Chapter 17: Battle With The Inner Demon

Mad Dog

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Meanwhile, the young man with a ‘steel straight male heart’ still didn’t understand why Zhi Qi suddenly got angry.

Jiang Qi stood up somewhat awkwardly, shaking his head in explanation, “I only recently saw it. Before that, my assistant used to log in to this account. I didn’t… didn’t intentionally see it and not come to find you.”

He thought Zhi Qi was angry because of this reason, explaining with genuine emotions.

Zhi Qi, still embarrassed, didn’t look at him, turned her head and asked with a pout, “Then why are you here now?”

Jiang Qi replied without hesitation, “I just found out you were here, so I wanted to come and find you.”

…

Perhaps when it comes to someone you care about, the bottom line is that a casual sentence from them can easily break down all the defenses you’ve built in your heart. Just like six years ago, when they reunited. In reality, there were many questions she wanted to ask—

‘How was it inside? When did you come out?’

‘In these years… have you ever thought of me?’

But with countless thoughts swirling in her mind, she suddenly felt like she couldn’t ask anything.

After a while, Zhi Qi just sighed softly. Then, she turned around, familiarly removed half of Jiang Qi’s mask and put it back on for him, her voice gentle, “Your phone has been ringing continuously.”

The garden was very quiet, and she could already hear the constant buzzing vibration of the young man’s phone in his pocket. This vibration reminded Zhi Qi of a fact—Jiang Qi was no longer the same as before; he wasn’t hers alone. He was now the male lead with a billion-dollar box office hit, the rising star in the entertainment industry, a presence that could captivate countless people with every move.

The young man was no longer the one whose handsomeness only she could appreciate.

Although there were still many people who disliked and attacked him, unlike before, there were also many people who cared about him and liked him. Just like now, in the few minutes Jiang Qi spent with her, his phone kept ringing non-stop.

Zhi Qi knew she had possessiveness, but even so, it didn’t prevent her from being happy for Jiang Qi. However, amid the happiness, there was always a bit of disappointment. Jiang Qi couldn’t help but feel annoyed and furrowed his brow, realizing he had stupidly forgotten to turn off his phone.

His entire focus was on Zhi Qi’s every move, completely oblivious to the ringing phone. The young man, feeling a bit irritated, took out the phone, intending to hang up after seeing the flashing ‘Qiu Mi’ on the screen.

“Don’t, don’t hang up.” Zhi Qi quickly stopped him, her voice gentle and sincere. “What if someone has an emergency?”

One of the three most frustrating moments in life is when you urgently need to contact someone, and their phone is unreachable.

Jiang Qi had no choice but to answer the call.

Qiu Mi’s voice on the other end resonated loudly in the quiet garden, “Brother Qi! Where are you? Can you hurry and come to Director Shen’s place? It’s urgent, Director Wang Zhaoqiu specifically wants to meet you.”

Jiang Qi replied coldly, “I’m busy.”

“Um…” Qiu Mi seemed to be frozen by his coldness for a moment, then weakly said, “But it’s an emergency. It’s Director Wang Zhaoqiu, the renowned director. He specially came to see you.”

Director Wang? Even if it were the God of Directing, it meant nothing to Jiang Qi.

The boy, visibly impatient, furrowed his brow, about to refuse once again, when Zhi Qi’s soft voice interrupted him.

“If it’s urgent, you should go back first,” Zhi Qi said, standing up with a book in her arms and smiling naturally at him. “I need to go back and conduct an experiment too.”

Jiang Qi pursed his lips, hanging up the phone directly, and silently stared at the girl—under the intense sunlight, her light-colored eyes approached transparency, more dazzling than the light itself.

After a moment of tension, Jiang Qi spoke in a low voice, “Do you not want to see me?”

“No, I really need to conduct an experiment,” Zhi Qi lowered her eyes, not realizing that she was gripping the corner of the book, and her fingertips were turning white. She simply explained, “It’s an experiment on observing animal cells.”

Later, she didn’t know if Jiang Qi sighed softly.

The young man stood up, a tall and thin figure casting a faint shadow, blocking the harsh afternoon sunlight for her and bringing a sense of oppression. Jiang Qi’s hand hanging by his side lifted, seemingly uncontrollably wanting to touch her shoulder, but restrained before making contact.

After a while, he cautiously and gently touched Zhi Qi’s chestnut-colored hair.

“Okay.” The young man forced a smile. “You can go.”

His voice had no fluctuations, but it inexplicably made people feel very sad. Zhi Qi had a moment of distraction. She stared at Jiang Qi’s light-colored pupils for a moment, pursed her lips, left, and forced herself not to look back. Because she wasn’t actually deceiving Jiang Qi, she really had something to do, and she really… didn’t know how to face him at the moment.

