Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 44

The more Zhao Kaile listened to this voice, the more familiar it sounded, so he suspiciously craned his neck to look, nearly popping his eyeballs out.

The woman who had just spoken was none other than Jin Mengjie!

Then the two tall men wearing masks and hats beside her must definitely be Li Yang and Zhan Hang.

Zhao Kaile quickly sat up straight, his face full of surprise. Wasn’t Zhan Hang very resistant to eating with Li Yang?? He would decline every time it was brought up, making all sorts of excuses. How did he turn around and agree?

“What are you spacing out for? Eat.” Zhao Kaiming was swishing thin slices of lamb in the pot while saying to him, “What are you looking at? Someone you know?”

Zhao Kaile, “Uh…”

It was indeed someone he knew.

He thought about it and lowered his head to send a message to Zhan Hang.

The female server came over again and said, “Gentlemen, sorry to bother you, but this gentleman asked if he could share your table?”

Zhao Kaile looked up at her, then looked behind her. Zhan Hang was coldly watching him. Zhao Kaiming didn’t see anyone at all. His eyes only took in Jin Mengjie with her hair in a bun and her sweet smile.

“Sure.” He said with a straight face, “The three of you together, right? No problem. Come, sit.”

Zhao Kaile, “…”

The group sat down. The server left. Zhao Kaile quickly jumped up and pulled down the half curtain beside the small booth, saying to Jin Mengjie with a worried tone, “Why did you bring them here? The privacy here isn’t strong. The wind from people walking past can blow this little curtain up!”

Jin Mengjie said innocently, “It wasn’t my choice to come here.”

“Why are you being fierce to her? She didn’t provoke you or bother you…” Zhao Kaiming agreed halfway, then reacted and looked at the two of them in shock, “Wait, you two know each other?”

Li Yang took off his mask and said with a smile, “It’s been a while since I had hot pot. The weather’s cold, so it was perfect to come.”

Zhan Hang also took off his mask and said with a blank expression, “I chose this place. I happened to see you here. Leaching off your table, no problem right?”

“…” Zhao Kaile’s face changed like Sichuan opera, revealing a fake smile, “Haha, no problem, of course no problem.”

Now the only one left shocked was Zhao Kaiming. His eyes went back and forth between the two of their faces, his mouth going uh uh ah ah for a long time, but he couldn’t say their names.

Jin Mengjie turned to him and made a pleading gesture, “Handsome guy, please please, don’t go out and talk randomly. This meal is on me.”

“Damn.” Zhao Kaiming finally spoke, his hands shaking with excitement, “OK! OK! No problem!”

These two, one heartless and one with social awesome syndrome, added each other on WeChat after chatting for a bit and were laughing and talking. The small booth was instantly filled with lively air.

Li Yang ate quietly and didn’t seem to deliberately try to strike up conversation with Zhan Hang. He occasionally said something like a certain dish was pretty good. When Jin Mengjie heard, she would serve him two chopsticks worth, occasionally asking if they needed to add more of this dish.

Zhao Kaile had a head full of black lines, always feeling the atmosphere had become very strange.

Zhan Hang sat on the same side as him. Zhao Kaile didn’t speak, and he didn’t speak either. He only focused on swishing ingredients.

“Come come, that, Boss Zhan, sorry about what happened before. I misunderstood you.” Zhao Kaiming clinked bottled beer with him from across the table and said heroically, “I punish myself with one drink!”

“Small issue.” Zhan Hang raised his cup and clinked with him from afar, drinking a bit for the sake of it.

Jin Mengjie asked curiously, “What happened what happened?”

Zhao Kaiming laughed and said, “Ah, it was last time…”

“Cough!” Zhao Kaile suddenly turned outward and coughed several times, successfully interrupting his passionate speech.

“What?” Zhao Kaiming asked in confusion, “Choked? Eat slower, like someone is fighting you for it.”

“It’s fine it’s fine.” Zhao Kaile laughed, “I think we’ve eaten about enough… It’s getting late. Brother, what time is your train?”

Zhao Kaiming had a face full of wanting more, “Early, I haven’t even started drinking properly.”

He raised his beer can and shook it at Zhao Kaile, indicating there was still plenty.

Zhao Kaile broke out in a sweat on his forehead and could only proactively ask him about something else, to prevent him from steering the topic back.

The small TV in the booth had been broadcasting news the whole time. Right now it was broadcasting a car accident. The screen showed a pixelated scene. The broadcaster’s voice said, “This was a traffic accident caused by star chasing fans. In order to pursue their idol’s footsteps, they not only disrupted traffic rules, but also disregarded the safety of other people’s lives…”

Even with the pixelation, Zhao Kaile still recognized at a glance that it was the car Xiao Li had driven back. Cold sweat immediately poured down his back.

He really hadn’t expected that while the online discussion of this news had been suppressed, the local TV station hadn’t been stopped!

Zhan Hang also seemed to have his interest piqued by a few keywords in the broadcast. He looked up to see exactly where the accident had happened. Zhao Kaile panicked and let out a loud ah. Zhan Hang was stunned and turned to look at him. The three people across also looked up at him.

“Ah ah… ah ya.” Zhao Kaile’s mind worked fast in desperation, “Brother Hang, you got something on your face!”

Zhan Hang said speechlessly, “Making such a fuss over nothing. What did I get on my face?”

