Qiao Siyu was so blatant that Ruan Yingying went stunned. She blushed as she squeezed a smile and said, “Siyu, I know you are joking.”
Qiao Siyu straightened his back and looked down at Ruan Yingying. “Stop calling me Siyu. I am not on a first-name basis with you.”
Qiao Siyu was well known for being a very professional and demanding actor. Also, he was an award-winning actor. Everyone who acted across him felt immense pressure working with him.
Ruan Yingying was not a professional actress. She felt she could get away with bad acting using her youth and beauty. Also, she was always distracted on the job. Qiao Siyu always felt very annoyed by her lousy attitude.
Despite Qiao Siyu’s professionalism and manners, he no longer wanted anything to do with Ruan Yingying now that she kept trying to beg for his attention.
“Okay.” Ruan Yingying smiled awkwardly. “My bad, Mr. Qiao.”
Qiao Siyu turned to leave.
Ruan Yingying gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly as she watched Qiao Siyu leave from behind. She even inadvertently broke her freshly done nails.
After Ruan Yingying went back to the changing room, she finally exploded and threw everything on the table to the ground.
“Oh god. What’s wrong?” The talent agent came in just in time to witness the chaos in the room.
“Qiao Siyu is too much! Why is he so nice to Mu Sheng, but so mean to me?” Ruan Yingying felt even more annoyed just thinking about it.
Since she could not do anything to Qiao Siyu, Ruan Yingying could only blame Mu Sheng for it.
It must be Mu Sheng. Since Mu Sheng was close to Qiao Siyu, she must have badmouthed her. Otherwise, why would Qiao Siyu hate her so much?
Yes! Mu Sheng must be behind this.
Ruan Yingying raised her head and looked at her talent agent. “Did Mu Sheng audition for ‘A Journey Through Food’ this morning?”
“That’s right.” The talent agent nodded. “I heard the staff saying the director didn’t even enter the room. He simply spoke to her from the door before she left. From the looks of it, she didn’t get the spot.”
Ruan Yingying felt slightly better when she heard this. She drank some water before she said, “How did the agency’s discussion go? Did I manage to get a spot on this show? This is the opportunity of a lifetime, so please don’t botch it.”
The talent agent nodded. “Don’t worry. Our company’s investor is collaborating with ‘A Journey Through Food’. With their help, I am sure you can get a spot on the show. You can continue filming the drama with absolute peace of mind.”
The talent agency discussed this with their investor over dinner. After the investor had his fill of food and drink, he patted his chest confidently and assured them he would get Ruan Yingying on “A Journey Through Food”. The talent agency proceeded with marketing with his assurance.
Ruan Yingying kept posting on social media. The contents of her posts mainly consisted of her cooking or pictures of her plants.
Today, Ruan Yingying posted a picture of the tomatoes she had planted in her garden.
@Ruan Yingying: [I love gardening. I think organic vegetables are the best. Do you want to come over and try my organic produce?]
[Omigod! Yingying is so cool. She is such a good cook and even does her own farming. She is such a smart girl.]
[These tomatoes rock. They look absolutely delectable. Yingying, please feed me some tomatoes!]
[Why do I have a feeling something has changed about her? I think she is going to appear on “A Journey Through Food”]
The moment someone made this speculation, other people checked and found out about Ruan Yingying’s trip to the filming location of “A Journey Through Food”.
After connecting the dots from Ruan Yingying’s recent posts, everyone promptly felt certain she must have gotten a spot on the show.
Everyone kept saying negative things about Mu Sheng when they found out about her visit to the film location. However, everyone felt certain Ruan Yingying had gotten a spot on the program.
After all, the talent agency had always marketed Ruan Yingying as an artist with deft hands.
Ruan Yingying also kept posting pictures of her cooking.
Everyone felt Ruan Yingying must be an excellent cook.
[I can’t wait to watch her! I have a feeling that she is able to cook a lot of good food. I can’t wait to see Ruan Yingying on the program.]
[Wow. Is Ruan Yingying that good? I think she is perfect for “A Journey Through Food”. Just a couple of days ago, I heard Mu Sheng was going to appear on the program. It was simply hilarious. I certainly hope that Ruan Yingying gets the spot and not Mu Sheng! I don’t want her to ruin my favorite program!]
Meanwhile, the film crew received word from the investors hinting for them to give Ruan Yingying a spot on the show through their connections.
The director exploded angrily when he heard this and rolled his eyes.
“Who is Ruan Yingying? Do I know her? Why should I give her a back door?”
His staff reminded the director cautiously, “Well, he is an investor, so we need him to put food on the table.”
The director felt furious again. He slammed the table as he said, “So what if he is an investor? Can we allow an investor to change the rules blatantly? If I took their orders, do you think this show could go on? If you want a show to succeed, it has to have high quality! Do you know what quality is?”
