Chapter 5

I drank my milk tea while reading the comments.

Because of Gu Zhixing’s appearance, he successfully drew another wave of hate for me.

I successfully obtained another five million.

“What are you looking at?”

Gu Zhixing rolled up his sleeves, sat down naturally, and started peeling an apple for me.

His eyes were lowered, his eyelashes long and curled, and the shape of his eyes—hooked at the inner corners and lifted at the outer—looked exceptionally exquisite.

I smiled lightly, “Looking at the people in the comments praising your perky butt.”

Gu Zhixing’s hand, which was peeling the apple, paused. He frowned. “What kind of inappropriate nonsense are you reading?”

He reached out and took my phone away. “Look at your phone less and rest more.”

I was defiant and wanted to snatch it back.

But I was met with Gu Zhixing’s cold glare. “Don’t move around recklessly, be careful of your foot.”

I instantly went quiet out of fear.

Save me, he’s genuinely terrifying like this.

Those people in the comments wanting to be with him, how do they have the guts?!

Facts proved that there were still people looking for a death wish.

The hospital room was only quiet for a little while.

I saw someone poke their head in at the door.

It was Jiang Yingying.

She was carrying a fruit basket, wearing a pink and tender short skirt that really showed off her figure.

As soon as she came in, she said, “Mentor Qin, what happened in the lounge before was my fault. But you also splashed orange juice on me, so please cool down your anger and forgive me.”

As Jiang Yingying spoke, tears actually welled up in her eyes, looking completely pitiful, while her gaze kept darting towards Gu Zhixing.

Knowing exactly what she was playing at, I nudged Gu Zhixing, “Hey, she’s talking to you. She’s putting on such a hard-working performance, how can you not even spare a glance.”

As soon as I said this, Jiang Yingying’s expression froze, and it took a long while for her to squeeze out tears again.

“Mentor Qin, what are you talking about? Even though I know the video of you splashing me with orange juice was put online and got you scolded, I am sincerely apologizing to you.”

I mimicked her in a mocking tone, “I am sincerely apologizing to you, aba aba…”

Sure enough, after abandoning my manners, my overall mental state improved a lot.

Gu Zhixing let out a deep chuckle and handed me the peeled apple.

Jiang Yingying was incredibly angry, but she was still prepared to keep up the act.

She looked pitifully at Gu Zhixing, “With Mentor Qin acting like this, are you still going to protect her?”

Me: ?

No way, which of her eyes saw Gu Zhixing protecting me?

Gu Zhixing didn’t give Jiang Yingying a single look, stating in a deep voice, “Miss Jiang, please leave. Qin Xiang needs peace to recover.”

Jiang Yingying completely lost her composure, stomped her feet, and stormed off angrily.

Gu Zhixing stared straight at me, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t need me?”

I chomped happily on my apple and waved my hand grandly, “Of course I don’t need you.”

Gu Zhixing stared at me for a long time, then smiled again.

He stood up and made a phone call. “Handle all the hate comments about Qin Xiang for me.”

Hearing this, my motion of eating the apple stiffened.

No way bro, are you an idiot?

Those are the hate comments I worked so hard to cultivate, those are my money!

I successfully stopped Gu Zhixing’s attempt to clear my name.

After all, I still needed to rely on those hate comments to make money.

Because I sprained my ankle and was absent for a few recordings, the show’s popularity unexpectedly plummeted.

The chief director called me like a sycophant, asking if I could hurry back to record.

I laughed.

I never had this kind of treatment in the past.

Working diligently actually couldn’t compare to acting crazy and chasing clout.

As soon as I arrived, I found someone sitting in my lounge.

It was Gu Yan.

The moment he saw me, he shot up from his seat.

“Mentor Qin, I’m so sorry. I was in the wrong a while ago, and I’ve taken your criticism to heart…”

As he spoke, he squatted down.

I didn’t know where he pulled out a bottle of medicinal oil from, but he reached out, about to touch my ankle.

I dodged slightly, avoiding him.

Gu Yan instantly started pretending to be wronged, “Has Mentor Qin not forgiven me yet?”

It’s no wonder this guy had so many fans; looking like this, he was quite handsome.

But this old lady has been in the entertainment circle for so long, what kind of handsome guy haven’t I seen?

Furthermore, this guy really thought I was blind.

His manager was holding a phone, hiding not far away, waiting to film who knows what?

I chuckled, reaching out to lift Gu Yan’s chin. “A popular young actor begs for mercy humbly, but the senior is ungrateful and flirts back instead. How about this headline? Is it enough to make you go viral, hmm?”

