I Became Famous in the Entertainment Industry with High Martial Arts Skills - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Soft Pectorals

The rear car window was knocked on. Chen Yutian forced himself to remain calm and opened the door for Wang Kang.

“Mr. Chen, please have you and your assistant step out of the car. Director Zhang has some matters that require your confirmation,” Wang Kang said politely, his face behind his glasses looking refined and scholarly.

Chen Yutian gave a stiff smile and pulled A-Ya by the arm as they exited the vehicle.

“Director Zhang, I heard you were looking for my assistant regarding some matter?”

Chen Yutian’s face remained relatively composed, but A-Ya, whose arm was being pinched by him until it turned purple, looked exceptionally panicked.

Upon seeing A-Ya, who had sought him out at noon, Wang Long immediately rushed over, crudely dragging him in front of everyone.

“Director, I was just momentarily confused! It was all him! He instructed me to do it!” Wang Long’s face changed instantly as he swiftly shifted the blame onto A-Ya.

Xie Ci asked, “Do you have any evidence to prove what you’re saying is true?”

He naturally understood the principle of pulling up a weed by its roots. If the person behind this incident wasn’t exposed, he would likely face more trouble in the future.

How could an assistant with zero conflict of interest toward him resort to such methods for no reason? The true mastermind had to be hiding behind the scenes.

Seeing the victim speak up, Wang Long immediately pulled a phone from his pocket and played a recording.

In the few minutes of the recording, the two male voices in the conversation were very clear.

“I see that newcomer’s performance is quite outstanding; Director Zhang is full of praise for him.”

“He’s just a pretty boy with a nice face. Who knows whose thigh he’s clinging to.” After an exaggerated huff, Wang Long’s voice continued: “With those few flowery moves, how could he possibly compare to your artist?”

A-Ya’s voice came through clearly: “I heard that when using wires, it’s very hard for actors to keep their balance? Don’t you think it would be… very interesting if he performed acrobatics in mid-air in front of the whole crew?”

The final two minutes of the recording consisted of the two of them laughing together in a tacit, wretched manner.

A-Ya had never expected Wang Long to have such a trick up his sleeve. The reason he had chosen to speak to the man face-to-face was precisely to avoid leaving any chat logs.

Yet he had met his Waterloo; Wang Long had recorded their conversation!

Hearing himself mentioned in the recording, Chen Yutian’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He immediately began “sacrificing his family for justice”: “Well! I thought you were an honest fellow, I never expected you to do such a thing behind my back!”

Filled with righteous indignation, he turned and tried to grab Xie Ci’s hand to sincerely express his innocence.

Even though he had already guessed the truth, Xie Ci was stunned by the man’s lightning-fast change of face. He instinctively took a step back, only to unexpectedly bump into a broad, solid chest.

Xie Ci: ?

Such… such a bouncy feeling against his back…

Because everything had happened so suddenly, he had forgotten that Ji Xiuheng was still standing behind him, and he had backed firmly into the Movie King’s well-trained pectoral muscles.

Xie Ci: Why did the soft chest muscles suddenly turn hard?

The speechless frustration caused by Chen Yutian’s shamelessness was instantly dispersed. A faint scent of pine wrapped around Xie Ci much like the impression Ji Xiuheng gave: steady and possessing a sense of distance.

Ji Xiuheng’s heart gave a jolt. He raised his hands intending to support Xie Ci’s waist, but halfway there, his hands changed course and held Xie Ci’s shoulders instead to help him stand steady.

Gu Xingfeng had been closely observing Chen Yutian and the others. He let out a cold sneer; Chen Yutian really thought everyone else was a fool.

His assistant hadn’t even spoken a word to Xiao Xie. Why would a little assistant, whose monthly salary likely didn’t even reach ten thousand, be willing to spend twenty thousand yuan just to make Xie Ci look like a fool during filming?

Most of the onlookers weren’t stupid either. To survive long in this industry, who wasn’t a sharp wit? There was no way they couldn’t see through Chen Yutian’s hypocritical “justice.”

A-Ya hadn’t expected Chen Yutian to make him take the fall. His pale face was filled with disbelief.

