At 11 o'clock the next morning, the plane that Xie Yang and Qiu Xing took landed in B City. The two of them walked out of the exit while talking.
"Ahhhh! Yang Yang!"
"Xie Yang! Xie Yang!"
A sudden burst of screams rang out. Xie Yang stopped, looked up and turned to the direction of the sound. He saw a densely packed crowd of fans holding signs outside the exit. At a glance, there were probably dozens of people.
Xie Yang lifted a hand and the fans became more excited. They started to shout Xie Yang's name again. Many people took out their phones to take photos of Xie Yang. Qiu Xing frowned and immediately held Xie Yang's hand while blocking Xie Yang behind him. "Your itinerary was exposed?"
Xie Yang pulled down the mask on his face and replied, "It should be."
Their conversation made the fans notice Qiu Xing's existence and a new round of screaming and cheers erupted. It was useless to talk anymore. The fans were here and it was impossible to avoid them. If the fans kept surrounding the exit then it would affect other travellers.
Xie Yang squeezed Qiu Xing's hand and took the initiative to take the mask off his face. He waved to the excited fans before placing a finger to his lip, signalling them to be quiet and not disturb other passengers. The fans were fairly obedient. Seeing Xie Yang's actions they restrained themselves, lowered their voices and consciously moved out of the way to avoid blocking other passengers.
Wu Shui, who followed behind Xie Yang and Qiu Xing, stepped forward in time to protect Xie Yang's side. Qiu Xing protected Xie Yang from the other side. The three of them went out.
This wave of fans who came to pick him up at the airport were organized and disciplined. Xie Yang walked over and everyone moved aside obediently. They restrained themselves and kept a distance away from Xie Yang. Then they followed him outside the airport.
The closest fans spoke excitedly to Xie Yang.
"Yang Yang, filming was hard work! When will you release a new album?"
"Yang Yang, you're too thin. Eat more!"
"Yang Yang, your advertisement and posters are super handsome!"
"Yang Yang, congratulations on finishing the movie shooting!"
Xie Yang looked at the fan who said congratulations and raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that I finished shooting?"
The handsome young man looked up from under the brim of his hat. His long eyelashes slightly obscured the expression in his eyes, the corners of his mouth were slightly curved up, his skin was flawless at this close distance, his side profile was perfect and his voice sounded sweet and sultry... a heart attack!
Most of the Xie fans had never seen the real Xie Yang before because Xie Yang was 'not dedicated' and attended few commercial events. The Xie fans had no chance to meet the real person. It was hard to even see a road shot because Xie Yang's itinerary was always confidential. All the people chasing him were very lonely.
Now this group of Xie fans who had never seen the 'world' suddenly came into contact with Xie Yang in private and were watched by him...
The surroundings were strangely quiet for a moment before the atmosphere visibly became warm again. The fan who was asked the question blushed and shouted, "Everyone knows! Someone sent a photo of a chance encounter at your ending part yesterday. They heard you say that you will return to B City today! Yang Yang, you have worked hard while filming! I-I will always support you!"
A chance encounter at the party? Yesterday's party was clearly enclosed. How was there a chance encounter? Could it be that someone in the restaurant revealed the news?
Xie Yang smiled at the fans. "It isn't hard. Thank you for your concern."
The fans were taken aback and then exploded. Some were in a daze due to Xie Yang's handsome smile.
Qiu Xing saw such a Xie Yang and his lips pressed together in a flat line.
They walked smoothly outside the airport. Zhou Miao was already waiting by the car. He saw Xie Yang's group walking out surrounded by fans and was stunned. Then he hurriedly opened the door and stepped forward to help separate Xie Yang from the fans.
As they were getting into the car, a Xie fan who had been afraid to talk to Qiu Xing finally raised the courage and shouted to Qiu Xing, "Mr Qiu, please take good care of Xie Yang!"
Qiu Xing turned to look at the fan and the vinegar that had been restrained spread out a bit. "I will naturally take good care of my person." Then he turned around, stuffed Xie Yang into the car, sat in it himself and closed the door.
Their ears were finally quiet.
Xie Yang watched Qiu Xing with amusement. "You also drink the vinegar of fans?"
