Chapter 143 Hypocrisy, Really Awkward

translator: Eve

The people in the audience exchanged looks. Some people even shifted their heads closer together to whisper in astonished tones.

The host didn’t expect to hear a reply like this but she couldn’t let the awkward silence continue out of professionalism. She smiled and pretended to be excited. “Film Emperor Xue has always had a good sense of humour, as evident by what we’ve seen today.”

Song Xuanhe’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he met Xue Mian’s gaze. He could see the seriousness and provocation in the other’s eyes.

“Song shao,” Xue Mian smiled, a deeper meaning hidden in his eyes, “What do you think?”

Song Xuanhe raised a brow. As expected of Film Emperor Xue, who had an outstanding family background and who only entered the entertainment industry for fun. If it were any other celebrity, he would take it as them trying to get more publicity by saying this. No celebrity would dared to gamble their careers over someone so out of their league. Even if the celebrity was brave enough to do it, their companies and managers would stop them. It was clear to see that Xue Mian was serious.

However, Song Xuanhe wasn’t angry. There was a complicated feeling in his heart.

It was probably because Xue Mian was the only person who was deeply attached to Xiao Yuanmu, whether it was in the original novel or reality. As for the other pursuers, they could be split into two groups: either Song Xuanhe didn’t know whether they had met Xiao Yuanmu yet, or they were simply coworkers, pure friends or business partners.

When Song Xuanhe thought of this, he became distracted. He couldn’t help but ask the System：【Xiao Yuanmu has seven pursuers in the book. From what I’ve seen so far, Xue Mian is the only one who’s really tried to court him. The rest of them are definitely not interested in him. Forget Guan Zhi and Wei Chen, Yu Yan is entangled with Zhou Nan and shows absolutely no interest in Xiao Yuanmu. As for Hoffman and Zhang Siwei, they’re just business partners. Who’s the last one? Has he met Xiao Yuanmu yet?】

The System said：【It’s normal for your appearance to have changed many things. Everyone, including Xue Mian, fell for Xiao Yuanmu when he was single. You’ve been with Xiao Yuanmu all this time. Even if you’re not in the same country, everyone knows that you’re together. Naturally, people aren’t going to go after the boss who’s already taken. As for the last person, he was actually the first one to meet Xiao Yuanmu. You’ve also been in contact with him.】

Song Xuanhe paused.【What do you mean by that?】

The host thought that Song Xuanhe was angry when he didn’t respond to Xue Mian’s question. Regardless of whether it was Film Emperor Xue, who everyone in the industry knew had a powerful background, or Song Xuanhe, who she couldn’t afford to provoke even if he wasn’t dating Xiao Yuanmu, she didn’t dare to offend either one of them. All she could do was feign surprise as she shifted the topic. “Song shao, it seems like you really didn’t come here for Film Emperor Xue’s sake. It seems like our investor, Mr. Song, really believes that this movie will do well.”

“Hahahaha, right, right, right. He is very confident in this movie of mine. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have decided to invest after seeing the script.”

Huang Cong, who had realized that the atmosphere was odd for a while now, spoke up at once. He was the same as the host—he couldn’t offend Xue Mian or Song Xuanhe. However, he was closer to Song Xuanhe, who he thought had a good eye for talent. Furthermore, there were few people who had more impressive backgrounds as Song Xuanhe. That’s why he had decided to stand on Song Xuanhe’s side if anything were to happen.

It was clear, however, that the host was a quick-thinker and intended to skip over this. Being able to avoid offending both parties would be the best case scenario.

Huang Cong’s dark, round face had a smile on it as he tried to mediate the situation. “You guys think that he’s joking but he’s been confident of my film for a long time. I wasn’t confident at first. It was Song shao who gave me confidence.”

“I see!” After that incident, the host didn’t dare ask too much about unrelated things. She promptly followed along with Huang Cong’s words: “Mr. Song, can you tell us about your opinion of the movie?”

Song Xuanhe smiled. “I already told you my opinion. I thought that this script had good prospects. I also believe in Director Huang’s abilities. I am thus confident in the movie’s box office performance.”

“Hahahahahaha, I used to think that Song shao was just joking. It seems like our film really will do well!” The host didn’t dare to probe for more details. She promptly stood up and returned to the stage. She then asked Xue Mian, “Film Emperor Xue, I remember that you’ve been working overseas recently. Why did you return to China to accept this role?”

Xue Mian’s smile was gentle. “Probably because Song shao and I are interested in the same things.”

The venue fell silent. At this time, everyone could tell that Xue Mian hadn’t been joking. But no one knew why he was brave enough to public ally announce that he liked another person’s boyfriend. His earlier words could have been cut out or treated as a joke. But now that he’s said this, his company would have to pay a big price to cover it up.

——The media was willing to make up groundless rumours for attention. Now, they had proof. Even if the mainstream media outlets on scene were able to control this, it would be difficult to prevent other people from speaking or monitor other people’s recordings. Furthermore, aside from the media outlets and investors, they had also invited other people into the audience. The people who constitute the audience were not ordinary people. They would not necessarily yield in the face of Xue Mian’s company.

