The next day, eight in the morning.
The first thing Jiang Nian did when he woke up was grab his bag and run.
They say women are like wolves at thirty and tigers at forty.
Jiang Nian used to think that was just a joke.
But after last night, having experienced it firsthand, he finally understood just how accurate that saying really was!
Absolutely terrifying!
She was like a damn female T-Rex.
It was only because Jiang Nian had extraordinary strength, plenty of tricks up his sleeve, endless moves, and ironclad willpower that he managed to pin her down.
Anyone else would’ve blown a gasket on the spot last night—all that hard work down the drain, back to square one!
“Fox spirit, truly lives up to the name!”
He glanced back at Yang Mi, who was sleeping peacefully, and muttered to himself. Then he walked out the door and contacted Zhang Linyu, telling him to drive over and pick him up.
The other party responded quickly.
Only ten minutes passed.
He had the car parked in front of Jiang Nian’s villa.
Get in, and go.
Vroom—the car sped off into the distance, and within moments, it had vanished from sight.
And just as Jiang Nian was rushing to the airport—
On the other side, at the hospital.
Amid the pungent smell of disinfectant, Huang Lei groggily opened his eyes.
Looking at the doctor who had come to check on him, he felt an indescribable discomfort in his throat. Dazed, he asked, “W-what’s wrong with me?”
Hearing this, the attending physician looked over and grinned. “Oh, you’re awake already? Did you forget you got poisoned?”
“P-poisoned?”
Huang Lei was slightly taken aback.
“Yeah, green bean poisoning. If you hadn’t been brought in so fast, you’d be planning your funeral right now.”
The doctor didn’t mince words, because that was simply the truth.
Huang Lei had eaten far too many half-cooked green beans.
By the time they brought him in, he was already going stiff, sweat pouring out of him in buckets.
If they hadn’t treated him in time,
Huang Lei would have closed his eyes and never opened them again.
“Really?”
Out of habit, Huang Lei instinctively questioned it, unable to believe it.
Hearing this, the attending physician felt a bit speechless. “Why would I lie about something like this? How do you feel now? Any discomfort anywhere?”
The reason these toxic green beans have such a high fatality rate—
On one hand, it’s because it’s hard to notice when you’re eating them.
On the other hand, it’s because the toxin is just too aggressive.
Although they had already pumped his stomach and cleared out most of the toxin, some of it had inevitably been absorbed by Huang Lei’s body.
Asking this was also to fill in the gaps and confirm Huang Lei’s current physical condition.
Hearing this, Huang Lei frowned. “My head’s still a bit dizzy and achy, my chest feels tight, my stomach is burning, and my throat is really uncomfortable too.”
“Not too bad, not too serious. A couple of days of IV drips and you’ll be about right as rain.”
The doctor scribbled on some paper and clipped the completed forms to the head of Huang Lei’s bed.
Then he reminded him about his diet for the coming days—what to avoid, what to eat—and turned to leave.
After he left, Wang Zhengyu, who had been waiting at the door the whole time, hurried in, full of concern. “Teacher Huang, are you okay?”
Huang Lei didn’t speak, just looked behind Wang Zhengyu.
Seeing that there was no one behind Wang Zhengyu, a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes. Then he pointed to the cup beside him. “Water.”
“I’ll pour it for you right now.”
Wang Zhengyu hurried forward and attentively poured a cup of warm water for Huang Lei, bringing it to his lips.
“Gulp, gulp, gulp.”
Huang Lei drank in big gulps, the sweet water moistening his dry throat. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief, some color returning to his pale face. “How long was I out?”
“Twenty hours.” Wang Zhengyu held up two fingers.
“Did only you come?” Huang Lei asked, still hopeful.
Wang Zhengyu paused for a moment, then shook his head. “Teacher He and the others came too, but since you were unconscious, they just left.”
“I see.” Hearing this answer, Huang Lei’s expression softened a little.
Seeing this, Wang Zhengyu was about to say something more.
But before the words could leave his mouth—
“Teacher, teacher, how are you doing?”
A deep male voice came from the doorway, and then a tall figure with a slight air of grievance about him walked in carrying bags of all sizes.
Seeing him, Huang Lei was slightly surprised, then broke into a smile. “Nailiang, you came?”
Hearing this, Jia Nailiang looked over and quickly walked to Huang Lei’s bedside. He set down the gifts he’d bought, took Huang Lei’s hand, and said with concern, “Teacher, I heard you got poisoned. Are you okay?”
Huang Lei forced a smile. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m past the critical stage. It’s not too serious.”
