Chapter 6 – Support
After finishing his words, Jiang Liusui released his grip without any warning[mfn]毫无征兆 (háo wú zhēng zhào)[/mfn]. Wu Qi, who had been struggling with all his strength, nearly twisted his ankle from the sudden loss of resistance.
He barely managed to regain his balance, eyes blazing red. Spitting hard onto the floor, he jabbed a finger at Jiang Liusui.
“Just you wait!”
Then he turned and stormed out of the dressing room, slamming the door behind him with a deafening crash.
Wu Qi’s sweat still clung to his hands. He pulled out a wet wipe and slowly cleaned them off.
After a moment, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. The earlier arrogance faded from his expression, and genuine worry surfaced between his brows and eyes.
He knew clearly that he didn’t have much background or support and rarely resorted to outright confrontations. Unless pushed to the brink, he preferred not to make enemies[mfn]撕破脸 (sī pò liǎn) – lit. tear the face apart[/mfn].
His temper had flared up just now, leaving no room to consider the consequences. He trusted that Wu Qi wouldn’t dare cause trouble on set with He Yujing around—but He Yujing was only in charge of this MV shoot. If Wu Qi really decided to make things difficult later, blocking his chances at future work…
“It’s not my fucking fault,” Jiang Liusui muttered under his breath, frustration boiling over as he dragged a hand through his hair. “So damn annoying. Can that idiot Wu Qi just get lost already?”
***
Outside the dressing room, Wu Qi cursed loudly as he slammed the door shut. The moment he turned around, he met a pair of cold, inscrutable eyes.
Muttering inwardly about his rotten luck, he immediately plastered on a smile. “Teacher He.”
He Yujing spoke with an unreadable tone: “You made quite a commotion.”
“Ah, Xiao Jiang and I have some personal grudges.” Unsure how much He Yujing had overheard, Wu Qi’s mind raced as he stole a glance at his expression. Finally, he steeled himself and decided to lay everything out. “I let my emotions affect the shoot earlier. I’m sorry—I failed to maintain a professional mindset and ended up affecting your schedule.”
“Sorry?” He Yujing repeated the words with a hint of amusement. “Most people wouldn’t dare disrupt my work. Yet you not only did that—you even threatened the artist I’m working with, right in front of me. You’re quite capable.”
His voice wasn’t raised, and he even sounded faintly amused. Yet Wu Qi froze on the spot, unable to meet his gaze.
He had heard plenty of rumors about He Yujing. In the early years after his debut, He Yujing’s temper was even worse than now—he was an outright troublemaker. While most artists swallow their anger and endure[mfn]忍气吞声 (rěn qì tūn shēng)[/mfn] baseless slander[mfn]捕风捉影 (bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng) – lit. catching the wind and grabbing shadows[/mfn] from shady media, He Yujing would personally clap back and then use his connections to sue them into bankruptcy. The owner of one such media company had ultimately ended up behind bars because he was unable to pay compensation.
After this incident, no media outlet dared to recklessly spread rumors about him. It became common knowledge that He Yujing was formidable and not to be trifled with.
“Sorry, it’s my lack of professionalism,” Naturally, Wu Qi had no desire to provoke his wrath and apologized repeatedly.
Seeing that He Yujing showed no reaction, Wu Qi’s thoughts churned wildly. The reason he’d dared to stir up trouble for Jiang Liusui during the shoot wasn’t just because he assumed He Yujing wouldn’t step in—he had an even more important reason.
He Yujing was releasing a new song next month. If he clashed with Wu Qi now, it would be nearly impossible to find a director with both the right schedule and the right skills at such short notice. Wu Qi guessed that it was because he had deliberately made things difficult for Jiang Liusui—and dragging He Yujing into it—had likely made him angry. If he promised to behave professionally from now on, He Yujing likely wouldn’t press the issue.
Moreover, causing a scene on set like this was indeed somewhat embarrassing.
Wu Qi steeled his heart and said, “How about this? For the remaining scenes, I will film properly. I’m willing to accept only half of the agreed payment as a token of apology[mfn]聊表歉意 (liáo biǎo qiàn yì)[/mfn].”
He thought he had shown the utmost sincerity, but He Yujing responded with a hint of mockery, “No need. You’re done here.”
