QWAPMP Chapter 42
by VolareInside the private room, Xu Xuecai and Qu Jinghong sat facing each other. On the table was a fruit plate and a bottle of high-end foreign wine.
Xue Xuecai poured a glass for Qu Jinghong across from her and said with a smile, “I underestimated Song Xi.”
She never expected that Chu Fang, who went to great lengths to get the endorsement, would end up losing it to a nobody she always looked down on. This was truly an unexpected twist.
Qu Jinghong took a sip of the wine she poured, his voice cold. “Even if he gets this endorsement, it doesn’t mean he’ll become hugely popular!”
An actor without any notable works, how can he even be called an actor?
Xu Xuecai smiled but didn’t speak. Like Qu Jinghong, she was unwilling and didn’t want Song Xi to do too well in this circle.
Otherwise, the two of them wouldn’t be here today.
Not long after, the private room door was pushed open, and a woman in a bright red dress with long, wavy hair walked in.
Xu Xuecai and Qu Jinghong exchanged glances first, then Qu Jinghong spoke, “Chu Hui, long time no see.” After the filming of Luosha Ling wrapped, the three of them hadn’t met again.
Chu Hui put down her handbag, her eyes arrogant with a hint of annoyance, and raised her chin. “Brother Qu, why did you think of inviting me to eat today?”
Evidently, Chu Hui intentionally ignored Xu Xuecai beside her and didn’t greet her.
Xu Xuecai’s expression didn’t change much, but a hint of mockery flashed in her eyes.
“It’s just that we haven’t seen each other for a long time, and since we’re all in A City, I thought we’d get together for a meal,” Qu Jinghong said with a gentle, warm smile, as if he was being sincere.
Chu Hui hadn’t spoken yet, when he continued, “I originally wanted to invite Song Xi, but I couldn’t reach him. Oh, right, Chu Hui…” Qu Jinghong seemed to remember something and suddenly opened Weibo. “Both Xuecai and I reposted the Weibo and @-ed Song Xi. It seems you haven’t @-ed him. I wonder if you…”
His words were vague but clearly hinting to Chu Hui that Song Xi was no longer a nobody, especially since he snatched a major endorsement from her.
As expected, Chu Hui sneered upon hearing this and leaned back into the sofa. “You want me to @ him? How audacious of him!”
Qu Jinghong gave Xu Xuecai a look.
Xu Xuecai chuckled lightly. “At least it’s a pretty face. Otherwise, how could he get the Bao Sen endorsement? That endorsement was originally supposed to be signed by Fan Sen, but because of his face, it didn’t get signed in the end.”
“What do you mean by that?” Chu Hui asked unwillingly.
Xu Xuecai took a sip of wine and said unhurriedly, “Fan Sen’s face had a small problem, and the person in charge of Bao Sen replaced him. Otherwise, the Bao Sen spokesperson would have been decided long ago.”
Although Fan Sen’s facial problem was a secret, in order to make things difficult for Song Xi, Xu Xuecai didn’t mind revealing a little information to this foolish woman, Chu Hui.
“Are you mocking me for being inferior to Song Xi?” Chu Hui lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and exhaled a ring of smoke.
Xu Xuecai frowned. “I’m just reminding you to face the reality. Instead of making an enemy of Song Xi, why not do as we did, repost the Weibo of Luosha Ling and @ him?”
Chu Hui took a few puffs, then stubbed out the cigarette, brushed back her wavy hair, and smiled chillingly, “I’m inferior to him?”
After asking this question, she saw that neither person on the scene answered, showed a strange smile, and left.
As soon as Chu Hui left, Qu Jinghong’s expression turned cold. “Your provocation was quite effective on her!”
Xu Xuecai smiled without speaking, lowering her head to drink.
Qu Jinghong looked at her, raised his chin, and thought to himself, women are troublesome, and women in the entertainment industry are even more troublesome.
