At 7:30 in the evening, the premiere officially began.
Xue Xiao was placed in the second row.
Not all 50 participants showed up. After all, many people joined the crew right after the show and couldn’t spare time. There were only around a dozen people present in the end.
Dou Mingjian, Gu Ling, and the others were sitting next to Xue Xiao. Everyone was dressed formally today and quietly watched the host doing the interview on the stage.
Shen Tingyan answered the questions without hesitation. As always, he didn’t say much.
After finishing the interview with the arranged questions, he gave up his place to the director and second male lead. He sat beside them, legs crossed. His posture was elegant, and his expression was indifferent.
Xue Xiao watched this man quietly.
At a certain moment, Shen Tingyan’s eyes turned around and met his eyes.
The corners of Xue Xiao’s lips curved up, and a smile appeared in Shen Tingyan’s eyes.
The camera lens was also focused on him. He could only quickly look away.
The moment his gaze shifted elsewhere, it became colder and lighter.
He became the Shen Tingyan in the eyes of ordinary people again.
Xue Xiao’s mind remembered what Yang Ying and Zheng Yang had said at noon.
……
Zheng Yang teased, “Shen Tingyan doesn’t want him to know. Do you have to tell him?”
Xue Xiao immediately said, “Tell me. I want to know.”
Yang Ying wasn’t afraid of Shen Tingyan. He shrugged and said, “You accepted the endorsement of Brand C, right? Xu Lingjia has been eyeing that endorsement for a long time, but there has been no movement from the brand. Unexpectedly, this resource was given to you directly as soon as the competition was over.”
Xue Xiao knew Xu Lingjia, who was a popular artist and considered a first-tier male star. Xue Xiao had watched several costume dramas he starred in.
He was a bit stunned.
…Did he accidentally tear up the endorsement deal with Xu Lingjia?
He didn’t know if the words ‘tear up’ were the right ones to use. He only occasionally say some artist fans or gossip marketing accounts using such words on the Internet…
But Yang Ying’s later words directly negated the hesitation in his heart.
“You didn’t tear up his endorsement because the brand didn’t hesitate between the two of you at all. They were just waiting for you to finish the competition.”
“It isn’t like our movies and dramas, which can be influenced by outside investors.” Yang Ying and Zheng Yang looked at each other, and both shook their heads. “The brand has recognized you and this resource is yours. Thus, you didn’t tear apart anything for Xu Lingjia at all.”
“But he clearly had this in mind.”
“As Fang Lei told you, Director Zheng acknowledged you after watching a few of your performances. But two days ago, our largest investor, Mr Jin, suddenly mentioned Xu Lingjia to me.”
Xue Xiao was surprised.
Yang Ying patiently explained the matter.
Zheng Yang might be a great director, but he still had to attract investments when filming. Not every investor absolutely respected his decision.
There were always a few bosses who claimed to know how to make movies well and pointed fingers.
At that time, Zheng Yang felt that something wasn’t good.
This character originally had nothing to do with Xu Lingjia, but he suddenly came over. The most likely reason was that Xue Xiao ‘snatched’ the endorsement, so he felt unhappy and wanted to regain some face.
It wasn’t easy to persuade Mr Jin. It wasn’t known what tricks Xu Lingjia used behind the scenes, but it must’ve taken a lot of effort.
Zheng Yang was mentally prepared for a tough battle. Unexpectedly, when Mr Jin mentioned the matter to him, it wasn’t to replace Xue Xiao with Xu Lingjia but—
Xue Xiao was stunned. “What?”
Yang Ying said helplessly, “Mr Jin wanted to call you over to have dinner with him! He was taking advantage of Xu Lingjia’s issue. He wanted to give you this role in his heart, but he also wanted to take the opportunity to create a feeling of crisis for you.”
Xue Xiao suddenly felt a chill.
He knew that Zheng Yang would arrange a dinner for the crew and investors later, but that should be a normal meeting. Mr Jin proposed to ‘have dinner with him’ at this opportunity, then…
He suddenly remembered Jiang Ye and that night.
Zheng Yang shook his head and sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. Mr Jin doesn’t want to do ‘that type of thing.’ He doesn’t have such a habit, and he has a good relationship with his wife at home. If he was really such a person, Fang Lei wouldn’t even show you the script.”
“But he just… likes to drink. He wants to bring the celebrity he likes to the drinking table and make them drink. They have to drink even if they can’t drink. Then he can be their teacher, educating the other person and making the other person flatter him. Then he will be very happy in his heart.”
Xue Xiao was stunned.
Yang Ying said, “In the words of today’s young people, he is very ‘fatherly,’ and he particularly likes the culture of the wine table. If an artist is drunk, he will become unhappy and feel that he is disrespected. In the past, an artist drank until he coughed up blood at the dinner table. Then he thought this was loyal enough, tsk.”
Zheng Yang continued, “He should be very fond of you, but I decided on you directly, and he never thought of objecting before. Even if I organize a meal for everyone later, he won’t be able to find a reason to force you to drink with him.”
