Chapter 73 - 73: A Wave of Scumbags
The room fell into a momentary silence, every motion frozen in time.
“Quite efficient,” Si Fuqing straightened her back, her half-closed eyes now fully open. “Come in.”
The door swung open, and a middle-aged man entered.
Dressed in a tailored suit, his hair slicked back and glasses perched meticulously on his nose, he emanated an air of exactitude and rigor.
Unperturbed by the number of people in the room, he merely swept his gaze across the space before walking directly to Si Fuqing.
He handed her a USB drive.
“Miss Si, this contains the surveillance footage you requested,” he said respectfully. “Not just from the makeup room, but also from the dressing rooms and the competition area.”
“Thank you for going to the trouble,” Si Fuqing nodded her acknowledgment. “You’re too kind, Miss Si,” the middle-aged man smiled. “It’s just surveillance footage, hardly a secret.”
He looked closely at the young woman, trying to discern any special reason for her appearance but could only conclude that her makeup was poorly done. Of course, what the higher-ups liked was none of his business.
Maybe they had some special preferences.
With a polite smile, the man turned and left, easing the room’s palpable tension.
“What happened?” the producer turned to the staff member who had followed the man in.
Wiping his sweat, the staff member finally caught his breath: “That gentleman had a card from the State Sports Association. He said he had something important to deliver, so we let him in.”
“The State Sports Association?” The planner was stunned.
In charge of the Western State Sports Competition, the State Sports Association had commandeered the largest stadiums in the city of Lin, the center of the Western State.
Their authority was unquestionable, combined with the fact that sports and entertainment rarely crossed path, making it especially difficult to get surveillance footage.
But now, someone from the State Sports Association had personally delivered
And so quickly?
For a moment, everyone’s gaze seemed askew.
Lin Qingyan was equally shocked.
The State Sports Association was one of the most powerful organizations in Great Xia.
Even a newly recruited athlete there had won awards.
Its core members had all won individual gold medals in international competitions.
Even their security guards could have been international competitors decades ago, now simply passing time watching the younger generation. Did Si Fuqing know someone from the State Sports Association?
How could that be possible?!
Even a leading company like Tianle would have a hard time ordering around people from the State Sports Association.
“Stop staring at me,” Si Fuqing said, crossing her legs and resting her arms on the back of her chair, her smile sly. “Don’t you know how to watch surveillance footage? If you need to me teach you guys so trivial, where were your family members then?”
The director hastily interjected before the planner could lose his temper:
“Quick, check the footage. Let’s find out who did this to Teacher Lin.”
The staff member snapped back to reality and plugged the USB into the computer, lowering the projection screen.
The footage played at eight times the normal speed but was clear enough to identify everyone who had entered the makeup room.
As it turned out, Si Fuqing had never set foot in there before the start of the theme song performance.
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten, Teacher Lin,” Si Fuqing smirked, “I have good skin. I don’t need to touch up my makeup. Besides, you’ve taken up all the space with your make-up.”
The producer’s gaze sharpened towards Lin Qingyan, who paled, her back soaked in a cold sweat, “I…”
The video continued to play until it showed someone sneaking in around 3:30 in the afternoon.
The intruder headed straight for the makeup table marked with Si Fuqing’s name.
“Stop—” The producer cut in. “Who is this person? She’s not part of our crew.” The staff member, realizing he couldn’t hide it anymore, gritted his teeth. “It’s… it’s Miss Zuo Qingya from the Zuo family.”
“The Zuo family?” The producer’s hand trembled as he raised his voice. “Why would you let someone irrelevant in?”
The staff member mumbled, unable to speak.
Everyone in the room was astute. After watching the footage, how could they not understand what had transpired?
They didn’t know what had happened between Si Fuqing and the Zuo family, but it was evident that Zuo Qingya had intended to sabotage Si Fuqing.
Ironically, because Lin Qingyan had taken Si Fuqing’s table, she had become the victim instead.
