Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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If Zu Qi really wanted to go home, he would have gotten into Qiao Yang’s car without hesitation, but he didn’t want to go back now, so he politely refused: “Thank you, I’d better take a taxi.”
“When did you become so polite?” Qiao Yang smiled, then paused, and said, “You are not trying to avoid suspicion…”
Zu Qi was confused: “Avoid what suspicion?”
The smile on Qiao Yang’s face gradually became meaningful: “After all, we are also people who have had scandals.”
“…”
Zu Qi knew that Qiao Yang was referring to those CP fans on Weibo, but he never took those things to heart. Nowadays, many little girls liked to force two male actors together. He had been on Weibo for so long, and it was long past the time when he felt embarrassed when seeing some fan art and stories.
Before Zu Qi could respond, the director of the program group in front suddenly called out to Qiao Yang. Qiao Yang looked at Zu Qi deeply, then quickened his pace and walked forward.
It could be seen that the director of the program liked Qiao Yang very much. He also took Qiao Yang’s phone number and WeChat and invited him to have dinner together next time.
While they were chatting, Zu Qi greeted everyone and took a taxi away.
On the way to the coffee shop, Zu Qi called Duan Kai and learned that they had received a call from President Wang two hours ago just after they left, asking them to return to the company as soon as possible.
So the fake return to the company became a real return to the company.
“A paparazzi secretly filmed the video of you and Qiao Yang having dinner and also recorded your conversation clearly.” Duan Kai said in a deep tone, as if he was in a bad mood, “They demanded 50,000 and asked Mr. Wang to buy it.”
Zu Qi was shocked: “When did it happen?”
Duan Kai replied: “Before the New Year.”
Hearing this, Zu Qi suddenly remembered that when he and Qiao Yang went to eat skewers, he accidentally saw a mess of footprints under the window next to them. It turned out that there were paparazzi lurking there.
But Zu Qi couldn’t understand. There was nothing between him and Qiao Yang, and the content of their conversation was also very normal and innocent. Where did those paparazzi get the confidence to sell it to Mr. Wang for a high price of 50,000?
“I remember that time.” Zu Qi explained, “Qiao Yang and I were just ordinary friends. We just talked about some ordinary things and never said anything bad about anyone.”
Duan Kai sighed and said, “The paparazzi just seized on your jokes and made a fuss about it. In fact, everyone knows the truth. It’s just that your movie is about to be released. If something like this happens, it will have a bad impact on anyone, especially Qiao Yang.”
“…” Zu Qi was silent for a moment, then said, “Then I’ll come to you later.”
“No need.” Duan Kai said, “Mr. Wang has already given the money, you should go find Xue Jue.”
A few seconds after hanging up the phone, Zu Qi received a WeChat message from Qiao Yang.
Qiao Yang: Why did you leave first? Didn’t you agree that I should take you there?
As he said this, he followed it with a string of expressions of grievance and crying.
Many people drank tonight. Zu Qi and Qiao Yang drank two or three glasses each when they toasted. This amount of alcohol was nothing for Zu Qi, but it was enough to make Qiao Yang, a rookie, drunk and dizzy.
When he walked out of the restaurant earlier, Qiao Yang’s steps were not very steady.
Zu Qi looked at his phone and always felt that the expression sent by Qiao Yang was a little strange. It was not at all like the expression that Qiao Yang, who was usually serious and gentle, would use. But when he thought about the fact that Qiao Yang had drunk alcohol tonight, he put this strange thought behind his mind.
And Zu Qi replied: I had something to do, so I left first. We can make an appointment later when we have time.
After thinking about it, Zu Qi also sent a series of grinning expressions.
Later, Qiao Yang sent many more messages, including seven or eight voice messages lasting one minute, filling the entire phone screen with white message blocks.
After a moment of hesitation, Zu Qi turned off his phone.
In the blink of an eye, more than half an hour passed. The driver slowly parked the car on the side of the road. Zu Qi paid the fee by scanning the code with his mobile phone and got off the car in a hurry.
Although it was already the beginning of spring, unfortunately the weather showed no sign of warming up. As soon as Zu Qi got off the car, he felt a cool breeze with a drizzle blowing into his collar.
Zu Qi shuddered suddenly and walked quickly towards the location of the coffee shop in his memory. That was the place where he and Tang Yukuan had met several times before. It seemed to be closed at this time.
As it turned out, Zu Qi’s guess was correct.
Before he could get closer, he saw that the glass door of the cafe was locked, there was no light on the second floor, and the whole building was so silent that it seemed about to be swallowed up by the thick night.
There were still a few pedestrians on this pedestrian street. When they saw Zu Qi running towards them in a hurry, they couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at him.
Zu Qi hurriedly stopped and exhaled a muffled breath into his mask. He raised his hand to pull down the brim of his hat and continued walking towards the coffee shop.
Along the way, Zu Qi did not see Xue Jue. He stood in front of the glass door of the coffee shop and waited for more than ten minutes but still did not find Xue Jue. Instead, there were fewer and fewer people walking on this pedestrian street, and the raindrops mixed in the wind were becoming more and more dense.
In less than half an hour, heavy rain began to fall from the sky, as if covering the entire night sky.
There was no shelter outside the cafe. Zu Qi was worried that Xue Jue wouldn’t be able to see him after he left, so he just stood there stupidly in the rain. While the cold wind and rain blew directly onto his body and face.
He didn’t know how long he waited, but Zu Qi felt like he was about to be blown to death. When suddenly, he felt the cell phone in his pocket vibrating. He took out the phone in a daze, and when he saw Xue Jue’s name on it, he immediately perked up.
Zu Qi quickly picked up the phone, and when he was about to speak, he suddenly realized that maybe Xue Jue didn’t come to the coffee shop at all.
Yes!
Didn’t Xue Jue guess that he was lying?
How could he be so stupid as to run here!
After thinking of this possibility, Zu Qi suddenly felt much better, as if even the wind and rain blowing on his face didn’t hurt so much. Then he sniffed and said with seeming ease: “Are you home? I just had a midnight snack with Director Wang and the others, and now I’m getting ready to go back.”
“…” There was a sudden silence on the other side, and after a long time, Xue Jue hummed softly, “I’ll pick you up.”
Zu Qi hurriedly said, “No, you’ve been so busy lately, go to bed early, Brother Duan and Xiao Dengzi will take me back.”
Xue Jue: “…Okay, you guys be careful.”
“Well…” Zu Qi thought Xue Jue was going to sleep, so he whispered, “Go to bed, good night.”
Xue Jue said, “Good night.”
After hanging up the phone, Zu Qi couldn’t wait to open the car-hailing software. After booking the location of the coffee shop and Xue’s house, he was about to place an order when he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Zu Qi?” He asked with some uncertainty.
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