Chapter (lix)
Edited: 09.20.2023
After dinner was set up, the guests entered one after another. Because the theme was charity, the on-site decoration wasn’t extremely luxurious but strived to be close to the people and nature. However, considering that all the celebrities were here, the proper arrangement must still be present. The flowers for decoration and ingredients for food were all flown in so they were all fresh.
Jiang Liushen and Xia Xi’ai sat at the main table in the first row, which was enough to see the preferential treatment given by the organizer. Recalling the last time he participated in this kind of large-scale event and was placed in the corner, Xia Xi’ai was still a bit emotional: “I thought I could stand all the humiliation, but in the end, I still embarrassed myself in front of you.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed of. If I hadn’t seen you that sad, I wouldn’t have realized that I cared so much about you.” Jiang Liushen knew that his own little kiddo was greatly wronged at that time and comforted: “What belongs to you will always belong to you in the end. The New Artist Award is just a New Artist Award, what’s so great about it? You’re the one who’s going to sprint to the Chinese Melody Awards.”
As soon as the New Artist Award was mentioned, Jiang Liushen’s face turned a little colder, “It’s all because of that bastard surnamed Duan. He caused you to lose your New Artist Award, making you upset. Don’t worry, I’ve already taught him a lesson for you.”
Xia Xi’ai was surprised: “You mean President Duan? What did you do to him?”
“Don’t say his name politely, he doesn’t deserve a surname. I only punched him, it’s not a big deal.”
“How could you punch him?” Xia Xi’ai was anxious, “He’s very nice!”
Jiang Liushen was incredulous: “He’s nice? He didn’t let you walk the red carpet, placed you in the last row, and even gave your award to someone else. You call that nice?”
“Although that’s true……but he’s just looking out for the big picture. When I went to him to accuse Zhao Jianhua, he listened to me very carefully and said that if I really had no place to go, I could go back to Dragon Soar to continue my development. Also, he believed that I didn’t use drugs.”
Jiang Liushen snorted disdainfully: “That’s all him pretending, he’s a sanctimonious hypocrite. If you knew what he did to Li Luo back then, you definitely wouldn’t speak for him anymore.”
“What did he do?”
Jiang Liushen, however, stopped talking again: “Forget it, don’t mention it anymore. In short, don’t mention this person in front of Li Luo and stay away from him when you see him.”
“I don’t think I’ll run into him anymore either……but is it really okay for you to beat him up? I heard that the Duan family is very powerful.”
“It’s okay, your boyfriend’s family is also powerful and there are not as many bastards as theirs. I am the only child in my family, my father and mother have a harmonious relationship and respect each other. When you marry into my family in the future, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will definitely also be harmonious…..”
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The more Xia Xi’ai listened to him, the more nonsensical it sounded and he immediately pinched his thigh under the table: “Pay careful attention.” Although they were the only ones at the table, with people coming and going all around, they would be overheard if they weren’t careful.
Jiang Liushen covered the back of his hand with his palm and touched it lustfully: “Everyone is busy chatting and taking pictures, no one will notice us. And with your boyfriend’s status here, ordinary people don’t dare to come and strike up a conversation.”
But the moment after he said this, someone came over to greet him.
“Hi, Liushen, long time no see.” The visitor was holding a goblet and the red wine sloshing in it matched perfectly with her soft breasts, which were wrapped in a dark red evening gown that swayed when she walked.
Xia Xi’ai recognized her as Su Manni, an actress who was well known for her “big sister” characters. Although she often played hot sexy roles and her name wasn’t well known, due to the number of film and television dramas, she was able to steadily build her strength and popularity.
One of the most popular dramas she has ever acted in was a sister-brother love story with Jiang Liushen a few years ago. The drama was sweet and passionate and there were a lot of rare kissing scenes with Jiang Liushen, which became extremely popular for a while. Su Manni took the opportunity to stir up a wave of scandals and her net worth rose steadily. Now she was an actress with a salary of over 10 million.
When Jiang Liushen saw her, he smiled perfunctorily at her: “Mnn, long time no see.”
Su Manni didn’t hesitate and sat next to Jiang Liushen. She smiled charmingly as her big breasts were practically resting on the table: “Hmm, isn’t this Xi’ai? I’ve heard a lot about you.” She said and stretched out her hand.
Xia Xi’ai shook hands with her and heard Jiang Liushen open his mouth coldly: “Does Ms. Su need something?”
“I heard that you’re going to be in a new movie so I came to congratulate you.”
“Is it novel for me to be in a movie? Ms. Su is so humorous.”
Su Manni was choked but not annoyed: “I’m just happy to see you back on the screen. During the year you took a break, I wanted to recommend you as the male lead for several scripts that I had, but alas, it was a pity.”
“Thank you Ms. Su for your concern. The scripts I’ve received are almost piling up like a mountain, if you don’t mind, I can also recommend some roles for you.”
Xia Xi’ai couldn’t understand these convoluted conversations and couldn’t tell for a moment whether Jiang Liushen was really recommending them with good intentions or mocking the other party for unnecessary efforts.
Su Manni answered with a smile: “Checking out the scripts at your place? That’s fine with me. I’m actually free tonight.” She threw in a wink, seemingly trying to convey some ambiguous message.
Xia Xi’ai understood this and his hand hidden under the table tensed for a moment.
Jiang Liushen noticed it, touched him soothingly, and said to Su Manni: “I’m afraid it’s not convenient for me to receive Ms. Su as a guest.”
“What? Could it be that you’re hiding someone?” Su Manni teased.
“Yes, I’m hiding a lover.” Jiang Liushen’s face didn’t change, “I don’t intend to make it public yet so I’m asking Ms. Su to keep it a secret for me.”
