NWWNL – Chapter 52

Just when Yi Yang got on his plane, Xu Xinyi and Han Xiao were getting off their plane.

The phones all around just started ringing incessantly. On the way to the hotel, Anya and Luo Jie’s phones rang off the hook and they answered one call after another to explain things, until their mouths were almost broken from repeating the same explanations.

By contrast, the two people actually caught in the storm were particularly calm.

When she saw all those rumors on the internet, Xu Xinyi was a little surprised. It was unbelievable.

How could this have spread so quickly? Did she and Han Xiao really look so much like a couple?

Wasn’t that video where Han Xiao steadied her at the airport only so ambiguous because the uploader added music, slow motion, and some filters?

Who was messing with her behind her back?

“This video is really interesting,” Luo Jie had just got off a call with the airport arranging for the staff to clear a path for them when he saw the video. Seeing it he smiled meaningfully. “They really see things clearly.”

Han Xiao glanced at Luo Jie but said nothing.

Xu Xinyi was very apologetic, “I’m sorry, Brother Han. I really didn’t expect things to happen like this.”

“It’s not your fault. You don’t have to apologize.” With that, he asked Luo Jie, “How are things going?”

“Don’t worry. I contacted the company, they’ll deal with this as soon as possible.”

Anya thought for a moment and said, “Xinyi, we’ll have to change rooms tonight.”

“Alright.”

It was better safe than sorry. Now that Xu Xinyi was being targeted, she had to keep in mind that some impulsive fans might try to do something.

The four people stealthily boarded the back seat of an extended business limousine at the airport and took off.

They were all distracted, each with their own thoughts about the situation.

Luo Jie fiddled with his phone, his gaze alternating between Anya and the phone’s screen, and there was a rare hesitant expression on his face.

“Miss Anya, do you have time to talk later?” Ever since Anya had been squeezed into his arms by the crowd at the airport, he began to plan to make an opportunity to be alone with Anya.

But Anya didn’t understand his intentions at all. After all, the two of them had serious work matters to discuss after what had happened today.

What’s more, in her mind, Luo Jie was gay for sure. What ideas or interests would a gay man have for her?

“Talk later? Alright.”

The limo slowly parked in front of a five-star hotel.

The doorman from the front lobby came to open the doors and ask for luggage. Just as they unloaded two more cars arrived carrying the assistants brought along by Xu Xinyi and Han Xiao, as well as the makeup artist Anya found.

Since it was Paris Fashion Week there were more than a few stars staying in the hotel, so security was tight. From the time they entered the hotel lobby to when they got on the elevator, no other random fans rushed out suddenly.

Anya handed a room card to Xu Xinyi. “Go to Room 1902. I’ll come and see you later.”

Xu Xinyi took the room card and said, “OK.”

Luo Jie also handed a room card to Han Xiao, he was in Room 1905.

Luo Jie and Anya, the two agents, went up to Anya’s room to discuss things.

As soon as she entered the room, Anya took off her heavy coat and flopped down on the sofa.

After more than ten hours of flying and driving, they had finally arrived.

She was thirsty so she took two bottles of water from the refrigerator and tossed one to Luo Jie.

She did not regard Luo Jie as a man at all. The fact that she was not snuggling up against his shoulder was her only acknowledgment of Luo Jie’s gender.

“Come on, what did you want to talk about? Has this matter created difficulties for your company? I think it’s not a big deal, to put it bluntly, our side can just refute the rumors unilaterally without you needing to come forward at all.”

“No, Han Xiao instructed our side to solve this matter. You really are the really innocent party after all.” Luo Jie stood opposite her and said, “Since the company said they would solve the problem, you don’t have to worry about it. We don’t feel you’ve done anything wrong regarding this matter.”

He paused and took a sip of the mineral water to moisturize his throat. “The company has told me that they will buy some marketing accounts to turn the tides a bit, then they will issue an official statement, and then your studio’s official account can follow and forward that statement.”

Anya nodded.

“But in fact, I am quite curious, Miss Anya, you have so much ability but why do you only have one star with you even after so many years? Wouldn’t it be more profitable to have a few more?”

“It doesn’t matter to me whether I make money or not. I just like this job. If I work with too many stars I will lose my personal time and space. Just having Xinyi is fine. Basically, there aren’t many times when things go so wrong that I’m forced to be very busy. You should be very busy though, right? You have several stars under you besides Han Xiao, so you must not get much time to yourself, do you?”