To sum it up, everyone here thought Xue Mian had gone insane.

Song Xuanhe, however, wasn’t surprised that Xue Mian would say something like this. The first time Xue Mian had met Xiao Yuanmu, he had known that he was dating Song Xuanhe. He had not hidden his interest in Xiao Yuanmu despite that. After he went to America, he set up frequent encounters with the other man without any care of anyone’s opinions. He did what he wanted.

Xue Mian had also done a lot for the sake of winning Xiao Yuanmu in the book. One of which was leaving the entertainment world and going home to take over his family’s company. He wanted to be able to help Xiao Yuanmu out.

Xue Mian seemed like he was gentle, serene and easy to interact with. But actually, he was the type of person who would be undaunted by anything as long as it was for the sake of the person he liked. It was within Song Xuanhe’s expectations for him to say such a thing in front of all these people and for him to eventually leave the entertainment industry.

The host weighed her words carefully because she didn’t know what Xue Mian wanted to do. Furthermore, she didn’t know what Song Xuanhe, who had been silent all this time, was thinking. She was afraid of offending one of them if she were to accidentally say the wrong thing.

Huang Cong was cursing Xue Mian inwardly, however, for not considering their current situation. When they had been filming, he had been passionate about the film and had been professional the whole time, not putting up any airs. He had also been really easy to get along with. Huang Cong had never expected that he would screw up so close to the end.

Furthermore, did Xue Mian have any clue just who he was offending? Even without Xiao Yuanmu, Song Xuanhe’s family was not any worse off compared to the Xue Family. Now, there was Xiao Yuanmu. Huang Cong had been able to see how much Xiao Yuanmu liked Song Xuanhe with one look the one time they had met. The two of them were in love but Xue Mian was insistent on coming between them. When the big shot decided to shut out Xue Mian in anger, would his film still be able to air?

As he thought of this, Huang Cong’s determination to hug Song Xuanhe’s thighs strengthened. He was about to speak up for Song Xuanhe when he heard Song Xuanhe say, “I don’t think that’s the case.”

Everyone except Xue Mian held their breath upon hearing Song Xuanhe’s unclear worlds. Some small reporters who had snuck in also pulled out their phones, intending to record this scene donw. They had already thought up of their headlines: A rich young master and a film emperor have a cat fight over this man?!

It didn’t matter whether their headline was in poor taste or not. As long as they paired it with photos of Song Xuanhe and Xue Mian, it would be a huge scoop.

Just as they thought that Song Xiao Shaoye, who was rumoured to be extremely overbearing and arrogant, was about to tear into Film Emperor Xue, all they heard him say was, “If our taste is similar, you should have worn clothes by my studio today. Would you be interested in accepting an endorsement by my studio? I think that your aura would fit my new seasonal collection very well.”

Huang Cong, who was waiting for the opportunity to help Song Xuanhe out: ….

The media who were secretly anticipating a big scoop: ….

Xue Mian, who was prepared to face Song Xuanhe’s anger: …

It was one thing for a fight to nearly break out at an official premiere, but why did it suddenly turn into a business deal?

“I…” Xue Mian opened his mouth. He really didn’t expect for Song Xuanhe to not follow the rules of common sense. His ‘I’ trailed on for a few seconds but he couldn’t come up with an appropriate reply. His gaze towards Song Xuanhe became complicated. About ten seconds later, he continued, “I can’t make the decision on my own now. But I will mention it to my company.”

“Sure.” Song Xuanhe nodded. “We can talk then.”

Everyone was stupefied when they saw that the two people, who had seemed to have their swords drawn, were really talking about work.

The host, who had learned her lesson, reacted the quickest. She quickly flashed a smile and said, “Film Emperor Xue and Mr. Song both seem to love their jobs very much. But we’re here today to talk about the movie that will be premiering. Let’s return to the main topic….”

The host continued to speak while Xue Mian examined Song Xuanhe in the audience. He swallowed down his words and rescinded the emotion in his eyes as he replied to the host’s questions. Everything returned to normal….

After the premiere, Song Xuanhe and Huang Cong chatted for a while. Xue Mian then walked over after the conversation started to die down. He raised his glass to Song Xuanhe and said, “Song shao, let’s talk.”

Huang Cong glanced at Xue Mian and then looked at Song Xuanhe. After seeing Song Xuanhe nodding, he tactfully left.

“About Xiao Yuanmu?”

Song Xuanhe didn’t need to guess what Xue Mian wanted to say. He went straight to the point.

“Yes,” Xue Mian replied. “I really like Xiao Yuanmu, more than I ever thought I could. Until the two of you marry, I will fight you fair and square.”

Song Xuanhe raised a brow. “Fair and square? Can you even meet with him?”

Xue Mian fell silent. An emotion Song Xuanhe didn’t understand flickered through his eyes. “I will be quitting the entertainment industry soon. My family’s company has a cooperative agreement with a subsidiary company under the Xiao Family. I will naturally have the chance to meet him in the future.”

Eve: Once again, lighting a candle for Xue Mian…. You don’t even stand a chance and are just wasting your time.