books44 Chapter 634: The Blurry Figure in the Script
Chapter 634: The Blurry Figure in the Script
Shanghai.When Zhou Junhao received the message, he was already preparing to clock out.
Spring Festival was right around the corner, and everyone was already looking forward to the upcoming holiday. There wasn’t much pressure at work, so packing up early and heading out was the norm.
But as he passed the desk next to him, he noticed his colleague still typing away at his computer, looking completely engrossed.
Zhou Junhao couldn’t help but sneak a glance, and he happened to catch the text on the screen.
Huh? It was a document page, with the following content—
[After exposing the hospital’s scandal, he gained unprecedented attention.]
[Countless media outlets swarmed in, but the thing he was waiting for never happened.]
[It wasn’t until his door was knocked on that he realized how insignificant and foolish he truly was.]
Was he writing a novel?
Zhou Junhao stopped in his tracks. Out of politeness, he forced his gaze away from the words and couldn’t resist calling out to his junior and partner: “Brother Tong, are you slacking off at work too?”
Tong Junhui, hearing the commotion beside him, remained unfazed. There was no trace of embarrassment at being caught slacking. Instead, he minimized the page and said, “Clearly, a little slacking is a required course for every working stiff.”
Zhou Junhao had nothing to say—he was pretty good at slacking off himself.
He just hadn’t expected that someone like Tong Junhui, a former competitive king, would also start slacking.
Still, curiosity got the better of Zhou Junhao. He rested a hand on the back of Tong Junhui’s chair and pressed further: “Brother Tong, were you writing a novel just now?”
Honestly, every time he hung out with Brother Tong, the guy never failed to surprise him.
Like with that press pass, or now with this.
“Not exactly.”
Tong Junhui didn’t mind sharing. He told Zhou Junhao directly: “I’m working on a script. Still writing the character bios for now.”
“Huh?”
Zhou Junhao was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened in surprise. “Brother Tong, you’re writing a script?”
“Yeah. Lately, hanging out with you guys and hearing all those stories has given me a lot of inspiration.” Tong Junhui explained. “So I thought I’d record it all in another form.”
Zhou Junhao was speechless. It seemed he hadn’t expected this former Award-Winning Actor, now a reporter, to have such an idea. But the light in his eyes grew brighter: “Really? That’s awesome! So, Brother Tong, is the protagonist of this script also a reporter?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a real-life model?” Zhou Junhao asked eagerly, not forgetting to tease him. “When the time comes, Brother Tong, don’t forget to add a role for me.”
“After all, I’m kind of a big shot in the reporter world right now.”
He cleared his throat, puffing up with pride.
Tong Junhui was silent for a moment, then shook his head, a strange expression on his face. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, the real cases as a foundation are too few. I need to draw from more examples. Once I’ve figured it out, I’ll add you in.”
“Alright…”
Zhou Junhao was a little deflated, but his attention was quickly stolen by his phone.
It was actually a call from Brother Xiao.
And this time, it wasn’t an email sent under the hacker alias—it was a direct call from Xiao He himself, under his own identity.
“Huh?”
Zhou Junhao glanced at the screen, then quickly pocketed the phone. He nodded at Tong Junhui and immediately headed outside.
But that quick series of actions had already let Tong Junhui catch a glimpse of the character “Xiao” on the screen.
Among the people they knew, there was only one person with that surname.
Watching Zhou Junhao walk away while answering the call, Tong Junhui wore a thoughtful expression before finally turning his gaze back to the computer screen.
“Xiao He?”
He muttered to himself.
In those cases Zhou Junhao was working on, hidden behind the truth, was he the one pulling all the strings?
The characters that man had portrayed involuntarily flashed through his mind. Tong Junhui suddenly realized that he had been secretly studying the other’s roles and performances countless times. Perhaps so many times that even Xiao He himself might not be as familiar with his own past roles as Tong Junhui was.
Tong Junhui didn’t know if it was resentment or jealousy. But whenever he had free time, he couldn’t help going back to watch Xiao He’s work, over and over again. It was like watching a junior grow, as if he himself were still a senior in the industry, never having left the entertainment circle.
In the end, Tong Junhui had to admit it: he was actually envious of Xiao He. Envious of the life he used to have.
But unfortunately, none of it could go back. Now, his fixation on an old acquaintance only made him feel like a rat skulking in the shadows.
Even…
Tong Junhui looked at the script in front of him and realized that the protagonist was starting to look more and more like that person.
The first time he noticed it, Tong Junhui was jolted with alarm. He immediately deleted all the words he had typed, mocking himself for being obsessed. A casual script he was writing, and he was already fantasizing about letting a junior act in it, letting Xiao He replace him in doing what he could no longer do.
That was just too pathetic…
But after revising several versions, Tong Junhui had given up.
Maybe from the very beginning of writing this script, he had only ever recognized Xiao He as the one to play the protagonist.
So every time he imagined the plot and the main character, the shadow of the real-life model would inevitably sneak in.
But… forget it. Since it was already like this, entertaining himself was fine.
Tong Junhui stared at the words on the screen, a torrent of emotions swirling inside him. Finally, his fingers moved, and he began to tweak the character bio in front of him.
At that moment, the protagonist, revised so many times, finally took on a blurry face.
[It was only then that he understood—even exposing these things couldn’t stop those people’s atrocities.]
[No one would truly empathize.]
[Unless the blade of death had also slit their throats.]
[Maybe fighting fire with fire was his only desperate option.]
—Just like he himself had been back then.
…
When Zhou Junhao came back, he found Tong Junhui still typing away at the computer, so he called out: “Brother Tong, I just got some news. It seems there’s a hospital in a neighboring province center that’s running a scam with psychiatric insurance fraud. I need to go check it out in person. I saw your script is also related to the medical field—are you interested in coming with me?”
Tong Junhui finally pulled his eyes away from the computer. “Hospital insurance fraud? That’s big news.”
He immediately stood up.
“The only tricky part now is that the hospital requires appointments. I don’t know if we can get one before Spring Festival. Ah, looks like I really do have some fate with hospitals, huh? Ha!”
There was the counterfeit drug case that led to an illegal clinic, the internet celebrity case that uncovered cosmetic surgery loans, and now hospital insurance fraud.
Zhou Junhao sighed inwardly, thinking he was truly the Chosen One, while Tong Junhui had already shut down the computer and was urging him to buy tickets.
Just when he was short on material, this was like a pillow arriving just as he was nodding off!
-
Xiao He had no idea that one phone call of his had sparked another major news story over there, one that would even become part of someone’s future script.
After hanging up, Liu Rulan stood with her arms crossed, looking at him with a somewhat roasting tone: “Don’t you think you’ve gotten way too comfortable calling reporters to investigate things lately?”
“Huh? Have I?”
Xiao He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, completely nonchalant. “Didn’t you say it yourself? A boss who can’t delegate will only work himself to death. I’m just outsourcing some responsibility and helping them hit their year-end targets on the side.”
Liu Rulan: Hehe… Didn’t think you’d be this kind of Xiao He.
“Just a side benefit.”