“Done?” Wu Qi repeated, almost thinking he had misheard. He couldn’t believe he was being dismissed so casually. He instinctively pressed further, “Then what about the MV?”
As if surprised that Wu Qi had the nerve to bring it up, He Yujing stared at him without saying a word. Wu Qi grew increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze and finally spoke up, “…I understand. The follow-up really isn’t my business. I was just asking casually.”
Wu Qi had worked hard to secure the chance to collaborate with He Yujing, and he never expected it to fall apart over such a trivial incident. Although resentful, he didn’t want to escalate the situation and took a step back: “In that case, I’Il take my leave—”
“Before you go,” He Yujing interrupted, “apologize to Jiang Liusui.”
Wu Qi was stunned, his forced smile finally slipping.
He felt He Yujing was pushing him too far, and his expression involuntarily twisted slightly: “Look… that isn’t really necessary, right?”
He could apologize to He Yujing without hesitation, but he couldn’t bring himself to say sorry to Jiang Liusui.
In Wu Qi’s eyes, bowing to someone of He Yujing’s status wasn’t shameful—who in their right mind wouldn’t? But Jiang Liusui? He had no fame, no connections with just a pretty face. Even if he had some talent, Wu Qi saw him as nothing more than a plaything.
“I know Xiao Jiang well. He definitely won’t take it to heart,” Wu Qi said with a strained smile. “Actually, it’s not something worth making a big deal out of. How about we just let it go? What do you think?”
He Yujing ignored him completely. “Weren’t you guilty when you kept calling so many NGs[mfn]NG – film/TV slang short for “No Good,” meaning a take or scene that has to be redone.[/mfn] during filming, dragging me into them?”
“……”
“While I’m still speaking reasonably, go and apologize to Jiang Liusui.”
His tone was calm and measured, yet Wu Qi felt the weight of his words pressing down on him like a mountain. A thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.
Wu Qi exchanged a glance with him, braced himself[mfn]硬着头皮 (yìng zhe tóu pí) – lit. forcefully hardening the scalp[/mfn], and turned to walk back toward the dressing room.
***
After Wu Qi stormed out, Jiang Liusui called Jiang Chuan. His agent seemed busy and didn’t answer immediately, so he briefly summarized the situation in a message and sent it over.
Jiang Liusui was restless and unsure how much trouble he had caused. Whenever it involved him, Shen Sijia’s nerves were even more sensitive than his own, and he didn’t want to worry her. Instead, he decided to bother the unfortunate Zhou Xun:
Jiang Liusui: Bro[mfn]兄弟 (xiōng dì) – refers to male siblings, older or younger; colloquially can be used more casually to refer to male peers or online friends, sometimes humorously.[/mfn], I might lose my job.
Zhou Xun: ?
Jiang Liusui: Can you support me?
Zhou Xun: Sure. You can share a kennel with Snowball.
Snowball was Zhou Xun’s Samoyed. Every time it sees Jiang Liusui, it goes wild and jumps on him like crazy. Unfortunately, Jiang Liusui was afraid of dogs and reacted to Snowball as if he’d seen a ghost.
Jiang Liusui: Never mind, then.
Zhou Xun steered the conversation back: What’s going on? Tell me.
Before Jiang Liusui could reply, the door swung open. To his surprise, Wu Qi had returned. Jiang Liusui’s nerves were on edge as he glared coldly at Wu Qi, wondering what trick he was about to pull. But when he caught sight of who followed behind him, he froze, just slightly.
The next moment—
Wu Qi’s expression was tense, and the muscles twitched with the effort to restrain himself.
“I’m here…” Wu Qi’s stiff voice seemed to squeeze through gritted teeth, “to apologize to you.”
“……” Jiang Liusui even wondered if he had misheard. “What?”
Wu Qi really didn’t want to repeat himself, but the man standing behind him spoke up at that moment: “He didn’t hear you clearly—sounds like your apology isn’t all that sincere.”
He Yujing said it lightly and casually, but Wu Qi felt as if he could kick him in the leg, forcing him to fall to his knees with a loud thud and express his sincerity to the fullest.
Suppressing his anger again and again, Wu Qi spoke numbly, thinking that the sooner he finished, the sooner it would be over: “I said, I’m sorry for deliberately slowing your progress before, and for saying those disrespectful things just now.”