Qiu Xing had a noble and cold expression as he crossed his legs and remained silent.
Xie Yang leaned over Qiu Xing and lowered the window. He waved to the fans outside, thanked them for picking him up and told them to be safe when going home. Then he said goodbye.
The fans responded cheerfully. The car started and drove away. Xie Yang raised the window and wanted to straighten up, only to be held down by Qiu Xing. Xie Yang looked up at him.
Qiu Xing stared at Xie Yang condescendingly. He pinched Xie Yang's ear and said in a strange manner, "Thank you for your concern? Pay attention to safety? When have you become so considerate?"
Xie Yang smiled and deliberately replied, "They are my parents paying for my food and clothing. I have to be considerate."
Qiu Xing's expression darkened. "In the past, I was the parent who paid for your food and clothing. Why weren't you so considerate to me?"
"So you want to be my parent?"
"......" Qiu Xing was angry and glared at Xie Yang. "Don't blur the point!"
Xie Yang pulled down Qiu Xing's hand and kissed his palm.
Qiu Xing's fingers contracted and he couldn't stop staring into Xie Yang's eyes. He reached out to cover Xie Yang's eyes and rubbed his hair vigorously.
***
The car was about to enter the city when Wu Shui spoke from the front passenger seat. "There is a car following us."
Xie Yang had been discussing with Qin Cheng about the leakage of his itinerary. He immediately stared into the rearview mirror and inquired, "Which car is it?"
"The silver van on the back right."
Xie Yang searched for it and found a silver van. Qiu Xing also discovered the silver van and instructed with a frown, "Get rid of it."
Zhou Miao responded by accelerating and quickly changing lanes. In the rearview mirror, the silver van seemed to have discovered that it was spotted. It actually accelerated and tried to get parallel to their car.
As the two cars got closer, the rear window of the van suddenly lowered, revealing a few young girls whose faces were tightly covered with masks and hats. They held cameras and pointed them at this side, waving and shouting something.
Wu Shui could read lips. "They are calling out the boss' name."
Qiu Xing frowned fiercely and ordered again, "Find a way to get rid of them."
Zhou Miao responded by once again flexibly changing lanes. He slowly pulled away from the van. However, the silver van actually caught up again and even stuck to their car.
Qiu Xing's expression was completely cold. This time, he didn't have to give a command. Zhou Miao changed lanes and accelerated again. He relied on his excellent driving skills and finally threw the van off completely when passing a complicated fork in the road.
The van might've been thrown away but the relaxed atmosphere in the car had disappeared. Qiu Xing asked Xie Yang, "What's wrong with these people?"
Xie Yang replied, "They should be obsessive fans."
"What are obsessive fans?"
Xie Yang explained the meaning.
Qiu Xing smiled coldly after hearing this. "They are still fans? They are just perverted stalkers. Wu Shui, do you remember the license plate of the van?"
"I remember."
"Call the police."
Wu Shui took out his phone and looked at Xie Yang first.
Xie Yang nodded. "Report it."
Wu Shui dialed the reporting number.
Zhou Miao drove directly to the police station. After registering the report information, Qiu Xing left his lawyer's number and took Xie Yang back to Jinghe Garden.
On the way back, Qiu Xing's face was always stiff.
Xie Yang soothed him. "Don't worry, this type of fan is in the minority. I wouldn't have encountered them if my itinerary wasn't leaked this time. It is a small probability event."
"I will arrange two more bodyguards for you." Qiu Xing wasn't comforted at all. He squeezed Xie Yang's hand tightly and his tone was cold. "Why did you choose this career? Let Qin Cheng protect your schedule information in the future."
Xie Yang nodded and held Qiu Xing's hand to appease him.
***
Later, the police station sent feedback. The owner of the van was a scalper who lived by selling the travel information of celebrities. Facing the police's questioning, the scalper only admitted that he had accidentally discovered Xie Yang's car. He didn't admit that he followed Xie Yang with fans. He implied that everything was a coincidence.
The scalper didn't admit it and the police couldn't do anything. The car chase didn't cause any actual harm. Even if there was surveillance to prove that the silver van was following Xie Yang, the police could only impose a penalty on the scalper for reckless driving and detain him for a few days. They couldn't do anything else.
