Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 129

“You think Sharp Sword became popular on its own? You really think it was all organic word of mouth? Zhan Hongyuan invested two hundred million to make it popular. Do you have any concept of what two hundred million means?”

“Zhan Hongyuan has been involved in more than just this one life lawsuit. I can only say this much. I’m afraid if I say more it’ll get deleted.”

“Anyone upstairs who’s afraid of getting deleted, can you DM me? I want to see!”

“Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t know who Zhan Hongyuan is?”

“Isn’t Zhan Hang just propped up by his dad? Otherwise with his acting skills, he’d still be ‘future promising’ at thirty, hehe.”

Countless vicious comments and curses came crashing down like a tidal wave. Zhao Kaile’s chest felt tight as he read them. He gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning a bit white.

This wasn’t his first time witnessing the malice netizens left behind through their keyboards across the internet. But facing such a massive wave of condemnation was a first. He couldn’t understand these people’s behavior. He felt they didn’t understand Zhan Hang at all, couldn’t even be called acquainted with him, yet they could without any reservations criticize and wildly slander a complete stranger online. All of this seemed especially absurd.

On set, Zhan Hang, who was currently filming, seemed to sense something. His right eyelid inexplicably twitched faster. The unlucky thing still happened. That same buzzing sound from yesterday attacked him once again.

Across the dining table, Ou Xiaoqin was very immersed in her role. Her brows slightly raised, she said to him with a cold expression, “Mr. Jia, I told you. It’s impossible between us. Please don’t come bothering me again.”

Zhan Hang endured the discomfort, trying his utmost to show a sincere expression in his eyes. “Before I misunderstood you two. I deserve to die… Give me one more chance. I won’t make the same mistake again!”

“You think playing me is fun?” Ou Xiaoqin sneered coldly. She stood up, picked up her bag, fixed her hair, grabbed a water glass, and very quickly splashed it toward Zhan Hang’s face. “Go tell that to the few fish in your pond. Don’t act all lovey dovey in front of me. It makes me sick just looking at it!”

After splashing the water she turned and left, her long hair flying, high and mighty, full of queen energy.

Zhan Hang reflexively closed his eyes, quickly reached out to wipe the water from his face, and suddenly stood up to chase after her and grab her hand. But he stood up too abruptly, and that buzzing sound grew even stronger.

He frowned deeply, stepped forward and grabbed Ou Xiaoqin’s arm, trying hard to focus his attention on what was in front of him, speaking his line from memory, “Listen to my explanation! It’s not what you think!”

Ou Xiaoqin was about to push back when Chen Fang suddenly called cut.

At this moment, every sound that reached Zhan Hang’s ears seemed muffled and restless, including Chen Fang’s.

The Ou Xiaoqin in front of him reined in her emotions. Zhan Hang’s first reaction was confusion. His second reaction was to stop his movement. Although he connected these two reactions fairly smoothly, Ou Xiaoqin still detected that something was off with him.

She looked at Zhan Hang with some worry, then looked at Chen Fang, waiting anxiously for the director to speak.

“Zhan Hang, why have you been a bit off these past two days?” Chen Fang came over and said to Zhan Hang, his tone still relatively polite. “You must rest well when you need to rest. I feel like in this scene, your reactions to Xiaoqin are a bit off.”

Zhan Hang was restless from the noise in his ears. He responded vaguely, then requested a few minutes of rest. Chen Fang agreed.

He exited the set. Ou Xiaoqin was truly worried and wanted to follow and ask him what was wrong. But she saw her assistant run over with a complex expression, hand her the phone, and whisper a few words in her ear. Ou Xiaoqin was completely baffled. She took it and looked at it a few times. The more she looked, the more alarmed she became, her eyes gradually widening.

Zhan Hang returned to his resting spot. When Zhao Kaile saw him come back, he hadn’t figured out how to tell him about the things going viral online yet. He could only put his phone away first, grab a towel, and wipe the water from his face and body. But Zhan Hang was supporting his forehead, frowning, seeming a bit anxious.

Seeing this, Zhao Kaile understood what was going on. He lowered his head and asked, “Ringing in the ears again?”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement.

Zhao Kaile said, “Go to the hospital.”

“A whole room of people is waiting for me here. How can I go now?” Zhan Hang said to him in a low voice. “We’ll talk about it tonight.”

Zhao Kaile was helpless. But the work site was crowded with people and many eyes watching. He couldn’t throw that little tantrum at Zhan Hang. So he leaned over and reached out to help massage the pressure points on his head. Zhan Hang squinted his eyes, made a vague sound, and his brows slightly relaxed.

As Zhao Kaile massaged him, his mind was heavy with worry. He was afraid the examination results would be very serious. He also worried that after Zhan Hang learned about Zhan Hongyuan’s situation, his reaction would exceed what he could handle… Amidst his chaotic thoughts, he let out a breath. He looked up and met Ou Xiaoqin’s gaze.

Both of them were startled.

