Chapter 63
There was silence in the venue for a moment. It was really strange that the company boss would take the initiative to greet the artist who had just become famous. But when the two stood together, their auras were inexplicably compatible. The one who was more capable of dealing with things had already come closer, handed over his business card, tried to find out more, and took the initiative to get to know Xiao Ziyu.
The atmosphere became lively again. Yuan Heng entered the meeting room and first greeted several people who came from the General Administration. The old gentlemen were quite old, but they did not put on airs when communicating with Yuan Heng. They just said that young people are to be feared.
There were some familiar faces. Xiao Ziyu saw Tang Lin and went over to say hello. Director Tang had recently gone out to shoot a documentary again. His skin color had become darker, but his eyes hadn't changed much.
The host announced the start of the celebration and handed the stage to Yuantai's artists. At the beginning, Yan Chu performed a boy group dance, and the background music was a catchy song with a brisk rhythm. It didn't have much technical content, but it warmed up the audience and instantly aroused everyone's emotions.
Xiao Ziyu stood in a corner, catching the figure of Yuan Heng in the crowd. He was holding a long glass of whiskey and clinking glasses with others politely.
He secretly guessed that in his previous life, Crown Prince Yuan Heng was in a high position and had great power. He never took others seriously. All political and military affairs were decided by one person, and he even sneered at people's flattery. In this life, I see him socializing in different circles like a fish in water, and he doesn't feel at all out of place.
The whiskey in Yuan Heng's glass was gradually empty. Without waiting for Qi Huai to react, Yan Chu stepped forward and filled his glass: "Mr. Yuan, I toast you."
He had just come down from the stage, his face was flushed and emitting heat, and he must have sprayed some perfume on, like a little peacock radiating light all over his body.
Yuan Heng hadn't paid attention to Yuantai Culture's business for a long time and didn't have a deep impression of him, but he had seen the same scene too many times. If every artist came forward to toast him, he would be drunk before the main course was served.
Qi Huai stepped forward at the right time and took the wine glass from Yuan Heng's hand: "Mr. Yuan, let me do it."
Yan Chu had a good personality and was not frustrated. He blinked and said, "Mr. Yuan, please feel free. I'll do it first."
He drank the glass and wanted to ask for more comments: "Mr. Yuan, what do you think of my observation just now?"
Yuan Heng didn't even look at the stage. He just said "not bad" perfunctorily, turned around and saw Tang Lin and another professor from the same school, and left with big strides.
A trace of disappointment finally showed on Yan Chu's face. He knew that Yuan Heng never cared about the affairs of the artists, but just now in the corridor, President Yuan was clearly talking to someone. He thought the other party had started the conversation and wanted to take the opportunity to make himself familiar with him. After all, he is not young anymore and is facing transformation. Without continuous resource support, it will only take a moment for him to go from a top star to an unknown star.
Xiao Ziyu took everything in his eyes and silently observed the modern people around him. Not only Yan Chu, but everyone at the ceremony wore a mask to cover up the embarrassment, awkwardness and helplessness.
Those who are not famous want to attract attention, while those who are famous pursue long-term development. Xiao Ziyu touched a pile of business cards he had just received, and it turned out that he also had one with the same mask.
Not only did he wear a mask, he was fully armed. As a person who did not belong to this era, he was afraid of taking a wrong step and revealing his flaws.
Xiao Ziyu came to his senses and his stomach growled. The portion of minced meat and broccoli he had in the morning was too small, so he left the place to find somewhere to eat.
Applause and cheers rang out behind him as Yuan Heng went on stage to deliver a speech. Xiao Ziyu took two cookies and a square of mousse, put them on a paper plate, and ate while listening to Yuan Heng's speech in the last row.
Yuan Heng studied both acting and international finance in college. He officially joined the filming crew in his sophomore year and won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the film festival that year for his film Virgo. After graduating from his senior year, he set up his own studio, which within three years became a top artist management company in the industry.
Yuan Heng's success story is well-known in the industry and is also the goal that artists are vying for, but he did not mention it much in his speech. He only focused on the future development tone of Yuantai Culture. His speech on stage was like a strategic meeting, and several managers even took out their mobile phones to start taking memos.