To be honest, he had always looked down on Jia Nailiang.
Because among all the students he had taught over the years, Jia Nailiang was one of the few who had been in the industry for so long and still hadn’t made much of a name for himself.
Huang Lei was a very pragmatic person.
If you’re somebody, you’re his good student. If you’re a nobody, then he really doesn’t know you.
Even now, that was still the case.
“Good that you came.”
“But why did it have to be you?”
Looking at Jia Nailiang, Huang Lei couldn’t help but feel a bit rueful.
Then he asked, “Did your senior sister Hai Qing come?”
“Uh—” At these words, Jia Nailiang’s tone immediately faltered.
In that moment, even someone with his gentle temper nearly wanted to fling Huang Lei’s hand away.
What the hell kind of person is this?
He, Jia Nailiang, had heard you were in trouble and rushed over from far away in a panic to see you. And after exchanging one pleasantry with him, Huang Lei immediately turned around and asked about someone else?
Is that something a human being would do? Is that something a human being would say?
“Hiss—”
“Phew—”
He let out a long breath, doing his utmost to control his emotions.
He looked at Huang Lei and forced out a smile. “No, I didn’t see Senior Sister Hai Qing when I came. She probably hasn’t arrived yet.”
“I see.”
Huang Lei’s face immediately showed undisguised disappointment. Then he looked at Jia Nailiang. “Then help me give her a call and ask when she’ll be here. I have something I want to tell her.”
“Holy shit!”
At these words, Jia Nailiang’s face turned green, and he cursed inwardly.
Humiliation!
This was absolute humiliation!
In all his years, Jia Nailiang had never been treated like this!
But he didn’t dare say anything.
Because the whole reason he came this time was to rack up some goodwill in front of Huang Lei.
If he lost his cool, what goodwill would there be left to rack up?
So he kept his face stiff and looked at Huang Lei. “Teacher Huang, if there’s anything, you can tell me too. I’m right here by your side, and it’s convenient for me to help you. Don’t you think so?”
To his surprise, Huang Lei didn’t appreciate it at all and insisted, “What you need to do for me right now is call Hai Qing. That’s the biggest help you can give me.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Jia Nailiang was about to explode with rage.
So he pulled out his phone and pressed the buttons hard, one after another.
With every press, the veins bulged on his hands, as if the phone were his father’s murderer.
After dialing Hai Qing’s number, he handed the phone directly to Huang Lei.
Hearing Hai Qing’s voice come through the phone—
In an instant, Huang Lei seemed like a completely different person.
His whole demeanor changed.
He looked exceptionally cheerful and amiable:
“Hey, Hai Qing, it’s me, Teacher Huang. Where are you right now? Oh, filming, can’t come over? No problem, no problem, I’m not blaming you. It’s just that your junior brother Jia—Jia Nailiang—came to see me, and I missed you, so I thought I’d ask.”
“You’re asking how I’m doing now? Don’t you worry about that. The fact that I can make this call means I’m basically fine.”
“Anyway, how’s the filming going for you lately? I heard you took on Director Chen’s ‘The Orphan of Zhao,’ working with Teacher Ge, Teacher Bao, and the others, right? Is the pressure a lot?”
“Haha, you get used to it. Veteran actors, that’s just how filming goes. You should seize this opportunity and learn from them on set. It’ll be a huge help to you!”
…
Watching Huang Lei on the phone, animated and speaking so warmly and gently—
In that moment, Jia Nailiang clearly and unmistakably realized the gap between people—it was even bigger than the gap between humans and dogs!
It wasn’t that Huang Lei didn’t understand social graces, nor was he some stubborn rock in a latrine pit.
He could joke around and speak nicely too.
It was just that Jia Nailiang didn’t deserve it, didn’t deserve to be treated that way!
Realizing this—
A boundless sense of loss and embarrassment washed over him like a tidal wave, drowning him, leaving him gasping for air.
Jia Nailiang felt like a clown suddenly pushed onto the stage.
Helpless, unable to escape, unable to face it.
He could only hang his head and endure wave after wave of mockery!
No—he wasn’t even pushed onto the stage. He had actively sought it out, begged to be humiliated!
That was even worse than a clown!
Just as he hung his head, his eyes shifting, not knowing what to think—
Beside him, Huang Lei and Hai Qing chatted for a while, and finally got to the main point:
“Hai Qing, I’ve been bullied.”
As Huang Lei spoke these words—
On the other end of the line, Hai Qing immediately frowned. “Teacher Huang, what happened? Who would dare bully you?”
“Some brat who just debuted this year and got lucky enough to blow up!” Huang Lei said through gritted teeth.
