Chapter 273 Zhu Mingyue Has News

"beep……"

The phone rang only once before Zhao Yan answered it.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Shi Jing." Shi Jing didn't waste any time and directly introduced himself.

Zhao Yan: "Shi Jing? Did you call me because of Zhu Jinzhao?"

"Yes." Shi Jing stared with bloodshot eyes, his whole body trembling visibly. "I heard from Yang Min that Zhu Xingye unilaterally terminated the program's contract in Chaochao's name?"

"Yes!" Zhao Yan's voice was filled with anxiety. "The second episode is about to start filming, and the staff are all on their way to the Zhu family's house, but Zhu Xingye suddenly asked us to terminate the contract and even arrogantly transferred the penalty fee directly to my account!"

"No, did I say I agreed?"

Shi Jing closed his eyes briefly, ignoring Zhao Yan's complaints, and asked only, "Did Zhu Xingye tell you why he wanted to terminate the contract?"

Zhao Yan: "He said it! He said Zhu Jinzhao suddenly fell seriously ill and has been urgently sent abroad for treatment. He won't be back for a while!"

"Although I was a little angry, I could understand if Zhu Jinzhao was really seriously ill. So I told him to let me meet with Zhu Jinzhao before terminating the contract, to have a chat, so I could check on her health and explain to the audience. But he refused without even thinking and hung up on me!"

"I'm completely helpless right now! Su Ying has been blacklisted by the entertainment industry, Li Weiwan is throwing a tantrum and doesn't want to record the show, and now Zhu Jinzhao is sick and wants to terminate his contract with the production team!"

"With three out of our seven guests absent, how are we supposed to keep the show going?!"

“…Not three,” Shi Jing suddenly said.

"Huh?" Zhao Yan didn't understand what he meant.

Shi Jing: "It's not that three people were absent, but four, because I'm not recording anymore."

"……What!!!"

Zhao Yan's voice instantly went off-key.

Shi Jing sincerely apologized to him: "I'm sorry, Director Zhao, I didn't mean for this to happen. But if Chaochao doesn't come, then I don't want to record this program anymore."

"I'll have someone transfer the penalty to you later. I'm really sorry."

He apologized verbally, but hung up the phone so quickly it was almost heartless.

"Li Weiwan, I'm not waiting anymore." Shi Jing gripped her phone, stood up from the sofa, and staggered out. "My Chaochao, she must have been hidden by Zhu Xingye. I'm going to find her, and nobody can stop me!"

"Buzz—"

"Buzz—"

The phone suddenly vibrated in his hand. Shi Jing frowned in annoyance and waved the phone in front of his eyes.

...

He suddenly widened his eyes, staring in disbelief at the name on his phone screen, his whole body stiffening.

"What's wrong?" Li Weiwan walked up behind him and asked in confusion.

Shi Jing turned around, his eyes scanning the people in front of him with fear.

"It's a call from Zhu Mingyue..."

"...What?!" Everyone was stunned.

Jiang Jingwen was the first to react, immediately breaking free from Xie Lang's embrace and stumbling towards Shi Jing.

"Answer it quickly! Answer it now!!"

"Okay..." Overwhelmed with joy, Shi Jing felt dizzy and disoriented, even her phone slipped from her grasp.

He held the phone up to his eyes and pressed the green answer button with his trembling fingers.

"Hey, Shi Jing."

Zhu Mingyue's voice came steadily from the phone speaker, instantly relieving the anxiety that had been hanging over everyone's hearts.

The stone came crashing down with tremendous force, making Shi Jing's heart pound wildly.

"Zhu, Zhu Mingyue!" His voice was somewhat unsteady, yet filled with an urgent, heart-wrenching urgency.

"Zhu Mingyue, where is my Chaochao? Where did my Chaochao go?! Do you know I've been looking for you all night!"

"I know." Zhu Mingyue's voice was very low, as if she was afraid of being discovered by someone. "I just got my phone and saw that you made more than a hundred calls to my backup phone."

Shi Jing: "So where is Chaochao? Where did you guys go last night?"

Zhu Mingyue: "I don't know where Chaochao went. Anyway, I've been staying in my room the whole time, and I only woke up now."

"You've been staying in your room the whole time?" Jiang Jingwen snatched Shi Jing's phone and shouted at Zhu Mingyue, "Then why didn't you say a word when we went to the Zhu family's house to look for someone yesterday?"

"I can't hear you at all, so how can I make a sound?" Zhu Mingyue was a little annoyed by the shouting. "Someone put something in my juice, and I passed out after drinking it. I only woke up now!"

"What?" Shi Jing's brow twitched. "Someone put something in your juice? Who did it? Zhu Xingye?"

"I..." Zhu Mingyue was about to answer when she suddenly heard light footsteps outside the door. She was startled and almost dropped her phone.

"Someone's here, I'll let you know later! Wait for my call!"

After hurriedly finishing her sentence, Zhu Mingyue quickly hung up the phone and hid the backup phone under her pillow.

"Click—"

The door lock was unlocked and then locked again. Immediately afterwards, the chestnut brown door was gently pushed open from the outside.

Zhu Mingyue sat on the edge of the bed, staring expressionlessly at the figure that appeared at the door.

"Mingyue, you're awake."

Zhu Xingye stood there against the light, his posture upright and his demeanor languid.

"...Why would you drug my juice?" Zhu Mingyue propped herself up on her knees and tried to take a step forward. But because she had been lying down for too long, her legs had not fully recovered their strength, and she almost collapsed to the ground with just one step.

She staggered to regain her balance, stubbornly staring at her older brother.

"Brother, why did you put drugs in my juice?" she asked again.

Zhu Xingye closed the door and walked towards her casually.

"Mingyue, it's because you've been naughty."

"What did I do wrong?" Zhu Mingyue asked, her face full of resentment and her tone full of malice.

Zhu Xingye is her older brother. He once ran into the deep mountains of Northwest China to rescue her from a den of demons. He also swore to her several times that he would make up for the years he had wronged her.

She had once deeply respected and loved this older brother, but now, looking at him, she felt only panic and fear. Gazing into Zhu Xingye's smiling eyes, she felt as if a chilling cold was surging in from all directions, enveloping her completely.

She couldn't stay under Zhu Xingye's gaze; all she wanted to do was escape.

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?" Zhu Xingye stood in front of her, looking down at her. "Mingyue, don't you know what you've done?"

Zhu Mingyue stubbornly tilted her head back: "I don't know."

"Hmph..." Zhu Xingye smiled gently, "It's alright, if you don't understand, your older brother can help you recall."

"Didn't you say Chaochao went on a business trip with you? But why did I see her in the capital?"