Chapter 215: Green Tea Techniques

That same evening.

Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong.

Chen Jiajun, the director of *Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing* Yu Kanping, and Zhao Yazhi sat facing each other in the coffee shop.

Once seated and after the waiter served the coffee, Chen Jiajun said with a hint of apology: "Sister Zhi, I apologize for being so busy at the end of last year; I only just now found the time to invite you for an audition."

"Sir Chen, you are too polite."

Having not seen him for a few months, Chen Jiajun was already a Sir, so Zhao Yazhi used honorifics.

"Don't call me Sir Chen, call me A Jun."

"Yes, A Jun," Zhao Yazhi said after a moment of hesitation.

Chen Jiajun introduced the director beside him: "This is Director Yu, from Taiwan. Director Yu, would you mind giving Miss Zhao a simple audition?"

"Certainly, Sir Chen." Director Yu nodded, then looked at Zhao Yazhi and asked her some questions regarding the script.

The script had been in Zhao Yazhi's hands for several months, and she had already worn the edges down from flipping through it; she could answer every one of Director Yu's questions almost without thinking.

At the end, Director Yu even picked a segment for Zhao Yazhi to perform as an improvisation.

It must be said, the starlets of the eighties, even if they were just eye candy, had acting skills that completely crushed the fresh meat and little fairies of the future.

After the audition, Director Yu nodded at Chen Jiajun with satisfaction and said: "Truly worthy of being the person you value, Boss."

"If she didn't have the skills, I wouldn't dare recommend her to you." Chen Jiajun took out a contract and said: "Sister Zhi, this is the contract. For this film, I am offering you a salary of 3 million..."

"3 million? Isn't that a bit too much?" Zhao Yazhi said in shock.

Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "It is not. I have an additional clause: after we finish collaborating on this film, I hope you will consider our Hongxing Film and Television, Sister Zhi."

After signing the contract.

It was already eleven o'clock at night when Zhao Yazhi drove home.

Seeing the light in her husband's room was already off, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and turned to go to her son's room instead.

Ever since Zhao Yazhi started going out to take on film roles, her son had been looked after by a maid. Although Zhao Yazhi avoided spending time with her husband, she often came back to see her son during the day when she had free time.

Her son was already fast asleep; fearing she would wake him, Zhao Yazhi just stood by his side smiling and watching him quietly.

Just at this moment, Zhao Yazhi's husband, Huang Hanwei, came out of the bedroom and quietly beckoned to the maid who was holding a coat and handbag.

The maid walked up to Huang Hanwei and asked: "Do you have any instructions, sir?"

Huang Hanwei snatched the coat and handbag from the maid's hands and said: "You go rest, I will tidy them up."

The maid didn't think much of it and went back to her own room to sleep on tiptoe.

After the maid left.

The smile that had been on Huang Hanwei's face suddenly turned gloomy. He pulled the zipper of the handbag to search through it and quickly found a small box.

Opening the box, he saw an exquisite and beautiful diamond-encrusted bracelet inside.

Seeing this diamond-encrusted bracelet, Huang Hanwei's eyes turned blood-red, as if they could spit fire.

Continuing to search, Huang Hanwei found that love letter in the side pocket: "My dear Zhi: You and I have known each other for over a year..."

Zhao Yazhi spent a while with her son and prepared to wash up and go to sleep, but she saw her husband sitting in the living room with the light on: "It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Huang Hanwei asked with a Yin Yang mocking laugh: "Waiting for me to sleep so you can go out and meet your adulterer?"

Seeing that Huang Hanwei's mood was off tonight, Zhao Yazhi walked straight toward the bathroom and said: "I've argued enough; I don't want to argue with you anymore."

Nowadays, she was pouring all her heart and soul into her work.

"Don't want to argue with me? Do you think I want to argue with you?" Huang Hanwei stood up abruptly and slammed the love letter onto the table: "No wonder you wanted to sleep in separate rooms; was it just for that pretty boy?

Fine, everyone on the film set knows you've cuckolded me, and I'm the only one kept in the dark..."

Seeing her husband becoming more and more outrageous, Zhao Yazhi couldn't help but say: "What are you throwing a tantrum about again?"

"I'm throwing a tantrum?" Huang Hanwei held up the bracelet and questioned: "What is this? Don't tell me you bought this yourself."

Zhao Yazhi's expression changed. She had intended to return this bracelet to Huang Yuanshen another day; she didn't expect it to be discovered by her husband. She could only bite the bullet and say: "Why couldn't I have bought it myself? What have you ever given me since we got married?"

"You bought it yourself? Heh." Huang Hanwei sneered, threw the love letter at Zhao Yazhi's face, and cursed: "Slut, the evidence is all here, and you're still quibbling."

