translator: Eve
It wasn’t just Yang Jie and Louis who had been forced to watch their lovey-dovey behaviour. Even Zhou Nan, and the System were constantly made to watch this—it even put up a mosaic most of the time.
The System had wanted to speak up several times while watching Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu getting stickier and stickier with each other, but always stopped itself because it felt like it wasn’t a good time. But when it saw that it was almost time to leave, even if it wanted to pretend like it didn’t exist, it had no choice but to remind Song Xuanhe: 【There’s only forty five hours until it’s time for you to complete your final mission. Considering how far the location of your mission is, I would suggest you leave now.】
Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu had been in the middle of watching a movie when the System had spoken up. After Xiao Yuanmu heard that Song Xuanhe liked to watch science fiction movies, he compiled a list of all the science fiction movies in the world and sorted it by ratings. He then handed it over to Song Xuanhe to choose.
Right now, they were watching the 69th movie on the list. It had a rating of 9.2. The movie was set in a time where humanity successfully manages to break through the natural limits of their brains. As a result, civilization underwent rapid development. Out of boredom, someone invented a parallel world transmigration machine according to the parallel worlds theory. However, the machine wasn’t precise enough. This caused time and space to fall into a mess, leading to the series of events depicted in the movie.
“No matter where he is, I believe that he will be happy.”
At the end of the movie, the protagonist stared out into space, murmuring to himself in self-consolation. He was wishing the other protagonist happiness.
It was also at this precise moment in time that the System’s reminder came in.
Song Xuanhe suddenly snapped out of the reverie he had been in while watching the movie. He turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu, who was asleep, his head leaning on Song Xuanhe’s shoulder. The other’s long, straight lashes softly fell over his eyes. Because he trusted Song Xuanhe fully, he slept very soundly. His lips were slightly raised, making him actually seem like a young man for once.
“No matter where he is, I believe that…” Song Xuanhe swept his finger over Xiao Yuanmu’s nose and recited the movie’s lines, “He will be happy.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s eyelashes trembled and he slowly opened his eyes. When he noticed Song Xuanhe’s gaze, he smiled, moving in to place a kiss on the other man’s lips. “Sorry I fell asleep. Was the movie good?”
Song Xuanhe grinned back. “It was really good.”
“Louis said that the movie was good.” Xiao Yuanmu sat up. The exhaustion under his eyes had decreased a bit from his short rest. He chuckled and told Song Xuanhe, “Parallel worlds theory. Interesting.”
“Would you go to another world if they really existed?” Song Xuanhe asked casually.
“What about you?” Xiao Yuanmu asked instead of answering the question.
Song Xuanhe’s expression changed slightly subconsciously. Before he had come up with an answer, he heard Xiao Yuanmu say, “I’ll go wherever you go.”
“Did you also learn this from Louis?” Song Xuanhe laughed.
“No.” Xiao Yuanmu rested his head on Song Xuanhe’s leg, the smile evident in his eyes. “Because everywhere is the same to me, as long as you’re there.”
Song Xuanhe covered Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes and kissed him. After moving his hand away, he said, “I have to head back to China tomorrow.”
Xiao Yuanmu paused. “Why?”
“Huang Cong’s film is premiering. The one i invested in before. It’s the one I chose after careful consideration. He’s also been asking me to come back for some time now. So I finally decided to head back for a bit.”
Xiao Yuanmu was silent for a few seconds. “I don’t want you to go back.”
Song Xuanhe bushed his bangs aside, gaze focusing on Xiao Yuanmu in front of him. He didn’t look away. “I haven’t gone back for a long time now. My brother’s been urging me to come visit.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You just took over the Xiao Family. You barely have time to sleep.” When Song Xuanhe saw that Xiao Yuanmu was going to refute him, he added, “I know that you wake up in the middle of the night to work.”
Xiao Yuanmu looped his arms around Song Xuanhe’s neck and placed a kiss on his throat. “Sorry. There’s a lot to tackle right now.”
“While I’m gone, make sure to take care of yourself.” Song Xuanhe said, “Be good and listen to me. Wait for me to come back.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Yuanmu kept his arms around Song Xuanhe’s neck and lowered his voice. “In return, how about you be good and listen to me tonight….”
*
Song Xuanhe used Huang Cong’s premiere as an excuse to return to China. To prevent Xiao Yuanmu’s followers who were tailing him from noticing that something was wrong, he attended the premiere.
He sat in the audience, listening to Huang Cong, who seemed to be joking on the stage but was actually really nervous, while chatting with the System at the same time. It wasn’t just Huang Cong who was nervous. Everyone here, including the actors, were nervous.
After all, the subject matter portrayed in the film was not something that would typically be attractive to the masses. Furthermore, it was Huang Cong’s own transformative work and the main actress was Liu Xu, who had been shut down by her company for a year now. Except for the influence and fans Xue Mian brought with him after returning to the country, the movie didn’t have much going for it.
Huang Cong was anxious. The more worried he became, the more he wanted to find something to relax with. His eyes swept the venue and landed on Song Xuanhe, who had come to the premiere as soon as he had arrived in the country. He felt a bit relieved. Everyone knew of Song shao and Xiao Yuanmu’s relationship. Some people would do their best to give this movie publicity just to give Song Xuanhe face.
