ganging up

They left the bar at 1 a.m. Cui Yingying and the other two couldn't find them, so they left early. Cindy paid the bill in the end.

Nanqi and Song Zhao strolled leisurely down the street late at night, their fingers intertwined, the streetlights casting long shadows of each other. Song Zhao said with some concern, "If you keep working like this, your body won't be able to take it sooner or later."

Nanqi laughed and said, "Don't worry, the bar job is a part-time job. I'll quit after this month."

“Actually, Cindy and I have already planned to start a company. In the future, whatever we earn, it will all be our own. Supporting our family will definitely not be a problem. You can choose to take a break for a while, relax, or do something you want to do.”

“You’ve made me take a complete break. I can’t stand being idle. Besides, I finally got a promotion and a raise at the hotel, and I’m reluctant to give it up.”

"Okay, whatever you say, just don't tire my baby out."

"Okay." Nanqi gently stroked Song Zhao's hand with her thumb and said with a grin. "By the way, how did you end up with Cui Yingying and the others today?"

"You brought her up again?!"

Nanqi quickly explained in a coquettish tone, "Oh dear, don't be jealous of her. You all came to celebrate my birthday together, of course I'm curious."

Song Zhao glanced at her sideways and said, "I went to Vance to find you today and happened to run into her. She said that one of my fans was having a birthday party today and asked if I could record a birthday video for her. I knew it was you as soon as I heard that, so I discussed it with them and decided to give you a surprise."

Song Zhao sighed and continued, "Who would have thought that I would be so angry?"

Nanqi waved her hand and spun around in front of her a few times, as if performing some kind of magic, "Forget it, forget it."

"Hmph~"

"Hey, you've already gotten angry and even hit me, can't you just let it go for the sake of my birthday?"

Song Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and took out a red box. "A birthday present."

Nanqi was delighted, but then she saw Song Zhao not smiling at all, muttering, "How can you be like this, giving a gift so unhappily?"

Song Zhao twitched the corners of her mouth, revealing a row of neat teeth, and said with a radiant smile, "Birthday present."

"Hehe, thank you, darling." Nanqi took the gift box and exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't a ring, is it?"

"No, it's not the right time yet. I'll buy you a ring after we've settled down for another two years."

Nanqi said somewhat awkwardly, "I just saw the red box and asked casually. I also feel it's not the right time yet."

As Nanqi was speaking, she was about to open the box when suddenly an iron rod came crashing down on them. Nanqi's pupils constricted, and she instinctively grabbed Song Zhao's wrist and pulled him back to the side. With a loud crash, the iron rod slammed into the wall, sending debris flying and cracking several fine lines into the wall.

Immediately afterwards, five men wielding iron bars surrounded them. All five were wearing masks and baseball caps, the brims pulled low, obscuring most of their faces.

Song Zhao's eyes suddenly turned cold and sharp as he asked, "Who are you? What do you want?!"

Without a word, the other party charged forward, wielding an iron rod! Song Zhao had trained in boxing and filmed many action movies, so he could handle close combat. But now, it was two against five, and not only were some of the opponents trained, but they were also carrying weapons, clearly putting him at a disadvantage.

Nanqi had seen many such group fights. She herself was fine, whether it was hitting people or taking a beating, she was no problem. She was just worried that she couldn't protect Song Zhao.

After several rounds, both sides were injured. Fortunately, Nanqi seized an opportunity and snatched two iron rods, so the two finally had something to defend themselves.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately reached an agreement: to focus their firepower on the two unarmed men first. Song Zhao suddenly pounced on a man in a trench coat and beat him hard on the shoulders, arms, and legs. The man in the trench coat, now unarmed, could only endure the blows and soon collapsed to his knees in pain, unable to fight anymore.

At the same time, Nanqi protected Song Zhao, blocking the attacks from all around. She used her hands and feet to block with a stick, while simultaneously kicking another unarmed person twice, sending him sprawling to the ground, clutching his stomach and unable to get up.

After Song Zhao knocked down another man wielding a stick, he immediately charged forward, with Nan Qi close behind. Those behind them also gave chase. Pedestrians on the street only caught glimpses of several figures flying by, unable to discern who was who.

Song Zhao and Nan Qi ran back to the bar. The advantage of the bar was that it was only for girls, and there were many of them, which was perfect for keeping those men away.

"Nancy, what happened to you?" A waiter asked curiously when he saw the two of them panting and with bruises and abrasions on their faces.

"Nothing, are there any private rooms available?"

The proprietress seemed to have noticed something amiss and came over, saying, "Yes, come with me."

Song Zhao immediately messaged Nancy, asking her to bring the medicine over.

"You haven't run into your enemies, have you?" the proprietress asked tentatively.

Nanqi immediately chuckled and said, "What era are we living in? Why are we still talking about enemies? With our looks, don't we deserve to be harassed by a few hooligans?"

Upon hearing this, the proprietress slapped her thigh, her eyebrows instantly furrowing, and she shouted fiercely, "Which thugs on the street dare to bully my people? Tell me, and I'll chop them up!"

