Chapter 8: Who Went Missing part 1
When Xie Shibai left, he was still pondering Chen Yi’s suggestion.
Ask him to discuss it with Lu Ciheng and have him help with physical contact desensitization?
The moment he thought of that mouth of Lu Ciheng’s, only three words remained in Xie Shibai’s mind.
Impossible.
They were merely in a cooperative relationship; the ideal state was for neither of them to pay attention to the other.
The strange doctor in the white coat stopped in his tracks, furrowing his brows as he looked at Xie Shibai’s retreating figure. It felt familiar, but the memory in his mind was a bit blurry, as if the person’s name was on the tip of his tongue but couldn’t be recalled due to a lag in his brain’s processing system.
Holding a water cup, Chen Yi paused when she saw the male doctor standing at the door. “Senior Brother Zheng? What are you doing here?”
Zheng Wen pointed at Xie Shibai’s back and asked, “Was that your patient just now?”
Chen Yi replied helplessly, “What are you doing? Trying to make me lose my professional ethics as a doctor? Some topics are off-limits.”
Not revealing patient information was the most basic rule.
Zheng Wen quickly apologized with a smile, “Sorry, I just thought he looked a bit familiar. I didn’t mean to pry into his information.”
Chen Yi knew Xie Shibai’s profession; looking familiar might just mean he had seen one of his movies.
When Zheng Wen left, he was still trying to recall the source of that familiarity. When he returned to his office and saw an email from his mentor, he suddenly grasped the thought. The memories of the past were instantly awakened, and he finally remembered where he had seen him.
During his university internship, Zheng Wen had been arranged by his mentor to work at the Red Mountain Sanitarium.
The Red Mountain Sanitarium was expensive and was basically the go-to place for local wealthy people to recuperate. Zheng Wen’s internship work was very relaxed, mostly just caring for the mental health of the elderly.
The sanitarium was a small community formed by independent villa groups. It didn’t hinder socialization while preventing excessive noise. Each villa was equipped with professional medical staff, and every hour spent living there burned through piles of money.
But there was one villa that was different. It was isolated from the rest of the sanitarium and didn’t interact with anyone. It was said that a sick child from a wealthy family was being kept there for treatment. The person in charge happened to be his mentor, so Zheng Wen had seen him a few times by chance.
The boy stood quietly by the window, his patient gown making his figure look small and frail. His face was magnificent yet cold and numb, his eyes hollow like a porcelain doll. No matter how bright the sunlight was outside, it couldn’t reach him. The shadows behind him seemed like man-eating beasts, making one’s spine chill even in the hot outdoors.
Zheng Wen had originally thought it was a very serious illness until he saw the medical records while helping his mentor fetch something.
It was simple haphephobia. According to the case analysis, he was just a bit clingier than ordinary children, far from reaching the level where he needed to be “treated” in confinement.
After returning, Xie Shibai never considered Chen Yi’s suggestion again.
The news of his marriage had been released, so those tacit understandings for the younger generation to meet and get to know each other naturally couldn’t continue. Without the meals the Xie family kept pushing, Xie Shibai’s haphephobia had a rare few days of peace.
During this period, he handled a lot of work left behind by Chen Qisheng’s business trip.
Xie Huacheng had no business acumen; he was mostly a figurehead in the company, with Xu Ruixin basically pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
But Xu Ruixin was very ambitious. She was bent on creating a monopoly and had made quite a few enemies in secret.
Old Master Xie, after confirming Xie Shibai was truly married, seemed determined to ruthlessly prune the disobedient bonsai. In just a few days, he successively suppressed several companies Xie Shibai had invested in.
Chen Qisheng had a headache from consecutive business trips and even asked Xie Shibai during a video conference if his grandfather had gone crazy.
“The Old Master is so old, yet he still has such a big temper?”
