Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy-Two

Qi Wei’s mood was complicated. She had originally hoped that this unexpected variety show invitation would give An Ye some buzz.

She had already thought of the theme for the press release: an intellectual woman, emphasizing a cool and aloof image. After all, from what Huan Zhou’s side seemed to want to hype An Ye as fake, empty, lacking program appeal, and commercial value. Qi Wei thought, then she might as well strengthen An Ye’s temperament. Nowadays, good-looking, tall, and often cold female star personas were quite popular. There were also many clips of An Ye’s “human wrench” moments on video websites.

The plan was all thought out.

She even feared the heat wouldn’t be enough, so she contacted a few video editing companies, planning to hype up the live-stream microexpressions once more.

But…

What she needed most now was to suppress the heat…

Seven or eight of the top twenty trending searches were related to today’s live broadcast. The better ones guessed who An Ye had called, while the worse ones were already debating if this was a live broadcast accident.

If such pure content-generated heat wasn’t guided properly, the direction could veer all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Moreover, with Huan Zhou people lurking behind, Qi Wei dared not hype the heat too high. She was afraid the situation would get out of control and they couldn’t contain it.

After the stylist finished removing An Ye’s makeup and took away her performance outfit, only the three of them remained in the resting room before Qi Wei finally spoke: “I thought you would call the Xiangyang crew…”

“That agricultural question, I couldn’t even understand the question itself,” An Ye seemed quite calm. “Who from the crew should answer? If it’s wrong, who’s responsible?”

Qi Wei: “……”

Right, if the person An Ye called didn’t have quick wits, a cold silence on such an obscure question would be even worse.

But…

“How did you even know Chi Lu could answer that question?” Qi Wei was curious.

Lan Yifang, whose eyes were swollen like big peaches, was also curious, squinting to look at An Ye.

An Ye: “...I don’t know.”

She felt Chi Tuo’s correct answer was purely a lucky guess, some sort of academic genius’s mystical halo.

She showed them her phone: “When the director gave me the phone, my call log only had a few contacts. The first one you obviously can’t call, the second one was Chi Tuo…”

She didn’t say more.

Her dependence on Chi Tuo was pathological — in such a panic needing immediate reaction, seeing that name instinctively made her feel it would be fine, that he could handle it.

In the end…

She didn’t think about anything when she dialed.

After hanging up, she didn’t know what to think either.

“If you keep crying you’ll go blind.” Someone from the Art Coordination team knocked, signaling the safety passage was cleared and they could leave. An Ye stood up and patted Lan Yifang’s shoulder, “This isn’t your fault.”

She had guessed it when she heard on stage that the expert couldn’t be reached.

The stylist Xiao Yang, who had flashed by backstage, was nowhere to be found after An Ye finished. When she asked about it during makeup removal, the stylist also looked baffled.

The expert phone number Lan Yifang had contacted was left on the makeup table. The young girl, to double-confirm, gave the number to the director and even wrote it down on paper herself, saying if the phone died or there were contact issues, it could be used.

The problem was probably that piece of paper.Because that piece of paper was no longer on the makeup table.

Strictly speaking, An Ye still belonged to Huan Zhou. It was just a matter of a few words for Huan Zhou’s side to call the expert and tell them not to answer this live broadcast call.

“Was it Yan Wan’s doing, or Huan Zhou’s?” An Ye put on her mask and hat, pushed the door open, and quietly asked Qi Wei.

“Style looks like Yan Wan’s,” Qi Wei said, “but he’s still in custody, so it should be Lian Yan’s side. I heard he plans to suppress your commercial value before the contract ends. Huan Zhou’s Diao Tong is three years younger than you, recently starred in a mainstream drama, similar positioning to you. After you leave, Huan Zhou will probably promote her.”

There are only so many resources in this circle; no one naively believes Huan Zhou and An Ye can part on good terms. Not stabbing too hard during the breakup is already considered a good separation.

An Ye didn’t respond.

“But none of that matters now.” Once inside the nanny van, Qi Wei finally let go and asked, “What’s the PR stance on Chi Lu’s situation?”

Only after getting in the car did An Ye take out her phone, lowered her head, opened WeChat, and casually said, “I told him yesterday to try to take the relationship further.”

Qi Wei: “?”

Lan Yifang: “Uh?”

An Ye looked up, her expression still calm, and summarized, “So we’re basically preparing to date now.”

Qi Wei: “...And then?”

An Ye looked at the three question marks from Chi Tuo in WeChat, her mouth lifting slightly. After thinking, she said, “I don’t really like to publicize privacy, but if we can’t hide it anymore, it’s okay to announce it officially at the right time.”

Qi Wei snapped her fingers: “Got it, boss.”

Lan Yifang kept hiccuping: “Uh.”

An Ye said no more. After the three question marks, Chi Tuo had already started sending her live updates on Weibo trending topics.

Chi Tuo: [The number one Weibo trending topic is An Ye’s secret marriage.]

Little Goose: [Sue him for defamation.]

Chi Tuo: [The marketing account with the highest heat says An Ye has been dating a certain film emperor for years and they have a son.]

Little Goose: [? Which film emperor?]

Chi Tuo: [???]

Little Goose: […Sue him for defamation.]

Chi Tuo: [Is the PR draft from Qi Wei ready? Let me see it first.]

Little Goose: [The off-site help phone call was from my longtime best friend, used a voice changer, please don’t speculate too much.]

Chi Tuo: […You post it, if it gets over 500 shares I’ll sue you for defamation.]

An Ye laughed.

Qi Wei clicked her tongue, put on her headphones, and started typing furiously on her laptop.

Lan Yifang kept hiccuping.