After Song Xi’s Bao Sen endorsement was a trending topic for two days, negative news about him acting like a diva and having poor relationships with his senior colleagues in the crew started spreading.
The news from Yan Group’s public relations department was passed layer by layer to Yan Ye, waiting for his instructions.
Xia Tao suggested that Song Xi should reply to Xu Xuecai and Qu Jinghong’s Weibo, but Yan Ye rejected it.
“Xu Xuecai and Qu Jinghong have already reposted the Weibo before. Tell the people below to find their previous Weibo posts and buy water armies to make that Weibo post trend.”
Xia Tao rarely paid attention to these actors in the entertainment industry and didn’t understand, but he still ordered the people below to do as instructed.
When the Weibo post became a trending topic, Xia Tao saw the fan wars between netizens and fans and finally understood why President Yan didn’t let Song Xi repost Xu Xuecai and Qu Jinghong’s Weibo.
Because at this time, Song Xi reposting Weibo would not be beneficial to him; he might even be accused of being stuck up and ignorant, waiting for seniors to repost and @ him before he knows to @ the seniors back.
But if he didn’t repost, the criticism would only be temporary. Afterward, a large number of fans would feel sorry for him.
For several days in a row, Song Xi’s name was on the trending list. Now, he had to wear a mask and be fully covered when he went out.
The casting results for “Good Friends, Long Time No See” came out, and Song Xi was not selected.
This unfortunate news was delivered personally by the novel’s author.
“Can I know why?” Song Xi asked with regret.
“I’m very grateful that you understood my story, but this story has regrets. If you were to play it, I’m afraid the audience would feel regret for Han Qi in the end.”
Song Xi didn’t understand. “Although I don’t quite understand, I respect your decision.”
After the call ended, Song Xi saw the main cast of “Good Friends, Long Time No See” online.
It was Ning Keran and Mo Xu, plus another actress he didn’t know.
He didn’t see Chu Hui’s name, so it was obvious she wasn’t selected either. Song Xi couldn’t help but curl his lips in a slightly schadenfreude smile.
At Yan Group’s office building, a personal assistant delivered a monitoring video to Yan Ye. The content was exactly the day of the male lead’s engagement.
Yan Ye asked the assistant to leave, opened the video from the engagement day, and watched it for a while. When he saw a sneaky figure at the engagement banquet, a deep look appeared in his indifferent eyes.
Song Xi did not drug the engagement banquet; the drug was placed by his rival, Xue Xuan, and Song Xi accidentally ingested it when he went to find Meng Zhou.
Yan Ye closed the monitoring video and made a backup copy to save.
When he got off work, he saw a person dressed very uniquely downstairs at the company.
Before Yan Ye walked over, that person was already walking towards him. As the secretary was about to make a defensive move, Yan Ye spoke, “Why did you come?”
Song Xi pulled his mask down a little and smiled. “I was just passing by, so I stopped by to pick you up!”
In reality, he had nothing to do and was too bored at home. The company didn’t have any good scripts for him, although there were plenty of ridiculous ones. But Brother Qiao told him to wait and take a good script when one came along.
Yan Ye nodded, his attitude gentle. He took off his hat and naturally held his hand as they walked towards the parking area.
The secretary, seeing their closeness, tactfully left on her own.
At the Song family home, Song Mother worriedly called her youngest son home. “Muhan, can you please help Mom call your brother home?”
This wasn’t the first time Song Mother had asked Song Muhan to call Song Xi home. “Mom, I’ve already asked him to come back, but he’s unwilling,” Song Muhan sighed.
Song Mother’s eyes were slightly red. “Is he Would rather be… unwilling to come home?”
Song Muhan frowned, feeling there was something behind his mother’s words. “Mom, what did you just say?”
Song Mother’s eyes darted away, seemingly nervous. “Nothing. Are you hungry? Mom just made some soup. I’ll bring you a bowl right away.”
“Mom, are you hiding something from me?” Song Muhan’s gaze suddenly became sharp.