“I do okay for myself. I was a little busy in the last two years, but nowadays I focus on Han Xiao almost exclusively. Although I still have to worry about my other artists sometimes, I’m doing much better than before.” Luo Jie took out his cell phone, “We’ve known each other for so long now, do you want to add each other on WeChat?”

“Alright,” Anya agreed defenselessly.

After adding him on Wechat, Anya looked obviously tired and unable to continue the conversation. “If there’s nothing else I’ll go back and rest first. Tomorrow I will be busy with Paris Fashion Week. I need to try to make up for some of the sleep I’ve missed recently tonight. See you tomorrow.”

Luo Jie put down the mineral water. He seemed to ponder for a moment before he said, “There’s something I want to ask you. Miss Xu has been in the circle for so many years but she has never had any serious scandals with any men. I wonder what kind of man Miss Xu likes?”

Anya raised an eyebrow. Han Xiao was gay and Luo Jie was also gay, so who was he asking this question for?

“You are the second person to ask me that.”

Luo Jie could hear the meaning behind Anya’s words and said with a smile, “Don’t get me wrong, I have no intentions towards Miss Xu.”

“Then who?”

Luo Jie just smiled faintly.

But obviously, Anya didn’t get his point. “I really don’t know what kind of man she likes. It’s been rumored that she is a workaholic and doesn’t take time to think about things like love.”

She yawned. “If that’s all, I’ll go first…”

With that, she got up.

When he saw this opportunity was about to slip away, Luo Jie stopped her again and looked at her with burning eyes. “There is one more thing I want to discuss with you.”

Anya was half a head shorter than Luo Jie and she had to raise her line of sight slightly to look at him.

In fact, she thought that this Luo Jie looked quite good. After all, people tended to group with similar people and perhaps he had followed Han Xiao for such a long time that some of the other man’s temperament had rubbed off on him a little bit.

His face was good, his temperament was good, his skills were famous in the agent circle, if only he was not gay, maybe they could have played together a bit.

“What’s the matter?”

When he saw Anya giving him a chance, Luo Jie grinned widely. The corners of his mouth curled upward and his eyes flashed with a subtle and cunning light. He looked a bit evil.

“There’s no other matter. It’s just I wanted to discuss with you…” Luo Jie smiled. “What should we name our future child?”

Anya: “?”

“What do you think of Luo An?”

Anya looked at him in silence.

Luo Jie advanced an inch. “Or if you think that’s not good, what about Luo Mu’an?”

Anya slowly raised her hand.

— Pa.

Luo Jie covered the newly reddened side of his face. He still seemed good-tempered and not at all afraid of death. “If you don’t like that one, what about…”

— Pa.

Luo Jie clutched his face with his hand. The two people looked at each other with an eerie calmness.

Anya finally said impassively. “Get out!”

“…” Luo Jie was silent.

A minute later–.

“Get out! Get out!”

He turned and ran away.

She looked like a very delicate woman but her fists were actually quite ruthless.

Hiss–.

It really fucking hurt!

Luo Jie returned to his room and covered his face with ice, gritting his teeth and hissing incessantly.

When he looked at his face, he realized he would have to wear a mask for the next few days.

On the other hand, Anya, who had slapped Luo Jie in the face, went to Xu Xinyi’s room and was so angry that her whole body was trembling.

Xu Xinyi came out of the bathroom and saw that Anya was in a bad mood and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?” Anya gritted her teeth. She looked eager to peel someone’s skin off and dig out their bones. “Do you know what that son of a bitch Luo Jie said to me just now?”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘What should we name our future child?’” Anya laughed angrily as she recalled it. “Who in the circle doesn’t know he is gay?? And he said that to me? What does he mean by that? He wants me to be his wife as cover? Bah! Son of a bitch!”

Xu Xinyi looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated.

“…really? He really said that?”

“Of course! He asked if the child’s name should be Luo An or Luo Mu’an? I’m telling you! I just slapped him for taking advantage of me today but the next time he dares to talk to me like that again, I’ll waste him down below! I don’t think he’ll ever need it anyway!”

Anya was generally an easy person to talk to but when you challenged her bottom line she would become furious.

