Jin Si asked, “Not going to clarify?”
Ying Chan shrugged. “You don’t understand the entertainment industry these days. In netizens’ eyes, lawyer’s letters are basically toilet paper, and official statements with stamps are just for a laugh.”
Jin Si had been abroad for years and didn’t know any of this. “So you’re saying there’s no credibility anymore?”
“Exactly. So even if you showed your face to clarify and said the man in the car was you, with all that ‘hard evidence’ out there, netizens would just think we found someone who looks like you to try and pull the wool over their eyes.”
Jin Si was rather displeased about that.
The microwave went “ding,” and Ying Chan opened the door and reached in.
Jin Si immediately grabbed her hand. “Aren’t you afraid of getting burned?!”
Ying Chan blinked.
Jin Si put on the insulated gloves, took out the buns and milk, and set them on the island counter. He looked at her with puzzlement. “You’ve grown up this big and never lived on your own?”
“…” Ying Chan felt his tone was like he was calling her an idiot.
Unable to let that slide, she defended herself. “I spend at least three hundred days a year on set filming, eating crew meals. When I have outside work, Sister Wei or Miaomiao bring me food. When I have no work at all, I go home—my parents and Shang… are there. Why would I ever need to cook for myself?”
So could she really be blamed for not remembering it would be hot?
Jin Si listened to her rattle off all that, and gave a lazy smile. “So you’re saying that being with me is me doing you wrong? Making you heat up your own food.”
A spoiled Persian cat.
Ying Chan’s lashes fluttered unnaturally, but her expression stayed composed. “I’ll correct my mistakes and remember to do better next time, Bodyguard Jin.”
She turned to eat, muttering inwardly—who’s “being with him”? As if they had some kind of ambiguous relationship.
Jin Si raised one eyebrow. “Bodyguard, not babysitter.”
Ying Chan sat on the high stool, crossing her legs with the air of a wealthy boss, tearing open the bun with her fingers and taking a bite. “I’ll pay you extra.”
How novel—the day had come when someone was throwing money at him.
Jin Si walked over to her, lowered his gaze to look at her, and the meaning in his eyes was hard to pin down, but it made Ying Chan slow her chewing.
His tone was half-lazy, his voice carrying a gritty rasp. “This young master here doesn’t bow to five pecks of rice. I’m done serving.”
With that, he walked out of the kitchen.
Quite the backbone.
Ying Chan laughed in exasperation. Who was it that said things like “one price during the day, another at night” with such a filthy mouth, and now claims he doesn’t bow to five pecks of rice?
Young master my ass!
More like a lecherous master.
Jin Si walked to the sofa and sat down, continuing his game. But just as he started a round, he licked his back teeth, still annoyed, and pinged Xue Shao in a small chat window.
“A male celebrity named Cheng Xu. You got any dirty dirt on him?”
“Godfather, yesterday you went after a female celebrity, today a male celebrity. You just got back to the country—aren’t you a bit too wild?”
“Piss off.”
“Hahaha just kidding, just kidding. What does he look like? I don’t remember names, but I remember faces.”
Jin Si frowned, saved a photo from the internet, sent it over, then immediately deleted it from his gallery.
Too dirty for his phone.
“This guy… A while back I had dinner with a producer, and he brought this guy along. Later, when everyone was drunk, the producer had the little starlet escort him back to his room. The next day I saw the little starlet limping out. Oh, right, that producer is also a man. Why’d you suddenly ask about him?”
Jin Si grimaced with disgust and replied in one line: “Go to the hotel and get his surveillance footage. I want to see that video trending on hot search right now.”
Then he closed the chat window and continued playing.
Xue Shao probably went to find out how Cheng Xu had offended this godfather. A few minutes later, he sent a string of exclamation marks: “!!! So the reason you suddenly want to go after Cheng Xu is because he’s caught up in a scandal with Ying Chan??”
“No wait, didn’t you just meet Ying Chan yesterday? You’re already this in love??”
Jin Si didn’t want to bother with Xue Shao, but his game character got killed. He glanced back—the Persian cat was still nibbling at her food.
He lazily typed a few words:
“Your head’s full of nothing but filth. I’m a proper man. I’m just afraid of losing my job. Got it?”
Xue Shao: “…”
You’re really committing to the act.
Completely unaware of what her bodyguard was doing over there, Ying Chan finished her buns and milk and headed to Shangxun Entertainment.
