Chapter 12 Romance "It can't be that I'm retiring from the entertainment industry and going back to my hometown to get married, can it...?"
Perhaps it was something he had been thinking about all day that triggered Jiang Hui's telepathic connection.
Cheng Sijie had just finished washing up when a message came in. She glanced at the abs photo that her senior, "h," had sent across time zones on WeChat.
Cheng Sijie: "..."
This guy has ulterior motives and intends to seduce her. He's using a very low-level seduction tactic. No, could it be that he heard her inner thoughts and knows that the "honey trap" is a crucial part of the plan?
Feeling a little guilty, she replied indifferently, "Read."
Then, after tidying up her bangs, she clipped them with a hair clip and secured them with a bang comb to make sure the style was correct before tiptoeing out of the dormitory.
Jiang Hui seemed speechless and sent a bunch of emojis.
Cheng Sijie found it funny, but also thought he was kind of cute.
During her lunch break, Cheng Sijie felt bored and opened Weibo—
#Jiang Hui Talks (Breaking News)
Cheng Sijie's heart tightened, her mind filled with questions. She clicked to see what was going on and found that a variety show Jiang Hui had participated in had aired. It seemed that he had said something very explosive in it. Without exception, everyone had the same answer: Jiang Hui talked about it.
Cheng Sijie: "?"
Wait, what did this kid do?
She clicked on the video clip that was at the top of the trending searches—
Tomato TV's flagship variety shows are known for their lighthearted and humorous style, while also featuring numerous "tricks" and revelations about celebrities. The show is hosted by a male and a female resident host who are very witty, and there are also two special segment hosts. Even if you're not a fan of the celebrities, you'll find the show very entertaining.
Naturally, the viewership ratings were also high.
In the video, the female host, with shoulder-length curly hair and wearing a quirky headdress, asks shyly, "Has Jiang Hui thought about what kind of girlfriend he wants to find?"
"Ideally, she should be the same age as me, but a year or two younger is also fine. She should be outside the entertainment industry, have long hair, and preferably have a strong personality. I like the type who can argue with me a lot. She doesn't have to be too pretty, but I think she would be very pretty."
Jiang Hui laughed: "I'd have a hard time finding someone who isn't pretty, right?"
The male host made an exaggerated expression, "My God, is it that specific? Is it...?"
This is clearly a problem of digging a hole.
If an artist has high emotional intelligence—no, or rather, an artist with high emotional intelligence wouldn't have been so specific in the beginning!
The agent frantically winked at the audience, and several staff members from the production team exchanged glances, thinking that such a great climax was not going to be interrupted.
Jiang Hui smiled without saying a word, "I am very certain about my music and life, so I have a very narrow range of ideal types. I am the kind of person with a strong desire for control."
Seeing the staff's gesture, the female host understood and knew she couldn't delve any further. She then casually interjected, "MBTI is really popular lately. Jiang Hui, have you taken the test? If you're a control freak, could it be a Type J personality? It's said that Type J personalities value order and stability!"
The male host chimed in, "Jiang Hui is so handsome and talented, I'm sure he can find his muse no matter how strict the requirements are."
The female host laughed and said, "Why don't you take advantage of our show to find a husband!"
Jiang Hui smiled and said, "Then there's no need for that. Why don't you promote my new album instead?"
Cheng Sijie's face flushed as she read it, while her heart pounded wildly: Has he gone mad?
However, she's not in the entertainment industry, and in real life she seems to have absolutely no connection with Jiang Hui, so... there shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?
Immediately afterwards, she scrolled down and saw another blog post at the top, accompanied by a screenshot of a post from a large entertainment forum, titled: Jiang Hui suspected of announcing his girlfriend, a group of netizens have already dug up the details, it's undeniable!
It's clearly visible in the screenshot:
[Let's discuss the relationship-related comments from today's show. Those who understand, please consider.]
1L: Bro, do you have a girlfriend? I'm really scared, please don't!
2l: I said, is it necessary? It's baseless. Before, they said he slept with fans, and the rumors were quite convincing. A group of marketing accounts were the ones who jumped the highest. When he was sued and issued a handwritten apology letter, didn't he feel embarrassed?
