Chapter 53

“This video took me two whole days and nights to edit! Every frame, every piece of background music, was carefully crafted by me, second by second!”

“We agreed that once the final product was ready, we would start contacting channels! Why isn’t it being released?!”

“Is the video editing not good enough? Is this style of video not marketable? Why won’t you give it a try? Why are you making me delete it?!”

“You keep saying that good work shouldn’t be buried, so why won’t you give me this opportunity? This is my work! I put so much effort into it! How dare you bury it?!”

The person across from him ignored the fact that they were in a teahouse and shouldn’t be shouting, roaring like a mad bull out of control, glaring angrily at the person across from him with a questioning tone, baring his teeth, completely forgetting why the person he came here to meet was the person across from him and not Xu Yang.

“Is this film poorly edited? Why else wouldn’t you even give it a chance to be released?!”

With each question, the man’s back teeth clenched tighter, but he refused to engage in an argument. This man was like a madman, fixated on the issue, and reasoning with him would only make him more stubborn. “Calm down. I’m here to discuss business, not to play the fool.”

Bi Yuan tried to calm himself down and not let this person affect him. But the man was relentless, chasing after him and saying increasingly offensive things. “Is it because the film isn’t edited well enough that it’s not getting a chance to be released?! Or is it because you don’t want that slut to come out and embarrass herself?!”

Somehow, those words triggered Bi Yuan. He had been sitting calmly on his sofa, but now he leaned on the coffee table with one hand and quickly grabbed the insolent man in front of him with the other, gritting his teeth and threatening him, “If you don’t want to be unable to survive in this circle, watch what you say!”

“Huh?” With his collar grabbed, the man’s expression was more painful than a smile. He wrinkled his nose and looked at Bi Yuan with a defiant gaze, saying, “Survive in this circle? How many years have I been in this circle? Don’t you know? It was you who told me, ‘If you have a dream, don’t give up. Come in and work hard! One day, you’ll have the chance to edit a complete film yourself!’ But what about now?!”

As he spoke, his once arrogant face suddenly contorted into a frown, his nose twitching as if he were about to cry, as if Bi Yuan had wronged him terribly: “I’ve worked so hard for so many years, assisting others for so long. Even if it was a test, it should have ended by now! I thought this film would finally be my chance to shine, but…”

His eyebrows and nose were furrowed, but his eyes remained sharp. He glared at Bi Yuan and said harshly, “It’s you who’s being hypocritical! Why should my work be ruined just to protect him?!” He forcefully broke free from Bi Yuan’s grip, pushing him back into his seat. Before Bi Yuan could regain his balance, he quickly fumbled with the laptop on the coffee table. Whether from excitement or panic, his hands shook violently.

“I won’t let my work be buried. I won’t let it die without a fight. I’m going to upload it to the website. I’m going to show everyone how amazing my edited work is!” I… you!“ Just as the video opened, before the trembling hands could add it to the post’s attachment, the laptop was snatched away by Bi Yuan and thrown forcefully onto the balcony, ”Clang!” It landed with a thud on the cement ground outside, the casing cracked at one corner, and the entire computer screen shattered into a web of cracks. The surrounding customers screamed in fright and scattered to a distance, avoiding the center of the storm.

When Xu Yang arrived at the address mentioned in the text message, this was exactly the scene he witnessed. A laptop had been thrown out of the tea bar, and what should have been a quiet and elegant place was now in complete chaos. Guests hurried out of the bar as if trying to avoid the commotion, while the staff attempted to intervene but dared not approach.

“You have no right to stop my work from being released!!” A nearly疯狂 voice screamed from inside the tea bar, the shrill, unpleasant sound piercing Xu Yang’s eardrums. “If he dared to take the photos, does he really fear being seen?!”

At that moment, Xu Yang nearly screamed in terror, covering his ears.

The laptop screen that had been thrown out was still flickering on and off. The cracked screen, resembling a spider web, was displaying something. Xu Yang covered his ears, unable to bear listening to the argument inside the tea bar. He walked over to the laptop, lowering his head to look down at the flickering screen.

