Chapter 49 Chapter 49

Although the opening was awkward, Gu Xing Shi and Sheng Yue Qing gradually became familiar with each other.

He found that Sheng Yue Qing was indeed not very good at chatting, often responding with only one or two words. Coupled with his distant expression, it would easily lead people to misunderstand him as arrogant.

But in Gu Xing Shi's opinion, although he wasn't very good at chatting, he responded to every question, showing that he was a very serious and sincere person.

After chatting for a while, Gu Xing Shi had other work to do and left the makeup room.

Sheng Yue Qing and Cheng Xin, along with their assistants, were the only ones left in the makeup room.

However, compared to Cheng Xin's assistant who was busy running around, Sheng Yue Qing's assistant was sitting there playing on his phone, ignoring his artist.

But Sheng Yue Qing didn't mind, as if he was used to this treatment.

Cheng Xin, watching from the side, couldn't help but curiously ask, "Is your company really that poor?"

"Huh?" Sheng Yue Qing was startled. "It's alright."

He didn't know why Cheng Xin suddenly asked this.

Cheng Xin: "Mainly, you can't even afford an assistant, you have to pay someone to pretend to be one."

His tone was incredibly serious, making it unclear whether he was being sarcastic or genuinely confused.

Sheng Yue Qing's assistant's face immediately flushed red. His lips moved for a long time, unable to say anything.

This assistant usually took advantage of the fact that the manager and the company didn't value Sheng Yue Qing, often slacking off. Sheng Yue Qing was too lazy to bother with him, so the assistant became more and more arrogant. This was the first time someone called him out directly, so he finally restrained himself a little, reluctantly going to get takeout for Sheng Yue Qing.

Sheng Yue Qing hesitated for a moment, then said to Cheng Xin, "Thank you."

Cheng Xin was puzzled: "Why thank me?"

Sheng Yue Qing: "..."

But Cheng Xin seemed to have become interested in him: "You're the unlucky guy Qin Wen mentioned, right?"

Sheng Yue Qing: "…………"

Cheng Xin: "To be honest, you fit in quite well with our company's atmosphere."

Sheng Yue Qing's eyes lit up: "Really?"

Cheng Xin: "Yeah, after all, our company is full of unlucky people."

Sheng Yue Qing: "……………..."

After chatting with Cheng Xin for a while, Sheng Yue Qing finally retreated, using the excuse of going to the bathroom to slip away.

Unexpectedly, at the bathroom door, he ran into the last person he wanted to see, his former teammate – Xiang Zhelin.

Xiang Zhelin was one of the members of the group Sheng Yue Qing initially joined.

The first time Sheng Yue Qing was scolded was because Xiang Zhelin posted a long essay saying that he had trained hard for many years, suffered a lot, and finally formed a group, thinking he could realize his dreams, only to be bullied in the group. Although he didn't mention the bully's name, all clues pointed to Sheng Yue Qing.

At that time, their group was performing, and the other three members got along well, only Sheng Yue Qing was cold and aloof, not communicating with them.

Originally, their group wasn't very well-known, only relying on Sheng Yue Qing's stunning looks for some traffic.

But because of this incident, their popularity exploded. Many people empathized with Xiang Zhelin and the other two, condemning Sheng Yue Qing.

Especially since the company's attitude was ambiguous, Sheng Yue Qing's explanation backfired, leading the public to believe Xiang Zhelin's words even more.

That was the first time Sheng Yue Qing was cyberbullied, the overwhelming insults and curses leaving him numb and cold.

He realized for the first time how cruel human relationships could be.

His close teammates and manager handed him the knife, and the fans who supported him the day before plunged the knife into his chest.

This incident deeply hurt Sheng Yue Qing.

The day he was kicked out of the group, everyone was happy, but he himself felt relieved.

He avoided Xiang Zhelin and the others in all subsequent activities.

Fortunately, as a member of a popular boy band, Xiang Zhelin didn't have much interaction with him, a small nobody.

So Sheng Yue Qing didn't expect that he would be on the same show as Xiang Zhelin this time.

Sheng Yue Qing wanted to turn around and leave without a second thought, but Xiang Zhelin blocked his way.

