Ever since hearing the words “take advantage of a crisis” from Yu Qinzhou, Ming Qi understood—
The so-called rent definitely wouldn’t be something like a couple of meals.
But exactly how to pay it, he still hadn’t figured out.
He hesitated for a long time, flipping through expressions, and finally sent a custom Xiao Ba cat sticker to brush it off.
Seeing the little cat baring its claws, Yu Qinzhou lowered his gaze, hiding the faint smile at the corner of his eyes.
Since the villa already had full furnishings, Meng She’s simple “housewarming” instantly turned into moving hot pot from Xiangti Green Shade to here.
Ming Qi took off his jacket and helped Meng She in the kitchen, while Meng She enthusiastically invited Yu Qinzhou, who was lazily leaning against the doorway, to join.
“Since we’re already here, why don’t we do a barbecue party tonight too? What do you think?”
Hot pot at noon, barbecue at night.
For an actor, that was a little too indulgent.
But Meng She didn’t think so. While slicing beef, he nodded.
“It’s fine to indulge once in a while. Once we start filming, everything we eat has to be carefully controlled anyway. Hot pot and barbecue will just be things we can think about.”
Otherwise, who knew what their faces would look like on camera the next day.
During the hot pot meal, Meng She received a call from his company.
He raised his brows, feeling somewhat amused.
“Could it be they’re calling to probe for information?”
Although Zhang Cong had mentioned on Weibo that he had found a suitable actor, he hadn’t revealed who it was. Just this morning, there were still plenty of Le Siyan’s fans asking under Zhang Cong’s latest post whether the so-called “suitable actor” included Le Siyan.
Meng She narrowed his eyes and stood up to take the call. The conversation didn’t last long. He soon returned to the dining table and, meeting Ming Qi’s curious gaze, said directly, “The company says they’ve arranged a costume idol drama for you. You report to the production team in three days.”
Ming Qi tightened his grip on his chopsticks, his expression filled with suspicion. “The company arranged a drama for me? And I report in three days?”
When had the company ever cared about him? Why would they suddenly arrange a script for him?
Qi Chuang was internally split into two opposing factions. The founder, Yu Rong, had a son and a daughter—Yu Boguang and Yu Hanya—who, despite being siblings, fought as if they wanted to tear each other apart and drink each other’s blood.
Shi Yong belonged to Yu Boguang’s faction. When Yu Boguang learned that Ming Qi was disobedient, he had once considered suppressing him by freezing his career. However, Yu Hanya was someone who loved going against her brother at every turn. Thanks to that internal conflict, Ming Qi had luckily escaped being targeted.
Later, when Yu Hanya approached him to recruit him into her camp, Ming Qi politely declined. Backing Yu Hanya might have brought him more resources, but it also meant becoming a disposable piece in their struggle. Compared to that, Ming Qi preferred a stable, quiet life.
Yu Hanya was reasonable and didn’t get angry at his refusal, but naturally, no resources ever came his way after that.
From then on, Ming Qi was completely left to fend for himself.
Seeing through Ming Qi’s thoughts, Meng She said, “I also asked them what was going on. They only said they saw your commercial value.”
“Did you accept it?”
“No.” Meng She picked up a slice of beef. “I told them I needed your opinion first. Besides, we’ve already got ‘Undercover’ as backup now, so there’s no rush to start filming. I’ll go to the company this afternoon and find out what this costume drama is really about.”
The sudden goodwill from the company made both Ming Qi and Meng She uneasy. What was originally a relaxed hot pot meal ended up rushed. After finishing, Meng She only left one line—“I’ll come back tonight”—before driving off from Xijing Bay.
Watching him leave, Ming Qi frowned slightly.
Yu Qinzhou stood behind him. “What are you thinking about?”
Perhaps because Yu Qinzhou gave off a strong sense of trust, Ming Qi had gradually become someone who spoke openly with him. He answered honestly, “It feels strange. How did the company find out so quickly that I got the role in ‘Undercover’?”
Based on Ming Qi’s understanding of Shi Yong and Le Siyan, once Le Siyan realized he didn’t get the audition role, he would most likely investigate who did. Someone from Zhang Cong’s team might reveal the truth, but Le Siyan would never publicize it—after all, losing to Ming Qi in this unspoken competition was something deeply humiliating for him.
As for the company, they had always treated Ming Qi like he didn’t exist. If he and Meng She didn’t mention it, they wouldn’t even know he went to the audition.
Even if they somehow found out and reassessed his value, Shi Yong would never sit still and watch an artist who escaped his control live well.
Ming Qi bent down and picked up Xiao Ba, who was rubbing against his ankle, his expression serious. “My intuition has always been pretty accurate. I feel like the company is up to something.”
Earlier during the meal, Yu Qinzhou had also picked up some information about Qi Chuang and Shi Yong from Meng She’s complaints. Hearing Ming Qi now, he raised a brow thoughtfully. After a moment, he lightly patted Ming Qi’s head and smiled.
“Don’t worry. First, Meng She is a competent agent—he’ll figure things out. Second…” His voice softened slightly, carrying a faint smile. “Isn’t there still me?”
The last words were spoken in a lower tone, almost blending into a murmur, but somehow they landed clearly in Ming Qi’s heart.
And then, inexplicably, his heartbeat skipped sharply once.
—
At a little past three in the afternoon, Meng She returned to Xijing Bay.
This time, he went straight to Yu Qinzhou’s villa. He didn’t even bother admiring the antique vase in the living room before rushing to Ming Qi.
“I asked people under Vice President Yu. They don’t know anything about assigning you that costume drama. But I did find out it was originally set for another artist in the company—someone named Tang Ke.”
If it had nothing to do with Yu Hanya’s side, then only Yu Boguang remained.