It seemed to be playing a video, but the screen was shattered, and he couldn’t make out what was being shown. All he could see was a blur of flesh covering the entire screen. The video appeared to be a explicit performance, with unknown actors engaged in obscene and vulgar acts.

The argument inside the teahouse continued. Xu Yang seemed to hear the sound of a closed door, and he wanted to confirm if it was indeed a closed door, but with his ears covered, he couldn’t hear clearly. His eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from the computer screen, and his hands dared not come down from above his ears, fearing he might hear his own name. He could only stand outside the teahouse terrace, covering his ears like a fool, staring motionless at the fragmented video still playing.

“If you’ve got the guts, smash my mouth! If you can’t tear my mouth apart, I’ll tell the whole world! He only got what he did by selling his ass… Ugh!” The sentence, interrupted midway by a fist, slipped through Xu Yang’s fingers and into his ears. He finally tore his eyes away from the computer screen and looked inside the teahouse in horror, seeing how疯狂 the two people already tangled in a fight were.

Unable to bear hearing Wen Hao use the phrase “selling his ass” to humiliate Xu Yang, before Wen Hao could finish his insulting words, Bi Yuan clenched his fist and delivered a powerful punch to the seemingly innocent-looking face, knocking Wen Hao’s glasses askew and causing his left cheek to swell immediately. His body was thrown onto the tea table, shattering the teacups and teapot into pieces on the floor.

The waitstaff, who had originally intended to intervene, saw Bi Yuan strike someone. Amidst the clattering sounds of overturned tea sets shattering on the floor, they all panicked and shouted, “Fighting!”

“I warned you to watch your mouth!” Stepping over the overturned coffee table and shattered tea set, Bi Yuan bent down, grabbed Wen Hao by the collar, and pulled him to his feet. The force of his punch had caused the buttons on his shirt to pop open, revealing a bulging muscle on his chest. “You’ve taken quite a bit of hush money!”

Closing his eyes, he glared at Wenhao with eyes like hooks, ignoring the swollen half of his face. He clenched his teeth and said, “You took my money, not only did you not delete the video, but now you dare to touch my people? Are you tired of living?!” After speaking, he forcefully pushed the person onto the disheveled sofa, then raised his elbow and delivered another punch to the nose.

The sound of his nose breaking traveled through bone conduction to Wenhao’s brain, the excruciating pain causing him to ignore the blood flowing from his nose as he struggled to stand up. His glasses were already nowhere to be found. Wenhao, with one eye swollen shut, cried with snot and blood smeared across his face, wildly struggling with the man.

When Xu Yang rushed into the tea bar holding the shattered laptop, the two had already reduced the booth to a chaotic mess. chairs and tables were overturned or flipped upside down, none of them intact. Their shirts and T-shirts were already in tatters. Bi Yuan’s face was slapped, covered in blood from an unknown source, and his hair was tangled in Wen Hao’s hands.

Wenhao, with a swollen face, screamed “Ah ah” in front of Bi Yuan, unable to fight back. He could only try to grab Bi Yuan’s hair like a woman fighting, but he was still beaten until his face was bruised and swollen, with saliva and tears streaming down his neck.

“Stop! Stop hitting him! Mr. Bi, stop hitting him!” Xu Yang had never seen Bi Yuan fight so fiercely before. Seeing Wen Hao about to be beaten unconscious, he hurriedly grabbed his notebook and rushed toward Bi Yuan, completely ignoring the waiter hiding nearby who shouted, “It’s dangerous! Don’t go over there!”

Wanting to intervene but unable to find a way in, Xu Yang couldn’t get between the two men who were locked in a struggle. He could only stand by shouting, “Stop!” and feeling helpless. Finally, he closed his eyes and moved closer to pull Bi Yuan away, only to be accidentally hit by a punch. He yelped, “Mr. Bi, you hit me!” before Bi Yuan angrily stopped.

The chaotic fight finally came to a halt. Xu Yang hadn’t even caught his breath yet, his teeth clenched so tightly he couldn’t even cry out in pain, when the three of them were taken away by the police who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the commotion. The unfortunate waitress was left standing dumbfounded at the scene, staring at the overturned tables, chairs, and broken teaware scattered all over the floor, sighing in despair: “Who am I going to ask to compensate me for this?”