Chapter 318 - 251: Er Zhuang, Has Your Head Been Kicked by a Donkey?

For many people with stable jobs, their relationships with colleagues, their work environment, and their job descriptions are all relatively stable.

To maintain this stability, they often choose to endure unpleasant situations.

The acting profession is different.

Even lead actors switch film crews at least two or three times a year. For supporting actors, the changes are even more frequent. When trouble arises, far fewer are willing to just put up with it.

To generate buzz, actors will sometimes manufacture conflicts where none exist.

A common tactic is to put others down to get ahead.

If a real conflict broke out, they wouldn’t hesitate to tear each other down, even if they were signed to the same company or had the same agent.

This was even more true for a middle-aged male actor and a young female actress like Xu Bin and Ni Bingyan, who belonged to two different companies.

To put it bluntly, their next collaboration might not be until their next lives.

If she hadn’t been worried about him ruining a movie she starred in, Ni Bingyan would have posted the surveillance footage from her doorway on Weibo last night.

His social suicide would have been instantaneous.

She had arrived late and missed the moment Xu Bin opened his door. Otherwise, she would have truly understood the saying, "Better to be openly shameless than secretly sleazy."

Compared to the footage from her doorway, netizens would have definitely been more interested in the latter.

Halfway through the gathering, Ni Bingyan excused herself, saying she had to get up early the next day.

Back in her room, she meticulously brushed her teeth, then patiently did a few sets of crunches. Estimating that she had burned off the few barbecue skewers she’d eaten, she then did her skincare routine and went to sleep peacefully.

Meanwhile, in Xu Bin’s room, a group of men were playing drinking games.

"FIVES!"

"SIXES, SIXES, SIXES!"

"Hahaha! Brother Lü, you blockhead! Your hands and brain aren’t in sync! Come on, fellas! Top up Brother Lü’s glass!"

"Ah! My mistake this time! I’ll down this one first! Again, again! Heh! I refuse to believe it! If I don’t drink you all under the table tonight, then my last name isn’t Lü!"

"This game looks simple, but it’s actually pretty hard. It really tests your reflexes. One slip-up and you’re done."

"Exactly, exactly, it’s just for fun. Brother Lü, don’t take it to heart!"

...

Playing finger-guessing games while drinking was a lot of fun.

Wang Biao wanted to mess with him, but he didn’t want to give anyone ammunition to use against him. Otherwise, why not just get him blackout drunk so he couldn’t get up for filming tomorrow?

Then he could find a paparazzo to leak the story that Xu Bin was acting like a diva. It was such a simple method!

Wang Biao had deliberately taught everyone the finger-guessing game. Since they were already annoyed with Xu Bin and were getting into the game, none of them wanted to leave.

As the night deepened, Xu Bin felt a chill on his thighs, and his eyelids kept drooping.

’I just want to lie in bed, pull up my beloved light blanket, and sleep in peace!’

But he had nominally organized this get-together, and since no one showed any signs of leaving, he couldn’t very well kick them out. He had no choice but to awkwardly keep them company.

He thought about getting some clothes to wear, but everyone assumed he was trying to slip away and immediately stopped him.

"Hey! Don’t just have fun by yourselves! What’s the big idea, leaving Mr. Xu out?"

"Come on, come on, play with us!"

They said to play together, but as soon as he sat down, they all ignored him again.

But the moment he stood up, someone would stop him once more.

Xu Bin was tempted to explode, but when he saw Wang Biao grinning and waving a phone at him, he suppressed his mounting anger.

’That scheming bastard definitely recorded a video!’

They were dead set on messing with him tonight. If he didn’t want someone to leak this online, or even post the video, he had to play along.

In this situation, if he went along with them, they might not leak anything. But if he defied them, the leak would be a sure thing.

Xu Bin endured it again and again, and finally managed to hold back.

’A man who wants to achieve great things must know when to bend and when to stand firm.’

Since no one was playing the game with him, just sitting there wasn’t an option. So he could only take small sips of alcohol, and before he knew it, he’d had too much to drink.

Seeing the dazed look in his eyes, Wang Biao exchanged a glance with a few others. They dragged it out for another half hour before one of them slapped his forehead. "Oh, no!"

