The next day, Tong Zhao went to the film set as usual to prepare for filming, but on the way he always felt that some people were spying on him, and when he looked over, they all looked away.
Tong Zhao frowned, exchanged a glance with Xiao Wen, and realized something was wrong.
When he arrived at the film set, the feeling intensified. The atmosphere on set was strangely eerie. Some people gathered together, pointing and whispering in his direction, their meaningful glances making Tong Zhao feel extremely uncomfortable.
Xiaowen couldn't stand it anymore and simply rushed over to question him. Tong Zhao didn't stop her, afraid that she would get into a fight with someone. He stood up and was about to follow her when Uncle Tie patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Xiaowen knows what she's doing."
After a while, Xiaowen returned with a stern face: "They wouldn't say, but judging from their attitude, it certainly wasn't anything nice."
"It must be Qin Chong who did something," Tong Zhao said. "We'll know when he gets there."
The crew was making adjustments, and after waiting for more than ten minutes, Qin Chong finally arrived late. His face no longer showed the anger he had shown the night before; instead, he smiled at him with amusement.
Tong Zhao didn't say anything, after all, she had long been prepared to be made difficult by this person.
Sure enough, the filming took dozens of takes that morning. The director's eyes were practically spitting fire. Tong Zhao lowered her head and apologized to the director, who was furious but dared not express any dissatisfaction with Qin Chong, who had brought his own funding to the project. He then gave Tong Zhao a thorough dressing-down.
Tong Zhao held back and went back to the car for lunch, while Xiao Wen went out to inquire around again.
This time, we changed our strategy and didn't ask directly, but we did get some results.
"I overheard them in the dressing room just now. It seems they were spreading rumors about Young Master Zhao Zhao's past, and there are even more rumors about an illegitimate child stealing his younger brother's fiancé and marrying into a wealthy family. This must have been spread by that Qin Chong." Xiao Wen clenched her fists, indignant.
"..." Just as expected, with such skillful operation, no wonder she and Geng Keli could be a couple.
Seeing Xiaowen's indignant expression, Tong Zhao comforted her, "Don't take it too seriously. If we don't respond to these things, they'll think we're guilty. If we do respond, it'll just lead to endless questioning. Actually, they don't want the truth at all. Instead of wasting our energy proving something that doesn't exist, we might as well just pretend it doesn't exist from the start."
“What a miserable life our young master Zhao Zhao had to live before.” Wen Wen was overcome with grief and pretended to wipe away a few tears in front of Uncle Tie.
Uncle Tie nodded seriously: "I sent it to the young master. The young master will not let the young master suffer any injustice."
Tong Zhao: "..."
Tong Zhao silently swallowed her food, then weakly said, "Shan Song is very busy right now, let's not bother him with such trivial matters..."
“How can Young Master Zhao’s matter be considered a small matter? The young master instructed us that we should put you first in everything we do, and your orders are our highest orders,” Xiaowen replied with a smile.
Tong Zhao's eyes were complicated as he tentatively said, "Since my words are the highest order, then why not listen to me? These are minor issues that I don't even take seriously myself, so we don't need to report them all to Shan Song."
Wen Wen pretended not to hear and cut a big mango for Tong Zhao: "We still have to film all afternoon, so eat more sweet things so you don't get annoyed by that idiot."
“…” Tong Zhao sighed.
The afternoon shoot went a little better than the morning shoot, but Tong Zhao didn't think Qin Chong was the type to give up so easily; she was sure he would cause some other trouble.
Sure enough, during the break, Qin Chong greeted Qin Zhao in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for those around him to hear: "Qin Zhao, why didn't you say hello to me for so long? You were just recognized and brought back, and Father asked me to take good care of you."
Upon hearing this, the other actors and staff around them fell silent, all straining to hear what was happening.
"Surname Qin", "Just recognized", "Take care of"—three keywords in two sentences. If you still don't know what kind of drama he's playing, then all those years of Tong Zhao's melodramatic short dramas have been for nothing.
Tong Zhao said expressionlessly, "Didn't we already catch up in the room yesterday? Does Teacher Qin have such a bad memory?"
Qin Chong's expression shifted, and he gave a forced smile: "Yeah, we seemed to get along really well yesterday. I thought you wanted to chat with me today too."
How could he say such a distorted and untrue thing? Tong Zhao didn't want to cooperate with him: "Teacher Qin's definition of 'getting along' seems to be a bit different from mine. I'm just a small-time actress, and I don't dare to presume to be worthy of you. It's better if we keep a little distance."
As she spoke, she turned to leave the place of trouble, but was blocked by Qin Chong's assistant. Qin Chong took this opportunity to walk up to Tong Zhao.
Qin Chong narrowed his eyes and put his hand on Tong Zhao's shoulder: "He's my brother, after all. There's no need to be so distant among family members."
Tong Zhao shook off Qin Chong's hand and took a step back, while vaguely hearing the discussions of the people around him.
"What are they saying? Is Tong Zhao also a member of the Qin family?"
"It seems so, Qin Chong calls him brother."
"Then how come he was kept by someone before? The Qin family is so rich, would they let him do such a thing?"
"I haven't heard that he was just recognized and is probably an illegitimate child who has been living away from home."
"Really? Is there any evidence?"
"What more evidence do you need? Look at Tong Zhao's RV, his treatment is almost like that of the lead actor. He didn't have this kind of money before, it must have been given to him by the Qin family."
"Not necessarily. He just got married. Maybe his husband is well-off and bought it for him."
"Hey, I heard that Tong Zhao stole Qin Chong's fiancé. Qin Chong isn't here to settle scores, is he?"
"No way? Someone who's destined to marry into the Qin family would actually want a bastard like him?"
"That's their skill..."
Tong Zhao pursed his lips. Once the label of illegitimate child is attached to him, even passing dogs will want to step on it. Is Qin Chong planning to lead the entire crew to isolate him?
How naive. He's just like Geng Keli, all he's ever done is workplace bullying.
Unfortunately, he's no longer a pushover. Even an illegitimate child is still a member of the Qin family, so his current treatment isn't bad. That's why the shrewd people in the crew don't dare to openly mock him.
Tong Zhao, seeing Qin Chong's smug gaze, deliberately raised her voice: "That's right, little brother, we're all family. Let's not talk about our family matters in front of outsiders. We'll have a proper chat tonight. The director wants us to prepare, so let's not delay the filming schedule."
Qin Chong frowned, glancing around at the surroundings. The feedback was worse than he had expected. Tong Zhao, on the other hand, seemed to have expected it. Qin Chong's lips twitched, and he snorted before leaving.
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