The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

"Ahem," Xing Manzi took the phone and coughed lightly, "Since they've broken up, what's the point of asking? Do you have to rub salt into their wounds?"

The reporters, sensing something amiss, quickly handed over their microphones: "Manzi, what are your thoughts on this?"

Su Wen frowned. What was Xing Manzi trying to do? Her ambiguous remark was tantamount to confirming that she had been dumped. They weren't even in the same company. What right did she, an outsider, have to speak up? It made it seem like they were best friends and that she had inside information.

Xing Manzi smiled and said, "Acting is a very hard job. The dedication of the actors I worked with in this drama surprised me. They stood under the sun in the sweltering heat wearing cotton-padded coats, reciting lines for a long time without even drinking a sip of water. They have dedicated half their lives to this industry, bringing audiences one wonderful drama after another. These are things that we young actors should learn from. There is a lot of superficiality in this industry now, with people creating scandals and trying to get attention, but true actors rely on their strength to gain the audience's recognition."

Xing Manzi's words were righteous and heartfelt, and several veteran actors in the drama nodded in agreement. It's rare to see such a young person; even after playing the lead role, she remains so humble and ambitious, unlike some who rely on scandals to gain attention.

Someone remarked, "Yes, Sister Wen's entire leg was swollen from mosquito stings, but she never asked to rest."

So everyone started talking at once, recounting the hardships of filming. Through their combined efforts, they managed to gloss over the Nie Suwen incident and shift the reporters' attention back to the drama.

Even the director was satisfied with Xing Manzi's on-the-spot reaction.

Only Suwen, like a mute eating bitter herbs, could not express her suffering. She was used as a target for others to shoot at for no reason, and then subjected to open and subtle ridicule. Wasn't she the one who didn't act properly and relied on scandals to gain attention?

After everyone finished complaining, they started talking about funny anecdotes from filming, laughing heartily together, like a family finding joy in hardship. Su Wen sat to one side, forcing a smile, while Zhou Xiaochuan secretly offered her a hand and patted her on the back.

They are fellow disciples, and their bond is different from those who engage in open and covert attacks.

The opening ceremony ended "successfully," but when they got backstage, Suwen's face immediately fell, and she looked directly at Xiao Ai: "What exactly happened?"

Xiao Ai had just heard the reporter's question and immediately went to find today's newspaper. She looked sullen as she flipped to the entertainment section and handed it to her.

In her first direct interview, Xiao Yuan stated that entertainment reporters should stop speculating and fabricating stories about her fiancé and any female celebrities. She clarified that the Lu family is a traditional military and political family and would not accept a female star from the entertainment industry. She also stated that she and Lu Zheng had been engaged for many years, and that Lu Zheng has always been romantically clean and has never had any involvement with any female celebrities. This was a direct response to the speculation in the previous report about Su Wen being seen with a mysterious boyfriend on the Bund, where the man was Lu Zheng. She further warned that if the media continued to irresponsibly spread rumors damaging to both families' reputations, both the Xiao and Lu families would pursue legal action against the publishers.

Although it's not uncommon for children of high-ranking officials to make headlines from time to time, these families are generally too lazy to respond to such trivial gossip. If things go a little too far, they will resort to covert suppression. It's rare for someone like Xiao Yuan to respond directly through reporters.

Outsiders might just be watching the show, thinking that entertainment reporters these days have increasingly vivid imaginations, pushing a perfectly respectable young man from a privileged family to the brink. But those in the industry see it differently. Xiao Yuan's words were clearly meant for Su Wen, to dissuade her from any thoughts of climbing the social ladder, and to tell her: no matter how much you try to climb the social ladder, you will never be able to enter the Lu family.

So those minor celebrities who were initially envious and jealous instantly felt better. They thought she'd slept with a sugar daddy? She just got slept with for free, and he even issued a statement telling you you had no chance.

The Lu family has remained silent since the news broke, which has been taken as tacit acceptance. While a marriage between prominent families might seem natural to outsiders and not particularly noteworthy, it's the fact that a nobody like her, with no connections or talent, managed to climb the social ladder that's so unbelievable. People are quick to speculate and question what underhanded methods she might have used.

People can't accept that someone with similar circumstances to themselves might suddenly be better off than them, and they have to come up with all sorts of slanderous speculations to feel a little more at ease.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Xiao Ai took out her phone and tentatively asked, "Should we call Mr. Lu?"

Suwen stared at the phone screen and suddenly felt something stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down, making it hard for her to breathe.

"I'd rather not get it done." She turned her head to remove her makeup.

Xiao Ai put away her phone and sat down behind her with a pleading look: "Yeah, it's right not to call. The whole city is in an uproar right now, calling would only add fuel to the fire."