Xu Bin had been on the verge of falling asleep curled up on the sofa, legs crossed. The sudden silence, followed by an abrupt shout, startled him so much he shot right up. "What’s wrong?"

"Oh, Mr. Xu, so sorry to disturb your rest. I can’t believe it’s already two o’clock! You have to film tomorrow morning. We should probably call it a night, right?"

Someone apologized while looking at their watch. Xu Bin didn’t dare curse them for being so clueless. He could only swallow his bitterness and force a smile.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s rare for everyone to relax a bit. It’s normal to lose track of time when you’re having fun. Besides, I’m always alone at night and can’t fall asleep that early anyway. It’s nice to have some company for a good time!"

Who on the film set didn’t know that Xu Bin was constantly bringing people back to his room?

Not just different people, but people of different genders.

People never understood it. He was well-off, but not ridiculously rich. He was handsome, but not drop-dead gorgeous. How did he manage to hook so many people?

If he was trading resources for it all, where did he even get so many resources to begin with?

Even relying on his parents wouldn’t be enough!

If he really had good resources, why would he give them to others instead of himself?

After all, at his age, he was still playing supporting roles!

Tonight, they finally understood.

That old dog knew all the tricks!

As for being "always alone"?

That was not how you whitewashed your reputation.

Everyone made their living in the same circle. Even if they hadn’t interacted directly, they had all heard the rumors.

Since he was putting on such an act, Wang Biao smiled faintly, his ordinary face suddenly breaking into a stunning grin.

"Hearing you say that, Mr. Xu, is a huge relief for all of us. In that case, let’s all come back here to party again tonight! Your place is so big, Mr. Xu. A normal spot really couldn’t fit this many people."

Xu Bin’s face immediately started to twitch. He could neither agree nor refuse.

The group didn’t tease him any further. They chuckled a few times and left.

After everyone had gone and he had locked the door, Xu Bin looked at the messy beer bottles and barbecue skewers scattered across the living room, smelled the foul air in the room, and his temples throbbed with fury.

He didn’t go to bed. Instead, he immediately made a call to have someone dig up dirt on Ni Bingyan.

Having been in the business for so many years, he still knew a lot of people.

There wasn’t much of a time difference between Cambodia and China. Even though it was the middle of the night, the night owl who answered the phone didn’t mind. As long as the money was right, there was no problem.

However...

"Mr. Xu, why are you asking for dirt on Ni Bingyan? Did she offend you?"

Otherwise, why would a male actor pick a fight with a female one?

Especially with such a large age gap.

"Don’t ask so many questions. Just take the money and do the job."

"Oh, oh, oh! Okay, okay!"

The person agreed readily but immediately made another call after hanging up.

The call was passed along a few times before reaching Xiao Zhao, who was up late changing his son’s diaper.

"President Zhao, just got word. Xu Bin is digging around for dirt on our boss’s wife."

The colicky baby, who would only sleep if his father held him against his chest and walked him around, had already given Xiao Zhao dark circles under his eyes. The already tense atmosphere around him instantly dropped several degrees.

"Who?"

"A male actor. Pretty old."

"Did he get his head caught in a door? Go! Find out what’s going on before dawn!"

"Yes, sir!"

After their brief exchange, one went back to his business, and the other went back to his baby.

Having finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning, Xu Bin, of course, couldn’t get up.

The scheduled shoot was already two hours late, and the actor still hadn’t shown up. The crucial part was, he was only a supporting actor.

Wu Xi was furious!

After several unanswered calls, he sent his assistant straight over to pound on the door!

"Tell him, either he shoots or he gets lost! Pulling his diva act on my set? He can forget about working in this industry ever again!"

The young assistant finally mustered the courage to approach the door, only to hear a phone call roaring from inside:

"Er Zhuang! Did a donkey kick you in the head?!"

The soundproofing in these Southeast Asian buildings was just unreliable.

Just as the assistant was feeling awkward, Xu Bin opened the door, phone in hand, eyes bleary with sleep, and his clothes only half on.

’Oh, no wonder he had the call on speakerphone.’

Xu Bin’s face darkened. He felt like nothing had been going his way lately.

Anyone, especially at his age, would be unhappy about being yelled at by their father using their childhood nickname, and on top of that, having an outsider overhear it.