Zhao Yazhi was both shocked and suspicious after seeing the love letter. She remembered throwing the letter into the trash can; how could it have appeared in her husband's hands?

Huang Hanwei said angrily: "What? Caught red-handed, and you don't dare deny it?"

Zhao Yazhi said urgently: "Hanwei, listen to my explanation, it's really not what you..."

Huang Hanwei interrupted: "What more explanation is needed? How have I, Huang Hanwei, ever wronged you?"

"You've treated me well, so I've wronged you?" Zhao Yazhi couldn't explain it at all. She had been holding in a stifled anger for several years, and now it finally erupted: "What did you say before we got married? You became a different person after we married."

"And your mother, you two mother and son just want to cage me at home. When I go out to film, it's like I've committed murder, and when I come home, you all give me attitude."

"It would be one thing if you let me stay home, but you're out all day and never come home either. I spend all day facing your mother's face."

"Everything I do is wrong, and as soon as I make a mistake, she nags incessantly. Is that living a life, or is it serving a prison sentence?"

"Then what do you want me to do?" Huang Hanwei roared, "She is my mother, you are my wife. I'm caught in the middle; do you think I have it easy? For your sake, I've fallen out with my mother, and now we've even moved out to live separately. Also, you say I never come home—please, I'm a doctor, I have work to do.

I, Huang Hanwei, dare to swear that I absolutely have no women outside; I have never done anything to wrong you. What about you? As soon as you go out, you find wild men. Do you have a conscience toward me?"

Zhao Yazhi also roared: "I've said it before, I am innocent with Huang Yuanshen. I don't want to say any more. You're just like your mother; you just don't like the sight of me!"

"Slap!"

Seeing his wife refuse to repent, Huang Hanwei was so angry that he slapped her, sending Zhao Yazhi flying to the ground.

"You actually hit me?" Zhao Yazhi was in disbelief.

After striking, Huang Hanwei felt some regret, but once he thought of that love letter and the bracelet, his brain was once again occupied by rage: "You deserve to be hit, I'll beat you to death, you slut who steals men."

Heartbroken and devastated, Zhao Yazhi shrieked hysterically: "Fine, every day I go out, it's to find wild men. If you don't like it, let's get a divorce."

Hearing Zhao Yazhi admit it herself, Huang Hanwei's temper flared even more, and he roared: "Let's divorce then! I was blind to have married a shameless bitch like you."

A family that could have been saved was completely destroyed by that one phone call from the old prison.

Early the next morning, Chen Jiajun had just woken up when he received a call from Zhao Yazhi.

On the phone, Zhao Yazhi's voice was hoarse: "A Jun, it's Zhizhi. I'm so sorry, I'm calling you right after signing the contract..."

"Sister Zhi, what happened to you?" Chen Jiajun asked.

Zhao Yazhi touched her own swollen cheek and said, "It's nothing, I'm sick. I just need to rest for two or three days to adjust my state."

"Fine, no problem, just get some good rest."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Jiajun busied himself at Guojun Building for a while, then went out and headed toward Zhao Yazhi's home.

He was visiting Zhao Yazhi on behalf of the entire crew of *Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing*.

That's right.

This reason sounded very convincing.

Chen Jiajun pressed the doorbell. The person who came to open the door was a maid, who asked vigilantly, "Sir, who are you looking for?"

Chen Jiajun said very politely, "Hello, I am the producer for the *Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing* crew at Hongxing Film. I heard that Miss Zhao Yazhi is sick, so I am here to visit her on behalf of the crew."

Upon hearing that it was a visit from the crew, the maid hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, please wait a moment, I will go inform the mistress."

Chen Jiajun smiled very gentlemanly: "Please do."

"Mr. Chen? Please invite him in immediately."

When Zhao Yazhi heard it was Chen Jiajun, she hurriedly placed her son in the stroller, stood up, grabbed her makeup bag, and went to the washroom. She looked at the slap mark on her face, but there was no time for makeup, so she simply let her hair down to cover half her face, then hurriedly went to the living room and picked up her son, pretending that nothing was wrong.

At this time, Chen Jiajun had already entered the living room under the maid's guidance. He was carrying quite a lot of expensive fruit and some dried abalone: "Sister Zhi, I specifically brought you some supplements."

Zhao Yazhi hurriedly looked up and said with a forced smile, "A Jun, please sit wherever you like. I'm not feeling well, so I won't be able to entertain you."

Chen Jiajun, with his keen powers of observation, saw at a glance that something was wrong with Zhao Yazhi today.