“You know what else? He even asked me what kind of man you like. Xinyi, you should pay more attention in the future. I think he must have asked either for himself or for Han Xiao.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, haven’t you analyzed it with me before? Han Xiao and Luo Jie are at least 90% gay together. He must have just wanted to chat with you and accidentally casually pulled out a bad topic. Anyway, don’t be so angry, you shouldn’t get all worked up about some gay man.”

Anya took a deep breath and began to self-hypnotize. “You’re right. I’m not angry. I’m not angry with him.”

As she said that, she took out her mobile phone and opened Wechat and skillfully began to contact several young fresh meats on her Wechat to ask for comfort.

It seemed like she didn’t need Xu Xinyi anymore.

Abandoned by her friend, Xu Xinyi returned to the bathroom to remove her makeup in low spirits. After removing her makeup, she went to bed, crawled under the quilt, and directly fell dead asleep to save her energy for tomorrow’s event.

Thus, after a 12-hour flight when Yi Yang finally arrived at Xu Xinyi’s hotel room, he knocked on the door for five minutes but there was no answer.

In the hotel corridor, a frosty aura was spreading with Yi Yang at its center.

The room seemed to be unoccupied. It really gave Yi Yang a lot of room for imagination.

And as for calling Xu Xinyi?

Yi Yang’s phone was in his hand but the screen was dark and not a single call was made.

Call Xu Xinyi?

Was that a joke?

He had flown 12 hours to investigate things. If he made a call, wouldn’t that just be beating the brush and scaring the snake called Xu Xinyi?

He wanted to catch her by surprise. He really wanted to see how Xu Xinyi would explain this to him. Knowing that she had put aside her identity as a married woman and openly had a scandal with a male star at the airport.

Wasn’t tomorrow the start of the Paris Fashion Week? There was no way he wouldn’t be able to find her. He would really like to see what Xu Xinyi would say when she saw him!

———

After a day of public opinion on the internet being left to stew, the fans were finally relieved after a statement was issued by Han Xiao’s company.

However, there are still many fans saying that Han Xiao had never paid any attention to these kinds of small scandals before but whenever it involved Xu Xinyi, he would make an exception for her again and again. They weren’t happy to see this kind of protection for Xu Xinyi and they thought it was very suspicious when people tried to cover it up.

And who knows how, but someone got the inside information from Paris Fashion Week and posted a picture of the seating arrangements.

The seats were filled with names of top executives, stars, brands who were going on the show from China, and so on. The sharp-eyed fans quickly picked out Xu Xinyi’s seat from the seating chart.

People’s positions on the seating chart were based on the popularity of the star or their affiliation with their brands.

Xu Xinyi’s position was really terrible, the kind of seat that was for an irrelevant star.

“I already said it about Xu Xinyi, no one would want to invite her. Anyone can go to Paris Fashion Week as long as they spend money. With her seat way at the back, I guarantee she spent money for it.”

“Xu Weiyin is also there. Her seat is much better than Xu Xinyi’s. Just look at the actual stars, the ones who really got invited. It seems like Xu Xinyi just wanted to rub elbows with the real stars. She’s so shameless.”

“She wants to rub elbows with real stars but she got such a terrible seat? Xu Xinyi is really a disgrace to all Chinese people.”

“First she tries to get close to Han Xiao on purpose, now she’s trying to leech off of other stars, did Xu Xinyi lose favor with her Gold Master recently? Otherwise, why couldn’t she even get a good seat? Tut-tut, she’ll really do anything for fame.”

“Isn’t that right? Some people really have to see reality with their own eyes before they are convinced. Look at Xu Weiyin, she disappeared four years ago but now she was easily invited to Paris Fashion Week and she is suspected to be the hidden wife of some boss. By contrast, Xu Xinyi is much more miserable. She made her debut using Xu Weiyin’s face but that isn’t working for her anymore. Even her Gold Master abandoned her and now she’s been reduced to trying to leech popularity from real stars.”

The internet was filled with mockery.

By the time Xu Xinyi found out about this, it was already the second day.

The seating chart at Paris Fashion Week was actually changing all the time.

There would be stars whose schedules were uncertain so the venue would issue temporary invites. Once the schedules were ironed out, the seating order would have to be adjusted again. The final seating arrangement only came out very close to the actual day.

