HOYSE CHAPTER 82

Chapter 82 — No One Touches Him

Rong Jing eased the door shut and stepped into the hall.

He leaned his back against it and stared at nothing for a moment.

He was not all that disappointed. Gu Xi’s answer was exactly what fit his nature.

Rong Jing was not a man of heavy obsession. Outside of acting, he almost never formed intense attachments to people or things. If the other party had no intention in that direction, he would withdraw to a respectful distance and avoid burdening either of them.

Besides, there was something more urgent right in front of him.

A stack of files lay on the table. He had been keeping them there since the six-hour confinement, and they charted every trigger and interval of Heaven’s “adjustments” so far. He had already suffered four hallucinations, most of them arriving when he relaxed his guard. The fourth differed markedly from the first three. Was there another explanation, such as human interference?

Rong Jing circled the character for “person” several times with a heavy hand.

If a person was behind it, the likeliest suspects were the five scumbag gongs.

Which one had the highest probability?

While doing everything he could to keep himself from becoming an investment sinkhole and to keep the shoot on schedule, he had never stopped tracking the scum-gongs’ movements.

Xu Juelian could not stir up waves anymore. Many figures in his paintings had been modeled on real people. After Rong Jing arranged for this to be exposed, the Omegas who discovered themselves in those paintings, and their families, were shattered. The Xu family was hammered from all sides. Wu’s Group acquired them in the end. Rumor had it Xu Juelian’s monthly medical bills were now paid by the Wus.

As for Xie Jisheng, the evidence was ironclad; he was sentenced to life and was still appealing. To shave off years, he was faking mental illness. Rong Jing did not bother to be polite and hired the best forensic psychiatrists to “visit” him daily, making sure he got exactly what he asked for.

That left Chu Yang, whom Gu Xi likely played into a corner, and Wu Fuyu, plus Ji Yongjie.

The latter two were most likely, especially Wu Fuyu, the novel’s original male lead gong. He was Rong Jing’s focus.

Since his soul had been locked, the visions had stopped. Could these cleansing methods stack, or did they only come one at a time?

So then, when was the next one?

He could not tell anyone. All he could do was make arrangements while he still could.

Which was why Zhou You and the other professional managers received an extremely long plan. It covered everything down to the smallest detail, listed contingencies, and tried to anticipate every accident he could think of.

When Zhou You got it, he asked, “Why are there schedules in here for three months from now?”

Rong Jing said, “Because I do not know which will arrive first, tomorrow or an accident.”

The next morning.

With his skull splitting, Gu Xi pried open his eyes.

His head was on the floor, his torso halfway in the air, his feet still hooked on the bed. He knew he slept badly, but he had not known that once drunk he could get this wild. At some point in the night he must have rolled right off.

Alcohol gets in the way. Seriously.

He painfully reassembled himself and crawled back onto the bed like a zombie.

On the nightstand was something that had not been there before, a little instant hot-water heater, no bigger than his palm. A one-liter bottle of mineral water had been mounted on top, and a handwritten note was stuck to the bottle. Beneath the usage instructions were just a few simple words: Remember to drink hot water.

Gu Xi’s stomach was bad, but he was lazy. He only drank room temperature water. The electric kettle was basically decor coz he had never used it.

He hid that well, but after he grew closer to Rong Jing, it was discovered.

Rong Jing did not nag. He just acted.

Gu Xi tore off the note, pressed a kiss to it, bundled himself in the duvet and rolled back and forth a few times.

“Ah—”

How can a man like that exist? How is he made? Why does everything he does hit me right where I live!

Mo Dian opened the door to tell him for an early call, then stopped at the sight of a human-shaped thing cocooned like a silkworm in a not-small bed, rolling and rolling. Gu Xi’s exquisite head poked out like filling inside a sticky rice ball.

Mo Dian: “…” I thought I was used to this.

Gu Xi, catching the intruder: “…” You saw nothing. Got it?

After shooing Mo Dian away, Gu Xi opened WeChat and first sent Rong Jing a message to say he was awake. He got a curt “Mm” in reply, which did not bother him. Rong Jing had always been laconic in social exchanges.

Then he saw messages from Guan Hongyi: What is happening, what is happening?! What is with the 1 yuan?!

Gu Xi: Exactly what you saw.

Guan Hongyi: If you are being kidnapped, blink twice!

Gu Xi: [eyes-open.jpg]

Guan Hongyi: Do you even know what that contract means? With that A, he can do whatever he wants to you!

