Xiao Zhan wonders if he was wrong.
Perhaps he should have still mentioned what had happened to Yibo when he had called the previous night, but Yibo had been too tired.
But now that his outburst at his manager is now circulating, Xiao Zhan wonders if it would still have been best either way for the notice to have come from him the previous evening.
There is a knock on his door, and this immediately pulls him out from his mind.
He almost doesn't want to respond to it, knowing now that Nini going out of her way to get in touch with him rather than just waiting for him to return, cannot mean anything good.
He sighs, takes one last look at their chat room and then rises to his feet.
"What is it?" he asks the moment he opens the door.
Her gaze is filled with worry. "I think we need to release a statement."
"Why?" he asks. "Now?"
She gives a brief glance at the lawyers, and then she turns to head back to the table.
Xiao Zhan goes with her and soon they are taking their seats.
"People dug up some more photos," she says and at this, his chest contracts once again.
"What photos?"
"There are three. The first one is of Yibo in Shamian about two months ago. Do you remember? He was spotted at a grocery store and I sent you a message asking if he had come there to see you?"
She pauses then, something akin to a question in her gaze.
"Are you asking if he was there to see me?" Xiao Zhan asks, and she nods in response.
"He was," he replies. "But what does this have to do with anything?"
"There's a theory that's going around. The second photo is of you arriving at Shamian after your audition in Beijing, and then there is the video of your...um, your reactionat the airport. When you were furious?"
"Okay. And?"
"So they connected the dots and the news now is that you both have actually been on bad terms for months. That Yibo came to see you in Shamian as a good friend, and mentioned the script to you. But because you liked it you then immediately went to Beijing behind his back to lobby for it, and then Yibo found out. You both had a fight and that was why you were so out of control at the airport."
"They're saying that since then you both haven't spoken to each other, and since you were successful with stealing the role from him you have been busy with filming. Plus Yibo didn't want to see you. But then yesterday, he finally agreed to speak to you so you found the time off from set and quickly rushed to Beijing. They're saying that because Yibo is so benevolent, he forgave you but then his manager was upset and felt too sorry for him. Because he works so hard and yet people keep taking advantage of him, and because he is so kind he keeps letting them. She couldn't stand it so she was the one that opened the Windfox account yesterday and posted the 'evidence' that you indeed lobbied for the role."
Xiao Zhan's headache intensifies so much that he cannot even respond. He just stares at her.
"Oh yeah, the third photo. It's of Yibo on a motorcycle yesterday in Yuelu. He was with Luo Jin as they filmed the day day up episode."
This time around he can't stop himself from groaning. "And what does that have to do with this?"
He sounds so bitter that the room goes silence fora little while before Nini speaks again.
"Well, people were wondering why it took a whole day for him to find out and confront his manager for going behind his back to expose you. This picture was used to explain that he was working so hard yesterday that he didn't realize what was happening until this morning."
Xiao Zhan inhales very deeply, and then exhales.
"Okay, so why do we have to put out a statement?"
"Because this evidence seems quite conclusive," one of the lawyers say, and Xiao Zhan doesn't even bother turning to him. His eyes are now shut, one elbow on the chair's hand rest and his head in his hand.
"There are seemingly very little holes in this theory so the public is already running with it. All sorts of comments are cropping up about how Yibo is such a precious and kind person that he is even going against his own staff just to defend and protect you. When you don't deserve it."
"What else?"
The lawyer grows uncomfortable then, his gaze shifty and barely able to meet his.
Xiao Zhan understands why.
"Well that's basically what they're all saying... just in, different ways."
"That was the most polite one you could find wasn't it?" he asks, and the lawyer just lowers his gaze from his.
"Xiao Zhan, public sentiment is a powerful thing and when allowed to burn without any measures to put it out, the damage to your reputation could be irreversible."
"And you think that a statement will check this? Won't it just make everything worse?"
"Well it depends on what we say, and regardless I think it will be good either way. Last time, one of the major backlashes that we received was that you took way too long to respond."
If left to Xiao Zhan, he would never even bother to dignify any of these nonsense with a response but right now, it is not all up to him and he is not the only one at stake.
So he nods his head in approval, and they all begin to work on the best way to approach this.
Midway through however, his senior lawyer allows his pen to fall to the table. "A statement that only comes from your studio will not be effective. Xiao Zhan, we need Wang Yibo's agency to also speak up. To intervene on behalf of Yibo and to squash all of these rumors against you both."
Xiao Zhan feels an exhaustion come over him, and it seems to be emanating from the depth of his bones.
"Yuehua is not going to put themselves or Yibo in jeopardy by responding to this."
"Maybe they will," Nini says. "I mean Wang Yibo is already involved in this whether they like it or not. Right now the wind is blowing in his favor but what's to say that the same will be the case tomorrow or even in a few hours. How do they know that someone won't dig up another photo from nowhere and build on this to his disfavor?"
