BAB 5

“Secretary Wen, please contact Miss Bai from Finance and Economics magazine and ask her what she wants to interview me about.”

Sheng Siyu returned to his bedroom and gave Wen Jing a call.

It didn’t matter what Bai Lu wanted to interview him for; the important thing was that he wanted to ask his sister-in-law where she got the idea that he was emotionally abusing Bai Zhou.

In the past two years, Sheng Siyu had been busy with work overseas and rarely contacted Bai Zhou. During these few days back home, Sheng Siyu had planned on spending some quality time with Bai Zhou.

But Bai Zhou always rested after 2 A.M., waking up past nine in the morning. It would be considered a miracle if they could even share breakfast together.

This wasn’t really emotional abuse; it was simply a matter of mismatched schedules.

“Sir, are you planning on accepting the interview?” Wen Jing paused three seconds after hearing Sheng Siyu’s request, suspecting she might have misheard something.

Didn’t Mr. Sheng never accept interviews? Why was he contacting the editor-in-chief of a magazine tonight? Was he drunk?

Wen Jing cautiously suggested, “If you’re going to accept it, Mr. Sheng, I recommend The Times. Their professional reputation is top-notch within the industry, and their editor has reached out to us multiple times.”

Notable entrepreneurs across the country have graced the pages of The Times. Wen Jing assumed that Sheng Siyu didn’t know much about the magazine industry, so she felt obligated to educate him; moreover, considering Sheng Siyu’s influence in the business world, he couldn’t afford to take any random interviews.

Though The Economic Times was undoubtedly a reputable publication, and though their editor was Sheng Siyu’s sister-in-law, the fact remained that Sheng Siyu had only married Bai Zhou for convenience. The higher-ups all knew this—perhaps once Sheng Siyu firmly established himself as CEO, he might even divorce Bai Zhou.

“No need, just stick with The Economic Times, no other interviews.” Sheng Siyu rubbed at the crease between his brows. He’d drunk quite a bit tonight, which left his head throbbing slightly.

He hadn’t seen Bai Zhou’s WeChat reply earlier, but he knew well enough that Bai Zhou had held back quite a few shots on his behalf tonight. A million yuan wasn’t too steep a price for the sake of friendship.

“Also, wire another ten million to Bai Zhou,” Sheng Siyu hung up the phone without further ado.

Wen Jing blinked in surprise. Could it be that Sheng Siyu wouldn’t put his own interests above those of his subordinates?

At 7 A.M., Bai Zhou was woken up by his phone; it was Shen Yue calling from his manager’s line.

Last night, Bai Lu transformed into a wise and emotional master on WeChat, offering Bai Zhou advice until late into the night.

Bai Zhou had never been a morning person to begin with, so he answered the call with an irritated tone, “I hope you have something good to say or I’m hanging up!”

Shen Yue remained silent.

Thankfully, it was.

“Have you heard of the new movie produced by Walton Group? The one that Su Yan was originally cast as the male lead for—”

“I don’t know! Why are you asking me this at such an early hour? Can’t you just Google it yourself?” Bai Zhou interrupted impatiently.

Shen Yue felt helpless. “I’m not asking if you know about it, I’m informing you that they’ve changed the male lead now, guess who replaced Su Yan?”

Still half-asleep, Bai Zhou couldn’t wrap his head around it. “Who cares, either way, it can’t be me.”

“Heh!” Shen Yue chuckled proudly. “It really is you!”

Bai Zhou stared blankly, dumbfounded. After approximately five seconds, Bai Zhou finally reacted, sitting straight up from bed. “What?”

“Surprised? Excited?” Shen Yue dropped his teasing tone and spoke sternly. “To answer your question, Walton Group being acquired has been circulating in the industry for a month already, but I asked someone to investigate their production team behind the film they’re investing in, then sent your photos and profile to the director group…”

He thought this was another dead end, so Shen Yue paused before continuing, “I knew as soon as Su Yan’s casting photo dropped yesterday that it was over for him, but who could’ve expected that the director suddenly contacted me early this morning to ask if you were available?”

