Chapter 58
Mo Shaoqing: “You’re right, I did receive a casting call from [Legend of Emperor Ling]...” When he finished his speaking, the hosts on stage except for Zhao Jiashu were on edge, what direction was this going towards! Off stage Xiao Wen was fuming, Why are they not following the questions provided!?
Mo Shaoqing chuckled: “Although [Legend of Emperor Ling] is a series full of big names, this was not my first time acting at all. Besides my role in [Hello, Senior Brother] as the pianist Yun Shen, I was also lucky enough to be in a movie too…”
As he spoke, the hosts on stage with him thought that he would trip up due to being startled from going off script, but surprisingly he was speaking well? The audience was also stunned, What was going on? The show somehow seemed off? Were they pretending to leak some news? The audience members looked at each other, and then proceeded to clap! Fans in the crowd were stupefied and putting down their LED signs. What did their male god just say? Was there even a bigger show on air right now besides [Legend of Emperor Ling]? Why haven’t I heard of it? What is this Zhao Jiashu trying to pull? Wanna fight? Turn black, turn black, darken the audience!!!
Mo Shaoqing ignored the intense stares of the audience and continued speaking: “Actually I was lucky to be in the movie [Inconceivable Autumn] directed by Yazawa Junchen… Although it was only a small supporting role, I truly admire Director Yazawa’s passion and Kochi-san’s professionalism while working….”
Mo Shaoqing’s words were not trying to promote himself in the movie, but to reject Zhao Jiashu’s notion that it was his “first time” acting. That’s why he sincerely conveyed the information. When he was done speaking, the audience applauded enthusiastically. His fans in the audience cheered: “Hubby I love you~~”
Mo Shaoqing glanced over at Zhao Jiashu, he seemed full of dread and at the same time scared. His whole person was shaking and while trying to keep a calm demeanor. His head was sweaty and he couldn’t hide his stiff complexion, he was catching quite a bit of attention as the host!
A past grudge? But Zhao Jiashu and him had never interacted before, how could there be one? Thinking back on Zhao Jiashu’s career, he was a professional model…. Mo Shaoqing felt like he had figured it out! Mo Shaoqing exited the stage with a smile, turning off stage his face sank and became annoyed. That Xu Che simply couldn’t sit still!
Mo Shaoqing left the main set, Xiao Wen immediately greeted him and handed a towel and some water to him. It was only then that he realized he was covered in sweat. Taking two sips of water to moisten his throat, he noticed that Xiao Wen seemed to want to say something: “Speak, you can ask me anything you want!”
Xiao Wen couldn’t stop his curiosity, “Um.. Brother Mo, is there something going on between you and Zhao Jiashu? Why did he suddenly try to set a trap for you? Also, when did you film with Director Yazawa? How come I didn’t know about it! no , not only me, everyone was in the dark! Why have you never brought it up!”
“Zhao Jiashu? It’s a bit complicated. I did act in Director Yazawa’s film, and now I’ve also stated it for the whole country to hear, why would I dare to lie!” He returned the water bottle and towel to Xiao Wen while explaining, “I never talked about it because I didn’t think it was something to boast about, I didn’t want to use it for hype. It’s ok, I’m fine, what time is it?”
Xiao Wen checked his phone: “It’s past 5 now, did you have something else to go to?”
Mo Shaoqing didn’t want to say that he was meeting Boss Ling. Beating around the bush he replied: “I’m going back to campus, I’m going to have dinner with my roommate, you and the driver can leave first! Oh look, I’m going to be late, I’m leaving, be careful on the road!” Rushing out of the studio, Mo Shaoqing found a small walking path. The evening rush hour traffic would be slower than walking.
Zhao Jiashu didn’t even know why, he brought this onto himself and totally failed. What will Xu Che do to him now? He didn’t think that Mo Shaoqing, who had such a small background, had such a story behind him. Should he tell him the truth? Say he was forced? He should let Mo Shaoqing and Xu Che hash it out themselves… Zhao Jiashu cursed himself: Dammit, what’s going to happen! Should I speak up? What will Mo Shaoqing think? Zhao Jiashu dragged his feet while lost in thought, and was quickly spotted by Mo Shaoqing’s bodyguard, Lee.
Earlier, he had felt that this person was quite suspicious and he was openly hostile towards Mr. Mo. So as it would be his job to investigate further, he immediately had someone run a background check. Zhao Jiashu was from a humble background so it was easy to dig out the information. He wanted to teach him a lesson later, but who knew the opportunity would come so soon!
He signaled for a subordinate to lead Mo Shaoqing away while the remainder blocked off Zhao Jiashu from leaving. Zhao Jiaoshu made a few turns but lost sight of Mo Shaoqing. As the variety show was not finished recording, he struggled internally for a bit and decided to heat back. Suddenly a tall man approached him, Zhao Jiashu was scared of facing hardship and getting bullied, carrying a guilty conscience, he quickly turned to leave only to find two more men approaching him from different directions. At this moment, no matter how stupid he was, he knew that something was amiss and he needed to get out of there quickly! Zhao Jiashu took a few steps back, trying to bluff his way out: “You.. what are you trying to do here, don’t come over. I am a host on [Weekend Roundup], there are staff and personnel nearby -- who are you trying to blackmail?”