Once Qiu Xing got the results, he was so angry that he ate less than half a bowl. Xie Yang coaxed Qiu Xing to eat more. Then once Qiu Xing went to wash up after the meal, Xie Yang took out his mobile phone and looked at the information that Qin Cheng found about the Weibo that leaked his schedule.
It was posted by a small, unknown passerby account. This person said that he was eating out yesterday when he ran into the crew of 'I See Xuanyuan'. He heard the crew mention that the second male lead part was finished and the actor would be flying back to B City tomorrow morning.
It was accompanied by two photos, both of which showed crew members leaving the restaurant after the dinner. Qin Cheng also sent other information he had found.
Qin Cheng: The Weibo was sent out early this morning and the news quickly spread to several of your senior fan groups.
Qin Cheng: In fact, the fans said at the beginning that they wouldn't pick you up. Everyone thought you must be very tired from filming and that it wasn't good to disturb you. Then someone mentioned that you left B City on the same flight as Xue Xian. Xue Xian will have fans to meet him off the plane but you won't. Then the marketing accounts will write about how you envy Xue Xian. The fan said that it has been a year since your debut and they haven't given you any decent support. You must feel wronged.
Qin Cheng: In this way, there were some distressed fans who were moved and temporarily organized this pick up event. The result was that some obsessive fans received the news and ran to chase you in a car.
Xie Yang read the messages from Qin Cheng several times.
Looking at it this way, the incident seemed to be caused by an ordinary itinerary leak but Xie Yang had to consider it some more.
In the novel, the original owner of this body died because of a car accident. Coincidentally, the cause of the original owner's accident happened to be another car. However, unlike him, the car was driven by a drunk man, not fans.
This was a book world that might turn back to the original plotline at any time. He had to be vigilant about any similarity and dig deeper.
Xie Yang sent a few messages to Qin Cheng asking him to carefully check the source of the scalper and the itinerary leak. He should also screen the fans who drove the rhythm about the pick up event in the fan groups.
***
On the way to the Elder Tao's birthday party the next day, Xie Yang was bored and went to Weibo, only to unexpectedly find that he was once again on the hot search. This hot search was very friendly. The content was #Xie Yang's heartbeat moment#. He clicked into the topic and the first one was a video posted by a Xie fan.
Setting Sail: Ahhh, Yang Yang is even more beautiful than the photos! His skin is super good! Long eyelashes! Sob, so envious. Come and look at this! It is the annual heartbeat! P.S. Yang Yang's boyfriend is also very handsome and good to him. He was always careful to guard Yang Yang (I also feel that he is eating our fan's vinegar. Hahaha, the moment someone confesses that they like Yang Yang, he will look at them coldly like he is holding back his anger). In any case, I'm supporting it! Locked up! Please get married!
This post was accompanied by a five seconds video.
Xie Yang clicked on the video to look at it. Not surprisingly, it was the scene where he turned his head and asked the fan where they got the news about him finishing shooting. This video not only captured his expression but also Qiu Xing's profile.
He paused the video and took a close look at Qiu Xing's profile in the video. Then he turned to look at Qiu Xing beside him.
Since they were going to a birthday banquet, Qiu Xing specifically wore a softer coloured shirt and his hair was looser. It was simply fixed in place with hairspray and he looked refreshing and gentle. Sure enough, Qiu Xing in reality was more handsome.
Qiu Xing had just finished the call with He Jun when he noticed Xie Yang's gaze. He glanced over and asked, "What's the matter?"
Xie Yang shook his head and retracted his gaze. Then he looked at the comments below the Weibo post.
The comments area was lively and the total number of comments had exceeded 20,000. The hot comments were unsurprisingly occupied by the licking screen party and the sugar eating party. There were many Xie fans who noticed Qiu Xing's ferocity. They inferred from various details that 'Qiu Xing loves Xie Yang very much'. Their ability to pick out sugar was very strong.
There were also people who tried to control the rhythm and make some sour comments. However, this didn't work. They were all buried by the excited sugar eaters and didn't dare to appear again.
