episode 33
He Xun looked up and saw Jian Ye's cute and delicate face. Then, glancing to the side, he saw Qin Zhuo standing there.
He smiled, put down his wine glass, and stood up: "Hmm, what a coincidence."
Qin Zhuo was wearing a black jacket, his hands in his pockets, and he nodded to him with a cold expression, as if to say hello.
“Then we can share a table. We haven’t seen each other in so long, is that okay, Xun-ge?” Jian Ye grabbed his arm and shook it, smiling sweetly. “Just say yes. A lot has happened recently, and I have so much to tell you.”
He was wearing a light yellow sweatshirt today, his hair was a little messy from the wind, and his delicate features made a slightly aggrieved and pitiful expression, which was irresistible.
Although He Xun, who was not yet thirty, was overwhelmed with emotion as an elderly father, he had not forgotten Song Liuguang. He smiled helplessly and said, "I have no problem with that, but I still need to ask my friend."
It's no exaggeration to say that Song Liuguang was the second most shrewd person present besides He Xun. With his rich social experience, he certainly wouldn't embarrass He Xun in public. Even though he was unhappy that the conversation had been interrupted, he quickly stood up and said with a smile, "I don't have that much to say. Sit down, sit down! We're all friends, don't be shy."
"Let me introduce you. This is Song Liuguang, my friend." He Xun patted Song Liuguang's shoulder with a somewhat reassuring gesture, then took the initiative to introduce him, "Jian Ye, Qin Zhuo, they do live streaming."
The group greeted each other and then took their seats.
Before long, the hot pot and drinks were served, and the group ate and chatted. Of course, Jian Ye was the one who talked the most. He Xun, who usually had to observe people's expressions and balance the atmosphere, had no chance to use his skills, but he was happy to be at ease.
Jian Ye, like a student just released from a strict boarding school, grumbled to his "parent," He Xun, about his recent experiences in live streaming. He talked about encountering stupid trolls who smeared and spread rumors about him, how his live stream inexplicably trended on social media and gained tens of thousands of followers, and how a wealthy patron suddenly spent a fortune to reach the top of the rankings, only to discover later that this patron was actually Qin Zhuo...
He told He Xun a whole series of things he considered important, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
He spoke eloquently for nearly thirty minutes, and He Xun listened patiently for the same amount of time.
After all, not everyone has the opportunity to hear the protagonist of a novel tell his gossip up close. He is essentially a very curious person, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to ask Mo Shilin what books he usually reads while cleaning his room. He is naturally very curious about the life of a protagonist with a halo.
Needless to say, paparazzi Song Liuguang listened with great excitement to all sorts of gossip from the online celebrity livestreaming circle, practically munching on sunflower seeds on a stool. When he got excited, he would slap his thigh hard—mainly He Xun's thigh, which made He Xun react so strongly that he almost threw him over his shoulder. Fortunately, He Xun was still rational and afraid that concerned citizens would call the police and arrest him as a terrorist, so he held back.
Qin Zhuo listened calmly, occasionally adding vegetables and meat slices to Jian Ye's plate, as if it were commonplace.
Half an hour later, Jian Ye finally felt thirsty and reluctantly stopped drinking the chilled watermelon juice that Qin Zhuo handed him.
"I can't say anymore, Xun-ge, my throat is burning."
As he raised his hand to take the cup, a silver light flashed under the white light. He Xun was caught off guard and his eyes widened. He squinted and looked down to take a closer look, only to find that Jian Ye was wearing a ring on the ring finger of her left hand.
The silver circle is set with understated yet dazzling small diamonds; those in the know will immediately recognize that this seemingly simple ring is actually quite valuable.
Having spent years in the entertainment industry, He Xun could naturally see through it.
Noticing his scrutinizing gaze, Jian Ye smiled shyly, but still generously held out her hand for He Xun to see, saying that Qin Zhuo had bought it for her and that the two of them had recently been discussing marriage.
Despite knowing perfectly well that the two people in front of him were destined to be the protagonists of a novel, and that no matter what happened, they would overcome all obstacles and live happily ever after, He Xun still asked in surprise, like an old man who had suddenly learned of his son's whirlwind marriage, "Are you really sure? How old are you? You've already made this decision? You've only known each other for a short time. Isn't this too hasty?"