Ou Xiaoqin smiled awkwardly, then turned her head and continued talking with her assistant. Zhao Kaile’s heart sank slightly. He knew she must have also seen or heard the relevant information.

What would she do? Would she directly distance herself from him? If this matter blew up too much, would the drama stop filming or change actors midway? What should they do then?

The more Zhao Kaile thought about it, the more his heart grew chaotic. He felt that every whisper around him was secretly discussing the rumors rapidly fermenting online. Zhan Hang called out to him twice but he didn’t hear.

“What are you thinking about?” Zhan Hang opened his eyes, looked at him with confusion, reached out and pinched his face. “Still online? Hello.”

“…” Zhao Kaile asked speechlessly, “Feeling better?”

“Much better.” Zhan Hang slightly raised the corner of his mouth, signaling him not to worry. “We’ll go after wrap.”

Zhao Kaile nodded, silently beginning to arrange the evening schedule in his mind.

A moment later filming resumed.

However, something even more puzzling happened. Before the break, the one who dropped the ball was Zhan Hang. After the break, it became Ou Xiaoqin. The male and female leads taking turns dragging down the crew’s work. Unheard of.

Chen Fang was practically at his wit’s end. He called cut several times, then helplessly called cut again.

Ou Xiaoqin apologized repeatedly, her expression a bit embarrassed. During filming she several times avoided Zhan Hang’s gaze, completely losing the ease she had before. Chen Fang lost his patience. He pointed at the staff members around him one by one and cursed at them all. Ou Xiaoqin knew he was doing this to save her face, scolding the locust tree while pointing at the mulberry tree. She could only apologize to him once more.

Chen Fang waved his hand and said, “No need to say these things. We’ll continue whenever you two are in the zone.”

Ou Xiaoqin slightly lowered her head, took a deep breath, as if making some kind of resolution. She raised her eyes and looked at Zhan Hang.

Zhan Hang was startled, raising his brow to return an inquiring look.

“Hang ge.” Ou Xiaoqin bit her lip and asked him in a low voice, “Did you see what’s going around online… Hualai Group’s Zhan Hongyuan, you… he is…”

Thanks to the original post, countless people who had been harmed by Zhan Hongyuan’s forces, those with some connection or no connection at all but who just wanted to earn some traffic, were all wildly sharing the various evil deeds he had committed since rising to power. Even Ou Xiaoqin before her debut had once been affected, nearly becoming one of his victims.

Hearing the three words Zhan Hongyuan from her mouth, Zhan Hang was completely stunned. His pupils suddenly contracted. His heartbeat abruptly accelerated. That strange buzzing sound returned to his ears. All human voices were drowned out by it. Ou Xiaoqin saw that he had no reaction for a long time and grew a bit anxious. She reached out and touched Zhan Hang’s arm, but he reflexively pushed her away.

Ou Xiaoqin staggered a step, looking at him with a face full of shock. “Hang ge?”

Zhan Hang’s expression darkened slightly. He tried his utmost to calm himself down, speaking rapidly, “Sorry… I suddenly don’t feel well. I need to step away for a moment.”

Ignoring everyone’s surprised gazes, Zhan Hang walked straight out of the filming site. Zhao Kaile hurriedly grabbed the bag and his jacket, quickly apologized to Chen Fang and gave an explanation, then turned to chase after Zhan Hang.

Everyone on set looked at each other. Chen Fang was about to lose his temper when an assistant girl came up and whispered a few words in his ear, successfully stopping him from exploding on the spot.

Ou Xiaoqin’s heart was conflicted, her expression a bit dazed. She stood in place for a long time without speaking. Her assistant came over to persuade her for a while and helped her back to her resting spot.

All the way to the car, Zhan Hang still hadn’t recovered. Zhao Kaile stuffed him into the car and instructed Ding Peng to drive to the hospital.

Zhan Hang held one hand over his ear, his brows tightly locked, seeming to be in extreme agony. When Zhao Kaile touched his forehead and face, he was actually breaking out in fine cold sweat.

“What did Ou Xiaoqin say to you?” Zhao Kaile asked him, “Hang ge?”

Zhan Hang didn’t answer. He didn’t seem to notice someone was talking to him.

Zhao Kaile hesitated for a moment, then didn’t ask again. He lowered his head and sent messages to Lu Jiayin and Bai Li to report the situation. Then he opened the major platforms again and scrolled through the constantly refreshing public opinion.

“Report! A few more scam companies have been dug out. Zhan Hongyuan has shares in them.”

“Keep investigating, keep reporting!”

“Damn, I saw this company’s recruitment info in my city. My classmate almost went. Scary!”

“What kind of good son can a father like this raise? Fans, wake up. You’re only earning peanuts. Don’t end up getting scammed by your brother.”

He shouldn’t have opened it.

Zhao Kaile took a deep breath, looked up at the window, and tried to calmly close this app. In just a few short hours, the unread messages in his WeChat were about to explode. And now when he clicked in, he only dared to look at messages from those few pinned frequent contacts.