Xiang Zhelin had a smile on his face, but the words he spoke were extremely vicious: "I heard you were on the hot search again recently for fighting. How come after all these years, you haven't improved at all?"

Sheng Yue Qing's face instantly turned cold.

Xiang Zhelin, however, became excited and escalated his attacks: "I've said it before, you're not suitable for the entertainment industry. What are you clinging to this for? No fans like you, only your antis watch your shows..."

As Sheng Yue Qing's former teammate, he knew what Sheng Yue Qing cared about most, and every word he said struck at his weak points.

Sheng Yue Qing instinctively clenched his fists, but then he remembered that Gu Xing Shi was also there. He was the only one who spoke up for him, the only one who was kind to him. He didn't want Gu Xing Shi to see him fighting.

His clenched fists slowly relaxed. He kept a stern face and tried to bypass Xiang Zhelin.

Xiang Zhelin was stunned.

In the past, as long as he said this, Sheng Yue Qing would definitely lose his temper. What was going on today?

Just as Sheng Yue Qing had guessed, the company had ulterior motives in letting him participate in the show.

Originally, Xiang Zhelin's group's abilities weren't particularly strong. Back then, they relied on the sympathy votes from netizens due to Sheng Yue Qing's incident to become popular. However, without enough outstanding performances to hold onto fans, this false popularity would eventually fade.

In addition, his recent hook-up incident was exposed. Although the company covered it up later, it still affected his popularity, and fans left one after another, making things worse.

Seeing the group gradually sinking into obscurity, Xiang Zhelin panicked. He had enjoyed the good life for so many years, how could he endure returning to his previous unknown life.

So he thought of Sheng Yue Qing.

As long as Sheng Yue Qing was provoked and hit him, he could sell his misery online again, regaining the sympathy of his former fans, thus saving his group, and maybe even getting popular again.

For this purpose, he even deliberately hired a paparazzi to sneak in to take photos or videos, which would be more convincing.

He calculated everything, but he didn't expect Sheng Yue Qing to actually hold back.

Seeing Sheng Yue Qing about to leave, Xiang Zhelin gritted his teeth.

No matter why he held back, this show had to go on.

So he stopped Sheng Yue Qing again, and his words became increasingly outrageous.

At that moment, a voice came from the corner: "It's clear that your company is really broke, you can't even afford speech classes for your artists."

Xiang Zhelin was startled, and when he saw who it was, his face became even uglier: "Cheng Xin!"

Although they were both boy bands, their popularity couldn't compare to Cheng Xin's limited-time group, especially Meng Yuansheng and Cheng Xin, who were the top popular members of the group, making them both envious and jealous.

And, Cheng Xin, what right do you have to mock my speech!?

Cheng Xin didn't pay him any attention, turning to Sheng Yue Qing who was being blocked: "I told you, you're a heaven-chosen unlucky guy, you can't even go to the toilet without stepping in shit."

Sheng Yue Qing: "..."

Xiang Zhelin's face turned green: "What do you mean, Cheng Xin?!"

Cheng Xin had a look of "How can you be so uneducated", seriously explaining: "It's a metaphor, you're not actually shit."

Sheng Yue Qing, who had been suppressing his anger, was like a suddenly burst balloon. His anger inexplicably dissipated, leaving only bewilderment.

However, Xiang Zhelin was about to be driven mad, provoking him: "What's the point of just talking big? If you really want to stand up for him, just beat me up! You coward!"

Sheng Yue Qing didn't speak. If it were just him, he would definitely punch him, and he didn't care about the negative news, anyway, he already had so many.

But not Cheng Xin. Gu Xing Shi would worry, so he absolutely couldn't get involved in this.

Sheng Yue Qing suppressed his anger and pulled Cheng Xin to leave.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Zhelin was relentless, stubbornly blocking them.

Sheng Yue Qing was both angry and anxious. He knew that Xiang Zhelin was trying to provoke them, just like he did to him before, using Cheng Xin as a stepping stone. So he tried to block Xiang Zhelin to let Cheng Xin go first.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Xin stepped forward and pushed Xiang Zhelin hard.

Xiang Zhelin's back hit the wall hard. He was stunned for a moment, then a look of ecstatic joy flashed in his eyes.

