Release that Man
chapter-156

Ye Shuang did not believe it was coincidence. It was not strange for Tian Mo Media to try to ruin Luo Mingxin’s name, but the timing was too curious. To force Ye Shuang to join the entertainment business to cooperate with him, Celebrity Luo praised Ye Shuang without reservation in front of the media. This already showed his affection toward his co-star. Then they were caught having such intimate moment, a midnight date to be precise, so how was he supposed to explain this?

The selling point of the movie was the sibling relationship between the main character and his brother; a slight switch to the character’s personality, and it would cause a misunderstanding among certain viewers.

After all, before the shooting started, Celebrity Luo already used the script to make fun of Ye Shuang and Director Zhou. When they started shooting for real, Ye Shuang wickedly tried to make her revenge, so certain scenes were… rather ambiguous.

Normally, this kind of situation would add to the fans’ discussion. It was a topic, but in this situation, it might lead to a negative effect. After all, there would be people who sincerely wished for their idols to be gay.

Celebrity Luo’s overly kind words toward Ye Shuang, the picture of them on a midnight date, and the ambiguous scenes in the movie. It was a perfect storm of framing. Saying there was nothing between Ye Shuang and Luo Mingxin, even the fans wouldn’t believe it but similarly if you’re saying, this was not an inside-job, Ye Shuang wouldn’t believe it either.

“I remember Celebrity Luo already finished his collaboration with his agent, right?” Ye Shuang asked the assistant director.

The man thought about it and replied, “I think so, yes. I’ve not seen him for more than a month already, but Luo Mingxin’s own team is still around. They’re more than enough to handle one person’s schedule.”

“Did they have a real falling out‽” Ye Shuang asked with interest. “I thought he would wait until the day their contract ended.”

After all, Luo Mingxin had been surviving the agent’s presence for so long already, and kicking this away would only get him another.

“Yes,” the assistant director grumbled, “but his agent’s attitude was getting more and more unbearable. There were two times when he came to the set with new artists and groups of reporters. By the way, shouldn’t we figure out how to clear the scandal first‽”

Why are you still in the mood to gossip‽

Ye Shuang felt something was off when she was reminded of that. According to her or normal people’s way of thinking, those who dared to betray would have their hands chopped. After dealing with the traitor, people moved onto dealing with the mess.

However, according to the entertainment people’s logic, it was not important how and who did what; the important detail was how to deal this. Because of this, even if they did find the traitor, most of the time they would kick the person out and cut off all connections, using their influence to ruin the traitor’s future within this business. Normally, they would not go through the law because that would only peel back old wounds.

For example, when the gay scandal broke out about An Zixuan, Mr. Fang and the An family’s first reaction was different from the people in entertainment business. They did not care that much about public opinion, and the first thing they did was swap the CEO out. They needed to secure their own profits before dealing with the issue of the scandal.

It was not that the people in entertainment underestimated group benefits or people in business underestimated personal benefits. In any case, such was the culture in two distinct circles; Ye Shuang could not say who was right or who was wrong.

“Well, have fun explaining. After all, I’m not part of this industry.” Ye Shuang smiled wickedly after figuring it out. Then she used Sister Shuang’s QQ to send a message, saying her partner was currently working in Shanghai, so she wished the friend would show him around.

This friend was such a fan of Sister Shuang that she personally drove over to the scene to meet up with Brother Shuang, who sneaked out of the event hall. The paparazzi were waiting in hiding to get more scoop on Brother Shuang, so they rushed out when they caught sight of him. No matter the picture, they would be able to spin it to create more news.

However, when Brother Shuang appeared, before they even snapped the flash, they saw the appearance of their boss’ niece. Mo Xiao Xia did not even use sunglasses and walked beside Brother Shuang happily, apparently in a great conversation.

The paparazzi felt like crying; they tailed Brother Shuang and Sister Xia but did not dare to snap any picture. They were not afraid of stirring the pot, but they were afraid of stirring their boss’ niece into the pot because it might lose them their jobs. However, just because they did not share it did not mean that others would not. The news that Brother Shuang did not attend the premier but went out with a girl soon appeared on the internet.

To preserve the purity of their boss’ niece, the water army tried their best to insist they were just friends and did not dare follow their original plan of spreading rumors about Brother Shuang’s sexuality.

Back in the premier, Luo Mingxin and Director Zhou were experienced enough to brush over the rumors. They pulled up scenes of the movie to drag some time so that they could come up with believable explanation to give the media.

“Look! Xiao Ye, that devil is out doing stuff already!” Just as the group of people on the panel were scratching their heads trying to come up with a solution, Director Zhou, who had been silently surfing the net, suddenly smack his leg. The anxiety on his face was soon replaced by leisure.

Luo Mingxin was confused, and with a gaze, his assistant immediately used his phone to go online to search about Ye Shuang and passed it to Luo Mingxin. After taking a glance at it, Luo Mingxin could not help but chuckle. With such a start, he soon came up with several ways to deal with the media.

Behind Mo Xiao Xia was Tian Mo Media’s boss. She was caught walking through the streets with Ye Shuang, but out of deference to Tian Mo Media, no one dared write anything too slanderous about them. Since one of the main characters had already cleared his name, how hard would it be for the other main character to do the same?

The media at the premier also received this news, and after the clips were over, they rushed to get an interview.

What about the movie‽ Honestly, it was not bad, but with so many movies flooding the market, even the best movie would not make people forget their job. Other than those professional film critics and fans who were there for their idols, it was impossible for the media to lose themselves watching a movie.

They were more concerned about Brother Shuang’s absence and why he skipped the premier to go on a date with a girl!

Facing these questions, the team lead by Director Zhou answered cleverly.

