“I don’t need to find any place!” Wang Lele’s voice was filled with anger, probably incensed by the man’s words. “Not everyone is like you, making friends just to use them.”
Wang Lele had truly had enough. In the past, he had taken roles and filmed without a break, with the company wanting to squeeze every ounce of value from his existence. He could still convince himself it was all to pay off the penalty fee they covered for him, as well as out of gratitude.
But ever since he became close with Jing Li, especially after ‘The Last Remnant’ became a hit, the company had gradually eased off their exploitation of him. They even had people select good resources for him, as if intending to focus on cultivating him. Little did he know, they harbored ulterior motives towards Jing Li.
They spoke sweetly, saying things like, “Since you’ve become friends with Jing Li, you can recommend our company to him and bring some of the company’s artists along,” “I see that Jing Li hasn’t signed with a company yet. Since you two are friends, why don’t you have him sign with our company too? I guarantee we’ll cultivate him well and give him the best resources.”
Just listening to these hypocritical words made him feel disgusted. How could he possibly betray and scheme against a friend?
So every time, he directly refused.
At first, the company was mindful of his rising fame and Jing Li’s background and was not too forceful. But when his contract was about to expire this year, and he refused to renew it with them, they gradually began to turn their backs on him.
From the beginning of the year, he had fewer and fewer jobs. The resources originally allocated to him were diverted to other artists in the company. The company even sent people to persuade him to back down, not wasting the hard-earned opportunity to become popular.
Between the lines, they seemed to be advising him, but in reality, they were just implicitly warning him. If he didn’t continue to obey, they would cut off all his resources and let him gradually fade from the limelight, just like when he was shelved at Xingyao before.
Unfortunately, Wang Lele had long seen through the company’s ugly facade and would never bow to them for a little fame and fortune. So, he continued to firmly refuse.
The people sent by the company went from patient persuasion to outright threats and warnings, even directly cutting off all his resources, leaving him idle at home for several months in an attempt to force him to submit.
Until the past few days, seeing that his contract only had half a month left before expiring at the end of the month, but he remained unmoved, they became completely desperate. They directly sent the CEO’s assistant to personally pressure him and brought a new contract for him to sign on the spot.
When pressure failed, they resorted to wanton insults and accusations.
Thinking of what they had said, Wang Lele gritted his teeth and said, “It seems like, besides shelving and silencing me, you’ve run out of tricks? I should thank Mr. Zhang for his generosity, thanks to him I can take the opportunity to rest during this final period.”
“As for wanting me to submit to you or drag Jing Li into this, you can forget about it even in your next life!”
With that, he pointed outside, “You’re not welcome here, leave immediately!”
“Good, good, good, it seems your wings have really hardened!” Seeing his obstinacy, the man finally lost patience. “If you insist on not renewing your contract with the company, I won’t stop you.”
“But don’t forget who rescued you from the burning pit at Xingyao. If Mr. Zhang could pull you out of that pit, he can also…”
“Is that so?” Before he could finish his nonsense, Jing Li cut him off, walking towards them with a mocking smile, “I’m quite curious how your Mr. Zhang rescued him from that pit?”
“Was it by using even more despicable methods to pull him into another pit of hard labor and selling out?”
Gu Tingshen glanced at him but remained silent, following behind.
The two people stopped arguing upon hearing his voice. Wang Lele whipped his head around, his expression shifting when he saw Jing Li before forcing an unnatural smile, “Jing Li, Mr. Gu, what are you doing here?”
He had been preoccupied with dismissing the company person and hadn’t noticed anyone else in the corridor.
“Maybe I heard someone mention my name? So, I came out to have a look.” Jing Li smiled as he approached Wang Lele, turning his gaze to the man across from him, “And you are…?”
Wang Lele followed his gaze to the man opposite him, his smile fading slightly, but he still introduced, “This is Li Wenjian, the assistant of our company’s President Zhang.”
“Er Shao, hello.” Li Wenjian smiled and greeted Jing Li, then looked towards the man behind him, “Mr. Gu.”
Li Wenjian was clearly not as skilled as Wang Lele at controlling his facial expressions. Plus, their earlier argument was quite loud, so he was unsure how much these two had overheard, causing his smile to appear somewhat forced and stiff.
“It seems your President Zhang has quite an unusual eye for assistants.” Unusually trashy, sharing the same despicable nature as the man himself.
Jing Li did not respond to Li Wenjian’s greeting, only looking him up and down before saying, “I just overheard Mr. Li seeming to have some grievances against me?”
“Fortunately, I have some free time now. If you have anything to say, Mr. Li, why don’t you tell me? Let me hear what unforgivable thing I’ve done to offend you.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Tingshen immediately turned his gaze towards the man.
His dark, expressionless eyes were unsettlingly piercing, as if he would take the man apart if he dared to nod in agreement.
“It’s a misunderstanding, definitely a misunderstanding,” Li Wenjian felt a chill down his spine under Jing Li’s gaze and hurriedly smiled apologetically, “Er Shao, where would such words come from? How could I possibly hold any grievances against you? I was just…”
“Oh, so you mean you’re actually dissatisfied with my friend?” Jing Li did not let him off, staring straight into his eyes as the smile left his face. “I don’t know what unforgivable thing my friend has done to incur such anger from you.”
