Ah Wan rolled up his shirt sleeves and joined the chicken rodeo.
Afraid of being accused of idling around, Assistant Director Zhao grabbed his loudspeaker and ordered for the capture of the berserking chicken. "Grab that feathery b*stard!"
"You! Stand near machine number 1."
"You! number 2!"
"Surround it!"
"Quick! Grab it!"
Under the assistant director's command, a few male helpers and Ah Wan swept in from all sides toward the sole rooster, encircling it to deny all chances of escape. Then, Ah Wan took the chance to lunge at the chicken but to no avail. The feisty rooster flapped its wings and took off in the only direction where no humans could; upward.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck…"
A split second later, the rooster charged toward something in the distance, which Ah Wan followed with his eyes.
Shit!
Assistant Director Zhao facepalmed at the result of their failure to capture the chicken. It was all over for him now.
That cursed ball of feathers landed on the shoulder of the resting director who was feeling slightly under the weather today. The entire place fell dead silent at the sight of the scene, silent enough that they all could hear the sound of watery chicken feces oozing out from its butt slowly, but it remained suspended in the air, like snot from a nose.
Jiang Zhi was dumbfounded by what had just happened. Within mere seconds, his face had turned deathly pale.
The scene remained so silent that even the drop of a needle could be heard. Ah Wan stumbled forward cautiously, trying his best not to choke on his fear before breaking the silence. "Master Jiang."
Ah Wan whispered to his young master for fear of angering the chicken, which would, a hundred percent, result in that bomb releasing from its butt.
Jiang Zhi leaned back into his seat with a body as stiff as rock.
"Quick, quick, make it go away!"
His voice was trembling.
Ah Wan was petrified at the idea that the young master would pass out, seeing his current condition. This man had to be handled extra delicately, and he knew just how obsessed Jiang Zhi was with cleanliness.
"Don't move," Ah Wan warned Jiang Zhi in a serious tone. "Don't even move by an inch or the chicken poop will drop."
"..."
Jiang Zhi's deathly pale face now darkened. "Then what the hell do you want me to do?" His fury was such that his handsome face almost seemed distorted out of shape.
Ah Wan himself had no idea what to do. It was only after hesitating for a while that he began inching closer toward Jiang Zhi. His hands slowly reached out toward the rooster. Closer, closer... and then, suddenly...
A feather dropped onto Assistant Director Zhao's face and he felt his nose twitch uncontrollably.
"Achoo!"
The sneeze gave the rooster enough of a shock that it started flapping its wings wildly, rising into the air.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!"
Feathers came drifting down from above, like falling snow, accompanied by a dark pile of wet substance that came raining down toward Jiang Zhi's gray wool sweater. His entire body turned stiff at the incoming bombs before accepting his fate and shutting his eyes.
"Cluck!"
A gust of wind blew over his face, blowing up tons of feathers into the air. Nobody had noticed from where this lady wearing hemp clothing had come running out from. Her entire head was wrapped up by some clothing, masking her identity. They only saw her phantom launching toward the director, shielding him from the chicken poop which splattered all over her shirt instead.
"Mmph!"
Jiang Zhi grunted from the weight pressing down on his body. Slowly, he peeled open his eyes only to meet a pair of dazzling eyes looking back at him. It reminded him of the starry night sky, dark, infinite, and serene.
Zhou Xufang.
According to Xue Baoyi, the name of this girl was Zhou Xufang. What an odd name, befitting of a similarly odd person. The strange woman was lying on top of him, and he felt a turbulent storm swelling up within his chest. Jiang Zhi had never had such close physical contact with a person of the opposite sex, and yet, this person had broken his personal record not once, not twice, but three whole times.
Inexplicably, he swallowed nervously, which made him notice how steaming hot his throat felt. His entire face, by then, was bright red, like an apple. "Y-you….cough, cough, cough, cough…"
Stifling his cough, his eyes reddened.
Zhou Xufang, who was still lying over his body, blinked a few times.
"Get off me!" He roared at her.
Oh.
She climbed off his body. Because Jiang Zhi had a habit of taking off his outerwear when filming action scenes, the wool fabric of his sweater was lifted off his body by the friction with Xufang's hemp clothing, revealing his pale white waist underneath. Her fingers unintentionally made contact with his body when she lifted herself off the director.
So smooth.
Zhou Xufang looked down toward his waist, but unfortunately, he had already pulled his shirt down to hide the exposed part of his body. His hand then reached upward to yank down a blanket from his chair, wrapping it tightly around his body. Jiang Zhi sat upright before coughing his lungs out with a hand over his mouth.
His heart felt as though it was about to burst open!
"How fragile," Zhou Xufang thought, before asking, "Are you alright?"
Her entire face was wrapped up, revealing only her eyes that seemed a bit cold and aloof. And yet, it burned a hole right through Jiang Zhi's chest. He suppressed the itch in his throat and wheezed heavily.
"You... you stay away from me!"
He had stuttered again.
Jiang Zhi clenched up his fists. He was so angry that heat surged through his blood vessels.