3L: To be honest, JH and I are the same zodiac sign, and this reaction definitely means they're dating, 100% of the time. Look at the necklace he wears whenever he has free time. The pendant is a ring; if you don't know, search for the brand—the designer has even claimed it! It's a high-end custom-made couple's ring! And that Instagram post from May 20th last year—if you convert the time difference, it's 13:14 Beijing time. What was the caption? Can anyone search it up…?
4l: Who are they talking about? I don't understand. I'm leaving.
5L: I said, is this really necessary? It's too sensitive. Don't the fans do anything about spreading rumors?
…
35l: I'm just a passerby, but I watched the show and guessed who the celebrity the original poster was talking about. Generally speaking, if a celebrity's ideal type is very specific, they've definitely dated!
36l: Fans of his works don't care, but he has so many female fans that they could circle the earth three times, hahaha, so many people will stop being fans, right?
37l: I'm so angry at their lack of ambition. Can't they hide things better? The fans are already pretending not to know anything and turning a blind eye to everything. Can they please stop showing off in front of us?
38l: Are we chasing the same person upstairs? He doesn't go for that boyfriend type.
39l: Exactly, he didn't become an idol singer when he first entered the industry. Jiang even started out in the film industry. How could he be as cautious as an idol in this regard, needing fans' consent to date?
40l: ... jh? The film industry?
41l: Replying to the comment above, he used to work as an assistant director for a friend, for that fantasy film that won an award last year. You can search for it on the super topic.
42l: Haha, that's interesting. Artists with strong personalities and ideas don't care about the fantasies of female fans. Let them date if they want.
43l: Yeah, didn't you see that fans are too lazy to leave comments? Everyone's already dancing with joy because of the new album. Let them talk about love all they want, it's a good time to write more love songs (chew chew chew) (listen to songs) (shake jh) (more songs drop)
…
55l:3l, one of my few true female fans is heartbroken. The caption on that Instagram post was a line from the movie *Edward Scissorhands*: "I love you not for who you are, but for who I am with you," accompanied by a picture of himself at an exhibition… I have to say, he practically had "I'm lonely, I love you" written all over his forehead like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.
56l: I feel sorry for the person upstairs, here's an iced Coke for you. Treating him like a real girlfriend fan has no future. He definitely broke up recently. Look at that Instagram post from the 9th, he was online at 3 AM, liking a bunch of non-mainstream, dark posts, and even posted a still from a movie. I'm studying directing, and that movie is pretty despairing.
57l: What movie is it?
58l: *Pulp Fiction*
59l: Ah... I've seen this movie, but I didn't really understand it. Jiang is really quite cultured; to be honest, I really admire his ability to go to an Ivy League school.
...
64l: The film review reads: "The film depicts a dark theme: if one possesses good qualities but still cannot avoid a bad ending, then what should one do about the inevitability of fate? The characters in the film all have shining points of kindness or loyalty, and have a strong desire for a better life, but in the end they are still unable to stop themselves from stepping into the abyss of darkness."
65l: This has nothing to do with dating, right?
66l: Upstairs, you don't understand. This is obviously just melodramatic whining caused by a breakup. Otherwise, who would feel "despair for everything, don't want to live anymore, life is meaningless..."?
67l: Let me translate—"Why did we break up even though we loved each other and we were both doing so well?" Honestly, we definitely broke up during that period!
...
80l: Passersby were shocked. Who's his girlfriend? Is it really necessary to love her so much? Is it like the sky is falling after they break up?
81l: An ordinary person, not in the entertainment industry.
…
286l: He is very protective of his girlfriend's personal information; even his biggest fans only know that they have been dating for a very long time.
287l: Cough cough, I mean, who remembers when he first debuted, someone said he was injecting drugs... It turned out to be pure fabrication, but they did find out he had a mental illness.
288l: I remember, so the longtime fans are very forgiving. They all know he has a girlfriend. When the relationship is good, he's mentally stable; when the relationship is bad, he silently goes crazy. He doesn't even pretend, so it's pretty much everyone's tacit acceptance.
...
330l: A passerby, but knows that Jiang Hui is not in a good mental state.
