Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR AND I KNOW WHO'S REALLY GUILTY

Xin Hulei drives him back to the hotel. Yao Shen walks through the hallways with his head held high, even though some of the hotel staff give him odd looks.

He and Xin Hulei ride in silence all the way up the elevator to his room. Yao Shen sees a sliver of light shine from under the door, meaning that someone is inside.

He exchanges a look with Xin Hulei and slides his keycard against the reader.

Bi Jialu is standing in the middle of the room, holding a phone to her ear, looking in confusion at the opening door. The moment she sees Yao Shen her face goes pale, and she disconnects her call.

"Laoshi, I'm so glad you're back," she says, smiling thinly.

"Are you?" Yao Shen asks, walking towards the sofa and taking a seat. He pats the cushion next to him, and Xin Hulei crosses the room to sit at his side, his expression unreadable and his cold eyes fixed on Bi Jialu.

"Of course, I was very worried...I was actually just on the phone with HuaHua, trying to get laoshi a lawyer as soon as possible."

Xin Hulei adjusts his posture, stretching out his right arm over the top of the sofa. Bi Jialu's eyes are anxiously drawn to his movements, as if she expects him to strike at any time.

"I haven't heard anything from HuaHua lately," Yao Shen says, inspecting his nails. "I think I'm not their biggest priority, right now."

Bi Jialu's eyes shift around the room. "Well, I'll call again and let them know that laoshi is back, and maybe tomorrow we can discuss how to proceed from here on out," she starts shifting backwards towards the door. Her cheery smile remains in place, but her eyes are panicked.

"Stay where you are Lulu," Yao Shen says, dropping his own pretence. He has no intention in dragging this out and cornering her like a mouse. "I just want to know why."

She laughs. "I don't know what laoshi is talking about, maybe a good night of sleep-"

Xin Hulei clears his throat, startling Bi Jialu. "There were some changes in HuaHua during the summer, weren't there?"

"I- I...I have no idea, I'm just a personal assistant, no one keeps me informed about internal changes in the company."

Yao Shen gives her a cold look. "There were a lot of rumours about me, Xin Hulei, and Tan Liansi during the drama's hiatus, and of course, even more so now. We caused a lot of trouble for very powerful men when we exposed their crimes on live TV. So Xin Hulei asked his connections to look into whether they were behind our recent string of "bad" press."

Xin Hulei grins, and Bi Jialu slinks against the wall, trying to make herself smaller, like a small animal confronted with a much larger predator. "I found something really interesting."

Yao Shen elaborates, since she might keel over from fright if Xin Hulei keeps talking. "Turns out, that while the three of us were busy with a very personal crisis, the son of one of the criminals was also busy trying to acquire our talent management companies."

"Really? I had no idea," she chances a look towards the door, calculating her odds of making a run for it if necessary. Clearly she thinks it's possible that they'll try to do something to her.

"He couldn't buy Xin Hulei's and Tan Liansi's management company, no matter how much money he threw at them."

According to Xin Hulei this was a common occurrence, and likely the reason why no one had told him anything when it happened.

"HuaHua was eager to sell, though," Yao Shen says, watching Bi Jialu's widen once she realises they have her now. "I didn't know about the financial troubles, but then again I guess they were trying to keep them under wraps. This offer couldn't have come at a better time."