The Scumbag Alpha is Courting Death Again - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Caramel Pudding – I Suffer, But I Won’t Tell. I Will Myself…

Xia Jinzhao was awakened by a phone call from her manager.

The bedroom doors and windows were closed, and the air was heavy and stuffy. The woman reached for the nightstand with slight annoyance, propping herself up to sit.

The time read 5:34 AM. The east was turning a grayish white, with velvety clouds floating about. The crew usually started working at this time; actors had to arrive on set early for makeup and costume to avoid delaying the process.

However, after the commotion caused by Shi Dezao last night, the latter had asked the director for leave. Xia Jinzhao, whose scenes were with him, naturally didn’t need to work from dusk till dawn.

Picking up the phone, Cui Jinyu’s mood was low. She lowered her voice and asked, “What happened last night?”

Her mood, having been disturbed from a peaceful sleep, was not good. Xia Jinzhao brushed her hair back from her forehead and replied flatly, “Nothing major, just a little squabble.”

“A little squabble?” Cui Jinyu raised her voice. “Do you know this matter has reached the trending list, and we can’t even suppress it!”

As a manager, she had many artists under her. She usually dealt with a variety of complicated matters, and now she was overwhelmed and frazzled by this trending topic.

When her temper flared, even the biggest cash cow couldn’t escape a reprimand.

“If you can’t even suppress a trending topic, there’s no need to continue working.” Xia Jinzhao frowned, and without waiting for the other party’s response, she unilaterally hung up the phone.

She threw the phone onto the messy bedding, irritably rubbing her temples.

When she returned from washing up, the manager had forwarded the explosive post from Weibo.

Xia Jinzhao clicked in. The text was dense, interspersed with images. The photographer’s angle was tricky. The three people in the photo stood opposite each other, creating an undeniable atmosphere of hostility.

The crowd of onlookers underneath was discussing with fervor.

I would be heartbroken if I were the legal spouse. What is love, truly…

Speaking of which, does anyone think the person in the back looks familiar?

This mosaic is also terrible. How can anyone recognize her?

OMG! Why do I feel like it’s Xia Jinzhao [Duck for cover emoji], don’t hit me if I’m wrong.

+1 to the floor above.

Thanks to the mess Ming Xi had caused, the popularity of this post remained high. Perhaps with intentional guidance from trolls, many people speculated that the “certain actress” in the title was Xia Jinzhao.

If this continued, it would likely bring a considerable blow to her public image.

The company, however, found it difficult to clarify, as this was merely speculation from netizens. If they were to issue a lengthy statement, it would inevitably invite suspicion of a cover-up.

Exiting Weibo, Xia Jinzhao dialed her assistant’s number. After a few seconds, the call was connected. The person on the other end seemed half-asleep.

“Sister, what’s up with the early call?”

“Help me retrieve the hotel surveillance footage from the past two days.” After giving the instructions, Xia Jinzhao was about to hang up.

The assistant mumbled a reply, surprisingly remembering something else.

“Oh, right. Fearing that reporters outside would cause trouble, I asked the director to have Miss Ming stay with the staff. We’ll let her avoid the spotlight for the next couple of days.”

Hearing that name, Xia Jinzhao slightly frowned: “Why bother with her?”

Although she said that, she didn’t ask the assistant to kick Ming Xi out. As long as she behaved, she wouldn’t mind treating the person like air and ignoring her.

The morning light was faint, the distant sky transitioning from azure to cool white. Arriving at the set, the stagehands had already finished setting up the scene. Xia Jinzhao sat alone in the resting area, watching the assistant director command the various departments to prepare.

The assistant was highly efficient and quickly sent the hotel surveillance footage. Xia Jinzhao clicked into it. The grainy video, like a black and white silent film, was focused on the corridor, which was initially empty.

After a long wait, the unchanging screen finally had movement. Even though it was in the blind spot of the camera, the anomaly was particularly noticeable in the stillness.

Two sneaky figures crouched behind the Monstera deliciosa. The slender woman tightly held a camera, occasionally poking her head out to observe who was coming out of the elevator.

