There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Extra 9.1

Qin Ke’s figure froze on the makeup chair.

She stared blankly at the man in the mirror, his silhouette blurred by the makeup lights, for a long time before blinking lightly and coming back to her senses.

So…

During these six months of disappearance, was it because he went to do this?

Qin Ke’s heart ached slightly.

After getting to know Fang Xusheng, they gradually became friends. Once during their leisure time, Fang Xusheng had mentioned to her that he had previously contacted overseas plastic surgeons and facial reconstruction doctors for Huo Zhonglou – but this kind of nearly full-face surgery was extremely risky, and whether it was the preparation process, the surgical process, or the recovery process, it was all very painful, almost equivalent to countless replications and repetitions of the original painful process of being destroyed.

Moreover, there was a high probability of failure, and in severe cases, there could even be life-threatening risks due to late-stage infections from large-scale trauma.

Huo Zhonglou was probably disheartened at that time, and he never cared about how others looked or felt, so he rejected Fang Xusheng’s proposal without hesitation.

It was also because of this that Qin Ke never mentioned this matter in front of Huo Zhonglou.

She respected his decision and his freedom. What was important was that Qin Ke didn’t care about his appearance – in her previous life, she had been with this person day and night for so long, and after living through life and death again, appearance had long since lost any meaning to her.

And most importantly, his face was ruined for her, she would only cherish him more and care for him more, those scars were all reminding her how much this man loved her – at the cost of his life.

She had never imagined that Huo Zhonglou would actually go through with this surgery.

For whom, and for what reason, it went without saying.

Qin Ke couldn’t help but stand up, turn around from behind the chair, and walk up to Huo Zhonglou.

She moved close to his face, unconsciously reaching out her hand, hovering just a thin layer of air away, following the curve of his handsome face, moving down bit by bit.

The girl’s fingertips trembled, her pupils quivered, and her eyes gradually reddened.

This face could of course never be restored to its original appearance. From a distance, with the blurry glow of the makeup lights, she hadn’t seen clearly before.

But now, standing at such a close distance, she could see the slightly dim traces under the cold white skin, and the faint scars left by the original injury and surgical stitches at the edges.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of hell-like pain he had gone through after that big fire, let alone imagine that after experiencing such pain, he would choose to undergo surgery again, inflicting who knows how many times more agony on himself.

But just looking at these traces, Qin Ke’s heart felt as if it was being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, leaving no gaps, squeezing until she could hardly breathe, with waves of needle-like pain coming from her chest and lungs.

But how could this little pain compare to even a fraction of what he had gone through?

Such great destruction followed by such reconstruction – how was that any different from being skinned and having bones scraped away over and over again!?

How much pain must he have been in… how much pain?

Qin Ke’s hand fell to Huo Zhonglou’s collar. She unconsciously grasped his clothes, tears like broken strings of pearls, forming large droplets in her reddened eyes, then falling in a flurry down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry… Huo Zhonglou…”

The girl sobbed incoherently, tightly grasping the man’s collar and forcefully hugging his waist–

“It’s all because of me… I ruined you… I’m sorry…”

Huo Zhonglou clearly hadn’t anticipated the girl’s reaction.

From the moment Qin Ke reached out her hand, he had been a bit nervous. The recovery was already the best it could be – but the scars remained, and he was still worried whether Qin Ke would mind.

Then, unexpectedly, Qin Ke burst into tears.

–

When he saw the girl’s eyes redden and tears fall in a flurry, Huo Zhonglou was much more flustered than he had been on the operating table.

He didn’t even think about it, immediately reaching out to hug the girl in his arms.

“How could you have ruined me? This has nothing to do with you… Did you think I was disfigured in that fire? No, it was later… just an accident that happened later.”

“…”

Hearing Huo Zhonglou’s forced lie trying to comfort her, Qin Ke’s tears flowed even more uncontrollably.

When she finally managed to suppress the pain in her heart and regain her senses, Qin Ke suddenly realized – they were still in the crew’s secondary makeup room, where various supporting actors and staff members were gathered.

And those people who had crowded around Huo Zhonglou when they came in, led by the crew’s producer, were now standing in place, their faces awkward and subtle.

