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Under these circumstances, Shen Yuan no longer felt it appropriate to hug Shen Qing.

Afterward, the two of them chatted about other topics. Standing right there face-to-face.

Anyway, Shen Qing didn’t need to go socialize for the time being, and Shen Yuan had absolute zero intention of going anywhere near it.

Fiddling with his phone, Shen Yuan said, “I just saw reporter news coverage of this venue. I heard Su Suyi is wearing an insanely expensive century-old pendant—it used to be the crown jewel of your SMB, worth a king’s ransom, and later ended up in Su Suyi’s hands… So, have you seen Teacher Su?”

Su Suyi was over sixty years old, a heavyweight veteran film emperor, and one of the founders and driving forces behind the “Huacheng Night.”

How could Shen Qing possibly cross paths with someone of that status?

Consequently, Shen Qing shook his head.

Shen Yuan looked disappointed; he didn’t actually want to see Teacher Su—he wanted to see the crown jewel!

However, Shen Qing was also wearing some jewelry and jade pieces provided by brand sponsors. At first glance, he looked dazzling and dripping with jewels.

Shen Yuan loved that sort of thing, so he leaned in close to examine Shen Qing in detail—looking at his brooch, the pendant around his neck, and then carefully admiring the gems embedded in the cuffs of Shen Qing’s haute couture suit.

…He really had managed to hang entire brand houses all over himself.

When he looked at Shen Qing’s left hand, however, it felt markedly more unpretentious: a low-key, world-class luxury watch paired with a ring on his ring finger.

Seeing luxury watches on Shen Qing was nothing new anymore, but Shen Yuan paid special attention to that ring. Its design and appearance were very plain, but with Young Master Shen’s discerning eye, he could instantly tell it was no ordinary ring.

It was obviously a wedding ring. Shen Yuan had previously looked at rings from this brand before; although they weren’t inlaid with any gemstones, because the material was far more special and rarer, symbolizing rock-solid steadfast love, they were even more expensive.

…So to sum it up, while admiring jewelry, he had accidentally been hit right in the face with a public display of affection.

Afterward, Shen Yuan straightened up.

Assistant Li was watching from the side. Not daring to directly grab Shen Qing’s hand for a closer look, he could only bend over to observe.

Shen Qing was amused by Young Master Shen’s series of expressions and reactions, but he grew even more curious: “You’re already here in person, yet you’re still using your phone to check the news about this place?”

Blinking, Shen Yuan smiled as though it were the most natural thing in the world: “Well, idle hands and all that, plus I can’t walk the red carpet anyway!”

Only star celebrities were allowed to walk the red carpet to enter Huacheng Night; everyone else entered directly using invitation letters.

The entrance was quite secretive, with cars driving straight into the interior of the venue, which also served to protect the privacy of the business magnates.

As for Shen Yuan—whose privacy was supposedly being protected: he actually wanted to go wander around the front red carpet!

After chatting a bit longer, Shen Qing took the initiative to pull Shen Yuan along, saying, “Let’s go sit down over there and talk.”

Standing around all the time was exhausting!

Before they could even move away, however, someone suddenly called out to Shen Qing.

“Shen Qing.”

The newcomers were two men and two women.

Shen Qing did recognize one of them: Gu San Miss, Gu Huaiying’s third older sister, Gu Huaixiang.

…He genuinely hadn’t seen this person in quite a long time.

To be precise, Shen Qing hadn’t seen anyone from the Gu family for several months now.

Shen Qing was also well aware of how chaotic Huacheng had been lately, driven by Gu Huaiying’s actions and methods after his gradual recovery.

Yet, perhaps protected consciously by Gu Huaiying, that chaos had never spilled over onto Shen Qing.

He had continued to live his undisturbed life as usual.

Even the Gu family head, whom Shen Qing assumed would have come looking to probe the situation long ago, had never shown up.

Sometimes, Shen Qing even felt his life was a bit too peaceful.

So peaceful that upon seeing Gu Huaixiang coming after him, he actually had a feeling of well, of course, this is how it should be.

—Because Gu Huaiying’s recent moves had been somewhat aggressive, outsiders, including the Gu family, had no idea what the Gu president’s current situation actually was, what he was thinking, or whether his health had improved at all.

Under such circumstances, Gu Huaixiang would definitely move heaven and earth to find him, even at a business event like this.

That made sense.

Shen Qing wasn’t even surprised that Gu Huaixiang hadn’t come alone.

What surprised him somewhat, however, was that apart from the other two surnamed Gu—Gu family’s second oldest, Gu Huaiyao, and the youngest Gu daughter, eighth-ranked Gu Huaiying—there was also a tall man accompanying them.

