Qin Mu stared after the disappearing back of the strange young girl in stunned silence, feeling too shocked that he even forgot to check on his employer.
'That kid, she should be someone with a mental illness, no? How can they let her roam freely around like that? So irresponsible ah!'
"Poor girl… I think she's not right in the head!"
"I think you're right ah. Such a shame though– she looks so young and pretty." That was from the youngest of the group of bodyguards, little Peng, who looked barely above twenty. And, at this moment, his whole body seemed to give off a feeling of deep regret and dejectedness.
Qin Mu: "..."
'Would you take a look at a mirror, please? What are you getting dejected over? It's not like a beautiful woman like that would even look in your direction, if she was in her right mind ne.'
But, the bunch of rough men didn't stop discussing the fate of the young girl in whispers, and within just two minutes, they ended up concluding that this girl might have suffered at the hands of some dirty scum and it had probably broken her fragile mind and blah blah blah.
"If she's not crazy, why would she point her *cough* I mean, do such a rude thing in front of our boss? I mean– our boss is so handsome ah! Which woman in their right mind would do that to him?" That was little Peng again, whose earlier disappointment seemed to have disappeared amidst the prospect of juicy gossip.
He was currently expressing his opinion in a hushed voice to one of his mates, clearly unaware that the long and narrow corridor easily carried over the sound.
Qin Mu: "..."
"You guys can really talk huh? Why don't you go and sell vegetables in the markets, eh? I'm sure you'll get on really well with aunties there and earn some easy bucks than working your asses off here!" Qin Mu finally snapped, effectively cutting off the ridiculous conversation, while the strong-looking men bowed their heads in shame.
"Talk less and do your job properly!" He finished curtly and turned to look at Luo Chen, only to see him still staring in the direction where the girl ran off, a dazed expression on his face.
'*Sigh* That must have shocked him. After all, it's not every day that people flip their middle finger at him ne! And, that too by a beauty no less.' Qin Mu shook his head wryly before lightly tapping his employer's arm.
"Ah'Cheng, we should go. You still have to go to shooting in the evening."
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Let's go."
It was only after Luo Cheng entered the VIP room by himself while Qin Mu waited outside that old Guo, the leader of this small bodyguard group that came with them to the hospital apologized to him in a shamefaced manner, asking forgiveness for the poor behavior of his subordinates.
"It's fine. I was also shocked because of what happened." He replied without showing any emotions but still turned to look at the youngest member of the group, who was trying to diminish his sense of existence by trying covertly shelter himself behind the back of one of his mates.
An impossible feat, considering the size of his hulking frame, and Qin Mu's mouth twitched lightly after seeing this. "You know how Mr. Luo values his privacy more than anything else. Like I said before, talk less."
He paused for a moment for his words to take effect before continuing in an unhurried manner. "If any of you accidentally let slip something by being a loose mouth, I won't be responsible for the consequences."
Seeing the rapidly paling face of little Peng and the cautious looks of the other three men, Qin Mu nodded his head in satisfaction. This was the result he wanted– fear can easily beget loyalty when there was none, and sometimes, you only needed a well-worded sentence or two to instill this sentiment inside the hearts of people.
'Anyway, we've already checked all of their backgrounds and they were all given the clear. But, just in case, it's best to eliminate future problems at their root.'
"That- Mr.Qin, should we do a check on that woman?" Old Guo finally asked after a slightly awkward pause. The safety of their employer comes first after all.
Qin Mu stared at the closed door in front of him and frowned lightly before his brow smoothed out. "No need– Just inform the hospital to keep an eye out on their patients, to avoid them causing harm to others"
***
It was another stiflingly hot summer day when Yang Jingshen was finally discharged from the hospital. After waking up in this novel world, for nearly four weeks now, his whole world had revolved around his single-patient room and the hospital's many cheerless corridors and equally tasteless testing rooms.
Nothin to do about being stuck inside this hell hole for a month straight since this body needed all the help it could get to get back on its feet, but this didn't mean that Yang Jingshen wasn't relieved to free himself of this place with its suffocating atmosphere.
