Chapter 103: Film Emperor (23)

Zai Ye could definitely hold his liquor. Left to his own devices as a teenager, he’d gone rebellious early and picked up drinking long before it was legal. After starting his own company, social drinking became routine—he could drink three “President So-and-so” types under the table in a single meal. In the industry, he was famously good at drinking.

On the other hand, Film Emperor Tong, with his perpetually gentle smile, looked like the kind of person who couldn’t handle alcohol. But appearances meant nothing—after all, acting was his profession.

In reality, Tong was a heavyweight, and it ran in the family. He had never once lost a drinking contest.

The two of them threw barbs laced with civility at first, but it didn’t take long before the gloves came off. Neither of them hid their intention to one-up the other. Every raised glass was a silent declaration of war.

Zhang the assistant and Feng Yu were drinking too. They started off sipping red wine, but as conversation warmed, they dropped the pretense and switched to beer.

“This kind of piping hot stew and spicy beef broth only tastes right with beer,” said Zhang.

“Totally. I still don’t think it’s spicy enough. We should add more chili. Shame that Qian and Jianshu don’t like cilantro—would’ve tasted amazing with some,” Feng Yu sighed.

As for the two over there at war, neither of the women bothered trying to interfere. After all, those two old boys weren’t the kind anyone could control.

And the one who could control them—well, she was clamoring to drink too.

Qian, watching her two dads knock back bottle after bottle without letting her try a single sip, stood up on her chair in protest.

Zai Ye said, “Little kids can’t drink liquor. I’ll give you a spoonful of beer, alright?”

But Qian wasn’t buying that kind of token gesture. She wanted exactly what they were having.

Tong Jianshu relented, “Alright, alright, Daddy will pour you a little.”

With lightning-fast hands, he grabbed the beer bottle, and with a practiced sleight of hand, mimed a pour over Qian’s glass of yogurt without actually letting a drop in.

“There we go, Daddy added a little just now.”

Qian suspiciously examined her cup, but Tong’s expression was so indulgent, so convincing—it looked like he’d poured some in, and maybe she just didn’t see it.

Then he lifted his own glass to clink with hers. How could she resist? Qian immediately picked up her yogurt cup, clinked glasses with him, and gulped down a heroic sip.

Then she turned to clink with Zai Ye too, a natural-born diplomat in action.

She didn’t stop there—she insisted on toasting the two aunties as well. Anyone who lifted a glass, she clinked with them.

While Zai Ye and Tong were still holding strong, Qian was already full from food and drink.

When she finally got bored and hopped off her chair, the buffer zone between the two drinkers was removed—and the battle escalated.

Feng Yu, seeing them go straight for the bottles, grew concerned. “Jianshu, are you alright? Maybe ease off a bit?”

Tong’s smile was practically welded to his face. Holding his glass and bottle, his tone went cold: “If a guest leaves without getting drunk and having a good time, then I’ve failed as a host.”

Feng Yu looked at Zai Ye and asked politely, “Boss Zai, you okay? You look tired. Why don’t we call it a night and all get together another time?”

But by now, neither of them was willing to concede.

Zai Ye downed the last of his bottle in one go and exhaled deeply. “You really are something, Film Emperor Tong. I’m not done yet.”

Seeing they couldn’t be stopped, Feng Yu sighed and went to the kitchen to get some hangover soup mix.

The inevitable result of two men who refused to lose? Both got completely wasted.

Zai Ye went quiet for a while, hunched over his drink—then all of a sudden, he stood up, stumbling around the room like a headless chicken.

“Qian! Qian!”

They’d been eating and drinking for so long, Qian had already fallen asleep on the couch, wrapped in a thick blanket.

She stirred at the noise, poking her head out from under the covers, dazed.

Drunk and unable to find her, Zai Ye collapsed to the floor and started crying.

Yes—face buried in one hand, leaning on the floor with the other, tears streaming through his fingers.

His sudden sobbing shocked everyone. Even Zhang the assistant’s pupils dilated as she quietly pulled out her phone to record.

Feng Yu, the oldest and still the most sober, offered an awkward smile. “Ah, Boss Zai’s had too much. Let’s get him up and give him some hangover soup.”

But he was tall and heavy, and slumped like dead weight. Neither she nor Zhang could lift him.

“Jianshu, are you okay? Come help!”

Clunk!

Tong Jianshu slammed his bottle on the table, crossed one leg, and struck a wildly arrogant pose.

He looked at the sprawled Zai Ye with scorn and drawled, “You think you can take my daughter from me?”

Feng Yu: “……” Oh no. He’s drunk too. What role is this now—one of his old characters taking over?

“I’ll teach you a lesson!” Tong’s face darkened. He marched over to Zai Ye, raised his foot, and kicked.

He missed. Foot met air. And then he slipped—crashing to the floor.

Feng Yu cried out and rushed to help. “Oh God, please don’t break anything!”

All this chaos finally roused Qian. Still swaddled in her blanket, she shuffled closer, equal parts curious and confused.

“Daddy?”

Zai Ye jerked his head up. His eyes were bloodshot.

He staggered to his feet and wrapped her in a tight hug, sobbing like his heart was breaking.

“Qian… my daughter… don’t die, Daddy misses you so much…”

“Don’t leave Daddy!”

“Daddy couldn’t save you… where do I go to find you again?”

The poor child was pressed so hard against his chest she couldn’t breathe, making muffled “mmph mmph” noises.

