"What do you want to drink?" He put away his phone and turned to ask Deng Jing.
"Same as you."
Sheng Min gave him her bottle first and ordered another one. Deng Jing was not polite and took a sip before asking him casually, "Did you just call your friend? The one who came to pick you up yesterday?"
Sheng Min's hand holding the water froze for a moment, and he turned his head and asked, "Why do you ask?"
"It's okay, I'm just bored." Deng Jing still smiled and pointed at his neck, "Your shirt will look better with the collar standing up."
Sheng Min was not sure if he had seen anything. Deng Jing seemed innocent, but was actually very perceptive. He had not studied drama systematically, and had not even been to school for a few years. All his acting skills came from observing the people around him, a unique talent.
But Sheng Min had a hunch that he had no bad intentions, so she just drank some water and smiled: "Going back?"
"Wait a moment. I finally have a chance to catch my breath. I'm so tired." Deng Jing said lazily, and pointed to a chair in the garden in front of him. "This is the best place to watch the sunset in winter."
"It's noon now." Sheng Min said seriously.
"I said later, not now. There's a lot of time anyway."
Sheng Min found it difficult to respond to this.
"You." Deng Jing laughed and shook his head, "You don't have to be so careful. Don't worry, Yin Qianpin will definitely choose you. If he doesn't choose you, you will regret it and cry in the middle of the night..."
This scene was so bizarre that Sheng Min's eyes twitched. Deng Jing said nonchalantly, "He was planning to choose you from the beginning. When Xiao Xie showed him the audition video, his expression was one of disdain and surprise..."
Deng Jing imitated the words vividly, and then asked, "Did you have a grudge against each other?"
"Ah?" Sheng Min was startled. "When I was in school, Director Yin came to see me, but I didn't recognize him..."
"He's such a stingy person." Deng Jing drank the water without covering it with the lid, and tossed the bottle cap in his hand like a ping-pong ball, saying casually, "He wanted to choose you but was hesitant. Originally, the audition and the re-examination shouldn't have taken so long... Anyway, he has so many principles that he couldn't get over it, so he picked and chose a few to try out, and what was the result..."
Deng Jing clapped his hands: "What a waste of time... So he used to scare me like this too."
"Why did you come to act?" he brought it up, and Sheng Min asked.
"Haven't you heard of it? My family is a herdsman, and I herd horses in the mountains. I ran into him when he came to collect folk songs, and he asked me if I wanted to act in a play, saying that it would definitely make more money than herding horses, so I believed him..." Deng Jing spread his hands, "He tricked me down the mountain, but then he didn't sign a contract with me, and delayed me for two months. He kept scaring me, saying things like 'Don't think you have talent, I've never used Mandarin and can't speak it fluently'. I didn't go to school much, but it's not like I haven't read books and don't know anything..."
He snorted disdainfully, "I just can't stand him scaring people, just be at ease... The candidate who came to participate in the election thought he was here to accompany the prince to study, which was true, but he recognized the wrong person, the prince is here."
He tapped Sheng Min's shoulder: "As for me, I have never come to compete with you for this play. I have been the B role in this play from the beginning... Why do you have such an expression? It's normal. This time I will be your B role. If there is a script that suits me better in the future, you may also be my B role. It's a reasonable division of labor. Do you mind?"
"I just didn't expect you to tell me this suddenly." Sheng Min shook his head, took a sip of water, and inadvertently caught a glimpse of a figure flashing by at the corner.
"I see you're still a little nervous, so I'll give you some peace of mind. After all, you're fun and pretty... Besides, it's not a secret. Everyone has seen it, except you... Otherwise, why do you think he's too lazy to even go to the awards ceremony, so why would he drag you over every day..."
"Would you like some biscuits?" Deng Jing was talking excitedly when Sheng Min suddenly interrupted him.
"Huh?" He was puzzled, but still turned around and stood in front of the vending machine again, "What's wrong?"