Ever since he became Chen Yutian’s assistant, he had swallowed his pride and catered to the man’s every mood. He had originally thought Chen Yutian would speak up for him and pin everything on Wang Long.

He never expected this man could be so thick-skinned as to dump the entire bucket of filth onto his head.

He had clearly only done it because he followed Chen Yutian’s orders!

At this moment, A-Ya had long forgotten the inflammatory things he himself had said; he only felt that he was completely taking the blame for someone else.

“It was clearly because you were jealous of Xie Ci being praised by the director, and because your own wire performance this morning was poor, that you wanted Xie Ci to lose face on the wires too! That’s why you forced me to go find Wang Long!” A-Ya spoke through gritted teeth, unwilling to back down as he tried to prove he was also coerced.

Zhang Yunjiang also saw that Chen Yutian was inextricably linked to this matter. He didn’t want to waste time bickering with these people, so he turned to Xie Ci and said: “Xiao Xie, since this happened, it’s my failure as a director in managing the crew. Go with the doctor today for a full check-up; I will bear all the costs.”

Xie Ci nodded. The people who had targeted him had been dragged out, so his original goal was achieved.

As for the subsequent handling, he believed Zhang Yunjiang’s intervention would be more effective than his own.

Seeing a smooth shoot ruined like this, it was naturally impossible for Zhang Yunjiang to let this matter slide lightly.

“Xiao Wang, contact the police. Tell them someone intentionally caused injury.” With a cold expression, he dismissed the onlookers and sent them back to their posts.

Soon, the police officers dispatched from the Honghu precinct arrived at the set. They quickly secured the physical evidence related to the accident and took the weak-kneed Wang Long and the others away for questioning.

Mo Li accompanied Xie Ci to the hospital for his check-up. The set, which had been buzzing with gossip moments ago, instantly fell silent, as if the preceding events were just a passing gust of wind.

It was still far from the original wrap time. Zhang Yunjiang suppressed his anger, adjusted the filming schedule, and restarted the cameras.

For a production of this scale, stopping for half a day meant a loss of hundreds of thousands.

The megaphone emitted a metallic voice: “Script supervisor, check the call sheet. Move up the scenes that don’t require location shooting tonight. Notify hair, makeup, and props to prepare as quickly as possible.”

Ji Xiuheng had many scenes. Tonight’s shoot included a scene where he interrogates a high-profile prisoner in a dungeon. The wardrobe team quickly arranged for people to come and adjust his costume.

At Mo Li’s strong insistence, Xie Ci’s forearm, which only had minor scrapes, was wrapped up tightly.

“The doctor said it’s just broken skin, I’m really fine.” Xie Ci forced himself to lift his bulky arm, trying to comfort his red-eyed friend.

“Alright, alright, just behave yourself.” Mo Li immediately stopped him. “That Chen Yutian and his assistant neither of them look like good people. You haven’t even interacted with them, yet they could be so ruthless.”

The more he spoke, the angrier he got, regretting that he hadn’t rushed up to give them a thorough beating.

Suddenly, the phone in Xie Ci’s pocket rang. Xie Ci used his uninjured hand to press the answer button.

“Hello, this is Xie Ci.”

A man’s serious voice came from the other end: “Mr. Xie, I am an officer from the Honghu precinct of the B City Film City jurisdiction. Regarding the wire accident that occurred with the Diving Abyss crew, there is important progress, and we need you to come to the station to cooperate.”

The simple room was exceptionally quiet. A metal clock on the wall emitted a rhythmic ticking sound.

Xie Ci and Mo Li sat on one side of the table, while on the other side were Officer Wang, who was in charge of the case, and a neatly dressed female officer.

“Mr. Xie, currently the suspect Wang Long has fully confessed to his criminal acts…”

The two officers were very efficient, explaining clearly in a few sentences the accusations Wang Long, A-Ya, and Chen Yutian were hurling at each other.

According to Chen Yutian’s original plan, he arranged for his assistant A-Ya to bribe Wang Long from the props team to secretly tamper with Xie Ci’s wire straps.

When filming wire scenes, even a tiny bit of instability can greatly affect an actor’s state in the air; a timid person might even be left with psychological shadows.

