Midnight Cinderella Chapter 10

     Qin Fan was a stockholder of Tian Qin Entertainment, and was also the most famous agent in the company. Any artist under his hand was sure to be popular in the country. Many people are the company were probably afraid of him due to his powerful aura, Mi Xie Er being no exception. 

     Now, under Qin Fan's pointed stare, Mi Xie Er felt compelled to spill everything that he knew: "After Feng Jing went abroad, he suddenly started acting this way, though it was only at night. I did a bit of research and found that it might be caused by too much pressure during the day. The large movements reported by the article should've been from me trying to prevent him from rus.h.i.+ng around crazily."

     "Then what about the rope play?"

     "That was because I was afraid of him making trouble again and attracting other people in the hotel, so I planned to restrain him with ropes. 

     Qin Fan's calm look finally s.h.i.+fted a bit: "You tied him up?"

     "No no no! I didn't! Mister Feng didn't agree, so how would I dare do it?" Mi Xie Er truly wanted to cry now. Feng Jing was the most valued artist under Qin Fan right now. If he harmed Feng Jing with his own hands, there would be no doubt that they would rip a layer of skin off of him. 

     Qin Fan slowed down his speech and asked again: "Then why didn't you inform me of such a big matter?"

     "Because, because…… Mister Feng forbade me from telling." Mi Xie Er's voice was very small, like the sound of a mosquito.

     Qin Fan glanced over to the person directly across him. Feng Jing was sitting there making a face, as if his mood was worse than Qin Fan's. Qin Fan spit out a sigh, and asked: "Then regarding the insider from the article. Are you guys confident on who it is?"

     Mi Xie Er looked at Feng Jing and saw that he had no intention of opening his mouth. He had no choice but to steel himself and reply: "I suspect Zhu Xi, because both times I had encountered her."

     Qin Fan tapped his fingers on the table and spoke: "We will not cooperate with her anymore. I will negotiate with Bunny to replace the female lead in the last two parts of the commercial." The lipstick advertis.e.m.e.nt for Bunny was supposed to be a series with several parts to it. Currently, there was a tentative plan for the advertis.e.m.e.nt to have four parts. Feng Jing was signed on for the entire series; however, people like Zhu Xi must be signed on separately for each part. Subst.i.tution should not be too troublesome. 

     "Also, the PR department has already drafted a statement. After the company publishes it, you guys can just forward it on Weibo. No need to respond to anything. Weibo will also let them delete it off the hot search. It also should take long for our water army to restore public opinion." 

     While Mi Xie Er was still exclaiming in his heart about Qin Fan's lightning quick actions, he was once again called out by Qin Fan: "Mi Xie Er, go back and write a report for me. The next time you encounter something and don't report it, you won't need to come to work anymore."

     " …… I got it, I know now." Mi Xie Er looked at Qin Fan, inwardly debating, Just now, Feng Jing had wanted him to go find a house. Should he speak of this matter to Supervisor Qin?

     As if he saw through Mi Xie Er's intentions, Feng Jing, who had kept silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up: "Mi XianEr, you can go and write the report now."

     Mi Xie Er: ". ……"

     He walked out of the office, step by step, looking back every once in a while. 

     After he walked out, Qin Fan connected a line to his secretary and requested for her to make two cups of coffee. The secretary was already very familiar with their preferences, so she quickly brewed two cups and brought it up to the office, then politely exited.

     Qin Fan picked up a cup of coffee, took a sip, and asked Feng Jing: "So, have you been under a lot of pressure lately?"

     Feng Jing pressed his lips together tightly and agreed in a perfunctory manner: "En."

     "Why?"

     " …… " He didn't know either. It's not like he could say that it was because of attacks from Mo Zhen's fans. Even if he did say that, Qin Fan would not believe it. He took a sip from the coffee in front of him, and acted as if he was unwilling to answer. 

     Qin Fan waited for a while, then put down the coffee cup in his hand. "I will not arrange you any work at this time. You will receive psychological counseling."

     " …… There should be no need? I can guide myself."

     "I will let the secretary help you make an appointment. When it is arranged, I will directly notify you."

     Feng Jing: " …… "

     That is why he doesn't like Qin Fan, that person.

     Qin Fan had always been very efficient in his work. The day before, he had notified Feng Jing about psychological counseling. The appointment was set for the very next day. Forced by Qin Fan's abuse of power, Feng Jing had to go the psychiatrist. 

     He drove to the clinic himself, and saw that it was a very private place. It must have been specially chosen by Qin Fan. After entering, the secretary at the door led him to a room. Along the way, he did meet a single person.

     "Mr. Feng, Doctor Zhang is already waiting for you inside."

     "Okay, thank you." Feng Jing's voice traveled out from his mask, sounding very m.u.f.fled. He pushed open the door and walked in, and saw a man in a suit. 

     The man was standing in front of the water tank, feeding the goldfish. When he saw Feng Jing coming in, he gave a professional smile: "h.e.l.lo, Mr. Feng."

     Feng Jing removed the mask from his face and also smiled at the doctor: "Doctor Zhang, h.e.l.lo."

     Seeing not much resistance from Feng Jing, the doctor smiled again and invited Feng Jing to sit on the seat opposite the work desk: "Please sit down."

     Feng Jing walked over with his long legs and sat down. After sitting down, he found the seat quite comfortable.

     "I have already heard from Mr. Qin about your situation. He said that you have been under great pressure recently?"

     Feng Jing replied: "In fact, it really isn't that.  I don't know if you have seen the video yet, but in acting cla.s.s, they taught us how to liberate ourselves from our role. After filming all day, that was my way of venting."