Lin Qingyan’s body stiffened, her lips quivering.
She had never expected such a farcical turn of events.
“Have you seen clearly now?” Si Fuqing twisted open a bottle of coke and took a sip. “Open your eyes wide. Did I do it? If you can’t see clearly, perhaps I could cure your eyesight .
The room was enveloped in silence; both the producer and the director remained mute. Li Jingchen, too, was at a loss for words, his gaze towards Lin Qingyan complicated.
“So that’s how it is,” Lin Qingyan’s face turned ashen. “Miss Zuo probably didn’t mean to target me. My face will heal in a few days.”
“You go easy on those who are strong and hard on those who are weak, don’t you?” Si Fuqing narrowed her eyes, a fox-like grin on her face. “So when it’s Miss Zuo, there’s no need for apologies. But you want to push me to apologize on social media?”
Lin Qingyan’s face paled further. She forced a smile, “Miss Zuo is a civilian, unlike us professionals.”
“I don’t care who you are,” Si Fuqing stood up, towering over her, “I’m not as soft as you think. Be careful.”
Under such scrutiny, Lin Qingyan felt as if her blood were flowing backward, her fingers icy cold.
Si Fuqing calmly took out her phone and waved it: “Since you’re scared, I’ll make this police call for you.”
Before Lin Qingyan could stop her, Si Fuqing had already dialed: “Hello, this is the ‘Youth With You’ training base. One of our teachers has been poisoned.”
“Yes, we have surveillance footage as evidence. Whether this remains private or public is up to the involved parties. Right, this is a serious matter; please detain the suspect as soon as possible.”
Lin Qingyan was chilled to the bone. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
“It looks like I have to stir the pot for you all to settle down,” Si Fuqing adjusted her collar and smiled. “See you later, then.”
The door opened and closed again, the atmosphere in the room growing heavy once more.
“Teacher Lin, if you have any grudges with Si Fuqing, sort them out privately,” the producer said coldly. “This show isn’t your court. If this gets out, do you think both you and the show will be fine?”
Lin Qingyan felt as if all her energy had been drained, collapsing into her chair, her face still pale.
Zuo Qingya had been her guest; what now?
Meanwhile, at the Zuo family residence.
Today was a Sunday, and Zuo Xianyu was working from home.
She took a sip of her coffee and saw Zuo Qingya rushing from the staircase towards the door. “Stop. Where are you going?”
Zuo Qingya halted abruptly, looking somewhat guilty, but she answered, “I want to go to the program base and see if Si Fuqing’s face has rotted.”
“Rotted?” Zuo Xianyu’s voice turned icy. “What good deed have you done now? Your elder brother and fourth uncle are still in the hospital. Do you want to join them?”
Zuo Qingya stammered through her explanation, “If she uses those cosmetics, her face will definitely rot.”
“Zuo Qingya!” Zuo Xianyu was furious. “Are you out of your mind? You’re poisoning her openly; aren’t you afraid she’ll sue you?”
“How is that possible?” Zuo Qingya was dismissive. “She fears the Zuo family. She wouldn’t dare to sue. We’re in the city of Lin; she can’t possibly take legal action here.”
“It doesn’t matter if they fear the Zuo family or not; you shouldn’t be doing things that are so easily discovered,” Zuo Xianyu held back her anger. “Come back. You’re not going.”
“Aww, come on, Second Sis. I’ll just take a quick look and come back,” Zuo Qingya was elated to have learned about Si Fuqing’s bet with Lin Qingyan on social media. She believed she had been prescient.
If she ruined Si Fuqing’s face, she would be despicable after she removed her make-up.
“Absolutely not,” Zuo Xianyu remained unmoved.
Sulking, Zuo Qingya turned and went back to her room.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. “Ding-dong.”
Zuo Xianyu set down her coffee cup, her eyes still on the computer screen. “Go answer the door.”
“Alright,” Zuo Qingya obeyed, albeit reluctantly.
Who could be bothering them so early in the morning?