The leader of the pack stared him down, with a smile on his face and a cold stare he said: “Pray to heaven for good graces, in hopes for good rainfall*. Truly a name well thought out!”
*[洁斋祷请，冀蒙嘉澍] is what he said which can be considered an idiom couplet, where the last two characters are the same as the Jiashu in Zhao Jiashu's name. It roughly works out to praying to the gods for their blessing, hopes for a good harvest/rainfall
Zhao Jiashu felt a shiver run through his body, this guy… knew who he was? Did he offend someone? “Who the hell are you?”
The man in front of him started playing with a pocket knife, “It’s a shame that such a good name belongs to someone with no brain. Now what should we do?”
Zhao Jiashu in a lose-lose battle, he sort of understood what the person in front of him was alluding to, and gathered his courage to speak: “Big bro, I didn’t… it wasn’t intentional… I…”
Lee also knew that right now wasn’t the best of time, if he wanted to teach him a lesson it would have to wait, “Go back and tell the person behind this, there won’t be a next time -- or else. He doesn’t want to know what the consequences are!”
Mo Shaoqing rushed to the meet up point, it was just 6 o’clock, he was just on time! As he was about to go in, it suddenly hit him that he had walked the whole way, sweating along the road. He quickly used the window of the hotel to check his appearance.
Clothes? OK! Hair? OK! Make-up? OK! Alright, full speed ahead!
Inside the foyer was Ling Senhao. When he saw Mo Shaoqing come in, he quickly ran up to greet him. He originally was going to casually wave him over but quickly let that idea go -- he thought to himself: In order to meet me, he even straightened himself out outside, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it!
These two hadn’t met since they parted ways from the hotel, truthfully Mo Shaoqing thought it would be awkward to meet after being confessed to but he had just dodged a possible scandal and was feeling relaxed. But he was also not going to admit that since meeting in the foyer just now that he was starting to feel a flush on his face.
“Boss Ling, it’s been a while!”
“Sit!” Mo Shaoqing sat down and carefully looked around. In this glass, revolving restaurant was a dark ceiling with a small spot light illuminating the pair from above. The faint sound of a violin could be heard in the background, and between each booth was a planter. The restaurant was empty, but there was also a decent amount of privacy.
“Regarding the popularity issue, big shot directory bringing on new actors is nothing to fuss about. Director Mo has already addressed it quite well. Besides, doing something like this will spread rumors in the entertainment circle. It’s hard to tell the future, but it will be difficult for Xu Che to get casted after all this.” Ling Senhao wasn’t aware of what had just happened at the studio so he tried to comfort Mo Shaoqing by weighing out the pros and cons for him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t by your side when this all happened!” Ling Senhao felt that this time around he had left too suddenly without notice and didn’t take care of Mo Shaoqing properly. Due to an emergency at the head office, he had to deal with it personally. He had estimated it would take him a couple days to solve, but it ended up taking 5 days. Not to mention something big just had to happen while he was gone.
“No.. don’t be, your work should come first…” Mo Shaoqing was also a man, naturally he could understand the others duty and professionalism.
“Shaoqing, you know what I want to hear is not this!” Ling Senhao whispered quietly: “I would hope that you would at least blame me somewhat,” That way… I would at least know you still missed me.
Mo Shaoqing didn’t know how to react. The only thing he noticed was the temperature on his face continued to rise. Ling Senhao watched as Mo Shaoqing tried to hide his blush and tried to act natural, Looks like I still have a chance! As they used to say: Fighting requires courage, and rushing will just deplete it, looks like I should….
“Let’s have a drink and celebrate your success. Forget about Xu Che!” Ling Senhao casually spoke as he signalled the waiter to bring some wine over and poured Mo Shaoqing a glass. Nervous, Mo Shaoqing emptied his mind and downed the red liquid in one go. The wine was sweet and strong, with no traces of bitterness.
“Is it good?” asked Ling Senhao: “Would you like another?”
“En! Yes!” said Mo Shaoqing, bobbing his head up and down.
“Haha, if you like it, have some more” Ling Senhao topped his glass up. Downing another, Mo Shaoqing smacked his lips and exclaimed “Good wine! If I could serve this at my restaurant it would be great!”
Ling Senhao smiled: “This is from my own personal winery. I made it myself, it’s aged about 10 years… if you like it, have more!”
His own winery? Mo Shaoqing was already tipsy by now and didn’t realise he was falling into a trap.
“Winery huh? Ai yo Boss Ling, you’re pretty rich huh!” Definitely drunk, this is not something Shaoqing would say if he was sober. “Do you want to see it?”
“Well yea!” replied Mo Shaoqing stupidly.
Ling Senhao continued to reel in his bait: “Do you want to try some even better wine?”
“Yea, I wanna sell this in my restaurant. Boss Ling’s personally crafted one of a kind wine, the worlds best! I’m gonna sell it for lots!”
Ling Senhao didn’t know if he should laugh or cry: “Are you short on cash?”
Who knew that Mo Shaoqing would become sad and reply: “Of course I am short on money, I need to make lots so I can give my parents and older brother a good life.”
Ling Senhao didn’t realize that the other party was so ambitious, but when it came to finances he seemed so simple and cute.
“Well if we’re together you can have as much money as you want, what do you think?” After blurting that out Ling Senhao became extremely nervous. If he was rejected again it would be rejection number two.