Gu Xi: Oh.

Guan Hongyi: People will think you cannot live without him.

Gu Xi: Yeah.

Guan Hongyi: !!!

Guan Hongyi: Yesterday in the car, you two kissed, do you remember?

Gu Xi: Mm. It hurt.

Guan Hongyi: There he is. That is the you I know.

Gu Xi: Only a few seconds.

Gu Xi: And only once. He was just comforting me.

Gu Xi: In his eyes I am a bamboo pole. He looks at me and nothing stirs.

He had finally waited for his best friend to come out of seclusion. A dam’s worth of confessions was ready to burst.

Gu Xi: Why are you not answering?

A red exclamation mark.

Xiao Hong has turned on friend verification. You are not his friend.

“Heh, Omega.”

You kept saying you wanted me to be happy. The moment your male god is involved, you change your face.

Who decided an Omega has to stand still and wait? If I stay where I am, I will never see Rong Jing treat me differently.

What I want, I will find a way to get myself.

Gu Xi swallowed a few painkillers. He vaguely remembered what Rong Jing had asked last night. When he saw Rong Jing later, he needed to add one more line.

He grumbled at Gu Feng: Why did you not remind me yesterday?

No answer. He did not know when it had started, but Gu Feng’s lucid periods were fewer and farther between.

A ripple of panic moved in Gu Xi’s chest. He had gotten used to that voice accompanying him.

He called several times before Gu Feng answered: I do not know either. I have felt very sleepy lately.

Relieved to hear him, Gu Xi asked quietly: Are you going to disappear…

Gu Feng: No.

When he asked again, there was only silence.

Full of worries, Gu Xi arrived outside the set. They had switched locations today, but fans had still swarmed in like the tide.

Especially since Rong Jing had been unmasked as the mysterious “Mr. Poison-Tongue or bss” the two hot topics stacked together and the fan traffic surged.

He remembered the day Rong Jing paid for breakfast for all the fans. Someone had arranged the food into an artful display, posted it online, and it hit the top twenty of the trending list. Normally celebs sending food to fans was standard and not trending material, but Rong Jing had basically exploded overnight. With heat that high, the slightest breeze could trend.

Gu Xi noticed there were no reporters around. He checked the entertainment and local news sections. They had only reported that a high-end apartment building had a gas-fire incident late at night. No injuries. The owner was also not named. Gu Xi did not want to end up in the news for this anyway, to be judged or pitied again.

What did circulate online were the “butterflies of flame” photos from the blaze. People loved the spectacle.

Gu Xi considered sending a thank-you message, then felt a few dry lines were too insincere. Maybe dinner tonight was better. And since his place had burned, where he would live from now on…

From a distance he saw them, and they saw him getting out of the nanny van.

He greeted them and glanced at their banners. “Waiting for Rong Jing? He will be a while.”

An Omega among them blushed at how dazzling he looked and asked, “Gu Xi, can I ask… the news keeps saying you and Rong Jing are at odds. Is that true?”

One sentence, and every fan held their breath.

Gu Xi answered coolly and politely, “He is ambitious, and he works hard. Where does this talk of a feud come from?”

“Online.”

“It is baseless gossip. In my eyes he is an actor with real spark.”

After he left, the fans whispered.

“Gu Xi is not that cold. Why do people say he is impossible to deal with?”

“It is his aura. He looks like someone you cannot get close to.”

“Feels like he and our Jing Jing are not actually at odds. If they were, he would not be this civil. He is pretty fierce toward As though. That reply was a bit formulaic.”

“Formulaic is normal. That is what colleagues sound like.”

“I am a little let down. I thought there would be a twist.”

“His fans are annoying, but for some reason I do not hate the man himself.”

Not long after Gu Xi left, Rong Jing arrived and was immediately surrounded. He stayed the same gentle self, answering patiently and having his assistant hand out milk tea.

Gu Xi took only one look from afar, then felt oddly dazed. He lifted his eyes to the blazing sun overhead and found it harsh.

Today’s scene was important. A plague had broken out in a city. The Seventh Prince, Zhao Hua, was being squeezed by rival factions at court. To quell the turmoil, the emperor sent Zhao Hua to lead the relief. Zhao Hua still resented Fu Qianming’s deception, but at the line between life and death he would never let the man he loved go to die. On the day of departure, he secretly drugged Fu Qianming, and once Fu was out cold he set off with imperial physicians and his troops.

But when Fu Qianming woke, he chased all the way, dust-covered and furious. After he confronted Zhao Hua, he slammed him against a thick tree trunk, and the forced kiss began.

