The people at the door stopped instinctively and turned around.
“Ren Bai, what are you trying to do?” Liu Mingguang said coldly. “The contract is written in black and white. You can’t deny it. If you breach the contract, I’ll sue you until you lose everything!”
Ren Bai knew Liu Mingguang’s limits very well, but that wasn’t even the point.
“I changed my mind. Besides the contract termination, I have one more condition.”
He pointed toward the doorway and said to Liu Mingguang, “Qi Taihua must apologize to Yu Shiqing!”
Liu Mingguang frowned.
Qi Taihua pushed through the crowd and shouted angrily, “Who do you think you are? You want me to apologize to Yu Shiqing? Keep dreaming!”
Ren Bai looked only at Liu Mingguang. “President Liu, what do you think?”
Liu Mingguang, however, turned to Yu Shiqing. “How do I know you won’t go back on your word afterward?”
Yu Shiqing said, “We won’t. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
Ren Bai added, “Not everyone is as shameless as you people at Huaze.”
Even being insulted so directly, Liu Mingguang barely reacted. He narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then looked at Qi Taihua. “Come here.”
Qi Taihua couldn’t believe it. “President Liu, are you seriously telling me to apologize to Yu Shiqing?!”
Liu Mingguang gave him a cold stare. If it weren’t for the fact that Qi Taihua was still useful, he wouldn’t even bother with this idiot. Besides, it was just an apology what did he care?
“As an artist under Huaze, you need to learn how to minimize the company’s losses.”
After saying that, he walked to the window and made a call to ask someone to send another copy of the contract.
Qi Taihua gritted his teeth as he stared at Liu Mingguang’s back, then looked toward Yu Shiqing.
Beside Yu Shiqing, Ren Bai had a bright and cheerful smile.
Qi Taihua took deep, heavy breaths.
To him, both those faces were disgusting especially Yu Shiqing, especially those deep black eyes that seemed to see through everything. Under that gaze, he felt like he had gone back to the days when he was nothing, when people ordered him around as they pleased.
Ren Bai always called him an ungrateful traitor, but if Yu Shiqing really treated him well, why didn’t he recommend him for a movie role instead of a TV show?
Du Han was right Yu Shiqing had selfish reasons. He didn’t want him in the film industry. He only wanted to use him as a money-making tool, then break the contract with Huaze.
Only by leaving Yu Shiqing could he live a better life!
And that’s exactly what happened. Now, everyone knew who Qi Taihua was, who even remembered Yu Shiqing?
But then why after meeting Yu Shiqing again, was he still the one who lost?
He was the one who got hit, who got cursed at, and now he was still the one being forced to apologize?!
Suddenly, Qi Taihua heard staff behind him whispering.
“Oh, I remember now. Qi Taihua used to be Yu Shiqing’s assistant.”
“Really? That explains why his acting’s pretty good trained by a film king, huh?”
Qi Taihua felt his temples throb.
Again, it was always like this!
He was no longer anyone’s assistant. He was TV King Qi Taihua!
“What are you waiting for?” Ren Bai urged impatiently. “Stop wasting time, will you?”
Qi Taihua felt like his feet were weighed down by a thousand pounds.
The whispers behind him pierced his heart like needles, and Yu Shiqing’s gaze in front of him left him nowhere to hide.
It was as if nothing had changed over the years.
As long as Yu Shiqing wanted, he could still make him a nobody, someone he could look down on at will.
Qi Taihua forced down his rage.
He clenched his jaw and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”
Ren Bai instantly perked up. “What did you say? Too soft I couldn’t hear it!”
“You—!” Qi Taihua shouted in anger, “Stop pushing it!”
Ren Bai dug in his ear and said, “President Liu, aren’t you going to say something?”
Liu Mingguang said to Qi Taihua, “Apologize. Keep going until Yu Shiqing is satisfied.”
Hearing that, Qi Taihua nearly couldn’t hold back his fury. His throat felt bitter and metallic.
The murmurs behind him grew louder.
Ren Bai said, “Go on, apologize.”
Qi Taihua shut his eyes in despair, lowered his head, and muttered, “I’m sorry…”
Ren Bai sneered, “Can’t hear you.”
Qi Taihua suddenly raised his head. His hands trembled, his lips trembled, even his breathing was shaking.
Ren Bai looked at him with disdain.
Qi Taihua clenched his fists. “I’m sorry!”
Ren Bai said, “Why are you looking at me? I’m not the one you owe an apology to.”
Qi Taihua was already numb. He turned to Yu Shiqing.
But when he met Yu Shiqing’s gaze, he still couldn’t look him in the eyes. “Yu Shiqing, I’m sorry.”
Yu Shiqing just looked at him and said nothing.
Yet Qi Taihua felt that his eyes were filled with open mockery. His fists clenched so tightly; his nails dug deep into his skin.
Just then, the new contract arrived.
Ren Bai looked it over as usual before handing it to Yu Shiqing.
