Chapter 41 - Play The Xiao
Yu Tang saw Song Xiao crane his neck and immediately closed the book. However, the book cover, with the pink circular characters ‘Overbearing President Fell In Love With Me’ on it, was revealed.
“This is…” Song Xiao’s lips curved. What was the emperor reading?
Yu Tang expressionlessly picked up the book, stuffed it into his drawer, then turned to say to Dugu An, “It’s going to be the exams soon; if you still read this sort of leisure book, I’ll confiscate it.”
Dugu An, who was doing test papers for the emperor, lifted his head expressionlessly and answered without even thinking, “Yes.”
Song Xiao: “…”
When the emperor took a shower that night, Song Xiao lay on the bed and used Yu Tang’s laptop to read the news. When he did a search on Xinghai Entertainment, news of Zhuo Jingjing being treated unfairly by her company filled the screen.
Zhuo Jingjing was clearly prepared. After the news conference, she held a press conference that same night, weeping endlessly as she related how the company had bullied her and even releasing a video to the public.
Song Xiao clicked on the video link. The recording wasn’t very clear. There was a man and woman in the video, and it was possible to make out Zhuo Jingjing as the woman, as well as the office setting. It really was the decor in Xinghai Entertainment.
“Gang ge, I still have three years left of my contract with Xinghai Entertainment. If the company freezes me, I’ll be destroyed.” Zhuo Jingjing’s pleading voice was very clear.
“…freeze you…” The man’s voice wasn’t distinct at all, but viewers could make out words like “you’re very popular” and ”freeze you”.
“Xinghai Entertainment’s upper management said that even if I’m currently very popular, they’re still going to freeze me, wu…” Zhuo Jingjing clutched a tissue as she cried mournfully.
“May I ask, why does Xinghai Entertainment want to freeze you?” The reporters thrust their mikes forward one after another.
“I’m not quite sure either…” Zhuo Jingjing began to cry again.
At that moment, Zhuo Jingjing’s effeminate manager stepped out. “Come come, I’ll explain to everyone.”
The manager pointed out that because Zhuo Jingjing was unwell in the past, she didn’t want to take on even more work, but the company believed that since ‘Pink Winter’ was going to be released soon, it couldn’t be put off, so both sides had a conflict. In addition, Zhuo Jingjing took on a small clothing commercial without knowing the facts, and was considered to have violated the company’s rule to not pick up work without permission, which was why she was going to be frozen.
“Were you feeling unwell because you’re pregnant?”
“Then do you still have the baby?”
The reporters wanted to get to the bottom of this. Zhuo Jingjing claimed that she wasn’t pregnant and that she had been unwell and had been mistaken herself.
The entertainment reporters didn’t believe this, however, and very quickly imagined a grudge scenario. Before, Zhuo Jingjing had clearly said that she was pregnant, and was prepared to marry Mr. Song. If this k2018;Mr. Song’ she was referring to was Song Zicheng, then when his lover was pregnant, he had still forced her to work. What sort of behavior was this?
Very quickly, an insider divulged that Zhuo Jingjing had truly been pregnant, but her child was gone. Song Zicheng had been furious about the matter of her announcing her pregnancy without permission, which was why he wanted to freeze her. This was more believable than Zhuo Jingjing’s excuses.
Xinghai Entertainment didn’t make a single sound, allowing everyone to sympathize with Zhuo Jingjing. In the midst of this commotion, the film Zhuo Jingjing was promoting, ‘Pink Winter’, was released. In order to comfort their G.o.ddess who had been wronged, many fans flocked to the cinema to buy tickets in support.
Originally, it was just a low budget romance film, but because of the hype from the gossip, it became a small hit.
The affair with Zhuo Jingjing, together with the previous affair with Qiu Mingyan, gave everyone a new understanding of Song Zicheng as someone who was fickle and a womanizer, who supported his illegitimate daughter and did the unspoken rules with an artist. The industry’s opinion of Song Zicheng reached an all-time low for a time. There were even some who said that every female celebrity in Xinghai Entertainment had slept with Song Zicheng.
Once these speculations emerged, the other artists of Xinghai Entertainment were immediately dragged into it. Even Musha, this film empress, couldn’t escape.
“Musha, can I ask if it’s true that the unspoken rules exist in Xinghai Entertainment?” a reporter asked Musha, who was in the VIP area at a film festival.
The smile on Musha’s face didn’t falter in the slightest when she heard the question, and her tone was steady when she said, “Xinghai Entertainment is a very traditional company and its management is also very strict. At least, ever since I entered this company, I haven’t seen these so-called ‘unspoken rules’.”
After the film festival ended, Musha couldn’t keep the smile on her face anymore. She directly made a call to Song Zicheng. “Chief Song, I don’t care if you want to hype up whatever film, but call a press conference. Right. Now! I refuse to believe that you can’t handle a runt of a girl!”
When Song Zicheng picked up the phone, he was immediately shaken by the thunderous roar which hurt his ears. “Our profit forecast for the end of the year is very tight; I want to wait until the box office stabilizes before saying anything…”
“Then you wait ba, wait until it blows up even more. I’ll switch companies as well.” After she finished speaking, Musha directly hung up and angrily threw her phone to the side.
Musha’s status in the entertainment circle was very high. As a young film empress who was still very popular, she could be considered the backbone of Xinghai Entertainment. In the early years before the partner left, they had given her a portion of the company’s shares in order to keep her, which was why she dared to yell at Song Zicheng.