Sheng Min slid his finger to the glass door and tapped it gently: "There is a person next to the wall."
Deng Jing looked at the shadow and asked, "With you?"
"Maybe." Sheng Min's Adam's apple moved, "I just saw it."
"Every time when the play is on tour, someone follows me. It's so annoying... I just get off the car and say hello to them, and then they run away one by one." Deng Jing sighed, "Can you stand being followed every day?"
"I don't know what's going on. There are especially many in the past few days. It's okay." As he spoke, the man left again. Sheng Min smiled and said, "Let's go, we're going upstairs."
"Wait." Deng Jing pulled him, casually touched his collar with his hand, and said with a smile, "I want some biscuits, the ones in the green package."
Sheng Min was really not interested in the chive-flavored cookies, and shook her head despite Deng Jing's repeated invitations. But when she smelled the faint sweetness and saw the golden leaves of the ginkgo trees across the street rustling down, she suddenly felt like eating chestnut mille-feuille. She went upstairs and sent a WeChat message to Li Xuan, asking him to buy one at the cake shop at the entrance of the software park when he came.
Li Xuan was about to go to a meeting. He smiled when he received the message and made arrangements for the administration: "Buy one portion of chestnut, matcha, osmanthus, and the newly released persimmon. Put them in my office... Then buy some egg tarts and muffins for afternoon tea. You can choose whatever you want."
"Thank you, Brother Xuan."
"Please bring me some fried rice... I haven't eaten yet." Qi Boyuan just came in from the front door, loosened his tie, and looked at Li Xuan holding the computer, "Are you going to the meeting?"
"Um."
He was dressed like he was going to discuss investment. Li Xuan didn't ask, but Qi Boyuan took the initiative to talk: "No progress... These capitalists... But I checked the background data and it's okay. Your adoptive father can't beat you, or he didn't pay enough and Yuan Xin wasn't dedicated. At this rate, even if there is no investment, we don't have to worry for the time being... Has your adoptive father been looking for you recently?"
Li Xuan smiled without comment. Of course there is, it has never stopped in the past few days.
"He should give up... He can't possibly have any more despicable tricks..."
Qi Boyuan muttered, and felt that this was unlucky, so he slapped his lips twice. Hearing Li Xuan's cell phone ringing: "Your phone."
The latter looked down and then looked at Qi Boyuan again.
"what?"
Li Xuan shook his head, thinking that people really can't help thinking, if you mention the devil, the devil will appear, day after day, he continued to call, and directly put Li Mingla into the blacklist: "It's okay, it's a harassing call. Go back to the office to rest for a while and eat your meal, I'll finish the meeting."
Li Mingge realized that he was probably blocked when he called for the third time and was still on the line. The nanny called and said that Shu Xin was not feeling well again today and had to take two injections of diazepam before she could fall asleep. Naturally, he wanted to find Li Xuan to blame, but he was getting more and more outrageous...
Li Mingge felt annoyed when he heard the mechanical female voice. He frowned, stood up, and stood still for a few seconds. Suddenly, he angrily threw his cell phone to the ground. Zhou Qi on the opposite side was shocked and quickly picked it up for him.
Fortunately, the carpet was thick and was not damaged.
"Asshole!" Li Mingge shouted. He considered himself a cultured man and always paid attention to his attitude in front of his subordinates. Zhou Qi didn't dare to say a word and shrank aside silently.
"I asked you to investigate! How's it going? It's been so long, and there's no progress?" Unfortunately, it was impossible for him not to be seen, and someone had to take up his anger.
"I was just about to report this to you, Mr. Li." Zhou Qi hurriedly placed the freshly printed photos and several A4 papers on Li Mingge's desk.
"Who is this?" Li Mingge pointed at Deng Jing in the photo impatiently.
"A drama actor, probably Sheng Min's friend. He has been rehearsing a drama recently." Zhou Qi answered respectfully.