“Boss, you’re holding her too tight. Let her breathe a little,” Zhang tried to intervene.

But Zai Ye was too far gone, completely lost in his own world, refusing to let go.

“Hey! You trying to steal my daughter?!” Tong suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Zai Ye’s head.

Thunk—Zai Ye’s skull hit the side of a chair. The impact finally made him release his grip as Qian flailed free.

“You’re stealing my daughter and bullying her, is that it?!” Tong scrambled to his feet and tried to kick him again, only to be held back by a desperate Feng Yu.

“Urgh.” Zai Ye swayed, face pale. He clutched his head and groaned. “Bathroom… where’s… the bathroom?”

“This way, the bathroom’s this way!” Feng Yu finally managed to shove Tong Jianxu into a chair and then pointed out the direction of the bathroom for Zai Ye, watching as the man stumbled his way in.

Special Assistant Zhang held Qian in her arms, gently patting her back to calm her down, so she wouldn’t be frightened by her drunk father’s antics.

Qian cupped her cheeks in fright. “Daddy’s gone crazy!”

Zhang chuckled. “He’s just drunk. He’ll be back to normal when he sobers up tomorrow.”

Feng Yu held down Tong Jianxu, who was still trying to get up, groaning, “I knew we shouldn’t have let them drink so much. Now look at this mess. Do you think we can still handle Boss Zai by ourselves?”

“It should be fine. I can call someone to help if needed.” Zhang glanced at Tong Jianxu. “What about him?”

Feng Yu replied, “Oh, don’t worry. He’s the type who doesn’t cause trouble when drunk. He’ll crash soon enough.”

He had just said that when Tong Jianxu suddenly sprang to his feet, skillfully sidestepped Feng Yu with a slick move, scooped up Qian from beside Zhang, and darted upstairs like the wind with her in his arms.

Startled, Feng Yu called out, “Where are you going?!”

Holding the child tightly, Tong Jianxu said, “Don’t be scared, baby. Daddy will protect you. I won’t let anyone take you away!”

As he spoke, he started battling invisible enemies, slapping at the air around him and dodging dramatically on the stairs like he was surrounded by foes.

He pressed himself into the corner of the wall and hid Qian behind him.

“Shhh, don’t make a sound!”

Qian, now pinned to the wall, pouted and tried to squeeze away, but Tong Jianxu pulled her right back, tightly.

“Don’t leave Daddy. It’s dangerous out there!”

His solemn, anxious expression was so intense that even Feng Yu couldn’t help getting drawn into the tension.

It was a textbook-level performance of acting with zero props.

Watching him wobble on the stairs while holding a child, Feng Yu was on the verge of a heart attack.

“Stop moving! Don’t fall—and don’t drop the kid either!”

At that moment, Zai Ye’s voice rang out from the bathroom where he had just finished vomiting: “Qian! Are you calling for me?!”

Zhang whipped out his phone. “I’m calling in backup.”

Thanks to his bizarre connections, Zhang quickly summoned two large men in black suits. They had the sharp aura of professional bodyguards—or expressionless assassins.

The two first pried the unwilling Tong Jianxu—who had been crawling and rolling all over the stairs clutching the child—off of Qian. Following Feng Yu’s directions, they got him safely to the third floor. Then they fished Zai Ye out of the first-floor bathroom, where he was lying next to the toilet calling for his daughter, and brought him to a guest room.

Right then, fireworks burst in the distance to mark the start of the new year.

The first day of the lunar year.

Zai Ye and Tong Jianxu sat silently at the table nursing hangovers, sipping porridge, neither speaking nor making eye contact.

Qian was lying on the couch with her coloring pens, happily drawing as her head bounced along with the little flower bun hairstyle Zhang had tied for her. She was singing a song she had made up on the spot:

“My daddy’s gone crazy—one’s crawling on the floor, one’s climbing up the stairs.”

“One’s crying real loud, the other’s laughing ha-ha-ha!”

“My daddy’s gone crazy, la la la la la! They were fighting and shouting, and then passed out in the bathroom!”

“Mommy and Auntie didn’t say a word, just called someone to come beat them up!”

“I asked what’s wrong with Daddy, and Mommy said it’s just the booze, don’t be scared! Let them crawl, crawl, crawl!”

“My daddy’s gone crazy…”

The child’s bright, innocent voice floated through the house.

Tong Jianxu: “…”

Zai Ye: “…”

Unfortunately, neither of them was the type to forget what happened when drunk. So the cringe-inducing antics from the night before—the crying, the shouting, the drama—were all playing on repeat in their heads.

The two prideful adult men tried their best to maintain a neutral expression in front of each other, but their daughter’s song almost broke their composure completely.

Every lyric from the child was like a dagger to their chests.

And then she started adding new verses mid-song.

“Daddy’s crawling on the floor, croak croak croak croak croak!”

“Daddy barks like a dog, Daddy meows like a cat!”

Tong Jianxu forced a smile. “Qian, Daddy… didn’t bark like a dog, right? Haha.”

Qian turned to glance at him, tilted her head with a sweet angelic smile, then went right back to it.

“Daddy barks like a dog! Daddy meows like a cat!”

“Daddy’s crawling on the floor! Crawling in the bathroom, crawling on the stairs!”

Now, both fathers—who still wanted to maintain some shred of dignity—could only pray that their daughter wouldn’t sing this song in front of anyone else.