Xu Tangzhou did not rush to make his entrance after being taken upstairs by Huang Qian but instead arrived at a temporary dressing room to get stylized and change into a new set of clothes.
Huang Qian is extremely attentive and prepared a formal attire for him in advance. The stylist specifically selected a necklace made out of high-quality material imitating the texture of lace fabrics, which clasps around his neck perfectly and its weightlessness is enough to protect his glands from any harm.
Even though Xu Tangzhou simply got his hair done and didn’t apply any make-up, he nevertheless attracted a lot of attention upon arriving at the parlour.
There are no shortages of exquisite people in the entertainment industry, and it was especially the case at Star Realm’s annual party which was star-studded with all sorts of beauties as far as the eye can see.
Omega artists are noticeably more distinguishable by the fact that each one of them wore a choker despite the usage of various pheromone suppressant sprays ——— It is against the law for Omegas to not wear a choker when attending a public gathering with alcoholic beverages.
At a cursory glance, the number of Omegas was significantly smaller compared to the vast majority of Betas and Alphas in the company.
Times are changing, the age where the nobility of each individual was solely judged based on their pheromone class has ended. But the crowd can still sense the discrepancy in Xu Tangzhou’s presence.
In contrast to the majority of omegas with delectable beauty, even if they are unable to smell Xu Tangzhou’s pheromones, they can still tell that he isn’t from the same class as them by his appearance.
Even if Xu Tangzhou stood there without doing anything, his presence will still be impossible to ignore.
An invisible chill seems to be emitting from his body, making it so that the others cannot resist the urge of looking in his direction despite not having the guts to strike up a conversation with him.
Xu Tangzhou was used to receiving such looks, he accepted a glass of champagne from the waiter’s tray before following Huang Qian to observe his surroundings.
Ah, it seems that Ling Che really didn’t show up. Xu Tangzhou indignantly thought: It’s so troublesome. There are too many reporters and protesters downstairs, Ling Che won’t be able to show up even if he has the intention of doing so.
Huang Qian seems pleased with receiving such attention and brought Xu Tangzhou, who he is dead-set on promoting, along to chat with others in a smile while occasionally offering them an introduction. In addition to a few popular celebrities with big exposure, Xu Tangzhou basically cannot remember any of their names.
Before the annual party officially began, everyone was making speculations as to what prize the old president had prepared.
As they were chatting, a colleague came over and whispered to Huang Qian in a soft voice before summoning him away.
Xu Tangzhou remained standing in place, as he felt…… the loneliness of a walking shadow.
His socializing skills were exceedingly poor.
“You should be Xu Tangzhou ba?” A dark-haired omega with a round face who took the initiative to greet him appears to be very young and somewhat familiar.
Xu Tangzhou quickly remembered that the other party was the second male lead from a web series, who seemingly goes by the name of Lu Jia. He was popular for a brief period of time before vanishing without a trace, and Xu Tangzhou didn’t expect that the other party would be one of Star Realm’s many artists.
Sure enough, the other party introduced himself: “My name is Lu Jia, I’ve watched your commercial before.”
Lu Jia kindly extended his hand.
Recalling the conversation he had with Huang-ge, Xu Tangzhou exchanged a handshake with him before replying in a very business-like manner: “I’ve watched your TV series as well.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“That’s black history.” Lu Jia embarrassingly said with dimples in his smile, “It cannot be a match to your commercial. I heard that the sales for the new Mist product seem to be doing exceptionally well because of you this time around. Huang-ge’s eyes are full of schemes, no wonder the people within the company can’t compete with you.”
Xu Tangzhou was unaware of such a matter: “Internal competition?”
“That’s right.” Lu Jia did not continue to elaborate and clinked his wine glass with him, “Your luck must be pretty decent for you to have such an auspicious start on your first debut. Congrats.”
Xu Tangzhou had no choice but to politely respond: “Thanks.”
Lu Jia is an out-going individual who doesn’t have the vibe of a senior and he strikes up a conversation with Xu Tangzhou instead of taking his leave after saying hello.
When an artist or colleague occasionally passed by, he would chat with Xu tangzhou about them before engaging in harmless gossip, which can be considered much more effective than Huang Qian’s casual introduction.
After the two of them chatted for a while, Lu Jia offered to take a selfie with Xu Tangzhou and selected one to be posted on Flow from the few shots they’ve taken.
Lu JiaV: I fell in love with Mist because of the commercial and met Xu Tangzhou because of Mist. Love you Xu TangzhouZZ
“……” Xu Tangzhou finally realized that Lu Jia’s current actions are meant to expand his followings.
Regardless of familiarity, nearly all celebrities have a tendency to follow each other before anything else; the same logic applies to Huang-ge’s remark: “It’s beneficial for newcomers to make acquaintances”.