The people in the first row were basically all senior executives from various brands, popular stars, or big VIP customers.

Although Xu Xinyi’s seat was not exactly the same as the one in the picture posted on the internet, there was not much difference. She, like Xu Weiyin, was in the third row.

You couldn’t compare her to Han Xiao, this big star, he was in the first row.

But Xu Xinyi really didn’t take this online drama to heart.

After all, once the show was over, the event would post the guest list on Weibo, and then everyone would know that she had been invited to participate.

And as for her seat, given her popularity in the entertainment industry, realistically she really only deserved to sit in the third row.

Xu Xinyi was well aware of her own level of popularity.

Before the start of Paris Fashion Week, Xu Xinyi methodically put on the dress she brought. It was a white chest-wrap dress with a long skirt and wearing it changed her usual sexy aura to something gentler after she put on light makeup and coiled up her hair.

A photographer who was following her for the whole event took several photos from the time Xu Xinyi first came out of the room and was very satisfied with the results.

There were many cars waiting idly outside the hotel. Several foreign actresses who Xu Xinyi vaguely recognized but could not name were all accosting Han Xiao in the hotel lobby. Looking at Han Xiao’s expression, he was obviously very uncomfortable. When he saw Xu Xinyi come down, he rudely disentangled himself from their conversations and walked over to Xu Xinyi’s side.

She could hear Han Xiao breathe an obvious sigh of relief.

Han Xiao was not good at praising people. So when he saw Xu Xinyi, he only smiled and said, “You are beautiful today.”

Xu Xinyi praised him in return, “You really have good eyes.”

Luo Jie appeared outside the hotel wearing a mask and sunglasses. When he saw Anya next to Xu Xinyi, he awkwardly looked away and faced Han Xiao. He said, “Han Xiao, the organizer has just given me some news. They need you to walk the red carpet ahead of time. The car will be outside in five minutes.”

When he heard that the car sent to ferry him to the red carpet was waiting outside Han Xiao glanced at Xu Xinyi. “Then I’ll go first. I’ll wait for you backstage after walking the red carpet.”

Xu Xinyi nodded in acknowledgment.

Walking quickly out of the lobby, Han Xiao noticed that Luo Jie, with his mask and sunglasses, was even more well equipped than his star to hide from the paparazzi. He couldn’t help but ask about it, “What happened to you?”

Luo Jie was embarrassed and said vaguely, “It’s nothing. I chatted with Anya yesterday but she didn’t like the name I picked for our child.”

“…”

Compared with Han Xiao, Xu Xinyi didn’t need to walk the red carpet so fast. So she was just idle in the lobby with nothing to do.

“Oh no, I forgot the invitation!” A panicked voice caught Xu Xinyi’s attention.

It was one of Xu Xinyi’s little assistants. Right now, she was so anxious that her face had turned white.

Anya frowned. “What’s the matter with you? Can you just forget the invitation? Hurry and go up and get it!”

“It doesn’t matter, don’t worry,” Xu Xinyi placated Anya. “Just let her go up and get it.”

Since they were both attending the Paris Fashion Week for the first time, Xu Xinyi knew that Anya was under a lot of pressure.

The assistant’s head bobbed like a chicken pecking rice and she ran to the elevator.

“What are you doing? Watch where you’re going!” A stern voice suddenly reprimanded.

The assistant began spewing apologies.

Xu Xinyi and Anya looked over and saw a foreign man in a suit looking angrily at the little assistant. He seemed very angry and didn’t let her go.

Under such circumstances, a peaceful resolution was the most rational choice.

Xu Xinyi came forward and spoke fluently in English. “I’m sorry, sir, my assistant offended you. Please excuse her. I’ll make amends on her behalf.”

The foreign man had a bad attitude after seeing the Asian faces who had come to attend Paris Fashion Week, he seemed vaguely hostile.

“Are you here for Paris Fashion Week, too?”

“Yes.”

The man snorted coldly. He patted the place where the assistant had bumped into him and looked very disgusted. “Where’s your invitation? Show it to me.”

Could Xu Xinyi not tell that this man was just finding fault for no reason? Her amicable face immediately turned stern. “This gentleman, why would I give it to you?”

“Is this your first time at Paris Fashion Week? Did you buy your ticket? You don’t even know me?”

