Pet King

Chapter 428: Coercion

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Let’s call it a day!”

“Damn it! Finally! I’m exhausted. I want to go home and take a bath…”

“I want to go home and drink! Damn it! The wind machine made me have a runny nose. I wish the wind was that strong a few days ago…”

“Hey, did you hear that Lin Feng had an affair with some woman a while ago and now his wife is divorcing him,” someone lowered his voice and said.

“Oh, from my perspective, he should not have married in the first place. What man does not cheat on his woman? Why do you think so many celebrities are not married yet? Because they are afraid of the divorce!”

“Stop talking like that! Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble for yourself by talking too much?!”

…

After completing a day of filming, the crew members gossiped and walked past the dorm where Guan Biao was residing.

The table in front of Guan Biao had tons of peanuts and a bag of brined food. He was watching a variety show on a 24-inch TV. He pulled a very tasty chicken foot from the bag, threw into his mouth, and started chewing. He heard the voices of other crew members as they passed his door.

The entire room was lit with the pale light of the LED lamp. There were piles of circuits, wires, and other unknown gadgets in the corner. The metallic contacts were shining with an icy cold luster, and the brown copper wires exposed from the insulating rubber were twisted like some ferocious-looking paws. In addition, there were some different colored liquid, from dark red to light yellow, in large and small glass bottles with no labels on them. Who knew what these liquids were.

“Pooh!” when there was nothing left of the chicken foot for him to chew on, Guan Biao spit it on the ground casually. He held up a small glass, which was full of Red Star Erguotou, raised his head and drank it all. With the spicy liquid gliding down his esophagus, his forehead produced a layer of sweat.

Today there were no blasting scenes, so Guan Biao did not have to work. He could stay warm and cozy in his dorm watching TV, drinking, and relishing the brined food. What a comfortable day.

The voices of the rest crew members gradually faded away until they finally disappeared. They were gossiping without worrying about being overheard by Lin Feng. Because, unlike them, who were living in the dorms provided by the studio, those stars were living in a classy hotel in Binhai City, and had shuttle buses to pick them up every day.

Guan Biao’s residence was far away from the crew members’ quarters. Because he was a pyrotechnician, and a pyrotechnician represented danger, no one was willing to live near him. In fact, no one was willing to come by for a visit. With all the wires and unidentified liquids all around the room, no one wanted to cause trouble for themselves. Who knew whether these things would suddenly explode?

After eating a duck neck, the phone he threw on the table suddenly rang. He used his greasy palm to grab the phone and saw that Yuan Fei was calling him. His tipsiness from alcohol almost completely disappeared. He hastily tried to answer the phone, but his fingers were covered with oil, making him unable to unlock the screen. The phone was still ringing, like a summoning call from hell.

After wiping his hands on his clothes, Guan Biao successfully answered the call.

“Hello? Brother Yuan?” His voice was a little bit hoarse due to the spicy white alcohol. He strenuously swallowed some saliva.

Yuan Fei said impatiently on the other end of the phone, “What took you so long to answer the phone? Did you fall in the toilet?”

“No, just…I was just sleeping.” Putting his phone to his ear, Guan Biao covered the cap of the Red Star Erguotou to hide the fact that he was drinking, but he accidentally burped from all the alcohol he drank.

Yuan Fei went silent for a while. “You failed your mission.” Guan Biao knew what he was referring to and he hurriedly justified, “No, no, I did not! My calculations should be precise. Who could have expected that the three dogs fought in the middle of the venue. I’m not to blame.”

“No need for excuses. Basically, you did not fulfill my request, and Neptune’s role as the protagonist was given to another dog. What are you going to do? You must take responsibility,” Yuan Fei said unreasonably.

“How?” Guan Biao asked in terror.

“Think about it with your pig brain. If that dog called Famous was accidentally injured while shooting, wouldn’t it be possible that another dog would be cast as the lead?” Yuan Fei reminded him subtly.

Guan Biao glanced at the brined pig brain wrapped in a piece of paper and suddenly felt nauseated.

“Brother Yuan, let me ask you. Is hurting police dogs really not against the law?” Guan Biao asked guiltily.

Yuan Fei replied impatiently, “How many times have I told you that this is the answer from the legal department of our company: so long as no one can prove that it was intentional, it’s not an offense to harm police dogs. At the very least, it’s impossible to use the allegation of harming police dogs to sue you. It’s hard to say what will happen in the future, but at this stage, there is no relevant legal provision to support such a charge. As you know, there are more than 40 lawyers in our legal department, and most of them have studied abroad and thoroughly know the legal provisions. If they say it won’t work that way, it definitely won’t. Now that we are in a society governed by law and some people might take pictures and post on Weibo, I figure the police will not dare make a scene. You will be just fine if you leave no evidence that can be held against you.”

When he heard that, Guan Biao was temporarily relieved. “Well, all right then. Honestly, I was really scared seeing those police officers around.”

If Yuan Fei had not clearly told him that he would bear no consequences, Guan Biao would not have hurt the dogs. But after the first time came the second time. Finding that nothing had happened to him, he became increasingly audacious. However, what had happened on the last day of the audition was so weird. If the three dogs had taken two more steps, they would have been injured, and could not have been cast as the lead. But during that critical moment, the dog called Famous pounced on the other two dogs and knocked them over. He failed on the eve of the complete success.

“The two young men were not ordinary police officers, but police dog handlers responsible for carrying out tasks with police dogs. They have neither the brains nor the power to solve the case. So stop worrying so much!” Yuan Fei scolded him.

“Brother Yuan, I want to stop. It’s a terrible feeling to be afraid every day. I have nightmares all night long, dreaming that those police dogs will take revenge on me. They tore me into pieces, and I was bleeding heavily and badly mutilated. I’m so scared that I can’t not sleep. I have to drink alcohol to fall asleep,” Guan Biao begged him.

Yuan Fei sneered on the other end of the phone, “You did not kill those police dogs. They just suffered from some minor injuries. Why would they take revenge on you? If you are worried, you should be worried about your dead master that might come to seek revenge, shouldn’t you?”

Guan Biao’s face became pale hearing this. He was completely sober now. He quickly covered his cellphone and listened for movement outside the door. He said in a low voice, “Brother Yuan, I beg you to forgive me. I do not know how you found about this, but that was really just an accident.”

Yuan Fei coldly interrupted his plea, “It’s not up to you or me to say whether it was an accident. If you don’t want this to leak this out and be sent to jail for manslaughter, do exactly as I tell you. In the next blasting scene, I want to see Famous and the other two police dogs hurt. And you must not leave any evidence, do you understand?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll do it.” With his unfavorable past in the hands of Yuan Fei, Guan Biao reluctantly agreed. “But this is really the last time, Brother Yuan. You must keep your word. Will you leave me alone after this?”

“Nonsense! Just do your job and cut the jibber jabber!” Yuan Fei replied impatiently. “As for whether this is the last time, we are both in the showbiz, and our paths will cross again someday. Haha, when that time comes, I will ask for your help again, big brother!” Guan Biao still wanted to beg, but Yuan Fei had decisively hung up the phone, leaving only the monotonous beeps of the cellphone.

“It truly was an accident,” he said to himself in tears, but no one listened to his explanation. He unscrewed the lid of Erguotou, poured himself a glass and drank it.