Xiao Zhan pushes his chair backwards and rises to his feet, unwilling to listen to any more of this.
"Contact them then," he says. "There's no point in speculating. We can discuss after we've heard their response."
Nini however jumps to her feet and comes after him. "Wouldn't you like to contact Wang Yibo first?" she asks softly. "I think we'll have a better chance of collaborating with them if he too is on board."
He pauses and ponders on this.
"Yibo's on his way to Beijing right now. The moment he arrives I'll contact him immediately."
"Alright," Nini says and Xiao Zhan retires to his bedroom.
There, he takes a seat in the arm chair that faces the television, and begins to search for a movie that he can temporarily escape into.
One thing that he especially hates amidst all of this, is the way that his body is reacting; his skin is tingling all over with anxiety and he has to put quite the effort into keeping his breathing steady.
Now that he thinks about it, it was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to fall asleep the previous night. But then he recalls aptly, the 'miracle'that had pulled him out of all this mess and into the bubble that had calmed him enough to truly rest.
Despite this however, he still remains reluctant to contact Yibo.
He doesn't want Yibo to be pulled into this for any reason. But as Nini has mentioned, isn't it already too late?
Suddenly, a new text message arrives for him and his breath immediately hitches in his throat.
It can't be Yibo, he tells himself, as he is certain that Yibo is still probably flying back to Beijing. So he sets the remote aside, and picks up his phone.
He finds that it is Xiao Wu. Li Ping and Mei Li have also already sent him messages of encouragement the previous day, but he is yet to open any of them.
Something about Xiao Wu's though makes him curious, so he pulls it open and reads what it says.
"Remember what I told you in March?" he says. "Work when you're serious, read when you're confused, think when you're alone, and sleep when you're sad? I hope that this can still comfort you today. There's nothing that they do that'll be able to bring you down. Stay strong."
He feels his heart warm at the message.
He immediately drafts a response of gratitude, addresses all the other messages sending him support and then turns the television off.
He heads off to bed, deeply needing to calm his mind and heart.
He pulls the covers over his head and after a few minutes of thought, he sends the message to Yibo.
"Please call me when you arrive in Beijing."
Once again, his body readily embraces his attempt to rest and he is soon fast asleep.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The gentle but persistent knocking on his door pulls him back awake.
His eyes open at the urgent call, and it immediately sends his heart racing. He sits up then and holds his head in his hands so that he can recover his wits.
The knock continues, so he throws the covers off him and heads over to the door to pull it open.
It's Nini.
"What is it?" he asks.
"Yibo arrived in Beijing about forty-five minutes ago," she says. "I'm just wondering if he has contacted you yet."
He takes a few seconds to process the information before heading back to the be side table to retrieve his phone.
"How do you know he's arrived?" he asks as he pulls up his wechat to check if Yibo has responded to his messages.
"It's on Weibo," she replies and then goes quiet.
Xiao Zhan's gaze moves to the time which tells him that he has been asleep for about an hour, but he feels far from rested. In fact, he feels even more exhausted than when he had initially closed his eyes.
This exhaustion compounds when he sees that Yibo has not responded to his message.
"I got you lunch," she says, so he turns around and goes with her.
He finds that the lawyers have both taken their leave, so he takes his seat at the table with her and pulls over the waiting sandwich.
He doesn't say anything as he eats, and it is only afterwards that she speaks again.
"There's a demonstration outside of Yuehua."
Alarm instantly grips him at her words. He looks up, his eyes slightly widened.
"Why?"
"It's in support of Wang Yibo. A lot of his fans went to the airport to receive him, while some others just decided to camp out in front of his company's building. They're saying that his kindness is why they love him but they won't allow others to use it to take advantage of him."
At this, Xiao Zhan feels such an overwhelming irritation that he throws the remainder of his sandwich back on the table.
Nini sighs in response.
"There's also a demonstration outside the drama's set but..."
He doesn't need her to say it. This one is most definitely against him... the snake.
"Has he contacted you?" she asks again, and Xiao Zhan shakes his head.
He picks up his phone then, for the lack of anything better to do and goes on Weibo. He is truly aggravated now, and doesn't see the need anymore to protect himself from their nonsensical comments. He refreshes the hot search list and begins to scroll through it all. Just then Nini's phone begins to rings and she answers it.
His bitterness grows as he continues on with reading all of their malicious statements, and even though he knows that it is poisoning his heart, he cannot stop. He is at the point now where he is welcoming the pain. Rather than hiding, it is better to fully imbibe it all and hopefully become angry enough to numb himself to it.
He doesn't listen to Nini as she takes her call, but after she is done with it he is forced to when she calls out to him.
There's is a terrible scowl on his face, and he only realizes it when he sees the fear that briefly flashes across her eyes. And then her shoulders just slump in sadness.
"What is it?" he asks.
