Chapter 35: Secretly Filming

The news circulating online originated from several secretly taken photographs.

It was uncertain whether the person was a student from the foreign affairs college. The photos only captured scenes at the school gate.

Zhu Xingyan was wearing a black hat and mask. He stood in front of a girl, and the two were very close. The shooting angle seemed to be from behind him, so only the girl’s forehead was visible, with most of her face blocked.

There were several photos of them talking with heads lowered. Then, the two walked side by side into the school gate. The photos ended here. Perhaps it was because the person from outside the school found it inconvenient to enter, or they were afraid of being discovered and dared not continue following.

Fortunately, there were only those scenes at the school gate. What was annoying was that even with just these few photos, the media could still fabricate stories and sensationalize them extensively.

The initial photos were only posted by the photographer on their personal account, speculating whether the person in the gossip was Zhu Xingyan. However, there were many insiders in the circle. With a little push from behind the scenes, the photos were reposted and published by marketing accounts. The popularity spread like a wildfire on dry grass, and the matter quickly fermented. Any small movement about him could instantly be pushed to the hot search.

Zhu Xingyan’s first measure was to have Liu Yan remove the hot search. Then they contacted marketing accounts one by one to delete the posts. The rapidly rising popularity was forcibly suppressed. In a short time, it disappeared completely. The personal account that originally posted the photos had already become scared and deleted the original Weibo post when the heat rose. The incident dissipated quickly, like a malicious rumor based on fabricated evidence. It was quickly eliminated by the person involved before it could cause any formal impact.

Loyal fans were definitely the first to stand up and defend their idol. The fans who saw the news earliest had already started posting clarification statements on the square and scolding the rumor mongering marketing accounts. Under Zhu Xingyan’s Weibo, there was also a wave of supportive voices.

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“I was scared to death, Little Flame. Can you be a bit more restrained next time? I told you long ago that if you keep going to see the little classmate so openly without any concern, something would happen sooner or later.”

“Fortunately, they did not capture her face this time, otherwise it would have been completely over. Do not forget that her goal is to become a translator official. If her personal information gets dug up and the online fans go crazy, it might ruin both her studies and career.”

Liu Yan deliberately described the consequences very seriously because cleaning up after his unrestrained behavior during this period had been really tiring. The unscrupulous paparazzi had been quiet for a long time in recent years. But as Zhu Xingyan began to make his mark in the film and television circle, they started to stir again.

In the past, his life was just between the set and home, so it was almost impossible to capture any scandal related content. But now it was different. Any small action from him would cause a huge uproar once released.

Every time Zhu Xingyan went out, Liu Yan would be on edge. Only when he was staying in the film crew could Liu Yan relax a little.

Zhu Xingyan did not speak. He stared at his phone with a very heavy expression, his brows and eyes filled with depression: “Yes, instead of continuing to hide like this, it would be better to go public directly.”

Liu Yan: “…………?”

You are together already?! And you want to go public?!

He roared internally but still had to calm down and earnestly advise the idol in front of him who seemed about to go crazy.

“Little Flame… I suggest you calm down first. After all, the two of you are not officially together yet… Moreover, for this matter, you should first ask for the little classmate’s opinion…”

He was very cautious, not even daring to raise his voice too much, afraid that one slip would make him go mad again.

Who would have thought, Zhu Xingyan looked up and smiled at him. Upon closer look, it even carried a few traces of pure innocence: “I was just joking. Why are you taking it so seriously? Of course I believe in the studio’s capabilities. This small piece of news should not be something that cannot be handled, right?”

Liu Yan: “………………”

He understood. He understood everything.

It was nothing more than the boss putting indirect pressure on the employee.

He had a complete realization and could no longer sit there with peace of mind. He immediately stood up and said: “I will now notify everyone. We will contact the media and handle the arrangements to ensure that such news will not appear a second time. We will nip it in the bud from the very beginning!”

The studio had a specially cooperated public relations company, with heavy financial investment every year. Previously, they were just maintaining it with little work to do and no special relationships to maintain. Now it was time for it to play its proper role.

Liu Yan held an emergency meeting overnight and was extremely busy. Because the handling of this incident was quite timely, the public relations department passed the test without receiving criticism.

The few photos on the internet could no longer be searched. Only a small portion of fans who saw them at the time had saved them.

Regarding this disturbance, Zhu Xingyan and the studio never responded from beginning to end. Their attitude seemed to indicate that they were upright and not afraid of shadows slanting, and they disdained to respond to such unfounded rumors at all.

Only a very small number of people who had seen the photos at the time harbored doubts based on their keen intuition.

