Chapter 49: CH 49

“He might be one of my classmates, I had so many classmates at the university, I can’t remember them all.”

Xiao Liu smiled, “It was originally only a few people’s guess, but then you gave an interview to him, and before that, you had never given any interviews. So, the news that he was your first love was widely circulated.”

“No way, that’s all?”

Xiao Liu nodded.

Ou Renjin snorted, “Chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (idiom meaning groundless accusations or acting on hearsay). I don’t remember the interview, if it was so, it just happened to be, and the wind direction after that was probably arranged by the PR of the company behind him. Rubbing off the heat, what else?”

“You really don’t remember anything about him?” Xiao Liu asked another question in a gossipy manner before he was frightened by Ou Renjin’s eye knife and shut his mouth.

Ou Renjin tapped his fingers on his knee, “Do many people think so?”

“Not many, but not few either. For a while, every time you broke up, when people took stock and compared, they would count him in by default.” Ou Renjin’s expression became increasingly displeased, and Xiao Liu smiled sarcastically, “After all, there are still many onlookers who are uninformed.”

Ou Renjin lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while, “When will you arrange another interview for me, preferably one that is a bit more spicy and daring, a bit more attention-catching? I don’t mind being asked about every single one of my exes.

“This kind of topic, the teaser is enough to attract people, use this as an exchange to get our artists some resources.”

Xiao Liu’s heart secretly shouted “fuck!” and he felt a sense of happiness that he had a good show to watch, “Got it, President Ou, I’ll let you know right away.”

He couldn’t wait, and the next moment he pulled out his phone and started making calls. Within the hour they were waiting for the flight, he quickly finalised a spicy and daring online interview, and then covered the microphone and asked Ou Renjin, “They ask when the recording can be scheduled?”

“If their studio has a slot, I can go tomorrow.”

Xiao Liu made an “ok” gesture and told the person on the other side of the phone that tomorrow was the day.

Ou Renjin had compressed the work he had to do on his business trip into one day and came early in the morning to do his make-up for the show. The host of the show was a sexy woman in her 30s, and because it was an online show, she often spoke openly and honestly, asking all sorts of sharp questions.

Before the show started, the host showed him the outline and the questions were indeed set up quite unceremoniously. Ou Renjin waved his hand, unconcerned, and said there were no parts that needed to be changed.

The show was recorded smoothly, and the post-production side worked overtime to add some finishing touches and cut a teaser, which was released together with the current episode the next day. A teaser video was less than a minute, but in two hours, the number of views instantly exceeded the total number of the past three episodes of the show. One couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that Ou Renjin was indeed a big shot in the entertainment industry who could combine the title of a celebrity with the title of a boyfriend.

The very first words the video started with were explosive as the female host tilted her head towards Ou Renjin with a very impish smile, “Apart from Ou Shaowen, which of the four exes do you like the most?”

Ou Renjin crossed his hands and rested them on his lap, and answered frankly, “If I had to choose, it would be Xiao Yao.”

“Everyone thinks it’s Qi Shuyang. After all, you have been with him the longest, and you often visited him in the practice room and took him out for dinner or something.

“Then let’s add Ou Shaowen, which one of the five do you like best?”

“With him then there’s no ‘best’, there is ‘only’. If he’s in the selection, I only like him.”

“Wow.” The hostess let out an exaggerated gasp.

“Also, there are all those legends that Li Zhongming was your first love at the university, is it true?”

“What?” Ou Renjin raised his eyebrows in surprise, “I never had a relationship when I was at the university, how could I have a first love? My first partner’s name was… Liu… what was it again?”

“Liu Changran?”

“Yes, if you have to say it, he can be regarded as my first love.”

“As a result, you don’t even remember the name of this person?”

The video stopped abruptly here, marking the broadcast time of the next episode and then ended with the black screen.

The one-minute video instantly spread across major entertainment websites, with everyone dying to interpret Ou Renjin’s answers frame by frame, analyse his expressions and figure out his psychology.

“Damn, is it that exciting?”

“When will the episode be released? It’s not like all the highlights are in the trailer, is it?”

“I told you that Li Zhongming has been rubbing the heat off Ou Renjin all this time. He set himself up as some kind of white moonlight, as fresh as a chrysanthemum. He can’t even compare with Liu Changran, who was a genuine First Aunt, and he is not qualified for sticking in.”

“A small sample is quite sweet. Our little brother Shaowen is too naïve. Is he going to be cheated to death?”

“I told you that Xiao Yao had the highest favorability rate with Ou Renjin. He even helped to promote Xiao Yao’s work last time. Qi Shuyang? Forget it, never mentioned his name after the break-up.”

“What do you mean he only likes him if he is in the selection? The youth of the previous four Aunts was fed to dogs.”

