Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Chu Heng was sick for several days. For the first two days, he had a low-grade fever while juggling his next commitments. With little time to rest, there was no possibility of going to the hospital for an IV.

He pushed through to finish recording a laid-back variety show and a commercial, walked a red carpet, and shot a magazine spread before finally joining the crew for his new project. At last, he could pause and catch his breath, without having to rush from one commitment to another.

This time, he was filming a crime drama titled "Undercover." His role was the seemingly honorable but truly vicious secondary antagonist, with a fifty-fifty split between dialogue and action scenes, making it a challenging role.

Although Chu Heng had played this part in his past life, he had long forgotten the finer details. So, after the opening ceremony, he took the script and sat aside to look through it.

He hadn’t read many pages before Wang Yelong approached with a thick stack of papers.

"Following the schedule, your current drama will wrap up by January next year, just in time for the Spring Festival Gala. After recording the gala, you'll have an open schedule." The corners of the papers were slightly curled, with a few pages folded. As he spoke, Wang Yelong took out the folded ones and spread them out one by one in front of Chu Heng. "I’ve looked through them. These are the most promising projects among the invitations you’ve received—six in February, four in March. The free time in between is perfect for auditions."

He then took out a stack of folders in different colors from his briefcase. "These films and TV series are aiming for top-tier (S-grade) status. They have high production values and big budgets, and they’re currently in the preparation stage. The cast is also expected to be strong."

"Once 'Blue Mane' airs early next year, the online response to your performance should be positive. Strike while the iron is hot with auditions, and your chances are good."

"Take a look at the scripts and pick a few."

Wang Yelong said all in one go, unscrewed a bottle cap to take a sip of water, and then watched as Chu Heng reviewed the project proposals, waiting for him to pick out his choices and hand them over.

This was their usual routine—planning out schedules and gigs three to four months, or even half a year, in advance, with hardly any breaks throughout the year. Everyone at their company was like-minded, all workaholics.

Even though Chu Heng was currently wearing a bandage and fighting a cold, Wang Yelong didn’t think it necessary to stop and rest. It was just a little cold or a minor injury; he'd get over it in a few days. Besides, Chu Heng had had worse injuries before and had only taken ten days off before returning to work.

Wang Yelong had expected Chu Heng to pick half the stack of project proposals and hand them over, saying, "These are the ones." But after waiting a good while, he saw Chen approach with a black thermos, twist off the lid, and hand it to Chu Heng.

Steam rose from the cup, turning into white mist. Wang Yelong sniffed the air.

That smell… cold medicine?

Without Chen saying a word, Chu Heng looked up from the pile of papers, took the thermos, and drank it all in one go. Chen took the cup back, then handed over a tissue he'd shaken out. After Chu Heng wiped his mouth, he produced out of nowhere a thin blue scarf and carefully wrapped it around Chu Heng’s neck, his eyes lowered.

Chu Heng tilted his head slightly to make it easier for him. The autumn chill was heavy, and though he wore a thin costume with a jacket draped over it, his nose was still red from the cold.

He let out a soft sigh, tucked his chin into the scarf, and relaxed his tense shoulders and neck. Then, Wang Yelong heard him say, "Let’s hold off on variety shows, interviews, and commercials for now. For magazines, let’s go with 'Fashion Jewelry' and 'Trendy Attire.' We can discuss the rest after spring. For endorsements, you can decide. As for filming… let’s not take on any TV dramas for now. I’ll look into movies and audition if there’s a good fit."

Wang Yelong: "…"

Wang Yelong was stunned. He stared, mouth agape, for a long moment, then glanced at the sun to confirm it had risen from the east and not the west before saying, "What are you doing? A five-year accumulated vacation?"

Magazine shoots could be done in a day, three at most. That meant Chu Heng had scheduled himself, at most, a week’s worth of work.

"Are you on the wrong medication?"

"You’re the one on the wrong medication," Chu Heng rolled his eyes, neatly stacking the project proposals and handing them back. "I’ve considered how hard you and the staff have worked tirelessly for me over the years and decided to give everyone a break. This year’s paid annual leave will be extended until the end of February. Travel if you want, stay home if you prefer—just relax for a while. How’s that?"

Wang Yelong looked at him, struggling for words before finally saying, "I think it’s you who wants a vacation, isn’t it?"

