to openly use that face of his to strike Zhang Chen?
Zhang Chen had already given him a final ultimatum.
Either he delivered Chen Wei into his hands by tomorrow, or he would unilaterally cut off all investment to Xingyao Media.
Now, Chen Wei’s phone was unreachable. The cold, mechanical prompt from the receiver almost made Xu Cheng smash his phone on the spot.
“Damn it!”
How did Chen Wei know the address of Zhang Chen’s hotel?
Could it be that someone in the company had tipped him off?
Taking a deep breath, Xu Cheng closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a single name had surfaced in his mind.
As the sky gradually darkened, Xiao Wu volunteered to stay at the hospital to look after the injured Han Chi. Chen Wei had other matters on his mind, so he let him be.
However, before leaving, he still naggingly warned Xiao Wu not to answer any calls from unfamiliar numbers.
Xiao Wu was someone Han Chi had recruited personally; he was completely on their side. Chen Wei wasn’t worried about any trouble on Han Chi’s end.
His main concern was Xu Cheng, who was prone to acting desperately when cornered.
He had beaten Zhang Chen. Given Zhang Chen’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t let the matter go so easily. For a person as vengeful as Zhang Chen, he was likely threatening Xu Cheng at this very moment to hand Chen Wei over.
Looking up at the sky that hadn’t yet fully dimmed, Chen Wei wasn’t in a rush to call a taxi. After walking a few more steps, he turned a corner into a large supermarket near the hospital.
When he emerged again, he was carrying two large bags of groceries in each hand.
He hailed a taxi at the curb and placed the items in the trunk. Once seated, he gave the driver his home address.
He didn’t know if Zhou Sijin had left after he’d gone. But judging by the way Zhou Sijin had bought daily necessities yesterday, he likely intended to stay for a few more days.
When Chen Wei returned home carrying the two heavy bags, his eyes immediately fell upon a large, strange object that had suddenly appeared in the living room.
He glanced at Zhou Sijin, who was lounging on the sofa, leisurely playing a video game console.
“You bought this?” he asked.
Zhou Sijin followed his gaze to the robot nearby. He put down the console and looked up at Chen Wei and the two bags in his hands.
Slipping into his slippers, Zhou Sijin walked over.
“A prototype developed by the company’s R&D department”.
He spoke as he approached, stopping right in front of Chen Wei.
Chen Wei nodded without speaking. He set down the bags and began lowering his head to change his shoes.
Zhou Sijin looked down at Chen Wei, his gaze sweeping over the abundance of fresh food in the grocery bags beside him.
“You’re going to cook?” Zhou Sijin asked.
After changing his shoes, Chen Wei picked up the two bags and stood up:
“I’m not used to eating takeout”.
With that, he stepped past Zhou Sijin and walked straight toward the kitchen.
Most food in restaurants was heavily salted and oily. In recent years, incidents involving pre-made meals and lymph meat had been endless. Without seeing the preparation process, Chen Wei simply couldn’t feel at ease.
Furthermore…
He had his own plans for tonight’s dinner.
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