“Who?” Hai Qing was momentarily at a loss.
Because there were quite a few people who met those two criteria—not exactly countless, but at least a dozen or so.
Hai Qing’s mind ran through these names one by one.
Then she heard Huang Lei say in a low voice: “Jiang Nian!”
“Him?!”
Hearing this, Hai Qing was stunned.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know him.
Quite the opposite.
Because of the miracle of “Flying Swords of Dragon Gate,” she had definitely heard of this newcomer who had exploded in popularity this year—if not a household name, at least she was well aware of him.
It was just—
“Why would he bully you?”
Hai Qing expressed some confusion about this.
Because in her view, Jiang Nian and Huang Lei had nothing to do with each other—not even remotely connected.
After all, given Jiang Nian’s current situation, he was clearly going the film and television route.
And Huang Lei hadn’t filmed a movie or TV drama in who knows how many years.
Saying those two were at odds—
It felt like Jia Baoyu fighting Li Kui.
Abstract, absurd, baffling.
Hearing this, Huang Lei wasn’t annoyed. He just poured out his heart, tears and all, exaggerating and embellishing as he recounted yesterday’s experience.
The main theme was two words: grievance!
And Hai Qing, hearing her teacher so aggrieved, though she had her doubts, didn’t dare say much more.
She could only hurriedly agree, saying she’d find a chance to talk to Jiang Nian in a few days and make him apologize to Huang Lei. Only then did Huang Lei calm down.
After that, Huang Lei called several of his other favored students.
The content of the conversations was basically the same as with Hai Qing.
Just with slightly different requests—like how Jiang Nian was uncontrollable and suggesting directors be careful around him.
Or how he was disrespectful, insubordinate, and would be a disaster on any set, and so on.
In short, one word—deal with him!
Deal with Jiang Nian ruthlessly, sabotage him from every angle, make sure he doesn’t have an easy time!
“Let’s see where you get the nerve to treat me like this!”
“You really think all my years of teaching mean nothing?!”
After hanging up, a cold glint flashed in Huang Lei’s eyes.
He was going to make Jiang Nian pay a steep price for what he did yesterday!
Little did he know—
From the very beginning, Jiang Nian had never taken him seriously.
He naturally knew that offending Huang Lei like this, given Huang Lei’s petty nature, meant Huang Lei definitely wouldn’t let it go.
But so what?
At most, it’d be like Liu Kai—targeting him, trying to blacklist him?
If Jiang Nian actually made his living off the entertainment industry, then fine.
But the problem was, he didn’t.
Jiang Nian was in the entertainment industry now just to grow stronger steadily and quietly, without exposing his full strength and getting targeted—that’s why he hadn’t caused too big a stir.
If one day he decided he didn’t want to live peacefully anymore—
Go ahead, guess whose surname this entertainment industry would end up taking.
That line from Chief Qi was right—heroes can’t win against power.
Similarly, in the face of absolute strength, everything else is meaningless.
Everyone has family, right? Everyone has moments alone, places surveillance can’t reach, right?
If they really pissed Jiang Nian off, worst comes to worst, he’d drag Zhongzhou down with him! Nobody would come out of it well!
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.
Safe and sound, the plane landed.
Jiang Nian grabbed his luggage and headed toward the film crew.
And at the “Swordsman” set at that moment, while it couldn’t be called a complete mess—
It was still full of problems.
Especially Yang Rong, who played Yue Lingshan.
“Cut!”
At Huang Junwen’s command—
The crew’s filming was interrupted once again.
Huang Junwen looked at Yang Rong, on the verge of going crazy:
“Yang Rong, don’t space out, don’t space out!”
“Have you been possessed these past two days?”
“Why do you keep drifting off in the middle of a scene?”
“Can you still act or not?!”
Huang Junwen had lost count of how many times this had happened in the past two days.
It seemed like right after Jiang Nian left—
This person had come down with some kind of illness, zoning out mid-scene every time.
And the worst part was, when she zoned out, she was completely absorbed in it.
There was simply no way to continue filming.
Hearing him blow up, Yang Rong snapped back to reality, an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry, Director. I was just thinking about something and got a bit lost in it. Could you give me a moment to adjust? It’ll be quick.”
Hearing this, what could Huang Junwen say? He could only agree with a dark expression and let her go adjust.
Seeing this, Deng Sha, who was nearby and never one to miss drama, fanned the flames: “Sister Rongrong, how come ever since Teacher Jiang left, you’ve been completely out of it? Don’t tell me—you’re lovesick?”