They didn’t know whether to leave or stay.

They didn’t know whether to speak or remain silent.

—

However long Qin Ke had cried, they had been watching from the side for that long.

Although being with Huo Zhonglou for too long had thickened her skin compared to before, Qin Ke still felt very embarrassed at this moment. The redness around her eyes quickly spread to her cheeks, and her gaze was so awkward that she wished she could find a crack in the ground to slip into.

But Huo Zhonglou was different.

He had always been “naturally gifted” in this aspect – he ignored the gazes of the crowd as if they weren’t there, and could even be said to be oblivious to others, showing no concern at all.

“Mr. Huo…”

The producer, seeing an opportunity to interject, hurriedly stepped forward with an awkwardly maintained smile.

“This young lady and you are…?”

Huo Zhonglou held onto Qin Ke, who wanted to move away a bit, his hand still refusing to let go of the girl’s waist.

Then he looked at the producer and said calmly, “This is my fiancée, Qin Ke.”

“Fi-fiancée??”

Sweat instantly broke out on the producer’s forehead, and the others behind him weren’t much better off.

—

Although they had seen the intimacy between the two earlier, in the industry, there were plenty of sugar daddies and sugar babies who were even more intimate than this, so they had just assumed this girl crying her eyes out was a kept woman of this big investor. But now to be formally introduced as a “fiancée”…

Including the producer, most people didn’t recognize this young girl – after all, in such a large crew, they couldn’t possibly know every small supporting actor who was playing an extra.

But if she was the big investor’s fiancée, playing an extra in their crew…

The producer came back to his senses, his smile more difficult than crying.

“Oh, I see, I see. My sincere apologies, Mr. Huo. Your fiancée is indeed too humble and low-profile. She’s been with the crew for quite some time, hasn’t she? We had no idea about her relationship with you…”

Hearing this, Huo Zhonglou’s lips curled slightly.

He turned slightly to the side, lowered his eyes, and reached out to gently stroke the girl’s long hair.

“My Qin Qin has always been like this.”

“Ah–”

The makeup artist nearby watched as the makeup and styling she had worked on for half an hour was completely ruined by this crying and hair-ruffling, and she felt like crying herself.

But intimidated by the title of the big investor, the makeup artist didn’t dare to voice her frustration, and could only swallow it back bitterly.

However, her exclamation reminded Qin Ke.

Qin Ke reached out to pull down Huo Zhonglou’s hand that had messed up her long hair, and spoke softly with resignation, “I still have one last scene to shoot today. Do you want to go back first?”

The girl’s voice still carried a hint of lingering tears.

Huo Zhonglou heard this and frowned slightly, clearly not wanting her to work in this state.

He looked up at the producer.

“What kind of scene is it? Does it have to be shot today?”

The producer had already taken the opportunity to bring over the casting director and hear about Qin Ke’s role in the crew. At this moment, another layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Hearing Huo Zhonglou’s question, he immediately shook his head like a rattle drum–

“Of course not, of course not. Miss Qin Ke can come anytime, whenever she’s available.”

Huo Zhonglou nodded with satisfaction.

But Qin Ke was extremely helpless. She lowered her voice and turned slightly.

“Huo Zhonglou, don’t make trouble. This is my work.”

“This is your work, and I’m your boss. So you should listen to my arrangements.”

Qin Ke: “…?”

Qin Ke: “How did you become my boss?”

Huo Zhonglou spoke matter-of-factly. “I’m an investor in the crew, and now the biggest investor, which means I’m mainly paying your salaries – if the person paying salaries isn’t the boss, what else would they be?”

Qin Ke: “……”

It made too much sense, she couldn’t refute it?

Huo Zhonglou’s lips curled into a smile as he looked at the sweating producer beside him.

“Am I not correct?”

“Yes, yes, of course you’re right. Mr. Huo is indeed our boss,” the producer smiled flatteringly.

Qin Ke was about to roll her eyes internally.

If Huo Zhonglou really kept this up, her last scene today would really be canceled.

Thinking this, Qin Ke had no choice but to slightly tighten her face. “I really have very little left to film, I can finish it today – you can’t disrupt my work.”

“…”

Huo Zhonglou looked down at her.