Slowly, she retreated five steps back.
This time, Ah Wan stepped forward and asked, "Master Jiang, are you okay?" His face was a never-seen-before shade of red. It didn't just end there, his ears were red, his collarbone was red, everything about him right now seemed off.
Placing his hand on the chair behind him, he pulled himself off the ground. There was even a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead. Because he was still out of breath, his speech was noticeably devoid of energy. "What do you think?"
What did Ah Wan think? The young master was an extremely fragile being, and so, he replied in a gentle tone, "Sir, you look like you've almost been crushed to death. Would you like me to call Doctor Xue over to have a look at your body?"
Jiang Zhi licked his teeth as he pulled a coat over his shoulders. "F*ck off from me!" He raised his head and glared at that b*stard whose face was wrapped up in cloth. "All of you, piss off!"
Fang Lixiang hurried over and pulled Zhou Xufang away. Assistant Director Zhao remained silent and gestured with his eyes, urging everyone on the scene to disperse.
However, Ah Wan was the only one who did not leave. Obediently, he trailed behind the young master.
"I think I've stirred up more trouble again." Zhou Xufang looked at the still-struggling ball of feathers with furrowed brows.
Fang Lixiang comforted her. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's that chicken's fault."
With droopy eyes, Xufang explained, "It was me who brought that chicken."
"..."
What the hell was going on?
The more she looked at Zhou Xufang, the cuter she seemed despite her cold personality.
There was a bathroom in the director's resting room, and Jiang Zhi remained in the shower for over half an hour before stepping out. The water temperature of the shower was set at the highest which steamed his previously pale white skin bright pink.
"Master Jiang."
Ah Wan stood guard in front of the door.
"Come in."
Ah Wan fearfully went into the room with his head lowered. Silently, he put Jiang Zhi's clothes down before turning to disappear from the young master's vision.
"Ling Wanwan."
"..."
'Can you not call me by this name?!'
He was a manly man with pride, but even so, Ah Wan meekly raised his head in response to the young master's call. "Your orders, sir."
Jiang Zhi was wearing a soft white bathrobe tied loosely around his waist leaving much of his chest exposed. His hair was still wet, so lines of water ran down the sides of his face, down his neck, and settling into his collarbone. "Go kill that chicken."
"Understood."
Ah Wan secretly glanced at the area near the bathrobe's neckline.
'What the hell kind of collarbone is that? How can a man possess such delicate features, as if it was carved out of ice and jade? It'd be much manlier if it was rougher around the edges.'
Jiang Zhi started drying his hair with a towel. "Are you gonna stand there all day?"
"Oh." Just as Ah Wan was about to exit the room, he couldn't help but turn back. "Master Jiang, I've noticed something."
"Go ahead."
Urged by the young master, Wan continued. "I think that screen protector girl is into you."
"How'd you notice that?" Jiang Zhi pulled up his bathrobe and sniffed. Somehow, he could still smell whiffs of foulness. Grumpily, he wiped his neck with the towel. He applied so much pressure while wiping that it scratched the patch of skin bright pink.
Ah Wan's reason for his hypothesis—"She shielded you from the chicken poop." That had to be none other than an act of true love!
Jiang Zhi paused in his tracks. Raising his eyelids, he uttered, "Don't you say that word again."
From now on, it was forbidden for one to say the word "chicken" in Jiang Zhi's presence.
Thus, Ah Wan repeated an altered sentence. "She shielded you from poop."
As soon as he finished saying those words, a can of milk smashed into his face.
"..."
Work ain't easy, huh?
Ah Wan rubbed his head gently as he retreated in silence, his eyes scanning the tabletop.
'Huh? Did he not complain about the chicken-poop-smelling box of milk from that bag? Why did he open up the box, then?'
The young master's heart was
At 8 pm that evening, blissful music played by an orchestra echoed through the hall. There were many places in the imperial capital that offered a sense of ecstasy. Although, many such places were over-the-top in extravagance, unlike this floating hall which was tastefully elegant.
The murals on the walls were intricately painted by world-renowned artists, and standing before them was a couple, both wearing equally beautiful clothes.
The woman leaned softly against the wall and wore a hard-to-describe smile on her face. "Second Young Master."
The man's lips curled into a smile, but she could feel that he was a tad displeased. "Forget Young Master, call me Second Master instead."
There was more than one "second master" in the imperial capital, but only one of these second masters was a frequent guest in the floating hall—the second young master of the Xue family.
Xue Baoyi's father was the second eldest in their family, meaning, Second Master Xue was his father. Xue Baoyi was also the second eldest among the Xue family's grandchildren, hence why he would always be referred to as the second young master. However, Xue Baoyi hated that. It sounded out-of-place and so, he demanded that he be referred to as the second master.
The lady, with a cunning smile on her face, called out to him. "Second Master." She seductively wrapped her arms around Xue Baoyi. "Wanna have a drink together?"
"You're wearing perfume tonight?" Xue Baoyi pulled back his arm and stepped back. "Stay away from me then, there's a person in there that despises the smell of women's perfume."