After the Secrets of the Passerby Were Leaked, He Was Cherished by the Entire Family of Antagonists

Chapter 66

“Song, Song Zhehan, stop talking nonsense!” Zhang Qiran glared at Song Zhehan.

The guests present all turned their heads, their gazes falling on Zhang Qiran.

All the garden lights were now turned on. Under the bright streetlights, everyone could clearly see a flash of panic on Zhang Qiran’s face.

Ye Leyao was also stunned by what he saw.

[Hey, that line from Song Zhehan was clearly meant to scare Zhang Qiran, but why do I feel like Zhang Qiran actually got scared? Could it be that he really has some big secret, and that’s why he’s feeling guilty?]

Huo Yan and Qin Yao simultaneously raised their eyes to look at Ye Leyao.

Ye Leyao was lost in thought.

Song Zhehan also seemed a bit surprised by Zhang Qiran’s reaction, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and then he smiled slightly, “I’m not talking nonsense; I just spoke from the heart after seeing Yu Bai being taken away.”

Li Siyuan laughed directly, “That’s quite a heartfelt expression.”

Zhang Qiran: “...”

It took several seconds for Zhang Qiran to barely force a smile, taking a step to the side to distance himself from Song Zhehan, and he said in a low voice, “That joke isn’t funny.”

Song Zhehan’s lips curled up, smiling happily, “Exactly. I was just joking. There’s no need for such a big reaction, right?”

“When did I overreact?” Zhang Qiran couldn’t hold it anymore, his tone rising slightly, “I just, I just...”

“What ‘just’?” Song Zhehan blinked, looking quite curious.

Zhang Qiran stammered for a moment, then suddenly shifted his gaze away, “Don’t stand so close to me!”

“Alright, alright, I know you hate me.” Song Zhehan showed a helpless smile, then turned to Zhou Zijian beside him and said, “Brother Zhou, look at him; he says he’s not overreacting! Does this look like he’s not overreacting?”

Zhou Zijian: “...”

How did this conversation end up involving me?!

Zhou Zijian sighed inwardly and stepped in to mediate, “Alright, alright, it’s getting late, and everyone must be hungry. I’ll go ask the director what we should do about tonight’s ingredients.”

After saying this, Zhou Zijian didn’t look at Song Zhehan or pay attention to Zhang Qiran beside him and quickly walked towards the direction of the director’s group.

He ran really fast.

Once Zhou Zijian left, Wen Xiangyue naturally followed him.

And Liu Yan, afraid that Song Zhehan might turn the conversation on her next, also left with Wen Xiangyue.@@@@

Qian Yue said to Xia Yang, “Let’s go have a talk too.”

Although Yu Bai had been taken away temporarily, this matter was far from over.

Both Qian Yue and Xia Yang needed time to think carefully about what to do next.

And more importantly, their fans were still waiting for their response, so they had to give them an explanation.

Plus, the show was still being recorded, so they needed to make the most of their time.

Xia Yang nodded and left with Qian Yue.

Turning back to Zhang Qiran.

After a brief moment of emotional loss of control and panic, he regained his composure. Watching Qian Yue and Xia Yang’s departing figures, he finally threw out a “I’ll go help Brother Zhou” and then ran off.

A hint of regret flashed in Song Zhehan’s eyes.

Li Siyuan leaned over, “Can’t take a scare, huh.”

“That’s not right,” Song Zhehan corrected him, “I wasn’t scaring him.”

Li Siyuan knew that Song Zhehan was a cunning person, so he saw no need to expose him.

He smiled and changed the topic, “Alright then, shall we go help too?”

Song Zhehan had no objections this time and glanced at Ye Leyao.

At this moment, Ye Leyao had put away his phone, his face showing rare confusion and puzzlement.

[Strange, I didn’t see any scandal involving Zhang Qiran.]

[Aside from maintaining his image, the biggest gossip about him is that he snatched a few roles and endorsements from Song Zhehan. Other than that, there’s nothing related to his morals or character.]

