“Xinyi.”
Xu Xinyi, who had just hung up the phone, was startled by someone calling her name. She hurriedly turned around and took a step back to keep her distance.
It was Han Xiao.
“Mr. Han, were you looking for me?”
Han Xiao heard the estrangement in her voice and gave a wry smile, “We have known each other for so long and we still have a film to cooperate on in the future. Do you really want to be so stiff with me?”
Xu Xinyi smiled on her face, but she couldn’t help complaining in her heart. She had mistakenly thought that he liked men, so she didn’t avoid him too much. But now that she knew that, not only did he like women, he also specifically liked her, a married woman. So how could she not act stiff and avoid him?
“Was that Yi Yang who you called on the show?”
“Mhm.”
“Then why would he say all that?”
“He and I haven’t announced our relationship yet, so he was looking out for me.”
Han Xiao frowned, “Do you like him so much?”
“Mr. Han, I know what you mean, but I think Yi Yang handled the matter today very well. He was thinking for me.”
“Xinyi, you may not know men, but I do. So I’ll remind you that if a man really loves a woman, his possessiveness is stronger than you can imagine. Yi Yang doesn’t love you as much as you think.”
Xu Xinyi looked at Han Xiao deeply.
For Han Xiao, who could be said to be one of the top figures in the entertainment industry, she had always maintained an absolute sobriety, never letting any fanciful delusions crop up. She preferred to appreciate Han Xiao from a long distance, like admiring a star, while keeping all her fondness and enthusiasm in her heart.
At the beginning, what she felt for Han Xiao was closer to worship.
But she had never wanted to get too close to Han Xiao or know him too much. From the bottom of her heart, that was really not her intention. Even if she had planned to divorce Yi Yang, she would not dare to have any intentions on Han Xiao.
Such an idol could only be viewed from a distance and should never be blasphemed.
Therefore, since she had no such intentions, she did not want to give anyone any hope, it was better to draw a clear line as soon as possible so she did not delay anyone’s life.
“Thank you for your reminder Mr. Han but I am well aware of Yi Yang’s feelings for me, as well as my own feelings.” With that, she smiled. “I’m looking forward to sharing the stage with Mr. Han and I am happy to know that we will be cooperating again but for now I have to go. So I will leave first.”
There was a steady clicking noise as Xu Xinyi left in her high heels.
Han Xiao stood in the same place and watched Xu Xinyi’s back as she walked away. There was a touch of deep worry at the bottom of his eyes.
That was the end of the variety show promoting “The Way of the Phoenix”.
Fans outside the recording studio were all waiting with their lights and banners. Xu Xinyi and several other people came out of the recording studio, waved to their fans, and then left by car.
Since they were all going back to City A there were several people in several different cars all headed to the same airport.
On the way back Xu Xinyi received a video call from Anya. But when she picked up the call Anya directly ignored Xu Xinyi and went straight to Jiang Nian.
“Jiang Nian, right now there is some buzz about you online and we have discussed it here at the studio. If you agree, we can use this program to create a new ‘rich second generation’ image for you. Of course, if you don’t agree, we can communicate with the program staff and have them cut the ‘borrowing money’ segment, and then press down the comments online. For now, the scope is still not too big so it all depends on what you think.”
Jiang Nian was in a slight daze.
His silence spoke for itself.
Xu Xinyi didn’t know the source of the estrangement between Jiang Nian and the Jiang family, but the existence of Jiang Nian was a bug in the first place. According to the novel, he should have died two years ago. And according to the developments in the plot, Jiang Nian should only live in the memories of Jiang Huai. It should have been impossible for him to have anything to do with her according to the novel.
“Well, I think Jiang Nian is very popular now. And his popularity will still be on the rise for a while so there’s no need to build that kind of image for him.”
“No, I agree.” Jiang Nian cut in.
Xu Xinyi looked at him and said, “But you…” don’t you have a bad relationship with your family?