After all, without the fear of ‘If you don’t drink with me, you won’t get the role’, how many artists would be willing to harm their bodies like this?
“Now that Xu Lingjia came to him, he found an opportunity.”
…Xue Xiao understood.
He frowned.
If it was just drinking, listening to a few words of ‘education’, and flattering the other party… Xue Xiao might have a bad drinking capacity and drinking too much would make him feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t impossible if he really had to do it.
It was just that… he really didn’t like it.
Who would like it?
It wasn’t until this moment that he realized again—this was the entertainment industry.
In other words, this was society. This was reality.
It was the same when he was having fun.
If he met a bad boss, he couldn’t escape from alcohol or other things.
Meeting a good boss might prevent him from dirty deals, but the wine table culture couldn’t be avoided.
But… he met Shen Tingyan.
…So Shen Tingyan solved these things and didn’t even let him know about them from the beginning.
Xue Xiao’s fingers let go of the glass.
At this moment, his heart became empty, and he suddenly wanted to see Shen Tingyan.
Yang Ying said, “Later, Shen Tingyan came forward and Mr Jin didn’t dare to do it any longer. In a few days, Director Zheng will organize a dinner for everyone to get to know each other, but Mr Jin definitely won’t dare to tease you any longer. As for Xu Lingjia, he is even unhappier. He seemed to want to do something online, but he didn’t dare do anything.”
“Your Boss Shen has solved all the problems without letting you know.” Yang Ying sighed. “All the artists who can be signed by him are lucky. This industry is so chaotic. Everyone is wading in troubled waters. Only you, physically and mentally, are protected by him.”
Zheng Yang teased, “You want to go over and hug Boss Shen’s thigh, right?”
Yang Ying laughed. “Just kidding. I am the boss myself. How can I go over to hug his thigh? But if it had been ten years earlier, I might’ve gone to him. Hahaha…”
……
On stage, the interview ended.
The whole venue became dark and the movie started to officially play.
This might be Shen Tingyan’s last movie.
Before the story officially began, a fan in the back row let out a sob. Then a muffled voice said, “Why are you crying? Teacher Shen is still here.”
Everyone laughed.
The director sitting next to Shen Tingyan teased him in a low voice.
Xue Xiao could understand the fan’s mood very well.
If he was still the same person who had no interaction with Shen Tingyan, the same person who would never see Shen Tingyan again once he left the screen… he would also be very sad and at a loss.
He really wanted to see Shen Tingyan.
He stared at the tall back in the first row.
There was no one, just the two of them. He wanted to hug Shen Tingyan and let the man hug him.
In this way, Xue Xiao watched the 140 minute movie seriously with an extremely complicated and hot emotion.
……
In this movie, Shen Tingyan’s performance was still shocking.
It was amazing that this man had been in the industry for seven years and the number of movies he starred in was in the double digits, but every role felt so different and every role was impressive.
This was his ability to select scripts and act.
As an actor, this man’s comprehensive ability was too strong.
The reporters still wanted interviews, but the entire publicity team stopped working and collectively followed the route of being ruthless and not saying much.
In any case, the effect had been achieved. There was no need to worry about the box office.
Once it was over, Xue Xiao told Dou Mingjian and the others that he would stay where he was and wait for Shen Tingyan.
He waited and waited until Shen Tingyan walked out the front door. Then he hurriedly followed through the back door.
After going out, Shen Tingyan was nowhere to be seen. There were only a few staff members chatting.
They glanced at him.
Xue Xiao gritted his teeth and randomly looked around. He saw a corridor ahead of him on the left and ran there quickly.
This corridor led to the restroom. Xue Xiao glanced at the men’s restroom but saw no one. Then he walked toward the dead end in front of him in a daze.
He took out his phone and was about to send a WeChat message… Suddenly, he was pulled into a corner on the left and fell into a hug.
It was a familiar breath.
Xue Xiao panicked for a moment before calming down.
Shen Tingyan grabbed his waist to prevent him from falling. A low laugh came from his chest.
“Your eyes are almost generating electricity. Are you so anxious to go home?”
“Did you enjoy watching the movie? Why do I feel like your eyes weren’t on the screen for the whole movie today?”
There was no light in this corner. The light was very dim.
Xue Xiao’s cheeks were hot. “Of course, it was good! The role of Ming Deng is similar to your previous role in ‘Zhao Xijiang’, but it is also very different…”
He rambled on about his thoughts after watching the movie. Shen Tingyan smiled and said, “It seems that you really watched it carefully.”
Xue Xiao tightened his arms, hugged the other person hard, and rubbed his head into this person’s arms. “I must watch your movies seriously…”
Shen Tingyan paused.
Xue Xiao hugged him very tightly, a bit different from usual.
He glanced down, put his hand on the back of Xue Xiao’s head, and rubbed it gently. His gaze shifted slightly, and he asked, “What happened?”
Xue Xiao didn’t speak.
“You don’t want to say it? Then I will guess.”