It was only because Wang Long hadn’t been careful when he acted that the strap snapped. If it weren’t for Xie Ci’s quick reactions, a typical artist would likely have ended up with a fracture at best.

In the interrogation room, after realizing Chen Yutian intended for him to take the entire fall, the usually submissive A-Ya could no longer endure it and confessed everything Chen Yutian had arranged.

Through the statements of the three, Officer Wang confirmed that Xie Ci had no prior conflict with them; it was purely a case of being envied by petty people.

As for the subsequent treatment of the three, it would be determined by combining the attitude of the victim, Xie Ci, and the production crew.

The three men being held had also learned from the officers that Xie Ci’s attitude was crucial to their final outcome, and they were all noisily demanding to see Xie Ci to plead for mercy.

Xie Ci lowered his eyes. His small face was still somewhat pale, looking exceptionally fragile: “Officer, I feel there is no need for me to meet the people who harmed me again.”

The youth’s voice was low, and his forearm, wrapped in heavy gauze, maximized the sympathy of the officers sitting across from him.

Although Officer Wang looked very stern and seemed unapproachable, he was actually quite soft-hearted and was very angry about Xie Ci’s ordeal.

The youth before him looked as pitiful as a wounded fluffy rabbit, making this middle-aged father instantly think of his own son. He couldn’t help but speak out indignantly: “I don’t think it’s necessary either. People like that should be properly reformed!”

The female officer beside him let out a helpless sigh, feeling exasperated by her colleague who was already getting emotional.

“Please leave a copy of your hospital check-up report the more comprehensive, the better. We will contact you again if there are any further issues. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The female officer pushed the record book over and informed Xie Ci that he could leave after signing.

On the other side, the crew had just finished filming around ten o’clock. Staff were still processing various equipment.

“Xiuheng, the police station contacted me this afternoon to ask about the crew’s attitude.”

Zhang Yunjiang was getting on in years. After a day of being both angry and busy, he only remembered the call from Officer Wang when it was time to wrap up.

A flash of that soft sensation in his arms from the afternoon crossed his mind, causing Ji Xiuheng’s brow to twitch.

Because they had been filming the interrogation scene, his makeup hadn’t been removed yet. A few spots of prop blood remained on his upright and noble face.

“Wang Long is a crew member who intentionally damaged property, leading to an actor being injured. He needs to compensate for both of those losses.”

The man’s voice paused for a moment before he continued: “As for Chen Yutian and his assistant, they should have realized their mistakes by now. I think Xiao Xie might still need a public apology?”

Ji Xiuheng’s magnetic voice trailed off, his face still wearing that gentle expression most common to him off-camera.

Zhang Yunjiang was a sharp one; he naturally caught the meaning behind Ji Xiuheng’s words.

The greedy one loses money, the prideful one loses face after such a sequence, none of these three would be able to work in this industry again.

However, Zhang Yunjiang was still a bit puzzled. Ji Xiuheng almost never interfered in these kinds of industry matters; he didn’t expect him to be so attentive toward Xie Ci’s situation this time.

Rushing up to save him, sending ointment… it was truly rare for him to be so generous with his kindness.

Ji Xiuheng supplemented without changing his expression: “As for how specifically to report back to the police, let’s go with Xiao Xie’s opinion.”

“Hello, this is Xie Ci.” The youth’s voice came through the phone.

“Teacher Ji? Why are you calling? Is there something you need to notify me about?” Xie Ci was sitting cross-legged on the sofa. When he heard the voice on the other end, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

“Xiao Xie, the crew received a call from the police station this afternoon saying they need to combine the opinions of the victim and the crew to determine the final handling of the case.”

Drops of water that hadn’t been dried yet slid across his broad shoulders and the firm muscles of his abdomen, finally vanishing into the white bath towel wrapped around his waist.

Ji Xiuheng casually brushed his wet black hair back, his full forehead making his extraordinary temperament even more apparent. “Director Zhang asked me to inquire about your thoughts.”

The man didn’t show the slightest hint of nervousness about lying; the concern in his words was perfectly measured.

Hearing Ji Xiuheng’s words, Xie Ci thought for a moment and then stated his thoughts regarding Chen Yutian and the other two.

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