Ch.93 – The Star Around The Sun

When Yuan Qian sobered up the next morning, she appeared like nothing had happened and only smiled as she greeted Xia Xingcheng.

But Zhu Tianjie was rather troublesome. 

Xia Xingcheng was originally someone who loved making friends. If Zhu Tianjie simply wanted to be friends with him, then it was fine for the two of them to be close. Yet Zhu Tianjie’s goal was obviously not so simple. Xia Xingcheng felt very uncomfortable when interacting with him; as long as he could find an excuse, he would avoid being alone with the man as much as possible.

However, Zhu Tianjie never clearly expressed his attitude either, only his words and attitude were ambiguous. Even if Xia Xingcheng rejected him, he didn’t know how he should reject him. 

After this went on for several days, when they were all sitting around on the set during a break one day, Zhu Tianjie approached Xia Xingcheng’s side and pointed at the tattoo above his collarbone, asking, “What does this tattoo mean?”

Xia Xingcheng stepped back a little and said, “It’s the sun, moon, and stars. I just thought that it embodied my name.”

Zhu Tianjie smiled as he said, “It’s pretty.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “Thank you.”

Zhu Tianjie bent at the waist and stared at him from a slightly lower angle, slowly saying, “When I saw you in that sling dress the other day, this tattoo happened to show under the strap. I thought it was really sexy.”

Xia Xingcheng tensed up slightly. 

Zhu Tianjie didn’t seem to notice. He said, “You’ll wear that dress again later on, right?”

Xia Xingcheng answered, “There’s still the location shooting.”

Zhu Tianjie nodded. “Although the styling wasn’t that good, you looked pretty good in that dress and your legs were white and straight. What’s more, when we were shooting, I also felt that.” 

Xia Xingcheng looked towards him. “What?”

Zhu Tianjie let out a laugh. “We both understand that.”

Xia Xingcheng genuinely didn’t. He said to Zhu Tianjie, “I really don’t get it, Jie ge.”

Just as Zhu Tianjie was about to say something, the assistant director came over and told him to get ready to film, so he got up and shot a smile at Xia Xingcheng before walking away. 

Xia Xingcheng didn’t know what he had done during the filming of that scene to make Zhu Tianjie say such a thing to him—all he could recall was that he had rolled around on the floor in a dress and took the utmost caution to avoid pressing too closely against Zhu Tianjie. 

That night, he didn’t reply to the WeChat message Zhu Tianjie sent him. He thought it would be better to make his attitude towards Zhu Tianjie clear. But at the same time, he also knew that it was bound to offend Zhu Tianjie. When mingling with the entertainment industry, the more friends you have, the better, and it wasn’t good to offend anyone.

But when it came to feelings, an unclear relationship was even more troublesome.

He gave Zhu Tianjie the cold shoulder for two days. They happened to not have any scenes together and also didn’t see each other. 

However, no one expected that something would happen on the third day. 

Xia Xingcheng and Yuan Qian had just joined the group who were eating out for dinner that night. When the two of them left the restaurant after they finished eating, they took a moment to have a private conversation in Yuan Qian’s nanny car. 

This incident originally happened more than a month ago, yet unexpectedly, they were photographed by the paparazzi. What’s more, it was paired with a sensationalized caption on Weibo: “Unable to withstand the emptiness following her divorce, all kinds of male idols continuously surrounded Yuan Qian. Recently, she was photographed exiting a restaurant with Xia Xingcheng. The two people got into a completely sealed up car one after another and, in a world exclusive to the two of them, they spent twenty minutes inside before Xia Xingcheng got out alone.”

Xia Xingcheng’s mind was muddled the instant he scrolled through the news on Weibo. His phone rang immediately after, and it was a call from Huang Jixin. 

He could only answer the phone, immediately hearing Huang Jixin say, “Don’t respond. Don’t say anything yet. The studio will issue a statement.”

Xia Xingcheng uttered an “Mm”, his voice a little hoarse. “I didn’t even know we were photographed secretly at that time.” Fortunately, Huang Jixin had been there that day, and he knew what went on between him and Yuan Qian.

Huang Jixin sounded fine, neither angry nor particularly nervous. “The paparazzi was following Yuan Qian. You know how she’s always involved in scandals. It’s also my fault, I should’ve reminded you. Even if it wasn’t anything improper, you should maintain a little distance from Yuan Qian in public. These paparazzi and marketing accounts always love posting gossip about her online, and none of them are ever nice to hear.”

Xia Xingcheng raised a hand and grabbed at his hair somewhat anxiously.

Huang Jixin said, “Don’t take the comments on the internet to heart. If you can’t stand it, then don’t read them. I contacted Yuan Qian’s agent and both studios will issue a statement together and then find some marketing accounts to say that it’s for movie promos. The heat will definitely not go down, we’ll just make sure those netizens aren’t led astray by one side.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “You’ve worked hard.”

Huang Jixin was unused to hearing Xia Xingcheng thank him in such a serious manner and said a few more words to comfort him. “It’s nothing, when the next big news breaks, no one will remember yours.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “I’m fine.”

After he hung up, he still opened Weibo to look at the popular posts under the hot search, and the first comment he saw on Weibo was: “Less than twenty minutes? Xia Xingcheng is no good.”

Xia Xingcheng knew perfectly well how internet comments were, yet it still influenced his mood. 

The comments underneath were of his fans’ vehement denials, cursing the paparazzi, spewing insults at Yuan Qian and saying she had loose morals. Still, a great deal of the netizens were bystanders with no horse in the race who were only eating melons, their tongues endlessly wagging at the entertainment industry’s newest scandal. 