He rubbed his face with the back of his hand. Zhao Kaile quickly reached out, “Not there, let me.”

Zhan Hang then stopped moving and sat there letting him touch his face all over.

Zhao Kaile hmm’d for a while, not daring to meet his eyes. He could only look at the space between his eyebrows, then look at his jaw. The news broadcast finished. He rubbed hard with his fingertip, pretended to wipe his hand on a napkin, “Done.”

Zhan Hang, “…”

In a strange yet harmonious atmosphere, the group finished eating. Zhao Kaile went over first to settle the bill, to avoid Jin Mengjie and him arguing back and forth.

Zhao Kaile wore his mask while seeing Zhao Kaiming into the car.

The night wind was cold. Zhao Kaiming couldn’t help tightening his coat. With a bit of alcohol on his breath, he said, “Alright, go back. Brother thinks you look a bit taller. The food under your boss must be pretty good?”

“Mm.” Zhao Kaile said a bit worriedly, “Eat well. You’re not drunk right? Can you get back by yourself?”

Zhao Kaiming said disdainfully, “Beer can get me drunk??”

Zhao Kaile couldn’t be bothered with him. The two brothers bickered a couple sentences. The car came, so they said their goodbyes with a bit of reluctance.

When he went back, Li Yang had already left with Jin Mengjie. Zhan Hang was waiting for him in the car. Seeing the person come, he was about to open his mouth to ask something.

Zhao Kaile got into the back seat and directly struck first, “Brother Hang, didn’t you say you wouldn’t eat with Li Yang?”

The driver saw everyone was present, looked at Zhan Hang in the rearview mirror for confirmation, and started the car after receiving an affirmative response.

Zhan Hang looked at him and frowned, saying, “The moment I left the set he followed me. Wang Hua and the producer were both nearby. I couldn’t refuse.”

“But you can’t go to a hot pot restaurant either…” Zhao Kaile said, “There’s so much foot traffic, it’s not safe, and the food isn’t hygienic.”

Zhan Hang found it amusing, “Then why did you go?”

“You and I are different…” Zhao Kaile thought about it and said, “I feel like Li Yang doesn’t really have anything to ask of you. Wasn’t he just eating honestly over there?”

Zhan Hang said slowly, “Try changing the location?”

“Mm mm.” Zhao Kaile, “Brother Hang, I’m stupid. I don’t understand.”

“…” Zhan Hang didn’t know whether to scold him or praise him for a moment. He said indifferently, “According to his original idea, he would definitely find a quiet private room to sit down and eat with me. That would be a good place to chat. A hot pot restaurant is different. Plus there was an extra stranger sharing the table.”

Zhao Kaile made an expression of sudden realization.

“Don’t think you can fool your way past this.” Zhan Hang stared at him, warning him word by word, then relentlessly asked, “You were touching my face for so long just now. What exactly were you touching? There wasn’t actually anything on my face, right?”

Zhao Kaile stubbornly held on, “No, there really was something. A bit of sauce. Just a tiny bit. So I looked for a long time hehehe…”

“Zhao Kaile, I still haven’t settled accounts with you for pretending to have a stomachache last time.” Zhan Hang’s face instantly darkened, “Come clean! What are you hiding from me again!”

So Zhao Kaile couldn’t pretend anymore and said with a crying face, “I can’t tell you…”

Zhan Hang reached out and pinched his face, threatening fiercely, “Why can’t you say it? Did Bai Li tell you to keep something from me again?”

Zhao Kaile shut his mouth tight, his face saying “you can pinch me, even if you pinch me to death I won’t tell you!”

“?” Zhan Hang suddenly associated something, withdrew his hand and looked at him, saying, “Car accident? Star chasing?”

Zhao Kaile shook his head wildly.

Zhan Hang ignored this and continued, “Only one person in the car, driver injured, outer ring of Province A.”

Zhao Kaile, “No no no no…”

“You also suddenly told me that Xiao Li took leave to go back to his hometown to see his parents?” Zhan Hang was furious, “It was him who got into the accident??”

Zhao Kaile immediately caved and consciously shrank toward the window.

Zhan Hang lowered his head and opened his phone, searching for the keywords he had just recalled. Sure enough, he gathered some related information. He scrolled down a few images, zoomed in, and sure enough, it was the SUV Xiao Li had driven away.

“How is he doing now?” Zhan Hang asked, suppressing his anger.

Zhao Kaile hurriedly said, “He’s not seriously hurt. Just a lower leg fracture that needs a cast for a while. I just sent him a message and he even replied…”

“Damn…” Zhan Hang lowered his head, covering his eyes with his palm, and said in a deep voice, “I got him killed.”

Zhao Kaile wanted to comfort him but felt that nothing was appropriate to say at this moment. He reached out and gently patted his shoulder.

The car was silent for a moment.

Zhan Hang raised his eyes and asked, “What about those car followers? Were they caught?”

“Mm.” Zhao Kaile said, “The two ringleaders are in for a few days. Sister Li said the company is already drafting a statement.”

Zhan Hang let out a long breath, “Got it.”

“Brother Hang, the ones at fault are them, not you.” Zhao Kaile said seriously, “You focus on filming properly. Next time we have rest days, we’ll go to the hospital together to see him. Xiao Li knows what happened in his heart. He won’t blame you.”

The two looked at each other for a moment. Zhao Kaile sniffed his nose.

Zhan Hang, “…Mm.”