Chapter 7

At 10:30 in the evening, Jiang Ji pushed open the door of the Honglu Bar.

“Why are you only coming back now?” A man sitting at the bar, slender, short, and looking a bit shrewd with glasses, frowned. At first, his face was filled with impatience. However, as he saw the little girl behind Jiang Ji, curiosity took over. “What happened to her?”

Jiang Bei languidly leaned on Jiang Ji’s back, looking at him listlessly. Her pair of pitch-black, large eyes appeared empty, like a soulless doll.

Jiang Ji didn’t answer his question but said, “I’ll escort her upstairs and be down in a moment.”

“Hurry up.” The glasses-wearing man, chilled by Jiang Bei’s gaze, didn’t ask more and urged Jiang Ji with a wave of his hand.

A few minutes later, Jiang Ji walked down from the stairs and sat on a high stool next to the man with glasses.

“We agreed to meet at 9:30,” the man with glasses complained, pointing at the watch on his wrist, “It’s already 10:30.”

“I’ve been waiting for you for a few days?” Jiang Ji said, signaling a waiter to bring a glass of ice water.

“Don’t say you were waiting for me; you came because you needed something from me, right?” The man with glasses swayed the glass in his hand, “This job of mine is too difficult. Nowadays, these celebrities are getting more cunning, and it takes at least half a month to capture their faces clearly… By the way, didn’t you say you got something good? Show it to me.”

Jiang Ji took out his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, and handed the phone to the man with glasses.

Taking a look at the photo, the man with glasses was surprised, “Wow!”

“Is this person famous?” Jiang Ji observed his reaction and took a sip of the ice water.

“Isn’t this Ji Chi? What a coincidence…” The man with glasses said, inexplicably glancing at Jiang Ji, “You don’t know he’s famous, then why did you take his picture?”

“He looked familiar, seemed like a celebrity.”

“How did you take it? When did you take it?”

“About ten days ago, just happened to run into him.”

“Just happened to run into him? Your luck is too good, you can even run into him… Look at his actions, is he going to kiss someone?” The man with glasses slid his finger on the screen, trying to get a clearer view of the person next to Ji Chi, but found the photo was cut in half, “You’re not being honest, still guarding against me? Where’s the other half of the photo? Show it to me quickly.”

“No rush, let’s talk about the price first,” Jiang Ji said casually.

“If you don’t show me the whole picture, I can’t give you a price either. Hurry up and tell me who the other person is.”

Jiang Ji took the phone back from him and turned off the screen. “The other person… You should also be very interested.”

Seeing Jiang Ji’s reluctance to speak, the man with glasses disdainfully clicked his tongue. “What’s with the suspense? It’s his assistant, Yuan Yu. Do you think I wouldn’t know?”

At his words, Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of disdain in his eyes as he looked at the man with glasses. “His assistant? Are you sure?”

“Do you think you’re the only one with photos of Ji Chi and his assistant?” The man with glasses chuckled, “To tell you the truth, I went out for half a month just to photograph Ji Chi and his assistant. In our line of work, we need insiders. If I don’t even have this bit of information, what’s the point of me being here?”

Ji Chi and his assistant? Jiang Ji calmly picked up his glass and took a sip of water, thinking that if what the man with glasses said was true, then this matter did become quite interesting.

“What are you going to do with this photo?” The man with glasses, his attitude much warmer than before, said, “Brother, I’m kind-hearted, so I’ll share two options with you. The first one, sell it to the media. It’s easy to sell, but the price is uncertain, especially now that the media business is tough. The second one, negotiate with Ji Chi’s people directly. Celebrities have money, so you can ask for whatever you want.”

Jiang Ji gave him a casual glance. “It’s not that simple, is it?”

“You’re smart,” the man with glasses leaned closer, lowering his voice, “This second option, high risk, high return. Celebrities all have legal teams. When negotiating with them, you have to be skillful, or else they might frame you for extortion, and you’ll end up not only empty-handed but also spending a few years in jail.”

