I Have Amnesia, Don't Be Noisy! Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Complaint

"What is this?" After arriving home, Zhong Yibin's mood was still as gloomy as before and he glued himself tightly to Chu Qin without letting go. Chu Qin dragged the giant plaster on his back to wash his face and hands before carting him to the kitchen, where he questioned him while chopping vegetables.

It drizzled today so the weather wasn't hot. On the contrary, it was slightly humid. Chu Qin felt that it would be very comfortable to stew some chowder and drink the piping hot soup beside the window.

Zhong Yibin buried his nose into Chu Qin's shoulder and asked in a m.u.f.fled voice, "In the past, was I a womanizer?"

Chu Qin piled the chopped lotus roots and potatoes in a large gla.s.s bowl, inclined his head slightly and rubbed against the face of the big guy on his shoulder, "What happened? Did someone come to pester you again?"

Hearing this statement, Zhong Yibin grew even more nervous. Would his 'other lover' actually go to his company to nag? "No, it's just that… The person who notified the paparazzi was a young woman…"

Although the manager of the media relations department swore afterwards that he was merely speaking drivel and that the director had always been one who lived honestly and cleanly, Zhong Yibin felt that he could not trust him. The underling only saw that Zhong Yibin was unhappy thus he spoke in such a way.

Chu Qin was silent for a while. He sneered, "I know who it is."

"Who?" Zhong Yibin clung to his shoulder and asked anxiously.

Chu Qin didn't speak as he lowered his head to slice meat. After the rock-hard frozen streaky pork was sliced into thin slices and thrown into the hot pot, the sound of sizzling oil could be heard.

"Chu Qin!" Zhong Yibin grabbed the hand he was using to chop vegetables and took away the knife, turning Chu Qin around to face him. He wanted to say something but he didn't know how to say it. If something difficult to face had really occurred in the past, it was necessary for him to be aware of it. He couldn't let Chu Qin pretend that everything was going well by going through the motions.

Chu Qin saw his pain-filled eyes and felt his heart ache simultaneously. After a certain someone was brought up, he got caught up in his anger and momentarily forgot that this was an Er Bing who had lost his memories. He tiptoed slightly and kissed those tense lips, "Silly, if you dared to womanize, I would have swept you out the door long ago."

Hearing these words, Zhong Yibin suddenly heaved a sigh of relief. The heavy heart that he had brought around for a day finally lightened and he pouted in aggrievement, "You're not allowed to scare me again in the future."

Chu Qin grinned and stretched out a hand to pinch his face, molding the flesh till the pouting pig's mouth formed a chicken mouth, "Our Er Bing is too handsome, some people just refuse to give up."

"The meat is floating!" Zhong Chicken pointed his chin towards the deep fryer, which was already giving off a burning smell.

Chu Qin hurriedly released him and went to fry the meat. Zhong Yibin then once again voluntarily plastered himself to Chu Qin's back. Helpless, Chu Qin let him be. Scooping out the yellow deep-fried pieces of lard, he sprinkled on a bit of salt and picked up a piece to give to the big head on his shoulder.

Zhong Yibin happily opened his mouth and polished off the piece of lard. He also took the chance to lick those slender fingertips, "Very fragrant!" As a child from a rich family, he had never eaten this sort of leftover bits of pork lard so he felt that it was a novel experience.

"You liked to come over whenever I cooked in the past, just so you could eat this," Chu Qin smiled faintly. He fried the ingredients once before throwing them into the pot and adding water as well as seasoning. After putting the lid on, he left it to stew and dragged the giant plaster on his back to the living room to rest.

The patter of rain could still be heard outside and the more it dragged on, the larger the rain seemed to get. The entire city was shrouded in the lead-grey sky, making it seem lonely and cold. Only the warmth given off by the body could let one feel at ease.

"Who is it exactly? Even if it's my mother, you should still let me know," Zhong Yibin didn't let up in his questioning. He dragged one of Chu Qin's legs over and placed it on his own leg to slowly knead. One recording meant standing for an entire afternoon, so his legs were often sore and would occasionally swell.

"My guess is that it's Zhou Zimeng," Chu Qin licked his lips and eventually voiced this name. Only those few people knew of them going to Shengs.h.i.+ Huange and out of those who were present, only Zhou Zimeng left early. Moreover, it wasn't like she had not done such a thing before.

Since the day he first saw those group of people, Chu Qin could tell that Zhou Zimeng liked Zhong Yibin and was full of hostility towards him. In the past, he thought that it was just a jealous heart of a young girl and did not take it seriously. When he was really angry, he would bring it up to Zhong Yibin. However, he refused to believe it and felt that it was Chu Qin who was overly concerned. Over time, Chu Qin no longer liked to bring up that group of friends in front of Zhong Yibin.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Zhong Yibin frowned slightly. He was unable to remember these friends, so his heart was on guard against them and he realized at their first meeting that they were unfriendly towards Chu Qin. Among those few friends, Zhou Zimeng was the most hostile to Chu Qin.

"That's only my guess, you'll have to investigate on your end. She's your friend after all…" Chu Qin didn't wish for Zhong Yibin to resent him the day he regained his memories, hence it was better for him to check clearly himself. Chu Qin rose in preparation to check on the pot but he was dragged into Zhong Yibin's embrace.

"Just directly tell me all those you dislike. Nothing is more important than you," Zhong Yibin's voice was low. To him, all those people and things he had no memory of were of zero importance.

