Chapter 110
The unexpected incident cast a heavy silence over the car. Ning Manqing coldly ordered someone to investigate Zhong Yue, while Li Chu contacted Tang Congnan to cancel her upcoming schedule.
She had originally planned to rest after filming The Exiled , not to stop working altogether. However, given the current situation, it seemed best to halt everything. The person targeting her was incredibly malicious; this was far more disturbing than a direct murder attempt.
Like AIDS, HDM could be transmitted through blood and spread rapidly. The virus was even more resilient outside the body than HIV. If Zhong Yue had pricked her with a needle contaminated with her blood, she could have been infected.
Tang Congnan quickly responded. He understood Li Chu was level-headed and rarely acted impulsively, so he agreed to her request. Except for engagements with signed contracts, everything else was canceled.
At Ning Manqing's temporary residence in the city, Li Chu changed out of her gown and into casual clothes. She and Ning Manqing boarded the same flight back to Yunzhou that evening.
Instead of returning to her own place in Yunzhou, she went to Ning Manqing's usual residence, a secluded and secure villa halfway up the mountain.
Ning Manqing's people were efficient. By early morning, they had compiled Zhong Yue's information and presented it to her.
Zhong Yue hadn't lied. She had indeed been diagnosed with HDM a month prior at a private hospital.
The file contained other details, such as Zhong Yue's current financial backer. Li Chu glanced at it briefly, then looked away. The glamorous entertainment industry concealed a network of relationships and resource exchanges, many of which reeked of corruption.
Many would describe these relationships as consensual, but Li Chu disagreed. Most "consent" was likely just self-consolation in the face of powerlessness. Li Chu didn't know if Zhong Yue had truly consented. She only knew that when beauty became a commodity, talking about "mutual consent" was laughable.
"Should we bring Zhong Yue in for a talk?" Li Chu asked, putting down the file. Ning Manqing, looking up at the same moment, echoed her thought.
"Let's meet with Zhong Yue." Ning Manqing's expression softened. She squeezed Li Chu's fingers. "I'll find out who's behind this. Don't worry."
They both knew this was likely not the work of someone within the industry. If so, it was probably someone with a vested interest against Ning Manqing, someone who knew or suspected their relationship.
"I trust you. I'll try to stay home as much as possible so you don't have to worry," Li Chu said.
Ning Manqing nodded and hugged Li Chu, resting her head in the crook of her neck. Tao Tao is always so good , she thought, her possessive tendencies soothed before they could even surface.
Li Chu felt a tickle from Ning Manqing's breath on her neck. Playing with the ends of Ning Manqing's hair, she asked, "Should I contact Zhong Yue now? Where should we meet?"
"Here. You arrange the meeting; I'll have someone pick her up." Ning Manqing sat up. She wasn't as soft-hearted as Li Chu. This matter was urgent, and she didn't intend to merely "talk." She would ensure Zhong Yue cooperated.
"Okay."
Zhong Yue received the call while still in the province where the show was held. She had just vomited up her dinner and was lying on the sofa after taking medication. The vibrating unknown number held no appeal, so she simply turned off her phone and stared at the ceiling.
The persistent knocking and shouting at her door finally forced her to get up. She opened it, glaring at her manager.
The manager gave her an ingratiating smile. "Xiao Yue, it's been a month since that last incident. Mr. Li… Without Mr. Li, your resources…"
"Shut up," Zhong Yue snapped, her expression scornful. "In my current state, you want me to go? What if I start vomiting and having diarrhea in Mr. Li's bed? Are you going to take responsibility?"
"Is it that serious…?" the manager muttered skeptically. But seeing Zhong Yue's pale face and thin frame, he couldn't help but believe her. His face darkened. "Fine, fine. Useless."
Zhong Yue was used to his sudden change in attitude. After he left, she spat, "Damn pimp," and slammed the door shut, her face grim.
Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Assuming it was her manager, she flung open the door, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, but found two strangers, a man and a woman.
"Hello, Miss Zhong. Please take this call." A Yao held out the phone. Zhong Yue looked at them suspiciously, then took the call.
"Zhong Yue, it's Li Chu. Since I couldn't reach you, I had to resort to this. There are some things I'd like to discuss with you in person. I hope you'll agree."
Zhong Yue wasn't inclined to agree, but the woman who had handed her the phone was now toying with a sleek gun, repeatedly removing and reloading the magazine.
After a moment of silence, Zhong Yue said, "Fine."
At 1:13 AM, the plane took off.
Escorted from the airport to the villa, Zhong Yue still looked numb. Upon seeing Ning Manqing, she was momentarily stunned, then realization dawned.
"Li Chu, you're good, really good." Her smile held a knowing smugness. The fact that Li Chu wasn't as clean as she seemed, that they were the same kind of person, pleased her.
Li Chu knew what she was misunderstanding but didn't bother to correct her. There was no point in clarifying things with Zhong Yue. It was better to let her believe what she wanted if it made her feel better.
Ning Manqing frowned but swallowed her words when Li Chu patted her hand. She gestured for Zhong Yue to sit.
"Miss Zhong," Ning Manqing began directly, "I hope you'll cooperate with us and help us identify the person who made you the offer."
Zhong Yue chuckled. "Why should I help you? Don't tell me you think I'm a good person just because I didn't go through with harming you?"