“This must be Mr. Shen, long admire your great name.”

—In fact, this tall man even took the initiative to greet Shen Qing ahead of the other members of the Gu family.

Only…

Who was this person?

Shen Qing didn’t even recognize him at first.

However, Shen Qing was a very polite person.

When someone greeted him, he responded with a smile on his face: “I’m Shen Qing, hello. May I ask who you are?”

The four people opposite him: “…”

Facing an internationally renowned film emperor, Shen Qing actually wore a blank expression.

…Did he seriously not watch movies?

The four people, including Xiao Hangying, couldn’t help but feel a wave of awkwardness.

Still, as a veteran entertainment industry figure who had debuted over a dozen years ago, Xiao Hangying didn’t let that slight awkwardness show. Composed and poised, he introduced himself: “I am Xiao Hangying.”

…Xiao Hangying?

The name sounded slightly familiar to Shen Qing as well.

It seemed like he had only recently heard that name somewhere.

Unfortunately, because Shen Qing had been dealing with so many people lately due to work and studies, he couldn’t recall it right away.

Thus, what made it even more awkward was that Shen Qing’s expression remained completely blank.

The four people opposite him: …

Gu Huaixiang instinctively clutched her chest: It turned out she wasn’t the only one who felt her chest tighten in frustration every time she met this Shen Qing!

Eventually, with the dual reminders of Shen Yuan and Li Hong, Shen Qing finally realized the Film Emperor Xiao’s identity.

Whereupon he put on a sudden look of complete realization.

…Wasn’t this the father of little Xiao Miao, the child who had competed with Ao-zai for the same role a few days ago?!

Actually, Xiao Hangying had once reached a household-name level of fame domestically. Even though he wasn’t often talked about anymore, anyone around Shen Qing’s age would recognize him upon seeing him in person.

Yet, Shen Qing was an outsider to begin with; he genuinely didn’t watch movies, didn’t follow stars, and honestly, the name Xiao Hangying had vanished from domestic circles for two or three years without anyone mentioning it…

“Oh my goodness, look at my memory. I’m so sorry, Film Emperor Xiao, my mind just went blank for a second.”

Shen Qing told a small, sincere white lie to ease the awkwardness for both sides.

Afterward, he enthusiastically re-greeted the great film emperor.

At the same time, he faintly sensed that Young Master Shen standing beside him seemed to dislike this person.

—Ever since whispering the reminder that this was Film Emperor Xiao, Shen Yuan had stepped back to stand right beside him, staring vigilantly at the four people opposite them.

With that posture, if this were a gladiatorial arena instead of the Gala Garden, Young Master Shen probably would have struck a defensive stance.

…Usually, if someone managed to make the easygoing, universally-liked Young Master Shen dislike them, that person was bound to have some issues.

Moreover, given that Xiao Hangying had come over in the company of the Gu family members, Shen Qing couldn’t simply assume the other party had just strolled over to casually say hello.

Besides, even if it were a greeting, what kind of greeting?

They didn’t know each other beforehand.

Thinking of his only intersection with Film Emperor Xiao… it was that his own cub had snatched the role from the emperor’s cub.

Could Film Emperor Xiao be here to settle scores?!

Although Ao-zai being cast in the audition had been Director Xia’s final executive decision, Xiao Miao’s reaction at the time had left Shen Qing with the impression that the child’s uncle was rigorous and intensely competitive.

…

Surely nobody could hold a grudge that deeply, right?

Thinking of this, Shen Qing couldn’t help but look closely at the person across from him.

Film Emperor Xiao had debuted and risen to fame at eighteen, and at only thirty this year, he was in his prime. Thanks to careful maintenance, he looked even younger, resembling a twenty-something youth who had just debuted.

However, wearing a custom-made white suit, he carried an air of poised elegance and aged decorum, lacking the vibrant energy typical of a young man.

Beyond that, Film Emperor Xiao possessed a delicate, soft facial structure—the kind of look that instantly captured attention at first glance.

Yet, every now and then, his gaze turned somewhat rebellious and arrogant. The tug of his lips into a smile carried a profound, meaningful undertone, giving off a rather odd vibe that didn’t quite match his handsome exterior.

At that moment, Gu Huaixiang suddenly spoke in a deliberately astonished tone: “Shen Qing, how could you possibly not recognize Hangying? …Oh right, I remember now. When Hangying and Huaiying were together, you weren’t even in the picture yet.”

—Consider it a preemptive strike.

Shen Qing slightly raised an eyebrow, neither surprised by Third Miss Gu’s preemptive move nor by her malicious choice of words.

