C19 — The Strongest Marriage Alliance in Asia
by UntamedSThis was a report from Entertainment Focus Network, a media outlet notorious for publishing sensationalized, speculative news to grab attention. At the bottom of their articles, they always included a disclaimer: “This article has not been verified. If there is any infringement, it will be deleted immediately.” —a loophole-exploiting tactic to evade legal consequences.
Guan Minfeng had seen plenty of such marketing schemes before, so he was no stranger to them. But this time, he found it difficult to convince himself not to care.
The author wrote extensively about speculations regarding the sexual orientation of the An family’s young master. Not only that, but they deliberately involved a certain male celebrity, outright claiming that the two were engaged in an inappropriate relationship.
The article further accused He Xiangchen of having a chaotic personal life, frequently visiting gay bars to pick up partners, and even included a few blurry kissing photos.
Even though Guan Minfeng could tell that the person in the pictures wasn’t He Xiangchen, he was still furious. His anger surged as he slammed his palm onto the table with a thunderous bang!
“BOSS, what happened?!”
Hearing the loud noise, his bodyguard immediately rushed in and picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground.
Only then did Guan Minfeng remember—he was still on the phone with He Xiangchen!
“Don’t ask. Give me the phone!” He snatched it back. The screen had cracked from the impact, and for a moment, he regretted his reckless action. If the phone broke, wouldn’t that mean he wouldn’t be able to hear the young master’s voice anymore?
That wouldn’t do.
“Hello?” He Xiangchen’s voice came through hesitantly. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah.”
Good. The phone still worked.
“Was that an earthquake just now?” He Xiangchen had heard the loud noise—twice.
Guan Minfeng was silent for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”
“Then why didn’t I feel anything?”
To avoid being exposed for his terrible lie, Guan Minfeng swiftly changed the subject. “I saw the news. It’s bad for you. The An family is already in the spotlight due to the fake medicine scandal. If this situation with Zheng Biaolian continues to escalate, I’d say within a week, the An family could declare bankruptcy.”
“Bankruptcy?” He Xiangchen immediately sat up in bed. “If the An family really goes bankrupt, my brother and my father will be devastated. My dad is still in the hospital—if he hears about this, he’ll be heartbroken. This is all my fault…”
The young master’s voice was full of dejection, with a faint choking quality that tickled at Guan Minfeng’s heart like a cat’s soft paw, making him itch with the need to do something.
“I can suppress the media reports for you, but the details are hard to explain over the phone.” A hint of amusement flickered in Guan Minfeng’s eyes.
“When are you free? Can I come find you?”
“Tomorrow at 10 AM, at Boyu Entertainment Complex. I have a meeting there.”
“Got it!”
He Xiangchen wanted to say more, but after all, he had only met Guan Minfeng once. Saying too much unrelated stuff would be impolite. Their first meeting had already been bad enough—he didn’t want to ruin the little impression he had left.
After a brief silence, He Xiangchen softly said, “Mr. Guan, it’s getting late. I’ll hang up now.”
Guan Minfeng frowned slightly, reluctant, but still responded with a simple “Mm.”
“Goodnight.” My dear.
“Goodnight.” My little sweetheart.
He Xiangchen hung up the phone with satisfaction, placed it on the bedside table, and slowly closed his eyes.
With Mr. Guan’s goodnight blessing, he would surely have a beautiful dream tonight.
Hopefully, Mr. Guan would appear in it too.
Until the busy tone finally sounded, Guan Minfeng reluctantly put down his phone.
“Boss, do you need me to get you a new phone?”
Guan Minfeng had a habit of smashing things when he lost his temper, so his bodyguards were used to constantly replacing his phones.
But this time, he added a specific instruction: “Make sure to back up my contacts.”
“Understood.”
“And bring Zhou Ming here—I have something for him to do.”
Not long after, Zhou Ming arrived. As Guan Minfeng’s assistant, he was all too familiar with his boss’s fiery temper. The moment the bodyguard knocked on his door, he jumped out of bed without a second’s delay.
Guan Minfeng pointed at the computer screen. “Look.”
“An Yang? The gossip about the young master of the An family? Boss Guan, why are you showing me this?”
He dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night just to read gossip about the An family? Since when did Boss Guan have such free time?
Guan Minfeng got straight to the point. “I want these false reports removed immediately. Oh, and that Entertainment Focus Network, shut it down. Just looking at it annoys me.”
Zhou Ming wanted to remind him that Entertainment Focus Network wasn’t owned by the Guan family, so shutting it down wasn’t exactly up to them. But since Boss Guan had already spoken, he had no choice but to make sure it happened, even if he had to rack his brain to do it.
After all, with the Guan family’s wealth, buying out Entertainment Focus Network was a matter of minutes.
“I’ll take care of it, Boss Guan. Anything else?”
“That’s all.”
Zhou Ming was about to leave but couldn’t help sneaking another glance at the screen. His gaze landed on the search bar.
An Yang? Why was the boss suddenly paying so much attention to An Yang?
Silently making a mental note of the name, Zhōu Míng obediently exited the room.
Damn it. With just one sentence from Boss Guan, he wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.
After Zhou Ming left, Guan Minfeng returned to his chair. He pulled a cigar from the drawer, snipped the end, and brought it to his lips. As the smoke curled around him, an image of the young master surfaced in his mind once more.
As the night passed, some slept soundly in their sweet dreams, while others laid awake until dawn.
###
Zhou Ming worked through the night and barely managed to complete his tasks before heading to Boyu Entertainment Complex to report to Guan Minfeng. But when he arrived, he noticed something unusual—Boss Guan seemed distracted.
