Accidental Mark

Qin Yu pushed the treatment cart into the room and came to Cheng Xia’s bedside. “Shaoze, I will change the dressing for Cheng Xia.” Pei Shaoze immediately let go and got up, looking at Cheng Xia in a worried manner.

Cheng Xia raised his head and smiled at Qin Yu, not as embarrassed as before. Qin Yu saw the young man’s clear eyes. The more he looked, the more pleasing this person became. He took out a sterile cotton swab to help disinfect Cheng Xia’s wound. He placed clean gauze on it and comforted Cheng Xia softly, “Don’t worry, your wound isn’t deep. I used special sutures for dermatology. After it is healed, no obvious scars will be left.”

Cheng Xia didn’t care about ‘leaving no scars.’ The injury below the collarbone couldn’t be seen even if he wore short sleeves in summer. It was just that the beta doctor’s gentle attitude made Cheng Xia feel a lot more relaxed. He raised his head and earnestly told the other person, “Thank you Doctor Qin. This time I troubled you.”

A well-behaved and sensible omega easily made people feel good. Qin Yu’s affection for Cheng Xia rose and he even felt that Cheng Xia was a good match for Pei Shaoze. Perhaps Pei Shaoze recently changed and started working seriously because Cheng Xia influenced him? Sure enough, if the right person was met then even a hedonistic son of rich parents could turn over a new leaf and the prodigal son would return.

Pei Shaoze knew from Qin Yu’s expression that he had misunderstood again. Still, Pei Shaoze didn’t intend to explain. It was almost 2 o’clock in the morning. Once Qin Yu finished changing the medicine, Pei Shaoze walked to the bedside and told Cheng Xia, “You were frightened today. Have a good night’s sleep. I will take care of the aftermath. Rest at ease and don’t think about it, understood?”

Cheng Xia obediently hummed in agreement before looking at Pei Shaoze. “President Pei, go back and rest. It is already 2 a.m. You rushed here from Ya’an and it must be very tiring. If there is anything, we can speak tomorrow.”

Pei Shaoze’s heart was warmed by the words of concern from the young man. He reached out and helped cover Cheng Xia with the quilt. “I’m going now. If there is anything then find Dr Qin. He is on the night shift tonight.”

Cheng Xia nodded. “Good night President Pei.”

Pei Shaoze turned off the lights and went out with Qin Yu. Qin Yu patted him on the shoulder and spoke earnestly, “Cheng Xia is pretty good. Since you like him, you should cherish it.”

Pei Shaoze didn’t directly answer. “Thank you, I owe you another favor.”

“We’ve been friends since we were babies. Don’t be polite with me!” Qin Yu laughed before continuing, “By the way, Cheng Xia’s injury really isn’t serious. You don’t have to worry too much. Go back and sleep.”

“Yes, I’ll see him again tomorrow. Please take care of him in the hospital.”

Pei Shaoze turned and headed downstairs. At the elevator entrance, he met Zhou Yan who had just rushed back. The two of them almost ran into each other. Zhou Yan’s eyes widened and she thought she was hallucinating. “P-President Pei? Aren’t you in Ya’an?”

“I changed my ticket and came back.” Pei Shaoze frowned and asked in a deep voice, “What was the situation at that time?”

Zhou Yan was still in a state of shock. Cheng Xia’s wound had been treated. Dr Qin said it wasn’t serious so she was relieved and went to the 24 hour convenience store to help buy some daily necessities for Cheng Xia.

Facing Pei Shaoze’s sharp gaze, Zhou Yan’s body stiffened. She quickly organized her thoughts and explained, “In accordance with the original arrangement of this scene, Qin Nian would help Lu Fengyang block the knife. This is the key opportunity to allow the two people unfamiliar with each other to become good friends. The shooting went smoothly at the beginning. Then during the seven person melee, an extra accidentally injured Cheng Xia.”

“Accidental injury?” Pei Shaoze’s eyes were cold and sharp. “After investigating for so long, you came to the conclusion that it was an accidental injury?”

“Uh… Director Liu found the source of the knife. The knife was brought to the crew a few days ago to cut fruit. It is similar to the knife that the props team prepared so the extra accidentally took the wrong knife. The extra is a university student. He didn’t go home during the holidays and wanted to do odd jobs to make money. He doesn’t know Cheng Xia so he should have no reason to hurt Cheng Xia, right?” Zhou Yan was very nervous. In particular, she was watched by President Pei’s sharp gaze and felt like a suspect being questioned by the police.

“I understand. I will go to the crew to confirm it.” Pei Shaoze didn’t say much else. He glanced at Zhou Yan and told her softly, “Take care of Cheng Xia. I don’t want this type of thing to happen again.”

“Yes, President Pei. I have learned my lesson!” Zhou Yan hurriedly promised.