[So the question is, what is Zhang Qiran panicking about?]

After hearing Ye Leyao’s thoughts, Huo Yan and Qin Yao were equally puzzled.

In the entertainment industry, it’s common for artists to have their roles and endorsements taken by others. While this is criticized, it doesn’t necessarily reflect on one’s morality or character.

So, what exactly is Zhang Qiran panicking about?

Could there really be some gossip that even Ye Leyao doesn’t know about?

Qin Yao and Huo Yan both looked at Ye Leyao.

Seeing this, Qin Yao frowned.

But Huo Yan spoke up first. He quickly stepped forward, grabbing Ye Leyao’s arm, his brows furrowed, “What’s wrong with your arm?”

Hearing Huo Yan’s exclamation, Ye Leyao finally snapped out of it. He looked at his arm and was startled, “Ah, I got bitten by a mosquito!”

[Darn, it itches. I was so focused on the gossip earlier that I didn’t notice I got bitten.]

Huo Yan: “...”

Since childhood, Ye Leyao’s skin had always been fair. Whenever bitten by insects or mosquitoes, a big bump would swell up and remain prominent for about a week.

“Did you bring any ointment?” Huo Yan asked, sounding quite helpless.

Ye Leyao thought for a moment, “I think I did... maybe?”

“Maybe, my foot!” Huo Yan said, exasperated, “I’ll go ask the doctor.”

Qin Yao spoke up, “I have some. You can come with me to my room to get it.”

Huo Yan nodded, “Alright, you two go get the medicine. I’ll go check on the ingredients.”

The group split up.

As Ye Leyao followed Qin Yao upstairs, he was still pondering what Zhang Qiran had panicked about earlier.

But after thinking for a long time, he came up with nothing.

Could it be that he had missed something?

Ye Leyao simply stopped thinking about it. He turned to look at Qin Yao beside him and lowered his voice to ask, “President Qin, have your people started revealing things?”

Qin Yao nodded slightly.

He had made many preparations in advance for today’s event.

As soon as Yu Bai messed up during the recording, related revelations would be posted online.

Qin Yao wanted to make sure that Yu Bai could never make a comeback, and it was also a warning to the people behind him.

Ye Leyao, of course, had no idea what Qin Yao was planning. He only knew that there was more gossip to come!

So Ye Leyao quickly took out his phone and opened Weibo.

Out of the top ten trending searches, seven were related to Yu Bai.

Ye Leyao couldn’t help but smile, a bit mischievously, “Yu Bai is really famous now.”

Qin Yao couldn’t help but smile as well and did not deny it.

When he clicked on the first trending topic, the first post that popped up was a summary of all the dirt on Yu Bai.

Not only did this post provide a detailed introduction to the main characters of Yu Bai’s past relationships, but it also introduced Zhang Tao, a boy who had been bullied by Yu Bai in school many years ago. A series of evidence was listed, leaving no room for doubt.

The two had already reached Qin Yao’s room.

Qin Yao told Ye Leyao to sit wherever he liked, so Ye Leyao sat down on the sofa and then asked Qin Yao, “President Qin, you’ve had this evidence for a long time, right?”

It had only been a few minutes since Yu Bai was taken away. Even if things were to escalate online, it would be impossible to compile all this dirt in just a few minutes.

Therefore, this post could only be Qin Yao’s doing; he must have had this evidence in his possession for a while but hadn’t released it yet.

Qin Yao pulled out his suitcase, then glanced at the room’s camera, confirming it was off before nodding, “Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity.”

As he spoke, Qin Yao paused, then looked up at Ye Leyao with a smile, “Actually, I have to thank you for that.”

Although Qin Yao had indeed been preparing for a long time, he still needed an opportunity.

Originally, Qin Yao was planning to wait for Qian Yue and Xia Yang to slowly figure things out and confront Yu Bai.

Unexpectedly, Ye Leyao had just coincidentally made everything go smoothly.