Chu Heng gave a fake smile, then lowered his head to continue reading the script.

Wang Yelong stood there holding the stack of papers, unmoving. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes. "Something’s off. You’re off." He rubbed the stubble on his chin and looked outside the rest area at the man washing the thermos under the tap. "Ever since you quietly went to W City alone in September, you’ve been acting strange."

"What’s strange?" Chu Heng said without looking up from the script, his tone casual. "Everyone gets tired sometimes. I’m no exception."

"Nonono," Wang Yelong raised a finger, shaking it with an air of seriousness as he recalled the details of the past few days. "You’ve always been decisive, never liking others to interfere with your decisions, whether in work or life, and you don’t like getting too close to people. But—" He drew out the word, pointing at Chen Jinsheng. "He’s different."

"You can share chopsticks with him, sleep in the same bed, let him replace your usual boat socks with long ones, let him wrap an out-of-season scarf around you. You take medicine when he tells you to, sleep when he tells you to, go east when he says so and never west. You listen to him in everything, even letting him decide all three meals a day."

While some of these were indeed part of an assistant’s duties, and Chen was undoubtedly diligent and meticulous, Chu Heng’s obedience was downright shocking. Back when Meng Hui was his assistant, Chu Heng had always been stern with him. If it got cold, he’d take the jacket Meng Hui offered and put it on himself. When reading scripts, he’d only have Meng Hui leave the poured water nearby—nothing like this.

"You’re so obedient to him, and you still say he’s just an ordinary assistant?" Wang Yelong had only meant to tease, but as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Chu Heng’s hand gripping the script tighten, instantly crumpling the brand-new pages.

Wang Yelong was taken aback, then noticed Chu Heng’s face had turned ashen, looking utterly terrible.

Wang Yelong fell silent. Seeing Chu Heng remain lost in thought, his expression unchanged for a long while, he finally couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"

Chu Heng kept his head down, saying nothing.

A dark figure approached. Wang Yelong looked up to see Chen returning, the thermos still steaming as he offered it to Chu Heng within easy reach.

Chu Heng’s expression was unreadable. He slowly loosened his grip on the script, but his other hand showed no sign of reaching for the cup.

Chen Jinsheng’s brow twitched slightly, his black mask shifting with his breath. "It’s not medicine, it’s…"

Ding.

A sudden message notification interrupted Chen Jinsheng. Chu Heng took out his phone, glanced at it, and wordlessly walked away without even looking at Chen Jinsheng. Before leaving, he deliberately took off the scarf and placed it on the chair.

Wang Yelong quickly called after him, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Making a call."

He walked quickly, disappearing from their sight in an instant.

Wang Yelong instinctively looked at Chen Jinsheng.

The man showed no reaction, only pausing briefly before putting the thermos away, as if he hadn’t just been inexplicably given the cold shoulder.

Wang Yelong shook his head, picked up the papers and his briefcase, and prepared to leave. He wouldn’t be staying with Chu Heng the whole time; as a manager, he had plenty to do. Besides, Chu Heng had mentioned a few months ago that it was time for the company to sign some new talent. Resumes had been coming in steadily, and he needed to hurry back to City B to screen them.

He took a few steps, then turned back to Chen Jinsheng. "Want to exchange WeChat?"

Chen Jinsheng’s dark eyes lifted. He took out his phone and pulled up a QR code.

Wang Yelong swiftly scanned it and sent a friend request. Once it was accepted, he opened the notes out of work habit. He had just typed "Chen" when he stopped.

"Chen Jinsheng."

Wang Yelong paused.

"Which 'Jin' and which 'Sheng'?"

"End, life."

Wang Yelong paused again. What kind of parents would give their child a name like that, as if wishing for an early death?

But so this man was called that name—nothing special. What was Chu Heng hiding?

It did sound familiar, though. Maybe he’d heard someone with the same name before.

He let out an "oh," then quickly sent Chen Jinsheng several documents. "For the next three months, you and Old Ding will be with Chu Heng. Besides taking care of his daily needs, you’ll need to watch out for paparazzi and unauthorized photographers, and coordinate with the crew on filming details—locations, times, you’ll need to communicate in advance. The specifics are all in these documents. Memorize them by tonight."

"Mm."

