Everyone in the Entertainment Industry Thinks I’m a Flirty Diva [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 48

Chu Xi’s features were picturesque, and her wink was utterly charming.

Yet Gu Mingjing forcibly swallowed back the words he had been about to say.

After dinner, Chu Xi checked Weibo. The post she had made earlier about cooking had received an excellent response—being skilled in the kitchen was always a plus, no matter the era. The likes quickly surpassed 100,000, and the flattering comments had her feeling rather smug.

[My Xi is wife material!]

[Xi Bao can actually cook too, she’s so capable!]

[This whole table of dishes looks amazing, I want to eat Xi Bao’s cooking. Anticipation.jpg]

[Mom, what kind of treasure girl have I been missing all this time?]

…

Chu Xi scrolled through the comments with a gratified, motherly smile, only to realize it was already past ten in the evening.

Damn.

Cooking and eating had taken quite a while, but she hadn’t expected time to fly by so quickly. Chu Xi suddenly stood up. “It’s too late, I need to go home.”

Gu Mingjing hadn’t anticipated that Chu Xi would insist on leaving so late. He frowned slightly. “How are you getting back?”

Chu Xi was also wondering how she’d get home. The subway had stopped running, and she’d already sent Xiao Yan home earlier.

A taxi?

She shuddered at the thought of all those news reports about single women meeting misfortune while taking cabs at night.

Gu Mingjing said earnestly, “It’s this late, and your assistant’s already gone. Neither a taxi nor a hired driver is safe.”

He added, “I’ve been drinking, so I can’t drive you. Stay the night here.”

Seeing her hesitation, he offered another option. “Or, I can give you my car keys, and you can drive back yourself.”

Chu Xi: “………………”

What a scheming man.

You know full well I don’t have a driver’s license, yet you suggest I drive myself back?

I’ll sign up for driving school tomorrow just to spite you.

Fortunately, Gu Mingjing’s home had spare toiletries, and Chu Xi was to sleep in the guest room.

She didn’t have pajamas, and after sweating during the day’s filming, she couldn’t bear to sleep in her clothes. She had planned to borrow one of Gu Mingjing’s pajama tops to make do, but then she found something else in the wardrobe.

In the corner were two women’s silk nightgowns.

Chu Xi froze, as if she’d stumbled upon something she shouldn’t have. A frown almost formed on her face before she suddenly remembered—those nightgowns… were hers.

They were hers.

With mixed emotions, Chu Xi took one of the nightgowns, showered, put it on, then lay in bed. After turning off the lights, she stared blankly at the ceiling in the pitch-black room.

Running her fingers over the silk that felt like a second skin, she recalled countless nights when he had slipped it off her.

Life was strange. Two people who had once been so intimate were now sleeping in separate rooms under the same roof.

Chu Xi’s face flushed abruptly, and she buried it in the blankets before drifting off into a hazy sleep.

Meanwhile, the reposts of Chu Xi’s Weibo post from that night continued to climb. While the night-owl fans marveled at “how capable our Xi is,” a particularly sharp-eyed fan noticed something else.

It was a fandom habit—whenever a celebrity posted photos with reflective surfaces, like sunglasses or camera lenses, fans would instinctively scrutinize the reflections. Many subtle clues had been uncovered this way, thanks to fans’ magnifying-glass-level detective skills.

Chu Xi’s photos today also had reflective spots—and they seemed to contain something.

The second photo: the stainless steel soup ladle in the bowl.

The fifth photo: the polished marble kitchen countertop, mirror-like in its shine.

Everyone zoomed in on the reflections, studying them carefully.

…

Early the next morning, Chu Xi was jolted awake by a phone call.

Annoyed, she swiped to dismiss it and rolled over to go back to sleep.

Less than thirty seconds later, the phone rang again, relentless.

With no choice, Chu Xi fished her phone from under the pillow and answered with her eyes still closed. “Hello?”

Fu Bai’s voice rang out, unusually serious as he questioned, “Chu Xi, who were you with last night?”

Who was she with? She was…

Hearing this, Chu Xi’s drowsiness instantly vanished. She bolted upright in bed, eyes wide open. “I…”

“I was, I was…”

Chu Xi hesitated. How could she explain to Fu Bai that she’d slept at Gu Mingjing’s place last night—and convince him that absolutely nothing had happened between them?

Fu Bai, hearing her hesitation, felt the rumors trending online were practically confirmed.

Heartbroken, Fu Bai fired off four soul-crushing questions: “Since when? How long has this been going on? Why didn’t I know anything about it? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Flustered by the rapid-fire interrogation, Chu Xi waved her hands in denial. “No, I—that’s not—”

Fu Bai cut in, “Didn’t you check your Weibo photo before posting? Don’t you know marble tabletops reflect everything, even spoons?!”

Reflections?

Chu Xi’s heart sank at his words. She’d just slapped a filter on the photo and posted it without checking for reflections. Most people wouldn’t bother looking, but netizens with magnifying glasses—especially fans—were another story.

Oh god, had fans spotted Gu Mingjing’s reflection in the photo? She’d never be able to clear her name if that were true!

Fu Bai took a deep breath before asking sternly, “How long has this been going on with him?”

“Weren’t you just telling reporters you wouldn’t date during your career ascent? Was that all lies? How do you think fans will react if this leaks? What will the public think? Aren’t you just handing ammunition to your haters?”

