Chapter 13

The doorbell rang, and Qin Qingzhuo got up from the sofa. The electronic screen displayed Xia Qi’s face, and he opened the door to let her in.

“I just parked the car nearby, and your call came in.” Xia Qi said as she changed her shoes in the hallway.

“What a coincidence,” Qin Qingzhuo walked to the fridge and poured Xia Qi a glass of orange juice. “Did Old Duan not come to pick you up?”

“He’s been busy organizing a music festival recently, tangled up with work every day. He barely has time for me,” Xia Qi took the orange juice. “Thanks. Of course, I can’t be bothered with him either. During work, we’re like strangers, don’t even greet each other when we meet at home.”

Qin Qingzhuo poured himself a glass of ice water and couldn’t help but laugh. “I forgot you two are both workaholics.”

“By the way, do you need Jiang Ji’s information?”

“Yeah, since the program invited them to compete, they should have done a background check, right?”

“Of course, these days, in case they encounter any problematic contestants, the whole show could be affected.” Xia Qi lowered her head and found Jiang Ji’s information on her phone. “You needed it urgently, so I had my colleague send it to your phone. I didn’t have time to print it out.”

Qin Qingzhuo browsed through Jiang Ji’s information on his phone. This version was much more detailed than the previous paper version. “Did you even investigate his high school background?”

“Yeah, he dropped out of high school, so we had to find out the reason. But we didn’t find much, aside from minor punishments for fighting. He didn’t commit any major offenses. As for dropping out, he did it voluntarily when he was in his second year of high school, not expelled by the school.”

“His grades are pretty good,” Qin Qingzhuo remarked, looking at Jiang Ji’s transcript.

“I was surprised too,” Xia Qi said. “I thought he’d be one of those troublemakers who couldn’t focus on studying and chose to drop out. Rumor has it he was even the captain of the school basketball team in his freshman year, but got dismissed because of his fighting incident.”

Jiang Ji’s information was not extensive, and Qin Qingzhuo quickly went through it. Apart from a few disciplinary actions in high school, the information appeared clean and straightforward. “No bad habits or vices?”

“Bad habits? Like smoking or drinking?”

“No,” Qin Qingzhuo paused before answering, “I meant something like gambling.”

“Haven’t heard of anything like that,” Xia Qi said, puzzled. “Why suddenly ask about this?”

Qin Qingzhuo shook his head without saying anything. After a moment, he asked, “How did you find Asperatus back then?”

“It was recommended by a friend of mine. He owns several bars in Yancheng, and knowing that I was planning a music program, he suggested the resident singer from their place. At that time, we hadn’t decided whether to feature solo singers or bands. Considering the saturation of solo singer programs in the market, and their relatively weak performances, we finally decided to focus on bands.

“The recommended resident singer was Jiang Ji, who also had his own band. Although the band was formed by the bar to create an atmosphere, and they hadn’t been around for long with no significant works, during the audition, I felt that the band had good potential. Especially Jiang Ji, his voice, appearance, and songwriting ability were impressive. He had a unique charm. Initially, we wanted to promote this band, and there was even consideration of signing them with our company, but…” Xia Qi sighed.

“But what?” Qin Qingzhuo looked at her.

“When we were conducting preliminary investigations, we found that Jiang Ji’s background was a bit complicated. It’s said that he was wealthy when he was a child, but something happened later. His father ran away, leaving only him and his mother. Their belongings were all seized and auctioned by the court. In short, the matter is quite complex. Additionally, Jiang Ji was known to be involved in fights off-campus, making him a somewhat troublesome person. So, initially, for risk control reasons, the program team decided to cut Asperatus.”

“However, I always felt it was a pity. Later, I had a friend in the police department investigate privately and found that the situation wasn’t as serious as we thought. After all, he didn’t have a criminal record. Then, you know what happened next. One band had an accident, and they happened to replace them,” Xia Qi sighed again. “Qingzhuo, I came to apologize to you tonight for this. I never expected Jiang Ji to say that to you on stage tonight. If I had known such a thing could happen, I would rather have had one less band on stage back then.”

Seeing Qin Qingzhuo remaining silent, Xia Qi paused and said, “Don’t worry; I’ll talk to them tomorrow and try my best to edit out that segment.”

Qin Qingzhuo still didn’t say anything, seemingly lost in thought, making it difficult to gauge his thoughts.