Once Yu Shiqing signed it, Liu Mingguang asked, “Where’s the video?”
Yu Shiqing said, “It will be destroyed tonight.”
“What?” Liu Mingguang frowned. “Why wait until tonight?”
Ren Bai rolled his eyes. “You think we’re stupid? We still need to verify the contract. Once we confirm it’s real, the video will naturally be deleted.”
Liu Mingguang sneered, “As if you’d dare pull anything.”
He hadn’t planned to play any tricks this time anyway, so he wasn’t afraid of Ren Bai verifying it.
With the termination agreement in hand, Ren Bai was in a great mood. Liu Mingguang could say whatever he wanted.
He looked at Yu Shiqing. “Shall we go?”
Yu Shiqing replied, “Mm.”
Before they left, Liu Mingguang added, “Also, the termination announcement won’t be released until the public backlash dies down.”
Right now, countless people were watching Huaze. If they announced the termination at this moment, wouldn’t it make everything look suspicious?
At the moment, they couldn’t throw any dirt on Yu Shiqing, and Qi Taihua’s fans were still furious. No matter what they did, it would only backfire. All they wanted was for things to calm down.
Ren Bai looked at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing said, “That’s fine.”
He didn’t care about any online announcement.
Ren Bai asked, “Anything else?”
Liu Mingguang replied coldly, “Not seeing you out!”
But as they passed by Qi Taihua, Ren Bai suddenly stopped.
He leaned in close to Qi Taihua’s ear and said, “Look at you. Instead of being a decent person, you came to Huaze to be a dog. These past years, you’ve been riding on others’ power. Maybe you forgot what that means, so I’ll remind you today people like Liu Mingguang see you as nothing.”
Qi Taihua’s whole body went stiff. His vision blurred.
Ren Bai had already turned and continued walking out with Yu Shiqing.
They hadn’t even stepped past the threshold when a commotion broke out behind them.
Someone shouted, “Quick! Someone come!”
“Qi Taihua fainted!”
Ren Bai turned back and glanced over. He only saw a crowd gathering, but it didn’t affect his good mood at all. He couldn’t help but laugh a few times at the door.
Maybe he had been too arrogant. One of the employees at the door glared at him with anger.
Ren Bai quickly pulled Yu Shiqing away.
On their way to the elevator, he flipped through the contract in his hands over and over again, loving it so much he couldn’t let it go. He was about to talk to Yu Shiqing about it when, turning a corner, he saw someone standing nervously in the corner.
It was Wang Ling.
Ren Bai’s temper flared the moment he saw him. “You still have the nerve to—”
Yu Shiqing gently raised his hand to stop him.
Seeing this, Wang Ling bit his lip and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Do you think ‘sorry’ is enough?”
Even though Yu Shiqing was blocking him, Ren Bai still had to speak.
“Yu Shiqing got cyberbullied and almost lost his reputation because he tried to help you. And now you just say ‘sorry’ and think that’s the end of it? Do everyone a favor and stay out of sight.”
Wang Ling’s eyes instantly turned red.
He lowered his head, and big tears dropped to the floor in front of his feet. “I really am sorry…”
Ren Bai was stunned.
He didn’t expect Wang Ling to cry so easily. His mouth twitched, and when Yu Shiqing gave him a look, he awkwardly stepped back.
“There’s no need for you to apologize to me,” Yu Shiqing said to Wang Ling in a calm voice. “You should apologize to yourself.”
Wang Ling looked up at him. “Apologize to myself?”
Yu Shiqing said, “You were also a victim at first. But now, you’ve chosen to become one of the abusers.”
Wang Ling was shocked.
He stumbled a step back. “I-I didn’t…”
Yu Shiqing didn’t argue with him. He just gave one final warning. “I hope you think carefully about whether you really want to use your body as a tool for exchange.”
Wang Ling quickly said, “Of course I don’t want that!”
Yu Shiqing said, “If you stay at Huaze, your answer will change sooner or later.”
“What do you mean?” Wang Ling asked.
Yu Shiqing only smiled and said to Ren Bai, “Let’s go.”
Ren Bai nodded. “Okay.”
But Wang Ling chased after them. “Tell me first, what do you mean?!”
“You still don’t get it?” Ren Bai said. “After all this trouble, who at Huaze actually cares about you?
Who told Qi Taihua to stop harassing you?
Huaze won’t clear Yu Shiqing’s name, and they won’t help you either.
Because the only one they care about is Qi Taihua.
Think about it when Yu Shiqing is gone, will there be anyone else who can help you get out of trouble?”
Seeing how young he was, Ren Bai sighed and kindly explained.
Wang Ling was stunned and stood frozen in place.
Yu Shiqing said, “I won’t blame you. But you should take care of yourself.”
Wang Ling murmured, “I won’t clear your name… My manager warned me—”
“That’s your choice,” Yu Shiqing cut him off.
“I already told you think it through. Everything is your own decision.”
Wang Ling’s eyes went blank. He repeated softly, “My own decision…”