Xie Yang wanted to like some of the fun comments but he resisted. He turned off the comments and checked the trending posts. Then he unexpectedly found that it wasn't just that scene that was on the hot search. Later, he and Qiu Xing were ready to get into the car. The fans asked Qiu Xing to take good care of him and the scene where Qiu Xing replied, 'I will naturally take good care of my person' was also filmed and posted on Weibo. It had already become a hot topic.
The comments on this Weibo post were also very interesting. They were all screams, lemon emojis and parodies of the boss' domineering tone. Xie Yang found it very interesting. One hand reached over and pinched Xie Yang's face.
Xie Yang controlled his smile and turned to look at Qiu Xing.
Qiu Xing was satisfied when he saw Xie Yang. He removed his hand on Xie Yang's face and told him, "You will follow me in a while. If someone says something difficult to listen to then don't worry about it. You can answer whatever you want."
Xie Yang raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, you just need to make sure that you aren't bullied. I will handle the rest."
Xie Yang understood and nodded. "I know."
30 minutes later, the car stopped at the door of a five star hotel. A staff member stepped forward to help open the door. Qiu Xing got out of the car first and then turned around to help Xie Yang.
There were guides arranged by the Tao family waiting at the door. They were stunned for a moment when they saw Qiu Xing appear. Then the leader was the first to come to his senses and guided them to the party venue.
After entering the elevator, the guide secretly looked at Xie Yang standing next to Qiu Xing through the reflection of the elevator door. Qiu Xing shifted his gaze from the elevator door to the guide and he asked coldly, "What are you looking at?"
The guide was taken aback and hurriedly withdrew his gaze. Then he awkwardly replied, "Sorry for being rude. I just... I just thought this gentleman is somewhat unfamiliar."
Qiu Xing withdrew his gaze and sneered. "It seems the Tao family's invitation wasn't very sincere. He is my partner and Rongding's vice-chairman yet you actually feel that he is unfamiliar."
Partner and vice-chairman? The guide was taken aback. He didn't know if he should be shocked by Qiu Xing's introduction of Xie Yang or frightened by Qiu Xing's attitude.
The elevator arrived and Qiu Xing didn't wait for the guide's mind to return. He directly took Xie Yang's hand and walked out of the elevator. He walked along the red carpet to the entrance of the party venue.
Elder Tao's eldest son Tao Huazhang and his grandson Tao Yang were standing at the door of the party venue to greet the guests. They saw Qiu Xing leading Xie Yang and both of them froze for a moment. Then Tao Huazhang smiled happily while Tao Yang frowned, his gaze sweeping over Qiu Xing's hand holding Xie Yang.
Tao Huazhang smiled and came forward to greet Qiu Xing. Since it wasn't clear what identity Xie Yang was using to accompany Qiu Xing, he skillfully addressed Xie Yang vaguely when greeting him.
Qiu Xing wasn't satisfied with this ambiguity. He exchanged polite words with Tao Huazhang before introducing Xie Yang. "Chairman Tao, this is my partner Xie Yang. Xie Yang, this is chairman Tao, Tao Huazhang."
Xie Yang nodded politely towards Tao Huazhang. "Hello."
A partner. This was the same as the will and it wasn't a boyfriend. So he was serious?
Tao Huazhang had various calculations in his heart but his face didn't show it. He smiled and greeted Xie Yang with a more polite and solemn attitude than before. Then he invited the two of them into the hall.
"Wait a minute." Qiu Xing suddenly called out to Tao Huazhang. Then he glanced sideways at Tao Yang who had been quiet in the background, his tone not good. "Tao Yang, there is something I hope you can pay attention to. According to seniority, your father and I are of the same generation and Xie Yang is my partner. It is really inappropriate for you to call him 'junior brother'. Considering that Xie Yang is younger than you, if you feel that calling Xie Yang by his name is too rude then you can call him vice-chairman Xie in the future."
Just then, another group of guests arrived. They heard Qiu Xing's words and stopped, staring at Qiu Xing and Xie Yang with surprise.
Recently, the love affair between Qiu Xing and Xie Yang had enthusiastically spread and the entire upper class circle basically knew about it. For this reason, everyone did their homework and learned about Xie Yang's situation. As far as they knew, the only position where Xie Yang could be called 'chairman' was the chairman of Yang Xing. Now Qiu Xing asked Tao Yang to call Xie Yang as vice-chairman?