Feeling a bit uneasy, Xia Qi knew that Shi Yao would definitely prefer to keep this segment, as it was the biggest highlight during the second-round recording. However, considering the difficulty of getting Qin Qingzhuo to agree to be a mentor in the first place, terminating the cooperation over this matter would be more of a loss than a gain. In any case, ensuring Qin Qingzhuo could continue to stay on the show was the most crucial thing at the moment.

In reality, Qin Qingzhuo wasn’t thinking about the show. The scenes playing in his mind were from tonight, facing Jiang Ji at the bar entrance.

Initially, during their conversation, Jiang Ji didn’t seem to show any resistance to his proposal. However, at some point, Jiang Ji’s attitude suddenly changed, as if he had developed an extreme aversion to him.

—It seems that this change in attitude is traceable. What could be the reason for it?

Recent scenes replayed in his mind like fast-forwarding, freezing at the moment when Jiang Ji squinted his eyes and looked at him through the smoke.

Also, the sentence he had said earlier—”To be honest, an hour ago, I wasn’t planning to pay a penny for this, but now… name a price, as long as it’s not too excessive, I can buy that photo.”

Undeniably, as he said those words, he thought of the scene where Jiang Ji was restrained and beaten, he thought of his sister being kicked heavily against the wall, and he also thought of the scene where Jiang Ji gently wiped away the bloodstains on the guitar with a tissue.

At that moment, he felt that this young man was quite pitiful. With such exceptional musical talent, he could have lived more freely, rather than cohabiting with his sister in a corner of a dilapidated billiards hall.

Could it be that the expression on his face at that moment touched the fragile pride of this nineteen-year-old?

“Qingzhuo?” Xia Qi’s voice interrupted Qin Qingzhuo’s thoughts. “Or do you have any other requests, just let me know. If you don’t want Jiang Ji to continue staying in your team, I can also find a way to get him to withdraw from the competition.”

Qin Qingzhuo came back to his senses and shook his head. “Forget it.”

Forget it? Xia Qi was taken aback for a moment. She thought that Qin Qingzhuo would be quite concerned about this matter, especially since he came to talk to her about Jiang Ji so late at night. However, in the end, he just casually said “forget it”…

After a brief silence, Qin Qingzhuo asked again, “What does Shi Yao think about this matter?”

“Shi Yao? He definitely stands on your side.” Xia Qi paused before continuing, “But Shi Yao also values talent. After watching the impromptu performance of Cao Mian Yun today, he actually wanted them to go further in the show. Also, after seeing the training conditions in their documentary, which seemed quite rudimentary, Shi Yao thought that if they could stay, he would offer them a slightly higher appearance fee.”

As Xia Qi spoke, she kept an eye on Qin Qingzhuo’s expression, afraid that something she said might displease him. After finishing her sentence, before Qin Qingzhuo could speak, she added, “But he only mentioned it briefly. If you feel it’s inappropriate…”

Intentionally leaving her words unfinished, Xia Qi looked at Qin Qingzhuo, seeking his opinion.

“I have no objections,” Qin Qingzhuo took over the conversation. “You can handle this matter however you see fit.”

Xia Qi was even more surprised, but she didn’t ask further, just responded with a simple “okay.”

“As for that segment on stage, it’s best if it can be deleted. If it can’t be removed,” Qin Qingzhuo looked at Xia Qi, “I understand the rules of variety shows. Shi Yao must also be under pressure from his side. You don’t have to struggle too much.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Qi breathed a sigh of relief. “Qingzhuo, you’re so understanding… When both Duan and I are less busy, I’ll make sure to invite you out for a meal.”

As Jiang Ji approached the bar, he saw Glasses sitting in front of the counter, eagerly waiting for him – Glasses raised his arm high, waving frantically, afraid that Jiang Ji wouldn’t notice him.

With his hands in his pockets, Jiang Ji slowly walked over to Glasses, and sat down.

“Not singing today?” Glasses started with a casual remark.

“No.”

A waiter brought over a drink, and Glasses pushed it towards Jiang Ji with a smile on his face. “It’s on me.”

“Let’s get to the point,” Jiang Ji’s fingers rested on the edge of the counter, not reaching for the glass of alcohol.

“That photo, can you show it to me again?” Glasses leaned in, deliberately lowering his voice. “I haven’t seen the complete photo yet, so it’s hard to determine the price… I promise, if Yuan Yu’s face is as clear as Ji Chi’s, the price I offer this time will definitely satisfy you.”

“Want to see the complete photo?” Jiang Ji remained noncommittal. “What about your photos? Let me take a look first.”

Glasses clicked his tongue. “I showed you those photos last time, isn’t it time to show some sincerity in our cooperation?”