“…No, no, nothing like that. I was just casually chatting with Lele.” Li Wenjian was typically the type to bully the weak but fear the strong. He could act arrogantly towards Wang Lele before, but now faced with someone formidable, he immediately cowered.
Seeing Jing Li’s expressionless stare, he paled in fright, breaking out in a layer of sweat on his forehead. He wiped the sweat haphazardly as he hurriedly said, “Since you two have something to discuss, I’ll leave first as I have something to take care of at the company.”
With that, he put on a smile and nodded slightly toward Jing Li and Gu Tingshen, not even sparing Wang Lele a glance before turning to leave.
“Wait,” Jing Li suddenly called out, stopping him.
As the man turned back around, Jing Li took two steps forward until he was right in front of him. With a mocking smile, he leaned in close to the man’s terrified expression and said, “Remember to pass a message to your President Zhang. I have one virtue: I am particularly grateful, but I am also especially vengeful.”
“If you don’t want me to hold a grudge, you’d best think carefully before acting in the future.”
With that, he gave the man’s shoulder a light pat, then stepped back two paces to release him.
Li Wenjian shuddered under his touch, and he quickly agreed, scurrying away like a dog with its tail between its legs after being defeated once Jing Li no longer stopped him.
His retreat looked hurried and panicked, as if afraid of being called back again.
But no one paid him any further attention. With the trouble resolved, Wang Lele turned to Jing Li with a downcast expression, pursing his lips. “Thank you, Jing Li. I’ve caused you trouble again.”
Jing Li had taken care of him a lot in the past, and unexpectedly, it was he who had stepped in to resolve the trouble once again.
“Why are you being so polite with me?” Jing Li smiled at him, draping an arm over his shoulder. “If you really feel bad, then just accompany me to the restaurant for a meal! I’ve been busy all day without a chance to properly catch up with you.”
Wang Lele glanced at him, then at the silent Gu Tingshen, hesitating for a moment before nodding in agreement.
It had indeed been a long time since he and Jing Li got together. Before, it was due to being busy, and later after his fallout with the company, he avoided bothering Jing Li when his work was halted.
Now that things had come to this, he had nothing more to be concerned about.
The three of them went straight to the restaurant on the second floor. Along the way, Jing Li and Wang Lele chatted casually, visibly relaxing Wang Lele’s mood as the smile on his face finally became genuine.
Upon reaching the reserved private room, Gu Tingshen had the waiter serve the dishes. The three sat around the table, with Wang Lele and Gu Tingshen on either side of Jing Li.
“It’s been too long since we got together.” Jing Li took the initiative to pour the wine, filling small half-glasses for the two beside him with a smile. “We haven’t had a meal together in ages.”
Wang Lele smiled in agreement, then raised his glass towards Jing Li. “This is also a good opportunity to congratulate you on winning the double awards.”
With that, he drank his glass down first.
Jing Li raised his brows, following suit to drain his glass before refilling theirs.
“When we return to the capital, let’s find a time when you and Hu Li are both free for another barbecue party,” Jing Li said with a smile as he poured. “Hu Li has been complaining that it’s been too long since we all got together and misses you.”
“Don’t drink too much on an empty stomach,” Gu Tingshen chimed in. “Eat some dishes first to line your stomach.”
He naturally picked up a serving with his own chopsticks and placed Jing Li’s favorite dish in his bowl.
Jing Li acknowledged him and naturally picked up his chopsticks to eat.
Watching from the side, Wang Lele was inwardly surprised, though his expression didn’t show it.
He had noticed that Gu Tingshen used his own chopsticks to serve Jing Li, not the shared serving chopsticks, yet Jing Li accepted it as a matter of course without any qualms.
It seemed this was not the first time they had done this.
When did Gu Tingshen and Jing Li become so intimate?
Wang Lele glanced at the two with some confusion, feeling that the atmosphere between them was somehow different, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
As he was lost in thought, someone had served a dish into his own bowl. Jing Li put down the serving chopsticks and turned to him, saying, “Don’t space out, eat.”
Wang Lele snapped out of it and was about to respond when he caught Gu Tingshen glancing his way out of the corner of his eye.
For some reason, he felt Gu Tingshen’s expression seemed somewhat unhappy.
But when he looked again, the other man’s face was as impassive as ever.
Wang Lele shook his head, thinking he must have imagined it. As Jing Li urged him again, he picked up his chopsticks and began eating too.
“Shen-ge, try this,” Jing Li picked up a piece of braised pork ribs with his own chopsticks and placed it in Gu Tingshen’s bowl. “I think it tastes quite good.”
Wang Lele looked up at the sound and saw Jing Li withdrawing his hand holding his personal chopsticks.
He instinctively glanced at Gu Tingshen across from him and saw the man smile at Jing Li before eagerly trying a bite.
It was just a casual gesture from Jing Li, yet it drew such an overwhelmingly satisfied and indulgent expression from Gu Tingshen.
Wang Lele paused, his gaze flickering between the two, feeling like he had discovered something huge.
As he stared thoughtfully, Gu Tingshen seemed to sense it and looked up at him as well.
That gaze was unguarded, as if simply allowing Wang Lele’s scrutiny, or perhaps acknowledging something to him through it.
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