What vice-chairman? What was he the vice-chairman of? A certain guess emerged and the atmosphere became strange as everyone stared at Xie Yang.
Xie Yang ignored the crowd's attention and smiled at Tao Huazhang and Tao Yang. "You don't need to call me vice-chairman. Senior Tao Yang can just call me by my name."
Tao Huazhang had immediately figured out what was wrong when Qiu Xing finished his words. Now he heard Xie Yang saying this and he hurriedly pulled at Tao Yang secretly before smiling. "We can't mess around with seniority. We should still maintain the formalities, Xiao Yang."
Tao Yang's fingers tensed but his face showed an apologetic expression as he replied, "I didn't think about it properly. Chairman Qiu... Vice-chairman Xie, thank you for attending my grandfather's birthday party. Please come inside."
Tao Huazhang was satisfied and once again invited Qiu Xing and Xie Yang to enter the venue. He sent a look to Tao Yang, telling him to go receive the other guests behind them.
Tao Yang bowed his head and walked past Xie Yang.
Xie Yang glanced at Tao Yang's clenched fists and smiled. He also walked past Tao Yang and entered the party venue with Qiu Xing.
It was very lively in the party venue. The guests had basically almost all arrived and were gathered in groups to talk. The old birthday star was in poor health and didn't have the energy to greet guests personally. Therefore, he stayed in a small reception room deep in the party venue to rest. Qiu Xing and Xie Yang were led by Tao Huazhang to the reception room to say hello to the birthday star.
Xie Yang noticed that on the way to the lounge, all the guests who saw Qiu Xing showed a dull and surprised expression. Some of them even looked like they had seen a devil.
Was Qiu Xing so terrible? Xie Yang looked at Qiu Xing. Obviously he was a harmless and handsome man. Qiu Xing sensed Xie Yang's gaze and took his hand to help block the eyes of others. He glanced at the guests peeking at them and asked, "You aren't used to being seen?"
Xie Yang shook his head.
"Have you vented your anger?"
Xie Yang was puzzled and then realized that Qiu Xing was talking about what happened at the door. He smiled and replied, "It is vented."
Qiu Xing snorted and didn't look satisfied. "Where did your anger go?"
There were many of the Tao family members and relatives gathered in the small reception room. Elder Tao was dressed in a red Chinese suit and sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room. His hair was completely white and his figure was skinny. He was surrounded by relatives but his expression wasn't joyful. He was slightly deaf, his eyes were unfocused, his complexion bad and he looked a bit weak.
The moment Tao Huazhang entered the door, he raised his voice and said, "Dad, chairman Qiu and his partner have come to see you."
This sentence was very loud and was obviously to remind people in the reception room. There was silence as everyone's eyes fell on Qiu Xing and Xie Yang.
Qiu Xing didn't look at the others as he took Xie Yang forward and politely congratulated Elder Tao on his birthday. Elder Tao saw Qiu Xing and was surprised for a moment. Then he insisted on getting up and exchanging a few words with Qiu Xing, behaving very seriously and politely.
After this, Qiu Xing was prepared to leave with Xie Yang. Elder Tao asked Tao Huazhang to entertain them well. Tao Huazhang responded affirmatively and was ready to take Qiu Xing and Xie Yang to the guest seats outside.
Seeing that the commercial birthday show was coming to a perfect conclusion, a middle-aged man sitting on a side couch suddenly spoke and broke the surface harmony of the reception room.
"There are some people who don't even say hello when they see their brother-in-law."
The room fell silent again. Tao Huazhang's expression changed and he hurriedly spoke loudly to try and cover up the man's voice. Elder Tao also frowned. He looked at the middle-aged man, wanting to say something but he could only cough loudly.
The Tao family members hurriedly patted his back and gave him water.
Harmony was completely broken.
Xie Yang stopped walking and looked at the identity of the middle-aged man. He quickly matched up the identity of this man with his knowledge. This person who called himself 'brother-in-law' should be Feng Qinglin's scumbag father, Feng Dian.
***