A Good-for-Nothing

206. An Uncanny Sensation (II)

 

Translator: Dragon Rider

 

The man patted his butt to brush himself off and then, as though nothing had just happened, fished a business card out of his bosom and handed it to He Zheng. “I’m a talent scout of Glory Talent Agency, handsome. I think you have great potential. How about joining our company? We have all the resources would-be stars need. With what you have, if you join us, I promise I’ll have you become an A-list celebrity in half a year, a superstar known to everybody in our country in another half, and a Golden Horse Award winner in another two. Films staring you will be screened at Cannes, and you’ll be a super-idol.”

Though having little acquaintance with the show business, He Zheng could tell that this man was clearly trying to tempt him with pie in the sky, so he just gave a smile. Seeing this, the man mistakenly thought that He Zheng was swayed. “What do you say, handsome? How about we go back to our company right now and sign a contract?”

“I need to call my big brother and ask his opinion about it first. He’s also in showbiz and knows more about this profession than I do.”

“Alas, there’s no need for that. He won’t be able to offer you much information… Hey, don’t bother calling him. Oh, by the way, who’s your big brother?”

“Zhao Fei.”

The man dissolved into chuckle, the expression in his eyes changing as he looked at He Zheng. “Why are you doing this, handsome? I’m just offering you an opportunity and you have complete freedom to decide whether you should take it or not. Don’t you think this pretext of yours is not good enough?”

Seeing that the man didn’t believe him, He Zheng curled his lip and poked the phone screen several times to show the man a couple of pictures of him and Zhao Fei, which were obviously private photographs.

The man was still unconvinced after seeing the pictures. “Oh? You and your fellow fans went to the set to see him again?”

He Zheng rolled his eyes upwards, opened the WeChat app and clicked Zhao Fei’s profile photo to show him what was evidently Zhao Fei’s private Wechat account.

The look in the man’s eyes changed again. Though still skeptical of it, thinking about He Zheng’s claim, he felt that He Zheng did bear a close resemblance to Zhao Fei. Aside from that, He Zheng’s outfit was quite pricey and no common people could afford it.

“Zhao–Zhao Fei the superstar is really your big brother?”

“No.”

The man ignored He Zheng’s jokey denial. As He Zheng had Zhao Fei’s private photos and private Wechat account and was also physically attractive, he had to ingratiate himself with He Zheng, even if He Zheng had never met Zhao Fei before. He immediately put on an obsequious face. “Well, how about we exchange numbers, handsome?”

Originally He Zheng had just wanted to embarrass this man. Having never thought that this person would be so annoying, He Zheng was somewhat irritated.

Unexpectedly, the man began to spill out his troubles. “You probably don’t know about this, handsome, but youngsters with great potentiality in this city are getting scarcer by the day. A talent agency the name of which nobody has ever heard of before has been wresting business from us every day. They poached all our promising trainees, and the worst part was that none of those trainees have ever made their first public appearance yet. I think they’ve all been reduced to cannon fodder during the fierce competition!”

He Zheng was only taking the man’s words as a joke and didn’t give them much thought.

The man added, “But it’s really weird. I couldn’t reach any of those trainees poached from me, as though someone wiped them off the face of the earth. It’s so creepy, isn’t it? Were the offers the rival agency made them really that good?”

While the man was talking, He Zheng’s cellphone rang. The moment he answered the call, Chen Qianlin’s impatient voice came from the on the other end of the phone. “Where the hell are you? I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour!”

On hearing this, He Zheng was also exasperated. He quickly checked with Chen Qianlin again where they were having the duel and then started striding off without saying goodbye to the man who had claimed to be a talent scout.

Seeing He Zheng was leaving, the man hastily grabbed his arm and said, “Please give me your number, handsome. How about this? You give me your number, and I’ll tell you a secret in return.”

“What kind of secret could you possibly have?”

The man answered, “Given the visible bad omen showing at the top of your nose bridge, it’s very likely you’re going to be subjected to some kind of misfortune today, presumably a bloody one.”

He Zheng’s eyes raked the man from head to foot. Beneath the man’s expectant gaze, he turned around and left.

However, the man’s words turned out to be a prophecy. He Zheng had just walked to the crosswalk to wait for the light to turn green when a car uncontrollably ran the red light hurtling squarely towards He Zheng. The driver didn’t even honk his horn. Caught off guard, He Zheng had no choice but to give a sideward roll, accidentally rubbing his knee against the ground, which was skinned and instantly started bleeding.

That car, which still hadn’t honked, directly whizzed towards the guard rail. Amid everybody’s exclamation of alarm, the vehicle crashed into it with an almighty bang.

Passers-by in shock quickly reacted, some calling the police, some calling an ambulance. His skinned knee terribly painful, He Zheng sat on the ground with his legs stretched, waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Chen Qianlin hurried from the agreed location to the accident scene and was secretly startled at the sight of He Zheng sitting on the ground with splayed legs. Although the two of them had their disagreements, it didn’t change the fact that they had once worked on a task together and had a hint of concern for each other’s safety. Chen Qianlin kept from gloating at it and asked He Zheng what had happened.

He Zheng was quite frustrated. “A son of a bitch jinxed me, saying that I was particularly prone to misfortune today, and he turned out to be right. I’d just walked out of an ice cream parlor when that car nearly ran me over.”

With his hand on his unharmed knee, He Zheng pulled himself up. Soon, a group of traffic policemen arrived, planning to get the man in the driver’s seat out of the vehicle. The driver’s forehead was red, his face greenish white. While moving the victim out, a young traffic cop touched his icy cold arm and, somewhat confused, put a finger to the victim’s nostrils to feel his breathing and then gave a gasp.

“What are you waiting for? Get him out of it.”

“He’s already dead…”

He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, who had been listening to their conversation all along, exchanged glances, both having a foreboding feeling that something was wrong.