Xiao Ziyu drank half a glass of red wine with some snacks, and wrote his name on the artist signature wall. Slightly tipsy, he was in high spirits. After signing with great vigor, he realized that he had written in traditional Chinese characters.
"The calligraphy is good." A slightly cold voice sounded from behind.
Xiao Ziyu turned around and saw the protagonist of the night. He should have been panicked, but having just returned from his hometown, he felt more confident: "Just showing off."
In front of others, Yuan Heng couldn't say anything explicit: "Are the cookies delicious?"
Xiao Ziyu licked his lips, savoring the taste: "Not bad."
Yuan Heng stared at the tip of his tongue like a cat, his lips were wet and red after drinking the wine and slightly open, like petals wet after the rain. Yuan Heng's Adam's apple rolled. He had just given a speech on the stage. Most people in the audience listened attentively, except for one person who ate biscuits and cake, and his comments did not sound very satisfactory.
He relied on his height and long legs to block the person in front of him, and stretched out his hand to pull Xiao Ziyu's hair in an ungentlemanly manner: "If you feel bored, go wait for me in the car. We will go home after the ceremony."
He knew very well that Xiao Ziyu didn't like to join in the fun, but he still used the anniversary celebration as an excuse to trick him back. Yuan Heng made no secret of his selfishness. All the entertainers and guests in the audience wanted to be in the limelight, but his eyes were always on Xiao Ziyu. Since the cookies tasted just average, why didn't he take his eyes off the stage?
"Aren't you going to attend the subsequent dinner?" Xiao Ziyu asked.
Yuan Heng suddenly came closer, his voice almost falling into his ear: "I would rather go home early to open my presents."
When Xiao Ziyu followed Qi Huai downstairs, the blush on his ears had not yet faded.
Qi Huai is worthy of being Yuan Heng's right-hand man. He doesn't talk much, is not very curious, walks with his eyes straight ahead, and even his stride is roughly the same.
Xiao Ziyu still felt an itch in his ears, so he tried to divert attention by changing the subject: "What's in the box you're carrying?"
"It's Mr. Yuan's personal collection of wine," Qi Huai said.
"Do you want to take it home?" Xiao Ziyu asked.
"I'm not sure about that," Qi Huai said, "Mr. Yuan asked me to help him get it to the car."
He nodded, and the elevator went to the bottom. The VIP parking lot downstairs was also full of cars. Range Rover has its own exclusive place, the big guy with bared fangs and claws parked quietly in the shadows.
Qi Huai took the key of the Range Rover, and Xiao Ziyu got into the car and sat in it. Feeling bored, he poked and fiddled with the center console. He didn't know how he turned on the radio, and was startled when he heard a voice.
I turned off the radio, studied Bluetooth, and listened to a few songs. More than 20 minutes had passed, and Yuan Heng still hadn't come down.
Are you having a social engagement, or are you being pestered by someone? Xiao Ziyu took out his cell phone and dialed Yuan Heng's number, but no one answered the call until it rang and ended.
He rolled down the car window and said to Qi Huai who was standing outside, "Why hasn't Yuan Heng come down yet?"
Qi Huai couldn't contact anyone either, so he said, "I'll go up and take a look."
After a while, Xiao Ziyu received a call from Qi Huai, saying that Yuan Heng was stopped by the company's artists and could not get away for the time being.
What does this mean? Xiao Ziyu fiddled with the air conditioner fan, trying to catch the slightest bit of cool breeze. Maybe someone was drunk and boldly stopped Yuan Heng, or maybe he had an engagement and had to go back. Xiao Ziyu thought of the sweet and spicy opening dance and wondered what the dinner would be like, and whether there would be any celebrity performances to liven up the party.
He was bored waiting, so Qi Huai went up too. The box of wine was in the trunk. Xiao Ziyu leaned over the back of the chair without caring about his image, grabbed the small box and placed it on his knees. It opened with a click, and two bottles of wine and matching high-heeled glasses were neatly embedded in the black velvet.
It was not appropriate for the president to leave early for the anniversary celebration, but fortunately, he had already taken care of the people he needed to greet. The artists had drunk some wine and were clamoring to toast him. Yuan Heng didn't want to lose face in front of his seniors in the industry, so he argued for a long time.