Seeing this, Song Mother wiped her eyes and said sadly, “Your brother seems to have been kept.”
Song Muhan’s stern expression cracked for a moment. He looked at his mother in disbelief, doubting if he had heard correctly.
The Song family, how could they be kept by someone? They were one of the four major families in A City.
Song Mother, thinking her youngest son didn’t believe her, recounted the phone call from that morning and finally wiped the corners of her eyes, saying, “Mom knows he hates me for losing him when he was little, but he shouldn’t not respect himself because of that.”
Song Muhan silently looked up at his mother, who was both sad and tired, and for the first time felt that his mother’s words were sharp.
“I know. I’ll find him and ask clearly,” Song Muhan said to Song Mother in a rare solemn voice.
After leaving the Song family home, Song Muhan got into the driver’s seat and didn’t rush to drive away. Instead, he opened his phone’s Weibo and searched for the name Song Xi.
There was an overwhelming amount of information and gossip news, but nothing about Song Xi being kept. For some reason, Song Muhan felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Taking out his phone, Song Muhan hesitated, his finger lingering without pressing the dial button. He wanted to have a good talk with Song Xi again but didn’t know what reason to use.
Ultimately, Song Muhan still didn’t call Song Xi. Instead, he called his secretary and asked if the company had any products needing a spokesperson.
The secretary thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, Little President Song, there is a perfume currently looking for a spokesperson. On your end…”
Song Muhan rubbed his brow and said, “Have the person in charge of finding spokespeople contact Song Xi’s side.”
“Okay, understood, Little President Song,” the secretary said respectfully, without asking further. He only thought that Little President Song was interested in Song Xi’s popularity and intended to find him for the endorsement.
Although he only said “contact,” anyone who understood the situation knew that this meant they were already favoring him. All that was left was to send someone over to speak with Song Xi’s side and make an offer.
These past two days, Yan Ye worked overtime at the company every day, often finishing close to midnight.
This evening, he had just turned off his computer and was still on the phone when he saw a familiar figure walking towards him outside the glass door of his office.
“Thank you. I’ll treat you to a meal another time. I have some things to attend to here, so I won’t bother you anymore,” Yan Ye said with a faint smile, speaking with appropriate politeness, which made the person on the other end of the phone laugh heartily and say “okay” a few times before hanging up.
Song Xi had just pushed open the office door, poking his head in, when Yan Ye happened to put down his phone. He looked up at him with a smile, picked up his jacket from the office chair, and walked towards him. “Let’s go.”
Song Xi nodded, smiling sweetly, and naturally offered a hand for Yan Ye to hold.
At this hour, all the staff in the Yan Group building had already left, so he wasn’t afraid of being seen by anyone.
Song Xi thought boldly, feeling bad that Yan Ye worked overtime every day, but also really liking the process of picking him up, because only this way could he and Yan Ye be like a normal couple.
Yan Ye had worked overtime for several days in a row. Song Xi, having no announcements during these days, thought he had nothing to do and came to pick him up every day.
Yan Ye saw that he liked picking him up from work, so he let him.
Until the fifth day, Yan Ye told Song Xi not to come pick him up anymore. Song Xi immediately showed a disappointed expression, saying “okay” but with eyes full of disappointment.
“Let’s go,” Yan Ye suddenly said, and ruffled the stunned person’s head.
Song Xi was still distracted by the fact that he didn’t need to pick up Yan Ye from work. Upon hearing the words, he nodded with an “oh” and walked a couple of steps like a puppet on strings. Casually, he noticed Yan Ye’s attire and realized he wasn’t wearing a suit today.
Song Xi looked up blankly. President Yan in casual wear was also very charming, making one’s gaze linger on him for a while.
“Where are we going?” Song Xi belatedly remembered that Yan Ye had just said “let’s go” and immediately asked anxiously.
“Didn’t I promise you a honeymoon after I got back from my business trip?”
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