However, she was willing to be misleading, for after all, what others think was their own business, she did not lie about it.
But Ou Chengtian was not delighted after receiving the answer he had guessed. Instead, there was a touch of displeasure and intolerance in his eyebrows, making his expression somewhat complex and elusive.
"What on earth are you thinking about all day that you even forget to eat?" His reproachful words conveyed a hint of concern to Xia Liyou.
Was he showing concern for her?
But the complex expression on his face did not indicate any concern. On the contrary, it was more of displeased.
Xia Liyou restrained her emotions, did not say anything more, and quickly finished the porridge in her bowl. Just when she was relieved that the meal was over, she heard Ou Chengtian say, "Go and get another bowl of porridge for Madam."
The Butler's wife rushed out from the kitchen when she heard this and took away Xia Liyou's bowl with a smiling face. She then hurried back into the kitchen.
Xia Liyou reflexively wanted to say it was unnecessary, but after glancing at Ou Chengtian's face, she swallowed her words.
The Butler's wife tended to her specially. Every bowl of porridge was always filled to the brim.
Xia Liyou never ate much, and her stomach was somewhat tightened from hunger. So, only having a late-night snack, but eating two bowls of porridge, was a bit beyond her tolerance.
Finally, under Ou Chengtian's watchful gaze, she finished all the porridge. He only moved his eyes away when he was satisfied, quiet, focusing on the finger marks on her face.
Because Ai Wei had helped her deal with it earlier at the film set, it was not particularly obvious, presumably, the mark should disappear in a day or two.
Nonetheless, Ou Chengtian did not feel assured about these marks disappearing in a day or two. The more he looked at them, the angrier he became.
He withdrew his hand from her face, gave her the egg, and said, "You can rub it slowly yourself."
Then, he went upstairs without looking back. Every step was firm and heavy, as if he was venting all his dissatisfaction on that staircase.
Xia Liyou watched as he ascended the stairs, and heaved a long sigh as her face slowly cooled down without his warmth.
Ou Chengtian entered the study room, shut the door, took out his phone, searched for a number, and dialed it.
The name on the phone only showed a number, 27.
It was already half past eleven at night. After ringing several times, a lazy voice finally answered on the other end of the line.
"Who hit Xia Liyou's face today?" Ou Chengtian cut into the matter directly, without any sidestepping. He couldn't be bothered to engage in small talk with these people.
Director Wang was finally able to sleep early for once without having to work late into the night, only to be woken up by this phone call. He wasn't very pleased with the way it started.
He looked at the unfamiliar number displayed on the phone, aggravation quickly turning into irritation.
"Who the hell are you? Calling in the wee hours of the night. If you're brave enough, tell me your name. Let's see how I will deal with you." Director Wang, whose fame was somewhat established in the circle, had a temper no better than any famous director. He was particularly harsh towards those he considered inferior to him.
A cold laugh came through the phone, chilling and oppressive, which made Director Wang's scalp tingle.
Just as he was about to curse again, he heard a simple three words from the other side: "Ou Chengtian."
Director Wang seemed to have a misperception. He froze for several seconds, looking at his phone back and forth many times.
He suddenly remembered a recent phone call from the ST Entertainment Company under the Ounuo Group. It was because of that call that Xia Liyou went from being the second female lead to a minor role.
At that time, Director Wang was wondering if Xia Liyou had offended the top brass at ST, which caused them to ask for a replacement for Liyou's role.
Although ST was established only a year ago, its predecessor was an established Zhongyi Entertainment Company, which was later acquired by Ounuo. Therefore, its strength was not to be underestimated. Coupled with a big ace like Ounuo backing it up, ST's reputation was now second to none in the entertainment circle, attracting many young dreamers.
A company like ST was someone even Director Wang dared not offend, let alone that it was a multinational company like Ounuo behind it.
Under the pressure of ST, Director Wang had to replace Xia Liyou, who had been confirmed, with Qi Guanguan.
It seemed now that Xia Liyou didn't just offend the high-ranking executives of ST, she even offended the CEO of the Ounuo Group. My god, she didn't even know how she was going to die.
Director Wang recalled the words he had just yelled at Ou Chengtian, and he felt a chill down his spine. His hands and feet felt cold.
His hand holding the phone started shaking. He stuttered, "Is. . . is this Mr... Mr. Ou?"
"Who hit Xia Liyou's face?" Hearing the change in his voice on the other end, Ou Chengtian didn't feel like wasting words with him.
Even though Director Wang did not understand why the busy Ou Chengtian would call him in the middle of the night to ask who hit a minor actress, he had no place to ask. So he replied in detail, "It... it was necessary for shooting."
"Who did it?" Ou Chengtian's only a shred of patience left, because of this "necessary for shooting", was now burning in anger. His tone immediately heightened.
Despite the distance, Director Wang shuddered. He immediately apologized with a smile and said, "It was Qi Guanguan."
This name, Ou Chengtian didn't remember. But from now on, nobody else needed to remember it.
"Ban her, don't let her appear on TV again in the future. Also, whoever dares to hit Xia Liyou under the statement of 'necessary for shooting' will end up with the same fate as this woman." After saying this, Ou Chengtian simply hung up the phone.