     Doctor Zhang smiled and said to him: "I have seen Mr. Feng's movies before. You are a dedicated actor. But the more dedicated an actor is, the easier it is for them to acc.u.mulate pressure and stress. Since you came here, it means that you have realized that you are in need of psychological counseling. You can pour out your troubles to me, and rest a.s.sured, I will keep it a secret. I will not even tell Mr. Qin."

     No, the reason he came here was because of Qin Fan's ability to take control everything…… 

     However, this psychiatrist didn't seem like a swindler. Feng Jing decided to listen to his advice and frankly discuss: "Actually, I will turn into a dog every night."

     "Turn into a dog?" Doctor Zhang finally revealed a strange expression.

     Feng Jing didn't mind, only nodding his head and continuing to speak: "En, every night at twelve o'clock, I will swap bodies with a dog. The Feng Jing that you guys see is in fact not me, but the dog."

     After Feng Jing finished his narration, Doctor Zhang sank into silence for a long while before facing Feng Jing with a slight smile: "Mr. Feng, if you are not willing to tell me the truth, then I have no way of helping you."

     Feng Jing: " …… "

     Lies were not believed, the truth was not believed, what else is he supposed to do?

     In the end, he and Doctor Zhang communicated for half and hour with no results. Doctor Zhang ended up prescribing sleeping medication for Feng Jing to take before bed.

     Even though Feng Jing felt that he had just wasted a half an hour of his life, he thought that medication might still be useful- after taking it, the dog would probably be more well-behaved at night?

     Right as he drove his car out of the consulting office, Mi Xie Er called. He inquired about the result of the talk with the doctor.

     Feng Jing responded: "It was okay."

     "That's good then." Mi Xie Er let out a sigh in relief, "Supervisor Qin said that you have to go in for psychological counseling every week. I will arrange the specifics and send the details to you."

     Feng Jing: " …… "

     "Since there's nothing to discuss, I won't bother you anymore."

     "Wait, wait a second." Feng Jing halted the Mi Xie Er, who was just about to hang up the phone. "About the apartment that I had asked you to find- have you looked into it yet?"

     "I am still looking. After I finish sifting through everything, I will send you the details immediately."

     "En, remember that this matter is not to be told to Qin Fan." Feng Jing's tone became threatening.

     "That, Mister Feng, I think that……"

     "I am thinking that you don't want to be my a.s.sistant anymore?"

     " …… I understand."

     "Very good." Feng Jing became silent for a moment, then said: "I am planning to head back home. Go to the supermarket for me and buy some beer and cheese."

     "Beer and cheese?" Mi Xie felt that it was a strange order, but didn't voice his thoughts out loud. "What brand of beer do you want? What kind of cheese?"

     "Whatever is fine, you can choose it. For cheese, make sure you get the kind in chunks."

     "I got it. Once I'm done buying, I'll send it over."

     "En."

     After he hung up the phone, Feng Jing felt unsettled. He wasn't sure why but after consulting the psychiatrist, he felt more nervous than before.

     Once he got home, he took a shower. Mi Xie Er arrived, bringing large and small bags of things over. Not only did he purchase beer and cheese, he also bought lots of vegetables, fruit, and meat products, directly filling up Feng Jing's refrigerator. 

     Feng Jing picked a bottle of beer while using moving to slice some cheese. He remembered how Jiang Ran, at that time, had sliced her cheese into small, bite-sized pieces, so he followed suit, slicing his own cheese the same way. 

     When he was in a foreign country, he had seen other people pair red wine with cheese before. However, pairing cheese with beer was a combination that he had never tried before. He attempted to mimic Jiang Ran's style of taking a swig of beer before taking a bite of cheese, carefully savoring it for a moment. 

     His mood seems to have improved quite a bit, though the cheese was a little to plain. Next time, he can buy a saltier kind.

     Since he didn't have any work in this period of time, he could choose to sleep earlier. However, he still chose to wait until twelve o'clock. Jiang Ran had also not gone to bed yet. She was holding a ma.s.saging tool in her hand, rolling it across her face, and typing on her computer with her other hand.

     Currently, she was looking at Feng Jing's Weibo. Yesterday, not long after the gossip article got onto the hot search, Feng Jing had forwarded his company's "Important Notice". This time's malicious slandering incident had already been handed over for lawyers to take care of. The "gay" accusation storm had subsided as quickly as it came.

    "Tian Qin's public relations department works pretty fast," Jiang Ran muttered under her breath. She saw her dog slink into her bedroom again.

     "Er Huang, it's already twelve o'clock. Recently, have you've also become a night owl?" Eh, since it's a dog, should it be "night dog"? {Night owl in Chinese is 夜猫子, with the word in the middle meaning cat when by itself. She subst.i.tuted it with the word for dog in the second sentence.}

     "Woof." The little dog on the ground weakly yelped out, laying on the floor next to the bed.

     "What happened to you?" Jiang Ran put down the ma.s.sage tool in her hand and scooped up her dog. Her dog's mood was so unpredictable lately. When she took it out for an afternoon walk earlier, it was happy like a fool. How come it was all unhappy again?

     Only today, the response of Er Huang was a little strange. After she pet him for a while, she found that he …… became h.o.r.n.y???

The author has something to say: Doggy Feng, you're really great [facepalm]

ZII: Stories targeted toward females yet mostly written in the male lead's perspective are pretty rare. I feel that the power dynamics between Jiang Ran and Feng Jing are going to be pretty different in comparison with the couples in other novels of this kind. What do you guys think?