"This is what we took today? Is this all?" Li Mingge frowned and threw the photos to the ground. "Do you use your brain when you do things? I want these things to be interesting?!"
"Mr. Li, Mr. Li..." Zhou Qi said quickly, "We also took some photos of others... Xiao Xuan..."
"He what? Speak!"
Zhou Qi gritted his teeth and took out a few more photos: "Mr. Li, take a look for yourself..."
Li Mingge took it and frowned.
The photo was taken in the garage. Li Xuan and Sheng Min entered the elevator together. In fact, there were not many inappropriate actions. There was even a distance of half a meter between them. However, there was an intimacy between them as they talked and laughed that was difficult for others to fit in.
Check, check, check. Zhou Qi thought, who knew that these things could be checked.
"Mr. Li." Seeing that Li Mingge had been looking at the photos for a long time without commenting, he said cautiously, "Sheng Min and Xiao Xuan should be good friends..."
"Friend?" Li Mingge sneered.
If I don't talk about my friends, what can I say? Zhou Qi thought awkwardly. Even if he felt that there was something going on between these two people, he couldn't mention it.
Being a secretary is not a very difficult job, provided that you don't interfere in your boss's family affairs.
No matter how much Li Mingge dislikes Li Xuan, it is the father dealing with his son. As a person of a different surname, wouldn’t he suffer from both sides if he is caught in the middle? Li Mingge loves his wife dearly, and Shu Xin is sickly and looks at his son like an eyeball. Once Li Xuan figures it out, it is not certain who his immediate superior will be…
"With such a quirky personality, how could he have a friend like this who lives in the same room with him? One who picks him up and drops him off?" Li Mingge looked through the photos one by one and cursed coldly, "This is something that is not presentable..."
Zhou Qi thought to himself that this was not good, and sweat broke out on his back. Li Mingge's personality has changed a lot in the past few years, especially recently. At his age, how could he tolerate such things? What would it be like if he knew these family secrets? It would be better not to say it earlier: "Mr. Li, this, I..."
"You did a good job on this." Li Mingge never expected that he would praise him. He stroked the photo in his hand, put his backhand on the table, and thought, "Artist, right..."
He clearly saw a distorted expression on the old man's face. He leaned against the desk and rubbed the corners of his mouth twice: "Anything else? How is the person in their company that I asked you to check last time?"
"I have found some information." Finally, something good has been accomplished. Zhou Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the A4 paper that he had just handed over with the photo. "However, Yuanyi does not have many employees and the turnover rate is not high. These are just some basic information. If we want to start from the inside, I am afraid..."
Perhaps because he felt that he had done a good job on the first task, Li Mingge did not get angry for the time being.
Zhou Qi gritted his teeth and continued, "In fact, the overall structure of Yuanyi is also simple. The core is Xiaoxuan and his partner named Qi. In addition, they have a senior from the same school who jumped from Yuanxin, so he is also relatively central. This personal information is a little more... Mr. Li, if you have any ideas, start with him, maybe..."
“Is this also from their company?”
Before he could finish his words, Li Mingge suddenly interrupted him. Zhou Qi looked in the direction of his finger and saw a photo.
Zhou Qi really put in a lot of effort, bribed the security department of the software park, and adjusted the surveillance camera at a distant gate. He took photos of all the people who frequently came in and out.
"Yes." He thought back to the few pieces of information he had. "It seems to be from a former administrator. He has already left the company in less than a month. The surveillance footage is not kept that long..."
Nowadays, cameras are very accurate, and even the scars on the arm can be clearly seen. Li Mingge thought that he had seen this person before. It happened seven or eight years ago. In a video of the interrogation of a criminal suspect, a detailed file was also submitted...
Zhou Qi didn't understand what was so noteworthy about this person, but he saw that Li Mingge looked strangely excited.
"I thought..." He picked up Sheng Min's photo again, as if he had suddenly realized something, with a gloomy expression, "It turns out that it's the new love and the old love..."