Jin Si was driving, and neither of them spoke the whole way.
When they arrived at the company, Jin Si put on a mask.
Ying Chan glanced at him—seemed like he didn’t like showing his face to outsiders?
“Chan-jie, good afternoon.”
“Chan-jie, you’re at the company! I’ll bring you a coffee in a bit. You like hazelnut coffee, right?”
“Thanks, anything works.” Ying Chan smiled.
Although Shangxun Entertainment had many top-tier stars—plenty more famous and more talented than Ying Chan—everyone tacitly understood that Ying Chan was the queen of Shangxun, and they all took the initiative to greet her.
Many people also noticed Jin Si behind Ying Chan—hard not to.
Even though he was just wearing a simple black long-sleeved tee with cargo pants, and a mask covering half his face.
But he was tall with long legs and excellent proportions. The moment he stood there, he exuded a unique aura that was impossible to look away from.
Everyone guessed he might be a newcomer.
Once inside the elevator and after pressing the floor button, Ying Chan suddenly said, “Wait for me in the seating area. If I’m not out in half an hour, knock on the glass door and say I have another job and need to leave right now.”
Jin Si looked at her. “What? Is there some ferocious beast in the office? Want a bodyguard to protect you?”
The last few words carried a teasing lilt.
Ying Chan cleared her throat lightly. “No, not needed. I just don’t want to listen to my boss nag too much, so I’m making you my excuse. Get it?”
“Mm.” He mimicked her tone.
As the elevator doors opened, Jin Si glanced around, spotted the sofa, walked over, and sat down, relaxed and at ease.
Ying Chan, meanwhile, pushed open the door to Sister Wei’s office and looked up to see Shang Lübai standing before the curtain wall.
The man wore a tailored light-gray suit, his back straight and tall, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted. Hearing the sound, he turned around—a handsome face devoid of humor, his gaze behind gold-rimmed glasses unreadable.
Ying Chan’s steps faltered slightly, then she closed the door behind her and said in a casual tone, “Such a small matter really warrants the attention of President Shang himself?”
“Not a small matter. If it’s not handled well, this rumor will follow you forever.” Shang Lübai gestured for her to sit.
Ying Chan pulled out a chair and sat down, asking as if offhandedly, “Then why haven’t you clarified the rumor about me and you?”
Her head was suddenly tousled. The man’s dry, broad palm carried warmth as Shang Lübai spoke in a steady voice, “Speak properly. None of that ‘you, sir’ business.”
The familiar affectionate gesture made Ying Chan’s throat tighten. She quickly suppressed the bitterness.
Shang Lübai sat across from her. “You carry my label. No one in the industry dares to bully you. I’m your brother.”
Ying Chan merely smiled.
She was from Hong Kong and had come to the mainland for school since high school. Shang Lübai had been entrusted by her parents to look after her.
Back then, every Friday was the day she looked forward to most. The busy tycoon, swamped with work, would personally drive to the school gate after hours to pick her up and take her home for the weekend.
When she opened the car door and caught the pleasant scent of his subtle men’s cologne, the exhaustion of the week melted away.
Slipping into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt, she’d watch him in just his shirt, sleeves rolled up, revealing strong, defined forearms and an understatedly luxurious watch.
She’d coo, “Brother.”
…
Shang Lübai suddenly asked, “Didn’t sleep well last night? Your eyes are bloodshot.”
“I’m fine.” Ying Chan composed herself without a trace and asked naturally, “Has Sister Wei arrived yet?”
The moment she finished speaking, Sister Wei burst in with her laptop, bustling with energy. “I’m here, I’m here. I just met with PR. We’ve discussed two ways to handle this.”
She sat down in another chair. “The first is to play it cool. We’ve already issued a statement, and after that we just ignore it and let the buzz die down on its own…”
Shang Lübai said flatly, “Give me the second option.”
He’d made it clear—he wouldn’t accept such rumors clinging to Ying Chan.
“The second option is…” Sister Wei opened her laptop to show them the plan when a new message suddenly popped up at the top, sent by the PR department. She instinctively clicked it open.
Then her eyes went wide!
Ying Chan was puzzled. “Sister Wei?”
“Damn…”
Sister Wei immediately turned the laptop toward Ying Chan and Shang Lübai. “President Shang, A-Chan, look at this! Whoever did it, it’s shot straight to the top of the trending list!”
#Cheng Xu Sleeping with a Male Big Shot#