Anya had a glimmer of recognition and whispered to Xu Xinyi: “This should be Edward Davis, one of the organizers.”

Anya had memorized a lot of people’s names the past few days and her brain was dizzy trying to recognize them all now.

This Edward Davis could be regarded as a fairly important member of the organizers, he even had a speaking role in the event. In line with the idea of not making trouble for themselves, Anya warned Xu Xinyi not to do anything.

Xu Xinyi didn’t recognize the man at all but according to Anya’s tone, he was probably not a simple character.

She smiled and continued, “Sorry, my invitation is in the room upstairs. I was just sending my assistant up to get it.”

Hearing this, Davis became even more arrogant.

He had been sent to pick up the VIP diamond customers from China, so he was already angry, and now he had been bumped by a small assistant, and the fire in his heart was raging even higher.

“With all due respect, ma’am, I’ve seen a lot of people like you who spend money to come to fashion shows every year. I can’t say anything about you since you’ve already paid, but you should at least respect our Pairs Fashion Week and bring your invitation with you.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to make a small correction. I didn’t spend money to come here. Your organizers invited me on their own initiative. But it seems I haven’t conducted myself well enough. Thank you for reminding me. I will pay more attention in the future.”

She gave a look to the assistant, who nodded hastily and hurried into the elevator.

Ding–.

The elevator doors opened.

The assistant was about to get into the elevator but she was so frightened when she saw the people inside that she quickly gave way.

There were four people in the elevator. Three foreign men stood behind a man with an Asian face. The Asian man was unconsciously rubbing a ring on his finger and when the elevator door opened he lifted his cold eyes. His figure was no less imposing than the foreign men behind him.

The man stepped out of the elevator and three foreign men following behind him quickly scattered away in three different directions like bodyguards. Clearly ensuring his safety in all aspects.

“How do you do, Mr. Yi? I’m Edward Davis, I came to pick you up today.”

Mr. Yi? Xu Xinyi, who had finished her skirmish with Davis, was waiting at the side with Anya for her red carpet car, when she heard Davis’ ingratiating tone.

Xu Xinyi looked over.

Yi Yang didn’t move. He turned a deaf ear to Davis’ words. In the space between one of the bodyguards and Davis, Xu Xinyi saw Yi Yang’s cold profile.

What was he doing here?

As if he could feel Xu Xinyi’s surprised gaze, Yi Yang glanced over inadvertently and his eyes met Xu Xinyi’s. He froze in place.

Davis smiled and respectfully said to him, “Mr. Yi, Amanda is waiting for you up ahead. Is there anything else can I do for you?”

But Yi Yang had locked on to Xu Xinyi instantly.

Davis followed Yi Yang’s eyes and saw Xu Xinyi.

Xu Xinyi looked back at him hesitantly.

Didn’t he say he wasn’t coming?

Why did he show up all of a sudden without even saying hello to her?

With the thought as long as the enemy didn’t move she would not move, Xu Xinyi stood still.

Yi Yang gave her an inquiring look and asked, “Why don’t you come over here?”

Xu Xinyi did not respond.

Yi Yang waved to her.

–“Is he beckoning a dog?”

Xu Xinyi moved to Yi Yang step by step and asked in a low voice, “What are you doing here?”

“It was hard to resist the kindness of the organizers.”

Davis’s eyes moved between Yi Yang and Xu Xinyi, “Mr. Yi, who is this?”

“You don’t need to know,” Yi Yang said coldly. “Contact Amanda and have her open a seat next to me.”

With that, he grabbed Xu Xinyi’s hand and left the hotel lobby directly, leaving a dazed Davis standing behind them.

Anya smiled, patted Davis on the shoulder, and asked, “Mr. Davis, I hope we won’t need to show our invitation now.”

Davis’s face changed several times before he finally forced a smile. “Of course not. Mr. Yi is the best invitation.”

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Tl note: As we get deeper into the story it becomes increasingly apparent to me that rather than ‘Anya’ the name is more like ‘An Ya’ since she gets addressed as ‘Ms. An’ from time to time. But it’s a bit hard to fix it at this point so I dunno I think I’m just gonna stick with it. 

My personal philosophy of translation is that having nouns be consistent is more important than having them be 100% accurate. @.@

Also I have a new project I’ll be putting up within the next week or so guys. I’ll drop a link when I do.