“So?” Jiang Ji looked at him.

“So, brother, I’m good at this,” the man with glasses patted his chest, “I’ve got a ninety percent success rate. You cooperate with me, give me the photo, and I’ll handle everything with Ji Chi’s people. You won’t need to be involved at all. Even if something goes wrong, I’ll take full responsibility.”

“How do we calculate the price?”

“As for the price…” The man with glasses dragged out his words, then thought for a moment. “Your photo has a good angle. If you had given it to me earlier, it could have fetched a good price. But unfortunately, you only brought it out after I’ve already finished shooting. To be honest, I already have many photos of Ji Chi and his assistant, so I don’t really need yours… How about this, after I get the money, I’ll give you twenty percent?”

“How can I trust you?” Jiang Ji glanced at him, “You said you took many photos of Ji Chi and his assistant, how do I know if this is just a tactic to lower the price?”

“Can I lie to you?” The man with glasses clicked his tongue, took out his phone, intentionally avoiding Jiang Ji’s touch as he tapped on the screen a few times, then waved it in front of Jiang Ji before quickly retracting it, “So, what do you think? I didn’t lie to you, right? Indeed, the angle isn’t as good as yours. Ji Chi is a bit cautious, otherwise I wouldn’t offer you twenty percent.”

Jiang Ji placed the empty glass on the table, looking indifferent.

The man with glasses continued, “If you’re not confident, I’ll immediately give you a hundred thousand yuan as a deposit when I receive the photos.”

Jiang Ji tapped his fingers lightly on the table, seeming to contemplate. At this moment, his phone in his pocket vibrated. He took it out and glanced at it, then stood up. “I’ll think about it.”

“Yes, take your time to think. I guarantee this price won’t cheat you. We’re friends after all…”

Before the man with glasses could finish his sentence, Jiang Ji had already walked to the door of the bar and opened it, stepping outside.

It was a call from Zhong Yang. Jiang Ji answered, and Zhong Yang sounded mysterious on the other end. “I was just drinking with the guitarist from Midnight Temperature. Guess what I found out?”

Zhong Yang always had a knack for socializing and claimed that there was no conversation he couldn’t extract information from. Jiang Ji was used to it and asked absentmindedly, “What?”

“Before the recording of the first episode, their band signed a contract with an economic company behind the scenes. Not only did they start receiving appearance fees from the first episode, but the amount was several times higher than ours. The show’s team is really good at boosting and undermining.”

“Normal.” Jiang Ji’s tone was indifferent.

Zhong Yang continued, “It seems that among the bands that got the four lights in the first episode, many of them are probably predetermined contestants.”

“Hmm,” Jiang Ji responded.

“Also, although Chen Jia said that as long as the band advances to the second round, we’ll get appearance fees, it seems that the amount of appearance fees each band receives is different. Ours should be the lowest tier.”

“What’s so new about that,” Jiang Ji chuckled, “Not only did we get the lowest tier of appearance fees, but in the next round of duels, half of the bands will be eliminated. We might already be on the list of bands to be eliminated.”

“We’re truly cannon fodder…” Zhong Yang sighed, then added, “And Qin Qingzhuo still pretends to care about our performance in the next round?”

“After all, we were the ones he kept, and we’re his contestants. The better our band performs, the more he’ll be praised.” Jiang Ji took out a cigarette from the pack, bit it between his lips, leaned against the wall behind him, and lit it with a lighter.

“Makes sense, they’re all a bunch of fucking hypocrites.”

“Racoon dog,” Jiang Ji said.

“What river?” Zhong Yang asked.

“…Nothing.”

“Oh, by the way,” Zhong Yang continued casually, “There were a few other musicians drinking with me, and they also had a lot to say about Qin Qingzhuo. They said he’s just riding on his looks, can turn a concert into a car crash scene, but when it comes to coaching others, he’s full of tricks and not afraid of losing face… I just searched online, and there’s actually such a thing. I’ll send you the video later, you can have a good laugh?”