-

Gu Xing Shi was communicating with the director team about rehearsal matters when the system suddenly popped up: 【Host, host, there's some gossip!】

Hearing the system's excited voice, Gu Xing Shi's heart instinctively sank: 【What gossip?】

System: 【Cheng Xin and Sheng Yue Qing's former teammate are fighting!】

Gu Xing Shi: 【！！！】

He immediately stopped the conversation: "Sorry, I suddenly have something to do, excuse me for a moment."

Having said that, he hurried towards the location of the incident mentioned by the system.

Because he was focused on listening to the system describe what had happened, he didn't notice the surroundings and brushed past a newly arrived guest.

The guest saw him and immediately pulled his manager: "That's President Gu, right!"

Manager: "Where, where!"

The guest pointed: "There, over there."

The manager immediately pulled him to follow: "Come on, let's go greet President Gu. Whether you can get Adam to take photos depends on this opportunity."

The three-person hosting team just came out of the lounge, curiously looking at the three people's backs: "What are those three rushing off to do?"

"I don't know."

"Something must have happened! Let's go and take a look."

"Let's go, let's go."

Thanks to these three, more and more onlookers who didn't know the truth joined.

When Gu Xing Shi arrived near the restroom, there was already a long line behind him.

Gu Xing Shi already knew what happened on his way here, but he still had to symbolically ask: "What's going on?"

Seeing Gu Xing Shi come over, Sheng Yue Qing's heart fluttered. He wanted to explain, but in his panic, he didn't know how to speak.

Cheng Xin pointed at Xiang Zhelin who was still blocking them: "Good dogs don't block the way."

Sheng Yue Qing was about to faint.

At this time, you don't bother to explain, why are you adding fuel to the fire!

Xiang Zhelin put on a wronged expression, but his heart was overjoyed.

He didn't expect this to be a pleasant surprise.

Cheng Xin not only pushed him but also scolded him in front of everyone.

With such a big handle in his hand, what did he have to worry about?

Cheng Xin was not a small nobody like Sheng Yue Qing. This stepping stone was bigger and more stable, and would bring them more traffic.

Not to mention, in order to restore Cheng Xin's reputation later, both Xingyao Media and Gu Xing Shi would have to come to him, and he had to think carefully about how much benefit he could get.

Thinking of this, Xiang Zhelin said with a wronged expression: "President Gu, you should preside over justice. I just wanted to chat with my former teammate, but your artist suddenly pushed me and scolded me for blocking the way. I really don't know where I offended him?"

Gu Xing Shi's expression was unreadable: "You said he pushed you?"

Xiang Zhelin: "Yes."

Gu Xing Shi: "How did he push you?"

Xiang Zhelin: "?"

Before he could react, Cheng Xin had already nimbly run forward and pushed him again, then looked at Gu Xing Shi with a face begging for praise: "Just like that!"

Xiang Zhelin: "???"

Everyone: "???"

Then they saw Gu Xing Shi walk forward. Xiang Zhelin thought he was going to scold Cheng Xin, feeling triumphant, but he saw Gu Xing Shi walk in front of him and then unceremoniously pushed him again.

Not only did he push him, but he also spoke unceremoniously: "So what if I pushed you? I pushed! I pushed! If you've got the guts, hit me!"

Cheng Xin immediately applauded: "President Gu is awesome!"

Sheng Yue Qing: "!!!"

Others: "!!!"

Even Xiang Zhelin, the person involved, was stunned.

What?

What's wrong with your company's people! Why don't you play by the rules!!!

But since it had come to this, he could only continue to act pitiful: "President Gu, what do you mean? Just because my popularity is not as good as Cheng Xin's, you can bully me and trample on my dignity at will?"

He acted extremely emotional, with a hint of stubbornness, perfectly portraying the image of a small-time boy band member who was wronged and forced to maintain his dignity.

Even the surrounding staff couldn't help but sympathize with him, looking at Gu Xing Shi and the others with condemning eyes.

Unexpectedly, Gu Xing Shi just impatiently dug his ears: "Tsk, after all these years, your acting hasn't improved at all!"

