Chapter 316 - The male lead was here

...

When Tian Le got back to Xiao Lei's room, he immediately informed them of what he heard. 

Xiao Lei snickered. "Seriously, these criminals wannabe really need a lesson on discretion."

"They probably thought that no one would bother to do anything," Assistant Yoon said. "Everyone wants to protect their own benefits, so no one would help unless they could get something out of it. At most, they would keep it as evidence to blackmail the perp with."

"I don't like this..." Xiao Zhihao said with a sigh. "What are we going to do?"

"Zhihao, let your mum teach you how to deal with people like that," Xiao Lei said with an evil grin. She looked at Assistant Yoon and said, "That person, do you know who she is?"

"Based on Young Master Tian Le's description of her and the fact that she handles meals, I'd say yes, I have an idea who she might be."

"Go to her, and tell that you know. Whatever they are paying her with, give her double the amount, and tell her that should anything like this happen again, she is to report to me and I'll reward her accordingly." 

"What if she says she doesn't know anything?" Tian Le asked. He wondered how she would be doing this. "She's not going to admit it just like that you know."

Xiao Lei smirked. "If she really says that, then tell her that I'm going to use my position to make sure that she would never be able to find a job in this industry anymore. And, if she doubts me, make sure that she knows that I'm a newbie who's given the best treatment by President Wei. Of course, do this subtly. There's more strength in a thinly-veiled threat than a direct one."

Xiao Zhihao thought for a moment before gasping in surprise. "You are going to use President Wei as your shield!" 

Xiao Lei nodded. "As expected from my son. Yes, I'm going to use President Wei's name as a shield."

Xiao Zhihao suddenly felt sorry for the man. He had seen those rumors floating on the forum. His mother's photos were slowly appearing online, and in a short period of time, she had been affiliated with President Wei, the director, and of course, Han Ye. There were even rumors of her being with other men, with whom she had barely talked to before. 

To be honest, Xiao Zhihao did not like to see all those accusations online. Yet he could not do anything. His mother told him before that it was part and parcel of the entertainment sector. 

"Why not just use Brother Han's name?" Tian Le suddenly asked with a curious expression. He wondered how jealous Han Ye would be if he found out about this. 

"Because Han Ye is above President Wei." Xiao Lei then turned to look at Xiao Zhihao and said with a serious expression, "Now that you know the truth about me and your father, this is something that you need to learn."

"Erm... yes?" Xiao Zhihao looked at his mother with a curious expression as gripped his cap, which was resting on his lap, slightly. 

Xiao Lei reached over to gently rustle his hair as she said, "One must never reveal the true identity of their backers until the very end. How strong of a negotiating or starting position you have depends on how well you keep your backers' identities hidden."

Xiao Zhihao nodded. 

Assistant Yoon then spoke up, "Then I'll go and handle this, although I much prefer you to allow me to just get rid of them." 

"You have your own rules in your world, but here, you can only rise to the top in this way," Xiao Lei said with a sigh. "We can't just bury each and every enemy..."

"Why not?" Assistant Yoon asked. 

The rest looked at her before sighing. The kids knew where she came from, so they didn't say anything, but Xiao Lei felt bad for these people who came from the Shenlong Family. Their understanding of the world was a little warp, to say the least. 

"Well, we are not burying anyone today," Xiao Lei said with a smile. "Let's just return the favor back to them."

...

After meal time, 

Xiao Lei was told to prepare for her next scene, and she winked at the teenagers before walking out. When she walked out, she pretended to rub her belly slightly, as if she were in discomfort, and she even leaned on Assistant Yoon for good measure. 

"Are you alright, Xiao Lei?" the director asked when Xiao Lei walked past him. 

Xiao Lei nodded. "Just a little discomfort. Don't worry, I can still go on." 

She then smiled at him weakly. The next scene was here in a hospital, so her makeup was naturally paler than before, and thus, the director did not worry much. Just as she was about to walk toward the bed, the director added, "Oh yeah, the male lead was here earlier."

"Oh, he was?" 

The director nodded. "Yeah... He went to get something to eat, but he would be back soon."

"Who is he, director? Can't you tell me now?" 

The director laughed. "You'll know later. He would appear in the next scene." 

...

Xiao Lei's character lay on the bed. The bullet went straight past her brain, just a fraction of an inch away from hitting a vital point. In fact, the doctors who operated on her considered this as a miracle. 

"Unfortunately, as with all brain-related surgeries, we wouldn't know what side effects there would be until she wakes up," one of the doctors said to the ex-husband of Xiao Lei's character.

"When would she wake up?" the man asked; one of his arms still wrapped around his mistress' waist. 

"Maybe in a couple of hours, or days, or weeks..." The doctor looked at the woman who was wrapped in bandages. "There's no telling it. It all depends on her will to live." 

"Thank you, Doctor," the man said with a smile as he sent the doctor out. After he closed the door, he went to the bed and glared at the woman who bore his only child. All of a sudden, he grabbed the woman's shoulders and snarled, "Why can't the one who died be you?!" 

"Honey, please calm down... I know you're upset about your son's death..." His mistress said with a sad expression. "We didn't expect him to run to her..."

"She should have been the one to die! Why does my son have to die?!" The man placed his hands around the unconscious woman's neck and choked her. "Die, b*tch! Die!" 

...

Xiao Zhihao got nervous, and he stood up from his seat. "Mum..." he muttered nervously. 

"She would be fine..." Tian Le reassured him. 

...

"Honey, stop it. She deserves to die, but if she were to die here, you would be implicated!" the mistress said. She suddenly held her stomach, as if she were feeling extreme discomfort. "Honey... Argh..." 

The man frowned and looked at her. He then looked at the director with a confused expression. 

The director immediately called "Cut" before asking, "Are you alright, Vivian?" 

"I-I don't know..." Vivian Siew groaned as she clutched her stomach. She hadn't eaten much for lunch earlier because she didn't want to be bloated, so she didn't know why this was happening now. Suddenly, she realized something, and she glared at the woman on the bed, who was smirking at her. 

"Oh my... Ms. Siew, you don't look too good. Have you eaten something wrong? Maybe you should go to the toilet."

"You!" Vivian Siew snapped. She wanted to say something when suddenly...

Pffft...

The male actor immediately took a step aside before covering his nose. "Erm, Vivian, I think you better go now." 

Vivian Siew glared at Xiao Lei, but she ran off instead of wasting another second. 

"Sigh..." The director shook his head. "Alright, we will take 15 minutes break. And you, Vivian's assistant, go get some medicines for your boss!" 

Vivian Siew's assistant, Ting, immediately nodded before running after her boss.  

Meanwhile, Xiao Lei could not help but laugh softly as she got down from the bed. She walked to her son and whispered, "How was it?" 

To her surprise, her son did not find it funny. Instead, his eyes were on her neck. "There are finger marks. He didn't have to do it that hard."

"He didn't really do it that hard," Xiao Lei said with a smile as she hugged her concerned son. "Thank you for being concern over me." 

"I'm the only man in the house. Of course I have to do it," Xiao Zhihao mumbled before pulling himself away from his mother.

Unknown to them, an old man was watching them from a corner. He had a gentle smile on his face as he shook his head. 

"She's exactly like her mother."