The President’s Man - Chapter 317

…

About 30 minutes later, everyone was back to their own position.

“I hope you’re feeling better now, Ms. Siew,” Xiao Lei said with a concerned expression as she sat on the bed. “You should really watch what you eat. You know, once you get older, your body will start to reject certain types of food.”

“I know that it’s you…” Vivian Siew replied; a smile was still on her face as she said so. Even if others could not hear her, one’s expression often betrayed their thoughts, so she had to be careful.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Xiao Lei replied with a smile. “But you should really stop doing all those underhanded things… Otherwise, it might be bad for your health… or your stomach.”

The corners of Vivian Siew’s lips twitched slightly.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s take it from where we stopped earlier! In 5!” the director yelled.

…

“Let’s leave! I don’t even want to see her face!” the man yelled. He spat on his ex-wife’s body before walking out of the room with his mistress, who had an evil grin on her face.

Not long after they left, the door was pushed open again, and this time, an older man dressed fully in suit walked in with a walking stick.

…

The moment the man appeared in everyone’s view,

“Oh my… N-no way! Is that…” someone who was handling the lights mumbled under their breath. “It can’t be, right?”

“Who’s that?” asked his colleague.

“You wouldn’t know him if you don’t want old movies… That’s… Fan Shaohang! Is he coming out of retirement?!”

…

The older man stared at the woman on the bed, and after a while, he looked at the heart rate monitor.

“You can hear me, right?” he asked. “Your son is dead. All because of your ex-husband, and he’s about to leave the country. Either that, or he would silence you off permanently, and this time, I doubt he would fail.”

He then leaned forward and gently caressed the unconscious woman’s face as he whispered, “Wake up if you want to take revenge for him.”

…

Xiao Lei’s eyes moved under the eyelids as she tried to figure out the voice. She had heard it before; she was sure about that. But where? Why was it so familiar? Why was his touch… so warm?

When she finally had an inkling of an idea of who he might be, her eyes opened slowly, hoping that she was wrong. And when she was proven right, she was so startled that she pushed herself too hard, almost falling off the bed in the process.

“Careful!” Fan Shaohang cried out as he grabbed onto her hand and pulled her back toward him.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Xiao Lei yelled as she stared at him with fearful eyes. Having him suddenly appear in front of him had given her the shock of her life! “What are you doing here?!” she snapped as she pulled her hand away from his grasp, which he eventually released after making sure that her entire body was fully on the bed and that she wouldn’t fall down.

“CUT!” the director yelled. He then stared at Xiao Lei and said, “Xiao Lei, are you alright? He’s the male lead, Fan Shaohang.”

“What?!” Xiao Lei snapped. She glared at Fan Shaohang, and there were things that she wanted to say – or yell – at him, but she controlled herself. As she climbed out of the bed, she said to the director, “I’m sorry, but can I take 5 minutes off?”

The director was surprised by her request since she had never asked for anything like this before, but since President Wei had told him to take care of Xiao Lei, he decided to follow the man’s request. With a nonchalant wave of his hand, he nodded. “Yeah, sure… But I hope you come back fully prepared. This is the last scene of the day, and I want to wrap everything up within the next hour.”

“Yes, Director. Thanks,” Xiao Lei said as she bowed at him politely. She then walked toward where her son and the others were at, with Fan Shaohang following behind her.

“What do you want?” she asked rudely, but with a lowered tone so that others wouldn’t hear her.

“I’m a little worried, Ms. Xiao. Did I startle you earlier? I should have made my appearance earlier, but I thought it would be more interesting to appear out of nowhere,” Fan Shaohang said with a smile.

Xiao Lei glared at him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Fan, but I’m a little busy at the moment.”

“Mum…” Xiao Zhihao stood in front of her. “Is he bothering you?” he asked. He could sense his mother’s discomfort when she was talking to this man. “Who are you?” Xiao Zhihao asked Fan Shaohang.

“Who are you?”

“I’m-”

Xiao Lei covered Xiao Zhihao’s mouth, but Fan Shaohang had already known about Xiao Zhihao’s identity, which was evident from his next question.

“You’re Ms. Xiao’s son, Xiao Zhihao, right? I heard that her son came today.”