An Ye took out the anti-swelling eye masks kept in the car and tossed one to Lan Yifang.

Chi Tuo: [Why do you care which film emperor it is?]Little Goose: [I'm really curious which film emperor my actor persona could be rumored to be involved with...]

Little Goose: [And why does it connect to a film emperor when I clearly called Chi Lu?]

Chi Tuo: [SomeFilmStar_OfficialPhoto.jpg]

Little Goose: […Isn't he… that typecast actor who only plays leaders?]

Chi Tuo: [Yeah, that's right.]

Little Goose: [Why is there a rumor that we've been dating for years?!]

Chi Tuo: [Because you're mysterious, and this film emperor is mysterious too…]

Little Goose: [Baby_Stunned.jpg]

Chi Tuo: [The main thing now is how to handle PR later. I was really half asleep and didn’t expect you to be doing a show…]

Little Goose: [It's okay, a lot happened in between. I'll tell you when I get back.]

Chi Tuo: [So what did Qi Wei say? There are a lot of ridiculous rumors in the fan groups. I’ve kept all relevant evidence you told Qi Wei. For high-heat rumors unrelated to facts, I’ll send lawyer letters.]

Little Goose: [I told Qi Wei about us preparing to date. I personally don’t like to make private life public, but if it can’t be hidden or rumors get too outrageous, we’ll announce officially at the right time.]

Chi Tuo didn’t respond for a long time.

An Ye waited but didn’t get a reply, then switched out to check Weibo.

Qi Wei’s PR skills were actually better than Yan Wan’s. She never had a truly powerful artist but worked her way up from the bottom.

She was intentionally suppressing the trending topics quietly. She broke today’s live event into dozens of small hot spots, each cycled into the top 50 trending topics.

The concentrated traffic dispersed instantly; soon unrelated trending topics squeezed back in.

But the discussion remained high. The rumor about her secret marriage had already exploded to deep purple-red on the heat map. Even though Qi Wei tried to divert attention, it stayed solidly in the top 50 trending topics, refusing to drop.

Qi Wei saw An Ye stop playing with WeChat and muttered: “That’s why I always want you to change your habit of only doing the show persona. That persona is a disadvantage—when something like this happens, the contrast makes the heat go crazy and you can’t suppress it. I don’t dare do it too obviously either. There’s nothing really to hide, but suppressing it too much just breeds rumors…”

An Ye switched back to WeChat.

Chi Tuo didn’t even show the “typing” status.

Just as An Ye was about to send a question mark, her phone rang—it was Chi Tuo.

“Hmm?” she answered.

Chi Tuo was panting, laughing as he caught his breath: “I slept until afternoon, just got to the law firm. Everyone in the group saw your live thing. Not convenient to talk now, so I’m calling from the hallway.”

“Hmm.” An Ye inexplicably smiled.

Qi Wei was about to say something more but looked up at her, smiled and shook her head, put on her headphones, and kept working.

“You…” Chi Tuo panted for a long time, then said, “You scared me…”

After that, he mumbled quietly, “What kind of crazy question did that host ask? I don’t even know what cereal seeds are…”

An Ye: “…”

This time she couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.Once she started laughing, it was hard to stop. Both of them laughed into the phone, so much so that the driver, who had never seen An Ye laugh out loud before, almost ran a red light.

“Also, about the official announcement,” Chi Tuo’s voice still carried laughter, “since the studio was just established, let’s not mention it yet. I feel like Huanzhou definitely won’t stay inactive, and the PR pressure is huge. I’m afraid if we push Qi Wei too hard at once, it won’t be good.”

He said “we” very naturally. An Ye smiled and replied with an “Mm.”

“And…” Chi Tuo continued, “the turtle on my face washed off. What exactly was your purpose drawing a turtle on my face? You even drew a flower next to the turtle…”

An Ye: “At first, I just wanted to draw a goose… If you make me laugh again, Master Chen is really going to run the red light.”

The car jolted lightly; An Ye saw Master Chen’s flushed face in the rearview mirror looking at her.

“You’re going straight home after this?” Chi Tuo’s voice still held laughter.

An Ye recalled that he seemed never to have laughed uncontrollably like this, not even as a child.

And his wording was advanced—sometimes “we,” sometimes “go home.” She remembered clearly that she said “try” yesterday.

“Qi Wei and Little Lan are going home with me.” An Ye didn’t correct him. “Today’s live outside help originally found an agriculture expert, but Huanzhou messed it up. Plus our own stuff, Qi Wei definitely has to work overtime today.”

She also used “we.”

Qi Wei, wearing headphones and originally planning to pretend not to hear, now shouted toward the phone, “Chi Lu, I also have things to ask you. At least reply to me on WeChat.”

Chi Tuo: “…My brain is still foggy. Tell her to wait ten minutes.”

He had been woken up by the phone ringing today, groggily digging through his cat nest to find his phone. While searching, he saw his reflection in the window, examined the turtle on his face, rubbed it, and found it wouldn’t come off. Then, seeing it was An Ye calling, he answered without hesitation.

An Ye’s call—“Chi Lu”—almost made his hair stand on end.

When he returned to the law firm earlier, the entire floor was giving him the royal treatment.

Lin Hao curiously asked if the show crew arranged it beforehand, because otherwise, how could he know what cereal seeds were…

A total mess.

But in this chaos, Chi Tuo only saw the scattered sunlight pouring through the glass window.

And An Ye saying on WeChat, find the right time to announce officially.

These were things he never dared to think about before, suddenly, all at once, filling his mind completely.

He leaned against the stairwell wall, hearing himself on the phone say in a laughing tone he had never heard from himself before: “An Jiujiu, I miss you.”