"Intentionally provoking Sheng Yue Qing, trying to provoke him to hit you, then acting pitiful to get on the hot search, right? Not only can you cover up your hook-up scandal, but you can also make your group popular again, killing two birds with one stone!"

Didn't Cheng Xin say he's sarcastic?

Now let him see what real sarcasm is.

Xiang Zhelin's plan was exposed, and he was shocked, only able to insist: "You're talking nonsense! You're framing me!"

Gu Xing Shi smiled: "Let me guess, you planned this so well, the most important part—the paparazzi—shouldn't have been missed, right?"

Xiang Zhelin's face was truly pale with fright, only hoping that Gu Xing Shi was guessing randomly and didn't know where the paparazzi was hiding.

However, the next second, Cheng Xin's two bodyguards brought a thin man with a work badge, who was holding a telephoto camera and trying to run away in panic.

The staff immediately started discussing.

"Which department is this from?"

"Never seen him before!"

"Could it really be a paparazzi?"

At this time, the director team and producer who received the news rushed over and immediately recognized that the work badge was fake, and that this person was not their staff.

The scene was immediately in an uproar.

Xiang Zhelin was sweating profusely, only able to repeatedly deny: "I didn't, you're lying, you're framing me..."

Gu Xing Shi spread his hands: "There's no other way, we can only call the police."

Xiang Zhelin: "!!!"

There was no need to say anything more. Just by looking at the expressions of the two people, one could tell who was telling the truth and who was lying.

Xiang Zhelin was afraid that Gu Xing Shi would really call the police, and dared not deny it anymore, and dejectedly lowered his head.

Unexpectedly, Gu Xing Shi didn't let him off: "Now you're not acting pitiful, you're acting dead? Don't you know how to apologize?"

Xiang Zhelin gritted his teeth, but he could only swallow his humiliation and said to Cheng Xin: "I'm sorry..."

After saying that, he turned around and ran.

But Gu Xing Shi stopped him: "Anything else?"

He gestured to Sheng Yue Qing, "This is the person you should apologize to the most, isn't it?"

Sheng Yue Qing was stunned.

Xiang Zhelin was even more incredulous: "Why does he..."

Gu Xing Shi took out his phone, pretending to press a number.

Xiang Zhelin could only swallow his humiliation and said to Sheng Yue Qing: "I'm...sorry."

Gu Xing Shi lazily said: "Louder, weren't you quite energetic when you were acting pitiful just now?"

Xiang Zhelin felt that his dignity had been stripped bare by Gu Xing Shi, but in order to avoid making a big fuss, he could only continue to swallow his humiliation and said loudly to Sheng Yue Qing: "I'm sorry."

After saying that, he ran away from the scene without looking back.

Gu Xing Shi didn't pay any more attention to him, clapped his hands, and said as if nothing had happened: "Alright, alright, let's all disperse, don't cause a commotion, let's hurry up with the rehearsal."

Everyone: "..."

Please! Are you the one who created the gossip and have the nerve to say this!

You can start fires, but we can't even light a match, right?!

Everyone muttered and returned to the recording site to rehearse.

Sheng Yue Qing was still a little dazed.

Although he knew that Gu Xing Shi was mainly protecting Cheng Xin, he was also protected by him.

So this is what it feels like to be protected, it's so... so happy.

And he also had a secret thought.

Gu Xing Shi knew that Xiang Zhelin was trying to provoke him to get on the hot search to cover up his own scandal, and mocked him "after all these years, your acting hasn't improved", does this mean that he checked his information?

Does this mean that he is also slightly interested in him?

If...

If he were also Gu Xing Shi's artist, wouldn't he be trusted by Gu Xing Shi, protected by him, and firmly protected, just like Cheng Xin?

Although Sheng Yue Qing quickly shook his head and dispelled his wishful thinking.

But a small, yearning seed still fell in his heart.

-

Before the recording was over, the video of Gu Xing Shi confronting Xiang Zhelin went viral.

【Ahhhhhhh President Gu is so cool!!! So handsome!!!】

【Wow! I didn't expect Xiang Zhelin to be such a disgusting person! He actually wanted to step on our Xin Ge, thankfully President Gu was there and didn't let him succeed!】

【Xin Ge's mouth! It's just that you're lucky, you have Sheng Bao protecting you in the group, and President Gu pampering you outside, I'm envious!】

Some people also sympathized with Sheng Yue Qing.

