Chapter 37 – 037

The link Han Rui sent contained several promotional articles, each one more nauseatingly sentimental than the last. The core theme was to exaggerate the “fairy-tale love story” between him and Xie Yunjing, making it sound like a love stronger than gold.

Gu Xian rubbed the goosebumps that had risen on his arms from sheer disgust.

What was all this about “gazing at each other with deep affection” or “a glance lasting an eternity“? Were those phrases even remotely suitable to describe his relationship with Xie Yunjing? When he kissed Xie Yunjing, it was more like a fight—if he didn’t bite the other guy at least twice, he’d feel like he’d been ripped off. When had there ever been such an overly sentimental atmosphere between them!

The main material for the promotional articles was based on events that occurred after Xie Yunjing visited him on set. The cover photo was one taken not long ago, where Xie Yunjing came to pick him up and was touching his face.

Regardless of who bought the trending topic and pushed it to this level of popularity, the specific incidents and photos were undoubtedly leaked by someone from 《The Legend of Song Mountain》 crew. This was also why Yu Le and the production team’s management were so eager to contact him.

Gu Xian opened their messages, which were all more or less the same in content.

The crew, full of gossip enthusiasts, had created a separate group chat where they usually shared photos they’d taken and casually chatted about all sorts of things. The widely circulated photo of Xie Yunjing touching Gu Xian’s face was taken by a supporting actress from this group. However, the actress had already tearfully sworn to them that she absolutely hadn’t shared the photo anywhere outside the chat group.

As for who had leaked the information, it would require a thorough investigation, one person at a time.

With so many people in the crew, it wasn’t surprising that someone might stir up trouble. Gu Xian wasn’t angry but simply reminded Yu Le and a few of the management staff:

Your Brother Xian: Don’t show favoritism, and don’t be too aggressive.

The gossip group was quite large, even the male lead, Xu Jia, had joined, and both the female lead and the second female lead were lurking silently in the group. If things weren’t handled properly, it could easily lead to resentment among the members, which wouldn’t be good for maintaining harmony within the crew.

Regarding the trending topic, Li Yuqiu and the others actually didn’t find out much earlier than Gu Xian. Last night, they were all preoccupied, some were minding the shop, some were partying at nightclubs, and others were having “deep conversations” with their boyfriends. It was He Xincheng, displaying the professional diligence of someone working in the entertainment industry, who first spotted the trending topic while scrolling through the news after waking up in the morning.

As a result, the investigation into the person behind the scenes had only just begun, and there had been no progress so far.

Li Yuqiu started speculating wildly in the group.

Muzi Qiu: Could it have been Xie Yunjing?

It would take a significant amount of money to spread promotional articles across the entire internet and secure a high-ranking spot on the trending topics list for an extended period. Plus, who would dare expose Xie Yunjing’s private life? The trending topic had been up all night, and there was no sign of the Xie family taking action to remove it. After thinking it over, Li Yuqiu could only conclude that the trending topic was orchestrated by Xie Yunjing himself.

But he was still confused.

Muzi Qiu: What’s Xie Yunjing doing all this for? You two aren’t even really dating.

Gu Xian: “…”

Although Xie Yunjing was indeed pursuing him at the moment, if sexual harassment could even be considered a form of courting, Gu Xian still trusted his long-standing understanding of his arch-enemy more.

Your Brother Xian: It’s not him.

Your Brother Xian: His grandfather is homophobic. Usually, the best he can do is turn a blind eye to the two of us, and that’s already a huge concession. If Xie Yunjing dared to pull something like this, parading our so-called “romance” everywhere and making it impossible for his grandfather to pretend not to know, his grandfather would have already stormed over to beat him senseless.

Moreover, he found public confessions or proposals in front of a crowd utterly off-putting, no matter how others might view it. If you’re going to pursue someone, do it properly, what kind of skill is it to rely on others to hype things up and apply pressure?

Using this kind of tactic on him would only backfire. After being arch-enemies for so many years, there was no way Xie Yunjing didn’t at least know that much about him.

Muzi Qiu: Then who has the guts to do this…? Doesn’t the Xie family usually hate seeing their private affairs in the news? How has this trending topic been up for almost twelve hours without anyone stepping in to take it down?

Li Yuqiu clearly hadn’t given up on his suspicions.

Muzi Qiu: Xie Yunjing couldn’t possibly be unaware, right?

Your Brother Xian: …

Xie Yunjing wouldn’t take the initiative to do something like this, but he would definitely take advantage of the situation.

Your Brother Xian: I’ll go ask him.

Your Brother Xian: Don’t worry too much about it. Just focus on what you should be doing. Since Xie Yunjing is involved in this, it’s something the two of us will resolve together.

