Director Yang?
Jing Li glanced at his assistant and after a few seconds of recollection, matched the person to a name. It was the resource the original host had obtained for the scumbag’s lover in order to please him, and he was also mentioned in the cheating video.
He probably saw how big this matter had become and worried it would affect his own reputation, so he came to find him. But none of that was important.
“Change it,” Jing Li said indifferently.
…That was it?
The assistant waited for a bit, but when Jing Li finished speaking without elaborating further, he couldn’t help but be stunned.
He almost couldn’t believe those words had come out of his young master’s mouth. He carefully observed Jing Li’s expression and, seeing his aloof and detached attitude like that of a stranger, finally realized belatedly that the other party had truly given up this time and had no intention of having anything to do with those two people anymore.
Upon this realization, the assistant’s breathing hitched slightly for a moment, barely able to restrain the excitement and elation welling up inside him. He steadied himself and feigned calmness, “Alright, I’ll go reply to Director Yang right away.”
But once he turned around, the smile at the corner of his mouth could no longer be suppressed.
Finally, his second young master wouldn’t have to deal with those two bastards anymore!
He was looking forward to seeing how that Zhong would still be able to flaunt his power and influence without his young master’s backing!!! The assistant was nearly boiling with excitement as if he could already foresee that scumbag’s miserable downfall.
But before he had even taken a few steps, he was suddenly called to stop, “Wait.”
The assistant’s heart lurched, and his smile also froze. He thought Jing Li had changed his mind again. His expression instantly collapsed as he slowly turned back towards Jing Li and carefully probed, “…Er Shao?”
However, Jing Li didn’t notice his change in mood and directly said, “Help me find another production crew. This time, I’ll be acting personally.”
Whew, luckily, he didn’t change his mind…
The assistant secretly heaved a sigh of relief, but before he could fully relax, his eyes widened again in surprise.
Wait…what did the young master just say?
The assistant thought he had misheard and blurted out on reflex, “You…want to act personally?”
“What, is there a problem?”
“Ah…no, none.” Faced with that cold gaze, the assistant came to his senses with a jolt and quickly said, “I’ll contact them right away.”
Then, without waiting for Jing Li to speak further, he hastily took his leave. His mind was still spinning, completely puzzled by what play his young master was trying to put on this time.
And the assistant clearly wasn’t the only one sharing this confusion. Since Jing Li’s conversation with his assistant hadn’t been intentionally kept private, most people present had overheard it.
“Since when were you so interested in the entertainment industry?” Li Yuanpeng, who was relatively close to him, couldn’t help but ask as he observed his expression.
“It’s not that sudden,” Jing Li glanced at him and said mildly.
And that wasn’t an excuse.
Ever since taking over this body, not only did Jing Li learn of the entire plot, but he also understood the original’s life story. Although the original’s life was full of tragedy, it didn’t mean he didn’t have his own dreams.
Deep down, the original had always yearned to become an actor and try all kinds of different roles. But due to his family background and the people around him harboring rejection and slander towards the entertainment industry, as if anyone who entered would be nailed to the pillar of shame by the world, his existing lack of security and obsession with face caused him to forcibly suppress this idea. Usually, he didn’t even dare fantasize about it, only occasionally immersing himself in the role of the protagonist when watching TV to satisfy his cravings.
And because of this, when the scumbag suggested he help Lin Xiao secure resources, he agreed so readily. In his eyes, even if he didn’t have the chance to pursue his dreams, watching someone else strive for theirs was still an enjoyable experience. So, despite his extreme disgust towards Lin Xiao, he never attacked or retaliated against him in this aspect.
This was probably the softest, most vulnerable part of the original’s heart aside from his family.
Now that the original had been replaced by Jing Li, whether out of personal feelings or propriety, he couldn’t turn a blind eye. Not to mention, he still had an important mystery that urgently needed solving.
But those were his private affairs that he didn’t intend to elaborate on. Although he didn’t look at the group of people in front of him with any disgust, they weren’t exactly intimate either. There was no need to overexplain.
Since Li Yuanpeng was able to mix comfortably within this circle, he naturally had sharp senses. Seeing Jing Li’s reluctance to say more, he tactfully kept his silence.
But there would always be fools unable to read the situation. Seeing Jing Li’s aloof attitude, one immediately tried to humorously ridicule, “Why? Could it be that Er Shao noticed Lin Xiao having a good time in there and felt the urge to step in and challenge him?”
Speaking of which, with Jing Li’s personality, he really might do something like that.
But right after such a huge scandal, he wanted to immediately rush in…
The others looked toward Jing Li, their expressions instantly becoming subtle.
Jing Li’s lack of denial of the remark further affirmed everyone’s speculation.
“It’s just a thing that doesn’t deserve to be put on the stage. Do you really want to lower yourself for this?” The young man who had criticized the entertainment industry earlier suddenly spoke up, his tone mocking. “You’ve already been cheated on, yet you still want to lower yourself? Aren’t you afraid that if this gets out, you’ll lose all face?”
Now those words were clearly impolite. The atmosphere instantly froze.
“What does my acting have to do with them?” Jing Li suddenly looked up at the speaker, his tone cold. “If you’re so concerned, I don’t mind giving you their number for you to handle things as you wish.”
The man didn’t expect Jing Li to suddenly turn his verbal cannon towards him, much less imply that he was the one eagerly wanting to be cuckolded. He was instantly furious.