Zhou Qi heard the hidden meaning behind his words, and his eyes almost popped out. He wondered if Li Mingge was overthinking, but he didn't dare to say anything. For a moment, he just wished he was dead. But Li Mingge didn't let him go: "Has this person resigned?"
"Yes... I quit." Zhou Qi swallowed his saliva, his brain stopped working, and he couldn't remember the name, "It's called..."
Li Mingge spoke up: "Zhao Jizhe."
"exist."
Zhao Jizhe responded. This was his twentieth day in the hospital. The conditions in this mental hospital were very good. The outside looked like a garden. Time passed very slowly here, and the boundaries of each day were not clear. But he remembered the days and counted them every day. Li Xuan did not come to see him.
He was cheated, Zhao Jizhe thought, Nineteen just wanted to get rid of him, it was all a lie to him, I heard that the wards here are very expensive, and he has to get rid of him after spending so much money...
The door was opened and it was the nurse who had just called him.
"Do you need to take medicine?" Zhao Jizhe asked listlessly.
"No... In the living room on the first floor, someone is here to see you."
"Look at me!" Zhao Jizhe stood up suddenly. "Are you here to see me?"
After he asked, he rushed out without waiting for the nurse to answer, without even putting on his shoes properly, and almost fell.
"nineteen."
He pushed open the door happily, and the man in the living room turned around. Zhao Jize suddenly stopped, disappointment and surprise appeared on his face.
"I know you..." Zhao Jizhe said after a while. He still remembered the last time this man and Li Xuan quarreled in the office. The whole company heard the noise and subconsciously took a step back.
Li Mingge sat on the sofa with a proud attitude: "I know you too, maybe even earlier."
"You want to see me?" Zhao Jizhe looked confused and asked carefully, "What do you want to see me for?"
Li Mingge looked at him. He originally disdained to talk to such a person, but now the situation was different. He did not answer Zhao Jizhe's question, but asked him: "Did Li Xuan send you here? Mental hospital... My son thinks everyone is sick."
The last sentence was filled with personal resentment, and he looked at Zhao Jizhe again, with a half-smile on his face: "He is really cruel. You two have such a relationship, and he just dumped it..."
Even if Zhao Jizhe was not very smart, he could tell that the person was not a good person: "I came here on my own initiative." He also thought that Li Xuan and his adoptive father probably did not have a harmonious relationship. If Li Xuan knew about it, he would definitely be even angrier: "I don't understand what you are saying."
He turned around and tried to leave in a panic. Li Mingge spoke slowly behind him, "You were doing well in his company, why did he suddenly send you away? Throwing you into a place like this? Didn't you ever think about it? ... Young man, everything happens for a reason."
After he finished speaking, he saw Zhao Jizhe stopped walking with satisfaction: "You should be able to access the Internet here too."
Zhao Jizhe stood there without looking back, but that did not affect Li Mingge's confident tone: "More than four months ago, an artist named Sheng Min had a car accident. It's easy to find news on the Internet. Go find pictures of the scene and check them out. You will find something different."
He only said this, buttoned up his suit and stood up. When he passed by Zhao Jizhe, he handed him a business card. Zhao Jizhe didn't take it, so Li Mingge casually put it between his fingers: "Here, there is also an email address. After you check it, you can log in and take a look. I left something for you. After reading it, you will want to come to me."
At one o'clock in the morning, the sudden ringing of the phone tore a hole in the silent night.
Li Mingge hasn't slept yet. Shu Xin's condition is getting worse and worse. She just woke up and started to feel nauseous and vomit again... The nanny once again mentioned vaguely whether they should go to the hospital.
Li Mingge hated that place.
He lost his son there, and also his wife.
But Shu Xin couldn't eat anything, so he had to start thinking about whether the checkup Li Xuan mentioned that day was not about the mind but the body...
That ungrateful guy, what does he know? Li Mingge turned his head and glanced at his wife. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine.