The employee quietly wiped his face after the director’s saliva sprayed all over him. He nodded and said, “Yes, yes, yes. You are right.”
The director was infuriated when people wanted to make him hire an artist for the show. “I don’t want to see Ruan Yingying. From now on, she is not to appear on any of my shows.”
“Okay.” The employee was very impressed in his heart. A director like him was a rare gem in the industry.
——
Meanwhile, at Eminent Senior High.
Li An headed to the school with a miserable look on his face. He wanted to collapse just thinking about the Math exam scheduled today.
He was thinking about the formulae as they swiftly slipped out of his mind and failed to detect a group of people standing in front of him.
“Young Master An,” said a man.
Li An raised his head and saw bodyguards from the Li family. He instantly looked cautious. “What?”
The bodyguard reached his hands out towards Li An. “We are here to bring you to school.”
“I study here. I don’t need you to send me anywhere.” Li An held his backpack tightly and wanted to run into the school the moment he found an opportunity.
However, the bodyguards were highly trained and grabbed Li An swiftly and took him away.
The car pulled up at an institute for internet addiction 30 minutes later.
The school was infamous in town, and it was also known as the 15th Vocational College.
Although it was marketed as a military-style institute for kicking internet addiction, several people had died in its care due to its violent methods.
The moment Li An got off the car, he saw a group of boys with green hair walking towards him as they dragged one meter-long poles behind them.
Li An struggled. “Let me go. I don’t study here.”
The bodyguards ignored him and dragged him into school.
The Principal was already waiting for him at the door. He gestured, and two brawny men promptly appeared and held down Li An.
“Thank you. Don’t worry. Just leave the kid with me. When he leaves in half a year, I am sure Mr. Li will be pleased with the results.”
The bodyguards turned to leave.
Li An looked at the steel fence surrounding the perimeter of the school and instantly trembled.
He was in deep regret about his previous attitude. He no longer found Math exams hard as there were things far scarier than that.
It did not matter how much Li An struggled since the teachers were accustomed to having hooligans among them. They took out a syringe to take care of him.
Li An trembled as he looked at the threatening-looking syringe. “Let me go! You are breaking the law!”
The Principal scoffed, “Beat him! Let’s see how long this punk can keep this up. Your father has already said we can use brute force as long as you do not die.”
The moment the Principal finished his sentence, someone plunged the syringe into Li An’s neck.
Li An was still able to move his hands and legs earlier, but he was quickly sapped, and his sight turned blurry.
Li An felt terrified and resentful.
Before he passed out, he thought to himself, “Big Bro, I will never say anything bad about Eminent Senior High from now on. Please save me!”
——
Meanwhile, at the villa.
It was already past dinner time, but Li An had yet to come home even though he usually got back first.
Since Eminent Senior High had evening revision periods, Auntie Lin did not notice anything amiss.
After Li Hanchen and Mu Sheng were done with dinner, Li Hanchen felt something was wrong. He looked at Auntie Lin. “Call the school.”
“Okay.” Auntie Lin hurriedly called Li An’s school teacher.
The teacher was caught by surprise. “Didn’t Li An get taken away by his family member in the morning? He even applied for leave. Why isn’t he home yet?”
Before Auntie Lin answered the teacher, she looked at Li Hanchen. “Young Master, his teacher said someone already took him away in the morning.”
Li Hanchen immediately stood up and took his coat. “I am heading out for a minute.”
Mu Sheng stood up as well.
Li Hanchen glanced at her. “Why don’t you just stay home?”
“I want to go with you.” Considering all the time they spent together, Li An and Mu Sheng genuinely had feelings for each other. Now that Li An had gone missing, she could not stay at home and wait.
“Okay.” Li Hanchen nodded before striding out the door.
He called Qin Kai as he started the engine. “Find out who took Li An in the morning.”
“Yes, Mr. Li.” Qin Kai immediately sent men to investigate when he heard the order.
He quickly heard back from his subordinates. “Young Master, we have his location. He was taken by the Li family and sent to an internet addiction treatment facility.”
“Bring a couple of men over.” The moment Li Hanchen finished his sentence, he hung up the phone and stepped on the engine.
Meanwhile, at the internet addiction treatment facility, the effects of the medication had worn off a little.
Li An woke up from thirst. He immediately narrowed his eyes from the bright lights in the room when he opened them.
“Are you awake?” A tall man stood beside him holding a whip as he undid the rope on Li An. “Now that you are here, you have to follow our rules.”
He pointed at a pail of smelly worn garments and said, “Your first job for tonight is to finish the laundry in an hour. If you can’t do it in time, you can forget about eating dinner tonight.”
