ST CHAPTER 12

At first, Wei Jiayi didn’t understand what Zhao Jing was talking about. He asked again, “Sue him for what?” He couldn’t figure out how Zhao Jing had suddenly become so familiar with the situation between him and Pan Yifei that he was now offering legal advice. If he remembered correctly, Zhao Jing had just been in a meeting.

Zhao Jing raised an eyebrow and reminded him, “He paid for PR articles to shift the focus away from himself and clear his name by smearing you.”

His tone conveyed disappointment as if he thought Wei Jiayi was a fool.

Only then did Wei Jiayi begin to understand. Zhao Jing was referring to the online posts targeting him. Most of them had been paid for by Pan Yifei’s agency, portraying Wei Jiayi as a gay man infatuated with Pan Yifei during their time as roommates. They claimed he harassed Pan Yifei relentlessly, even forcing him to move out.

In truth, these kinds of articles had become scarce over the past couple of years, and Wei Jiayi had no idea how Zhao Jing had stumbled upon them.

Wei Jiayi couldn’t understand why Zhao Jing was bothering with this. Had Zhao Jing, after just a few days of interaction, decided Wei Jiayi was now one of the citizens under his jurisdiction? After all, Wei Jiayi had recently been elevated to a special status, even ranking slightly higher than Li Mingmian.

Joking aside, this was one topic Wei Jiayi couldn’t go along with Zhao Jing.

The issue lay with Wei Jiayi himself.

Wei Jiayi always treated Pan Yifei’s agency and Pan Yifei himself as two separate entities. He knew this was mostly a way to comfort himself, but it made him feel a little better.

Objectively speaking, Pan Yifei hadn’t treated Wei Jiayi all that poorly.

During holidays, Pan Yifei would have his assistant send Wei Jiayi food. He often called to check in on him.

After the magazine shoot incident, Pan Yifei called two months later to apologize. He explained that he hadn’t been informed by his agent until after the shoot was over. If he had known, he wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.

Pan Yifei was mild-mannered, polite, and careful in everything he did, making it almost impossible to stay angry at him. Unless he suddenly started gambling, drinking, and womanizing, racking up massive debts and refusing to repay Wei Jiayi, the two of them were unlikely to ever end up in court.

Besides, even though Wei Jiayi knew Pan Yifei couldn’t have been entirely unaware of his agent’s actions, it was also true that when Wei Jiayi had taken those first photos of him, he had liked Pan Yifei.

In this situation, Pan Yifei had been transparent, while Wei Jiayi was far from innocent. The news articles weren’t entirely wrong about that.

Regardless, Wei Jiayi had no intention of discussing any of this with Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing wasn’t someone he would ever choose to confide in, let alone seek advice from.

He couldn’t fathom why Zhao Jing was digging into this, especially since they weren’t particularly close.

If this concern was due to Wei Jiayi being a temporary subordinate, it felt like he was crossing a boundary. Moreover, Zhao Jing seemed like someone who hadn’t even had the chance to develop any real concept of emotions. Taking advice from him was like asking a beetle on the roadside how to calculate the shaded area of a polygon.

But Zhao Jing evidently didn’t see it that way. He was still waiting for Wei Jiayi to respond, arms crossed and his face showing restrained patience. His light brown shirt, a blend of linen and silk, clung perfectly to the muscles of his upper arms. The fabric was impeccably ironed, and even the faint creases seemed to exude an air of wealth.

It was as if, with just a word from Wei Jiayi, a team of lawyers would descend on the island by helicopter, ready to draft a lawsuit.

Looking at the determined yet socially oblivious Zhao Jing, Wei Jiayi felt a headache coming on. After some thought, he decided to create a bit of psychological distance between them and cautiously asked, “President Zhao, why do you want to help me?”

“What do you mean?” Zhao Jing’s lips twitched unhappily as he looked at Wei Jiayi. He seemed arrogant on the surface, but Wei Jiayi knew it was because he didn’t know how to answer. Admitting he was acting out of concern would bruise his ego, and calling it meddling was out of the question.

“It’s nothing. Very few people bring up things like this with me. Thank you for your concern.” Wei Jiayi smiled, his mind racing as he tried to subtly steer the conversation away from the topic without offending Zhao Jing. “There’s a reason I’m not pursuing such small matters, but it’s not something easy to explain.”

Wei Jiayi paused, mainly because he hadn’t yet thought of a specific explanation.

Zhao Jing immediately seized on his words. “Not pursuing such small matters? Are you waiting for something bigger to happen? What’s the reason? Tell me.”

Zhao Jing meddled in Wei Jiayi’s personal affairs as though it were his right to do so, and although Wei Jiayi understood that his intentions were good, it still felt like he had crossed a line. Unsure how to silence him, Wei Jiayi opted for bluntness. “Because I can’t exactly sue them for defamation. The articles say I’m gay, and that’s not wrong. They say I had a crush on Pan Yifei—that’s not entirely false either.”

Zhao Jing’s gaze shifted slightly, revealing a flicker of surprise. His arms dropped from their crossed position as he asked, “Do you really have a crush on him?”

“I had a crush on him,” Wei Jiayi reluctantly corrected, feeling deeply awkward. The conversation had veered into emotional territory he had no intention of discussing with Zhao Jing.

