SABA Chapter 25

“Celebrity Weekend” is one of the hottest national variety shows, and its seven-year run has definitely placed it in the top 3 of domestic entertainment variety shows. Its format and content vary, with each episode having a different theme to prevent audience aesthetic fatigue.

Nie Jin, seeing Jiang Tiao’s lack of reaction, felt a bit perplexed. In her memory, Jiang Tiao paid a lot of attention to Chu Xu, and he was always more proactive and enthusiastic about activities Chu Xu participated in.

“Why are you so indifferent?”

Jiang Tiao was slightly taken aback. After a moment of thought, he realized that being a guest on “Celebrity Weekend” meant he was either the lead actor of a recently popular drama or a major star. Nie Jin must have put in a lot of effort and connections to get him on the show.

“Thank you, Sister Jin,” Jiang Tiao said sincerely. “Thank you for your trouble.”

Nie Jin had been in the industry for nearly twenty years, having managed and seen many artists. She knew that for most artists, it was the agent’s duty to secure good resources for them, and their inability to do so was a sign of incompetence. She had seen too many people take things for granted and was unexpectedly touched by Jiang Tiao’s earnest gratitude.

“You’ve really changed a lot.”

Jiang Tiao had caused so much negative publicity for Chu Xu in the past that many of Chu Xu’s fans were still viciously slandering him. It was good that he no longer paid attention to Chu Xu. Nie Jin didn’t particularly like Chu Xu anyway; she thought he had a predatory look. She didn’t understand why all the artists she managed liked to befriend Chu Xu so much – one was Jiang Tiao, and the other was Luo Xingwen.

Jiang Tiao was one thing; he had at least managed to piggyback on Chu Xu’s popularity. As for Luo Xingwen, she truly couldn’t understand it. Luo Xingwen debuted earlier than Chu Xu. When Chu Xu had just debuted, Luo Xingwen was already a minor celebrity. Chu Xu’s first moderately successful drama was when he played a supporting role to Luo Xingwen. After the show aired, he bought extensive publicity to pull down Luo Xingwen, who played the male lead. He could achieve his current status by stepping on Luo Xingwen. Luo Xingwen had also looked down on him at the time, but after some interactions, Luo Xingwen and Chu Xu somehow became friends in the industry.

Nie Jin felt a pang of heartache whenever she thought about it. The key was that Chu Xu was still developing very well, far surpassing Luo Xingwen, and was on the verge of breaking out of the top five popular young stars to become a new top-tier celebrity.

“It’s okay,” Jiang Tiao had heard many people say similar things to him recently, but he didn’t feel like he had changed. He had even specifically asked Huo Shen about it, and Huo Shen had also said that he was the same as he was before.

Nie Jin didn’t argue about this issue. Before hanging up, she said with rare concern, “Perhaps it’s because Director Guan favors you for his next project, and there are many marketing accounts on the internet spreading rumors and slandering you. You don’t need to pay attention to it, or take it to heart. If it’s really that bad, just uninstall Weibo for a while. You…”

Nie Jin was interrupted by Jiang Tiao’s laughter, and her face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

She was being overly concerned!

Jiang Tiao: “Even with RMB, you can’t make everyone like you. I generally only see compliments.”

He paused and then added, “But if that’s the case, then I must work hard to secure Director Guan’s role.”

Nie Jin didn’t understand the connection between the two.

Jiang Tiao: “To think that they worked so hard, and in the end, they got nothing. Just watching them rage impotently, hehe, doesn’t that give you more motivation?”

Nie Jin was speechless. She realized that this person was not afraid of trouble either.

Jiang Tiao hadn’t been this proactive before. As soon as he hung up the phone after Nie Jin’s call, he immediately added and contacted the acting teacher recommended by Director Guan. The teacher’s surname was Zhang, he was in his fifties, and his voice sounded very kind. However, he was currently on an academic visit to another city, so they agreed to meet after Jiang Tiao finished recording the variety show.