He couldn't understand how a person could decide on their life's most important matter so quickly.
I don't understand how they were able to determine each other's feelings so quickly.
He clearly couldn't get it right no matter what he did.
Jian Ye looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Brother Xun, why are you hesitating? Brother Zhuo is so handsome and great. If I don't hurry, what if someone else snatches him away one day? Let me tell you, love may seem like it's up to fate, but it actually requires effort."
As she spoke, she smiled and looked into her lover's eyes: "Don't you think so?"
The boy's love was bright and generous, overflowing from his eyes and mouth like honey, flowing into the lover's heart through the air, unhindered even by the noisy and mundane atmosphere around them.
"Um."
Qin Zhuo gazed at him intently, then reached out to grasp his hand, which was icy cold from the watermelon juice. It was a response, and also the umpteenth time he had confessed his feelings: "I'm also afraid that you'll be taken away by someone else, so I want to propose to you with a ring first."
Faced with such tenderness and affection, He Xun clenched his fingers, lost his composure for a rare moment, and was speechless, before feeling ashamed of his own inferiority.
I feel ashamed of my lack of honesty.
He hesitates even about whether to say a word of concern, and for a second he even complains that the other person is just as dishonest as him. No wonder he's the second male lead in the book.
A scene straight out of an idol drama unfolds in a greasy hot pot restaurant. The two protagonists are in a romantic and ambiguous atmosphere. He Xun is lost in the maze he has built and is not paying attention. Only the straight man Song Liuguang is clear-headed and feels uncomfortable and speechless at the two men's public confession.
What are they doing?
Is this an act?
About two minutes later, Song Liuguang couldn't take it anymore. He deliberately coughed twice and then asked with an awkward smile, "Are you full? Should we order another plate of beef?"
The pink bubble burst with a snap, and the two protagonists finally came to their senses.
Jian Ye immediately let go of Qin Zhuo's hand and said a little embarrassedly, "I'm full. I'll go pay the bill. I'm the one who has to share a table anyway." Then she got up with a red face and walked towards the counter.
As soon as he left, a cold voice rang out: "Sorry to have disturbed you tonight, my boyfriend does talk a lot."
Qin Zhuo's face was expressionless when he said this, but he couldn't help but reveal a touch of tenderness in his tone.
He Xun naturally replied politely, "No problem, we were enjoying listening to it too."
After seeing Jian Ye and Qin Zhuo off, the atmosphere between He Xun and Song Liuguang naturally shifted from a sweet idol drama to a more realistic, adult-oriented one.
"Where did you meet this middle school student?"
While teasing He Xun, Song Liuguang poured him a drink: "I'm too embarrassed to talk about anything too explicit with such an innocent face. Luckily, her boyfriend, surnamed Qin, seems alright. If they were a pair of naive and innocent girls, how would they live together?"
Actually, He Xun really wanted to say that you don't need to worry about the protagonist of the novel, but in the end he suppressed the thought, shook his head and smiled and said: "Jian Ye is still young, it's inevitable."
Song Liuguang clicked his tongue twice and quickly steered the conversation back on track: "Let's get back to business. What do you think about Huo Liang and He Lianmeng's situation?"
"It's hard to say."
"I think so too. Hey, Xun-ge, have you seen the video of Huo Liang coming out to report it?"
"I haven't had time yet." He Xun had been busy with the account all day and naturally hadn't had a chance to check. "Why?"
"Perfect, let's watch it together. I'd also like to hear your analysis."
He Xun raised an eyebrow and glanced at him sideways, a beautiful curve forming at the corner of his eye: "Why do you have to listen to me? You know the entertainment industry."
Song Liuguang immediately put down his wine glass and earnestly massaged his back: "I just wanted to learn and practice with you."
“You won’t make any money learning from me.” He Xun brushed his hand away, gently swirling the glass in his left hand, and said with a hint of mockery.
"Hey, money isn't the main thing. It's the rare opportunity to learn from you. Besides, if you hadn't come to me about Xiao Ding's matter last time, where would I have earned so much money?"
He Xun finally scoffed, "Stop joking, show me the video."
Upon hearing this, Song Liuguang immediately pulled out his phone, opened the video that was still trending on social media, and respectfully presented it to He Xun.