Zhao Jing’s expression twisted slightly. After a few seconds, he said, “If it went to court, as long as you don’t admit it, who would know you ever had a crush? You could still sue.”

“…There’s no need to sue.” Wei Jiayi felt helpless as if he were trying to reason with a child. Forcing himself to stay patient, he met Zhao Jing’s gaze. “No matter what, he’s hired me for photoshoots, and I’ve collaborated with his agency several times. They’re practically one of my main sources of income. If fans curse at me, at most, I suffer a bit of mental stress—but as long as I ignore it, it doesn’t actually harm me. On the other hand, if I sue a client, who’s going to want to work with me in the future?”

This time, Wei Jiayi’s logic was solid enough to finally quiet Zhao Jing, though his expression still showed dissatisfaction.

Wei Jiayi cautiously let out a sigh of relief. He had initially planned to casually praise Zhao Jing for his kindness and offer a few words of thanks or apology to end the conversation. But before he could, Zhao Jing let out a cold snort and said, “Fine.” After a brief pause, he added, “I’ll hire a PR firm and spend some money to get the posts deleted.”

He spoke in a low voice like he’d been gravely wronged by Wei Jiayi.

After spending more time with Zhao Jing, Wei Jiayi had come to realize that his intimidating appearance and temper were just for show. Despite seeming cold and self-centered, Zhao Jing was surprisingly easy to deceive and had a good heart, even if his acts of kindness were a little over the top.

Wei Jiayi suddenly couldn’t think of anything profound to say. It felt as though any words he offered now would seem half-hearted compared to Zhao Jing’s determined efforts. In the end, all he managed was, “Thank you.”

Zhao Jing gave an irritated grunt, clearly still annoyed with Wei Jiayi’s ineffectiveness. “But you’ve got terrible taste. That Pan guy is so ugly. Just looking at his photos made my eyes hurt.”

“Sorry,” Wei Jiayi apologized immediately. “I didn’t take good pictures.”

“The few you took were okay. The rest were horrible,” Zhao Jing abruptly corrected, before continuing his attack. “And his cooking looked awful too—it doesn’t compare to what Lini’s aunt made, yet you still called it a feast.”

Seeing that Zhao Jing’s mood had visibly improved, Wei Jiayi played along. “Exactly, exactly. It’s mainly because I hadn’t had much good food to compare it to.”

When that social media post was mentioned again, Wei Jiayi had a sudden epiphany. While Zhao Jing’s words were harsh, they weren’t entirely wrong. Almost as if speaking to both Zhao Jing and himself, he said, “I’ll delete that post. There’s really no point in keeping it.”

Wei Jiayi meant he would delete it later in the evening when he had some free time. To his surprise, Zhao Jing leaned in slightly, craning his neck to peer down at Wei Jiayi’s phone screen, and ordered, “Mm, delete it.”

It was clear Zhao Jing intended for him to delete it on the spot.

Having no other choice, Wei Jiayi opened his Moments and frantically scrolled down for a long time before finally finding the post. Just as he was about to tap the delete button in the top-right corner, fragments of memories flashed through his mind. It had been early spring.

Pan Yifei was about to join a film crew in Xinjiang. The day before his departure, Wei Jiayi had returned from an out-of-town job on a night flight to see him off and help him pack. Pan Yifei had stuffed all his heavy clothing into his bag, then hugged Wei Jiayi like a good friend and said, “Thank you, Jiayi.”

That evening, Pan Yifei had prepared a lavish meal. It took Wei Jiayi two days to finish the leftovers.

After that, Pan Yifei went straight from one film shoot to the next and never returned. By December, their lease had expired. By then, Wei Jiayi was no longer struggling financially and decided to move to a new place. He asked Pan Yifei if he wanted any of the belongings he’d left behind. Busy as ever, Pan Yifei sent his assistant to handle it. When Wei Jiayi went downstairs, he noticed the assistant shoving all the bags into the building’s garbage room.

Thinking back now, it didn’t hurt much anymore. After all, the feelings had never run that deep to begin with. Pain faded. Nothing had happened, and there was nothing worth holding onto.

Wei Jiayi pressed delete. Zhao Jing straightened his neck as he pulled away. With a haughty tone, he complained, “Just looking at those dishes was painful.”

Wei Jiayi glanced at him and, for some reason, couldn’t help but laugh at Zhao Jing’s begrudging tone.

Zhao Jing naturally noticed. He questioned, “Wei Jiayi, you think this is funny?”

“I didn’t expect you to care so much about me,” Wei Jiayi explained. “You even offered to hire a PR firm to clean up the posts about me. Thinking about it, I feel really moved.”

The words sounded so insincere that even someone as gullible as Zhao Jing could tell. He let out a cold snort. “Empty flattery.”

Zhao Jing’s expression was so amusing that Wei Jiayi felt the urge to pat him on the arm to reassure him not to be upset. He even started to reach out but stopped halfway, thinking better of it.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Jing asked.

“Nothing,” Wei Jiayi replied. “I thought you had some dirt on your clothes.”

Zhao Jing immediately looked down. Only after confirming his sleeve was spotless did he relax.