Bai Zhou couldn’t believe it and asked, “Su Yan got fired?”

“Yes! Rumor has it he offended one of the sponsors, so they axed him directly. What do you think? Is this not something that should make you happy?”

“Su Yan was just someone the sponsor shoved down the director’s throat, so now that he’s been fired, I’m sure the director will pick an actor more suitable for the role. Director Zhang is known for never caring about an actor’s star power when choosing his cast.”

Bai Zhou stared blankly for a moment—was he being chosen by the director? Thinking back on it, it made sense.

Regardless of whether or not Walton Group executives knew about his relationship with Sheng Siyu, they wouldn’t choose him; they picked actors based on their commercial value, and a nobody like him would never be on their radar.

And even less likely was Sheng Siyu helping him, considering their current secret marriage status.

“Do you think Su Yan offended Mrs. Sheng?” Shen Yue suddenly turned gossipy, “Rumor has it that Mr. Sheng here married very young, and Su Yan shamelessly bought hot searches and stirred up rumors everywhere. Hah, can you imagine? He must have thought Mr. Sheng would marry some pure hearted innocent fool, huh?”

Bai Zhou was speechless—how did this conversation suddenly feel like it wasn’t praising him?

Was this karma coming from out of nowhere? Bai Zhou responded mildly, “Is it possible that he simply offended Sheng Siyu?”

Sheng Siyu disliked publicity stunts, and even someone like Shen Yue, who had been working within the industry for years, understood this much. He hummed in agreement, “Who cares.”

“With all this commotion, the production team won’t be doing any marketing before release. After all, Sheng Siyu only bought Walton Group as a toy; he’s not afraid to lose money. Alright, enough chitchat—I need to hurry up and negotiate the contract terms.”

Bai Zhou made a sound of acknowledgment, but just as he was about to hang up, Shen Yue began to nag once again, his voice filled with worry, “Don’t go clubbing these next few days. Stay at home and get yourself together, this opportunity is really hard-”

“I know, why do you have to be such a mother hen?” Bai Zhou rolled his eyes, annoyed that Shen Yue would try to control him even when they went clubbing. If someone cared so much about being considerate, they wouldn’t lose their hair—they’d gain it!

Bai Zhou hung up the phone, slowly walked over to the balcony, and opened the curtains. A warm light shone through, illuminating the young man’s face, colorful and peaceful.

It was still seven o’clock in the morning, yet Bai Zhou found the sunlight comforting while Su Yan could barely open his eyes due to its brightness.

Inside Su Yan’s room, his manager repeatedly called the production team, but no one answered.

“I told you not to expose any promotional photos before signing the contract! What exactly is up with that Manager Chen?”

“That bastard Chen An hasn’t even bothered answering my calls for ages!” Su Yan pulled the curtains shut in frustration.

Su Yan had spent quite a sum of money to gain access to a capital circle dinner party last month, but it hadn’t been wasted; he successfully seduced Manager Chen from Walton Pictures.

In fact, Sheng Siyu couldn’t care less whether Walton Pictures made a profit during their early-stage film projects. He was only testing the waters at this point and planned to invest no more than 100 million yuan, so this project wasn’t considered a major blockbuster.

However, as Walton’s newly promoted general manager, Chen An could only make money on this film—he couldn’t afford losses if he wanted to maintain his position. Shen Zhou disliked rumors, which Chen An knew, but Shen Zhou was also personally investing in this movie, essentially promoting his own “child.” Yet even then, Shen Zhou still refused to cooperate.

Of course, Su Yan’s ambitions didn’t stop at male lead. After seeing Sheng Siyu trending yesterday, he immediately released some promotional photos, bought several marketing accounts to spread rumors, and climbed up the ladder by following Chen An—if he managed to catch Sheng Siyu’s attention, he would be able to climb higher; even if not, he could at least gain some popularity himself.