“Just that quick flash last time?” Jiang Ji sneered, “Do you think I could see clearly? You’re guarding against me like I’m a thief. That’s some sincerity you’ve got there.”

Glasses chuckled awkwardly, took a few sips from his glass, and after a while, he seemed to make up his mind. “Alright, sincerity. Let me show you something.”

He took out his phone, tapped on the screen a few times, unlocked it, and opened the photo album.

Jiang Ji calmly lowered his eyes and looked at the photos on the screen.

“Can you see clearly this time?” Glasses indeed showed full sincerity this time, pushing the phone towards both of them, his fingers continuously swiping to the side of the screen. “This is when they left the studio. Yuan Yu took the initiative to hug Ji Chi, and Ji Chi even pinched Yuan Yu’s cheek. Can you see it clearly? This was taken at the hotel. Yuan Yu went in and out of Ji Chi’s room multiple times. These were all taken in Shanghai.

“These few shots were also taken at the hotel, but earlier, when they were in Yan Cheng. Yuan Yu entered the hotel first, and Ji Chi followed after a while. Very cautious…”

“These few shots are a pity. We finally captured the moment when they were kissing, but the angle was bad. It only captured Ji Chi’s back, and Yuan Yu’s face was only partially visible. It’s a shame…”

Glasses didn’t lie. He did take quite a few photos. But after Jiang Ji finished looking at all the photos, he immediately understood why Glasses was so fixated on the photo in his hand. He looked at Glasses. “Are you sure that if you send these photos to Ji Chi, he will give you money?”

Hearing the sarcasm in Jiang Ji’s tone, Glasses couldn’t hold back his embarrassment. “No, what’s wrong with these photos? Anyone can see that something is off about their relationship, right?”

“These few,” Jiang Ji’s finger pointed at the silhouette on the screen, “are just silhouettes. Ji Chi, Zhao Chi, Li Chi, who knows which Chi it is? You could even say it’s Stephen Chow.”

“As for these few, it’s normal for an assistant to enter a celebrity’s room, right? And both of them are men.”

“Isn’t it abnormal for an assistant to stay overnight in a celebrity’s room?” Glasses started to defend himself. “I have videos on my camera too, with some voice-over, and anyone can see that something fishy is going on.”

“What if they counterclaim that the video is edited?” Jiang Ji continued to swipe through a few more photos. “These few might have some impact, but at most, they can only suggest an ambiguous relationship between the two. But proving that they are in a romantic relationship is far-fetched, right? To be honest, even if these photos were released, Ji Chi’s professional PR team could easily clean up this relationship. There’s simply no need to spend a lot of money buying photos from you.”

Glasses’ face turned red and then pale, unsure if it was due to the flickering lights. His mouth moved several times, but he couldn’t speak.

“Don’t fool yourself,” Jiang Ji didn’t have the patience to wait for him to gather his thoughts. “You also know that with just these photos, it’s impossible to negotiate a good price from Ji Chi. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be fixated on the photo I have.”

“Indeed,” hearing Jiang Ji’s words, Glasses finally relaxed and nodded. “I’ve already admitted that your photo does have a good angle. I’ve confessed everything to you. Shouldn’t you show me your photo too? If what you said is true, we’ll split the profits fifty-fifty, how about it?”

“Fifty-fifty?” Jiang Ji felt like Glasses was delusional, but he didn’t show it on his face. He simply said, “I’ll think about it.”

“Decide tonight, okay? If we delay too long and others also capture the photos, ours won’t be worth much.” Glasses tried his best to persuade Jiang Ji. “Fifty-fifty guarantees that you won’t lose out. I have both photos and videos, and I’ll also negotiate with Ji Chi’s team…”

Jiang Ji nodded, stood up, and pointed outside. “I’m going out for a smoke. I’ll come back with an answer.”

“Hey—” Glasses tried to stop him.

“Don’t worry, I’m staying here. I won’t run away,” Jiang Ji said.

He pushed open the door and walked out of the bar. Standing at the entrance, he was about to take out a pack of cigarettes when he remembered that he had just finished his last cigarette upstairs.

Usually, he didn’t smoke this frequently. He didn’t have a strong addiction to cigarettes. But perhaps because he was so troubled tonight, for some reason, he kept craving a smoke, wanting to chain smoke whenever he had a moment to spare.

Jiang Ji walked down the steps and bought a pack of cigarettes at a nearby newsstand. As he paid with his phone, he noticed that Qin Qingzhuo had sent several voice messages at some point.