Gu Xi flushed just reading it. When he first received the script and saw this scene, his heart hammered.

Director Liu came over to check on him, as he always did before an intimate scene. “This one has to be fiercer than before. It is the violent collision of your feelings. You hate him, but you love him more. You want him to live. When you realize he chased you down, you resist first, then slowly melt in his heat. It needs a tongue kiss. You cannot do what you did before and just touch lips. You are not grade-schoolers. What kind of ‘kiss scene’ is that?”

Gu Xi wanted to sink into the floor. In real life, they had only ever done the “touching lips” version too.

“At least a few minutes,” Liu said. “I will cut out the best section. Can you do it?”

Gu Xi set down the script and adjusted the hairpiece that had been clipped in. “I can. I am a professional.”

Liu looked energized. “Great. Then we roll now. Where is Rong Jing? Where is our other male lead?”

A warm voice sounded behind them. “Director Liu, I am here.”

Gu Xi looked over with a smile in his eyes. The smile froze.

Crew bustled around them, but Gu Xi felt winter descend. He was not Rong Jing. Even if everyone else saw nothing amiss, Gu Xi had memorized every micro-expression on that man’s face, even the curve of his smile. He had carved this person into his heart. He could not get it wrong.

His ears buzzed. The shock blanked his mind.

He heard himself say, “Director Liu… I am not feeling well. I do not want to shoot.”

“What is wrong?” Liu’s heart sank. The ADs nearby were surprised too. They had agreed to this. How had he suddenly changed his mind? Gu Xi was not usually so willful.

Gu Xi’s expression was cold enough to draw blood. After that first glance, he did not give [Rong Jing] another look. “I am not filming it. Shoot something else first.”

“Gu Xi! Are you serious?” You cannot just say wind and rain and make it so.

“Dead serious.” Gu Xi made a point of apologizing to each crew member whose work he had just disrupted. He was usually respectful and easy to work with, so they could accept it. A tongue kiss might still be a hurdle for him.

[Rong Jing] asked as well, “Why not shoot it?”

Gu Xi forced himself calm. “Could you not speak?”

Do not use his face to talk to me. It makes me sick.

It was identical, truly identical. Even the tone. And yet this person moved like he was following a preset program.

Director Liu was about to explode. Good one, Gu Xi.

If you were not my patron and had not helped me so much back then, I would be furious. Actually I am furious. Very.

Do you know how long it took to find the perfect thick tree, the perfect dappled light through the leaves, the way the sun is right now? Is it not exactly what we wanted?

To pace your relationship scenes, we planned the progression: hug, then kiss, then once you get used to it we go to the forced kiss.

And now you say no? Just like that?

Fine. You are an investor. You have a veto. You win.

If he kept looking at Gu Xi, he was going to give himself hypertension.

Fortunately, in case Gu Xi could not handle it, he had called in kiss-doubles today. He had been sore about the cost since they had not used them, but now it was perfect. The moment the doubles heard they might get to kiss Rong Jing, they would have paid for the chance.

All right. No forcing you.

You may not want it, but Jing Jing is a hot commodity.

The AD said, “Call them back. Good thing we did not dismiss them.”

Gu Xi told himself maybe this would only last a few hours. He just needed to wait it out.

He thought they would shoot other scenes first. He did not expect Director Liu to be this thorough. He had prepared one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight substitutes.

Gu Xi’s heart nearly seized.

So you planned this all along.

“What do you mean?”

“The set is up. We shoot. If you have no state, they do.”

Gu Xi stared at the irritatingly eager Omegas, each one shining at [Rong Jing] as if they wished they could paste themselves to him.

Through clenched teeth he asked, “Why are there more than before?”

Liu smirked. “Word got out it was Rong Jing. Demand exceeded supply. These eight were screened.”

The AD coughed, “Wrong idiom. It is many monks and little porridge.”

“Close enough,” Liu said. “Same idea.”

You may not care, Gu Xi, but plenty do.

Look at this booming body-double economy. If you can think of it, we can hire it.

Gu Xi: “…” Thanks so much.

Liu was already having the doubles line up for [Rong Jing] to choose, and [Rong Jing] was choosing in earnest.

Watching his profile, Gu Xi went glacial. “I will cover all lost-time fees. As long as I am here, this scene does not shoot.”

If you want to kiss him, step over my corpse.

No one touches him without my say-so.

---

PREVIOUS           TOC           NEXT