I'm conquering Hong Kong entertainment with two billion US dollars.

Chapter 18 I'm afraid Lin Sheng will misunderstand

When Zhang Bai came downstairs, Zhu Yongtan was standing at the door. Seeing her, he took a step forward.

"Kashiwa."

Zhang Baizhi paused for a moment.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to ask you something," Zhu Yongtan stared at her. "What exactly do you mean? You don't answer my calls, you don't reply to my pages. You signed with the company without even telling me?"

Zhang Baizhi looked at him without flinching.

"I've already clearly rejected you. We can't be together."

Zhu Yongtan's face froze for a moment, then turned red.

"Impossible? Why didn't you say it was impossible when I sent you flowers last week?"

That's because—

"Why? Because you hadn't met Lin Dong yet? Because you hadn't slept with him yet?"

Zhang Baizhi's face also turned red, but her voice did not tremble.

"Zhu Yongtan, you've misunderstood."

"I misunderstood? What did I misunderstand? Everyone in Hong Kong knows who Lin Dong is. You signed with his company, and you're telling me I misunderstood?"

"You—you're absolutely unreasonable!"

"I'm unreasonable? Zhang Baizhi, you're just greedy for vanity!"

Zhang Baizhi's lips moved. Just as she was about to continue speaking, she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

The revolving doors in the lobby opened, and Lin Dong walked out. A-Qiang and A-Wei stood on either side of him, two steps apart.

Lin Dong stopped on the steps.

He didn't come over, nor did he say anything. He just stood there, one hand in his pocket, his gaze fixed between her and Zhu Yongtan.

Zhang Baizhi's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

Then she turned to Zhu Yongtan and quickly said, "I'm leaving. Don't look for me again, I'm afraid... Mr. Lin will misunderstand."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the steps. Her steps were quick, and she didn't look back.

Zhu Yongtan called out something from behind, but she either didn't hear it or didn't want to hear it.

She had already walked up to Lin Dong.

Awei opened the back door. Lin Dong got in. Zhang Baizhi quickly got into the car from the other side.

The Mercedes silently glided out of the East Asia Bank Building's entrance.

In the back seat, Zhang Baizhi's chest was still rising and falling slightly.

Lin Dong turned his head and glanced at her.

"Your boyfriend?"

Zhang Baizhi hurriedly shook his head.

"No!" Her voice was half an octave higher than usual. "He's not my boyfriend! He just—he just misunderstood."

Lin Dong looked at her.

There was an urgency in her eyes, as if she was afraid he would believe her. Her lips were slightly parted, as if she wanted to explain something more, but didn't know what to say.

Lin Dong withdrew his gaze and nodded.

"Um."

For him, there is only one thing he cares about: fair trade.

It doesn't matter whether there's a connection or not, as long as it's clean.

Zhang Baizhi spoke after the car had driven three blocks.

"Mr. Lin, I've made a reservation."

She pulled a note out of her bag and handed it to Ah-Qiang. Ah-Qiang took it, glanced at it, turned the steering wheel, and turned onto Nathan Road.

It's Temple Street.

Street food stall.

Folding tables, plastic stools, and an iron pot churning on the stove, fumes and wok smoke mingling and billowing into the street. A-Qiang parked his car at the street corner, and A-Wei got out first and surveyed the area.

Zhang Baizhi glanced at Lin Dong nervously.

"When I was in Australia, what I missed most was this kind of open-air food stall." She bit her lip. "Mr. Lin, if you don't like it, we can change it—"

Lin Dong had already opened the car door.

After sitting down, the proprietress handed him a laminated menu, its edges curled and greasy. Lin Dong took it and flipped through it.

"Salt and pepper mantis shrimp, stir-fried clams with black bean sauce, typhoon shelter-style stir-fried crab, and water spinach with garlic." He closed the menu. "That's enough for two people."

Zhang Baizhi was taken aback. "Lin Sheng, you—do you often come to places like this?"

Lin Dong glanced at her and said irritably, "I'm not immune to worldly concerns either!"

Zhang Baizhi paused, a smile spreading across her delicate face—the location had been chosen correctly.

High-end restaurants are nice, but they can't build relationships that quickly.

The food was served quickly.

Mantis shrimp are fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, clams are coated in soy sauce with red pepper strips, and stir-fried crab is fried until golden brown with garlic.

Lin Dong picked up a shrimp and peeled it with practiced ease.

Zhang Baizhi ate very little. His chopsticks moved around in the dish, occasionally glancing up at him before looking down again.

"Lin Sheng".

"Um."

"I will act well in Stephen Chow's movies."

Lin Dong picked out a piece of crab meat. "You haven't even passed the audition yet, and you're already thinking about acting?"

Her face flushed, but her eyes didn't dart away. "I'll get through this."

Lin Dong glanced at her, smiled, and didn't reply.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at it—Li Jiaxin.

"Ah Dong, what time will you be back?"

He typed with one hand: "No reply. Go to sleep early."

After sending the message, I flipped my phone over and placed it on the table.

Zhang Baizhi's gaze lingered on the phone for a moment before shifting away.

After finishing her meal, Zhang Baizhi paid the bill. When she took out a few Hong Kong dollars from her wallet, she did so slowly, as if she were counting them one by one.

Lin Dong saw it but didn't say anything.

In the car, Lin Dong said, "I'll take you home!"

Zhang Baizhi's face lit up with joy, and he quickly gave an address.

North of Temple Street, there is a tenement building with most of the paint peeling off its exterior walls.

Ah Qiang parked the car downstairs. Zhang Baizhi didn't get out immediately. Her hand rested on the car door handle, and she paused for two seconds.

Then she turned her head.

"Mr. Lin, would you like to come up and have a seat?"

Lin Dong looked at her.

The neon lights of Temple Street shone through the car window, casting a thin, colorful glow on her face. Her eyes did not flinch.

"OK."

The stairwell is very narrow.

The fluorescent light tubes hummed with electricity, illuminating the cracks in the wall with exceptional clarity. She walked ahead, her pace slow, her ponytail swaying gently between her shoulder blades.

Fourth floor.

The door opened to reveal a small, less than 200-square-foot room, but it was very clean. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a folding table with a mirror and several bottles of skincare products on it.

The curtains are floral and faded from washing.

The door closed behind me.

She didn't turn on the lights. The neon lights of Temple Street shone through the curtains, changing from red to blue to green, frame by frame.

"Lin Sheng".

Her voice was very soft in the darkness.

"I told you, I'm willing to give everything."

Her shadow took a step forward.

Immediately afterwards, the two shadows overlapped and collided. An excited yet deliberately suppressed voice rang out in the small cubicle.

"It hurts... please be gentle..."

.........

Much later.

The bedside lamp was turned on.

Warm yellow light spilled onto the crumpled sheets. Zhang Baizhi curled up beside him, his face buried in the pillow, his hair loose over his shoulder.

Lin Dong leaned against the headboard and reached for the water glass on the bedside table.

His gaze swept over the bed sheets.

A splash of red. Not big, but very noticeable, like someone pressing a fingerprint on a piece of white paper.

He glanced at it for a moment, then looked away and took a sip of water.

Just then, his phone vibrated again. Lin Dong picked it up and saw that there was only one text message from Li Jiaxin.

"I've had some soup made; can we have it when we get back tomorrow night?"

Lin Dong smiled and replied, "Okay!"