Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Considering Jiang Jiusheng’s cold personality, Mo Bing found it hard to understand how the celebrity she took care of could have grown so close to this dog.
“How are you going to go for your filming when you’ve brought this dog along?”
It was a reality show that had invited Jiang Jiusheng to attend over 10 times in the past three years. They had harassed Mo Bing so much that she’d had no choice but to accept. It could prove to be a good thing, too, as all Jiang Jiusheng did these days was either compose songs or record them. It would be nice for her to have a change of environment. Naturally, Mo Bing didn’t approve of Jiang Jiusheng taking this fat dog with her.
Jiang Jiusheng was busy playing with the dog and casually replied, “You and Xiao Qiao can help me take care of it.”
“I don’t know how to take care of a dog,” Mo Bing declared.
Xiao Qiao immediately followed up with, “Me—me too.”
Jiang Jiusheng put Bomei beside her and dug out a squeaking duck toy from her bag. She demonstrated how to play with it before giving it to Bomei, then turned her head to tell Mo Bing, “Our Bomei is very easy to take care of. I’ve prepared the dog food and milk. You just have to feed it once every four to eight hours. I’ll call to remind you.”
The duck toy squeaked, and Jiang Bomei barked.
Mo Bing’s face was dark. She gazed at the fat dog, then back at Jiang Jiusheng. “Our Bomei?” She simply couldn’t believe it. “Don’t you realize you’re actually looking at this dog in a warm and caring maternal manner?”
Jiang Jiusheng asked, “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Mo Bing insisted.
Jiang Jiusheng laughed and declined to comment.
The duck toy squeaked, and Jiang Bomei barked again.
Mo Bing was speechless. She rubbed at her nearly ruptured eardrums and turned around to hand Jiang Jiusheng a document. “These are the guests who will be appearing today. Familiarize yourself with them.” Then, she turned on her tablet. “This is the script.”
Jiang Jiusheng hurriedly browsed through it. “I’m on the same team as Liu Xu?”
Mo Bing hummed. “In order to increase viewership for the program, the director is deliberately stirring things up.”
Liu Xu had only just left, and everybody was aware that she hadn’t terminated her contract peacefully. There were many haters online waiting to watch these two enemies, Jiang Jiusheng and Liu Xu, reunite. This was the direction the show was taking.
Jiang Jiusheng’s response was simple and straightforward. “Call the production unit and tell them that if they’re not afraid that I’ll blow things up so much that they can’t even broadcast the footage, I can go along with it.”
Yet again, Mo Bing was speechless.
And yet again, the toy duck squeaked, and Jiang Bomei barked.
Mo Bing called the production unit and relayed Jiang Jiusheng’s words. Ten minutes later, the director sent her an email.
“This is the new script. You’re in the same group as Su Qing.”
“Hmm.” Jiang Jiusheng responded distractedly. She was busy putting on Bomei’s doggie shoes again, which had come loose.
Mo Bing felt that this dog might be toxic. The toy duck squeaked again, and Jiang Bomei barked again.
Squeak!
Woof!
Squeak, squeak!
Woof, woof!
Mo Bing didn’t know what to say. Her head was throbbing, and her ears hurt.
On the way there, the dog and the duck became good friends and had an exceptionally good time playing together.
The program that Jiang Jiusheng was attending was an outdoor one, and they were filming in a scenic spot in the suburbs. The production unit had booked an entire hotel in the tourist area to be used as the celebrities’ lounge and makeup room.
Su Qing had already arrived by the time Jiang Jiusheng got there. She was also a guest for that week’s show and was dressed in sports attire that the production unit had distributed to them. Su Qing rolled up her pants and sleeves, forcefully making herself look like a hooligan—her face was able to pull it off.
She leaned against the door to the makeup room with her arms crossed and stared at Jiang Jiusheng with her eyebrows raised, looking very displeased. “You were mean the previous time for watching me fall into Xu Qingjiu’s demonic claws but doing nothing about it.”
Jiang Jiusheng laughed without a word and passed her to enter.