“No,” Jiang Ji declined, “Not interested.”

“But the guitar he gave you doesn’t look like a cheap one.”

“A big star wouldn’t give a cheap one in front of the camera.” Jiang Ji thought for a moment and said, “Do you have a suitable channel to sell it?”

“You plan to sell it? I can ask other bands for you… But your guitar looks so old, why not keep it for yourself?”

“I don’t need it.” Jiang Ji knocked the ash off his cigarette on the ground. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.”

“Don’t be in a hurry,” Zhong Yang continued, “I’ve arranged to meet other bands for a drink later. Do you want to come over? Sister Ying said you have a paid day off for your birthday. If you don’t have other plans, just come over?”

“I’m not going.” After Jiang Ji finished speaking, without waiting for Zhong Yang to say anything more, he decisively hung up the phone.

Zhong Yang was the type of person who, as long as the call wasn’t disconnected, could continue finding topics to chat about endlessly, talking until the end of time. But Jiang Ji didn’t like chatting, and he didn’t want to waste time on idle talk.

Jiang Ji squatted against the wall behind him, exhaled a puff of white smoke, took out his earphones, plugged them into his ears, and isolated the noisy music from the bar around him.

He saw the man with glasses wandering out of the Honglu Bar, as if trying to find him. However, the dazzling lights kept flickering, and the man with glasses seemed to have poor eyesight and didn’t see Jiang Ji crouching in the dark.

When the cigarette was almost smoked to the end, estimating that the man with glasses had already left the alley, Jiang Ji stood up and walked back to Honglu Bar. As he reached the trash bin next to the entrance, he flicked off the remaining ash from the cigarette and threw the butt inside.

The moment he pushed open the door of the bar, a deafening wave of music hit him. Jiang Ji raised the volume of his earphones.

Walking through the drunken revelers, he sat down in the most secluded corner.

This spot was rarely chosen because of its solitary nature, unsuitable for the men and women who came to the bar for pleasure. Moreover, the visibility was not good, and the robust supporting pillar obstructed the view of the revelry in the bar.

But Jiang Ji liked this spot for a simple reason—here, the lighting was dim, and the location was hidden. Sitting here, he could see others, but others wouldn’t easily notice him.

In fact, Jiang Ji didn’t really like being alone. He preferred to be in the crowd, observing these men and women who, for some unknown reason, came night after night to spend money getting drunk. Observing this activity itself made him find it interesting.

The phone vibrated again, and Zhong Yang sent the video he mentioned earlier. Jiang Ji glanced at it and saw the prominent words “Qin Qingzhuo Concert Car Accident Scene” on the video cover. He closed the chat interface with little interest.

He had never been interested in other people’s lives, especially not in their miserable aspects.

There were plenty of people living miserable lives in this world. He wasn’t interested in others’ misery, nor did he want others to come and witness how miserable he was living.

He opened his photo album and pulled up the only picture that could pique his interest at the moment.

Different from the one he showed to the man with glasses, the picture Jiang Ji was staring at now was the original, unedited one.

Looking at Qin Qingzhuo’s profile, waiting to be kissed, Jiang Ji once again thought of that face illuminated by cheap, colorful lights, which seemed somewhat glamorous.

And the eyes that flashed with a shocked expression upon hearing the words “dating with a man.”

Qin Qingzhuo… This person must have lived a fairly smooth life up to now. The biggest setback he might have encountered was probably publicly hitting a sour note on stage?

If that’s the case, Jiang Ji thought to himself, perhaps he could give him a thrilling storm.

TN:

I really want to take a knife to this f*cker JJ! How does it make sense to say you don’t want to witness other people’s misery and then turn around and want to be the source of that misery?! Like make it make sense dafuq!! And what did MC do to these kids that they’re so bent on shitting on him😭?