Gu Weichen: What exactly was I fantasizing about?
"Thank you, President Gu. Hic. If there's nothing else, hic, I'll get going. Hic, hic, hic..."
Gu Weichen watched Shen Xuanrun walk away with a look of utter disbelief, Shen Xuanrun's distinct hiccups echoing through the empty corridor.
Gu Weichen walked down the stairs with a pained expression.
No one noticed Jiang Yi hiding in another corner, holding his phone and photographing the scene from earlier.
Ever since Jiang Yi learned that the investor was Gu Weichen, he had been scheming about how to approach him. Even though Gu Weichen had looked at him darkly at the dinner table earlier, he remembered never having offended Gu Weichen, so he assumed he had seen it wrong.
Although Gu Weichen's main company had only just relocated from overseas to China, he had wielded considerable influence in China even while abroad. Moving to China would only increase that influence.
If he could win Gu Weichen's appreciation, he could advance further in the entertainment industry. So he had been secretly following Gu Weichen, planning to find an opportunity to approach him. That was how he saw the scene in the stairwell and hurriedly took out his phone to photograph it.
Shen Xuanrun, what makes you worthy of catching Gu Weichen's eye? Just that face of yours? I can't touch Gu Weichen, but you think I can't touch you? Jiang Yi thought darkly.
When Gu Weichen walked out of the actors' lodgings, director Cheng Hao hurried over.
"President Gu, what do you think?" Cheng Hao gazed eagerly at the walking moneybags before him.
Gu Weichen was silent for a moment, then said coldly,
"I can give you some additional funding to hire cleaners and thoroughly clean the stairs, especially the water in the corner. And remember to buy a better sound system."
After saying that, Gu Weichen left, his expression as cold as ever. Only his eyes, slightly hidden beneath his lashes, revealed profound bewilderment.
Cheng Hao watched Gu Weichen walk away in confusion. Cleaners? A sound system?
Still, whatever. If President Gu was willing to spend money, why overthink it? He cheerfully went to watch them test the equipment. Just as he reached the sound engineer, he heard him roar again,
"This lousy sound system! Sooner or later, I'm going to smash it!"
Cheng Hao... I think I get it now. But didn't President Gu never go to look at the equipment? The fool was puzzled.
The next day, Shen Xuanrun woke to Little Li knocking on his door. After a quick wash, he opened the door and saw Little Li wearing a strange expression.
"Mr. Shen, Sister Chen wants you to take her call."
Shen Xuanrun picked up the phone on the table and pressed it. No response. Apparently, the battery was dead. He plugged it into the charger and saw several missed calls from Sister Chen.
Shen Xuanrun waited five minutes for the phone to charge before unplugging it and calling Sister Chen.
"Sister Chen, what's wrong?" Shen Xuanrun asked in confusion.
"Um... have you checked Weibo this morning?" Sister Chen asked hesitantly.
"No. What happened on Weibo?" Shen Xuanrun asked in confusion.
"You're trending. Someone posted rumors about you and... President Gu, saying you're clinging to Gu Weichen for support." Sister Chen indicated that, actually, she was panicking too.
Trending? Romance rumors?! Gu Weichen?!! Clinging to him?!!! One sentence shocked Shen Xuanrun four times.
"But the public reaction isn't bad right now, so don't worry too much. Our PR team can just put out a statement explaining things later," Sister Chen reassured him.
"...Okay," Shen Xuanrun said woodenly.
"But keep an eye on the people in your production crew. Those photos were obviously taken on set. It looks like someone's out to get you," Sister Chen instructed in a grim voice.
Shen Xuanrun immediately thought of Jiang Yi.
Aside from Jiang Yi, no one in this production crew bore him that much hostility.
"Okay, I think I know."
"There's nothing else for now. Take a look at Weibo when you have time. Although it's a romance rumor, it's still some decent traffic, and the public reaction... is pretty good too. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up." Sister Chen hung up after saying that.
Shen Xuanrun picked up the charger on the table and plugged his phone in, intending to let it charge for a while. Then he went downstairs to eat with a blank expression. Right now, he needed breakfast to calm down first.
Romance rumors? With a man?! With me!!!
Little Li looked at the composed Shen Xuanrun and marveled, Mr. Shen is amazing. Something like this happened, and he's still so calm.
Shen Xuanrun: Would you believe me if I said I was actually panicking?
After mechanically finishing breakfast, Shen Xuanrun returned to his bedroom with the same blank expression. He picked up the phone on the table, unlocked it, opened Weibo, and shakily tapped the search button. The third trending topic that appeared was #Shen Xuanrun clinging to powerful backers#, marked "Explosive," and the second was #Shen Xuanrun and Gu Weichen#, marked "Boiling."
Shen Xuanrun's gaze trembled too.
Still trembling, Shen Xuanrun tapped the third trending topic.
A well-known gossip account: #Exclusive: Shen Xuanrun joined a production and threw himself into an investor's arms on the spot to seduce him, deliberately pretending to fall into his embrace. He truly will stop at nothing to get famous.#
Attached below were several secretly taken photos from the corner, showing him falling into President Gu's arms in the stairwell.
But surprisingly, no one in the comments was piling on. Instead, they were all...
Shen Xuanrun scrolled down in confusion and finally found some written comments among the masses of speechless ellipses.
Years in the Bay: ...
Never Lose, Never Forget: So does this brainless gossip account genuinely not know that Shen Xuanrun is the future heir to Shen Entertainment Company?
Eternal Regret in Love's Heaven: ...
The Ring Finger's Wait: ...
One Dream Lasting Three or Four Years: Dear brainless gossip account, sorry, you can call Shen Xuanrun a pretty face, or you can call him a zombie face, but saying he's clinging to powerful backers? I'm really sorry, but I just can't bring myself to bash him.
I'm Useless at Naming: Dear brainless gossip account, Shen Xuanrun really is... This is outrageous. How could he... Sorry, I really can't make anything else up. All I can see is that gleaming patch of floor. It looks like there's water on it (points accusingly).
No Screen Names Left: ...
Make Up Another One: Let me break the pattern again. According to this brainless gossip account's scoop, Shen Xuanrun is going to be filming something? Does this gossip account have to stir things up and smear Shen Xuanrun right now? Can't they wait until Shen Xuanrun's drama starts filming before bashing him?
Shen Xuanrun... Where are your manners?
Shen Xuanrun achieved enlightenment amid that pile of speechless ellipses. Oh-ho, that's right! I'm a capitalist myself! ✺◟(∗❛ัᴗ❛ั∗)◞✺
Meanwhile, Jiang Yi, who had been watching the internet the whole time, was practically grinding his teeth to pieces. He had actually forgotten Shen Xuanrun's identity and spent money handing him a trending topic for free.
Shen Xuanrun exited the third trending topic and tapped the second without the slightest psychological burden (that was how confident he was).
An unknown netizen: #I'm not like that brainless gossip account. Everyone, look at the photo below. Don't they look like a couple? Any girlies who feel the same way? Come on in and swoon over them with me! Aloof dreamboat President Gu and his gentle little wife, Shen Xuanrun~(￣▽￣~)~#
Shen Xuanrun: !!!(ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