The Entertainment Industry's Famous Fraud Couple - Chapter 25

Evening. The Ferry Pier.

“Did you bring the money?” Zhang Di waved his hand, and two men behind him dragged a wooden crate forward.

“I brought it. But I need to inspect the goods first.” Ah KEN squatted down and opened the crate, only to find it empty save for a few tattered dolls.

Ah KEN’s heart sank.

At that moment, several men rushed forward, kicking Zhang Di to the ground and training the muzzles of several handguns on him.

“Officer, haven’t you played enough of this role-playing game?” Zhang Di burst into laughter.

Knowing the situation was irredeemable, Ah KEN gave a bitter smile. “Boss Zhang, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Zhang Di sneered. “The King of Hell will explain it to you.”

Just as the triggers were about to be pulled, a siren wailed in the distance. A ferry slowly docked, and a dozen men in black leapt onto the deck.

The men were carrying a grand taishi chair. Reclining in the chair was a young girl dressed in black sportswear. She wore a baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, looking completely out of place among the formally dressed men in black.

Zhang Di’s heart skipped a beat.

The leader of the men was a bald man with a long scar over his right eye. The scarred man scanned the crowd on the pier and barked, “Which one of you is Ah KEN? Get over here.”

Seeing that they meant trouble, Zhang Di said with a forced smile, “Excuse me, may I ask who you are?”

The scarred man looked back at the girl in the chair. She remained silent, head bowed. The scarred man roared at Zhang Di, “I’m f***ing asking you, who is Ah KEN?”

“Motherf***er!”

Zhang Di’s lackeys, never ones to take such insults, immediately raised their guns.

The chair was slowly lowered. The girl softly uttered a single word: “Hit.”

“Brothers, screw them!” Zhang Di spat. He didn’t dare fire recklessly; instead, he snatched up a large machete from the ground and charged straight for the girl in the chair.

Unexpectedly, these men in black were clearly highly trained. In less than the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, Zhang Di and his lackeys were all sprawled across the deck.

The girl stood up from the chair. Only then did Zhang Di see her face clearly. His expression changed instantly: “You’re Song Ci?!”

Song Ci spat her chewing gum onto Zhang Di’s face, adjusted her hat, and weighed a baseball bat in her palm. With a tilt of her head, she smashed it into Zhang Di’s mouth.

Blood trickled through the cracks of the wooden planks into the sea. Zhang Di clutched his mouth, spitting out three teeth.

“Who is Ah KEN?” the girl’s voice was eerily calm.

Seeing stars, Zhang Di pointed at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground.

“Take him away.”

On the Film Set.

Shen Guai watched Qin Chaomu through the lens with a gloomy expression. The woman was captivating, her every look and smile causing a stir among the staff.

“Stupid woman. Greedy girl,” Shen Guai muttered, rubbing her aching abdomen. She had been suffering from diarrhea all afternoon and had been mocked by Qin Chaomu the entire time.

Qin Chaomu finished her scenes for the day. She smiled and greeted the staff while distributing cake and milk tea that her fans had sent over.

Everyone got a share even the cleaning lady, except for Shen Guai.

Qin Chaomu brushed past Shen Guai. Throughout the afternoon, she hadn’t said a single serious word to her, only using her words to needle her.

Fuming, Shen Guai grabbed Qin Chaomu’s wrist, wanting an explanation.

“What’s the deal with you and that guy? Are you two hooking up?” Shen Guai asked bluntly.

“What does it have to do with you? Who are you? Are we that close?” Qin Chaomu shook off Shen Guai’s grip, crossing her arms and flicking her bangs.

“We are a contract couple! You said we shouldn’t affect each other, how can you be having a scandal with someone else?” Shen Guai was getting desperate.

“So you know we’re a contract couple? Then why did you bring that hunk of sh*t to the set to eat?” Qin Chaomu frowned, waving her team away so they could speak privately.

Shen Guai let out two cold laughs, a sense of defeat filling her body. She had spent the whole night working hard on that meal, and in Qin Chaomu’s mouth, it was just “sh*t”?

Her eyes rimmed with red, Shen Guai’s voice trembled. “I like it. I like eating sh*t. What does that have to do with you?”

Qin Chaomu’s frown deepened. Her lips moved slightly before she spoke: “A contract relationship is fake to begin with. Fake is fake, it can never become real.”

Giving Shen Guai one last decisive look, Qin Chaomu turned to leave with a heavy heart, only to be pulled back by a sudden force.

Shen Guai hugged Qin Chaomu tightly from behind, burying her head in the woman’s shoulder. She mumbled, “You and him… is it real or fake?”

In that moment, Qin Chaomu’s breath nearly stopped.

“Fake,” Qin Chaomu blurted out.

“How long are you going to hold me, my little ancestor? You’re getting saliva on my shoulder.”

“I’m crying, Qin Chaomu! Can’t you see I’m crying?”

Qin Chaomu turned around, her gaze landing on Shen Guai’s red, puffy eyes. She lost herself for a moment and smiled. “I thought you were just so captivated by my beauty that you were drooling…”

“You’re truly shameless.” Shen Guai hit Qin Chaomu in a fit of pique.

Gently brushing her thumb against the corner of Shen Guai’s eye, Qin Chaomu tried to suppress her racing heart. She asked softly, “Then you… why are you crying?”

Shen Guai asked in a hoarse, pitiable voice, “Where have you been these last three days?”