…

One day, Jiang Tiao cut a bunch of hydrangeas from the garden. When he returned, he saw Jiang Mingyan getting out of the car, looking impatient while on the phone.

He was speaking French, and from the content, it was unclear if he was breaking up with a lover.

Jiang Tiao stood behind the wall of hydrangeas for a while. Seeing that Jiang Mingyan had finished his call, he slowly walked out.

Jiang Mingyan had seen Jiang Tiao long ago but couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him. When he hung up the phone and saw Jiang Tiao’s eager-to-gossip expression, he almost rolled his eyes.

Jiang Tiao: “Tsk tsk tsk, did you find someone in France during your ten-day business trip and then get tired of them so quickly?”

This speed… even Red Hare would admit defeat.

Jiang Mingyan: “I was on a business trip to handle matters. Do you think everyone is as idle as you are?”

“Alright, alright,” Jiang Tiao wanted to hear the story. Whatever Jiang Mingyan said was fine, and his attitude was exceptionally good.

Jiang Mingyan: “I knew them before, for a long time. I just happened to meet them during this business trip and found them uninteresting.”

Jiang Tiao became even more curious. His brother had been a playboy since he was young, with countless people coming and going around him. It started with female companions, and later included both male and female companions. Jiang Tiao used to recognize them, but his brother changed them so quickly and frequently that he became too lazy to get to know them one by one.

Jiang Tiao cautiously inquired, “How long have you known them?”

Jiang Mingyan thought for a moment before saying, “About two months, I think?”

Jiang Tiao looked indifferent. Two months? A long time?

Disgusting!

“Scumbag!” Jiang Tiao finally couldn’t help but comment.

Jiang Mingyan wasn’t very concerned about Jiang Tiao’s opinion initially, but hearing this word made him unable to resist. “How am I a scumbag? Don’t all my relationships start and end normally? I never forced or coerced anyone; it was all consensual. What? If you end a relationship after finding it unsuitable, you’re a scumbag? Then you’ve rejected quite a few people since you were little; how come you’re not a scumbag?”

Jiang Tiao hadn’t expected Jiang Mingyan to react so strongly. He asked somewhat meekly, “Brother, are you feeling a bit down lately?”

Jiang Mingyan plucked a petal from a Tina flower. The dark red sap flowed onto his fingertips from the crushed petal, as if stained by the Bordeaux red wine spilled on the table.

“I don’t know, maybe a little.”

Jiang Tiao rarely saw Jiang Mingyan like this and was extremely excited! If their mother weren’t away, he would definitely drag her along to appreciate Jiang Mingyan’s rare state of confusion, as if troubled by love!

Chasing geese all day, only to be pecked by a goose!

Truly a fitting retribution!

“What does he/she do?” Jiang Tiao probed indirectly, wanting to gather first-hand information to share with their mother.

Jiang Mingyan took a moment to realize who Jiang Tiao was talking about. He raised his phone. “You mean him? He’s apparently a cellist in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.”

Jiang Tiao was somewhat speechless. Why did his brother seem to like these artistic types since he was little?

“Then why didn’t you continue with him?”

Jiang Mingyan: “Annoying, too lazy to coax.”

“………” The reason his brother ended a relationship was always the same.

He just couldn’t understand it. It’s hard to achieve success in the arts without nuanced emotions, and his brother knew this, yet he didn’t want to constantly coax people. So why did he insist on finding this type of lover?

Jiang Tiao felt that his mother’s evaluation of Jiang Mingyan was very accurate: he had a problem.

Jiang Mingyan saw the blue-purple hydrangea in Jiang Tiao’s hand and remembered the white lily of the valley he saw in Chu Qingchao’s office. He sneered, “Huo Shen is on a business trip, and you still remember to change the flowers in his room.”

Jiang Tiao liked Huo Shen’s room to be full of life. He slapped away Jiang Mingyan’s claw reaching for the flowers. “I’m happy to do it. What’s it to you?”