So Zhi Qi didn’t see the originally desperately restrained look in the young man’s eyes. In the moment she turned around, it was extremely gloomy. As if all the anxiety, ferocity, and darkness were uncontrollably vented out, Jiang Qi closed his eyes.

He really shouldn’t have come to find Zhi Qi so abruptly today, shouldn’t have seen her like this.

Zhi Qi is a student of Lan University, with a bright future. A reason like ‘conducting experiments’ could pull the distance between them infinitely far—because he, who hasn’t even graduated from high school, doesn’t understand these things at all.

If he could still be proud of his top grades in middle school and high school, now he is completely self-deprecating, extremely ashamed to face people.

But he actually had the audacity to come find Zhi Qi, letting the hormones of impulse control his body, it’s truly… laughable. Jiang Qi couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly, and the dark and turbulent emotions in his eyes couldn’t be suppressed, even the young man’s thin and clear chest was slightly undulating. But at the same time, Shen Lei’s words from before finally drilled into his mind.

‘She is a student of Lan University, can you be worthy of her?’

‘You can only relearn and have a diploma if you earn enough money and have enough channels.’

Learning, diplomas, upright and honorable, able to stand by Zhi Qi’s side.

These are things that Jiang Qi crazily wants to pursue, willing to give everything he can for it. After a moment, Jiang Qi calmed down, and his eyes returned to their usual indifference.

As if cold amber.

Expressionless, he took out his phone, dialed Qiu Mi’s number, his voice cold and calm, saying only one sentence—

“Wait, I’m coming over now.”

Having nothing to lose makes you fearless. In the big dye vat of the competition in the fame and fortune arena, people ultimately pursue it for the sake of fame and profit, but Jiang Qi is now doing it for money.

*

When Jiang Qi drove to Shen Lei’s place, surprisingly, Wang Zhaoqiu had been waiting unexpectedly. The irritable and self-righteous old director didn’t explode in anger or show impatience. Instead, his eyes lit up when he saw Jiang Qi push the door open.

Shen Lei was extremely sensitive to this kind of gaze, understanding that it was a mutual admiration among directors.

Wang Zhaoqiu truly ‘values talents.’

“Jiang Qi.” Shen Lei intervened, directly instructing the inexperienced young man, “Greet him.”

Jiang Qi obediently said, “Director Wang.”

His attitude was much more relaxed than when they were on set before, and Shen Lei, while relieved, was also somewhat surprised.

—It seems that asking this guy to go find the girl he likes is effective.

“Yeah.” Wang Zhaoqiu pointed to the documents on the table but kept his eyes on Jiang Qi. “I still want to stick to my previous idea; you are the most suitable person for the lead role in my new movie.”

To know that he could say such words, actively ‘inviting’ a rookie actor to play the male lead in his movie, was basically unprecedented. But Jiang Qi was unaware of these intricacies; he just furrowed his brows, feeling somewhat awkward.

Wang Zhaoqiu took advantage of the momentum, “Do you want to take a look at the script?”

Shen Lei discreetly tugged at Jiang Qi’s sleeve. After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Qi reached out and took the script.

…

After reading it, Jiang Qi placed the script back on the table and shook his head. Wang Zhaoqiu’s expression changed instantly.

“Jiang Qi.” Shen Lei’s face also changed. He quickly grabbed Jiang Qi’s shoulder, turning him around with a stern expression. “Didn’t I tell you to think carefully before making a decision?”

Could it be that this guy, after seeing Zhi Qi, decided to quit the entertainment industry?

“Brother Shen, I’ve thought it over.” Jiang Qi brushed off the hand grabbing his shoulder, looking indifferent. “I can’t act in this movie.”

Then, he turned to face the extremely gloomy and unpleasant Wang Zhaoqiu, earnestly explaining, “It’s not that your script is bad, but it’s my problem.”

Wang Zhaoqiu took a deep breath, suppressing the heavy anger, and asked, “What problem do you have?”

Normally, if there was such an ‘inexperienced’ young person repeatedly challenging his authority, Wang Zhaoqiu would not be able to resist using some means to teach him a lesson. However, looking at Jiang Qi… he finally understood what it meant to love talent and the frustration of not being able to find a rare gem. It was a feeling of being a talent scout but unable to discover a hidden talent, a desire to destroy yet yearning to possess.

Wang Zhaoqiu had to soften his approach and seek clarification.

“Brother Shen may not have told you, but I took on the role of ‘Gazing at the Sky’ because I can act. My mental state is an issue; at the age of sixteen, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety by a doctor. Moreover, the reason I ended up in prison is because I indirectly killed my own father.”

The young man spoke openly and even in the face of several surprised gazes, he laughed coldly and unscrupulously, “So, playing the lead role in ‘Gazing at the Sky,’ I can truly empathize.”