"Phew" Carefully stepping onto the curb with the help of his crutches while the midday sun harshly beat on his back, he heaved a long sigh of relief.
'Never thought that there would come a day when I would be so eager to get under this heat.' He squinted his eyes against the harsh glare of light and stared at the cloudless blue sky when a pink, flower-patterned umbrella suddenly covered his vision.
"It's too hot. You will damage your skin and hair." Yang Jinsghen turned to look at Feng Xue holding the umbrella over his head and started talking after hesitating for a bit.
"Big sister Xue, I was j-"
"Aaiyo, stop calling me that! Just call me big sister like before." Seeing the nostalgic smile on the face of the young woman with traces of sadness, Yang Jingshen smiled awkwardly and quickly rectified his mistake.
"Sorry big sister. It's only I'm not that used to it." Seeing the other's beautiful face finally losing the traces of dejection, he felt relieved for a moment. 'Looks like I've really lost my touch with women, getting worried over this kind of thing. But then again, being amnesiac have its own perks– I can pin anything on that ne.'
"Earlier, I was only thinking that it feels good to get out of the hospital. They didn't even let me eat properly." Yang Jingshen didn't forget to show an aggrieved look, but this time, he wasn't acting– not much anyway. It really had been too tiresome.
"Right?" Feng Xue grinned, her earlier unhappiness disappearing after seeing her younger sister's pouting face. "When we go back, I'll cook something tasty." And, seeing the way the younger girl's ears perked up in attention even as she tried to hide the salivating look in her eyes with a well-behaved expression, Feng Xue had a hard time stifling her laughter.
'This little thing has a very thin skin. If I laugh now, she'll definitely feel embarrassed ah!'
So, trying to keep her face straight, she flagged down an empty taxi and helped Feng Xi to get on board, and settled for the ride back home, wondering what to prepare for the upcoming meal.
***
The ride back had been uneventful and the air-conditioning in the car had perfectly blocked the heat until the duo finally alighted at the entrance of a slightly old-looking, but well-maintained two-storey house in an equally ancient-looking alley.
The moment they got off, the heat had come blasting in waves, prompting Feng Xue to hasten the process of unloading their luggage, but Yang Jingshen didn't look the least bit bothered.
Instead, he kept looking around curiously as he slowly hobbled along with his sister's bag slung over one of his shoulders. She was already carrying two bags full of his clothes and necessities, and as a man, he felt obliged to at least carry a little bit of the weight, despite clearly knowing that he didn't need to.
'...'
'Let's not think about that for now– But, gotta say, this place really looks old school. Probably at least a half-century old?'
"Sister… the company dorms, are they located here? Is our company not doing well?" But, if he didn't remember wrong, this cannon fodder villain character belonged to some top-tier entertainment company, right? Or did he remember it wrong?
"Actually that–" Feng Xue coughed and evaded his eyes and replied cheerily while helping him slowly climb to the top floor of the old house using the external staircase. "This is my place. I thought you can recover better if you were here. That way, I can also look after you properly ne."
Whatever he was thinking about this suspicious reply from his cousin, Yang Jingshen still obediently nodded his head and smiled to let her know he accepted this. This of course only managed to increase Feng Xue's guilt and she ended up spending an abysmally long time opening the door after fumbling around in a fluster.
Yang Jingshen pretended not to see her uncharacteristic clumsiness and stepped inside the rented place, still feigning interest in the new surroundings, which made Feng Xue heave a relieved sigh. But, at this moment, he wasn't as carefree as he presented himself to be.
'I can draw two conclusions out of this. One is that Feng Xi used to live in a place provided by the company. Earlier, when we talked at the hospital, Feng Xue never mentioned anything about her cousin living in a dorm before, so I was bluffing just now. Could it be– this body's original owner really had some talent in acting?'
So, this only meant another thing. Feng Xi's company, whatever it was, had decided to temporarily or permanently ban her from acting.
'*Sigh* I need information about my situation, like real fast. And about this world too. Or, I might end up with a truckload of trouble without even knowing how I ended up with them.'