“Go ahead. You’ve worked hard.” Pei Shaoze nodded at her. Then he turned and headed to the parking lot at the entrance of the hospital.

Accidental injury? Pei Shaoze always felt that things weren’t so simple. How could the knife used to cut fruit be confused with the knife prepared by the props team for filming? It happened to be mistakenly grabbed by the extra? if all the staff of filming crews had such negligence, actors who filmed martial arts scenes would’ve died dozens of times.

Pei Shaoze took a deep breath and quickly walked toward the car. He pulled the car door open and found Pei Shaoyan looking at his phone in the back seat. He saw his brother getting in the car and asked in a worried manner, “Brother, is there anything wrong with Cheng Xia?”

“Fortunately, the injury isn’t serious.”

Pei Shaoyan sighed with relief. “I just used my mobile phone to read yesterday’s entertainment news. There are no websites covering this matter. The crew should’ve kept it hidden. No reports have discovered that Cheng Xia is injured.”

Pei Shaoze’s voice was cold. “I asked Director Liu to keep it a secret. Once things become big, these reporters and paparazzi will rush to the hospital and interrupt Cheng Xia’s rest. Regardless of the outcome, it is best to handle it secretly.” He spoke to the driver in front. “Uncle Zhong, go to the 17th High School.”

The new driver was someone found by Zhang Fan to help Pei Shaoze. His surname was Zhong and he was 45 years old. He was very honest and didn’t ask things that shouldn’t be asked. When he heard this, he replied, “Yes, President Pei.”

Pei Shaoyan was stunned. “Brother, you are going to the 17th High School? You aren’t going to sleep tonight?”

Pei Shaoze’s expression was cold. “I’m going to check with Director Liu. I don’t believe that this was an accidental injury. I’m going to check it myself.”

The 17th High School wasn’t far from the hospital. Beside, there were few cars on the streets in the early hours of the morning. Uncle Zhong drove at the fastest speed and arrived in 10 minutes.

It was 2:10 a.m. when the two brothers got out of the car and walked into the school. The school was brightly lit. Something like this had happened during filming and everyone was afraid to sleep. In particular, Liu Xueyi received a call from President Pei and was restless. He kept waiting for President Pei to arrive.

Pei Shaoyan followed his brother and whispered, “Did someone bring a real knife into the set while filming? Brother, why do you think this matter isn’t simple? Does Cheng Xia have any enemies?”

Pei Shaoze frowned and thought about it. After a moment, he answered, “I’ll talk about it on the scene.”

The two of them arrived at the set. A group of staff members including Director Liu, Screenwriter Xu, the author and the props, lighting and photography team hadn’t dispersed yet. They maintained the scene while the extras looked frightened. Liu Xueyi saw Pei Shaoze and quickly greeted him. “Pei Shaoze, I’m really sorry. Something like this happened in the crew and it had forced you to come back.”

Pei Shaoze’s eyes swept over the actors. “Who stabbed Cheng Xia?”

Liu Xueyi pointed to a red-haired young man crouching in a corner and smoking. The young man met the alpha’s sharp gaze and his spine became cold. He hurriedly waved his hand. “It’s not my fault. The knife was given to me by the props team! There were no problems during the afternoon rehearsal. How could I know that it would turn into a real knife when officially filming?”

Pei Shaoze asked lightly, “What is your name?”

The young man replied in a low voice, “Z-Zhou Peng.”

Pei Shaoze ignored him and asked Liu Xueyi in a low voice, “Is the original film archived?”

Liu Xueyi nodded. “Yes, President Pei. Do you want to see it for yourself?”

“Yes, go to the meeting room and show me on the big screen.” Pei Shaoze glanced at the extras. “I will clearly investigate this matter. If it really is the fault of our props team, I will pay you mental compensation for the mistake. Please wait.”

Director Liu took President Pei and the staff members to the meeting room commonly used by the crew and connected the machine to the projection screen.

Pei Shaoze sat down first, his face serious and his eyes as cold as ice. The alpha’s powerful aura stunned everyone at the scene. The entire meeting room was silent as the projection screen started to show the group scene shot at night.

In the video, Cheng Xia and Shen Kai were back to back, joining hands to deal with the five gangsters around them. Cheng Xia’s actions were neat and handsome as he swept a gangster down with one foot before turning around. Shen Kai also cooperated very well to block the attacks of people from the side and the scene was filmed smoothly.

The fighting was intense. Then the camera recorded one of them falling to the ground and suddenly taking a knife out of his pocket. The script required a close-up of the knife and this scene was captured by the number 2 camera.

Pei Shaoze pressed the pause button and zoomed in on the knife. He inquired in a deep voice, “Props group, this knife looks the same as the one you made, right?”