Shen Tingyan leaned against the wall. He hugged Xue Xiao lazily and said, “It was fine yesterday. It should be something that happened during the day today, right?”
“You read Zheng Yang’s script at home this morning. This time, your character is positive, just like you.” Shen Tingyan’s fingers gently touched Xue Xiao’s ears, which also felt hot. “So there is nothing to make you gloomy and depressed.
“Xiao Ye drove you to meet Zheng Yang and Yang Ying at noon. Xiao Ye won’t talk nonsense and is unlikely to make you unhappy.”
His fingers curled and brushed against Xue Xiao’s chin.
Shen Tingyan continued to analyze it like a detective in a mystery novel. “As for Zheng Yang and Yang Ying, it is impossible for these two to make things difficult for you. So… what did they tell you?”
Xue Xiao raised his head and asked curiously, “You almost skipped them. Why did you suddenly guess them again?”
Shen Tingyan stared at him. “Because you are about to break my waist.”
Xue Xiao let go of his hand.
“What happened?” Shen Tingyan was very smart. He looked at Xue Xiao’s expression and quickly guessed the reason. “Did they tell you about Xu Lingjia?”
Xue Xiao lowered his head.
There was a moment of silence before he said softly, “I’m very happy that you are protecting me like this. But… it is tiring to go on like this, isn’t it?”
Xue Xiao had been thinking about it all day today.
It was true that he hated drinking and socializing. He hated flattery.
However, just like the world that humans lived in, every corner was full of gems and dust.
No matter how clean the entertainment industry he lived in, there would always be all types of annoying things.
It was impossible to avoid these things altogether unless someone removed all obstacles for him all the time.
…But how tiring was this?
Shen Tingyan probably wouldn’t have been too worried about these things in the past because his background meant no one would dare to mess with him.
Meanwhile, Xue Xiao was different. He had no background. There would definitely be people like Mr Jin in the future…
Xue Xiao raised his head again. “I’m thinking that if it is just drinking…”
Shen Tingyan interrupted him. “You don’t need to do this type of thing.”
Xue Xiao was stunned.
“No matter whether it is you or Dou Mingjian, I signed you so that you can act, not so that you can drink and laugh with others. What’s more, you are my boyfriend. Do you think I would let you do this?”
In normal communication, Shen Tingyan wouldn’t interfere. Some investors were even very easy to chat to.
But there was no need for some ‘vulgar culture.’ He wouldn’t let Xue Xiao fall into that cycle.
“There is no question about whether I am tired or not. It doesn’t take much effort on my part to solve this type of thing.” Shen Tingyan looked down at him. “Xiao Xiao, you have to know that people in the entertainment industry adapt to changing circumstances. You and Dou Mingjian really have no background—”
“So the most important thing at this time is to let those people know that I am your backer.”
“Instead of letting me sit there and rest, indifferently watching you being manipulated.”
Xue Xiao understood.
It was true that his thinking wasn’t quite right.
He just… didn’t always want to trouble Shen Tingyan.
“I want everyone in the circle to know that Shen Tingyan isn’t a hands-off boss. I manage my contracted artists very tightly. No one can use the messy ‘hidden rules’ in the circle to coerce the artists of my studio… At that point, I can relax. This whole process won’t last long, so you don’t have to feel bad for me.”
Xue Xiao nodded silently.
Shen Tingyan looked at him, suddenly raised his chin, and chuckled. “At most, I will spend a bit more effort on you.”
Xue Xiao looked up in confusion.
“I’m not bothered about Dou Mingjian knowing, but you, I really don’t want you to know these things.”
Xue Xiao said, “…I’m 24 years old.”
…He wasn’t a minor who needed such all-round protection from parents!
“I just don’t want you to know,” Shen Tingyan said casually. “Xiao Xiao, you just need to do what you like with peace of mind. I don’t want those noises to pollute you.”
“I confess that at this point, I treat you differently than others. But so what? I love you. You are the most special one to me.”
Shen Tingyan played with the ends of Xue Xiao’s hair and said, “You don’t have to think that this will trouble me too much. Once you become more powerful, perhaps my movie will fail, and I need you to protect me.”
Xue Xiao was moved. He suddenly burst into tears while laughing.
He muttered, “Your movie won’t fail.”
Shen Tingyan said casually, “I can’t even guarantee this.”
Xue Xiao exclaimed, “I guarantee it! It will never fail!”
Shen Tingyan smiled.
Xue Xiao buried his head and hugged this person again.
After hugging for a while, he raised his head and took the initiative to find Shen Tingyan’s lips.
From the dark corner came a man’s low-pitched teasing. “…You are so enthusiastic. It seems I can work harder in the future.”
Xue Xiao stepped on his Teacher Shen.
After stepping on him, he whispered, “… I want to go home.”
He couldn’t help it.
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“But so what? I love you. You are the most special one to me.”
TEACHER SHEN!!!!!! 😭😭😭♥️♥️♥️
Teacher Shen +1