But Jing Li still wasn’t finished. He continued, “Also, face is earned through one’s own efforts. If you insist on sticking your face out for someone to slap, you can’t complain when they strike mercilessly.”
Listen to this, was he even speaking logically anymore? This was no different than directly pointing at his nose and cursing him for being shameless and asking to be insulted!
The man’s breath got stuck in his throat, and he nearly died from anger on the spot.
Never in his life had he been angered to this extent! Whoever endured was the grandson!
The young man’s face flushed red as he shot up from his seat, wanting to argue. But the person next to him grabbed him tightly and desperately signaled at him with their eyes.
Although their family backgrounds were pretty good, compared to the Jing family they were lacking by more than just a bit. Usually eating melon and mocking others was fine, but they had to carefully consider before truly tearing their faces apart. Not to mention the even more enormous Gu family standing behind the Jings.
The young man naturally understood this as well. So, after being held back, he forcibly suppressed his temper and resentfully sat back down.
“Come now, what’s all this about.” Seeing the situation going south, Li Yuanpeng hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things out. “Our group has long been labeled devious good-for-nothings. Even if we do nothing all day, we can’t get a good reputation. So, what does sticking our hands in the entertainment industry matter?”
“Besides, isn’t one of the Gu family’s industries entertainment? With Da Shao’s relationship with President Gu, what good resources can our Er Shao not obtain? Why bother mingling with those unimportant nobodies?”
Li Yuanpeng raised the glass before him and made a toast to everyone, “Come on, drink! What’s the point of overthinking so much useless stuff? Might as well simply do what you enjoy and live more carefreely!”
Hearing him specifically bring up the Gu family, the others understood it as a hint for them to restrain themselves. They hurriedly raised their glasses as well to echo him, finally easing the atmosphere somewhat.
With the excitement dispersed, the group finally shifted their attention away from Jing Li and started looking around at the networking guests coming and going in the hall. Whenever something interesting happened to someone, they would huddle together and chatter about it, seeming determined to eat melon to the end.
Jing Li didn’t have much interest, but since he was idle either way, he just sat there listening to their jokes. Occasionally he would smile when something amused him, but he never took the initiative to chime in, practically like a different person from his previously noisy self.
Logically, such an enormous change should make people feel astonished and incompatible, but for some reason, not a single person present harbored any doubt. It was as if no matter how Jing Li acted, it was perfectly reasonable and not strange at all.
In fact, Jing Li discovered this point early on when he entered this world. He even deliberately revealed flaws inconsistent with the original’s personality in front of the Jing family, but no matter if he revealed his true nature or put on an act, he was unable to arouse anyone’s suspicions. Even the original’s own brother, Jing Yu, didn’t show any surprise. Instead, due to his change, Jing Yu became gentler by a few degrees, his features and disposition increasingly overlapping with those of his senior martial brother’s, to the point that Jing Li was momentarily under the illusion that he had returned to Tianling Sect.
After several instances, Jing Li stopped making unnecessary probes as well and simply attributed it to the world spontaneously patching up discrepancies in order to make up for the gaps.
Thinking of his senior brother, Jing Li’s gaze involuntarily softened. He didn’t know why Jing Yu had the exact same face as his senior brother, or why their dispositions were identical without the slightest difference, yet Jing Yu completely lacked any memories related to Tian Ling Sect or himself. But this didn’t prevent his affection towards the other party whatsoever.
Worst come to worst, even if he investigated clearly in the end and found absolutely no connection between the two people, just having that face was enough for him to willingly protect the other his whole life. It wouldn’t betray his senior brother’s centuries of care towards himself.
Just as Jing Li was lost in thought, a sudden clamor came from the front. Glancing over on reflex, he saw a young man about his age with bloodshot eyes, angrily standing in the middle of the hall and sweeping his gaze around as if wanting to incinerate everything in sight. The moment their eyes met, the young man glared ferociously at him before striding over in his direction.
Jing Li suddenly raised his eyebrows in interest.
The others naturally noticed as well. Someone immediately softly complained, “Did Wang Junwen eat gunpowder again? He’s glaring like he wants to eat someone.”
“When is he not like this? He looks at anyone like they owe him tens of millions.”
……
Hearing this, the rest also glanced over. Indeed, it was quite an accurate depiction. They couldn’t help quietly laughing. But when the person drew near, they hurriedly restrained their moods and greeted him like nothing had happened.
Yet Wang Junwen didn’t even glance at them. His eyes stared fixedly at Jing Li, his face full of animosity as he questioned, “Why did you notify the media without waiting for my notice? What were my original instructions? With things becoming like this now, how do you expect me to resolve it?”
Merely thinking about how he had simply napped a bit too long in the afternoon and woke up to see the barrage of messages flooding his phone made him so angry he wanted to directly tear apart the man before him.
Everyone was stunned speechless by his words. After comprehending the implications, their expressions changed to astonishment as their gazes shifted back and forth between Wang Junwen and Jing Li.
They had only known Jing Li was on good terms with Wang Junwen recently and hadn’t expected the latter to be involved in this matter as well.
This was even more exciting than catching the scumbag red-handed!
The crowd watched the two with great interest, ready to witness a good show. However, Jing Li’s reaction was surprisingly calm. Even his lazy posture didn’t change one bit. He calmly waited for the other party to finish venting before slowly raising his eyes, an utterly serious expression on his face as he asked, “Who are you?”
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.