Honest Beta gets scammed

These past few days, He Xiangchen has been going to the film set whenever he has free time.

Although the embarrassing blunder in the car a few days ago has been proven to be his overthinking, his prejudice against Qu Qingzhe has not diminished at all.

This guy knows too much, and his inexplicable closeness to Li Qing makes him both unhappy and wary.

Now he's actually starting to regret it. Why did he let Fang Yuehan put Li Qing into this production team? If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have tried to ride on Qu Qingzhe's popularity. He could have done the same as Fang Yuehan and spent money to tailor a script specifically for Li Qing.

"What were you two talking about just now?" He Xiangchen asked, sitting down in the empty seat next to Li Qing.

Li Qing tilted his head back and stared at He Xiangchen's face for a few seconds.

He's undeniably handsome, without a doubt. But his entire demeanor also exudes a playful, rebellious vibe. Just standing there, he seems to be proof that Qu Qingzhe wasn't making things up.

Li Qing sniffed, forced a smile, and shook his head: "Nothing, just chatting."

He Xiangchen, unsuspecting, nodded and asked, "When will today end?"

"It shouldn't be long. I have two more scenes to film, both with the female lead. After she finishes filming her scenes with the other actors, it will be my turn."

After speaking, seeing He Xiangchen looking thoughtful, Li Qing hesitated.

Feeling a little sad after Qu Qingzhe's words, Li Qing wanted to ask but felt he had no right to do so, but if he didn't ask, he would feel frustrated.

After some deliberation, Li Qing finally decided to ask He Xiangchen if it was true or not.

Well, I didn't mean anything by it. Even if we're just friends, it's normal to care about someone's private life, right? Besides, Qu Qingzhe said that He Xiangchen's affairs are quite famous in the industry, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to ask, right?

So, Li Qing mustered his courage and spoke.

"He Xiangchen, it's just...do you have a lot of kept women?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a crack appeared on He Xiangchen's smiling face.

He stared at Li Qing, his body frozen for a second, and the corners of his mouth gradually curved upwards, growing wider and wider.

Holy crap! Qu Qingzhe, you dead man!

His smile grew brighter and brighter, even a little distorted, as he frantically racked his brains for a solution. However, after thinking for a long time, he could barely maintain his smile and still couldn't come up with a perfect answer to the question.

Seeing that he didn't speak and only smiled, and that his smile was becoming more and more stiff and strange, Li Qing wondered what he didn't understand.

This is true.

A wave of bitterness washed over him, and he quickly turned his face away, not daring to look at He Xiangchen again, afraid that his expression would be too unpleasant. Then he raised his hand and waved it casually.

"Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, I understand."

He tried to make his voice sound open-minded and understanding.

"Although your family is fighting fiercely right now, they are, after all, very wealthy, and you're an Alpha, so it's normal, I understand..."

This single sentence encapsulates two major stereotypes: "Rich people are bound to be promiscuous" and "Alphas are naturally promiscuous."

However, He Xiangchen did find a chance to catch his breath as a result.

Following Li Qing's advice, he quickly came up with a solution.

The smile on He Xiangchen's face slowly faded, and he lowered his eyes, looking somewhat forlorn.

"...I don't know who told you these things, but they did happen."

"I'm thirty years old now. When I was younger, I was much more radical than I am now."

He Xiangchen chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I did rebel against my parents, but it was no use, so I was in a bad mood at the time. Some people who didn't know the inside story liked to organize drinking parties to curry favor with me. The first time I was pressured into having someone do this was at one of those drinking parties."

"I didn't have any concerns at the time and thought it didn't matter, so I accepted them all. After the first time, there was a second time, and then more. But that was a long time ago. Because the struggles at home became more and more serious, I didn't have time to numb myself like that."

He Xiangchen offered no apology or explanation for his actions; he simply stated his position silently, and then cautiously looked at Li Qing after finishing.

"...You're disgusted with me?"

Li Qing's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her like that.

The initial bitterness that arose in my heart because of "The Canary" vanished instantly under He Xiangchen's gentle performance, turning into heartache instead.

He quickly shook his head and stepped aside in a second!

"Of course I didn't!"

"Don't worry, I understand. How could I possibly look down on you over something like this! That's all in the past. Besides, it's normal to want to numb yourself when you're going through a low point in life!"

After saying that, Li Qing licked his lips, glanced at He Xiangchen, and finally couldn't help but slip in a bit of his own opinion, adding earnestly, "...However, you shouldn't do that again. It's self-destructive and not good for you. You see, life is full of hope, so you have to look forward!"

Hearing this, He Xiangchen finally smiled, and the loneliness in his eyes vanished.

"I know, I haven't done that in a long time."

Seeing him smile, Li Qing also grinned.

The atmosphere relaxed again, and Li Qing felt a huge weight lifted from her heart. Suddenly, she thought of something else.

He tightened his grip on the script for a moment, then spoke softly and casually.

"But speaking of which, besides me, do you have any other friends in the capital?"

Having just survived by successfully playing the victim, He Xiangchen instinctively wanted to say "no," in order to further highlight his pitiful and helpless state.

But before he could finish speaking, he abruptly stopped the car.

No, when Li Qing asked him about that CEO or something before, he admitted that he had a friend. If he says he doesn't now, wouldn't that be contradictory?

He Xiangchen didn't intend to challenge Li Qing's memory. After pondering for a few seconds, he finally replied, "There is one."

Li Qing became interested and immediately asked, "Who is it?"

He Xiangchen stopped again.

I'm debating whether to tell the truth about Qin Chuan's resignation or make up something else.

Finally, he slowly opened his mouth.

"His name is Xu Mang, and he mainly works in the bodyguard industry."

He Xiangchen chose a safe answer.

Qin Chuanci is a show-off. The moment he appears, he wants the whole world to know how awesome he is. Search his name online and you'll find tons of news articles praising him. Given my current persona, it feels a bit incongruous for me to be friends with Qin Chuanci, and it's easy for me to be exposed.

Li Qing was naturally unaware of the intricacies involved; he simply felt that the name "Xu Mang" seemed a bit off.

Why does that sound like something out of a gangster movie?

However, it's also offensive to comment on someone's name behind their back, so Li Qing didn't say anything. He chuckled and shared, "I only have one friend in the capital, named Liu Yu. Do you remember her? She was the one who was always with me at the Shengxin Club."