Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 42

Wild Cat

After Jiang Zhou returned to Haishi, he was on continuous business trips for several days.

During the time he was filming the program, all his work had piled up for Vice President Ye Tianming to handle. Poor Ye Tianming, who was newly married, was forced to work overtime for a month.

The moment Jiang Zhou returned, the Vice President quit, taking his new wife abroad to make up for their honeymoon trip.

Jiang Zhou was busy non-stop for over half a month.

As soon as he finally had some free time, Yuan Chong dragged him to a bar.

Jiang Zhou had been so busy these past weeks that his feet barely touched the ground, leaving him no time to check on Yuan Chong. Only today did he learn that Lu Shen had returned to Jingshi last week to take up his new post.

Yuan Chong was nestled in a booth, embracing two people, touching a hand here and kissing a cheek there, looking utterly carefree and radiant.

Only Jiang Zhou knew that this was a facade; he was actually extremely troubled inside.

“You two should go.” Jiang Zhou couldn’t watch anymore. He pulled out a wad of cash for the hostesses and told them to leave first.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Zhou nudged Yuan Chong with his foot.

“I’ve been dumped, Xiao Zhouzhou.” Yuan Chong turned and hugged Jiang Zhou, crying with heart-wrenching sorrow.

A vein throbbed on Jiang Zhou’s forehead. “Three, two,…”

Before he could count to one, Yuan Chong immediately let go.

“So cold-blooded! I just got dumped, can’t you let me hug you for a moment?”

“Speak normally.”

Yuan Chong put on a serious face and stated earnestly, “I realized I really fell for him.”

“Oh, how long will this last time?” Jiang Zhou saw his expression, couldn’t be bothered, and gave a perfunctory reply.

Yuan Chong was someone who invested in relationships quickly and genuinely every time, yet within half a month, he would be wrapped up with a new boyfriend, loving them to death.

Jiang Zhou was fooled twice at the beginning, offering sincere comfort both times, before realizing something was off.

After that, Jiang Zhou got used to it.

He didn’t understand the world of a playboy, nor did he want to.

This time, Jiang Zhou didn’t take it seriously either. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the latest trending topics.

The top few trending topics were all related to Shen Zhiyu.

He was leaving for Yanzhen Town today to film a movie, and the hot search included candid airport photos of him, as well as fans’ condemnation of Languang Media.

Jiang Zhou clicked on the candid photos.

It was late April, and the weather was gradually warming up.

Shen Zhiyu was dressed lightly in a patterned shirt and light blue wide-leg trousers. A hairband matching the floral shirt was tied across his forehead, giving him a vintage, casual look.

The comments were filled with fans swooning over the screen.

Unconsciously, Jiang Zhou skillfully saved the photo into his private folder.

Yuan Chong leaned over and saw the candid look. “Hey, this outfit is pretty good. I should get a set like that sometime.”

Jiang Zhou eyed Yuan Chong up and down. “With your figure, maybe not.”

Yuan Chong was strange when heartbroken; he either binge-ate or exercised maniacally.

This time, his workout was truly exaggerated; his arms were nearly twice the thickness of Jiang Zhou’s.

Yuan Chong, however, was quite satisfied. “You wouldn’t understand. Guys like me are better in bed.”

Jiang Zhou felt a shiver of disgust.

“Don’t look unconvinced.” Yuan Chong nudged Jiang Zhou’s elbow and raised an eyebrow toward a booth in the bar, smiling somewhat smugly. “See? That table of people is attracted to me.”

Jiang Zhou followed his gaze and indeed saw three people in the booth to their front right looking their way, chatting while they looked. Their gaze was completely undisguised, as if they were waiting for them to notice.

Yuan Chong raised an eyebrow at them, and the people in the booth started walking toward them.

This peacock.

Jiang Zhou couldn’t be bothered and went back to scrolling on his phone.

Along with Shen Zhiyu’s candid photos, another trending topic was “Demand Languang Media act like humans and let go of Shen Zhiyu.”

Jiang Zhou clicked on the topic and found that Shen Zhiyu’s fan club had tagged Languang Media, criticizing them for being perfunctory in their planning for Shen Zhiyu. The first variety show he joined was one they had just launched, his first movie role was merely a male N-role, and there was a gap of a month between his two public appearances.

Fans demanded that Languang Media publicly release Shen Zhiyu’s future plans and called for a boycott of the movie.

Jiang Zhou had long anticipated the fans’ complaints.

Because even he, knowing the full picture, couldn’t understand Shen Zhiyu’s choices.

The film and television scripts, variety shows, and galas that Jiang Zhou had Wei Yan pass over were all carefully selected.

Shen Zhiyu didn’t choose any gala stage, and while he did pick a script from the pile, he chose a universally disliked character.

After learning this news, Jiang Zhou specifically met with the movie’s screenwriter, asking her to polish the script and elaborate on the character’s backstory and motivations.

Later, Jiang Zhou also tried to use the busyness of work to weaken his thoughts of Shen Zhiyu.

But the effect was minimal. It was fine when he was busy, but the moment he had a spare moment, he couldn’t help but think of him and look at him. He even often dreamed of him.

“You’re Jiang Zhou, right?”

Hearing his name, Jiang Zhou looked up from his phone.

“It really is you! We thought you looked familiar and were discussing if it was you.”

The faces of the three people in front of him were unfamiliar; Jiang Zhou couldn’t recall them at all.

“I’m sorry, do we know each other?”

The person seemed momentarily disappointed that Jiang Zhou didn’t recognize him.

“We were high school classmates. I was even your deskmate for three months. Rong Hui, do you remember?”