Xie Shibai’s venture capital firm was of a decent size. Although it could withstand the Xie family’s targeting this time, it was still a bit strenuous to deal with deliberate targeting and industry bullying. Even his originally planned acquisition of an industrial company was interfered with, forcibly doubling the original capital required.
Chen Qisheng: “No, seriously, just how much money does your grandfather have?”
Xie Shibai looked at the financial report: “He’s old and his vision is dim. It’s inevitable to get confused with age and not see clearly how much some things are actually worth.”
Chen Qisheng’s dark circles were almost reaching his chin. “Fine, I’m done working overtime. I’m going back tomorrow. I suspect you’re taking revenge on me for recommending Song Yi to you earlier.”
Xie Shibai: “Congratulations, you finally realized it.”
Chen Qisheng: “Damn! For real? Why have you become so wicked?”
Xie Shibai raised his eyes, his expression carrying a faint speechlessness.
If Chen Qisheng hadn’t brought it up, Xie Shibai would have forgotten who Song Yi was.
Xie Shibai was busy for several days in a row, not even returning home. He stayed in a property nearby. Aside from the messages Lu Ciheng sent on WeChat, the two had no other interactions.
Xie Shibai thought about the script left by Ming Yu for a night and decided to film it.
After all, it was something Ming Yu hadn’t completed before she passed away. He wanted to do it, like fulfilling a wish.
Finding a collaborating director took some time, and the most important thing was investment.
Because of Old Master Xie, the company couldn’t mobilize that much capital, so they could only look for suitable investors.
As it happened, a friend of the assistant director recommended two investors.
Two investors made an appointment for a detailed discussion tonight. The director and assistant director went along as well. Cheng Zhe had to take care of his sick child and was absent from this event, but he repeatedly instructed Assistant Lin to block all physical contact for Xie Shibai.
The location was a business club chosen by the investors.
The assistant director was a good hand at socializing and had a lot of experience negotiating with investors.
One of the investors, Xun Peng, was in real estate. Before the assistant director could introduce both parties, he interrupted and started pontificating about why he wanted to invest in movies.
The assistant director played along with a friendly face.
“Mr. Xie, I toast you.” Xun Peng raised his wine glass and said, “I’ve watched the movies Mr. Xie starred in; I count as a fan of Mr. Xie.”
Xie Shibai said politely, “Thank you.”
Xun Peng drank until his face was glowing red. Seeing Xie Shibai being so cooperative, he pushed his luck, “I’ll just call you Little Xie.”
He thought Xie Shibai was like those internet celebrities he had seen before, existing on the dinner table like a dish. Coupled with the fact that the assistant director hadn’t introduced his identity, his attitude was naturally much worse.
The assistant director was startled. Seeing that Xie Shibai’s expression hadn’t changed, his heart still drummed a little.
Assistant Lin secretly shoveled French blue lobster into his plate, almost jumping up when he heard this form of address.
Xie Shibai’s expression didn’t fluctuate.
The investor accompanying Xun Peng, Wei Mincai, interrupted him, telling him to talk about the movie investment since business was important.
Xun Peng smiled. “Look at my brain. But money comes quick in your line of work, right? A random movie gets billions at the box office. How many percentage points can the investment give us?”
The director’s face had already darkened a shade when Xun Peng’s first sentence came out.
The assistant director hurriedly smoothed things over, “How can it be that exaggerated? Billions at the box office… looking at film history, there are only those few on the charts.”
Wei Mincai laughed and scolded, “You old fool, is money that easy to earn now?”
Xun Peng frowned. “I remember a while ago, that star, what’s his name, Lu something, didn’t his movie break five billion at the box office?”
“I remember, Little Xie, aren’t you very familiar with that star surnamed Lu? Director, get him to act, and if you earn another five billion at the box office, I’ll invest in this project.”
Wei Mincai considered it from a monetary perspective and thought seriously, “Indeed, choosing a popular lead guarantees the box office. Although it doesn’t have to be five billion, thirty or forty should be there, right? Money invested needs to make a sound.”
Recommended Reads
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)
