HTI: Chapter 50

As Xie Yang observed Shen Yan and recalled the plot of the novel, the topic of the table had changed to the main point.

Director Xu Heng sighed. “Crazy Musician tells the story of a musician so the original music in the movie needs to fill in the musician’s personality and the plot. Previously, we found an outsourced company to do this. The soundtrack and songs they made were good but didn’t seem to mean that much.

Xie Yang was awakened from his thoughts and looked at Xu Heng.

Xu Heng was over 30 years old and his height and appearance were ordinary. However, his temperament was good and he spoke slowly with a Southern accent. At first glance, he gave people the illusion that his temper must be very soft.

Xu Heng patted Shen Yan’s shoulder next to him and said, “I specifically stole this guy from another director. I took a fancy to him because he can sing and act. Unfortunately, his voice might be decent but it is too warm and it can’t fit the ‘crazy’ theme of the movie. One is the soundtrack of the movie and the other is the song. We are stuck here. The main scenes in the movie that relies on music to bring out the atmosphere won’t work.”

Shen Yan’s facial features belonged to the handsome and noble type. If he didn’t speak, he would give people a sense of distance. Then once he smiled, he would seem very friendly. He directly hit Xu Heng back and said, “It’s obvious that you are too picky.”

“If I wasn’t picky then would you come?” Xu Heng patted Shen Yan’s hand. It could be seen that the two of them had a good personal relationship.

Xu Heng spoke about the general situation before having the screenwriter hand the prepared script to Xue Xian, Xie Yang and Long Shuyou. “This is the script. Before I officially start to exchange creative ideas, I hope you can read the script thoroughly. If you can, it is best to come to the studio to feel the shooting atmosphere. Xie Yang.”

Xie Yang was suddenly called and everyone on the table looked at Xie Yang. Xie Yang watched Xu Heng.

Xu Heng told him, “I have heard all the songs you’ve composed and adapted. You have a variety of styles. The song for Tong Jian is very suitable for Tong Jian’s voice. The song for yourself is very good for your voice. The song adapted for Ji Zehui has another style. Shen Yan is here. You might be observing him but I want you to write a song that suits him while best expressing the heart of the character. Do you understand?”

The moment these words came out, Xue Xian’s expression from next to Xie Yang became difficult to look at.

Two people were invited to write the song but only one person was asked to observe the actor. Wasn’t this hitting his face? The assistant director hurriedly pulled at Xu Heng.

It was only then that Xu Heng discovered his actions to Xie Yang alone were a bit inappropriate. He glanced at Xue Xian and said, “Of course, Xue Xian is the same. Everyone should work together. Shuyou, I’ll leave the soundtrack to you.”

The assistant director and screenwriter quickly toasted Xie Yang, Xue Xian and Long Shuyou to try and get rid of the embarrassment created by Xu Heng. Everyone else cooperated to raise their cups. Xue Xian barely squeezed out a smile and toasted everyone.

By the end of the meal, Xu Heng had poor alcohol tolerance and was directly drunk. He was drunk and didn’t stop. He pulled everyone to talk about business. Finally, he was confused but managed to pull Xie Yang, Shen Yan and Mu Zhouyi into a car alone.

Xie Yang was also forced to sit between Shen Yan and Mu Zhouyi. Xie Yang glanced at Mu Zhouyi who got in the car last and Xu Heng, drunk in the front passenger’s seat. He didn’t know if he should thank the director or say, ‘Is this God’s will?’

Mu Zhouyi obviously hadn’t expected Xie Yang to be in this car. She was stunned for a moment after getting in and then she joked, “Sitting with two handsome brothers, it seems that my luck value is full today.”

Shen Yan smiled and answered, “Then my luck value is worse. There might be a handsome man and beautiful woman sitting with me but there is a drunk in the front seat. This is very disruptive to the atmosphere.”

Mu Zhouyi was amused by Shen Yan’s words.

Xie Yang caught in the middle, “……”

He pretended to be uncomfortable. He first sat up and asked the driver for a bottle of water. He took a sip before rubbing his forehead.

Mu Zhouyi asked in a concerned manner, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m a light drinker and I’m a bit dizzy.” Xie Yang gave himself the drunk buff. Then he glanced at Mu Zhouyi and asked, “Senior Mu, are you and Qinglin already together?”

The moment these words came out, the car was quiet for a moment. Xie Yang noticed that Shen Yan’s body next to him obviously stiffened.

Mu Zhouyi froze. Then she placed her hand on Xie Yang’s arm in a gesture to help him. “Xie Yang, you misunderstood. Mr Feng and I are just friends. If you feel uncomfortable, why don’t you close your eyes for a while?”

There was clearly a strange fluctuation from the place where his arm was held. Xie Yang’s brain suddenly became cloudy before the feeling of nausea rushed down from his brain, almost making him vomit.

He clenched his fists to stay away and got rid of Mu Zhouyi’s hand by drinking water. He leaned back toward Shen Yan and said, “It turned out to be like this. Qinglin’s housekeeper said you have been by Qinglin’s side after he got sick.  The next day when the housekeeper was on duty, you cooked porridge for Qinglin and bought vegetables for him to eat. In addition, during the time when you and I were in a scandal, Qinglin actually sent me a text message to explain for you. You cared about each other so much that I thought you were already together. However, you’re not?”

Mu Zhouyi once again tried to help him while explaining, “Mr Feng was sick and home alone. It wasn’t good for me to leave immediately. Xie Yang, you shouldn’t press against Brother Shen. Aren’t you drunk? It is better to sit still.’