The car got stuck in traffic midway. Ding Peng sighed anxiously and muttered, “Traffic again…”

The car was terrifyingly quiet. He looked back at Zhan Hang, startled. “Hang, are you okay? Hang in there. I estimate with this traffic flow we’ll be out in a minute or two.”

Zhao Kaile said, “Don’t be nervous. Just drive.”

Ding Peng responded, then secretly observed Zhan Hang’s expression from the rearview mirror and let out a breath. He had also seen the online rumors, but didn’t dare ask more.

The sky was still a gray color. Light rain was drizzling. All around were the impatient and piercing honking of drivers. Zhan Hang suddenly opened his eyes and slammed his fist hard against the car window, startling the other two.

Zhao Kaile froze for a few seconds before reacting. He hurriedly went to hold his hand, raising his voice slightly as he asked, “Hang? What are you doing?”

“Not going to the hospital.” Zhan Hang looked ahead, his eyes slightly red, speaking with a hint of ferocity. “Go to Xinxiang.”

Hearing this, Ding Peng didn’t dare speak. Xinxiang had no other landmark places. There was only one prison. People who went there basically went to visit inmates.

Zhao Kaile turned his face back a bit, looked into his eyes, his expression clearly a bit anxious. “Hang, what’s wrong with you?? Look at me. Don’t be impulsive!”

Zhan Hang pushed his hand away, speaking in a deep voice to Ding Peng, repeating, “Go to Xinxiang!”

Zhao Kaile said urgently, “Zhan Hang! Can you hear clearly what I’m saying right now? You absolutely cannot appear there right now!”

They had been together for nearly two years. It was rare for Zhao Kaile to call him by his full name.

Zhan Hang seemed to finally hear what he was saying. He grabbed his hand in return, his brows slightly raised, carrying a mocking smile, his voice trembling, “Why can’t I go? Doesn’t he just want to make me miserable too? He knows he doesn’t have many good days left. He wants to get revenge on all of us…”

After panting for a moment, he then said angrily, “Then let him come! Doesn’t he want to ruin me? Let him come!”

Zhao Kaile’s wrist was being pinched red by Zhan Hang. He had never seen Zhan Hang lose his composure like this. He was immediately so shaken he couldn’t speak.

When Zhan Hang saw his eyes were slightly red, he finally regained some sanity. His Adam’s apple moved. Then he hugged Zhao Kaile tightly, pressing against his ear, and apologized in a low voice, “Sorry… sorry…”

Zhao Kaile’s eyes carried a hint of tears. He reached out to hug him back, stroking his spine, his heart twisting in pain.

“Hang ge, we need to stay calm. If someone photographs you appearing at Xinxiang, making a complete mess with Zhan Hongyuan, wouldn’t that really let him succeed?” His thoughts were a tangled mess. He was trying his utmost to organize a clear line of thought and analyze for Zhan Hang, “You are you. He is him. What kind of person he is has nothing to do with you. Right now who knows how many paid trolls are steering the narrative online. Others might not know, but don’t you know?”

Zhan Hang buried his face in his shoulder. His hands holding him were still trembling. He didn’t speak for a long time.

Zhao Kaile took a deep breath and said, “So many people are condemning him right now because the crimes Zhan Hongyuan committed are too vile. He has incurred public wrath. You’re a public figure. You have a blood relation with him, so you’ll definitely be implicated by him… The only thing we can do now is try to minimize the impact on you… Right, as long as we prove that all your resources since debut have nothing to do with Zhan Hongyuan, then we can…”

When he said this, his heart gave a violent jump. The work with the highest visibility since Zhan Hang’s debut was the one invested in by Zhan Hongyuan.

Only at this moment did Zhao Kaile truly realize that Zhan Hongyuan’s vileness far exceeded his imagination. He had always judged Zhan Hongyuan with normal human thinking and perspective. He realized he was gravely mistaken.

Zhan Hongyuan may have long ago set up traps big and small along Zhan Hang’s life trajectory. No matter how carefully Zhan Hang tried to avoid them, in the end he would be dragged down by him, sinking together into the mud.

Zhan Hang’s voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke, “Forget it.”

Zhao Kaile said, “You’re innocent.”

“Forget it.” Zhan Hang repeated. Then he let go of Zhao Kaile, his face full of exhaustion as he said to Ding Peng, “Not going to Xinxiang. Not going anywhere. Home.”

Zhao Kaile said with a hint of anger, “Go to the hospital!”

Zhan Hang seemed to have exhausted all his strength. He didn’t argue with him too much, speaking with self mockery, “What good would getting better do… It’s already over.”

It’s all over.

Brand endorsements, filming schedules, hit variety shows. As long as he didn’t successfully extract himself from this explosive scandal for one day, all cooperative projects and plans would quickly formally terminate their contracts with him. Whatever past bonds, deep friendships, old connections were all useless.

Zhao Kaile was both angry and heartbroken. He spoke in a deep voice, “Things can’t get worse than they are now, Hang ge. It’s already like this. Don’t ruin your own body.”

Zhan Hang leaned back against the seat, one hand covering his eyes, not responding.