Ye Leyao, however, was a bit confused.

[Thank me for what?]

[It seems like I didn’t do anything?]

[I guess I just got lucky?]

Hearing this, Qin Yao smiled as he took out the ointment from his suitcase.

Not everyone could have such luck, so he still wanted to thank Ye Leyao.

Handing the ointment to Ye Leyao, Qin Yao asked, “Can you apply it yourself?”

Ye Leyao took the ointment and nodded.

After leaving the garden, under the white string lights, the swollen bumps on Ye Leyao’s arms and legs looked even more obvious.

Qin Yao took a closer look and found that not only his arms and legs but also the back of Ye Leyao’s fair neck had a big swollen bump.

At the same time.

Huo Yan, who had just fallen asleep, opened his tired eyes when he heard the voice.

Is there more drama?

Was Ye Leyao eavesdropping on Zhang Qiran?

Qin Yao also quickly sat up in bed, reached for his tablet, and opened Ye Leyao’s livestream.

As soon as it opened, he heard Zhang Qiran’s aggrieved voice, with a hint of a sob:

“But... boohoo... but I don’t want to keep filming. To hell with saving face, why do I have to save face in front of Song Zhehan? He’s like a mad dog now, biting me whenever he sees me. I can’t take it anymore...”

Ye Leyao almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

[Hahahahahahahahahaha—]

[Alright, it’s basically confirmed now. Zhang Qiran really was scared by Master Gou Shi’s words last night.]

[So what exactly is the dirt on you?!]

Anxious to get some dirt, Ye Leyao was a bit impatient, but he couldn’t rush it now. He still had to keep listening.

It was unclear what was said on the other end of the phone, but Zhang Qiran’s emotions seemed to finally stabilize a bit, and he said, “But... I really don’t want to film anymore. I know this thing, even if exposed, isn’t a big deal, but... but I... but if it gets exposed, Song Zhehan will definitely mock me for the rest of my life! That Ye Leyao is also a bit scary...”

“Yeah, he may not be important now, but I just don’t want my weakness to fall into his hands... Anything else is fine, but this one thing just can’t be!”

Zhang Qiran’s voice sounded choked, as if he had touched a sore spot.

Ye Leyao turned back to glance at the cameraman again.

[Why does he look like he’s about to cry?]

[Is it inappropriate for me to keep listening?]

Just as Ye Leyao was about to signal the cameraman to leave, he heard Zhang Qiran’s voice behind him—

“This show is really too scary... I’m really terrified!”

This time, Ye Leyao really couldn’t hold back and started coughing violently.

[Why is he so scared? Our show doesn’t eat people!]

Because of Ye Leyao’s coughing, Zhang Qiran, not far away, heard the sound and turned around with a startled look: “You—Ye Leyao? What are you doing here?”

Ye Leyao coughed for a long time, until tears came to his eyes, and finally calmed down. Seeing Zhang Qiran walking towards him, Ye Leyao took a deep breath: “I... How about you go back and watch my live stream recording? I really just happened to be passing by!”

“And I didn’t hear anything. I only heard you say you don’t want to record our show anymore.”

After all, Ye Leyao had already gone through all the plotlines related to Song Zhehan last night, and he really didn’t find any gossip about Zhang Qiran.

But Ye Leyao vaguely remembered that Zhang Qiran had indeed been involved in a scandal, though he couldn’t immediately recall what it was about.

What he could be sure of was that Zhang Qiran definitely hadn’t done anything truly wicked.

So, Ye Leyao asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Zhang Qiran: “...”

Zhang Qiran’s face turned bright red.

Why did it have to be Ye Leyao who ran into him again?!

Zhang Qiran saw all the trending searches from last night, and he understood that Ye Leyao was like a walking gossip king—there seemed to be no scandal that could escape his notice!

If Ye Leyao found out about his secret—

For a moment, Zhang Qiran felt like he couldn’t breathe.