This video was posted by Huo Liang himself on his social media account.
In the video, he was wearing a pure white shirt, facing the camera. His once handsome face was now covered with haggardness. He was not wearing makeup, his eyelids were drooping, there were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was disheveled and messy, and his back was a little hunched. Anyone could see that his mental state was obviously not good.
Song Liuguang carefully adjusted the volume to a moderate level, and soon Huo Liang's hoarse voice rang out.
"Hello everyone, I am actor Huo Liang. I am sorry for taking up your public resources, but the situation is serious this time, so I had no choice but to do this. I hope that you can understand my impulsiveness after you know the whole story."
"My wife He Lianmeng and I have been married for nearly ten years. Ten years ago, we met while filming a movie, and then fell in love and eventually got married. During this time, we also had three lively and lovely daughters. Over the years, we have never quarreled. In the eyes of our relatives and friends, we have always been a model of a happy family, and I have always naively believed that."
"Until a year ago, I accidentally caught her cheating—my wife, He Lianmeng, was going to a hotel with another man behind my back! Please forgive my outburst! No one would remain calm in such a situation! It was bad enough that she betrayed our marriage, but because I love her, I even convinced myself that maybe I wasn't good enough, not romantic enough, which caused her dissatisfaction. I could have endured it for the sake of the children, but when I found out that the man she was with was actually married, I couldn't stay calm anymore. This is immoral! She interfered in someone else's marriage, knowingly becoming a mistress!"
"She hurt me, and I can convince myself to forgive her, but she also hurt another innocent woman, which is a complete violation of my principles! What's more, while she was having an affair and meeting with her lover, she also conspired with him to abuse my beloved daughter! This is incredibly heartbreaking and unbearable!"
As Huo Liang finished speaking, the camera then turned to his daughter beside him.
The girl looked to be about five or six years old. Her big eyes were wet as she stared at the camera, as if she had been crying. She was wearing a white dress that exposed her arms, and there were indeed red and swollen marks on her two thin arms.
Huo Liang looked at his daughter with undisguised heartache. He rubbed her head, hugged her, and smiled bitterly: "Tao Tao, tell the uncles and aunts in front of the camera, haven't you seen your mother for a long time?"
The girl nodded timidly, her face full of grievance, as if she was about to cry: "Mommy... hasn't come to see Tao Tao and her little sister in a long time..."
"Tao Tao wants..."
"alright."
Huo Liang couldn't bear to let his daughter bring up her painful memories any further. Before Tao Tao could finish speaking, he made an excuse to coax her away from the camera, saying with a wry smile, "Go play with your sister for a while. Mom...maybe she'll be back tonight."
He turned his head back to face the camera, composed himself, and continued.
"When I discovered that she was abusing our daughters, I confronted her immediately. But she not only showed no remorse, she also threatened me that if I dared to spread the word, she would take all three daughters back to her parents' home and hide them away, never letting us father and daughters see each other again! She even claimed that she had already paid for public relations and told me to wait and see. I was furious and anxious, and we had a fight. That night, she stormed out of the house and has refused to meet or communicate with me since. She doesn't even talk to our daughters and just keeps threatening and insulting me on her phone."
"Besides, I also want to sincerely tell everyone that all my salary cards have been handed over to He Lianmeng over the years, and now I am almost penniless. My fans and friends who know me also know that my work affairs have been handled by my personal studio for the past two years, and I don't have the money to buy any public relations or marketing. To be honest, I am really afraid that if she makes a fuss about this, my career will be damaged, and as a public figure, it will have a bad influence on society. The brands that I cooperate with will also suffer undeservedly. So I had no choice but to take this drastic measure and become the villain who complains first. I hope everyone can understand me."
"Finally, I want to say that perhaps I'm too idealistic. For so many years, I've always believed she was my soulmate, a kind girl, but now I... am truly and utterly disappointed. She's become someone I don't recognize... I know words are not enough, so later I will post evidence of her infidelity, her chat logs with her lover, and screenshots of her threatening text messages to prove the truth. Thank you everyone."
The video ends here, and the phone screen goes black.
