During the early years, many famous Hong Kong stars used erotic films as a stepping stone to success. However, under the impact of booming film industries in Japan, South Korea, and Europe and America, Hong Kong’s Category III films were now gradually declining. The golden era was long gone, and they could no longer assemble a talented crew and production like they used to. Even decent studios were lacking and had to hide away in abandoned underground theaters, relying on provocative appearances to catch people’s attention.
The stage was shrouded in deliberately dim and ambiguous lighting, with seductive music playing. Below, several heavily made-up people occupied semi-private booths, gazing intently at the man on stage who already removed half of his clothing.
His white shirt had long been discarded on the floor, revealing a lean and slender upper body with visible abdominal muscles. The two lines of his V-cut led the imagination downwards, disappearing into his black trousers.
As the music’s tempo increased, Xie Guan reached out to unfasten his belt buckle. Instead of removing it, the smooth fabric of his trousers naturally slid down his straight legs as he kicked them away. Stepping back into the midst of the accompanying male dancers and surrounded by their embrace, he executed a breathtaking move.
Just as Huo Mingjun was about to be struck with a heart attack due to the intensity of the scene before his eyes, the director finally shouted loudly, “Cut! Xie Guan, your expression is wrong!”
The music halted and the director wearing a t-shirt and flip flops leapt onto the stage. Under the spotlight, he began to passionately explain the scene. The extras hired on the cheap didn’t seem to care, showing off their bare arms and happily watching the commotion.
As Xie Guan didn’t have an assistant and no one bothered to cover him with a shawl, he was forced to turn sideways almost completely naked. He allowed those with overly curious gazes to blatantly stare at him.
Mr. Liang opened his mouth, not understanding why the tone suddenly shifted to combating pornography and illegal activities. “What’s this…?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Before his confusion could be voiced, Huo Mingjun suddenly stepped towards the stage. His imposing CEO aura was too overwhelming, and with two competent bodyguards behind him, no one dared to intervene. They all watched as he ascended the stage, went straight to the director, and stopped beside Xie Guan, whose back was turned to the audience.
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Ktf vlgfmabg kjr jczlber jcv yfujc rqfjxlcu lc mbiibdelji Jjcabcfrf, “Qtb… ktb jgf sbe? Qts jgf sbe wjxlcu vfmlrlbcr obg tlw? Qtb ujnf sbe qfgwlrrlbc ab mbwf lc? Xfa bea!”
Huo Mingjun couldn’t understand Cantonese, so he turned to Liang Chen and said, “Young Master Liang.”
Despite only knowing him for less than a day, he was already accustomed to obeying Huo Mingjun’s orders without question. Upon hearing him call, Liang Chen immediately squeezed out from behind and inquired, “Mr. Huo, do you know this gentleman?”
Huo Mingjun nodded and instructed him, “Tell him that I’m taking him away. Delete all footage of him in this scene, buy the negatives, and don’t ever approach him for future films.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll see it done.” Liang Chen guessed that Huo Mingjun and this small-time actor had some sort of “unseemly relationship.” When it came to negotiating, he was quite reliable and went to talk to the director on his own. Huo Mingjun caught a glimpse of Xie Guan, looking bewildered and clueless, “What are you standing here for? Go change your clothes.”
His tone was far from friendly, and it shattered Xie Guan’s daze. The faint sense of gratitude that arose in his heart suddenly turned into apprehension, which felt even more uncomfortable than being watched. “Mr. Huo, thank you for your kindness, but… I can’t go. Please don’t intervene. I will handle this myself…”
“Put on your clothes before talking to me,” Huo Mingjun said coldly, giving him a sideways glance. “Go quickly, don’t make me say it a third time.”
Their previous two encounters were far from friendly, and Xie Guan had never seen a warm expression from him. He couldn’t explain why, but he was a little afraid of Huo Mingjun and instinctively wanted to keep his distance. Now that Huo Mingjun spoke, he couldn’t bring himself to argue and could only hurry back backstage.
When he changed his clothes and came out, Liang Chen already reached an agreement with the production team. Huo Mingjun left an assistant to handle the follow-up matters for him without consulting Xie Guan’s opinion. He ordered his bodyguard, “Take him back to the hotel and don’t let him wander around.”
“Mr. Huo!” Xie Guan hurriedly protested, but Huo Mingjun was used to having the final say. He didn’t even spare him a glance and left the underground theater with Liang Chen.
To show their sincerity, the Longfeng Group prepared the presidential suite at APG Hotel for Huo Mingjun. The lavishly decorated room occupied half a floor, and had an excellent view overlooking the bay at night.
However, no matter how good it looked, it was still a gilded cage.
The bodyguard in charge of escorting Xie Guan pushed him into the room and then stood guard at the door without saying a word. Dressed in cheap gray pants and a white T-shirt, he felt very out of place, like a giant piece of dust.
He never expected to repeatedly get involved with Huo Mingjun. Despite lacking in many ways, Xie Guan didn’t have a shortage of self-awareness. Someone with Huo Mingjun’s status wouldn’t take notice of a small, insignificant person like him, and he could see it in Huo Mingjun’s eyes — he saw someone else through Xie Guan.
Work was one thing, but Xie Guan had no interest in being a stand-in for someone in his personal life.
He occupied a corner of the sofa, cautiously minimizing his presence as if this could somehow reduce his relationship with Huo Mingjun. The bodyguard was only responsible for guarding, and Xie Guan tried not to trouble him too much, quietly gazing at the night scenery outside the window like it was a rare sight.
Half an hour later, Huo Mingjun returned and stumbled upon this version of “illegal confinement,” almost reigniting his recently calmed temper.
“Is this meditation or have you come here to stage a sit-in protest against me?” Huo Mingjun mocked as soon as he saw Xie Guan. It was as if he couldn’t speak nicely unless he was mocking the other and his anger flared up again for no apparent reason. “You look so aggrieved. Shall we go on a hunger strike and unfurl a banner next?”
Any normal person would have resorted to physical violence or, at the very least, not taken such sarcasm lying down. Especially not after being taken away and left hanging like a criminal for half an hour. Despite being mild-mannered, even Xie Guan had his limits. “I dare not. If you can stay away from me, I’d be happy to dance around for you.”
Huo Mingjun sat across from him on the sofa, casually loosening his tie and tossing it aside. He said coolly, “You may not have much talent, but you certainly have quite the temper. Keep dancing; maybe in a few years, you’ll be a rising star. By then, you won’t need to speak, and no one will want to get close to you.”
“Mr. Huo,” Xie Guan suddenly stood up, suppressing his anger, and said coldly, “That’s enough.”
Huo Mingjun, unfazed, propped up one leg and countered, “What’s wrong? Don’t like hearing it? Did I hit a nerve?”
Xie Guan was rendered speechless by his words.
Huo Mingjun continued to speak mercilessly, “You terminated your contract with the company, disappeared without a word, and came to Hong Kong to make these kinds of movies… How can you be so capable? You haven’t even become famous yet, and you’re willingly jumping into the muck. Is the Chinese entertainment industry too small to contain you, huh?”
Bruh, why is he jumping the gun like that 😑 is everyone meant to have good circumstances in their lives like he does?? Him deciding things as he please without even discussing with xie guan what’s what pisses me off ngl. Hopefully he’ll do better in the future chapters cuz i ain’t impressed with the ML rn
Huo Mingjun is annoying, privileged and emotionless a-hole who doesn’t deserve even 5 minutes of Xie Guan’s time. I hope he changes somehow so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my time reading this novel hoping for Xie Guan to find someone better.
The audacity…