【Sheng Yue Qing is also quite miserable, listening to President Gu, Xiang Zhelin didn't use him to act pitiful just this once. He's a little pitiful!】

Many of Sheng Yue Qing's antis immediately flooded this comment.

【Even if Xiang Zhelin is wrong, Sheng Yue Qing is not necessarily innocent. It takes two to tango. Neither of them is good.】

【Pitying Sheng Yue Qing, save it... Maybe he did something to provoke Xiang Zhelin first, so Xiang Zhelin retaliated against him?】

【There are still people trying to whitewash Sheng Yue Qing, haha】

【Why is Sheng Yue Qing everywhere, so annoying, can he just get out of the entertainment industry!】

Gu Xing Shi frowned, looking at the comments insulting Sheng Yue Qing, and felt a little uncomfortable.

He didn't expect these people's prejudice against Sheng Yue Qing to be so deep.

He wanted to speak up for Sheng Yue Qing, but he didn't know where to start.

At this moment, Cheng Xin mysteriously approached: "President Gu, listen to this."

It was an audio recording.

Gu Xing Shi opened it and found that it was Xiang Zhelin provoking Sheng Yue Qing.

He was shocked: "How did you get this!"

Cheng Xin was a little proud: "I'm not stupid, of course I recorded it, making sure there's evidence before going up against him! But I didn't expect that I hadn't even taken out my evidence, you had already made a great move. Your methods are much more aggressive than mine!!"

Gu Xing Shi: "..."

Gu Xing Shi: "Alright, keep the recording, you can scram."

This recording was quickly released by him. People who were still insulting Sheng Yue Qing were immediately silenced by this ironclad evidence.

Although some people still believed that Sheng Yue Qing was not a good person, public opinion on the internet was quietly changing.

Sheng Yue Qing sat in the car, watching the recording Gu Xing Shi released, and the words he said for him.

This was specially explained for him.

So... so happy!

Sheng Yue Qing couldn't help but curl his lips.

This was the first time he was scolded, but he didn't feel sad, instead, he felt a little excited and happy.

He even took a screenshot of this Weibo and saved it in his photo album.

Back in the dorm, he took out his diary and started recording his feelings today.

Halfway through writing, his manager called, angrily scolding him.

Sheng Yue Qing didn't get angry, he put his phone aside and seriously wrote his diary.

When the manager was tired of scolding and was about to hang up, he suddenly stopped him.

The manager impatiently said: "What is it?"

Sheng Yue Qing: "If I want to terminate my contract, how much is the termination fee?"

The manager was stunned: "Are you crazy? Why do you suddenly want to terminate your contract again?"

Sheng Yue Qing didn't say anything, just asked: "How much is it?"

The manager thought that today's incident had stimulated him, so he said angrily: "Don't tell me you have some ideas because President Gu spoke up for you today? Be clear-headed, who would spend so much on termination fees to sign someone like you, a vase full of scandals?"

"I know." Sheng Yue Qing was very calm, "Just tell me how much money."

Under his persistent questioning, the manager could only reluctantly throw out a number, then grumbled and hung up the phone.

Sheng Yue Qing didn't care about his temper at all.

He immediately recorded the termination fee amount in his notebook, then opened his banking app, slowly calculating how much more money he needed to earn.

He only had two years left on his contract. Originally, he planned to just get by, earn money, and retire to the countryside to live a peaceful life after two years.

But now, his mind had changed.

He wanted to sign under Gu Xing Shi.

He knew he wasn't very capable, not as good as Meng Yuansheng and Cheng Xin who could sing and dance well, not as good as Qin Wen whose acting skills were superb. He had a lot of scandals, wasn't good at talking, and only had a good-looking face.

Plus, he still had to pay a large amount of termination fee.

Forget President Gu, most managers probably wouldn't want to sign him.

But if he works hard and earns more money, and pays the termination fee himself, he doesn't need a good contract.

Seeing how sincere he is, there should be... a little hope, right?