“Follow me ah.” Lu Jia did not feel ashamed at all, and naturally took the initiative to follow Xu Tangzhou first, before marvelling in a small voice, “You have such a large number of fans. It seems that there’s no need for me to help you increase your popularity anymore.”
After last night’s commotion, Xu Tangzhou became a blogger with over a hundred thousand fans.
Huang Qian returned right as Xu Tangzhou followed Lu Jia.
Huang Qian’s expression is one of extreme excitement, even his hands are shaking: “Zhou Zhou, please come with me for a minute.”
Xu Tangzhou was mid-way through his task of getting acquainted with other celebrities: “What’s up?”
Huang Qian focused on dragging him away, and passionately spoke as they walked: “I did mention that I would find someone to offer you pointers before, but I didn’t expect such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to arrive so quickly, it’s simply difficult for me to believe! Let’s drop by there.”
Xu Tangzhou was totally in the dark: “Right now?”
Huang Qian revealed a mysterious smile on his chubby face: “Guess who it is?”
“I refuse.”
Meanwhile, in the well-soundproofed room of Fischer Hotel, Ling Che lazily spoke up.
The shadows of the crowd downstairs can be clearly seen outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
No matter how the reporters and protesters barricade the bottom of the building, they could not imagine that Ling Che had entered the hotel from under their noses long ago.
Ling Che is indeed unwilling to participate in occasions such as the company’s annual party, but he still had to show the old director some face because of the small mess he caused this time, but who knew that they would force him to cooperate with work after his arrival. He doesn’t consider himself to be the one at fault, much less than to compromise.
Si Tuya was overwhelmed with anxiety: “Then what the heck do you want me to do? Would you still be performing your concerts in march or not?! I don’t want all the tickets to be refunded by then!”
Ling Che fiddled with a cap and rested his slender legs on the low table as his brown eyes appeared to be darker in colour under the light: “That won’t happen.”
Xiao’an did not dare to say a single word.
Si Tuya is a professional agent, and as someone who mingled in the circle for so many years, she has always been very accurate in predicting the direction of public opinion.
To begin with, Ling Che made an indiscreet remark and failed to show up at the New Year’s Eve Night Concert afterwards. She is well aware of the logic that a tall tree would suffer from the wind.
“How can you be sure that won’t happen.” Si Tuya earnestly advised him with good intentions, “That’s right, it’s true that no one will refuse to attend your concert, but have you considered the aftermath? If you don’t show up or provide an explanation, this stain can never be gotten rid of. Once you stand at the peak of your career, someone would definitely use this to diss you in the future. They would pursue you like a shadow no matter what you’ve achieved, it’s the same as a fly that cannot be shooed away.”
Ling Che: “I don’t give a damn.”
Si Tuya is left without an option: “It would be fine if you can bear the consequences yourself, but are you aware that Bethany has suffered a huge impact because of you?”
Bethany is the blood and sweat of Ling Che’s mother, Ling Zhi. As a luxury jewelry brand, its targeted consumers have always been omegas.
Ling Che has assumed the task of being Bethany’s spokesperson for three years, and giant posters of him can be seen everywhere on storefronts.
As soon as Ling Che’s remark of “discriminating against omegas” was reported during the previous month, Bethany’s performance visibly declined. After the scandal transpire at the New Year’s Eve Concert last night, the stores in the central district area were splashed with paint, accusing Bethany of being unscrupulous.
Ling Che doesn’t pay attention to media news, and Ling Zhi naturally won’t tell his son about this troublesome matter, therefore he doesn’t know about it yet.
He finished reading the news article handed over to him by Xiao’an.
The media described it in an exaggerated manner, but the Bethany establishment has indeed been forced to suspend operations.
Ling Che spoke with resentment: “They have the guts to implicate Bethany?”
No matter how inherently rebellious he is, Ling Che does not want to affect his family members because of his own affairs.
His tolerance level is at its limit.
Si Tuya is certainly aware of this fact, and proceeds to strike the iron while it’s hot: “How can they not have the guts? This matter cannot be settled so easily. Ling Che, I am not going to force an apology out of you, otherwise, I wouldn’t have given you consent to ditch the New Year’s Even concert last night. I am merely requesting you to participate in a variety show in order to cleanse your name and receive a bit of favour at the same time. It won’t be a loss.”
Ling Che has never participated in any variety shows.
His overly arrogant attitude won’t allow him to act pretentiously.
Furthermore, there’s no need for him to participate in the show to accumulate popularity at all, he himself is the embodiment of popularity.
“There won’t be any scripts in reality shows.” Si Tuya advised him, “You can act according to your wishes as long as you don’t quit midway through. It’s only a single week worth of your time.”
Ling Che is unconvinced: “That’s all there is to it?”
“It’s that simple. You ought to be grateful for having the opportunity to participate in the show, who has the nerve to ask you to act in accordance with a script?” Si Tuya continued, “The candidate who will act as your partner has already been selected by me, and I can assure you that they are as clean as a white sheet of paper.”