Chu Qin froze for a moment. He slowly reached out to hug Zhong Yibin back, "En." It was him who was narrow-minded. If he disliked something, then he disliked something. Zhong Yibin was his boyfriend and he should stand with him. Blind courtesy would instead result in one being at a disadvantage.

The chowder finished cooking. The thick soup contained pieces of fried lotus root, fried potato, vermicelli, streaky pork and green cabbage. Two bowls were served with the addition of a few drops of balsamic vinegar and sesame oil. The fragrance was incomparable. Zhong Yibin ate without raising his head. After finis.h.i.+ng his meal, he ran back to the kitchen and brought the pot over, serving another bowl to Chu Qin.

Paired with fried golden pieces of taro, Zhong Yibin consumed three bowls of soup before he was willing to put them down. After he finished eating, he happily went off to wash the pot and bowls. Only after Chu Qin received his after-meal fruit did he realize that he had once again forgotten to stop Zhong Yibin from doing the ch.o.r.es.

Having pinpointed the general direction, it was far easier to investigate. Zhong Yibin got his people to survey the monitoring systems located outside Shengs.h.i.+ Huange and found out that Zhou Zimeng did not directly enter her car after leaving. Instead, she stood in the same place for a while before heading towards the east. Around two hundred meters towards the east, there was a public telephone booth.

"Find out who the person behind the marketing account on Weibo is and let him come out for a chat," Zhong Yibin squinted. If he wanted to clean up Zhou Zimeng, he could not let this marketing account off either. The online marketing accounts related to entertainment gossip were all insiders and were essentially under the control of the major entertainment companies. Hence, they only ever reported the sc.r.a.ps. However, this 'entertainment thief' had no relation to Shengs.h.i.+.

"We can only obtain this information through the higher ups of Old Waves. Why not go greet that person?" Secretary Jin looked at the ugly expression on the manager of the public relations manager and helped him out.

Old Waves was the operating company of Weibo. Zhong Yibin had an informant on the inside it was always him who stepped up to handle matters such as checking one's information. However, the problem now was that he had no memory of who this informant was. After hesitating for a while, he could only contact his family's big brother.

Unexpectedly, the omniscient Zhong Jiabin knew about this. While that friend of Zhong Yibin's at Old Waves was someone who could generally be counted on, that friend was not as capable when it came to important matters.

"I have a cla.s.smate who is part of the higher ups at Old Waves, do you… want to get to know him?" Zhong Jiabin appeared to be a little hesitant.

"Okay!" Zhong Yibin readily agreed. Having many connections equaled having access to many routes. The people his family's big brother knew were surely more reliable than those he knew. Zhong Yibin, who had gained a new understanding of his own interpersonal relations.h.i.+ps, was skeptical of his own connections.

After putting down his younger brother's call, the Zhong family's big brother was still a little stunned. In the past, Zhong Yibin was annoyed by his introduction of contacts and felt that he was showing off. Yet now, he actually agreed so easily.

"Director, this is the project's budget," Secretary Jin pa.s.sed a file to Zhong Yibin to sign. It included the funds for that turbid palace drama. Headquarters had approved the funds but only a very limited amount. It was only enough to film based on a low-cost popular drama. Deputy Director Li had already signed his agreement.

Zhong Yibin looked through the budget table and frowned. A popular drama could not be so easily shot. Once filming started, it could not be stopped and the entire company's reputation would follow in becoming cheap. "Ask Deputy Director Li to come over."

"Headquarters refuses to allocate the funds, what else can I do?" Deputy Director Li was nearly forty years old. He had an average figure and wore a pair of spectacles. He seemed very cultured but the words that came out from his mouth were extremely tough.

"I will discuss the issue of funds with headquarters, put this budget aside first," Zhong Yibin had a cold expression on his face as he rejected the budget.

"The actors have very tight schedules, it would be best if you make a decision soon," Deputy Director Li was dissatisfied. This was the plan he supervised when Zhong Yibin was on holiday. In his opinion, there was no need to care so much as long as they could make money.

At this moment, the front counter called via the internal line, "Director, Miss Zhou came to look for you. She has already gone up."

"Which Miss Zhou?" Zhong Yibin asked icily.

"Of course it's me!" Zhou Zimeng's voice did not fall. She pushed the door open and went in, "I was walking around and happened to be in the area so I came up for a cup of tea."

Deputy Director Li noticed Zhou Zimeng and picked up the budget, sighing, "Director is busy, I'll leave first."

They hadn't finished discussing business. Zhong Yibin raised a hand to stop Deputy Director Li from leaving and said coldly through the telephone to the front counter, "You don't have to come to work tomorrow." Following that, he put the phone down with a clang and gestured for Secretary Jin to send Zhou Zimeng out.

The author has something to say:

Small theater:

Qin Qin: You must learn how to act spoiled if you want Big Brother to give you money

Er Bing: （⊙v⊙）I understand

Big Brother: What are you looking for me for?

Er Bing: Ge ge[1]~ give me pocket money, okay?

Big Brother: …..

Er Bing: Doesn't seem to be of much use

….. Ten minutes later…..

Big Brother: (Going out to run three laps) *pins and needles* Brother knows how to act spoiled!

[1] The way it is said here is slightly different from the Ge Ge that refers to brother. While the intonation (pinyin) for Ge in brother is the same for both characters, the two characters have different intonations here, hence the cuteness.

Translator's corner: *rummages for popcorn in preparation for face slapping*