Ignoring those messages, Jiang Ji put his phone back in his pocket after completing the payment.

On his way back, he tore open the cigarette pack, took one out, placed it between his lips, and lit it.

It was quite noisy around him. He plugged in his earphones and took out his phone intending to play some random music to block out the noise. His finger paused on the screen for a moment, but somehow, he ended up opening the message sent by Qin Qingzhuo.

As white smoke billowed from his mouth, Qin Qingzhuo’s voice echoed in his headphones—

“Jiang Ji, I don’t pity you. I just think you’re a waste. Do you know why I didn’t choose you for today’s competition? Because you don’t take music seriously at all, nor do you take this competition seriously. I don’t need someone who doesn’t cherish opportunities to stay on stage. How you choose to live your life is your freedom, but have you ever thought about how many people can’t obtain what you’re squandering?”

“Do you know why I didn’t choose you but you still advanced? Because you underestimated your talent. You have a very keen sense of music, like a beast’s instinct for prey, innate. The 357 audience members who chose you in the studio, each one of them understands this better than you. Each one of them hopes you can go further. I don’t understand, with such enviable talent, how can you bear to waste it?”

Under these two messages, there was another text message: “What I said before still stands. If you come to your senses, contact me anytime.”

Jiang Ji stared at that message, suddenly losing his desire to smoke.

The cigarette between his fingers burned on its own. After a while, a long ash fell.

He sneered inwardly, two words flashing in his mind: “Hypocritical.”

All this effort, just for that photo.

But as the phone screen automatically dimmed, the image of those eyes flashed in Jiang Ji’s mind again. At the same time, it felt like a string in his heart was gently plucked, and a thought emerged—

Was it really just for that photo?

Jiang Ji stood by the street, somewhat absentmindedly watching the pedestrians coming and going. After a while, his phone vibrated. He snapped out of his reverie, didn’t answer it, and pressed the cigarette, burning down to half, against the nearby utility pole, extinguishing it with force.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply.

The phone in his hand kept vibrating. It was a call from Glasses. Without answering, Jiang Ji knew what he was going to say.

With his hands in his pockets, Jiang Ji walked back, feeling restless. This time, he didn’t even feel like smoking. He didn’t know where this inexplicable feeling of swelling in his chest came from, and damn it, how could he make it disappear? It almost left him feeling at a loss.

He wouldn’t give the photos to Glasses. There was no reason, purely because he didn’t want to.

As for Qin Qingzhuo… Going to such lengths to get him to delete the photos, if he really did it, wouldn’t that be giving Qin Qingzhuo an advantage?

Qin Qingzhuo had caused him trouble, and he didn’t want to let Qin Qingzhuo off too easily.

He thought about the photos Glasses had just shown him of Ji Chi and Yuan Yu. What exactly was the relationship between these three people? What role did Qin Qingzhuo play in all of this?

Leaning against the side wall of the bar, Jiang Ji searched for information about Ji Chi on his phone, recalling the photos Glasses had shown him. It was normal for stars to stay in the same hotel as their assistants during filming, but if they also stayed in the same hotel in their place of residence, that would be suspicious. Considering the risk of being photographed, it would be safer to conduct business at home. Taking the risk to book a room with Yuan Yu, Ji Chi’s behavior probably indicated that Qin Qingzhuo was the one being cheated on.

Jiang Ji also remembered Qin Qingzhuo standing on the street with a furrowed brow and a somewhat anxious look after the first round of competition recording ended a little over half a month ago. At the time, he didn’t know that Qin Qingzhuo was rushing back to see Ji Chi.

And today’s competition, knowing that Qin Qingzhuo didn’t choose his band, risking the photos being exposed, but Qin Qingzhuo still did it. Did that mean that, to some extent, Qin Qingzhuo wasn’t actually so afraid of the photos being published? Perhaps the reason he went to such lengths to get Jiang Ji to delete the photos was more for Ji Chi’s sake?… It truly was a deep love.

For a moment, Jiang Ji found it somewhat absurd.

To be deceived by the person closest to him, it was both pitiful and ridiculous.

He wondered what Qin Qingzhuo’s reaction would be once he found out the truth.

A thought gradually formed in Jiang Ji’s mind—if all the dissatisfaction tonight stemmed from Qin Qingzhuo, then why not add a little more trouble to Qin Qingzhuo as well?

TN:

This b*tch! It’s a good thing that QQZ will get to know the truth but JJ, do you really have to go so fucking far?