Please, ladies from 331l:330l, don't use my real name, okay? It's easy for marketing accounts to repost it.
…
445l: Ahem, here's some gossip. My friend's older sister, his biological sister, works at his agency. She told me that Jiang Hui is a nice person in private, but very cold and distant. He doesn't reply to work-related WeChat messages after a certain time, and he never shares his personal WeChat with anyone. She also said he definitely has a girlfriend; they had a huge argument on the phone before, and she knows everything—it's an open secret.
446l: That's true, longtime fans know that he's never hidden this from them since he entered the industry. It's an open secret that he's a hopeless romantic. But the point is, why did he suddenly bring this up on the show? Was he going to make it public?
447l: Are you really going to make it public?
448l: It's a recap. He once said on a variety show that his way of keeping things fresh is to break up for two months, then start dating again, just a different name for the same thing... Ugh, a kind of infatuated, dry humor.
449l: Hahahaha, so crazy.
…
990l: Sigh, I've finished reading this thread. It can't be that he's retiring from the industry and going back to his hometown to get married, right? Hahaha, whatever.
991l: Don't scare me, I don't want that!!!
992l: I didn't want to either!!!
993l: The sky is falling! If I quit the music scene now, whose songs will I listen to?! I need some remedies!
...
Cheng Sijie scrolled through the screenshots one by one until the very end, and wow, everyone was already guessing that the top star was about to officially announce that his girlfriend was retiring from the entertainment industry and getting married.
Opening the trending topics list on short video platforms also reveals "Jiang Hui's Romance" as a hot topic, with a ton of marketing accounts posting related information. The comment section is a chaotic mess, with many casual viewers, even those not affiliated with the fandom, shouting things like "Ahhh, handsome guy is a must-have!"
Compared to longtime fans, casual viewers are even less able to accept that a top-tier celebrity with exceptionally handsome looks and outstanding work is in a relationship—everyone wishes such a good thing would happen to them.
What's that saying again? Some handsome men are a shared treasure, and no one can keep them for themselves.
One marketing account called "Idol Gossip Base" was particularly aggressive. It not only dug up Jiang Hui's recent interviews, but also revealed his past remarks and his global tour from last year to the present. Everything related to his suspected romantic feelings was dug up and made into a long video.
After reading it, Cheng Sijie exclaimed that she was totally shipping them. During the time she and Jiang Hui were going through a breakup, she didn't pay much attention to his Instagram. Ever since high school, he had been a guy who was good at playing the victim. She was afraid that she would soften her heart, so she simply communicated with him on WeChat.
but……
Cheng Sijie couldn't help but ponder: What could be the reason for this? Did Jiang Hui offend someone? Why was his relationship suddenly exposed?
After all, Jiang Hui once said that he spends tens of millions of yuan every year to cover up his relationship with various media marketing accounts.
He would talk about this every day, using it to claim credit, saying that as long as Lady Chengcheng didn't give him a title, he would be content to remain a man hidden in the shadows.
"It's quite reasonable for a beautiful anchorwoman to hide her relationship in order to focus on her career." And then there's the sarcastic tone.
To be honest, Cheng Sijie had this ulterior motive in mind. If a female anchor is in a relationship, her fans might worry that she'll become love-struck and start showing off her boyfriend excessively, which would be psychologically off-putting. Besides... Cheng Sijie really wasn't that bold as to openly date a top star.
At that time, forget about going on vacation or shopping; even going to class will result in being surrounded and "dying a horrible death"!
So, Cheng Sijie was quite curious about what it meant to "cooperate with major media outlets, especially marketing accounts." Later, after a night of drinking, someone showed her the shares under his company and his investment and financial management, and Cheng Sijie realized that it was actually a case of being rich and powerful and straightforward.
He invested in several domestic entertainment companies, which directly maintained thousands of marketing accounts, and every time there was a hint of trouble, they would immediately launch a one-stop counterattack and report it...
So why was this matter exposed by Shui Lingling now?!
She sent a WeChat message to "h" with mixed feelings.
One-liter bottle of orange juice: Hey bro, what's wrong? Did you go bankrupt?
h:?
A note from the author:
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