"Chu Heng has a tough temper and won’t take losses lying down. If he clashes with other actors, keep an eye on things and don’t let the situation get too ugly. But he’s more measured now than before, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much."

Chen Jinsheng hummed in response again, his voice so deep it sent a tingle through Wang Yelong's ears. Wang thought to himself, what a waste he wasn't a singer.

"Oh, and one more thing—when he gets busy, he tends to skip meals. He has a sensitive stomach, especially after night shoots; he frequently gets stomachaches. It's an old issue, but something warm and easy on the stomach does the trick. Make sure you have something ready for him in time. He does a lot of fight scenes, so bumps and bruises are unavoidable. Make sure you're fully stocked on the usual external meds."

"I know."

Wang Yelong rattled off a long list of instructions, then left in a hurry.

Once he boarded the plane, he settled into his business class seat, put on his eye mask, pulled the blanket over himself, and prepared to take a nice nap. But he couldn't shake a nagging feeling, as if he'd forgotten something very important.

He adjusted his position. Five minutes later, he suddenly sat bolt upright and yanked the eye mask down.

He remembered where he'd heard the name Chen Jinsheng before!

Chen Jinsheng, the Chen family.

How could he have forgotten that!

Seven or eight years ago, wasn't the vice chairman of the Chen Group named Chen Jinsheng?!

The Chen Group wasn't deeply involved in the entertainment industry, but the film and television market was a huge market, so earlier on, the Chen Group would occasionally invest in a few movies or series. They had a sharp eye—every project they backed became a hit. For a while, other investors in the industry even saw them as a benchmark and followed their lead. So whenever the Chen Group hinted at a potential investment, production companies would jostle for their investment.

Perhaps having gotten a taste of the profits, eight years ago, the Chen Group established a subsidiary, making a formal entry into the film and television industry. In just a few years, it became an industry leader, showing just how deep-rooted and powerful this family-run conglomerate was.

Just how big a deal must you be to hold the position of vice chairman and major shareholder in such a nationally top-tier group, especially someone who was only in his early thirties at the time?

Wang Yelong could no longer stay seated. He pulled out his phone and started searching for Chen Jinsheng. But after searching for a long time, he only found some irrelevant results. Eventually, he only managed to locate an annual report from the Chen Group from eight years ago, which listed the board members—Chen Jinsheng was indeed on it.

In the reports from the following two years, even the Chen Group's annual reports no longer mentioned this person, let alone any photos. It was as if all record of this person had been deliberately erased.

"Maybe it's just someone with the same name. How could Chu Heng possibly be connected to someone like that? And how could someone like that possibly be working as Chu Heng's assistant..." Wang Yelong told himself.

But even after the plane landed and he returned home, he still found himself booting up his computer to continue searching. He even dug up all the events held by the Chen Group's film and television subsidiary since its establishment and started scouring the photos from each one. After searching all night, he finally found a tabloid piece from about seven or eight years ago. It contained a banquet photo that captured the profile of a man in a suit, with an air of distinction, in a corner.

Wang Yelong stared at the photo with a strong intuition that this man was Chen Jinsheng.

But was this Chen Jinsheng the same Chen Jinsheng?

Wang Yelong tried hard to sketch Chen Jinsheng's outline in his mind, but with only half a face and the blurry profile in the photo, it was really difficult to match them up.

He downloaded the photo, circled the man in it, and sent it to a private detective he often worked with.

"Help me check this person out."

The private detective immediately replied with a "1."

Wang Yelong breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose, then got up to grind himself a cup of coffee. When he returned to his computer with the steaming coffee, he saw that the private detective had sent another message over ten minutes ago.

"We don't investigate this person."

Wang Yelong immediately put down his coffee, not even bothering to sit down, and sent a message:

"Why?"

The other end didn't reply. He sent a few more follow-ups:

"Us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Besides you, who else won't investigate?"

The private detective was slow to reply. Wang Yelong sent a red envelope. The usually instantly accepted red envelope took several minutes to be claimed this time, and it only earned him a brief few words.

"It's an unwritten rule in the industry."

Meaning it would be useless to ask anyone else.

Wang Yelong thought for a moment, then sent another message:

"Chen Jinsheng."

"Then check this person out."

This time, he waited a full half hour, until his coffee went cold, before he received a message.

"We don't investigate this person either."