“Boss Guan?”
He wasn’t the only one reporting in. The complex’s top executives were all seated in the conference room, waiting for Guan Minfeng to start the meeting. Under these circumstances, Zhou Ming had no choice but to remind him to stay focused.
Expressionless, Guan Minfeng glanced at the time.
Nine-thirty.
Why was time moving so damn slow today?
###
Meanwhile, He Xiangchen stepped out of a taxi, his eyes widening in awe as he took in the newly built entrance of Boyu Entertainment Complex.
As the largest entertainment hub in S Province, Boyu Entertainment Complex was known as a golden playground, boasting the best facilities in the region. The new entrance was even more lavish than before—extravagant and dazzling.
He took a step forward, ready to enter, only to be stopped by the security guard at the door.
“Sir, do you have an appointment?”
“Appointment?” He Xiangchen was puzzled. “I’ve been here before, and I never needed an appointment.”
The guard patiently explained, “The entertainment complex is undergoing renovations, and a VIP is visiting today. To prevent any incidents, management has ordered that everyone entering must have a prior appointment and be registered in the system.”
“I see…”
He Xiangchen hesitated. “Can I make an appointment now?”
Realizing he had no other option, he reached for his phone, he needed to call Guan Minfeng. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even make it through the door.
“This…”
Before the security guard could respond, He Xiangchen saw two extremely familiar figures walking toward him from the lobby. He immediately frowned, “Why is it you two again?”
“Isn’t this Young Master An? What, the An family is about to go bankrupt, and you still have the mood to come and play at the entertainment city?”
Jiang Yunan clung to Zheng Piaolian’s arm, his tone full of provocation. His voice was loud, quickly drawing the attention of many onlookers.
“If you two know each other, then as long as you’re willing to vouch for this gentleman, he can go inside,” the security guard suggested, seeing that they seemed acquainted.
Jiang Yunan burst into laughter as if he’d just heard the biggest joke in the world. “Me? Vouch for him? Hahaha, sure! As long as you beg me, I’ll let you in. How about that?”
“Keep dreaming!”
He Xiangchen pressed his lips together tightly and turned to leave. He wasn’t really planning on walking away—he just didn’t want to make a call in front of these two. Just standing next to them made him feel utterly disgusted.
Zheng Piaolian pulled Jiang Yunan behind him and stopped beside He Xiangchen. “I’ll vouch for you, Yangyang. Go ahead and go in!”
“You dare?” Jiang Yunan’s voice instantly jumped up several octaves. “Zheng Piaolian, are you out of your mind?! I’m your boyfriend, yet you’re helping him go against me? What, do you want to get back together with your ex?”
The security guard was stunned—this was way more information than he was prepared to handle.
“That’s not what I meant! You’re the one who’s being aggressive! It’s just a simple guarantee, just a few words. Why do you have to make things so complicated?”
Zheng Piaolian was feeling a bit embarrassed now. There were quite a few people coming and going, and some had already pulled out their phones to take pictures!
This was bad.
He Xiangchen still remembered what Guan Minfeng had told him; he didn’t want to be connected to his ex in any way. If the media got hold of this again, there was no telling how they would twist the story.
And in the end, it would be the An family paying the price.
“Enough!” He Xiangchen took a step back. “I don’t need your guarantee, and I have nothing to do with either of you. You don’t have to worry about me stealing your boyfriend, because nothing will ever happen between us again!”
Never again.
Zheng Piaolian stared at He Xiangchen in shock. The determination in the young man’s eyes was unmistakable.
It was only then that Zheng Piaolian realized—He Xiangchen was looking at him with nothing but coldness and distance.
Once upon a time, those bright, beautiful eyes had gazed at him with such passion, as if he were the only person in the entire world.
But now, all of that longing and love was gone. What was left was ice—bone-chilling ice, frozen for eternity.
Zheng Piaolian suddenly felt an empty ache in his chest, as if something inside him was crying out in pain.
He thought back to the times he had spent with An Yang—how they used to surf together at the beach, how they would spend hours in the entertainment city singing love songs over and over.
An Yang had always been terrified of the water, yet he still held onto Zheng Piaolian’s waist tightly, standing on the surfboard with him, braving the waves together.
An Yang had always been tone-deaf, yet he still sat on the KTV sofa, listening to Zheng Piaolian sing, being his one and only audience.
“Yangyang, I don’t understand what you mean…”
“We broke up. You were the one who dumped me.”
He Xiangchen’s voice was quiet.
And in that instant, Zheng Piaolian realized—he had personally thrown away the one person who had cherished him as his whole world.
He opened his mouth, but he couldn’t say even a single word to make him stay.
He Xiangchen had no idea why Zheng Piaolian suddenly showed such a sorrowful expression, nor did he care to find out, because the person he was waiting for was walking toward him.
There was a faint trace of anger on the man’s face, his steps swift and purposeful. Within moments, he closed the distance between them. His tall figure cast a shadow over He Xiangchen, and for a brief second, He Xiangchen felt as if he were being shielded by a solid, protective shell.
He blocked out most of the prying eyes around them.
Just as He Xiangchen was about to say something, a sudden alarm blared in his mind, 009’s urgent voice rang out: “Host, watch out!”
His body moved instinctively.
He lunged forward, tackling the man to the ground!
A loud bang erupted behind him. A sharp, muffled pain followed. The world around him buzzed with white noise, drowning out all other sounds.
The last thing he saw was Guan Minfeng’s face, panic-stricken, completely out of control.
Then, darkness swallowed everything whole.
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