Meng She didn’t have a good impression of Yu Boguang’s faction and felt they were definitely up to no good, so he went to Tang Ke’s agent directly to ask why the role had been changed.
Tang Ke’s agent said Tang Ke had suddenly developed health issues and couldn’t film.
Ming Qi, holding a glass of freshly squeezed juice, listened carefully and said after a moment, “If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem like there’s a problem.”
Meng She let out a cold laugh. “On the surface, sure. But guess what—I found out from Cao Bin that this morning he saw Tang Ke’s agent sneaking into Le Siyan’s resting room.”
Cao Bin was also an agent at Qi Chuang and Meng She’s senior. They had a decent relationship.
“Once Shi Yong gets involved, nothing is ever simple.”
Ming Qi fully agreed with that assessment.
“This drama can’t be taken, but the company might not agree.”
If the company forced pressure, it would indeed put Ming Qi in a difficult position.
Yu Qinzhou, who had been listening quietly like he was merely background furniture, finally spoke after a while. Seeing Ming Qi’s slightly furrowed brows, he rested his chin on one hand and gave a suggestion.
“Why don’t you just have your body ‘develop a problem’ too?”
Ming Qi: “?!”
He turned abruptly to look at Yu Qinzhou.
Yu Qinzhou met his gaze and asked with a smile, “Do you prefer a broken hand or a broken leg?”
Before Ming Qi could answer, Meng She had already eagerly spoken up, “That’s brilliant, Mr. Yu!”
Yu Qinzhou nodded politely. “You’re too kind.”
Meng She examined Ming Qi and added, “Leg is better. What do you think, Qi-zai?”
Ming Qi: “……I’m fine with anything.”
Half an hour later, Ming Qi was sitting in a wheelchair.
His right pant leg was rolled up, and a splint was fixed around his slender, straight leg. At a glance, it looked very much like an actual injury.
Meng She had Ming Qi look as haggard as possible, then quickly snapped a few photos and sent them to the company, bluntly adding: Sorry about this, it looks like Ming Qi is destined to have no luck with costume idol dramas.
The company’s person in charge frowned deeply upon receiving the message and immediately asked: What happened?
Meng She replied in a dead-serious tone, completely making things up: Oh, Ming Qi got too excited after hearing he landed the second male lead in a costume idol drama. He wasn’t paying attention while going down the stairs and fell.
Person in charge: …
Equally speechless were Shi Yong and Le Si Yan, who also received the message.
Shi Yong sat on the sofa while Le Si Yan looked visibly restless. He stood up and paced back and forth before hesitantly asking, “Did Ming Qi figure out we set him up? Now that he’s injured, he can’t film at all. The company can’t possibly force him to shoot like this, right?”
Shi Yong’s expression darkened slightly.
After learning that Le Si Yan had missed out on the forensic doctor role, he already had a bad feeling. So he had people inquire with Zhang Cong’s team and eventually confirmed that Ming Qi had indeed gotten the role. This made both him and Le Si Yan extremely unhappy. The mockery they had once directed at Meng She and Ming Qi at the Huachang Building had now turned into a loud, painful slap to their own faces.
After thinking it over, Shi Yong felt that this role couldn’t just be handed over to Ming Qi so easily. With a hardened resolve, he teamed up with Tang Ke’s agent. Tang Ke’s agent and company used Tang Ke’s poor health as an excuse to pass the already confirmed costume idol drama role to Ming Qi. Then Tang Ke would casually post a pitiful-sounding Weibo post implying Ming Qi was using his upcoming participation in Zhang Cong’s new drama to bully fellow company artists and seize roles, stirring up public opinion.
Not only would Ming Qi be attacked by Tang Ke’s fans, even Zhang Cong would change his impression of him.
—Zhang Cong had always disliked using actors with questionable character.
Moreover, if nothing unexpected happened, the filming schedule for this costume drama would be long, possibly overlapping with Undercover. If Ming Qi ended up overworking himself by juggling both, Zhang Cong would likely dislike him even more.
Without the first choice, the second naturally becomes easier to take.
As for Tang Ke’s lost role, Shi Yong could simply compensate him later.
What should have been a flawless plan had already gone wrong at the very first step.
He let out a cold laugh. “He’d better really be injured. Otherwise… I don’t mind making the fake real.”
Le Si Yan turned to look at him.
Shi Yong said nothing further, only gave Le Si Yan a look telling him to stay calm.
…
After dealing with this mess, Meng She’s mood noticeably improved. Especially when he arrived at Yu Qinzhou’s villa and saw Xiao Ba darting out from the second floor—his eyes lit up instantly.
“My godson, why are you here?!” he exclaimed.
Ming Qi responded calmly, “I went home and brought him over.”
Then, noticing Xiao Ba circling Yu Qinzhou and meowing for snacks, he said in surprise, “Xiao Ba doesn’t seem afraid of strangers at all. It looks like he really likes Mr. Yu.”
Ming Qi: “……”
That’s because Xiao Ba is his biological son’s cat.
He silently avoided Yu Qinzhou’s meaningful gaze.
Fortunately, this awkward moment didn’t last long. As evening fell, Cen Jing brought over all the barbecue equipment and ingredients, and Min Zhengyue arrived in his newly replaced flashy red Ferrari.
After enthusiastically greeting Meng She, he immediately headed for the wine cellar and came back carrying two bottles of strong liquor Ming Qi had never even seen before.
Ming Qi: !
He tugged at Yu Qinzhou’s sleeve using Xiao Ba’s paw and asked in a low voice, “Didn’t you say no drinking?”
Yu Qinzhou leaned against the corridor pillar, lazily pinching a cushion and replying slowly, “Mr. Ming, what I agreed to was that we would drink juice. So they’re drinking alcohol—what does that have to do with us?”