The most urgent task is to get Li Xuan back as soon as possible... Shu Xin's illness is very simple. A fantasy dream is enough to heal everything. What he has to do is to create this dream for her.
Fortunately, Li Mingge lowered his eyes and looked at the unfamiliar caller on the screen. This late-night visitor did not disappoint him.
There was no sound on the other end of the receiver for a long time, but Li Mingge was not anxious.
Finally, Zhao Jizhe spoke: "I don't understand what you mean."
"It seems that they have already checked and read it." Li Mingge said, "If you don't understand, you won't make this call. What I mean is naturally what you think."
"This is impossible!"
"I have more evidence, do you want to see it?"
Zhao Jizhe stopped talking. He heard the mentally ill patient in the next ward crying and shouting, and it happened every night. He felt like he was going crazy, too.
How could it be possible? Zhao Jizhe thought... Nineteen, how could it be nineteen
But he recalled the red spots on Li Xuan's neck that looked like kiss marks... Zhao Jizhe felt a deep sense of deception and betrayal. How could Nineteen be like this? How could it be such a disgusting thing... ... Has he forgotten his pain? Or is this a kind of contempt and revenge for him
"If you really don't believe it, you can go and verify it yourself. I'll get you out of there and have someone take you to see it." Li Mingge said lightly.
"Why?" Zhao Jizhe asked after a long while, his voice trembling a little, not because of the cold, "You have no reason to do this."
The fish took the bait, and Li Mingge rubbed his tired eyes.
"Of course I won't help you for nothing. We can make a deal. Li Xuan has been out for too long and needs to be taken care of. Maybe you can be of use to him."
"I won't do anything to hurt Nineteen."
Zhao Jizhe said subconsciously, and said it firmly. Li Mingge smiled contemptuously: "It's just a small lesson. He is my adopted son, and my wife thinks highly of him. I won't do anything to him... Letting him go home is for his own good, child, it is also good for you. Li Xuan now feels that he has made a difference, his wings are strong, and his heart is wild. After a little lesson, he will know to come back. Our family will not accept actors... After all, you have known each other since childhood, and you are different. When Li Xuan comes back, I can treat you as my son too."
Li Mingge felt sick even when he said this. When he was entertaining people in his early years, he had also seen people playing with little boys. It was disgusting to watch men playing with men.
“Treat me as your son too… ? You mean, you want to adopt me too?” Zhao Jizhe asked hesitantly.
They were talking about completely different things. Li Mingge frowned, thinking that it was not unreasonable for Li Xuan to send him to a mental hospital. Which adult needs to be adopted...
"If you want, it's not impossible."
"I won't hurt Nineteen." Zhao Jizhe said again.
"It won't be difficult." Li Mingge said. It was easier to persuade Zhao Jizhe than he expected. As expected, he was not well-educated and had a shallow eyelid. "Here are some information about their company's personnel. You have worked there before. Tell me which ones have conflicts with him or have been scolded by him. Li Xuan has a bad temper. I know it is impossible for all his subordinates to be satisfied..."
"Just that?"
"It would be better if you could provide other information."
Zhao Jizhe was still a little hesitant: "You can also find someone else..."
"Of course." Li Mingge said, "First, I don't want to waste any more time, and second... I think it's more interesting for you to do this."
Zhao Jizhe's focus didn't seem to be here, but he was more concerned about another thing: "You are Nineteen's adoptive father... Are you really willing to adopt me?"
Li Mingge thought that Zhao Jizhe was so persistent about this matter, and he probably wanted to share his property, so he sneered in his heart: "Okay."
"I... let me think about it."
"It's okay, take your time to think about it." Li Mingge said calmly, "I can have someone get you out of the hospital tomorrow... I heard from the doctor that no one has come to see you since you went in, right? Li Xuan hasn't come either. I'll get you out, and you can go see him secretly, and check if what I said is true."
This time the silence lasted longer. Li Mingge patiently turned a string of Buddhist beads. Finally, Zhao Jizhe answered, "Okay."