Su Qing wasn’t really mad at her. She followed behind Jiang Jiusheng and mumbled to herself, “Fortunately, I found Xu Qingjiu’s weak spot and managed to untangle myself from that situation.”
Jiang Jiusheng turned her head and asked, “What weak spot?”
Su Qing curled her lips meaningfully. “A man’s weak spot.”
Jiang Jiusheng felt that there was no need to continue asking, as it would only reset the lower limit of the topic. It was no wonder that news of Su Qing and Xu Qingjiu not getting along was breaking the internet these days.
Not long afterward, the makeup artist and several editors came over. A few other guests and the program’s fixed MC approached them too, but since Jiang Jiusheng wasn’t familiar with them, she merely greeted them.
Half an hour before filming began, they got another guest. It was Wen Shihao, the recipient of the best composer award at the Golden Bell Award Ceremony. Her popularity as a composer was quite hot these days. In just a few short months, the music industry had gained a beautiful songwriter. The limelight was flourishing, and everybody knew it.
The moment she entered through the door, she made polite introductions with everyone.
“Jiang Jiusheng,” she said, greeting Jiang Jiusheng as though they were old friends. “We meet again.”
Jiang Jiusheng returned her smile. “Hello, Miss Wen.”
The directors of the program felt slightly disappointed at the lack of confrontation. The two biggest composers in the music industry were being quite amicable—where were the enemies they had been promised?
As expected, it was not easy to incur Jiang Jiusheng’s wrath.
“If you don’t mind, you can call me by my name,” Wen Shihao said, expressing her goodwill.
Jiang Jiusheng merely nodded and did not continue with the small talk. After Wen Shihao gave her another smile, she didn’t try to deliberately continue the conversation either. Instead, she called for her assistant. Her assistant was carrying two plastic bags full of drinks and dessert.
Wen Shihao took the bags and greeted the staff and employees warmly. “I was bored this morning, so I made some pineapple pudding. Do come and try it, if you don’t mind.”
She had good manners, a strong family background, and was very talented. A person like this made people feel as if they already knew her. They had only just met, yet the directors praised Wen Shihao and started mixing with the other guest celebrities.
Jiang Jiusheng thought Wen Shihao was a smart woman, but, as she had too many other things on her mind, she got up to go and check on Bomei in the adjacent lounge. Just then, Wen Shihao called to her.
“Do you want to try my culinary skills?”
Jiang Jiusheng shook her head and explained, “I’m allergic to pineapples.”
Wen Shihao felt slightly regretful. “If I get another chance, I’ll make some strawberry pudding for you to try.”
“Thank you.”
Jiang Jiusheng was courteous but displayed no intention to establish a deeper relationship. Wen Shihao was also very tactful and smiled as she greeted the others.
When Su Qing returned from the toilet, she asked Jiang Jiusheng, “Are you guys acquainted?”
“We met once,” said Jiang Jiusheng. Then she added, “During the award ceremony three days ago.”
Su Qing was puzzled. “Then why does she act like she’s so familiar with you?”
Jiang Jiusheng didn’t understand that either. “She said I look like an old friend of hers.”
If Wen Shihao were a man, Su Qing might have suspected this as a tactic used to hit on Jiang Jiusheng. However, she was a woman…
Hmm… She must have harbored ill intentions!
“That kind of rhetoric is usually a routine,” Su Qing deduced. She added sincerely and earnestly, “As the saying goes, ‘one who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions.’ Just looking at Wen Shihao is enough to tell me that she’s not a simple person, and since you two are in the same industry, it’s better to be wary.”
“Okay.” Jiang Jiusheng went to the adjacent room, and Su Qing followed her to visit her “baby.”
They had just reached the door of the lounge when they heard squeaking sounds. Jiang Bomei had learned how to squeak like the toy duck within an hour. How awesome!
Jiang Jiusheng had just departed when Wen Shihao tailed her into the makeup room. She stepped outside the room with her phone and walked to the deserted stairwell to make a call.
“Help me investigate someone.” After a pause, Wen Shihao said in a low voice, “Rock ‘n’ roll singer Jiang Jiusheng.”