Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Chu Xun looked at Old Wang, her brows tightly furrowed…


  Fu Tianci was still making a last-ditch effort to struggle, his two long legs refusing to let go of the door frame.

  Old Wang made a motion for Chu Xun to step aside and talk. When it was just them alone, he suggested, “If you really don’t want the kid to take part in this anymore, we could tamper with the votes in the next round. It won’t be so obvious this way, and the kid could leave the show feeling justified, right? If not… we can’t possibly keep tabs on this kid and keep him from spouting nonsense everywhere, can we?”


  Chu Xun hesitated.

  After giving it some thought, Chu Xun whipped out her phone and stepped away to a quiet corner as she dialed Secretary Song’s number. But it was Fu Qingquan who picked up the phone.

  Fu Qingquan’s slightly hoarse voice made Chu Xun involuntarily straighten her back. She took a good look at the door to the dressing room that already had a crowd formed around it, then pushed open the door to the stairwell and entered.

  Chu Xun told Fu Qingquan about her concerns, as well as the solution Old Wang proposed earlier. After a moment’s silence, Fu Qingquan agreed to it.

  Chu Xun heaved a sigh of relief.

  “That Lin Nuan, is she a talk show host at your tv station?” Fu Qingquan asked in his hoarse voice.

  Chu Xun’s hands clenched slightly at her sides. “Yes…”


  …


  After she emerged from the stairwell, the two bodyguards had already let go of Fu Tianci.

  Although he had consented to Fu Tianci’s participation this time around, the bodyguards sent by Secretary Song would surely be keeping tabs on Fu Tianci.

  Fu Tianci was breathing heavily after he was released by them, angrily glaring at those two bodyguards as he opened a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down.

  Seeing Chu Xun pass by the dressing room as she walked in the direction of the elevator, Fu Tianci yelled in an especially loud voice, “Dumb placenta!”


  Chu Xun had never suffered such a great insult in her entire life! But to be calculative with a kid would make her seem petty, so Chu Xun gritted her teeth and forced herself to hold it back as she entered the elevator.

  Inside the elevator, Chu Xun’s mind was replaying what Old Master Fu had just said.

  Old Master Fu wanted Chu Xun to remove Lin Nuan from “A Sunday Date” and replace her with another talk show host…


  Chu Xun walked to the underground parking lot, got into her car, and tried to sort out her emotions in the driver’s seat.

  Chu Xun had both hands tightly gripped around the steering wheel, her head turned sideways as she rested her head on the steering wheel.

  To be honest, Chu Xun didn’t really want to use despicable means, but what Fu Qingquan proposed was indeed alluring.

  Fu Qingquan had said that he wanted to see which was more important in Fu Huai’an’s heart—one Lin Nuan or the Kaide Corporation?

  This was an opportunity for Chu Xun. If Fu Huai’an said he was willing to give up Lin Nuan in order to obtain the Kaide Corporation, wouldn’t Chu Xun have a chance then?

  Of course, what Fu Qingquan hoped to see was Fu Huai’an giving up the Kaide Corporation for Lin Nuan.

  It wasn’t something that might endanger Lin Nuan’s life, but if Chu Xun had meant to resort to such despicable means, she would have done it long ago…


  She clutched the steering wheel tightly. There was also Old Madam Fu. Old Madam Fu didn’t like Lin Nuan either, something that Old Madam Fu told her personally!

  The only reason Chu Xun was hesitating was that she felt it lacked class for her to be using such techniques. She had no idea what tactics Old Master Fu had up his sleeves to force Fu Huai’an.

  Based on her understanding of this industry, it was probably to threaten Fu Huai’an with Lin Nuan’s future.

  Lin Nuan had signed a six-year contract with Haicheng TV Station. Even if she were to shelf Lin Nuan for six years, six years later… Fu Huai’an could just use his money to clear a bright path for her future!

  Chu Xun’s heart was all jumbled up, not sure what the right thing to do was…


  Vexed, Chu Xun took out a box of lady’s cigarettes from the storage box, lit up a cigarette, then lowered the car window. She exhaled a puff of white smoke, her elbows leaning against the edge of the window as she tapped the cigarette ash outside of her car. Her body was leaned against the driver’s seat, her gaze deep and unfathomable.

  …


  After getting into Fang Yan’s car, Lin Nuan placed the coffee in her hands in the cup holder, then removed her cap and mask and casually ran a hand through her hair.

  “Because of one Weibo post from that Lu Tianyu kid, the entrance of the station building’s south gate and ‘The Exorcist’s’ set are crowded with reporters…” Fang Yan deliberated upon how to broach the topic with Lin Nuan. After pausing momentarily, she pressed, “You and that little boy, and also Lu Tianyu… and their father, what’s your relationship with them? You’ve got to be honest with me, that’s the only way I can help you. We can’t afford any more delays in this matter! At the latest, by the time you come out from the shoot, you need to be able to account for that. Otherwise, I don’t know what kind of mess we’re going to end up with if we allow this matter to ferment on its own.”


  After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Nuan told Fang Yan all about her relationship with Tuan Tuan and Fu Tianci, as well as how she first came to know Fu Huai’an in Iraq. She also came clean about the fact that she got married.

  Fang Yan was a tad stunned. “That little boy… isn’t your husband’s biological child!”


  Lin Nuan turned and looked at Fang Yan, her expression solemn. “But he’s our child now, and he’s no different from our biological child! The kid is still young, and my husband and I intend to keep the fact that his parents are no longer around from the child. So, I discussed things with my husband, and to the public, we’ll just say that he’s ours. We’ll say that after I gave birth to him back then, I learned of Wen Moshen’s accident and went to Iraq in search of him because I couldn’t get over him. Hence my husband brought the child overseas and didn’t return all these years. He brought him back now that the child is slightly older, so we got back together!”


  Fang Yan paused for a moment. “But you weren’t pregnant back then…”


  “Ms. Fang, the public isn’t really that concerned about the truth. What they like is the drama behind all of this, and whether there’s enough explosive content for them to gossip about, to let them vent their emotions. The story that we gave them should be enough for them. So long as I stand out and admit to it myself, no one would likely investigate further!”


  Lin Nuan recalled that one time, Tuan Tuan had carried his little school bag and went to the station building to look for her on his own.

  “This kid came to the station building to look for me by himself back then. The moment he saw me, he called me Mama. Many colleagues saw that!”


  Tuan Tuan had jumped towards Lin Nuan crying out “Mama” the moment he saw her, truly giving her a scare then. At the time, many colleagues had urged Lin Nuan to call the cops, fearing it was someone else’s kid who had lost his way. It would be convincing to claim Tuan Tuan was Lin Nuan’s child.

  After all, people were unlikely to differentiate the truth from the lies in a half-true half-false story.

  “You would surely be criticized that way, there’s no way to avoid that…” Fang Yan’s brows were slightly furrowed.

  Lin Nuan smiled bitterly, her eyes not revealing a hint of melancholy, nor did she look like she was in a difficult position. She picked up the coffee cup and looked at Fang Yan, her gaze clear and bright. “Ms. Fang, I have become accustomed to gossip all these years. Perhaps a dead pig is no longer afraid of being scalded to death by hot water. You’ve never seen the child before, he has the brightest and clearest eyes in this world. He calls me Mama, so I’m obliged to shelter him from the storm when he is still of a tender and vulnerable age…”