Coincidentally, the host had just shifted the conversation over to Xue Mian. Huang Cong promptly shifted out of the camera’s view and stuck out a hand to give his financial backer an eager greeting.
Song Xuanhe was currently listening to the System tell him about the mission. He didn’t notice Huang Cong’s action, but Xue Mian, who had been watching his side attentively did. He raised his brow slightly, a small smile appearing on his lips. The host also noticed Xue Mian’s gaze. She turned to follow his line of sight and saw the hazy appearance of the handsome young man under the dim light. Her eyes lit up.
The host didn’t recognize Song Xuanhe so she asked Xue Mian: “Film Emperor Xue, is that your good friend? I noticed that your eyes have been on him all this time. Did your friend come to support you?”
When Xue Mian heard this, he gave a profound smile. “I guess you could call us friends. But he didn’t come to support me. Mr. Song is the largest investor in this film.”
“Mr. Song?”
The host was a reporter who had only entered the entertainment news business about a year ago. At that time, Song Xuanhe had already stopped appearing in entertainment news. That’s why she didn’t recognize him. However, she had heard a senior reporter mention Song Xuanhe before.
That senior had also seen the eldest young master of the Xiao Family, Xiao Yuanmu, before he had returned to the Xiao Family. Back then, he had already thought that Xiao Yuanmu looked familiar. It took that senior a long time before he realized that he looked a lot like Mrs. Xiao’s younger brother, who he had interviewed twenty years ago. He had had a copy of a photo from the overseas interview. After digging it out and comparing them, he realized that they were even more similar than he had thought.
The senior had shown the photo to their editor-in-chief, thinking that it would make for a good headline. However, the editor-in-chief had thought that he was delusional. It was a terrible idea to try to compare an orphan with no authority or power with the Xiao matriarch’s beloved younger brother. If the Xiao Family didn’t mind it, it would be fine. But if the Xiao Family took offense, even if they were to give up the entire company in compensation, it still wouldn’t be enough to quell the Xiao Family’s anger.
Just like that, the matter was swept under the rug. However, the host had a very deep impression of Xiao Yuanmu because of that photo. In contrast, she didn’t have a strong impression of Song Xuanhe. That’s why she didn’t recognize him at first.
Everyone knew about Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu’s relationship. It didn’t matter if one couldn’t interview Xiao Yuanmu. As long as she could interview Song Xuanhe, the article would receive a lot of attention!
The host’s mind started to whirl as she imagined rising up in the world after getting a big scoop. She smiled at Xue Mian: “Since Mr. Song is one of the investors and your friend, I wonder if he’d be willing to come up on stage.”
“You’d have to ask him.” Xue Mian smiled gently.
The host’s eyes lit up when he didn’t reject her idea outright. She stood up with the microphone and headed over to Song Xuanhe.
The System warned Song Xuanhe：【Someone’s coming over. A woman. She has a microphone with her.】
Song Xuanhe didn’t pay much attention to it. After all, it was an interview at the movie’s premiere. Although he was an investor, the publicity activities had nothing to do with him. He didn’t think that the host was coming to speak to him.
Contrary to his expectations, the host stopped beside him a second later and sat down in the empty space next to him. “Mr. Song, I heard that you’re an investor of this film and that this is the first film you’ve invested in. Why did you choose to invest in this film?”
Song Xuanhe turned to look at the host. He didn’t look flustered at all. “Because I knew that it would earn me money.”
The broadcast room that had become a bit noisy after seeing the host descend the stage to speak to Song Xuanhe quieted down after hearing his words transmit through the speakers. Even Huang Cong’s eyes widened in surprise.
No one thought that the film would do well in the box office, including the movie’s director and female lead. One of them had filmed this movie because he loved the script so much and the other did it because she couldn’t be picky with her options after her company shut her out. This film was her life-saving straw.
Neither the director nor the main actress had high hopes for this film, let along the audience members.
The host was also surprised by Song Xuanhe’s reply but she maintained her smile. “Looks like Mr. Song’s confident about this film. Is it because you’re good friends with Film Emperor Xue? Is it because you’re supporting your friend that you’re so confident?”
Song Xuanhe was taken aback. He could count the number of encounters he and Xue Mian had on one hand. When did they become good friends?”
“No.”
“It’s not because of your friend?” The host continued to ask, “Then why? Also, why did you decide to invest in movies? From what I know, the Song Family has never been involved in the entertainment industry. If it’s not because of Film Emperor Xue…does it have something to do with your boyfriend, Xiao Yuanmu?”
“My ‘no’, I meant that I’m not friends with Xue Mian. As for your other question, I don’t think it’s an appropriate question for a movie premiere.”
The host was shocked by Song Xuanhe’s frankness but quickly caught onto the explosive comment he had made. She promptly asked, “Why do you say that you and Film Emperor Xue aren’t friends?”
Did he need a reason for that?
Song Xuanhe couldn’t be bothered with replying to this question.
Meanwhile, Xue Mian, who was still on stage, replied for him. He said, “It’s true that we’re not friends. If I had to put a label on it, I’d say that we’re…rivals-in-love.”
Eve: Rolling my eyes because Xue Mian still thinks he has a chance…man’s confident enough to actually make a statement in public like this. I have second hand embarrassment and actually pity him.
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