It took quite a while before Zhang Qiran remembered that there was still a cameraman in front of them.

But at this point, he really wasn’t in the mood to hide anything: “Forget it, even if you heard it, it doesn’t matter. I already didn’t want to film this show...”

As he spoke, Zhang Qiran seemed a bit resigned to fate and turned around to head back to the villa.

This left Ye Leyao and the cameraman standing there, staring at each other.

“Just now... he didn’t even smile at me,” Ye Leyao said to the cameraman.

[Could it be that Zhang Qiran is planning to drop his act as well?]

How would the cameraman know?

He only knew that the number of viewers in Ye Leyao’s live stream had just started to soar again, and the director was telling him through his earpiece to hide and not get noticed.

But in the blink of an eye, Ye Leyao coughed out loud and gave himself away.

Ye Leyao didn’t expect the cameraman to have any answers for him. Since it was still early, he wandered around the area for a bit, and it wasn’t until almost seven that he leisurely returned to the villa.

By this time, most of the guests were already up.

Zhou Zijian was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, with Qian Yue, Liu Yan, and others helping out.

Huo Yan and Qin Yao both looked up at him as they heard him come back.

Ye Leyao glanced around the room and asked, “Where’s Zhang Qiran?”

Song Zhehan, hearing this, raised his head slightly: “Why are you suddenly concerned about Zhang Qiran?”

Ye Leyao cleared his throat: “I just... accidentally ran into him while he was on a call...”

Li Siyuan widened his eyes: “Don’t tell me you accidentally overheard something again?”

Ye Leyao nodded.

It was really a bit awkward!

Eavesdropping is never good, so Ye Leyao still wanted to find Zhang Qiran and apologize seriously.

Just then, Qin Yao spoke up: “His agent just contacted the director, saying that he’s not feeling well and wants to withdraw from this episode’s recording.”

Ye Leyao: “Huh? He really wants to quit?”

Li Siyuan immediately turned his head to look at Song Zhehan: “Could it be that you scared him away?”

Song Zhehan, speechless, said, “How did I scare him?”

After a pause, Song Zhehan continued, “Besides, he dislikes me so much; how could he quit the show just because of me?”

As soon as he said this, Ye Leyao’s pupils shrank sharply.

[Dislike?]

[Zhang Qiran dislikes Song Zhehan?]

[No, Zhang Qiran shouldn’t dislike Song Zhehan...]

Blocked memories suddenly surged into Ye Leyao’s mind, and his voice pitched up: [I remember now!!!]

Huo Yan closed his eyes.

He almost couldn’t resist covering his ears.

Ye Leyao!

Can’t you speak a bit more quietly in your mind?!

Qin Yao pressed his temple, reminding himself to get used to it as soon as possible.

You’ll get used to it eventually.

He took a small breath and looked at Ye Leyao again.

So what exactly is it that’s so surprising to Ye Leyao?

Zhang Qiran and Song Zhehan are sworn enemies, so why wouldn’t he dislike Song Zhehan?

At this moment, Ye Leyao had already taken out his phone and started searching for something.

After a while, he said:

[I found it! So it’s this plotline, and it’s from a different book than Song Zhehan’s... No wonder I didn’t remember it!]

[Here it explains why Zhang Qiran entered the entertainment industry... Hm???]

[What?!]

Huo Yan straightened up a bit.

Qin Yao picked up his water cup and took a sip.

So—

[Zhang Qiran actually entered the entertainment industry because of Song Zhehan?!]

[Zhang Qiran has had a crush on Song Zhehan since middle school?]

[Huh?]

Qin Yao accidentally choked on his water and started coughing violently.

Huo Yan was so shocked he almost dropped his phone.

He let out a confused exclamation, just like Ye Leyao:

Huh?

Zhang Qiran likes Song Zhehan?

Aren’t they supposed to be rivals fighting over resources?!

Could it be that because Zhang Qiran couldn’t have him, he wanted to destroy him, and thus his love turned into hatred?