"I can make everyone involved that night pay the price. Bankruptcy, jail time, how does that sound?" Ning Manqing tapped her fingers lightly on the table, laying out the terms of the exchange.
Zhong Yue's grip on her bag tightened. Her body stiffened, twitching involuntarily. She took a deep breath, staring intently at Ning Manqing, a vein throbbing in her forehead.
"You can do that?"
She remembered that night. Mr. Li had called her to the hotel. She had thought it would be like usual, but he had brought several friends. She had tried to leave but couldn't. She didn't know if that was how she contracted the disease or if it was from someone there that night. Either way, she wished they were all dead.
Ning Manqing nodded. "You can inquire about my identity. I always keep my word."
Zhong Yue knew a little about Ning Manqing's background. She had occasionally seen financial news about her after she took over the family business. She had been surprised at the time, even a little envious of Li Chu's luck in meeting two wealthy second-generation heirs through one drama. While she hadn't paid much attention after that, Ning's Yuanhe Group was well-known in Yunzhou. She had once accompanied Mr. Li to a dinner where he had bowed and scraped to the young master of the Ning family at the head of the table. That was when she vaguely understood the extraordinary nature of Ning Manqing's family background.
Zhong Yue agreed. "I believe you. What do you want me to do?"
Li Chu didn't know the details of the incident Ning Manqing referred to but could guess. Ning Manqing had already begun planning her strategy after the incident. She had arranged for her own people to be around Zhong Yue and had implanted a chip in her phone to track her communications. As someone with a background in programming, she was confident in her ability to trace the information.
Now, all they needed was for Zhong Yue to continue contacting the person behind this, and they would know who was pulling the strings.
At 3:30 AM, the matter was settled for the time being. Ning Manqing had other things to attend to. Li Chu nodded. "I'll handle the rest. Go ahead. Come back early when you're done."
Ning Manqing ruffled her hair and left with a few people. Yuanzi and A Yao stood guard in the corner.
"Do you want to stay here for the night, or should I have you sent somewhere?" Li Chu asked Zhong Yue, pouring herself a glass of water.
"You dare let me stay? Aren't you afraid of contaminating your home?" Zhong Yue's tone was, as always, barbed, but her attitude was relatively cooperative, having agreed to help.
"It's not airborne." Li Chu poured Zhong Yue a glass of water as well. Just as AIDS wasn't transmitted through casual contact, neither was HDM.
Zhong Yue was silent for a moment, then asked with a strange lightness, "Mind if I smoke?"
Li Chu gestured, indicating she didn't mind.
Zhong Yue lit a cigarette but didn't put it to her lips, just watched the smoke curl upwards.
"It's so strange. I never thought I'd be sitting here calmly talking to you." She took a drag and coughed violently. When she recovered, she twisted her lips into a wry smile, her eyes distant.
"The day you were nominated for Best Actress, I was watching TV, imagining myself sitting there. When you lost, I was so happy." She shook her head. "But just like your fans and those netizens who cursed me, you at least got a nomination. What do I have? Not a single award worth mentioning. Back then, I consoled myself that having money and traffic was enough. I said I didn't care, but I did."
"I didn't think I was any worse than you. I also tried to find roles that required acting skills, but it only resulted in humiliation. I tore up the script in anger and cursed you like crazy in my room."
Recalling the past, Zhong Yue's eyes flickered with a strange energy.
She looked at Li Chu. "I thought I was a bad person, but in the end, I didn't go through with it. So, am I a good person or a bad person?"
Li Chu thought for a moment. "Good and evil are one, like uphill and downhill are the same road."
Zhong Yue scoffed. "You're quite philosophical."
Li Chu shrugged. "I didn't say that. Heraclitus did."
"Who?"
"He has a famous quote: 'No man ever steps in the same river twice.' You should have learned that in high school politics, right?"
"High school…" Zhong Yue stared into space, stubbing out her cigarette. "That was so long ago. I've forgotten all about it."
"I'm not interested in that. Why don't you tell me how you two got together?" Zhong Yue asked with sudden interest. Li Chu flatly refused and turned on the TV, choosing a movie for them to watch.
The living room fell silent, filled only with the sound of the television.
Halfway through the movie, Ning Manqing returned. Zhong Yue unconsciously tensed, a reflexive reaction to stress.
"I got this for you." Ning Manqing placed a cup of milk tea in Li Chu's hand. Li Chu's eyes lit up. "Wow, how did you get this? Aren't they closed at this hour?"
It was a new product from Li Chu's favorite milk tea shop, currently only available in Yunzhou. Li Chu had messaged Ning Manqing the other day, saying she absolutely had to have it when she returned, but she had forgotten about it herself.
"One branch is open 24 hours."
"Where?"
"Over on Chenlin Road."
"That's so far! You didn't have to go all the way there. You could have bought it tomorrow."
"Didn't you say you really, really, really wanted it?" Ning Manqing smiled, repeating Li Chu's message. Li Chu hummed, inserted the straw, and took a satisfied sip.
Zhong Yue watched as Li Chu naturally offered the milk tea to Ning Manqing's lips. She suddenly realized they weren't the same kind of person after all. It wasn't that Li Chu had simply found a more powerful backer.
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