Inside the office.
Wu Jiangyuan sat in a swivel chair, looking languid.
He still felt rather unwell and had not slept properly, leaving him drowsy.
"Wu Jiangyuan!"
The loud rebuke dragged his half-asleep soul back to reality. Wu Jiangyuan looked at the man approaching him and greeted him lazily. "Good morning, He Qu~"
"Wu Jiangyuan, are you still half asleep?"
He Qu sneered and, wasting no more words, tossed the tablet in his hand onto the desk.
"Explain this to me. What's going on?"
Wu Jiangyuan picked up the tablet and saw Weibo's latest entertainment news displayed on it-
#Wu Jiangyuan and the Pei family# [Hot]
Shocking! A certain famous male celebrity actually snuck off for a secret bathroom date at Old Mr. Pei's birthday banquet! [Hot]
#Wu Jiangyuan's romantic encounter outside the bathroom# [Hot]
#Pei family banquet canceled# [Hot]
An insider revealed that the Pei family canceled the banquet because a certain male celebrity was caught cheating. [Hot]
#Wu Jiangyuan smoking# [New]
#Wu Jiangyuan cheating with an Omega# [Hot]
#Wu Jiangyuan's secret romance exposed# [New]
Scrolling through the posts actually made Wu Jiangyuan laugh.
"That's it? Where's the proof?"
He Qu said darkly, "Click on it and you'll see the proof."
Wu Jiangyuan tapped casually and saw the supposed evidence: a secretly taken photo of him and that Omega outside the bathroom last night, when someone had run into them.
There was only one photo, but he had his hand on the Omega's arm, and they were standing very close. Add a filter, and there was their suggestive photo.
Wu Jiangyuan suddenly remembered that the person who had come out of the bathroom had deliberately glanced at him before leaving. So it had been a paparazzo.
He leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "They really do go to such lengths. Even a bathroom break doesn't stop them from working."
His unconcerned attitude infuriated He Qu. "You're still laughing? The PR department is running around like headless chickens."
Wu Jiangyuan said, "Apologize to them for me. I'll treat everyone to a meal later."
He Qu rolled his eyes hard and gave the others in the room a look.
Once everyone had left, he pulled over a chair and sat down, saying irritably, "You spend more than you earn. Haven't you had your fill of playing around in show business yet, Young Master Wu?"
His tone and manner made him seem like a completely different person from a moment earlier.
"Nope. How could I?" Wu Jiangyuan chuckled. "Playing with those little haters is so much fun."
He Qu could only feel a headache coming on. "Just don't repeat what happened last time. I seriously can't take it."
What celebrity had so little to do that he spent the middle of the night battling haters on Weibo, trading insults until dawn?
"I didn't do anything wrong last time, either."
Wu Jiangyuan felt it necessary to explain himself. "That idiot shouldn't have shown off that photo of the sports car for no reason."
The incident had begun rather bizarrely, mainly because one day, while browsing Weibo, Wu Jiangyuan had noticed a trending topic about a certain brand of sports car.
He clicked on it and found that someone had posted a photo of a sports car they owned.
It was a limited-edition model, with only five produced worldwide. It instantly attracted enormous attention, and the envious comments below poured in endlessly.
At the time, Wu Jiangyuan had casually posted: [Is that your car? Why are you posting it?]
He had simply forgotten to switch accounts and posted directly under the ID Wu Jiangyuan.
The person quickly replied: [If it's not mine, is it yours, you third-rate celebrity?]
Wu Jiangyuan thought, Funny coincidence. It really is my car.
Although the license plate was not visible in the photo, the car had a rainbow marking added after it had been scratched. It was one of a kind, and the photo captured it very clearly.
He had even taken it out for a drive a while ago. He had never expected someone to photograph it and pass it off as their own.
So he replied: [Next time, show us the interior before you talk.]
The person seemed to have been rattled and immediately started hurling abuse.
Wu Jiangyuan's haters caught the scent and came running.
And so #Wu Jiangyuan stays up all night furiously battling haters# had remained on the trending list for several days.
Things had finally settled down, only for this to happen now.
He Qu looked miserable. "Young Master Wu, why don't you just go back to the Wu family and be their young master? Show business really isn't for you."
Wu Jiangyuan fell silent for a moment, then asked thoughtfully, "What do you think of my looks?"
He Qu said, "Handsome. You're the most handsome of all, Young Master Wu."
Wu Jiangyuan said, "Since you're praising me like that, wouldn't keeping this face out of show business be a terrible waste?"
He Qu said, "..."
In all fairness, that was true. The two had known each other since school, when Wu Jiangyuan had become famous on campus for his looks alone. After he differentiated into an Alpha, he made people lament the unfairness of the heavens even more.
Outstanding looks and an impeccable family background-some people died of drought while others drowned.
Yet this young master, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, had gone into show business after graduation, calling it a hobby. Single-handedly, he had ushered in an era where notoriety was still fame.
Although he was only a third-tier celebrity, he was still a unique presence in show business.
Other celebrities avoided him like the plague, because they would get dragged into the abuse along with him.
His bookings were pitifully few, too. Without He Qu, Wu Jiangyuan would have washed out of show business long ago.
He Qu was very curious. "Honestly, Wu Jiangyuan, if you hadn't hidden your background when you entered show business, you'd definitely have much better opportunities than you do now."
Plenty of people wanted to get in the Wu family's good graces but had no way in.
Wu Jiangyuan replied lazily, "The first clause in the agreement I signed with my dad was that I had to make something of myself here on my own. Otherwise, I'd have to go home and farm."
He had no desire to take over a pile of dull, tedious problems. He would leave those to his poor older brother.
To He Qu, that meant that if he failed to establish himself in show business, he could only go home and inherit the family business.
What a fucking poser. Young Master Wu's humblebragging could put a trash bag to shame with how much he packed into it.
And he actually got away with it!
Speechless, He Qu said, "Are you sure your dad won't die of anger first when he sees all these trending topics about you?"
Wu Jiangyuan turned to look out the window, his thoughts growing a little heavy.
He had not told He Qu the whole story. After that last batch of negative trending topics, Wu Qihe had spoken with him.
The outcome of their negotiation had been that he would accept a marriage alliance with the Pei family.
Wu Qihe would no longer interfere in anything he did and would let him do whatever he wanted.
There was no helping it. Wu Jiangyuan would just compromise that little bit. Anyway, he knew Pei Jinghe definitely would not want to marry him either, so he might as well let him fight his family over it.
And sure enough, on the day of the engagement, he had arranged with Old Mr. Pei that he would not have to appear, to keep his celebrity identity hidden.
Pei Jinghe was a different matter. When he did not appear, the banquet was simply declared canceled.
Although the two of them had been together last night, the blame for humiliating Old Mr. Pei had fallen on Pei Jinghe.
At the thought that Pei Jinghe might be hanging his head and getting scolded right now, Wu Jiangyuan's mood instantly brightened.
He took out his phone and saw that the latest message was from his mother.
Jia Xin'an: [Yuanyuan, come home tonight to discuss the engagement arrangements with your Uncle Pei and the others.]
Wu Jiangyuan: [?]
Before you continue