Xia Xingcheng saw his and Yuan Qian’s names side by side on the top of the hot search list, a bright red “Trending” next to it. Shortly afterwards, Yang Youming followed them onto the hot search, mainly due to his relationship with Yuan Qian. 

Even now, there were still a lot of Yang Youming fans attacking Yuan Qian, believing that she was unworthy of Yang Youming. 

Yuan Qian herself didn’t go on Weibo; she didn’t need to take a stand either. Xia Xingcheng also exited Weibo after a while, lying all depressed on the large hotel bed. 

Later on, both Xia Xingcheng and Yuan Qian’s studios issued statements one after another, saying that the two of them were only having a chat as ordinary friends, and that they would hold rumour-mongers accountable through legal channels. 

And yet the topic’s popularity on the internet did not die down at all; the lively bystanders were still discussing spiritedly. Those who were determined not to believe it didn’t believe it, and those who believed it, believed it.

During filming the next day, Xia Xingcheng sensed that the atmosphere in the entire set wasn’t quite right. The staff members wouldn’t talk about it in his presence, yet perhaps they were all discussing this matter in private. 

Conversely, Yuan Qian appeared indifferent, only speaking a mere sentence when she saw Xia Xingcheng: “They were following me to take sneak shots, I’m sorry you got involved.”

Xia Xingcheng didn’t know what to say either, so he only said, “It’s all right.”

After all, the photos didn’t capture them in any intimate positions, and the topic’s popularity would slowly fall overtime.

Xia Xingcheng tried to contain his emotions as much as possible, not wanting others to see it. 

While waiting to film, Xia Xingcheng went to the toilet.

As soon as he pushed open the toilet door, he found that Zhu Tianjie was urinating inside. He was the only person in the toilet, and several cubicle doors were wide open. 

For a split second, Xia Xingcheng wanted to avoid him, but Zhu Tianjie had already caught sight of him, and he had no choice but to keep pushing the door open and walk in.

The toilet wasn’t all that big. There was only an exhaust fan rotating laboriously above, emitting a whirring noise. 

Xia Xingcheng called out, “Jie ge.”

Zhu Tianjie, however, merely swept a glance over him and didn’t respond. 

Xia Xingcheng didn’t take his attitude to heart, watching Zhu Tianjie finish urinating, pull his pants up, and go over to the sink to wash his hands before he walked over to the urinal. 

But Zhu Tianjie didn’t leave after washing his hands. He leaned against the sink and fished out a cigarette from his pocket. Just as he was about to stuff it into his mouth, he stopped again and said to Xia Xingcheng who was walking towards him, “Want a smoke?”

Xia Xingcheng said, “Thank you, I don’t smoke.” After, he stuck out his hands under the automatic faucet. 

Zhu Tianjie thus lit his own cigarette and said to Xia Xingcheng, “Why are you still pretending with me, Xingcheng?”

Xia Xingcheng immediately turned to him. “Pretending what?” 

Zhu Tianjie sneered. He was still in his movie get-up, looking refined and upright with glasses on. He said, “How does it feel to sleep with Yuan Qian?” 

Xia Xingcheng’s brows narrowed, yet before he could say that there was nothing going on between him and Yuan Qian, he heard Zhu Tianjie say, “I know you definitely didn’t like it. Sleeping with a man feels better, right?”  

Xia Xingcheng looked at him mutely.

Zhu Tianjie took the cigarette in his hand, his expression somewhat pitying. “In fact, I really quite liked you, I thought you were genuinely good, but it all turned out to be an act.”

Xia Xingcheng inhaled deeply, trying to control his emotions. He said, “Jie ge, you’ve misunderstood.”

Zhu Tianjie laughed with a shake of his head. “I wasn’t wrong about you liking men?”

Xia Xingcheng denied it without a second thought. “I don’t like men.”

Zhu Tianjie leaned against the sink, one knee slightly bent. “I can see these things accurately, it’s fine if you don’t admit it. I just think that since you can keep Yuan Qian company in bed, then I can also say this straight–why don’t you come to me ah. What Yuan Qian can help you with, perhaps I can too.”

From what had happened yesterday until now, Xia Xingcheng had been trying to keep his emotions from exploding, and right then, he was still trying to preserve his last bit of poise. “Jie ge, I think we should respect each other a little.” 

“Respect.” Zhu Tianjie was somehow enraged–perhaps because he’d been given the cold-shoulder by Xia Xingcheng for several days. His fury was vented out all at once. “So you have to act like this in front of me, huh? Where did your respect go when you were having car sex with Yuan Qian? I gave you face, didn’t I?”

Xia Xingcheng looked at him, his face going cold. “Who I sleep with is my own business. There’s no need for you to give me face, I have no use for it anyway!” 

He watched as Zhu Tianjie’s expression darkened. 

When he came out of the cramped and stuffy toilet, there was a split second where Xia Xingcheng regretted it. He felt that he shouldn’t have offended Zhu Tianjie, but at that moment, all he wanted was to counter Zhu Tianjie with the nastiest words.

Xia Xingcheng raised his hand to rub his face but abruptly remembered that he had makeup on and they were about to start filming. 

The only thing that he could be glad about was the fact that Zhu Tianjie’s scenes would be finished in the next two days and he’d be leaving the crew soon. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have the chance to meet again in the future. 

The author has something to say:
Ming ge will appear soon, I promise.

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – i miss yang youming :c

⟵ Chapter 92 | TOC | Chapter 94 ⟶