Jiang Nian lowered his head and it was impossible to see the emotions in his eyes. “It might seem like this was a coincidence but it was all clearly set up by someone.”
Anya, on her end of the video call, replied, “OK, we’ll do that. Pay attention to safety on your way back. I’ll hang up first.”
The video call hung up and Jiang Nian leaned back in his seat. The tiredness on his face was obvious.
Xu Xinyi was so curious about Jiang Nian’s family background that she wanted to choke him and force him to confess. How old was this little boy? Pretending to be full of deep thoughts and spending every day in a melancholy mood.
“Sister Xinyi, today on the program, Yi Yang did not admit your relationship, instead he lied and said that you were just friends. You have liked him for so many years, aren’t you sad?” Jiang Nian opened his eyes and looked at her, his long bangs drooping naturally over his forehead. In the dim light, his eyes were bright and almost otherworldly.
From Jiang Nian’s point of view, that was probably a reasonable inference.
If someone a person liked for many years denied their relationship and said that they were just friends, wouldn’t that cause unhappiness?
Xu Xinyi tried her best to keep her tone natural. “I can’t blame him for that. I’m in the entertainment industry so it’s not convenient for us to go public. He’s just cooperating with me.”
Jiang Nian scoffed, “You are just like my mother.”
“Your mother?”
“My mother was a woman who never had an independent thought. She was very thin and petite, her skin was very white, she was timid, and would always speak in a low voice. Sometimes I would have to get closer to her to hear what she was saying to me because she spoke so softly. My impression of her was that she was gentle like water. When she loved a man she would only have him in her heart. Her whole life would revolve around him. She gave birth to two sons for the man in her heart, but that man said he didn’t want her and she ate nothing but hardships for decades. I really can’t understand the thinking of a person who likes someone so much that it’s impossible to live without them.”
He looked at Xu Xinyi and repeated, “So, like I said Sister Xinyi, you are like my mother.”
It was the first time Xu Xinyi had heard Jiang Nian mention his family affairs and she probably understood why he had a bad relationship with the Jiang family from his words. She actually felt the same way about Jiang Nian’s statement.
Why would anyone like someone so much that they couldn’t live without them?
It was stupid to bet your life on a man.
The nine o’clock flight was delayed by two hours and only arrived at City A in the early hours of the morning.
There were still fans at the airport but Xu Xinyi and Jiang Nian did not want to cause too much sensation so they used the VIP entrance to avoid them.
When they left to record the program, Jiang Nian had traveled to the airport with Xu Xinyi from the company in the same car. Now, because it was so late, Xu Xinyi did not want to go back to the Yi estate, instead, she was planning to head to Lanting for the night. Because of that, Jiang Nian’s place happened to be on her way so she offered to take him back.
“Get in my car, I’ll take you back.”
Jiang Nian did not refuse. He walked silently beside Xu Xinyi to the garage.
Because it was the middle of the night there were not many people in the garage. Xu Xinyi’s car was parked not far away and its lights turned on with a press of her key fob.
Xu Xinyi was about to get into her car when a man stepped out of the driver’s seat of a Bentley parked nearby, looked straight at Xu Xinyi, and said, “Madam, please get in the car.”
“You…” Xu Xinyi was confused but the driver had already pulled the door open.
In the spacious back seat, Yi Yang was sitting there in a dark suit. The light inside the car was dim with only a beam of light that fell beside him. Maybe he had been waiting for a long time and now he was tired, because he was resting against the back seat with his eyes closed. But his posture seemed calm and gentle. There was no sign of the impatience of a person who had been waiting for a long time.
When he saw that she wasn’t getting in the car, Yi Yang opened his eyes and said, “Aren’t you getting in?”
TL note: this chapter seems real short to me but I’ve checked like 3 different raws and they all end here so I guess this is just a rare short chapter from this author.
Oh i thought he’d be waiting at Lanting instead. This is even better hehe