A trace of panic instantly flashed in Gu Yan’s eyes. “I don’t understand what Mentor Qin is talking about.”

I sneered, “I told you, your acting is really terrible. If you want to take photos, hurry up and take them, and you better pick a few good-looking ones to post, otherwise…”

Gu Yan lowered his eyes, seeming to silently admit to my words.

I was just about to open my mouth to continue threatening him, when my body suddenly felt light.

Gu Zhixing, who had stood behind me at some unknown point, suddenly swept me up into his arms. His deep eyes stared at me so intensely my back went cold. “You promised me you’d recover properly, is this how you do it?”

Me: ……

Why do I feel this guilty conscience of being caught red-handed?

I mouthed to Gu Yan, “Save me, save me.”

Gu Yan looked at Gu Zhixing, who looked ready to eat someone, and immediately took his leave. “Mentor Qin, it seems it’s not very convenient for you today, so I’ll get going first.”

With that, he oiled his soles and prepared to slip away.

“If even one of the photos you took leaks out, just wait and see.”

Gu Zhixing’s tone was icy, filled with a heavy warning.

Gu Yan immediately gave his manager a look.

The manager bowed and scraped, saying, “It’s already been deleted, CEO Gu. You can check.”

Gu Zhixing didn’t bestow a single glance on him.

He carried me, took a long stride, and tossed me onto the sofa.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gu Yan’s manager even sycophantically close the door.

Me: ……

Backstabbing teammates, I hate it.

“Not nursing your injury properly, and running over here to act lovey-dovey with another man?”

Gu Zhixing’s brows knitted into a tight knot, the color of his eyes unfathomably deep.

I gulped, “I’m pretty much fully healed.”

Gu Zhixing squatted down and reached out, placing my foot on his lap.

The man’s large hands were slender with distinct knuckles, gently and softly massaging my ankle.

“It’s still red, and you call this healed?” Gu Zhixing gritted his teeth a bit. “You just came here to look for other men.”

I smiled faintly. “I wouldn’t go so far as to abandon a big handsome guy like you to look for other men.”

The truth was, I didn’t want any stinky men at all.

Gu Zhixing pursed his lips, seemingly very receptive to these words.

While he was massaging, the director’s assistant came knocking on the door. “Teacher Qin, the recording is starting, please arrive as soon as possible.”

Me: ……

No way bro, you should be telling this guy next to me.

Gu Zhixing’s movements massaging my foot didn’t stop, and it took a long while before he opened his mouth.

“I’ll let you off the hook for today. Next time, I’ll settle the score with you.”

The content for these next few episodes was dividing the contestants into groups, with mentors pairing up with them to perform scripts.

Because I had been absent for a few recordings.

The production team took it upon themselves to assign me the group of contestants with the lowest popularity.

I smiled and looked around at the five contestants.

They were all relatively low-key and focused on themselves.

Especially the one in the middle named Guo Jing, her skills were quite good.

However, Guo Jing and the others were clearly not very satisfied with this assignment.

Guo Jing hesitated for a long time, then regardless of the live cameras, raised her hand to signal for a pause.

“Director, I request to change mentors.”

She probably thought I was just a clout-chaser or someone who climbed up relying on a sugar daddy, and that she couldn’t learn anything real from following me.

The director didn’t answer, instead letting the broadcasting director aim all the cameras at us.

I was helpless.

Being questioned for clout-chasing, I had no objections.

After all, I needed hate comments to make money.

But doubting my professional competence, I wouldn’t accept.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I patted her shoulder. “We haven’t even acted a scene together yet, how do you know I’m completely useless?”

Guo Jing hesitated, wanting to retort, but considering the cameras, she swallowed it all back down.

“I didn’t win my awards for nothing.” I casually picked up the script next to me. “Just this scene, I’ll act it out with you once. If I can thoroughly convince you, then please stop questioning my professionalism.”

The scene I pointed at was the climax of this play.

It was about a female undercover agent in a drug trafficking organization being suspected by the female boss.

I chose the role of the female boss.

This role heavily relied on acting skills and aura, but that was exactly what I wanted.

Guo Jing also had a bit of a temper, and agreed on the spot.

I curled my lips. “Then, let’s wait and see.”

In the lounge, I kept my head down, studying the script.

Gu Zhixing stared at me from the side, hesitating to speak.

I was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re on the trending search. Do you need me to take it down for you?”

Oho, it looks like it’s a negative trending search.

I happily unlocked my phone, and everything in sight was trending hashtags about me.

#QinXiangErIssuesAChallenge#

#QinXiangEr GuoJing#

#QinXiangErOverestimatingHerAbilities#