He sat down on the sofa to Zhao Yazhi's right without standing on ceremony and said, "Sister Zhi, colds are very easy to spread, and children have poor resistance. It's best to have less contact with the child while you're sick, so you don't pass the cold virus to him. Let me help you hold him."

Zhao Yazhi had no choice but to hand her son to Chen Jiajun: "It was my oversight."

Chen Jiajun took the child and saw that he was well-behaved and not crying, so he actually quite liked him. He scraped the child's little nose and asked, "Little guy, what's your name?"

Zhao Yazhi taught from the side: "Xiaoguang, hurry and call him Uncle."

"Ah, ah..." The child waved his little hands, babbling randomly, when suddenly a few words popped out: "Da... da..."

Dada?

Is this the rhythm of being destined to be a "happy father"?

Chen Jiajun couldn't help but laugh, and said to the somewhat embarrassed Zhao Yazhi, "It seems I have a real connection with Xiaoguang. How about I become his godfather?"

Zhao Yazhi had a good impression of Chen Jiajun, and besides, Chen Jiajun's status was noble, so she couldn't ask for more: "Okay."

As Zhao Yazhi moved, the hair covering her cheek swung away a little, revealing a section of a still-bruised fingerprint.

Huang Hanwei's slap last night had been very forceful.

No wonder Zhao Yazhi didn't dare go to work today; the slap mark on her face hadn't even faded yet.

As soon as Chen Jiajun saw that slap mark, he immediately asked with a mix of genuine and feigned anger: "Which bastard hit you?"

"No, it's nothing." Zhao Yazhi covered her face with her hand. This was nothing to be proud of, and she didn't want Chen Jiajun to know.

Chen Jiajun wore a look of "anger," which even scared the child he was holding into crying. He seized the opportunity to grab Zhao Yazhi's small hand and asked, "Who exactly hit you? I'll go help you seek justice."

Seeing the anxiety and anger on Chen Jiajun's face, Zhao Yazhi felt helpless but also a little touched. However, matters of a husband and wife coming to blows were really not suitable to tell outsiders, and besides, Chen Jiajun was a man of the underworld; she was afraid Chen Jiajun would be too impulsive and cause some kind of disaster.

Huang Hanwei deserved to be beaten by Chen Jiajun, but what if Chen Jiajun got extorted by the Huang Family?

"A Jun, I beg you, please don't ask, okay? I will handle my own affairs."

Chen Jiajun was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Did your husband hit you?"

Zhao Yazhi hurriedly pleaded, "A Jun, can you keep this a secret for me? You absolutely cannot tell anyone else."

If two people share a secret in their hearts, that is the beginning of a relationship becoming intimate.

Of course, sometimes it is also the beginning of a grudge, but Chen Jiajun would not let the latter situation occur.

Chen Jiajun was secretly delighted, but his expression remained hesitant. After a long while, he nodded earnestly: "Okay, Sister Zhi, I swear I will absolutely not tell anyone about this."

"But if that bastard dares to lay a hand on you again, call my number. Even if it's the middle of the night, I'll rush over to protect you."

"Thank you..."

Zhao Yazhi was suddenly so moved she wanted to cry.

Chen Jiajun took the opportunity to lean in while holding the child, sitting next to Zhao Yazhi. He patted her shoulder with his large hand and asked in an extremely gentle voice, knowing the answer: "Sister Zhi, I know you are a good woman and would never do anything to wrong your husband. Why did he still hit you?"

Zhao Yazhi also wanted to find someone to confide in, and at this moment, Chen Jiajun already counted as a trustworthy person to confide in.

Thinking of the whole affair made Zhao Yazhi feel aggrieved, and she sobbed as she complained about her situation and experiences over the past few years.

Chen Jiajun took the opportunity to reach out and place his hand on Zhao Yazhi's fragrant shoulder, taking the chance to pull her into his embrace to comfort her. His other hand was still holding the child, who opened his bright eyes, looking in confusion at his sobbing mother and the strange uncle.

Zhao Yazhi opened the floodgates; the more she spoke, the sadder she became, and tears kept falling.

"Sister Zhi, don't be sad anymore. I believe you; you would absolutely never do such a thing."

Chen Jiajun gently stroked Zhao Yazhi's jade-like back: "You should have explained things clearly to your husband last night and communicated well. A quarrel between husband and wife is settled by the time they reach the end of the bed; there is no overnight grudge between a married couple. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, any trouble can be solved."

Sowing discord also requires technique.

If Chen Jiajun had blindly spoken words to break up Zhao Yazhi and her husband, she likely would have felt repulsed.

But Chen Jiajun's advice to reconcile rather than separate instead made Zhao Yazhi feel all the more that Chen Jiajun was genuinely looking out for her.

(End of chapter)