Chapter Ninety-Seven: She Thought of Him as an Older Brother

Ye Ziyan still had one variety show to record on the Country Z side, so after the general’s birthday banquet last time, he flew straight back to City A.

He was wary of paparazzi, so he had been staying in hotels all along, changing rooms once a week.

For some reason, ever since he returned from the banquet, his head had been dizzy and heavy.

He swiped his card and entered his hotel suite.

In the corridor, after watching him go inside, one of the men asked quietly, “Is everything taken care of?”

“Yes. The drug has been administered, and I’ve sent the person in. The media has already been contacted. They’re waiting outside the hotel around the clock.”

“Good. This time there must be no mistakes, and no loose ends left behind.”

“Yes. I’ll destroy the hotel surveillance right away.”

…

When Ye Ziyan stepped inside, he saw a figure bulging beneath the blanket on the bed, as though someone was there.

A cruel light flashed through his eyes. He strode forward and yanked the covers away.

The figure on the bed was instantly exposed before him. It was her—the woman he had run into at the film city last time.

So, mocking him for never becoming Best Actor, and then drugging him and climbing into his bed—was this the kind of game she was playing?

Xia Wanqing felt as if she were being roasted over a fire. Her whole body was unbearably hot, and that familiar sensation filled her with dread as she opened her eyes.

“B-Best Actor Ye? W-why are you here?”

She pinched herself hard, trying to clear her tongue and hold down the effects of the drug.

“Shouldn’t you be the one telling me why you’re here?” he said coldly. “You couldn’t wait to crawl into my bed. What exactly were you after?”

Xia Wanqing was stunned. She had never imagined that Ye Ziyan, the idol adored by the entire nation, was this kind of man.

“Y-you’re talking nonsense. I-I don’t know… I don’t know what’s happening… ah…”

Damn it. It was that drug again.

Hearing her soft, trembling voice, Ye Ziyan lowered his head and leaned close to her face. “You want to seduce me that badly, do you?”

Xia Wanqing pushed at him with all her strength, but she truly had no strength left. When her helpless eyes landed on him, it only made her look more like a reluctant invitation.

“You… you’re talking… nonsense.”

She had bitten her own fingers so hard that they had turned purple. She hated this powerless state more than anything.

He pinned her hands above her head and pressed his body down over hers. “Am I making things up, or did I hit the mark? Wasn’t it you who drugged me? Wasn’t it you who came onto my bed so eagerly? And now you want to act innocent?”

Tears of grievance spilled from Xia Wanqing’s eyes. She would never have thought he was this kind of person. She had even looked up to him and tried to learn from him. Now she only felt disgust.

She bit down hard on her lip. Her entire body was trembling with a kind of temptation that felt helpless and humiliating, fragile as a lotus just rising from clear water.

“I… I’ll never… never get into your bed… even if all the men in the world… were dead.”

“Is that so?”

The man brutally tore her clothes apart.

…

Xia Wanqing lay hopelessly on the bed afterward, her body covered in bite marks, her eyes swollen from crying.

She buried herself beneath the blankets and clenched the sheets beneath her with all her strength.

Ye Ziyan went into the bathroom and splashed his face with icy water before finally remembering the absurd things he had done the night before while out of control.

Then, with a violent push, the door to the presidential suite was forced open. A flood of reporters surged inside, cameras flashing wildly.

“Is this the Best Actor’s room? Why is Miss Xia here?”

“Did Miss Xia really climb into the Best Actor’s bed just to get famous?”

“Was the mysterious mentor for the next episode of Music Partners the Best Actor? Is that why Miss Xia did this?”

“Miss Xia, please come out and explain…”

Xia Wanqing wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and cried in utter collapse. “Get out! Don’t take pictures! Don’t take pictures!”

Ye Ziyan emerged from the bathroom, his entire expression dark and grim, his voice cold enough to freeze the air.

“Get out, all of you. Unless you want to die.”

The reporters quickly snapped a few shots of the two of them together, then hurriedly put away their cameras and backed out.

That was enough for a headline.

Ye Ziyan laughed bitterly and said mockingly to the person on the bed, “You even called the media here? I really underestimated you.”

Xia Wanqing stared ahead blankly, expressionless.

This entire sequence had been planned from the start, all to destroy her.

Well then, congratulations. They had succeeded.

…

When Shangguan Renran got a call from Mu Ya, she knew something had gone wrong. She quickly opened Weibo.

The top trending post was glaringly obvious: a newcomer in the entertainment industry had climbed into the Best Actor’s bed.

Below it were endless vicious comments, all backed by photos.

“She sold herself just to get famous. Disgusting beyond belief.”

“She was apparently recording Music Partners last night.”

“Was she trying to win first place?”

“I’ve got insider info—the Best Actor is the final episode’s mentor.”

“My God, does she still have any shame?”

…

Ye Zuo was driving toward that hotel when Shangguan Renran, in the back seat, immediately called Ye Ziyan.

“Hello, Ranran?”

“Brother Ye, hurry and go to the hotel and watch over Wanqing.”

Ye Ziyan halted just as he was about to get into the car. “What did you say?”

Shangguan Renran screamed through her tears, “I said go back to the hotel and keep her safe!”

Ye Ziyan threw down his phone at once and ran back to the hotel.

He kicked the door open. In an instant, the bloodstains on the floor seared red into his eyes. Blood was still dripping steadily from her wrist.

Xia Wanqing’s face was deathly pale, her breathing faint, her whole body teetering on the edge of death.

With shaking hands, he wrapped her wrist in the bedsheet and carried her swiftly to the hospital.

Along the way, the scene was filmed by bystanders and uploaded online. People began defending her one after another, cursing Ye Ziyan in return.

Because Ye Ziyan had an enormous fanbase, the two sides soon waged a ferocious battle across the internet.

By the time Ye Zuo, Shangguan Renran, and Ouyang Muya reached the hospital, they saw the man sitting on the floor in utter self-reproach.

Shangguan Renran rushed forward and slapped him hard across the face.

“You bastard, Ye Ziyan!”

She had regarded him as an elder brother.

How could he have done something like this?

Ye Ziyan lowered his eyes. “Ranran, I thought she was the one who drugged me. I thought she had done it willingly. I thought the media had all been arranged by her.”

He had never imagined she would try to kill herself.

The blood on his hands still remained, bright and blinding.

In his mind was only the sight of her just moments before, half-dead and fading away.