“Oh.” Xie Yang avoided Mu Zhouyi’s hand and sat upright, closing his eyes. “Senior Mu, from the perspective of Qinglin’s family member, I hope that if you don’t have any intentions toward Qinglin then don’t do these types of misleading things in the future. The best thing for you to have done was to call an ambulance and contact a friend of the family rather than randomly taking care of him and staying with him all night. In addition, I don’t want a strange woman to hide while our family is talking in the living room. The fact that you eavesdropped on the stairs made me feel very uncomfortable. In addition, there was the incident last time when you accidentally hit me in the parking lot. I hope that doesn’t happen again.”

After saying this, Xie Yang quieted down and concentrated on suppressing the nausea that remained in his body. The car was dead quiet. It was unknown how much time passed before the car came to a slow stop.

The driver’s awkward voice was heard. “That… we have reached the hotel. I will take Director Xu back to his room. Then Mr Xie…”

“I’ll do it.” Shen Yan opened his mouth. There was no smile in his voice like before. It was a bit cold.

“Brother Shen, I’ll help you.”

“No, you go back to your room and rest.”

There was the sound of the door opening and his body being carried out of the car. It didn’t take long for Wu Shui’s voice to be heard and then he found himself being carried back.

He slightly opened his eyes and calmed down after seeing the back of Wu Shui’s head. Then he glanced over Shen Yan not far behind and Mu Zhouyi standing by the car before laughing silently.

***

After returning to the room, Xie Yang straightened and motioned for Wu Shui to put himself down.

Wu Shui was startled and quickly put Xie Yang down. “Boss, you aren’t drunk?”

“Who would get drunk on a few sips of beer? I just pretended because I didn’t want to talk to those people.” Xie Yang took off his coat and pressed a hand to his temple. “You must not tell Qiu Xing that I pretended to be drunk or he will be angry again.”

Wu Shui nodded obediently. Then he thought of something and took out his phone. “Boss, your agent called and no one answered so he called me. He told me to tell you that you were secretly photographed at the airport this morning. Some media reported news that wasn’t good for you along with the secret photographs. This is the initial article.”

Xie Yang’s gaze moved to Wu Shui’s mobile phone screen. The screen wasn’t big and the words’ Xie Yang looked lonely and envious of Xue Xian who had fans to send him to the plane’ took up half the screen. The rest was occupied by a photo. In the photo, he was standing in a corner of the airport lobby and looking at Xue Xian who was passing through the fan group under the protection of the bodyguard.

“……”

He sent away Wu Shui and took out his phone that had been muted during the dinner. Then he clicked on Hu Biao’s missed call to call back.

It was picked up in seconds and Hu Biao’s voice was heard. “You are on the hot search.”

“What is the hot search?”

“#Xie Yang envies Xue Xian#. This hot search is too disgusting. It is obviously stepping on you and suggesting to others that you aren’t as good as Xue Xian. Don’t worry, I am trying to block the hot search with the PR department. I definitely won’t let Xue Xian step on you like this.”

“Don’t suppress the heat. Let him step on me.”

“…Eh?”

“At that time, I was standing with Long Shuyou and Long Shuyou also looked over. There were many people at the airport. Someone took a photo of me so someone else must’ve photographed me standing with Long Shuyou and Long Shuyou looking at Xue Xian. Go and find if there is such a photo posted on Weibo. If so, help spread it and clarify the situation.”

Hu Biao was quiet for a few seconds before replying, “I know.”

Xie Yang was ready to hang up the phone.

“Xie Yang.”

Xie Yang moved the phone back to his ear. “Is there something else?”

“Is it very tiring to have an agent like me?”

Xie Yang appeased him. “Brother Biao, everyone has their own strengths. Don’t think too much.”

Hu Biao was silent for a moment before adjusting his mood. He told Xie Yang, “You should pay attention over there. You and Xue Xian are both the creative type singers. Your positions are a bit similar and you are close in age. He must be afraid of you and you should guard against him more.”

“I will. Thank you, Brother Biao.”

Xie Yang finished chatting with Hu Biao and went to take a bath. Then he leaned against the bed with the script and recalled what happened in the car.

According to the plot timeline, Shen Yan’s current feelings for Mu Zhouyi hadn’t been completely converted into liking. It was just a faint good will. His current feelings towards Mu Zhouyi were more like a senior appreciating an excellent younger generation.

The reason why Shen Yan appreciated Mu Zhouyi was firstly due to her excellence and because she didn’t yield to Huangtian’s hidden rules. Now Shen Yan had come into contact with the other side of Mu Zhouyi and it was unknown if this would reduce his favorability toward Mu Zhouyi.

Xie Yang hoped that it would be lowered. At the very least, he hoped Shen Yan was dissatisfied enough that he wouldn’t take the initiative to lead Mu Zhouyi to sign with the old entertainment company Huanyu opened by Shen Yan’s uncle.

In the original novel, Mu Zhouyi started her album production not long after she entered Huanyu. If Mu Zhouyi stayed in Huangtian then under the suppression of Huangtian’s senior management, it was absolutely impossible for her to produce an album.

There was also the nausea he experienced in the car.

Xie Yang looked at the arm that was previously held by Mu Zhouyi.

This time, he once again noticed a strange fluctuation but his ability core still hadn’t reappeared. There was a difference. Perhaps because Mu Zhouyi used a skill that wasn’t to increase good will? Or was it because he wasn’t as sensitive as when he was first touched by Mu Zhouyi’s golden finger? Or perhaps it was because his clothes were thicker than last time, insulating him from the influence of the golden finger.

Xie Yang raised his hand while tightening and relaxing his finger fingers. He repeatedly did this before clenching them into a fist.

Then… should he try direct skin contact?

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
qyuraa
qyuraa
2 years ago

No! Don’t!
Thank you so much

Ami
Ami
2 years ago

You’re playing with fire 😱 Maybe your ability core has a way to nullify the golden touch though 🤔 Hopefully 🥺