Jiang Zhou only attended high school for one year before skipping grades to participate in the base program and going straight to university.

During that year of high school, his deskmates changed repeatedly, and he didn’t interact much, so he didn’t have deep impressions.

Rong Hui was the only one he vaguely remembered.

Because he was the only classmate who hadn’t actively requested a seat change and had been his deskmate the longest.

“I remember.” Jiang Zhou recalled him. But his tone was lukewarm, showing no excitement at seeing an old classmate.

Rong Hui wasn’t offended; instead, he seemed somewhat emotional. “You’re still the same as you were in school.”

Jiang Zhou offered a polite smile.

The other two also introduced themselves as Jiang Zhou’s high school classmates, one named Zhu Qingyang and the other Ding Sheng.

Jiang Zhou had absolutely no recollection of these two. Listening to their introductions, Zhu Qingyang had followed his father’s footsteps into the ceramics business, and Ding Sheng was an internet celebrity who sold goods via live stream.

Rong Hui said he wasn’t doing much, just idling around and lying flat at home every day.

Jiang Zhou didn’t need to introduce himself, as Ding Sheng immediately addressed him as President Jiang.

In the past, Jiang Zhou was very uncomfortable in such awkward social situations, even to the point of wanting to hide. Later, after starting his own business, he attended more events and had to maintain an increasingly wide network, so he gradually got used to it. Although not as adept as Yuan Chong, he managed well enough.

After some awkward small talk, Rong Hui asked to add Jiang Zhou on WeChat.

Jiang Zhou politely opened his QR code for him to scan. Seeing this, the other two also added him one by one.

After chatting for a while longer, Jiang Zhou excused himself, claiming he had other matters, and left the bar with Yuan Chong.

“Brother thought it was his charm! Turns out it was the charm of our President Jiang that attracted them.” Yuan Chong winked at him. “That Ding Sheng, I think if we hadn’t been here, he might have just pounced on you.”

Jiang Zhou had been immersed in the business world for a long time and was no longer naive; he naturally understood their intention in approaching him.

Especially Ding Sheng, who flattered him in every word. Several times, he even subtly probed under the guise of conversation.

No one was a fool, and Jiang Zhou had encountered this sort of thing often. In the entertainment industry, people wanting to climb into the boss’s bed for advancement were as numerous as carp crossing the river.

Jiang Zhou had been harassed multiple times in the past. Several times when traveling for business and staying in hotels, he would open the door to find someone already lying naked on the bed, waiting to serve him. Later, Jiang Zhou made an example of one artist by blacklisting them, and such incidents gradually decreased.

Afterward, Languang Media gradually got on track, and Jiang Zhou simply became an invisible figure, handing all external affairs over to Vice President Ye Tianming, which reduced these troubles.

“I think he looks decent and is well-built. How about it, interested in giving it a try?”

Jiang Zhou rolled his eyes. “Decent how? Well-built how?”

That Ding Sheng clearly had a lot of work done on his face; his nose was so high it could touch the sky, and his chin was so sharp it could stab someone to death.

Yuan Chong must truly be desperate.

“You’re right. After seeing Shen Zhiyu, everyone else really falls short.” Yuan Chong had to admit it. “Putting everything else aside, Shen Zhiyu’s face is definitely beautiful.”

Saying this, Yuan Chong couldn’t help but reach out and rub Jiang Zhou’s face. “Our Xiao Zhouzhou has good taste!”

Jiang Zhou slapped away his meddling hand.

—-

Jiang Zhou returned to Hejia Peninsula.

He hadn’t been back here for a while. He had been busy with work and had been eating and sleeping at the company.

This wasn’t strictly necessary. However, Jiang Zhou intentionally tried to cut off connections related to Shen Zhiyu, using work as an excuse not to return.

Shen Zhiyu had left for Yanzhen Town today for filming and wasn’t home.

Jiang Zhou walked onto the balcony and looked next door; the neighboring balcony was empty and dark.

Jiang Zhou opened the window and stood there, letting the wind blow on him for a while.

After zoning out for a long time, just as he was about to go back inside, an extremely faint meow came from the balcony next door.

Then, a cat leaped over the railing, jumping from the neighbor’s side onto his windowsill railing.

It was a pure white cat with beautiful sapphire blue eyes. The cat was very thin, and its left front paw seemed injured. Its fur was unevenly short, as if someone had deliberately cut it badly.

Jiang Zhou didn’t know what breed this cat was. He had never owned a cat; the only one he was familiar with was the orange tabby Shen Zhiyu had kept before.

The cat seemed very afraid of people, not daring to approach Jiang Zhou, and huddled fearfully in the corner of his balcony.

But it seemed hungry, continuously letting out faint meows.

Jiang Zhou suddenly remembered that day Shen Zhiyu was watching the sunrise and shouted that he had picked up another wild cat.

Was he talking about this cat right now?

Why didn’t he take it with him?

A sound came from next door, followed by the lights turning on inside the house. Footsteps approached the balcony from far away.

“Zhouzhou…”

Jiang Zhou quickly stepped back inside.

A familiar female voice sounded from the neighboring balcony. “Zhouzhou, Zhouzhou…”

The faint meows from his balcony responded.

“How did you run off to someone else’s house?” The person said, then turned and went back inside. “Wait there obediently, I’m coming to find you.”

Jiang Zhou thought, Oh no, he hadn’t turned off his light in time.

The person next door must have seen the light on in his unit.

Turning it off now would feel like burying one’s head in the sand.

Jiang Zhou prayed she wouldn’t come to his house looking for the cat.

However, prayer was useless.

The next second, his doorbell rang.