Chapter 97: Chapter Ninety-Seven: Exposed
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Shi Nian silently listened as he ate. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that Yun Nan was compatible with his family.
His phone on the table suddenly started vibrating; it was a call from Chang Yuan. Yun Nan’s phone also rang at the same time. They both stood up and went aside to answer their phones.
Fang Xi sounded excited as she spoke through the phone. “Yun Nan, go on a media platform—any platform—and take a look. You and Shi Nian are trending! ”
“What?!” Yun Nan was bewildered.
“You two certainly picked the right time to go public. I wouldn’t have spent so much effort on the movie promotion if I had known this would happen. I would’ve gotten better results and attracted more attention just by putting the two of you out there.” Fang Xi groused, feeling a little like she’d wasted her efforts needlessly.
Yun Nan didn’t hang up. She immediately went on the entertainment news website and, frozen on the screen in high definition, was the scene of her feeding a lollipop to Shi Nian. The caption reads, ‘Billionaire chairman in a relationship with the up-and-coming female director.’ Yun Nan facepalmed, feeling powerless.
Shi Nian walked over and showed her his phone. Yun Nan felt resigned as she stared at the screen displaying another photo of them looking at each other affectionately. In the photo, Shi Nian was pushing a shopping cart, and she was saying something to him with a smile while holding a bag of chicken wings. The scene caught on camera was so sweet that Yun Nan couldn’t face it.
“Will this affect you guys?” Shi Nian asked in a deep voice. The question wasn’t only directed at Yun Nan but also at Fang Xi on the other end of the phone.
“Yes!/No! ” came Yun Nan and Fang Xi’s simultaneous but different answers.
Yun Nan sighed and stated, “Fang Xi, don’t you dislike riding on popularity?
“That depends on who the subject is,” Fang Xi replied. “What’s the harm in riding on your popularity? Don’t tell me I have to give this opportunity to others?”
Yun Nan was speechless. Shi Nian took over her phone and asked Fang Xi,
“Then what should we do now?”
Fang Xi was quite satisfied with Shi Nian’s humble attitude and instructed, “Mr. Shi, if you want to make your relationship with Yun Nan public, then be straightforward and do whatever you have to do openly. But,” she drew out the word before continuing, “If you have any concerns and don’t plan to go public yet, then we’ll have to get someone to suppress this news’ popularity.”
“No need!” Shi Nian uttered emphatically. Realizing that his response was a little too forceful, Shi Nian added, “What I mean is, since that is already the case, why don’t you guys use this matter to help promote your movie? It’ll save you some effort. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Fang Xi laughed and commented, “You read my mind, Mr. Shi. The incident where our lead actress ran off landed us in hot water some time ago, and now, someone is secretly messing with us behind our backs and trying to suppress our movie’s publicity. However, no one expected something like this to happen, and now the movie has gotten more attention than before. Unless you decide to suppress this news, anyone else would probably be unable to do anything about it. It’s now impossible for us to keep a low profile even if we want to! Tell Yun Nan to stop dwelling on this; some things have become unavoidable at this stage!”
Shi Nian very cooperatively answered, “Alright. Let me know if you need anything.” He returned the phone to Yun Nan, and seeing her troubled expression, he stated, “Are you upset because you feel like you’ve cheated by using this news to promote your movie?”
Yun Nan reluctantly nodded. “A little, but given the situation, there’s no other way. I just hope everyone can focus on the movie instead of my private life. I don’t want the actors’ talent and everyone else’s efforts to be overshadowed by something so trivial.”
Shi Nian stroked Yun Nan’s head and comforted her, “Don’t let it bother you too much. It doesn’t matter whether the people are interested in the movie because of your team’s efforts or because they’re interested in you. As for the actors and the movie itself… as long as they’re good enough, no one can overshadow them.”
Shi Nian’s words had enlightened Yun Nan—so much so that she’d overlooked the fact he’d stroked her head. Shi Nian stared at his hand and had the silly thought, ‘Her hair is so smooth.’
Shi Xiu oohed and aahed as she looked at the photos of Shi Nian and Yun Nan posted on various media platforms. She shared the photos with her parents and grandfather, and they began to discuss which one looked best.
As for the words and comments that came with the photos, she only paid the positive and well-meaning statements some attention and ignored the others. Yun Nan was surprised; with that strong mental fortitude, Shi Xiu truly had great potential to be an artiste.
As opposed to the Shi family’s unruffled attitude, Yun Liu was going mad with anger. The rumor she’d started with her expensive imitation ring had yet to gain steam, and before she could use it to sneakily make the public believe she was Shi Nian’s wife, her plans were ruined when the couple’s ‘sweet love’ was made public.
“Can’t you suppress this news’ popularity?” Yun Liu asked Miss Ding fiercely.
Miss Ding knew things had gone south the moment she saw the news. When she heard Yun Liu’s demand, she braced herself and shook her head. “It’s out of our hands now,” she told Yun Liu. “Several media outlets are spreading this news right now; it’s all over the place. Since even the Shi family hasn’t stepped forward to suppress the news, these media outlets wouldn’t pay heed to anyone else. This news is now the number one trending topic. There’s really nothing we can do..”
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