"That was Yuan Mei," she says, and once again he is struck with another brutal dose of alarm.
"She says that the director has been receiving threats, and that the investors are threatenring to pull out since they're afraid that the public will blacklist the drama. The set has been closed now for the second day and given the tight schedule that they were already on, any further delays is going to severely affect the project."
A painful chill slices through Xiao Zhan's heart at her words. He tries his best to remove every trace of emotion from his tone as he responds.
"They want to replace me?"
"I didn't allow her to get there," Nini says. " I told her about our plan to contact Yuehua so that we could work hand in hand to squash this. She thinks this is a good idea and wants me to get back to her as soon as we have made the arrangements and gotten them on board. I don't think that we can wait on Wang Yibo any more."
Just then, his phone begins to ring but he refuses to look down at it to see who is calling.
"Call Yuehua," he says and rises to his feet.
He heads back into his bedroom, his blood simmering with anger and it is only when he is settled back into the arm chair that he pulls out his phone to see whom the call is from.
His heart sinks as his father's name registers.
"Shit," he swears and considers ignoring the call, but then he thinks of his mother and decides that this is a good opportunity to check in on how she is doing.
So he returns the call and places the phone to his ear.
"Ba," he answers the moment the line connects.
"What is going on?" his father asks, his voice harsh and grating. "Things are getting worse."
This is the last thing that Xiao Zhan needs to hear right now, but he tries his best to calm himself so that he can respond cordially.
"We have a handle on it," he says. "Don't worry."
"How the hell am I supposed to not worry? " he says. "Your mother cried through the entire night!"
At this, Xiao Zhan feels his heart collapse. His temperature drops and even his breathing he suspects stops.
It is only after a few more seconds that he is able to repaond.
"What?"
His father ignores his question.
"Is any of what they are saying true?" he asks.
Xiao Zhan takes a deep breath. "No," he responds.
"So why isn't Yibo saying anything? If it's not true then why is he allowing it to drag on for this long?"
"Ba, Yibo doesn't work for himself! He can't just come out to carelessly give a statement without first consulting with his company!"
"Is this what he said? So how long exactly does this consultation need? Or is he just dragging his feet to give this thing time to completely bury you?"
"Ba!"
At his outburst, his father goes quiet and so does he. Xiao Zhan inhales deeply again, and then exhales.
"Ba, we're speaking to Yibo's company. We're going to collaborate with them to bring this under control."
At this, his father remains silent and Xiao Zhan knows that he is fuming. He doesn't blame him, but he does hurt that his father hasn't even bothered to ask through all of this, how he is doing.
Again, he doesn't blame him especially when he has his mother to worry about.
"What did I tell you?" his father finally speaks, and Xiao Zhan once again goes cold. "I cannot believe that that you constantly allow such a person to be around you."
"Ba," he complains, but before he can say another word his father hangs up.
The phone however remains pressed to Xiao Zhan's ears untill he is able to recover.
The moment he feels himself stabilize, he pulls the phone away and finds that his hand is slightly shaking. He allows the phone to drop to his lap and then with a deep frown across his face, begins to massage his hand.
He spends quite the while doing this, and then afterwards he picks the phone back up and calls Wang Yibo.
Yibo doesn't pick up, but Xiao Zhan refuses to give up. He redials him over and over again until finally, he responds.
"Wei," Yibo says, his voice hoarse and withdrawn, and Xiao Zhan is so taken aback that his heart nearly flies out of his chest.
It takes him a few more seconds to gather his thoughts, and when he does he immediately goes straight to the point.
"Why aren't you answering my calls?" he asks.
Yibo doesn't miss a beat. "I'm busy."
At this, Xiao Zhan pauses because he recognizes this tone. Yibo is pissed off at him, just as he had expected.
He sighs.
"You've found out... about everything that's happening."
Yibo doesn't respond so he is forced to keep talking.
"I wanted to tell you last night when I called you but-"
Yibo cuts him off."I, called you."
Silence.
This is technically correct, but Xiao Zhan wants to refute this because he had been intending to call before Yibo had. Regardless, the last thing he wants right now is to have an argument with Yibo so he calms himself, and moves the conversation along.
"Yeah, you did. I wanted to tell you but you were quite tired."
He pauses, but Yibo doesn't say another word.
Xiao Zhan rises to his feet, unable to keep still any longer.
"How did you find out?" he asks.
"My mom told me," Yibo responds coldly."She called me at the airport."
"Ah," Xiao Zhan says, and feels his chest ache."I'm sorry."
He doesn't even realize it now, but he is now slowly pacing across the room.
"I have to go." Yibo says. "Is there anything else?"
Tears sting Xiao Zhan's eyes.
The seconds tick by.
"No," he manages to croak out.
And with that, the call immediately comes to an end.
Xiao Zhan feels his blood freeze over as he stares down in disbelief at the phone.
Yibo had truly hung up.