Gu Xian got out of bed in his pajamas, slipped on his slippers, and opened the door to the study.

“Did you hear about the trending topic?”

Xie Yunjing looked up. “Awake?”

“Obviously. Or do you think I’m sleepwalking right now? I’m asking if you know about the trending topic.”

Xie Yunjing smirked teasingly. “Was it your doing? Planning to surprise me?”

Gu Xian rolled his eyes at him. “Stop pretending.”

He walked in, intending to sit on the sofa in the study, but Xie Yunjing walked over and pulled him back.

“Go downstairs and have breakfast first.”

It was already close to ten o’clock, and Gu Xian was indeed a bit hungry, so he didn’t refuse. He let Xie Yunjing lead him to the dining room downstairs.

Since it was almost lunchtime, Uncle Kang had prepared a light breakfast. Gu Xian finished eating in no time. Holding the remaining half cup of soy milk, he scrolled through his phone while asking Xie Yunjing, who was sipping tea beside him, “Have you figured out who’s behind this yet?”

Xie Yunjing pulled out a napkin and reached over to wipe his mouth.

“You’ve got soy milk foam on the corner of your mouth.”

Gu Xian: “…”

Facing Xie Yunjing’s overly affectionate gaze, Gu Xian responded uncooperatively, “Can you stop imitating those cheesy lines from the promotional articles to disgust me?”

Xie Yunjing dropped the fake affectionate expression and showed him the napkin with the stain, speaking in an innocent tone, “But you really did have some on your mouth.”

“Thank you very much!” Gu Xian snatched the napkin from his hand and tossed it into the nearby trash can. “Third Young Master Xie, can you answer my question now? Or did you accidentally hit your head this morning, causing a major drop in IQ, and now you can’t even focus on the main point?”

Xie Yunjing gazed at him “affectionately” and said, “You are my main point.”

Gu Xian: “…”

Great, not only did this bastard know all about the trending topic, but he had also clearly done his homework and studied it thoroughly.

“Xie. Yun. Jing!”

Thank goodness for the sturdy quality of the glass cup, and thank goodness he was a physical weakling. Otherwise, he would have smashed the glass cup in his hand right then and there, rubbed the shards all over Xie Yunjing’s face, and gone down together with him in mutual destruction.

Xie Yunjing clicked his tongue and looked at Gu Xian with feigned reproach. “I saw that people online really like this sort of thing.”

“Do you think I would like it?” Gu Xian angrily slammed his soy milk down on the table.

After years of being arch-enemies, Xie Yunjing couldn’t possibly not know his preferences. This bastard was clearly doing it on purpose to mess with him!

He emphasized his main point: “Who’s the bastard that bought the trending topic?”

“That’s not a very appropriate way to phrase it,” Xie Yunjing said, meeting Gu Xian’s puzzled gaze. “Why don’t you take a guess?”

Trying to figure out who could make “bastard” an inappropriate term, Gu Xian immediately snapped back, “I’m not guessing!”

“Alright.” Xie Yunjing seemed a bit disappointed but finally stopped testing Gu Xian’s patience. “It’s Gu Leyu.”

“Gu Leyu?” This genuinely surprised Gu Xian.

Since the last Gu family banquet, Gu Leyu had been much more restrained. He hadn’t come around to show off or mock him for being Xie Yunjing’s plaything like he used to.

Logically, Gu Leyu was the last person who would want to see his relationship with Xie Yunjing improve. After all, if he gained Xie Yunjing’s and the Xie family’s support, it would mean he had the ability to compete for the Gu family inheritance—and potentially live a life even better than Gu Leyu’s.

“At the last banquet, he was still trying to hand you over to someone else, wishing you’d toss me aside and send me to the ‘cold palace.’ So why’s he suddenly buying us a trending topic?”

“Not sure. So far, aside from exposing parts of our private lives for countless netizens to gawk at, he hasn’t made any moves to smear the two of us.”

Gu Xian, having just woken up, hadn’t combed his hair yet, and the slightly long strands were sticking out in all directions. Xie Yunjing hooked a strand with his finger and twirled it playfully. “However, the person providing information to Gu Leyu was a supporting actor who recently left your crew. He might still have other informants in the crew. Also, Fengxing Media has deployed fake accounts to subtly mock Guangyao for focusing on gossip instead of properly filming.”

The gentle tugging on his hair wasn’t painful; in fact, it felt somewhat pleasant. Gu Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, like a cat being stroked.

Xie Yunjing leaned closer, his chin hovering just above Gu Xian’s shoulder. “Want me to handle it for you?”

Author’s Note:

Xiao Xie: I may be cheesy, but my feelings are genuine (deeply affectionate.jpg).

Xiao Gu: Please take your meds, thank you very much!