The leader of the props group trembled. “Yes, this scene required a fruit knife so the prop we made was based on the shape of the fruit knife. We tried to make them similar so the audience won’t feel strange…”

At this time, there were two knives on the table. One was the fake knife made by the props group and the other was the real knife that hurt Cheng Xia. Just based on the appearance alone, the two knives were indeed very similar.

Under everyone’s eyes, Pei Shaoze suddenly picked up a knife and slammed it toward the back of his hand!

Everyone at the scene was too scared to breathe.

However, once the sharp knife touched the back of the hand, it retracted automatically without dealing any damage to the hand. Pei Shaoze threw the prop knife on the table and raised an eyebrow. “I can tell which one is real and fake. You specialize in making props. Can you not distinguish between a real and a fake knife?”

The leader of the props group shook his head and hurriedly explained, “I did check the prop before filming at night and there was no problem with the knife. After the check, I placed it in a position where the extra could grab it…”

Pei Shaoze’s voice was cold. “Since you definitely checked it, someone must’ve taken advantage of the chaos before filming to replace the knife.”

Everyone sucked in a breath. The staff member making a mistake and someone deliberately changing the knives were two completely different things! Changing the knife was murder! This matter was too serious.

Liu Xueyi’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot while Pei Shaoze continued to play the video. He played the scene of Cheng Xia’s injury in slow motion.

On the screen, someone stabbed Cheng Xia. A lot of blood poured from Cheng Xia’s chest and soon stained his white sweater. Cheng Xia’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed he was injured. His right hand hurriedly pressed against his chest and the intense pain caused his expression to twist. His eyes were full of panic and his face was pale from fright…

Pei Shaoze watched this scene with his own eyes and there was pain in his heart like someone cutting his nerves with a knife. He really felt distressed. He wanted to go back to yesterday and pull this young man into his arms to protect him.

The people in the meeting room clearly noticed the pressure around President Pei becoming lower and lower. The alpha was like an ice sculpture exuding coldness all around it. Everyone was careful with their breathing out of fear they would irritate President Pei.

Pei Shaoze abruptly opened his mouth, “Pay attention to this person’s movements.”

He endured his distress and replayed the previous scene in slow motion again.

At this time, Liu Xueyi also noticed that something was wrong. “This group of moves is different from what the action director taught, right?”

The action director watched it and hurriedly nodded. “Yes, the move I taught at the time is that he should swing his knife to the right to cut Shen Kai, who is closest to him. Cheng Xia will turn sideways to block and the knife should hurt Cheng Xia’s arm.”

Pei Shaoze paused it and used a mouse to draw an arc on the screen. “He didn’t swing the knife to the right but diagonally upwards. This wasn’t to stab Shen Kai at all. It was to cut Cheng Xia’s face.”

Everyone saw the trajectory of the knife that Pei Shaoze drew with the mouse. The final point of the blade’s tip was indeed Cheng Xia’s face. The air of the room seemed pulled away in an instant and the complexion of the staff members became uglier than before.

The most important thing for an actor was their face. Once the face was ruined, Cheng Xia’s future acting career would be over. Forget being a leading actor. It would be difficult for an actor with a scar on his face to find any suitable roles and he couldn’t be confident to continue going down this path.

Pei Shaoze clenched his fists tightly. He couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if Cheng Xia was cut on the face yesterday… the young man had just started walking down this road and just wanted to act well. How sad would he be when he tried to act seriously only to end up maliciously disfigured? Pei Shaoze wanted to catch the culprit Zhou Peng and beat him up!

Fortunately, Cheng Xia had been fighting with people since he was a child and had experience in actual combat. Based on the video, he should’ve noticed that something was wrong and consciously blocked it with his arm. This way, the knife didn’t stab his face. It deviated a few centimeters and pierced under the collarbone. It was also this block that weakened the blade’s strength and ensured a serious injury didn’t occur.

Liu Xueyi was distressed and he couldn’t help exploding. “Fuck! Is this trying to ruin Cheng Xia?”

Pei Shaoze gazed sternly at the deputy director. “Have you checked Zhou Peng’s origin?”

The deputy director realized the seriousness of the problem and his lips trembled. “I-I handed out leaflets nearby. The five extras are all students from a vocational school. Zhou Peng didn’t go home during the holidays and wanted to make some pocket money. He doesn’t know Cheng Xia at all…”

“Doesn’t know? Deliberately hurting people with a knife is a criminal case!” Pei Shaoze stored the knife on the table in a sealed bag. His eyes swept across the room as he sternly warned, “I will hand over the evidence to the police. Notify the staff that if they leak a word to outsiders that Cheng Xia was injured, they will immediately leave the crew!”

The alpha’s loud voice made everyone jump. It was the first time they had seen President Pei showing such a big temper. It seemed he was really furious this time.

Proofreader: Cat