He thought that being cast as the male lead was already a foregone conclusion, but he never expected to be tricked by Chen An.

“Still haven’t connected with him?” Su Yan wanted to know who had stolen his role as the male lead.

Just as he finished speaking, his manager finally managed to get through to Chen An. She gestured for silence and smiled at the other side of the line, “Ah, yes, yes, we understand, we know you’re busy…”

“Oh, it’s him…” The smile on her face froze abruptly, twisting her expression as she listened to the explanation from the other party.

“This character has very strong brokenness, Director Zhang feels that Bai-ge’s overall demeanor is more fitting to the character…”

“Ah… alright, then we’ll have another opportunity to work together.” With a fake smile plastered on her face, the agent hung up the phone.

“Who is it?” Su Yan asked urgently.

“It’s… Bai Zhou.”

Upon hearing Bai Zhou’s name, Su Yan’s lungs nearly exploded with anger. “Bai Zhou? What kind of joke is this?! How many times higher is my star power compared to him? Are the production team members idiots? Bai Zhou is a no-name actor who hasn’t even played a supporting role before! How dare he play the male lead?!”

Bai Zhou woke up early today and ran for half an hour at the gym first thing in the morning. After showering, he prepared to head downstairs for breakfast.

He walked out of the bathroom wearing Louis Vuitton silk pajamas: short sleeves, shorts, and a thin black sleeprobe draped over his shoulders, looking relaxed and casual.

Ridge Bay Villa was developed by the Shengshi Group, and Bai Zhou’s No. 3 mansion is not open for sale; only three private villas were constructed with exquisite elegance.

The interior of the house is decorated in Bai Zhou’s preferred European style, featuring a grand entrance hall with dancing flames on the fireplace wall.

At this time, Sheng Siyu must have already left home, so Bai Zhou awakened the smart Bluetooth speaker, “Play some upbeat music.”

“Okay, here’s DJ version of ‘Kiss Too Intense’ for you.”

With the music playing, Bai Zhou felt more energized and walked toward the island counter to pour himself a glass of red wine.

More delighted that Director Zhang had chosen him over Su Yan than the fact that he’d replaced the latter, Bai Zhou had been lying low for two years, but being noticed by a director felt incredibly satisfying. It made him want to work hard and live up to Director Zhang’s expectations.

Bai Zhou carried the wineglass casually toward the dining room.

The low sounds of music faded away as Bai Zhou began to sing along with the chorus.

“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!”

“You’re kissing me so realistically!”

“I’ll make you believe that—”

“That your fake affection is—”

“The most heartfelt kiss—”

With a graceful turn, Bai Zhou froze mid-step.

On the table, Sheng Siyu leaned lazily against his chair, exposing half of his collarbone beneath his white-collared casual shirt, and watched him with a frown.

“What are you doing here?!” Bai Zhou’s nerves instantly tensed.

Sheng Siyu lifted his eyelids for a long while before replying coldly, “I’m eating breakfast at home?”

Bai Zhou fell silent.

Did Sheng Siyu usually eat breakfast at home?

Bai Zhou sat before the dining table, awkwardly taking a sip of red wine. Had Sheng Siyu heard him singing earlier?

Sheng Siyu lifted his eyes to look at Bai Zhou; the young man’s hair was half-dried, and the bangs were still wet, making him look particularly pitiful.

If I knew you were a singer, I would’ve installed a practice room when we renovated, Sheng Siyu thought to himself, feeling that practicing singing in the dining area was rather unnecessary.

“Thank you, I’m an actor, not a singer,” Bai Zhou replied mildly.

Sheng Siyu paused in surprise as he drank his congee, realizing he didn’t actually know what type of artist Bai Zhou was.

“Is it not? Your singing is quite pleasant.”

Bai Zhou was slightly taken aback—was Sheng Siyu complimenting him?