“This means that the previous ones were all canaries, but this one is true love, what is there not to understand?”

“President Ou’s style is refreshing, and he is experienced in the thrill of attacking and controlling. Such a scumbag, but so cool.”

“Don’t scold President Ou, how many delicious melons has he provided us with? We should cherish him.”

Ou Shaowen didn’t see this video at first. The next day, he worked with his vocal teacher. When he took a break to drink water, he saw the heads of his teammates huddled together, surrounding the mobile phone, looking at something.

“I told you the rumours of the first love were false.”

“Ou Renjin is still pretty fucking bold.”

Ou Shaowen was too sensitive to this name, so he instantly jumped over with glowing eyes, “What are you guys looking at?”

“Watching your husband’s interview, wait a minute, we’ll give it to you when we’re done.” The short teaser was already over, and his teammates stood up purposefully, “Here, here, take it and watch it.”

Ou Shaowen pursed his lips and blushed a little as he took the phone, “He’s not my husband, he’s just a boyfriend.”

He clicked on the video and watched it intently, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curling up into a smile halfway through.

Ou Renjin had never concealed his past, and the Weibo posts of his exes had not been deleted even now.

Ou Shaowen naturally did not care about that, and never asked such pretentious questions as whether he liked him more than his exes. Ou Renjin did not need to like him more, as long as he belonged to him now, could be with him, play with him, go out for dinner, buy him gifts, say nice things, let him kiss and let him hug, and make him happy.

Still, hearing him say such things, calling him without hesitation the most special existence, “only like him”, made Ou Shaowen’s mood soar up instantly, as if he got a gift that had arrived unexpectedly.

“Here you go.” He handed the phone back with a smile.

“This video is not just gratifying, isn’t it a little uncomfortable to hear President Ou call his ex first love or something?”

Ou Shaowen shook his head cheerfully, “No, I’m very happy today, I’m treating you guys to a delicious meal after training.”

On the day the show came out, some people were so anxious that they started posting the countdown to the show early in the morning.

Ou Shaowen was recording a variety show with his teammates at the time. He paid special attention to the release time of the episode. He had just finished recording and was bowing to the staff in the studio. His hand was already in his pocket and ready to take out his mobile phone. He tried his best to resist his desire to finish the final greetings quickly and almost trotted back to the nanny car, breathed a sigh of relief, took out his mobile phone and clicked on the video that had been released not long ago.

Ou Renjin was dressed in a suit, not much different from his usual self. Perhaps it was the lighting at the recording studio that made him look so good, but Ou Shaowen was staring at his face and suddenly felt his heart beat a little faster.

The female host was asking, “I think you know that there has been quite a lot of criticism about you. One thing that netizens are concerned about is: were you genuinely in love with each of your boyfriends when you were together?”

Ou Renjin pursed his lips and tilted his head, “To be honest, no.”

Seemingly not expecting him to be so blunt, the host widened her eyes slightly, “Then how would you define your relationship? Was it really… like the netizens say?”

“I’m a person who is a bit afraid of being lonely and a bit enjoys being cared for and courted, so I like to pick someone who is eye-catching and give him the status of being able to care for me in a proper way.” Ou Renjin spread his hands with a typical expression of a scum gong, fearless and unrepentant.

This was indeed one of the reasons why he kept changing boyfriends before. As for the more scummy and shady reasons, he filled every corner of the villa with surveillance, set up scripts and watched people act in them for his pleasure. If such facts were known, he would surely be scolded, so it would be better if he was the only one who knew.

When you think about it, all these emotions seemed to be a long time in the past.

The host heard such an explanation for the first time in her life and was rather speechless.

“So you just enjoy being loved and don’t love them?” The host changed her pose and smoothly asked the next question, “Then I would like to ask you, apart from Ou Shaowen, which of the four exes do you like the most?”

This was the part that had appeared in the teaser.

Ou Renjin, however, didn’t answer directly like in the teaser and shook his head first, “When I was with any of them at first, I definitely had a bit of good feelings for them, but in terms of liking them, I can’t really talk about any of them.”

“Eh, with all due respect, you’re a bit of a scumbag.”

Ou Renjin smiled, looking even scummier, “If I had to choose, it would be Xiao Yao.”

“Everyone thinks it’s Qi Shuyang. After all, you have been with him the longest, and you often visited him in the practice room and took him out for dinner or something.”

“Him…” Ou Renjin’s voice trailed off, “Maybe it’s a personality mismatch. He’s a bit too innocent, dooming you to be unable to discuss some things in a more reciprocal and serious manner.”

He paused, not continuing, and shook his head gently, “I’ve been with him the longest, probably because he acted like he loved me the most, and although it’s wrong to say this, didn’t I just say? I kinda enjoy being loved.”