Jiang Mingyan: “It’s one thing for you to cut flowers for Huo Shen every day, but why does Chu Qingchao get them and I don’t?”

“?”

Jiang Tiao felt that his brother was indeed a bit abnormal lately.

Jiang Mingyan: “Deliver a bouquet to my office tomorrow. If I don’t see it, I’ll water Huo Shen’s room with boiling water every day from now on.”

“???????”

The words “Are you out of your mind?” were about to escape Jiang Tiao’s lips.

Jiang Tiao looked at Jiang Mingyan, his bright eyes darting around. Suddenly, he took out his phone and called a flower shop. He ordered a thousand pots of Photinia for Jiang Mingyan’s office.

Photinia flowers are very smelly and emit a strong, fishy odor, which is very unpleasant.

Jiang Mingyan was furious when he received the order confirmation text. “Jiang Tiao!!”

Jiang Tiao, like a rabbit, scurried into Huo Shen’s room, closed the door, locked it, and laughed heartily.

Jiang Mingyan really didn’t want to say anything. His brother had always done this since he was little; whenever something happened, he would run into Huo Shen’s room, as if that was the safest place for him in this house.

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore,” Jiang Mingyan said after twisting the doorknob a few times and giving up – mainly out of consideration for Huo Shen. “Aren’t you going to Haicheng to record a show the day after tomorrow?”

Jiang Tiao opened the door a crack.

Jiang Mingyan: “Do you need me to handle things here and accompany you?”

Jiang Tiao was horrified. “Brother, are you okay? Did your head get caught in the door? You’re acting so abnormal that it’s making me a little scared.”

Jiang Mingyan’s face was covered in black lines. Huo Shen had said that amnesia could subconsciously cause anxiety, and that staying with familiar people would give him a sense of security. So, before leaving, he had specifically asked Jiang Mingyan to stay at home during this period. However, after staying home for a few days, he didn’t feel that Jiang Tiao had become more clingy or liked spending time with him more than before. He still had that look that made people want to hit him after just a few words.

Never mind, he didn’t want Jiang Tiao to accompany him, and he was too lazy to accompany him either.

Jiang Mingyan: “Then I’ll arrange an assistant for you. I’ll be at ease if someone follows you.”

“I can take care of myself. I don’t need an assistant.”

Jiang Tiao hated having someone around who might report his every move. Although he knew Jiang Mingyan wouldn’t harm him, this obvious lack of trust made Jiang Tiao slightly uncomfortable.

Moreover, he could imagine that the assistant Jiang Mingyan would arrange for him would likely be the kind of old butler who wouldn’t let him do this or that, and might even advise him against staying up late.

Jiang Mingyan considered this point non-negotiable. “If you don’t want me to arrange an assistant for you, then quit the entertainment industry and come work at the company with me tomorrow.”

“???”

Jiang Tiao felt that his brother was good in every way, but his bossiness and possessiveness were truly unbearable.

“By what right?”

By what right? A surge of anger was about to erupt from Jiang Mingyan. He really wanted to grab Jiang Tiao’s head and make him properly see the foolish things he had done over the years.

Silence spread through the corridor. The two were separated by a door, and the atmosphere seemed to freeze.

Jiang Mingyan still had some soft spot for his younger brother. He swallowed the threat of breaking his legs that was about to escape his lips and calmly said, before the atmosphere became too tense, “Fine, I won’t arrange one for you. It’s okay if Huo Shen arranges one for you, right?”

Jiang Tiao’s expression softened slightly. He uttered, “Let him come and talk to me himself,” and then shut Jiang Mingyan out.

Jiang Mingyan was so angry he could have died. His brother had always been like this since he was little. No matter how unwilling he was, as long as Huo Shen showed any signs of opposition, he would compromise.

But the problem was that whatever Jiang Tiao was unwilling to do, Huo Shen never forced him!

Jiang Mingyan was so angry he felt like his heart would stop. He dialed Huo Shen’s number.

…