“Why did Zhu Xingyan come to our school so late at night?! And he specifically came to find a girl? The two of them even entered the school??! No, no, I think something is off about this.” Bai Jia was one of them. With her years of experience in shipping couples, she keenly sensed that something was not right.

She had just saved the forwarded photo on her phone. At this moment, she was carefully zooming in and out on the blurry photo, examining it closely. The more she looked, the more doubtful she became.

“I feel like this girl looks so familiar. This figure, this hairstyle…” As she spoke, she slowly raised her head and looked toward the person sitting not far away at the computer desk, wearing headphones and seriously listening to a video. Her gaze slid across the long black straight hair draped over her shoulders. Then she slowly turned her head and exchanged a look with Xu Mi beside her.

“You think…?” She hesitated to speak. The latter also had a solemn expression. After staring at Song Shiyue for quite a while, she still shook her head.

“It should be quite unlikely, right? How could Shiyue know Zhu Xingyan without telling us? It must just be that the hairstyle and figure are similar. There are quite a lot of girls with long black straight hair in our college.” Xu Mi made a firm conclusion.

Bai Jia thought it made sense and nodded. Her gaze then slid toward Song Shiyue’s computer screen, only to discover that the video progress bar on it had not moved for a long time.

Song Shiyue felt the burning gazes from behind her. She helplessly turned her chair, took off her headphones and spoke: “You guys were so loud that the neighboring dorm could hear your discussion.”

“Shiyue, have you seen the news?!” Xu Mi immediately asked eagerly.

“By the time I checked, it had already been deleted, so I only roughly heard about it from the fans’ comments below.” Song Shiyue tried hard not to sound guilty, but her skills were lacking and her excuse was brief.

Before leaving, Zhu Xingyan had indeed instructed her not to go online. However, when it came to matters concerning him, she could not help but care. As soon as she returned to the dormitory, she opened her phone.

She should be considered one of the first batch of people who saw the hot search.

Later, just as the public saw, the matter was gradually suppressed, and then deleted completely clean.

The message Zhu Xingyan sent her not long ago was still quietly sitting in the chat box.

【It’s already been handled. Don’t worry, it’s fine.】

As soon as Song Shiyue spoke, Bai Jia immediately jumped up, shoving her phone right in front of her. Displayed on it was the photo of the two of them that was secretly taken. She zoomed in carefully on the girl inside and showed it to her.

“Look, this is the photo of Zhu Xingyan being photographed at our school gate tonight. Shiyue! Tell me, doesn’t she look exactly like you?!!” Bai Jia could not control her excitement. Her cheeks turned red from raising her voice so much. Song Shiyue stared at the photo carefully for several seconds and nodded seriously.

“It does look quite similar.”

“Right! I knew it wasn’t just my imagination. It really looks so much alike.” Bai Jia was immersed in her own thoughts and did not notice Song Shiyue’s emotions at all. Instead, she continued analyzing by herself.

“Among the girls in our school who resemble Shiyue, how many are there? Seems like none. There are indeed many with long black straight hair, but not many who are this beautiful…”

She frowned tightly while screening through possibilities. Meanwhile, Xu Mi beside her could not help but look at Song Shiyue a few times and asked, “Shiyue… you don’t actually know Zhu Xingyan, do you…?”

The moment Xu Mi’s words fell, Bai Jia had the strongest reaction. She widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief: “How is that possible?!”

Song Shiyue remained silent for a moment. Only after the two had calmed down slightly did she hesitate and ask tentatively, “What if I said the person in the photo is me…?”

“……………………”

The dormitory fell into a long, dead silence.

If at the beginning when Song Shiyue said she and Zhu Xingyan were in the same high school and same class, the two had treated it as a joke, but at this moment, with the photo right in front of their eyes and her bringing it up again, they could no longer pretend they had not heard it.

“You’re being serious…?” Before the extreme shock hit, Bai Jia actually lowered her voice, finding it hard to believe.

“Shiyue… you really don’t show your true colors…” Xu Mi murmured.

“I’m sorry. Actually, I didn’t mean to hide it on purpose. Because this matter has a relatively big impact on other people, and besides, we haven’t been back in contact for very long…”

When Song Shiyue said this, she actually felt somewhat guilty. But no one raised any accusations. The scene remained frozen for a long time, as if time had solidified.

Bai Jia’s voice trembled first as she broke the silence, carrying a trace of ecstatic joy that she was trying hard to suppress.

“Shiyue… then can you help me get a signed group photo of Zhu Xingyan and Chen Zhixun! Please, I beg you!!!”