Chapter 48: Zhou Xue

This shocked the entire entertainment industry, you know Zhou Xue was also a popular young actress during her lifetime, extremely beautiful with great acting skills, and in just three years she became Mingsheng’s ’number one sister,’ showing just how strong her abilities were, earning her the title of the most promising actress within the industry at the time. Unfortunately, before Christmas last year, news spread that Zhou Xue had hallucinated from drug abuse, leading to her suicide, which happened on January 20, exactly one month after her birthday. When the news first broke, all parties expressed regret; obviously, she had a bright future ahead, so why turn to deadly drugs? The story goes back to the eve of Zhou Xue’s birthday last year. The afternoon before, Zhou Xue had just finished a brand shoot notice and was invited to attend a birthday party jointly held by partners and fans. It was more than four o’clock when it ended, and she sat in the nanny car ready to go home, drifting off leisurely during the ride. Nearing home, she received a call from her agent, informing her to attend a birthday party hosted by company executives for her. The agent advised her to dress well and be prepared for the event which might continue till late at night. Zhou Xue didn’t see anything wrong with this. Over the past two years, she had developed very well and continued to have significant momentum. Her position in Mingsheng was second only to some veteran predecessors who had been famous for many years. Therefore, Zhou Xue didn’t find it odd that the company would throw her a birthday party, feeling she deserved such exceptional treatment. Last year when she received the Best Actress award, the company also held a celebration for her. After arriving home, Zhou Xue quickly changed clothes and touched up her makeup. She looked in the mirror and thought it looked great, made a ’Yay’ sign at her reflection, "Zhou Xue, you’re really beautiful." She was only twenty-five, at the most wonderful age, and privately she was a lively, smiling, beauty-loving girl. Zhou Xue shook her head with a smile, mocking her childish behavior, grabbed her small shoulder bag, and left the house. She took nearly an hour to get ready, with the driver waiting for her downstairs all the while. However, Zhou Xue didn’t expect that she was joyfully going to attend a meticulously prepared ’trap feast.’ The birthday party was set in a detached villa in the suburbs. When Zhou Xue arrived, many people were already there at the villa; there were Mingsheng’s top actors, singers, many newcomers without fame yet, and several members from Mingsheng’s management. As soon as Zhou Xue entered the villa, she was surrounded by a group of people, all wishing her a happy birthday and success in her acting career. But how many of them were sincere? Zeng Xu looked at Zhou Xue surrounded by people with envy, thinking about how he had to rely on an old man like President Zhang for resources, feeling frantically jealous inside. He remembered the task President Zhang gave him this afternoon. "Tonight, help me with something at Zhou Xue’s birthday party." Zeng Xu was curious, "What does President Zhang want me to do?" "Don’t ask what you shouldn’t! You’ll know at the time." President Zhang hung up the phone after saying that. Zeng Xu threw his phone down in anger, powerless, "Ugh, damn fatty." What on earth could it be? What is that damn fatty doing upstairs? So troublesome. As he was complaining in his heart, Zeng Xu heard footsteps coming from the stairs and someone greeted the arrival. "President Zhang is coming down, this way please. Zhou Xue has already arrived." Ignoring the person’s words, President Zhang scanned the people downstairs. First, he saw Zhou Xue surrounded by people chatting and laughing, then his gaze moved to Zeng Xu in the corner, raising his hand to signal Zeng Xu to come over. Zeng Xu adjusted his expression, lifted a polite and signature innocent smile, and walked towards President Zhang, no matter how resentful he was inside, he couldn’t afford to be reckless at this moment. President Zhang didn’t say much, simply handed him a glass of wine and nodded towards Zhou Xue, indicating the glass of wine was to be delivered to her. Zeng Xu’s face instantly looked a bit unpleasant. He wasn’t a waiter and didn’t need to serve anyone. Plus, this glass of wine definitely had issues; something must have been added to it. Now President Zhang wanted him to present this glass of wine, clearly intending to drag him down too! But Zeng Xu couldn’t refuse; it was his choice to go down this path. After aligning with President Zhang, it was a one-way street with no turning back! He took a deep breath, accepted the glass of wine, and took another glass from a passing waiter’s tray, recovering his normal expression, smiling as he walked towards Zhou Xue. "Sister Xue, happy birthday!" Speaking, Zeng Xu handed the problematic wine glass to Zhou Xue. Zhou Xue, unsuspecting, thanked him happily, and to show appreciation, she took the glass and drank it in one gulp. Everyone praised her drinking capacity, "Sister Xue is amazing! A heroine among women!" "That’s right, our Sister Xue can handle it!" Zhou Xue felt a little shy from the compliments, found an excuse to go to the bathroom. The villa’s bathroom was on the second floor, passing right by the staircase where President Zhang was. Actually, Zhou Xue had also noticed Zeng Xu and President Zhang’s conversation earlier, but didn’t see that the wine glass Zeng Xu was holding was handed by President Zhang. She thought President Zhang simply asked Zeng Xu to get her drunk. That President Zhang disgusted her. Zhou Xue initially signed with her agent relying on her stunning looks. At the time, she was a bit naive and didn’t understand anything. President Zhang invited her to dinner, and she thought it was the company valuing her. When she found out President Zhang wanted her to go to a hotel after dinner, she saw his true colors. She made an excuse and ran away. Later, she kept avoiding President Zhang because she was developing extremely well, and Mingsheng needed an opportunity at that time to turn around its suffocating situation being pressed by Huasheng. And Zhou Xue was that opportunity. Therefore, even if President Zhang wanted to act against her, he had to ask the leadership for approval. This continued for more than two years. Zhou Xue didn’t expect President Zhang to come today as well, with clearly bad intentions. But her agent knew she was at odds with President Zhang, why... A voice that made her sick sounded, "Zhou Xue, happy birthday." Zhou Xue faked a smile, "Thank you, sorry, I need to go to the restroom." Without waiting for President Zhang’s reply, Zhou Xue went upstairs. Left standing there, President Zhang surprisingly showed no sign of anger, instead displaying a slightly perverse smile on his fat face. Zeng Xu had been observing the movements over here; he knew there must be something wrong with the wine just now, but had no idea what exactly. Now he was hesitating whether to tell Zhou Xue, but jealousy prevented him from taking that step, standing still and watching the creepy President Zhang as he followed Zhou Xue upstairs after she went up. Watching President Zhang’s back disappear at the staircase to the second floor, Zeng Xu finally took that step. He was jealous of Zhou Xue’s achievements but also didn’t want this beautiful girl to fall into the hands of someone disgusting like President Zhang. Zeng Xu quickly walked towards the staircase, taking several steps at a time up to the second floor, his figure disappearing at the end of the stairs.