“Leave him alone,” Xiao Lei warned Fan Shaohang.

Instead of walking away, Fan Shaohang lifted a hand. He merely wanted to pat Xiao Zhihao’s shoulder, but before he could do so, someone suddenly stood between Fan Shaohang and Xiao Lei.

“Brother Han,” Tian Le called out. He didn’t even notice that Han Ye had arrived.

“Mr. Fan,” Han Ye said with a smile. “I didn’t realize that you would be here.”

“Ah, Mr. Han. How are you? It’s been a while.”

“I’m good. If you will excuse us, I need my little assistant to help with something,” Han Ye said loudly. He then sighed and added, “She’s supposed to help me set up a meeting with President Wei, but I guess she has forgotten about it because I received a call from President Wei earlier asking about my whereabouts.”

He then glared at Xiao Lei and snapped, “I told you that if you still want to work for me, you have to juggle both jobs properly, didn’t I?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her, hoping that she would play along. Thankfully, she did.

Xiao Lei immediately lowered her head. “Sorry, Mr. Han. I forgot.”

“Come with me!” Han Ye said angrily before walking to a corner where there wasn’t anyone around. Well, there were two people there, but they immediately walked away upon seeing him and his angry face.

Xiao Lei put on a resigned expression as she trodded behind him.

Xiao Zhihao wanted to follow her, but Tian Le pulled him back. Tian Le then turned to Fan Shaohang and said in a polite tone, “I’m sorry, sir, but we are not allowed to talk to strangers.”

Upon hearing that, Fan Shaohang chuckled slightly before leaving, but not before making a remark at Xiao Zhihao, “You’ll be seeing me quite often.”

Xiao Zhihao wanted to ask him more about it, but Tian Le shook his head and whispered, “Your mum is apprehensive toward this man. He’s probably not someone simple. Let’s just go for now.”

Upon hearing him, Xiao Zhihao nodded and followed Tian Le to where Assistant Yoon was standing.

…

When Xiao Lei and Han Ye were alone at the corner, Han Ye said in a lowered voice, “Keep your head down and don’t smile. Pretend that you’re being scolded!”

He stood akimbo as he stared down at her, putting on an angry facade so that people would think that she was getting scolded.

“Erm…” Xiao Lei lowered her head as she was told.

“Did he do anything to you? Yoon just found out when she saw him lurk around, and she gave me a call earlier. Thankfully, I arrived on time.”

It was not really a coincidence. Han Ye had been setting his appointments around the film locations in case he was needed, just like now.

“I was just a little startled. He was there, right when I opened my eyes.”

“I’ve never expected President Wei to cast him as the male lead, given how Fan Shaohang had only acted in one movie before.”

Han Ye wanted to reach out and hug her, to reassure her that everything was ok, but he couldn’t do so, not with so many pairs of eyes on them.

Instead, he threw his hand out and pointed somewhere angrily as he said, still with an angry expression, “Do you want to leave now? I can call President Wei.”

She shook her head slightly. “No… I just need to take a breather. I’m not going to run away just because of this.”

“I’ll stay here.”

She looked up at him slightly. “No, go back. Assistant Yoon is here, so I’d be fine. Besides, with so many people around, he wouldn’t do anything to me… But take Zhihao and Tian Le with you. I don’t want them to be here.”

Han Ye pretended to pace around before saying, “I’ll take them with me. Yoon will be at your side the whole time, and she’s pretty responsible. But if you’re really bothered by it, just throw a diva tantrum and leave. I’ll deal with it later.”

Xiao Lei nodded. “Go.”

She then bowed like what a secretary would before slowly walking behind him as he walked to Xiao Zhihao and Tian Le.

“Zhihao, I will drop you off at home. Because of your mother’s mistake, I have to go home and deal with something. You shouldn’t stay here any longer. This is a workplace, not a playground.”

Xiao Zhihao was about to protest, but when he saw the look in his mother’s eyes, as if she were trying to will him to obey, he immediately nodded. “Alright, Mr. Han.”

As Xiao Zhihao walked out with Tian Le and Han Ye, he could not help but glance back at Fan Shaohang, who was looking at him as well.

…