Li An glared at the person viciously. Since Li An refused to budge, he raised his whip and lashed Li An.
In an instant, Li An felt as though his back was on fire and was in searing pain.
The men seemed accustomed to pushing people around. The moment he saw a rich man’s son like Li An, he looked even more annoyed. He kicked Li An and sent him tumbling.
Li An inadvertently fell right into the pile of smelly garments. He was instantly so disgusted that he nearly vomited.
The whip came lashing onto him. “Hurry up. Do you think you are still a rich man’s son? Let me tell you. If you don’t finish the laundry, you can forget about sleeping as well.”
Li An gritted his teeth. He checked out the surroundings and found he was surrounded by a steel fence. He finally swallowed his tears and picked up the dirty laundry in front of him.
“I will come and check on you in a minute. If they are not washed, you are going to get it from me!” said the man before rolling his eyes and leaving.
Li An’s eyes turned teary as he did the laundry.
There were windows reinforced with iron cages on the walls. Li An was exhausted and famished, and his back was in pain from the injury.
Li An missed home badly.
He missed Auntie Lin’s pork ribs. He missed Li Hanchen and also Mu Sheng.
The sound of crying gradually echoed in the room, and it resembled the crying of a powerless little animal.
Before long, the man swaggered back into the room with his mouth greasy after dinner. He glanced at the clothing and whipped Li An again. “Why are you so slow? When are you going to be done?”
Li An shivered from the whipping. He could no longer bear it and stood up before glaring at the tall brawny man angrily. “Just wait till my big brother gets here.”
“Who do you think your brother is?” scoffed the man. “Your older brother will just end up doing the laundry. Oh yes. I will let him wash the shoes as well. Scratch that. I think it would be nice if he could clean the toilet.”
“Damn you!” Li An did not care if he was scolded, but he could not take it lying down if someone insulted his older brother. His eyes instantly turned red as he howled and lunged onto the man.
He elbowed the man in the stomach with all his might.
“Ow.” The man cringed in pain. He threw Li An on the ground altogether after recovering from the pain.
The man covered his belly as he glared at Li An furiously. He proceeded to pick up a chair and smash it on Li An’s head.
A loud clang rang in the air as the iron door suddenly got opened.
The man turned to check out the commotion only to see an imposing man standing at the door like the God of Death. Before he was able to wrap his mind around it, a few other men came in and apprehended him.
“Big Bro.” Li An’s eyes turned even redder when he saw Li Hanchen.
Li Hanchen saw the whip lashes on his neck, and he instantly turned cold. He looked at Mu Sheng standing beside him. “Take him to the car.”
“Uh huh.” Mu Sheng nodded.
Li An followed behind Mu Sheng with his eyes red.
After Li An and Mu Sheng left, Li Hanchen ordered for the doors to be shut.
Li Hanchen stopped holding back. His dangerous aura could now be sensed fully as he looked at the terrified man and asked, “Which hand did you use to hit him?”
The man was so intimidated by Li Hanchen’s cold stares that he was unable to speak clearly.
“Tell me,” said Li Hanchen once more.
The man almost pissed in his pants as he stuttered, “Left… Right… No, I think it was the left one.”
Li Hanchen looked at him profoundly. “Since you have so much trouble remembering, let’s get rid of them both.”
The moment Li Hanchen finished his sentence, the bodyguard holding down the culprit promptly acted, leaving him screaming in pain.
People in the next room caught on to the commotion. Bodyguards came over when they realized there was an intruder.
Li Hanchen glanced outside as he uttered, “Get rid of them.”
“Yes, Mr. Li.” Qin Kai nodded.
The moment he finished his sentence, Li Hanchen strode straight out as the sound of fighting came from behind.
Inside the car, Mu Sheng examined Li An’s injuries. Li An kept howling in pain with his eyes red and looked incredibly miserable.
“That hurts.”
Li An looked at Li Hanchen miserably for comfort when Li Hanchen came in. “Big Bro, he beat me up.”
“I have already beaten him.”
Li An was caught by surprise. He thought Li Hanchen would blame him for getting into a fight, but Li Hanchen unexpectedly said this.
Even though Li An was in misery, now that someone was finally here to save him, he instantly regained hope. He reached his hand out and pulled Li Hanchen’s sleeve. “Big Bro, I don’t want to attend school here.”
Li Hanchen let Li An pull his sleeve as he glanced at Li An. “You will attend Eminent Senior High tomorrow as usual.”
“Uh huh.” Li An was delighted, so his eyes were filled with joy, and he even forgot about the injury on his back. “Big Bro.”
Since Li An had such a bad scare, he wanted Li Hanchen’s attention now that he was here.
Li Hanchen glanced at Li An coldly as he whined. “Can you talk normally?”
