Cheng Hongwen considered himself far from a good person.
Previously, he had wanted to repay kindness with enmity by using Xiao He to take the heat for Xu Youyou's relationship scandal. In the past, he had also repeatedly employed various tactics to smear Xu Youyou's opponents, even going so far as to bribe judges to help Xu Youyou buy her award-winning actress title...
But these were all standard practices for agents in the industry. If you didn't do them, plenty of others would, and while others soared to success, you'd be left in the corner eating thin porridge. Surviving in this circle had never been compatible with "integrity." If you didn't employ some tricks to compete with others, you would never stand out.
So even though Cheng Hongwen knew those behaviors were wrong, he wouldn't change. As long as something benefited his artist, he would do it without hesitation.
Even after Xu Youyou got into this situation, he was still trying his best to pull strings for her, finding ways to reduce her public opinion risks.
Although he had resented Xu Youyou in his heart, when he saw how the dazzling star had fallen to her current state, the resentment bottled up inside Cheng Hongwen finally dissipated.
When she was with Su Shengxi, it was for that ridiculous thing called love. Yet the facts proved Su Shengxi had no backbone, instead transferring all the firepower onto Xu Youyou, dealing a heavy blow to her career.
So Xu Youyou then turned to pursuing money and power opportunities, accepting Chen Cong's advances, only to have both her life and career plummet to rock bottom, unable to climb back up.
Cheng Hongwen sometimes truly didn't know what to say about Xu Youyou.
"What are you planning to do next?"
Cheng Hongwen's tone softened considerably.
Although Xu Youyou had ended up like this, it was undeniable that her success in those years had brought him plenty of money and fame.
He, Cheng Hongwen, was indeed selfish, but he wasn't truly cold-blooded and heartless. Having known Xu Youyou for so many years, they could be considered relatively close friends. He genuinely hoped Xu Youyou could safely withdraw from this whirlpool, find a place to start over, and continue living her future life.
Xu Youyou shook her head slightly, just about to say something when the door suddenly was knocked on.
The sound startled Xu Youyou, making her whole body begin to tremble.
"What's wrong?"
Cheng Hongwen immediately stood up alertly.
"Nothing, it's nothing." Xu Youyou looked around somewhat panicked, then pushed Cheng Hongwen to hide in the bedroom. "Don't come out no matter what, don't let them see you."
"What exactly is going on?"
Cheng Hongwen frowned deeply.
"I'm already like this." Xu Youyou smiled self-deprecatingly. "I don't want to drag you into this anymore. You'd better not show your face in front of them, or you'll get into trouble!"
"You—"
Cheng Hongwen still wanted to say something, but Xu Youyou had already closed the bedroom door and was walking toward the room entrance.
Thinking about the people Xu Youyou had offended, Cheng Hongwen ultimately didn't chase after her.
Although on the surface Xu Youyou was involved in the substandard drugs case, Cheng Hongwen wasn't a fool—how could he not see the undercurrents between Xu Youyou and Kemingen?
His intuition told him it was best to stay put here...
But—
"Ah, I really don't know where the account book is—"
"Before President Chen was arrested, he only gave me this!"
"Cough cough—"
"Go ahead and kill me if you have the guts!"
Xu Youyou's screams suddenly came from outside the bedroom. Cheng Hongwen's eyelids twitched, then he heard the sound of objects falling to the ground outside, followed by the woman's faint sobbing.
Instinctively, Cheng Hongwen had already placed his hand on the doorknob—
But immediately after, fear of the unknown danger made him withdraw his hand.
"Right, call the police, I should call the police..."
Cheng Hongwen murmured, trembling hands fumbling through his pockets, only to realize that when Xu Youyou had pushed him earlier, she'd done it so urgently that his phone had been left outside.
At this moment, Cheng Hongwen's heart turned half cold.
"Thump—Bang—"
Silent kicking sounds came from outside, the woman whimpering in pain, not screaming for a long while.
Cheng Hongwen's grip on the door handle tightened increasingly.
"I'll ask you one last time, where is it?"
The man growled impatiently. "I'll count to three. If you don't tell me, I'll slash up your face!"
What responded to him was deathly silence.
"Fine, fine, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Three—"
"Two—"
"One—"
"Ahhh—"
The woman's piercing scream completely shattered Cheng Hongwen's nerves. He violently threw the door open, lunging straight at the man in the living room, roaring: "Fuck your grandfather, don't touch my artist!"
Damn it! If he, Cheng Hongwen, kept hiding inside, he wouldn't be a real man!
To hell with it! He usually didn't even dare speak harshly to his artist, and this bastard actually dared to harm her face? Did they think he, her agent, was just for show?
You fucking piece of shit, get away from her!
"Bang—"
Cheng Hongwen directly crashed to the ground with the man, wrestling with the person on the floor while shouting loudly: "Xu Youyou, go outside and call the police!"
Seeing Cheng Hongwen appear, Xu Youyou's mind went blank for a moment, tears instantly pouring from her eyes as unprecedented regret surged in her heart: "Why did you come out! You're no match for him!"
"Stop wasting time, go quickly!"
As soon as Cheng Hongwen finished speaking, he felt a numbness in his chest, then saw in his peripheral vision the blood-red knife in the other's hand being pulled out from his chest.
This guy had no martial virtue! He actually had a knife!
The man pinned beneath Cheng Hongwen gave him a ferocious grin, raising the knife again to stab toward Cheng Hongwen—
Cheng Hongwen immediately raised his hand to block, but got stabbed again.
Xu Youyou scrambled up from the ground awkwardly, blood still flowing from her face, her abdomen aching intensely from the earlier kicks. Every movement of her legs sent sharp, stabbing pains through her spine—perhaps the beating had damaged some spinal nerve. But she still gritted her teeth and sat up, groping for the phone on the table, struggling to crawl toward the outside.
Unfortunately, however, Cheng Hongwen had underestimated the opponent's strength and overestimated his own abilities.
The other party's skills were quite formidable, completely incomparable to an ordinary person like Cheng Hongwen. In the end, Cheng Hongwen was stabbed multiple times, the strength in his body almost completely flowing away with his blood. He could only rely on his final instinct to cling to the other's leg, preventing him from leaving—
Before his neck was slit by the other, he heard Xu Youyou's piercing cry: "Please, I'm begging you, don't kill him! I'll tell you where the account book is!"
But everything was already too late. Cheng Hongwen only felt something icy cold slide across his neck, and then the entire world seemed to grow dark.
In his final glimpse, he saw Xu Youyou rushing toward him, grabbing his hand, trying to fend off the other's knife, but instead getting her hair grabbed by the man who slashed her face several times...
While he just lay on the cold floor, unable to move at all.
In his fading vision, something seemed to be continuously spreading outward, until it flowed beside his cheek, toward some distant and unknown horizon...
Cheng Hongwen suddenly realized—that was his blood.
So, was he going to die?
How utterly frustrating.
From beginning to end... he hadn't been able to help with anything...