"They were just a bunch of lowlifes who ran away as soon as they saw us enter the bar."

The proprietress, still worried, said, "Then I'll have someone keep an eye on the entrance, and make sure those bastards don't get in."

After the proprietress left, the two women breathed a sigh of relief and checked each other's wounds. Soon after, Cindy and Cui Yingying also rushed over.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" Cindy instinctively walked over to Song Zhao to apply medicine, while Cui Yingying also went to Nan Qi.

"Why haven't you gone home yet?" Nanqi asked Cui Yingying, her tone tinged with surprise.

Just as Cui Yingying was about to explain, her gaze inadvertently fell on the hickeys on Nan Qi's neck, startling her so much that her eyelashes trembled and her expression froze instantly.

Nanqi noticed her unusual expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

Cui Yingying came to her senses, but her eyes were already red, and her voice was tinged with grievance: "I haven't been able to find you, and I've been feeling uneasy ever since..." Cui Yingying let out a soft breath and said, "If I had known you would be in danger, I really should have left the private room with you."

Hearing Cui Yingying's soft and gentle voice, Song Zhao felt a surge of anger rise in her heart again. She winked at Cindy and said, "Nanqi is more seriously injured than me. Go and see her."

Cindy immediately understood and sat down next to Nanqi, smiling at Cui Yingying, "Yingying, I'm good at this, I won't hurt your sister Qi. I'll have to ask you for help with Xiaowei."

"this……"

Seeing that Cui Yingying was a little reluctant, Nanqi said, "Why don't you go to your sister Siwei's place first? Haven't you always been looking forward to getting close to your idol? This is such a good opportunity, why don't you seize it?"

"Oh." Cui Yingying sat down next to Song Zhao and began applying the medicine to her.

"Can you guess who did it?" Cindy asked.

“Zheng Shiqiu,” Song Zhao said decisively.

"How can you be sure it's him? Xiao Lu has been trending on social media for two weeks straight, and she's still in the top ten."

After Xiao Lu's cheating scandal was exposed, Shen Hezhou publicly retaliated by portraying himself as a "victim," gaining a large number of sympathetic fans. Not long after, the young actor's ex-girlfriend also appeared in the media, tearfully accusing Xiao Lu of being a "homewrecker." This series of actions not only completely alienated Xiao Lu from her CP (couple) fans, but also ruined her reputation with her solo fans and the general public, making a comeback extremely difficult.

“Xiao Lu doesn’t have that ability. If she really had the ability to hire someone to beat me up, would she need to smear me behind my back?” Song Zhao said, when suddenly a sharp pain came from the wound on her shoulder. She couldn’t help but hiss. Nan Qi’s gaze followed her.

"Sister Siwei, I didn't mean it," Cui Yingying said innocently.

Song Zhao glanced at her, took the medicine and cotton swabs, and said with a forced smile, "It's not your fault, it's the medicine that hurt."

"Let me do it." Nanqi sat down directly, blowing on the wound on her shoulder while gently applying medicine.

Cui Yingying stood there awkwardly, at a loss for what to do. Cindy came over, put her arm around her shoulder and said, "Neither of us can help much, so let's rest."

"And then there's your current competitor, Zeng Xi. The awards ceremony is in a couple of days, and you two are the most competitive for this year's Best Newcomer Award."

Song Zhao said slowly and deliberately, "I suspect that the person who leaked the information that Xing Haiming and I entered and left the hotel together was her. Xing Haiming has a lot of female fans. As soon as the news came out, a group of fans jumped out and scolded me for being a clingy girl to her brother. Hmph, as long as my public image is affected, her chances of winning the award will be much greater."

Song Zhao has not responded to this matter. After all, Xing Haiming was more anxious than her. He issued a statement overnight to clarify the rumors and asked his public relations team to suppress the trending topics. Within a few days, the news was no longer trending.

"Then how can you be so sure it's Chairman Zheng's?"

"Because these people only made their move after I finished filming. They dared to use violence to injure people, but they didn't resort to spreading rumors or smears. Only people who have a vested interest in me but also have a grudge against me would do such a thing."

"That makes sense. What do you plan to do now?"

"Let's call the police first." Song Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Sister, can you help me arrange to meet Chairman Zheng and President Lin? There are some things that are not easy to say in the company."

Cindy nodded and said, "Alright, things have gotten this far, it's time to have an open and honest talk."

"Oh, right, Nanqi is coming with us too."

Song Zhao looked at Nan Qi with amusement, raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Cui Yingying out of the corner of his eye.

Cui Yingying frowned and said, "This is too dangerous. Neither Qi-jie nor I are from your circle, so we won't get involved."

Nanqi ignored Cui Yingying, but instead took Song Zhao's hand and said with a smile in her eyes, "Send me the time and place in advance. I don't want to be the one who's late."

Song Zhao kissed Nan Qi's hand and smiled victoriously: "Don't worry, I'll come to pick you up myself."

Cui Yingying was disappointed and ran out alone, sulking.

"Yingying!"