Li An was terrified and sad when he got bullied. Now that Li Hanchen was finally here, Li An wanted to stay close to his older brother regardless of his disdain.
Li An furtively inched towards Li Hanchen until his legs were right beside Li Hanchen. He held Li Hanchen’s sleeve tightly as though he could draw strength from him this way.
Li Hanchen glanced at Li An. He said nothing and let Li An come close to him.
Li An smiled so brightly that dimples appeared on his face when Li Hanchen let him have his way.
He secretly turned to say to Mu Sheng, “Sis-in-Law, see how good my older brother is.”
Mu Sheng looked at Li Hanchen’s crumpled shirt sleeve.
Li Hanchen had OCD about cleanliness. He naturally loved Li An considering the way he allowed Li An to hold his sleeve.
Mu Sheng nodded at Li An. “Uh huh.”
Li An was covered with injuries and felt like he was in hell just moments ago.
However, he could not help wagging his tail like a happy dog now that he sensed his family’s love. He smiled brightly as he said, “I know how much my big brother loves me. Heehee.”
Li Hanchen pondered before he looked at him in disdain. “Shut up already.”
Li An went quiet and stopped talking as Mu Sheng took care of his injuries.
However, Li An was beside himself with joy and felt as free as deer running in the grasslands. It felt as though he was high on drugs.
His big brother loved him and his sister-in-law cared about him a lot!
Howl! He was the luckiest boy on earth!
——
Meanwhile, at the Li residence.
Since it was late at night, everyone had turned off the lights and went to bed.
However, Li Ting was suddenly woken up by his phone.
“Yes?” Li Ting was half asleep as he roared into the phone.
“Li Ting, what have you done? How could you have gotten Jun beaten to a pulp?” Li Cheng’s furious voice could be heard from the other end of the phone.
“Big Bro, what are you talking about? Why would I beat him up?” Li Ting lost his drowsiness and felt stunned.
“Didn’t you arrange for Jun to get transferred?”
“That’s right. I…” Li Ting promptly felt proud and wanted to tell his older brother about how he got Li Jun a spot at Eminent Senior High.
Li Cheng did not wait for Li Ting to finish his sentence now that he was certain Li Ting had sent his son to an institution to treat internet addiction.
“Damn you, Li Ting! If my son likes to surf the internet, it is none of your business. Have you worked as CEO for so long that you have finally decided to reach your paws into my family’s business? Who do you think you are? Isn’t it enough that you get to order people around in the office?”
Li Cheng was a shareholder of the family business, and Li Ting tended to get pushy and annoying. Now that his son was beaten to a pulp, he felt even madder and took the chance to vent his steam.
Even though they were biological siblings, Li Ting was accustomed to having his way since he was CEO. How could he bear the insult? He instantly lost it. “Stop pretending. Do you think you are the…”
The conversation was no longer about Li Jun getting beaten up. Instead, the conversation had now transformed into an argument about all their previous long-time conflicts and grudges.
Li Ting threw aside his phone furiously ten minutes later. “I did not do it!”
If he knew this would happen, he would not have given Li An’s spot at Eminent Senior High to Li Jun.
Who did Li Cheng think he was?
Even though he was usually able to sleep quite well, Li Ting became sleepless all night after this call.
——
Before Mu Sheng could finish her breakfast the next day, she got a call from Jiang Tian.
“I will pick you up in a minute so that we can sign the contract for ‘A Journey Through Food’.”
“Okay.”
Mu Sheng packed up her things and left the villa.
Meanwhile, at the film location, the investors along with some other sponsors were having a meeting with the director.
“My company has invested $50,000,000 into the show. Don’t I get a say about who appears on the show? How about this? Why don’t we compromise? Just give her a chance and allow her to audition. If she is really a bad fit, then I will drop it.”
The director inhaled deeply before he suppressed his fury and nodded. “Fine.”
Mu Sheng got off the car at the office entrance and encountered Ruan Yingying who had just gotten off her car as well.
Ruan Yingying glanced at Mu Sheng’s seemingly unbranded clothes and a look of contempt emerged in her eyes. “Sheng, are you here to audition?”
Mu Sheng could not be bothered talking to her and walked right in.
Ruan Yingying deliberately walked beside her. “Sheng, it is very hard to get onto the program. Shall I give you some tips about auditions?”
Before Mu Sheng could answer her, a reporter suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.
“Excuse me, are you here to audition for the show? Or are you already done? How did your audition go?”
Ruan Yingying looked into the camera with a confident smile before she looked at Mu Sheng. “Sheng, didn’t you get the spot?”
Mu Sheng nodded candidly.
Ruan Yingying felt Mu Sheng’s vanity must be acting up. In comparison, she smiled humbly as she said, “I am sure Sheng did far better for the audition than me. I don’t think I will get the spot.”