Xiao Ai also thought that Su Wen and Lu Zheng's relationship was nothing more than that of a sugar daddy and a kept woman. Even if the boss was in a good mood and flew all the way from Beijing to Shanghai to see Su Wen, it was only because they were currently deeply in love. She didn't really believe that Lu Zheng would actually marry a female celebrity.

The best outcome for female celebrities in the entertainment industry is either marrying a wealthy businessman or a colleague in the same field. Marrying a high-ranking official is extremely rare. Most playboys are just playing around, and some disappear without a trace afterward. The boss is at least somewhat loyal and righteous.

She was afraid that Suwen would get angry about this and call her to argue. These rich playboys usually don't have good tempers, and if things went wrong, whether it was being blacklisted or frozen out, it would be a loss for Suwen.

Xiao Ai had no idea what Su Wen was worried about.

In later variety shows, Suwen always had a poker face. She would only smile when the camera was on her. Xiao Ai was worried when she saw this backstage.

While touching up her makeup, Xiao Ai tentatively asked her, "Should I have someone inquire about it?"

Suwen looked up at her: "What are you asking about?"

"I heard the boss is having a business dinner at Mour tonight. Do you want to go and ask him yourself?" Xiao Ai hesitated for a long time before finally saying this. "After all, it's better to face matters of the heart sooner rather than later. I see you're even distracted at work. Dragging this on won't do you any good..."

Few of those playboys have a conscience or a sense of responsibility. If they really get tired of Suwen and just drag things out, it will only make Suwen more miserable in the end. She's even seen people try to commit suicide because of this. Although she doesn't want Suwen to miss out on Lu Zheng, no matter what, it's good for Suwen's future career if she can get through this.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ai's expression could be described as tragic.

Suwen couldn't help but laugh at her expression: "Going to ask now, aren't you just asking to be photographed?" She was desperately clarifying that it had nothing to do with her, but then she rushed off to question them. Tomorrow's newspapers would be laughing at her.

“There’s nothing I can do about that. After the show, I’ll have the driver take the empty van to distract the reporters, and you can leave through the back door.” Xiao Ai racked her brains.

“Running away isn’t the solution.” Zhou Xiaochuan suddenly stepped out from behind the curtain, startling both of them.

Suwen and Xiao Ai glared at each other, unaware of when he had arrived or how much he had overheard.

Zhou Xiaochuan handed her a cup of hot milk and patted her shoulder: "Look on the bright side. It's better for something to happen now than for something to happen when you become an international star. Then the entertainment reporters won't be so easy to deal with. Besides, if you see the truth of things in advance, you'll be less hurt."

After saying that, seeing that Suwen was still staring at him blankly, he narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Don't worry, I didn't hear anything I shouldn't have heard."

"So God is fair; if He gives you one thing, He will take away another." Suwen took a sip of milk and closed her eyes wearily. Her debut was too smooth; now that she has some scandals, it's perfectly normal in the eyes of others.

Zhou Xiaochuan laughed from the side, "You should think of it this way: God made you get hurt first so that He could give you something better."

Suwen didn't reply to her. With her eyes closed, she was thinking to herself: Why is everyone comforting her as if she's heartbroken? She didn't feel hurt before, but now she feels a bit internally injured!

The second half was about playing games. A bunch of adults were squatting on the ground chasing a ball like children. It was childish and ridiculous, but the job of an entertainer is to make the audience laugh.

The show concluded with a duet of the theme song by Suwen and Zhou Xiaochuan. Suwen, having previously participated in singing competitions and honed her skills in the top ten, naturally possessed excellent live singing abilities. While Zhou Xiaochuan isn't a particularly skilled singer, he regularly performs a couple of songs at commercial events, so his live performance was also outstanding. His pitch and scales were perfect, essentially a faithful reproduction of the original recording. The audience erupted in cheers, with some even rushing onto the stage to hug and shake hands with their idols as the recording ended.

Having finally managed to escape backstage, Suwen found that Xiao Ai had already taken care of everything for her. The driver drove her empty van away swaggeringly through the main entrance, while Suwen, wearing a hat and scarf, discreetly exited through the back door, where she happened to run into Zhou Xiaochuan, who had changed his clothes, coming out on the way.

She politely greeted him and was about to leave when Zhou Xiaochuan stopped her: "Where did you just tell your assistant? I'll give you a ride."

"Huh?" She pointed to herself, completely bewildered.

"Isn't your car being driven away? Or are you planning to take a taxi from here?" He spoke with reason and evidence.

He said he didn't hear anything, and even the idea Xiao Ai gave her was overheard by him.

He had already made the decision for her: "Wait for me, I'll grab a key and then we can go."

When Zhou Xiaochuan reappeared, he was wearing the same baseball cap and wide-brimmed sunglasses as her. Wearing sunglasses so late at night, as if afraid people wouldn't recognize him as a celebrity. No wonder celebrities are constantly being photographed by paparazzi; their disguises are so uncreative—it's always just hats, sunglasses, scarves, and masks.