The man next to her was sending messages to someone. After about three minutes, Shi Dezao walked out of the elevator. As he stood at the door, he seemed to glance at the Monstera deliciosa.

Noticing this detail, Xia Jinzhao leaned back in the folding chair, deep in thought.

On the other side.

Inside a dilapidated white van, anti-peep glass blocked the harsh sunlight. A woman sat in the back row, a laptop resting on her lap. On the screen was the short, explosive article that had made the trending list this morning.

The car door slid open. The triangular-eyed man, holding bread bought from a convenience store, tossed it onto the seat and closed the door.

“The oden is sold out. Just make do with this.” He sat next to Sister Jing, tearing open the bag and wolfing down the food.

Sister Jing scoffed at the man’s ravenous behavior, turning the laptop screen toward him.

“What did I tell you? Trending topic guaranteed.” The woman tapped her nail repeatedly on the screen, her face beaming with pride. “With this momentum, forget oden, we’re guaranteed to eat well and live large from now on.”

The triangular-eyed man swallowed the bread in his mouth and gave a thumbs-up: “You’re the best, Sister Jing.”

Sister Jing smiled without speaking. Just as she took out a bottle of mineral water, she suddenly heard a rhythmic knocking sound.

Following the sound, she saw a person standing outside the car.

The woman leaned her upper body forward, her indifferent eyes showing a faint amber color. Her temperament was like snowmelt filtered through the clouds by sunlight.

At this moment, separated by the thick glass, Xia Jinzhao spoke in a negotiating tone.

“May I come in and sit down?”

As a paparazzi who had been in the entertainment industry for many years, Sister Jing had exposed all types of celebrity personas. Yet, Xia Jinzhao, who usually maintained a cold demeanor like a jade beauty in public, was being unusually polite at this moment.

Facing this uninvited guest, she carefully cracked the car door open: “May I help you?”

Xia Jinzhao smiled faintly.

In a flash of lightning, Sister Jing’s mind raced. Just as she was about to close the door, the other party was faster, her hand firmly inserted into the gap.

Seeing Xia Jinzhao’s determined posture, Zhen Wenjing was afraid of causing any trouble. After a struggle, she finally backed down.

A few minutes later, the woman sat comfortably in the back seat, her fingers lightly touching the laptop keyboard, quietly listening to the triangular-eyed man’s honest confession.

“Shi Dezao asked us to come. He said to just take a misaligned shot…”

“It was ultimately an order from the top. We were just doing a job for money.” Sister Jing constantly observed Xia Jinzhao’s expression, eager to distance herself from the mess.

“Doing a job for money,” Xia Jinzhao murmured the words, her expression calm. “So, your boss held a knife to your neck and forced you to come.”

This ambiguous statement made Zhen Wenjing’s face turn ashen. She twisted open the mineral water bottle and servilely handed it over.

“You can’t put it that way. Since Miss Xia is a magnanimous person who doesn’t hold grudges against small fry, let’s settle this privately. I guarantee that this post will be completely deleted immediately!”

As if to show loyalty, she actually deleted the explosive article right in front of Xia Jinzhao.

Seeing her opportunity slip away, the triangular-eyed man was anxious. He was about to argue, but Zhen Wenjing shot him a glare.

If it were any other artist, she would have tried to negotiate and bargain. But the person in front of her was Xia Jinzhao, whose backing was stronger than her own bones. If she were to do that, she might lose her job entirely.

“Miss Xia, you see, it’s all deleted…”

Zhen Wenjing retracted her hand, but then she heard Xia Jinzhao suddenly speak.

“Is there anything else?”

Her question was strange, her surface calmness suggesting she was merely asking casually.

“We are small fry. How could we have relatives in the entertainment industry?”

Thinking the other party suspected she had a backup plan, Zhen Wenjing quickly waved her hand.

Silence filled the car. The scorching sunlight passed through the glass, casting a brown shadow in front of her knees. Xia Jinzhao rested her left hand against her lips, her thoughts obscured by the stray hair on her forehead.

After a long while, she let out a helpless sigh.

I misjudged her.