Fortunately, Qi Huai came up quickly and made his way through the crowd. Yuan Heng saw that he had a bad feeling: "Why are you back again? Didn't I ask you to accompany Xiao Ziyu?"
Qi Huai said: "Mr. Xiao is getting a little impatient."
Yuan Heng then turned on his phone and saw two missed calls. He called back, but there was no response from the other end.
Although Xiao Ziyu is an adult with hands and feet and knows martial arts, he still doesn't feel comfortable leaving him alone in the parking lot. Yuan Heng took a few quick steps, turned into the elevator, and quickly descended to the ground floor. The Range Rover was very eye-catching, with dim lights on in the car.
"You drive," he had drunk tonight and needed Qi Huai to drive for him. He opened the car door and paused.
Xiao Ziyu was curled up in the passenger seat, looking over with drunken eyes. There was still some residual wine in the goblet in his hand, which was emitting an ambiguous glow in the dim light.
Xiao Ziyu didn't feel guilty at all for being caught. Instead, he raised the cup to his lips and looked up with a hint of provocation and contempt.
Yuan Heng snatched his cup away, smelling the bitter smell of wine in the carriage, his eyes darkened a little: "Why do you suddenly want to drink?"
Xiao Ziyu's expression was somewhat unfocused, without his usual dignity and reserve: "I'm bored of waiting, there's nothing to do."
"Drinking alone is a bitter wine," Yuan Heng said. "It's ok to be absent-minded at the anniversary celebration, but there are more than 20 kinds of drinks in the venue, and you chose to hide in the garage to drink."
Xiao Ziyu chuckled, a little frivolous, and a bit of charm that Yuan Heng had never seen before: "Of course not like Mr. Yuan, someone rushed to pour wine for me."
Yuan Heng thought about it and realized that he had only drunk the wine poured by Qi Huai. Even though so many people in the banquet hall were surrounding him and toasting him, he didn't even touch a single sip.
"Don't accuse me wrongly," Yuan Heng said, "I only drank two glasses of whiskey, both poured by Qi Huai."
Xiao Ziyu didn't want to agree, so he turned his head away again: "What does it have to do with me?"
Yuan Heng felt like he was scratched by a cat's claw. His skin was not scratched, but the pain and itchiness were unbearable. He said, "Come to the back seat first. We'll figure it out when we get home."
Xiao Ziyu raised his chin slightly. Even when he was at his lowest point, there were still people who took good care of him. "No one dares to talk to me like that."
Yuan Heng's patience ran out. He slammed the car door, then walked around to the passenger side and opened it again. Without waiting for Xiao Ziyu to react, he bent down, grabbed his knees and waist, and carried him out of the car.
Qi Huai said calmly from behind: "Mr. Yuan, do you need help?"
Yuan Heng said impatiently: "Drive your car."
Xiao Ziyu came closer and, relying on his lightness skills, twisted his body and was ready to jump down. However, Yuan Heng seemed to know his moves well and locked his important joints effortlessly. Xiao Ziyu was helpless and was pinched by Yuan Heng's waist and legs and stuffed into the back seat.
Qi Huai sat in the driver's seat, stuffed the half-drunk wine into the small refrigerator, and without saying anything, he navigated directly to the blue sea.
Halfway through the journey, Yuan Heng took off his coat and covered Xiao Ziyu with it, then turned on the air conditioner for more than half an hour, and the exposed skin felt cold.
After hanging out at the venue for a night, his coat was stained with the smell of perfume, covering up the familiar ambergris. Xiao Ziyu frowned in disgust and lifted his coat off.
Yuan Heng's forehead was throbbing with veins, and he felt that his lifelong patience would be exhausted tonight. He lowered his voice and coaxed, "We'll be home soon, stop making trouble."
Ruifeng's eyes widened unwillingly, and Xiao Ziyu asked, "Who's making trouble?"
"I was making a fuss," Yuan Heng admitted. "The ceremony lasted all night, and not only was I making a fuss, I was also very thirsty."
Xiao Ziyu didn't react: "What are you thirsty for?"
"I only drank whiskey today, not wine," Yuan Heng said, "so I asked Qi Huai to prepare two bottles, and let you get there first."
Xiao Ziyu slowed down his voice: "What should we do now?"
Before he could finish his words, Yuan Heng had already kissed those two chattering lips, and his ears were finally quiet.
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