Chu Xi pounded her pillow in frustration. “No! There’s nothing between us, really! I just cooked him dinner last night.”

Fu Bai: “What? Nothing? Then are the things fans dug up true or false?”

Chu Xi: “Of course they’re false! There’s absolutely nothing between us.”

Fu Bai: “You’re not lying to me?”

Chu Xi was near tears. “Why would I lie? What do we do now…”

Fu Bai let out a sigh of relief: “That’s good. Don’t worry for now. I’ll discuss it with Yan Zhun’s agency.”

“Thank you, Fu—” Chu Xi’s gratitude was cut short as she suddenly froze upon hearing Fu Bai’s words.

What did he just say?

Chu Xi cautiously asked, “Fu Bai, who did you say you were going to discuss this with?”

Fu Bai: “Yan Zhun’s agency.”

Chu Xi: “Who???”

——

Chu Xi hung up the phone, utterly bewildered, and opened Weibo.

The top trending hashtag: #ChuXi YanZhun#.

Dazed, Chu Xi clicked into it. The top post read:

“#ChuXi YanZhun Romance# Yesterday, Chu Xi posted a cooking photo on Weibo. Sharp-eyed fans noticed a man’s reflection in the glossy surface of the photo. Based on fan speculation, the man appears to be Yan Zhun, who recorded a show with Chu Xi yesterday. Late-night cooking in their love nest suggests their relationship has been exposed.”

Chu Xi’s mind was now filled with only one thought: “Since when did I know about this?”

With a look of utter confusion, she opened the accompanying images, where every suspicious detail had been circled in red—not just the photos she posted yesterday but also various other program stills and fan candids, all marked with red circles.

Aside from the spoon and the marble reflection vaguely showing a man’s figure…

The kitchen decor in Chu Xi’s photo was identical to Yan Zhun’s kitchen—look at the microwave placement, the beige woven tablecloth—clearly, Chu Xi was at Yan Zhun’s place last night!

In Chu Xi’s recent airport photo, she wore black Yeezys. Not long after, Yan Zhun wore the same pair on a show—obviously couple shoes!

On Brave Heart, Yan Zhun gazed at Chu Xi with tender affection.

A while back, Yan Zhun posted a selfie on Instagram with a hotel in the background, likely visiting Chu Xi on set in Gudong City.

…

Photo after photo, clue after clue, all pointing to one undeniable truth—

Chu Xi and Yan Zhun were together!

Sure, they barely interacted on the show and seemed to avoid each other, but as the saying goes, “The more one tries to hide, the more one reveals.” Their avoidance only made things more suspicious.

Despite Yan Zhun’s and Chu Xi’s fans flooding the comments to deny the forced relationship narrative, they couldn’t stop the gossip-hungry netizens.

[“They’ve known each other since Brave Heart, right? Now they’re collaborating again—it’s totally possible they’re together.”]

[“OMG, I think this is so sweet! Their lowkey flirting is adorable!”]

[“With all these matching items and coincidences, anyone denying it is just lying to themselves.”]

[“Rewatching Brave Heart now, and every little detail is a sugar rush! They pretended not to vibe, but the sparks were flying!”]

An anti-fan sneered:

[“Oh? Didn’t Chu Xi say she wouldn’t date during her career rise?”]

A bystander chimed in understandingly:

[“That line was obviously aimed at her overbearing CEO fanboy! For Gu Mingjing, it’s ‘no dating during career rise,’ but for Yan Zhun, it’s ‘cooking together at home and subtly flaunting it on Weibo.’ Admit it, this is sweet!”]

[“So sweet!”]

[“Ahhh, my heart can’t take this!”]

[“Poor Gu Mingjing, though…”]

[“What does Yan Zhun have that Gu Mingjing doesn’t? As a fanboy, seeing Chu Xi’s relationship exposed must be devastating. I hate this!”]

[Heartache for President Gu, tears in eyes.jpg]

……

Chu Xi scrolled through the trending Weibo posts and comments with utter despair before flopping onto the bed.

A knock sounded at her door.

Chu Xi glanced toward it. The only person who would come looking for her was Gu Mingjing.

She sat up again.

If she issued a statement saying the person in the photo wasn’t Yan Zhun, then who was it?

Gu Mingjing must have already seen the hot search news this morning.

Was he going to make her admit that the man in the reflection was actually him?

But wouldn’t that be tantamount to admitting she had been at Gu Mingjing’s place last night? Cooking at his home—if she tried to claim they were just idol and fan, no one would believe it.

Chu Xi was beyond frustrated. The knocking persisted, so she finally called out weakly, “Come in.”

Gu Mingjing pushed the door open with a grim expression.

Seeing his dark expression, Chu Xi shrank back. “Y-you should calm down. I think we need to discuss this first. Fu Bai is already in touch with Yan Zhun’s agency.”

Gu Mingjing sat at the edge of her bed, taking in her messy morning hair, flustered expression, and the way she fidgeted like she’d been caught red-handed.

He closed his eyes briefly. The thought of the matching couple items, the affectionate gazes during recordings, and the alleged hotel visit photos dug up in the trending posts made his heart ache faintly.

Grabbing her wrist, he demanded, “Just how many men do you have?”