"Huo Liang has a really good public image. As soon as this video was released, both the public and the media were on his side." Song Liuguang sighed. "But He Lianmeng wasn't so lucky. She had already retired from the entertainment industry for many years and didn't have many fans left, let alone any public image."
He Xun glanced at him and said coldly, "I don't care about anything else, but this video shows signs of editing."
"Huh? You can tell that from that??"
Upon hearing this, Song Liuguang's eyes widened in surprise. He quickly grabbed his phone and flipped back through the progress bar. Sure enough, he found a few traces of editing in the middle. He turned to He Xun, gave him a thumbs up, and asked, "So, do you want to investigate, Brother Xun? I'll follow you."
"Follow me? You trust me that much?" He Xun's tone was somewhat mocking. "What if Huo Liang or He Lianmeng has a powerful backer? You'll be finished with me."
"Hey, hey, what are you saying? Do you think I'm the kind of paparazzi who can only share the good times but not the bad? Besides, I don't believe anyone but my brother Xun."
Song Liuguang had a grin on his face, but he was also very cunning in his heart. After the last cooperation, he knew exactly how capable He Xun was. Cooperating with such a smart person was exciting, even if it didn't make money!
So he patted He Xun on the shoulder: "Just say the word if you need help, don't be shy."
"Thanks, wait for my message. I'll contact you if needed."
The two chatted for a few more minutes about trivial entertainment gossip before saying goodbye and going home.
After returning home, He Xun subconsciously checked his account status on his phone. Besides a considerable number of comments and likes, he also received an unexpected long private message. The sender was a girl who directly stated she was a fan of He Lianmeng. She messaged him hoping he would pay attention to the recent allegations of He Lianmeng's infidelity by Huo Liang. She believed He Lianmeng wasn't that kind of person and hoped he could provide a reasoned and evidence-based analysis of the matter.
The girl said angrily, "Those people are really going too far. The truth of the matter is not even clear yet, and they have already started to cyberbully Mengjie. Huo Liang's fans are also vicious; they actually photoshopped a black and white funeral portrait of Mengjie! I can't take it anymore!"
He Xun had originally planned to investigate this matter, so now he couldn't let it go.
"Thank you for your support, I will keep an eye on this."
After replying to the private message, he quickly checked Huo Liang's personal schedule. As luck would have it, Huo Liang was going to City C to attend a charity auction the next night.
Finding out the exact location of the auction was a piece of cake for He Xun.
The key point is how he plans to sneak into the auction.
After pondering for a long time without success, He Xun rubbed his temples, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, intending to go out the back door to the back garden to smoke. Unexpectedly, he hadn't taken more than a few steps when he bumped into Mo Shilin and Mu Xianglu's conversation. The two of them did not deliberately lower their voices, so He Xun heard everything clearly.
"You're going to the auction tomorrow night, so let's pick someone to go with you and take care of you. After all, you'll be leaving the city, and Aunt Mu is worried about that."
Aunt Mu tried to persuade him earnestly, but Mo Shilin didn't appreciate it. He coldly said that he didn't need it and impatiently pulled his tie as he walked towards the corridor. However, he suddenly stopped halfway down the corridor.
Mu Xianglu looked over, puzzled. When she saw that the person who came was He Xun, she understood and fell silent.
She had some idea that the two of them seemed to be having a disagreement lately.
The three of them stopped at the entrance of the corridor.
Before He Xun could even leave the room, and not wanting to stub out his cigarette against the wall in front of his boss, Mo Shilin, he simply hung his right hand at his side and greeted him, "Young Master Mo, Aunt Mu."
Aunt Mu nodded to him, but Mo Shilin remained silent and showed no intention of moving forward. The atmosphere quickly became tense.
He Xun was alright, but it was Aunt Mu who suffered. She couldn't understand the subtle atmosphere between the two young people at all. In fact, if she often went online, she would know the saying: "Some people look at each other as if they are flirting."
Of course she didn't know, she just felt uncomfortable all over, and didn't know where to look, feeling like she was doing something unnecessary.
Fortunately, He Xun was sensible. Just as the awkward atmosphere was about to reach a breaking point, he smiled at Mo Shilin, his two sharp canine teeth appearing and disappearing, possessing an indescribable allure in the deep night: "Do you want someone to go to the auction with you? I can."
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