Xia Xi’ai looked at him in surprise.
The smile on Su Manni’s face gradually froze and her eyes slowly widened in disbelief: “Liushen, you’re joking, right?”
“Do I look like I’m joking to you?” Jiang Liushen looked indifferent, “Also, Ms. Su, if I remember correctly, I already told you before to not get too absorbed into the drama. After the drama is over, we will go our separate ways and there is no point in dwelling on it. I’m okay with you coming over for a chat, but if I see someone making an article out of the photos of us chatting tonight, I may have to publicly send a lawyer’s letter.”
Su Manni’s face stiffened. Knowing that she was doomed to not be able to use Jiang Liushen’s popularity tonight, she could only resign herself, and after a few more polite words, she hurriedly left for another table.
“Is it okay…..for you to say those words to her?” Xia Xi’ai asked worriedly.
Jiang Liushen sipped a mouthful of red wine: “It’s fine, she probably thought I was making excuses to reject her and won’t believe it. Even if she did believe it, she wouldn’t have guessed that it was you.”
Xia Xi’ai was silent and thought for a while: “Shouldn’t we avoid suspicion? It seems like we’ve been too high-profile lately.”
“The more you avoid suspicion the more people become suspicious and the more genuine you are, the more others will think we are fake.”
“But……I’m worried that it will have an effect on you.”
Although CPs involving two men were a common means of rapidly increasing popularity in the entertainment industry, if it came true, it would definitely do more harm than good in the long run. This was why every male star who was in a CP with other men would try to find ways to tear off this label after they became famous and strengthen their own fanbase.
However, Jiang Liushen was the opposite. He had been involved in many gossips for many years since his debut, but none of them made a lasting impression. It could be said that his popularity was all based on his strength. Now that his status was firmly established and his career was booming, he had started to hype up his CP every day like the newcomers. Even the passers-by didn’t understand this method of his.
There was a day when Xia Xi’ai saw a Weibo post that said: “Has Jiang Liushen been lowered by Xia Xi’ai? He could just stay on his high horse and continue being a Film Emperor, why does he want to debase himself and become an online celebrity?”
Even though dozens of fans have already left comments underneath this post scolding the poster, there were one or two that expressed their agreement, which was particularly eye-catching to look at.
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“I’m fine.” Jiang Liushen was unimpressed: “I’m not an idol. Fans like me mainly because of my works and many of them are eager for me to fall in love. There are indeed some fanatical female fans among my fanbase, but I’ll have someone closely monitor them. As for the others, they have probably gotten used to seeing posts about me and you these days and for those who haven’t, they probably stopped being my fans already so it won’t have much impact on my popularity.”
Xia Xi’ai was still worried: “Even if you don’t lose many fans after going public, it’ll definitely have an impact on your career, right?”
“At most, some domestic directors won’t look to me for their scripts. I never liked those directors in the first place and the big directors I have been working with don’t care about it at all. It’s you who should worry about the impact on your career.”
“Me?”
“Mnn. Although you’re a singer, you’re currently considered half an idol, right? You’ve only debuted for a short period of time and your status isn’t stable yet. I’m afraid that going public rashly will be detrimental to you.” Jiang Liushen smiled, “Otherwise, with my nature, I would have already made it known to the world.”
Xia Xi’ai’s face was slightly red and he quickly looked around. Seeing that no one was around, he moved his chair closer to Jiang Liushen and whispered: “It’s okay, I’m not afraid, you don’t have to endure it for me, I……I don’t want to make you feel uneasy.”
Jiang Liushen also leaned over: “With your words, I feel at ease no matter how uneasy I am. It’s okay, we are not in a hurry, let’s take it slow and give your fans a little more time to get used to it. Although you belong to me, as their idol, you also belong to them from another perspective.”
Xia Xi’ai didn’t seem to fully understand: “I belong to them? I do appreciate my fans, but my life should be up to me.”
“I’m not saying it’s not up to you, but that you should anticipate the harm that might be caused to them before making a decision and try to minimize the damage.” Jiang Liushen patted his head, “The value of an idol’s existence is to bring happiness and hope to the fans. The fans can imagine you as anything to fulfill their fantasies, you belong to all and to everyone. But if you fall in love, some fans’ fantasies are shattered because they know that you don’t belong to them anymore and they will definitely be devastated.”
Xia Xi’ai nodded: “That does seem true, I didn’t think about it that much.”
“But it doesn’t matter. You have the strength. You can slowly transform in the future and your fanbase will gradually mature. Moreover, you’ve only debuted for a short while and your fans still aren’t set in stone since you haven’t developed the kind that is particularly crazy obsessed with you yet. Coupled with the turmoil a while ago, your fans all think that I saved you and they have a good impression of me, which is why many of them have become CP fans.”
Jiang Liushen said smugly: “According to my stats, it’s currently 70%. Let’s build on it and turn the number into 100%.”
“……When did you count them?”
“Just a while ago when ‘Gold Show’ finished airing, around ten thousand of your fans announced that they had become CP fans. Wow, when I saw that scene, it made me feel so accomplished that I desperately wanted to give them a like with my main account.”
Jiang Liushen became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke and Xia Xi’ai quickly pinched his thigh: “It’s all because of you.”
90% of the trending searches the two of them have been on are because of Jiang Liushen’s tawdry operations.
Truly…..it was an unfortunate situation.
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(ŐωŐ人)
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Oohh Duan isn’t much liked. Whenever works share the same universe, it’s nice finding easter eggs or timelines overlapping or even some scenes of each others’ novel’s characters together :>
Big breasted character(s) wanting to try it with ml 😭 … Also ml who gets miffed first rather than mc 😌
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