Jiang Liusui blinked.
He looked at He Yujing and suddenly understood why Wu Qi’s attitude had changed so drastically. After thinking through the cause and effect, he found it even more unbelievable.
He had thought He Yujing simply wouldn’t allow Wu Qi to interfere with the MV shoot. He never expected that He Yujing would go so far as to make Wu Qi apologize to him personally.
“Oh,” Jiang Liusui said in a tone of astonishment, “Director Wu is apologizing to me?”
“……”
Then, catching sight of Wu Qi’s flustered, sulky face, Jiang Liusui couldn’t help but feel a small rush of power[mfn]狐假虎威 (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) – lit. the fox exploiting the tiger’s might; describes pretending to be powerful by leaning on someone stronger[/mfn]. “But honestly… I still find you annoying every time I see you.”
He Yujing chuckled silently behind Wu Qi.
“Alright, let’s put this matter behind us. We’ll terminate the contract on normal terms.”
Wu Qi’s expression eased slightly. A normal contract termination would avoid many subsequent disputes. Moreover, it wouldn’t sound bad if word got out—they could simply use an excuse like scheduling conflicts or creative differences to make it seem acceptable on the surface.
But then he realized he was actually feeling grateful for a single sentence from He Yujing—and promptly scowled at himself.
As if seeing through his thoughts, He Yujing gave his shoulder a casual pat. Wu Qi, understanding that this meant the matter was truly over, was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
He Yujing leaned close, his voice dropping to a whisper near Wu Qi’s ear:
“From now on… don’t even think about laying a hand on Jiang Liusui.”
Wu Qi’s scalp prickled, and he felt a surge of fear from those words alone. He accidentally caught a glimpse of He Yujing’s eyes, which were filled with unbridled arrogance.
In that instant, Wu Qi felt genuine regret.
He never expected He Yujing to be so fiercely protective of Jiang Liusui. Had he known earlier, even if he had borrowed ten times his courage, he wouldn’t have dared pull any of those little stunts.
At the same time, Wu Qi felt something very strange in his heart.
Was He Yujing… the type to step in and help when he saw injustice? Ridiculous. Why didn’t this young master just become the police of the entertainment industry?
He Yujing took a step back, returning to his normal volume: “Got it?”
“I understand everything,” Wu Qi hastily agreed, feeling that He Yujing’s earlier demeanor was truly terrifying. He had no intention of opposing him now.
“Good, that’s settled then.”
Wu Qi didn’t want to stay a moment longer. Hearing this, he turned and left as if granted a pardon. Jiang Liusui, seeing Wu Qi so flustered for the first time, felt particularly relieved.
After all, his conflict with Wu Qi was purely personal, but terminating the contract would affect the entire crew. By doing this, He Yujing had made it clear to Wu Qi that he was on Jiang Liusui’s side. Even if Wu Qi wanted to cause trouble for him later, he would have to think twice.
Wu Qi might have poor character, but his skills were undeniable. Even Jiang Liusui knew how difficult it would be to find a director of the same caliber on such short notice after the contract termination. This time, he truly owed He Yujing a huge favor.
“Yu-ge” Jiang Liusui said solemnly, “thank you.”
Before He Yujing could reply, Jiang Liusui kept going without pause: “How should I thank you? Let me treat you to a meal—what do you like to eat? Or I…” He Yujing lacked nothing; Jiang Liusui didn’t know how to properly express his gratitude, and even thought about saying, “Maybe I should kowtow to you.”
“I’ll always remember this. If you ever need anything in the future, I’ll do everything in my power to repay you.”
Unlike the tense, cold expression he had when Wu Qi pushed open the door earlier, Jiang Liusui now gazed at him earnestly, his clear black-and-white eyes sparkling like they held stars.
His reaction was quite endearing.
He Yujing smiled, understanding that Jiang Liusui’s gratitude was sincere, and brushed the matter off lightly. “Didn’t you just call me ‘ge’? Then it’s only right that I help you out.”
Jiang Liusui hadn’t expected him to be so accommodating. After a moment of surprise, he suddenly called out obediently: “Thank you, ge.”
“……”
He Yujing raised an eyebrow, feeling as if his ear had been gently pricked.
For some inexplicable reason, he wanted to hear him say it again.
— — — —