The girl’s eyes were pure and clean, like a white camellia. Qin Chaomu lowered her head and said softly, “The company had some legal disputes to handle, so I’ve been busy.”

“And you? Your relationship progressed so fast, you’re already eating food made by your ‘boyfriend’.” Qin Chaomu raised an eyebrow, unable to hide the jealousy in her tone.

“What boyfriend? I made that for you. If you don’t appreciate it, fine, but you didn’t have to insult it…” As Shen Guai spoke, the tears began to flow again.

“You made it for me?” Qin Chaomu’s heart skipped a beat.

“Yes.” Shen Guai pouted, looking at her crossly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know~”

Reaching out to pinch Shen Guai’s cheek, Qin Chaomu laughed. “You look like a little hamster when you’re angry.”

“Qin Chaomu!” Shen Guai frowned.

“I’m sorry, my mistake~” Qin Chaomu mimicked Shen Guai’s voice, speaking in a cutesy tone. “Next time you make something for me, I promise to eat every last bite.”

Qin Chaomu held up three fingers in a solemn vow.

“There won’t be a next time.” Shen Guai swatted her hand away.

“What happened to your hand?” Qin Chaomu noticed the Band-Aid on Shen Guai’s index finger, it was bright pink and hard to miss.

“You only noticed now? Are your eyes just for seducing people? I cut this while making THAT BENTO for you!” Shen Guai complained indignantly.

“Brainless.” Qin Chaomu grabbed Shen Guai’s wrist. She had actually noticed the pink Band-Aid the very moment she saw Shen Guai earlier.

“Qin Chaomu!” Shen Guai got even angrier.

“My fault, my fault~” Qin Chaomu squeezed the tips of Shen Guai’s ears with both hands and winked. “Why did you make me a bento?”

Qin Chaomu paused, then asked in a tiny voice, “Do you like me?”

“I hate you!” Shen Guai declared righteously. She hit Qin Chaomu again and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Qin Chaomu called after her.

“None of your business. Go find your scandal boyfriend.”

Qin Chaomu arched an eyebrow, unable to hide the smile on her lips.

“Boss. Here is the information you wanted regarding Ah KEN.” When Annie entered Qin Chaomu’s private rest area, she found the boss staring at her phone with a deep frown.

Annie’s heart jumped into her throat.

Qin Chaomu had been thinking about changing her wallpaper to a photo of Shen Guai, but fearing Shen Guai would find out, she changed it back.

Hearing the voice, Qin Chaomu looked up, a smile on her face. “Thank you.”

Thank you? The boss said thank you to me! Annie thought, becoming even more nervous.

“Boss, during an interview today, Yi Feng accidentally leaked information about the cast of Red Pearl…”

Annie closed her eyes and steeled herself, speaking with the determination of someone facing execution.

“Oh.” Qin Chaomu simply nodded, seemingly unbothered.

“It was… a live broadcast…” Annie didn’t dare look at her.

“The media was bound to find out eventually.” To Annie’s surprise, Qin Chaomu just smiled, her voice gentle.

“Huh?” Annie expected the boss to fire the young actor on the spot.

“Yi Feng is ambitious. We need artists with ambition.” Qin Chaomu set her phone down, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk.

“But the media is spreading rumors that you will play the female lead in Red Pearl. The fans are losing their minds.” Annie continued to test the waters.

If the first two statements weren’t enough to doom Yi Feng, this one definitely should have triggered Qin Chaomu’s temper. The series Yi Feng was set to star in was an adaptation of an erotic novel. Qin Chaomu was the investor, she would never act in such a piece. Given her status, it was completely beneath her.

Because she had a massive female following, the rumor that she was starring in an erotic adaptation would undoubtedly damage her image.

“Boss, should we start the PR damage control?”

Qin Chaomu shook her head. “No need.”

She had invested twenty million in this project. The fake news had actually been leaked by her to generate early hype. Yi Feng was just a newcomer with no traction, but Qin Chaomu’s star power was massive. It was a marketing tactic. After all, she had never done a bold, large-scale production like this before.

“Understood, Boss.” Annie let out a long breath of relief.

“This Ah KEN is not simple. We followed the trail and found his identity is fake. It seems he’s a drug dealer. Today at the pier, he got into a fight with a dealer named Zhang Di and was then taken away by Mrs. Xu’s people.”

“Oh?”

Qin Chaomu fell into deep thought. Mrs. Xu… her again…

“You’ve worked hard.”

Qin Chaomu handed her soda to Annie.

Annie finally felt at ease. For some reason, the “Great Demon King” was in an exceptionally good mood today. She had survived, and the young actor had survived too.

But just as Annie sat down and opened the soda, she noticed the smile instantly vanish from Qin Chaomu’s face as she looked back at her phone.

Annie shuddered and immediately asked, “What’s wrong, Boss?”

Qin Chaomu didn’t speak. Her finger tapped the screen, entering Shen Guai’s livestream. The stream had been on for half an hour with over 500,000 viewers.

What is she doing?

Instinct told Qin Chaomu that something big was happening.

Sure enough, in the video, Shen Guai was standing next to Qin Chaomu’s new artist, Yi Feng. Behind them were two motorcycles.

Shen Guai put on her helmet, vaulted onto the bike, and said coldly to Yi Feng: “If you lose this race, stay the hell away from Qin Chaomu.”