The manager walked over, helped pick up Musha’s phone, and heaved a sigh. “Dari Media’s people just contacted me. They didn’t say anything, and only offered their sympathies.” But as a gold-cla.s.s manager, how could he not know what the other side’s intentions were? If Musha’s status in the entertainment circle wasn’t so high, Dari Media would probably have raised the matter of switching companies outright.
“Don’t agree, but don’t offend them either.” Musha kneaded the s.p.a.ce between her eyebrows and sighed.
Even the film empress had received an invitation to switch companies, to say nothing of the other artists.
“What are you looking at?” Yu Tang finished his shower and saw Song Xiao staring at the screen seriously. He walked over slowly and lay down with him, lazily resting his chin on Song Xiao’s shoulder.
“Another problem has appeared with my family’s theatrical troupe.” Song Xiao was somewhat vexed. His father was bad at running a business, always making a mess. Song Xiao had a premonition that his family’s theatrical troupe would fall very soon.
Yu Tang glanced at the webpage, then immediately understood what was happening.
“This Musha is pretty good, knowing to defend the employer outside.” Song Xiao pointed at the woman wearing an evening dress on the screen as he spoke.
“En.” Yu Tang raised a hand to close the laptop and dragged the empress, who was only wearing thin pajamas, into the blankets. “Don’t mind it, your dad is still better at handling all this than you are; It’s enough for you to just do well in the midterm exams.”
At the mention of the midterm exams, Song Xiao couldn’t help but be a little nervous. In his previous incarnation, he had never feared tests; from the tongsheng exam up until the court exam, he had been very self-a.s.sured. But knowledge in the modern era was excessively vast and complex. Even if he could memorize everything in a short period of time, it was impossible for him to gain a comprehensive understanding, and he still couldn’t understand some parts of science…
Yu Tang looked at his family’s empress. Once the exams were brought up, Song Xiao was so depressed that his hair drooped. Yu Tang couldn’t resist reaching out to rub it as he said seriously, “You have to study well. If your family falls, they can still rely on you to support them.”
“En.” Song Xiao nodded earnestly.
Yu Tang was amused as he looked at him. He pulled Song Xiao into his arms and kissed him. “It’s fine even if you don’t do well in your studies; zhen can support you.”
Song Xiao nestled in Yu Tang’s embrace and his lips curled up. The emperor didn’t even do his homework, so it was still Song Xiao who was better at studying. However, he didn’t dare say that, and could only pretend to sleep and not respond.
The midterm exams arrived.
Humanities subjects that relied on memorization, such as politics, history, and geography, weren’t a problem at all. Song Xiao had memorized everything in the exercise booklets, and it could be said that he wrote smoothly and easily. For the science subjects, aside from physics, his performance was barely adequate; at the very least, the test papers were completely filled in.
After two days and nine subject exams, his whole being was ready to collapse.
On the night after the final exam, Yu Tang led a listless Song Xiao back to their dormitory.
Even though it was the exam period and cla.s.ses were dismissed earlier than usual, the day had already turned dark. The students who had finished their exams ran around excitedly on the sports field, and some young couples sneakily went to the garden to be lovey-dovey.
Song Xiao yawned, and without looking where they were going, allowed the emperor to pull him along. When he saw their surroundings become more and more secluded, he finally realized that something was amiss.
“Where are we?” Song Xiao looked around. They were next to a small slope covered in ornamental turf. Not far away was a small pavilion that wasn’t especially exquisite, with dried vines curled around it.
“Behind the sports field.” Yu Tang took him up the slope and pointed at the sky filled with stars as he stiffly said, “If you want the stars in the sky, zhen will pluck them for you.”
The corners of Song Xiao’s lips turned up. So late and still not asleep – what stars do you want to pluck?! However, the emperor was currently very focused, so it was better not to dampen his spirits. “How… how will you pluck them?”
Yu Tang had one hand behind his back. Dugu An, who was hiding in the shadows, instantly appeared and stuffed a handful of sparklers into Yu Tang’s hand before lighting them.
A sizzle accompanied the sound of the sparklers being lit. Light instantly appeared before Song Xiao’s eyes as dimly lit fireworks blossomed in the emperor’s hand. In a big handful, it really looked as if Yu Tang had plucked the stars from the sky, gathering them into a bundle.
Song Xiao was immediately stunned. “This is…”
“Happy birthday,” Yu Tang said expressionlessly. Inserting the lit sparklers into the ground, he raised his hand, and an incomparably handsome wooden box promptly appeared in it.
Song Xiao stole a peek at Dugu An, the devoted secret guard who was responsible for setting up the props and helping the emperor act cool before he dutifully retreated into the shadows. Hearing the emperor cough lightly, Song Xiao promptly turned back to look at Yu Tang.
His Majesty the emperor, who didn’t do things by halves, resolved to complete the steps written in the ‘Love Guidebook’. It was written in the book that a lover’s birthday was extremely important. If a confession was given on that day, unexpected benefits might be reaped.
Song Xiao took the wooden box. He didn’t open it, and merely stroked that simple and unadorned surface. “Is today my birthday?”
“En.” Yu Tang secretly wiped his sweaty palms on his school uniform, and said haltingly, “Zhen is giving you this because… because zhen wants you to play the xiao for zhen!”
Pl- play the xiao… Song Xiao stared at the emperor blankly, then his face promptly turned red.
Little Theater
Xiaoxiao: Outdoors isn’t too good ba
Fish Tang: No no, that’s not what zhen meant
Xiaoxiao: Oh, then forget it
Fish Tang: …Did zhen just miss some sort of opportunity?
Xiao An: (Lights a candle)
Baobao Notes
Behind all the magic is dugu an.
Sidenote, I’ve made a character list for SBME here