Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

“Coercion.” Zhu Wanwen calmly analyzed for Hu Xiaoxiao, “Athena doesn’t want to abort the child, which means she’s decided to give birth to him. In other words, she wants Lu Xinghe to marry her.”

Hu Xiaoxiao may not be very knowledgeable about matters of the heart, but she's not stupid. She said, "Athena was in such a bad state before, which means she obviously proposed to Lu Xinghe about getting married and having a child, but Lu Xinghe refused. Is she trying to use Lu Xinghe's future as leverage to force him to marry her?"

Zhu Wanwen nodded and said, "Athena doesn't care about her career, whether she's in the entertainment industry or not, and she's not afraid of making a big fuss. But Lu Xinghe doesn't think that way; he cares a lot about his future. If he refuses to marry Athena, she only needs to find a few reporters, tell them that Lu Xinghe got her pregnant but didn't take responsibility, and forced her to have an abortion."

Housewives hate heartless men like this the most. Lu Xinghe can forget about working in television anymore. Housewives are incredibly powerful; they'll bombard the TV station with calls, refusing to let Lu Xinghe appear on television.

Therefore, Lu Xinghe will definitely agree to marry Athena.

But can forcing Lu Xinghe to marry really lead to happiness?

Neither Hu Xiaoxiao nor Zhu Wanwen were optimistic about this marriage.

However, this is exactly what Athena wanted.

"Athena is too naive," Hu Xiaoxiao said, resting her chin on her hand.

Women are naturally emotional and value relationships; they can develop feelings and invest emotions over time and through care. Men, however, are less so; they tend to be more rational…

"When it comes to matters of the heart, only the person drinking the water knows whether it's hot or cold." Zhu Wanwen stood up and said to Hu Xiaoxiao, "They're here."

Hu Xiaoxiao looked back down the corridor and saw Mingxu dragging Lu Xinghe, who was still wearing his pajamas, towards them.

"Don't drag me, I can walk by myself!" Lu Xinghe tried to break free from Mingxu's hand.

Mingxu clung to him tightly. He was tall and burly, ate a lot, and had started out as a stuntman; his strength was far beyond that of Lu Xinghe, this pale-faced young man. "I can tell whether you can walk or run."

"I already said I won't run away. Where else can I run to? I just want to talk about this after I wake up tomorrow."

"I don't care, Xiaoxiao told me to drag you here now, so you have to come right now."

Mingxu dragged Lu Xinghe in front of Hu Xiaoxiao, to deliver his message first. "Xiaoxiao, I've brought him here. Just tell me what you want to do with him. Let me make this clear: I had no idea Athena was pregnant, let alone that she had attempted suicide. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken him in."

Hu Xiaoxiao stood up and looked at Lu Xinghe's sleepy-eyed appearance, and suddenly felt angry.

Even at this hour, this bastard can still sleep!

She didn't even get any sleep! And he still wants to sleep?

Hu Xiaoxiao raised her foot and kicked Lu Xinghe, sending him flying and crashing to the floor.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Zhu Wanwen never expected Hu Xiaoxiao to have such a bad temper. She used to think Hu Xiaoxiao had a good temper because she always smiled no matter what happened.

Who knew, appearances can be deceiving.

She quickly grabbed Hu Xiaoxiao: "Don't beat him to death, it's not worth it, don't get your feet dirty for him."

Mingxu also came to his senses and comforted Hu Xiaoxiao, saying, "That's right, if you want to hit him or don't like him, just tell me, and I'll beat him up. Just don't hurt your feet."

Lu Xinghe clutched his stomach and struggled to his feet, staring at Mingxu in utter shock: "I'm your good brother! You heartless bastard! I got kicked and instead of comforting me, you comforted her about whether her foot hurt. How come I didn't know you were such a heartless person when it came to women?"

"Who's the one who's inhuman here?" Mingxu was furious with Lu Xinghe. "Your woman and your child are about to be lost, and you still dare to talk to me about humanity? Lu Xinghe, you need to act like a man!"

"Who said I'm not a man?" Lu Xinghe rubbed his stomach, walked past Hu Xiaoxiao, and said angrily, "Hu Xiaoxiao, I didn't do anything to you, and you just kicked me. What have I ever done to you?"

“You should be glad this is a hospital. I don’t want to make too much noise and disturb other people’s rest. Otherwise, do you think you could get up and stand here talking to me?” Hu Xiaoxiao said.

Zhu Wanwen pointed to Athena's ward and said, "Athena is inside. Lu Xinghe, you should have a good talk with her."

Lu Xinghe hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and went inside, before closing it again.

Lin's parents were still at the hospital. Hu Xiaoxiao and Zhu Wanwen had finished their business and, after waiting for a while, seeing that they hadn't reached an agreement, left first.

Mingxu followed behind Hu Xiaoxiao and said, "It's hard to get a taxi now, let me take you back."

It was already past three in the morning, and the streets were quiet. The roads that were crowded during the day were now deserted.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Mingxu felt that Zhu Wanwen's gaze was a bit strange, so he asked, "Zhu Wanwen, why are you looking at me like that?"

Zhu Wanwen sized up Mingxu a few times and said, "There's an idiom called 'fox friends and dog friends.' You get along so well with Lu Xinghe, are you like him, a scumbag who likes to play with women's feelings?"

"What do you mean? What does Lu Xinghe's matter have to do with me? Don't make false accusations." Mingxu protested, "I'm filming every day and starving every day. I'm only interested in food and have no interest in anything else in this world. Even the most beautiful woman is not as good as a piece of barbecued pork in my eyes."

"Really?" Zhu Wanwen asked, half believing and half doubting.

“Of course! You’re friends with Athena too, so why don’t you ever see you fighting over a man?” Mingxu turned to Hu Xiaoxiao and said, “Don’t listen to her nonsense, I’m not Lu Xinghe.”

Hu Xiaoxiao glanced at him lazily, then turned to look out the car window at the silent night sky, sighing, "People always have things they particularly like. If you don't like money, you'll like love. It's better to like money, because as long as you work hard, you'll reap the rewards. Liking love is terrible; the more you give, the more you lose."

Zhu Wanwen nodded, and the car fell silent.

As Zhu Wanwen had predicted, Athena was willing to give up her career, but Lu Xinghe refused. Fearing Athena might resort to desperate measures, Lu Xinghe eventually agreed to marry Athena, have the child, and finally face the reporters.

Hu Xiaoxiao learned about the outcome of the matter from entertainment news.

Lu Xinghe claimed that he was indeed dating Athena, and that they had already met each other's parents and set a wedding date. He also stated that his relationship with Meng Qi was just that of ordinary friends, and that he was not juggling multiple relationships as some outsiders had speculated.

Meng Qi also told reporters that she never said she and Lu Xinghe were lovers; she only mentioned that they had known each other for three years. "I know many people in the TV station, and Xinghe is one of them. I hope everyone will stop writing nonsense and affecting Xinghe's reputation. At the same time, I wish Xinghe and Athena a long and happy marriage."