“He was just a cameo after all,” said the director.

“He didn’t attend the earlier publicity run so there’s no reason for this to be different,” the assistant director added.

Luo Mingxin sighed. “I’ve tried to make him take this job seriously, but his heart is not in it! If I knew seduction would work, I should have tried that.”

They did not dare to mock Ye Shuang because that meant ruining Mo Xiao Xia’s name as well. Since Ye Shuang was fine, then Celebrity Luo’s tone naturally lead the things toward a more positive direction. Furthermore, Luo Mingxin had a good reputation and he had the support of his fans who were present to support him.

…

Mo Xiao Xia was searching the street for something to eat when she received a call from her uncle.

“Hmm‽ It’s Sister Shuang’s partner. Since he’s not familiar with the city, she asked me to be his guide,” Mo Xiao Xia answered truthfully. “Brother Luo is still at the premier. Sister Ye’s little brother is also here. When the premier is over, we’ll meet up. Uncle, you’re being too careful; I’m not famous enough for people to write an article on me.”

Boss Mo almost coughed blood from that answer. He cherished his niece because of her innocence and kindness, but it was also due to her kindness that she did not inform him when she was used.

This was the difference between a boss and a star. Luo Mingxin could only call his friends to help, but if Boss Mo did not like the look of someone, he could find the government official to demolish a whole group of paparazzi if he wanted to.

Even though the incident with Luo Mingxin was quite serious, after Ye Shuang ‘kidnapped’ Mo Xiao Xia, Boss Xia turned the situation around with just a few words. Ye Shuang realized that her real bright future lay with her career as a headhunting agent. In comparison, a star was only bright on the surface.

“Okay, but Sister Shuang won’t harm me.” Ye Shuang did not know what was said on the other end of the line, but Mo Xiao Xia’s face fell. She pouted and grumbled, “We’re just walking around the city! Sister Shuang will be coming to Shanghai in a few days, so we’re picking a present to welcome her. I’m busy, talk to you later. Bye, Uncle.”

Without giving the other person a chance to continue the conversation, Mo Xiao Xia ended the call. She released a long sigh and turned to smile at Ye Shuang. “Sorry about that, my uncle always treats me like a child.”

“Actually, he’s only looking out for you.” Ye Shuang smiled and admitted honestly, “You’re luckier than most. You not only have great resources but also an uncle who loves you. For example, this time, I’m using you to create a smokescreen. It’s only natural that your uncle has something to say about that.”

“You’ve used me‽” Mo Xiao Xia gripped her chest and gasped. “When did that happen? How come I didn’t realize anything‽”

“Erm…” Ye Shuang choked on her words and was silent for more than half a minute. “Never mind, forget I said anything.”

She thought the girl would know everything after watching the livestream of the premier, but the girl was still so ditzy that she had not realized anything until now.

“Okay then.” Mo Xiao Xia sat down quietly, and her thought soon returned to the conversation before it was interrupted by the phone call. “Brother Shuang, where do you think we should go next? Sister Shuang is coming to Shanghai the day after tomorrow, right? Shall we book a hotel for her? By the way, I saw a beautiful watch that time…”

Ye Shuang was ‘awestruck’ at her simplicity.

…

The anticipated premier ended just like that. Thankfully, there were not any real scandals. There were two scandals revolving around Ye Shuang within the range of several hours, and naturally, everyone’s attention was divided. The rest of the scandals and discussions would be handled by the water army and public relations teams, so everything should be fine.

However, the fans who wanted to hear about the reviews from the premier were kind of disappointed. Those who went to the review said that the movie was good, but as for how good, no one could provide further details.

Most of the articles instead surrounded Brother Shuang. Thankfully, the fans at other showings were more moral. After they watched the movie, they went back to share their views, and that made people feel better.

“This time, the spotlight will not be on Xiao Luo but Xiao Ye.” Director Zhou was experienced enough in the business to know what would happen based on the initial signs. Due to the accidents that occurred during the premier, the event ended later than expected, so Director Zhou made use of the opportunity to push the celebratory party to the next day. It was still an in-house party that night.

“We’ve pushed the focus onto Xiao Ye, so Boss Mo will probably make use of that as well. Firstly, it will be good for his niece’s reputation, and secondly, his niece can use this opportunity to gain some new fans.” Director Zhou harrumphed. “Basically, the situation has been brought under control. The older the ginger, the spicier it is. The old coot managed to turn the situation around quick or else… Humph!”

“What is there to be angered about?” Ye Shuang shrugged. “Things like this happen far too often in this industry. One wrong step and scandals abound… I am the real victim here. I only wanted to help the weak and incapacitated, and this happened to me.”

Luo Mingxin initially agreed with Ye Shuang, but at this point, he realized something was wrong. “Wait, who are you calling weak and incapacitated?”

The crew erupted into a booming laugh. When they were not working, they were a bunch of nice people. Director Zhou smacked Ye Shuang with anger and joy. Then, he told everyone, “Remember to come early tomorrow. The stations, media, and even important people from the business world might be coming. Xiao Ye, you need to be prepared because you might be pulled for some interviews.”

“No problem.” Ye Shuang nodded solemnly. In any case, around 23:00 tomorrow, she would run into the toilet and escape. If she was unable to leave, she would need to find a girl to solve the emergency. Ye Shuang was still figuring out the solution when Luo Mingxin suddenly laughed.

“So, who are you bringing as your date‽”

Ye Shuang was stunned before it dawned on her. Originally, it was planned that she would appear with Luo Mingxin, but after the incident earlier, to not bring life back to the scandal, it was decided that they should come with their own partners.

Luo Mingxin could bring the female lead, but what about Ye Shuang?