Ling Che came to a realization and laughed: “It’s vital that they are an omega. You did well tempting others with an item that’s not attainable.”
The fact that he is participating in the show with an omega can already attract enough attention, and along with the amazing editing in the late stage of the program, even if the two do not interact at all, there’s no need for Ling Che to think in order to know what the outcome of the show would be once it got released.
After Ling Che effortlessly saw through her intentions, Si Tuya choked before probing him with caution: “It couldn’t be that you are actually discriminating against omega right?”
Ling Che abruptly restrained his unruly attitude before remaining silent.
After a while has passed, he raised his eyebrows and faintly murmured just as Si Tuya assume that he was about to make a shocking statement: “How come, I do not bear any animosity towards omegas at all, much less than discriminating against them. I explained the implication behind that statement with clarity. I merely stated ——– They aren’t capable of determining whether or not they would be marked in the first place. Isn’t this a fact?”
Based on the physiological structure of an omega, it is true that they are inherently vulnerable and can very easily lose control, therefore once the two parties held enough affection for each other, the majority will immediately choose to get permanently marked and spend the rest of their lives together.
But there will always be those who would go to desperate lengths in search of immoral excitement despite being fully aware that they are physically weaker than alphas —— Ling Che specifically directed this remark toward a certain cheater after getting tired from being constantly questioned.
Part of the media deliberately amplifies his remarks, misinterpreting the original meaning and inciting a dispute on AO human rights, which Ling Che can no longer provide a clear explanation for.
Ling Che is a man of few words and will not commit such an error again in the future.
Si Tuya is unsure about what Ling Che is thinking or where this idea of his stems from. She only knows that Ling Che seems to be in the middle of a relationship when he made his debut, but that was already four years ago.
Later on, there was a period of time when Ling Che suddenly became very low-spirited and spent all night in the studio on a daily basis. His inspiration dried up and he forced himself to jot something down by clutching onto the paper. Ling Che is an extremely talented individual, and after overcoming his dejectedness, he rose to fame. His works suddenly began to spurt during the period when he was no longer absent-minded, and with each of his albums reaching popularity, his concerts were non-stop, as if he was a perpetual motion machine that never got tired before establishing his position in the music industry.
From then onwards, he became the face of the music industry.
Other than receiving honour, any slight flaw of an overly perfect individual will be put under a microscope.
Ling Che may not even realize how grave this situation is.
It’s true that it will not immediately affect his status in the music industry, but it can affect his musical career. Slowly, it will seep the impurities from the prejudice and rumours of those genius works he created, until those works are no longer perfect myths.
Si Tuya heaved out a sigh of relief: “Whether it’s genuine or not, it’s fine as long as you don’t bear any animosity. I indeed have the intention of partnering you up with an omega, otherwise, what’s the point of you being on this show? But rest assured, I am not asking you to perform a stunt with him, I am merely hoping that the public can see your attitude towards the community through this show. As long as there’s no problem here, the PR department will naturally operate behind the scenes.”
It seems that Ling Che is still in the process of pondering, but his thoughts were unfathomable with his handsome face against the light source.
“Even if you don’t take yourself into consideration, you at least need to think from Director Ling’s perspective.” Si Tuya retracted another step back, “Then it’s settled, there’s no need for you to make a decision in a hurry. I had a chat with Huang Qian earlier, and he would bring them along for you to have a look. The brat that signed a contract with Huang Qian is named Xu Tangzhou, the commercial for Mist he filmed recently had received decent feedback from the market. You should just take it as guiding newcomers on behalf of the company.”
Ling Che suddenly stiffened.
After a while, he turned around and glared at Si Tuya high on alert before gradually opening his mouth: “What did you say his name was?“
Si Tuya repeats herself out of habit: “Xu Tangzhou: Tang as in Haitang, Zhou as in Pianzhou.”
They finally meet each other after 4 years
Thank for the chapter
My guy, you made a remark about Omegas, and you’re a spokeperson for a brand that is targeted towards Omegas, so of course the brand got some of the shit as well, whether you want it or not.
And btw, they’re gonna meet each other eheheheh.
Omggg this is it!!! My blood is boiling with excitement aaaah
Waiting for the meeting ! ! ! Hahahahaha! Thanks for the update 🤣
thanks for the chapter <3
Your characteristics can be better, but I hope you will be a good partner in the future
Thank you for your translation 💙
Dang, so this is the cliffhanger I meet after picking this up? 😭
Thanks for translating this! 😘
Couldn’t he just give a exclusive interview? I know that we wouldn’t have a plot if he did, but it’s quite weird to go to the show for clearing misunderstanding (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
Thank You for the chapter (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
Hahaha 🤣 finally they meet again…. Thanks for the chapter ❤️ i
it started!
thanks for the chapter!
I’m dying of curiosity about how they broke up lmao 🤣