However, the content of what she said was indeed something Shen Qing hadn’t anticipated at all.

—What on earth? President Gu knew Xiao Hangying?

And they were together? …

Shen Qing looked first toward Assistant Li standing beside him.

Li Hong was also caught off guard. He hadn’t expected Gu Third Miss to bring up this exact topic right out of the gate. He hurriedly waved his hands at his boss: “No, Madam, please don’t misunderstand! President Gu has never been with anyone else!…”

“There’s nothing to misunderstand, is there?” This time, the one chiming in was Gu Huaiyao.

As the Gu family’s premier playboy, Gu Huaiyao stood with a slouchy, undisciplined posture and rude manners.

At that moment, with both hands shoved into his suit trouser pockets, his tone was light and mocking: “We all knew about the sixth old man’s fondness for Hangying back then. Huh, you don’t say—really, Shen Qing? Could it be that the sixth old man never told you about this?”

Gu Huaiyao wore an expression combining profound shock with mock pity.

The Gu family’s eighth sister then picked up the thread: “Older Brother Hangying was my sixth brother’s white moonlight, after all. It’s only natural that Sixth Brother wouldn’t dare bring this up to his wife, right?”

The moment the phrase “white moonlight” dropped, even passing guests couldn’t help but cast curious glances toward their direction.

Xiao Hangying remained non-committal about the term “white moonlight,” though he didn’t stop anyone from continuing either. Tilting his head slightly toward Shen Qing, he asked, “Mr. Shen, shall we talk alone?”

“…”

Before Shen Qing could say anything, Li Hong by his side immediately interjected, “Madam, please don’t listen to their nonsense! What white moonlight? President Gu’s only white moonlight is you!”

Li Hong’s resolute defense of Shen Qing, complete with calling him “Madam,” caused Xiao Hangying to freeze for a moment. The gaze he directed at Shen Qing grew even deeper and more profound.

When Xiao Hangying fell silent again, Gu Huaiyao—who seemed assigned to handle Li Hong—spoke up: “I know you’ve been by the sixth old man’s side for a long time, Assistant Li, but there are some things you probably don’t know either. Back then, my sixth younger brother’s infatuation with Film Emperor Xiao was heartbreakingly deep, a tortured unrequited love. Sigh, even thinking about it moves me.”

Their voices were loud enough that other guests at the banquet—whether clinking glasses or busy socializing—turned their attention toward them.

At that exact moment, Young Master Shen by Shen Qing’s side let out a cold laugh: “President Gu experiencing a tortured unrequited love for someone else? Second Young Master, stop trying to be a comedian.”

As he spoke, his glare toward Xiao Hangying was filled with undisguised disdain.

And the moment he spoke up, the previously poised and haughty Film Emperor Xiao suddenly shifted his eyes away, looking somewhat evasive.

Xiao Hangying apparently hadn’t expected to run into Shen Yuan here.

Nor had he anticipated that Shen Yuan’s relationship with Shen Qing would be this close.

According to the intelligence he had gathered, Shen Yuan was a legitimate young master of the Shen family, while Shen Qing was merely a little lackey by his side.

Shen Qing had only managed to marry Gu Huaiying by stepping into Shen Yuan’s place.

So no matter how one looked at it, Shen Yuan should have been the main character…

Thinking of this, Xiao Hangying couldn’t help but give Shen Yuan an extra, lingering look.

That gaze made both Shen Qing and Shen Yuan intensely uncomfortable.

Shen Qing glanced at Shen Yuan: What’s up with this guy?

Shen Yuan: The kind of situation that makes your skin crawl!

Actually, Shen Yuan wasn’t personally close with Xiao Hangying. However, having debuted over a decade ago as a senior actor, and with Lu Jingyi—a junior film emperor fast approaching Grand Slam status—naturally crossing paths with him now and then, they inevitably had intersections.

They frequently ran into each other at award ceremonies, and coupled with work banquets, Shen Yuan, who often tagged along beside Film Emperor Xiao Lu, had seen this man numerous times.

Yet every time he saw Xiao Hangying, he felt an intense wave of discomfort.

Because Xiao Hangying’s gaze toward him was always full of evaluation, scrutiny, and the underlying sensation that the actor was high and mighty while he, Shen Yuan, was nothing more than an ant.

When had Shen Yuan—someone courted and doted on by everyone—ever suffered such grievance?!

The crucial point was that he had never even provoked this great film emperor in his life!

Having been snapped back by Young Master Shen, Gu Huaiyao sneered, “Young Master Shen, I advise you not to stick your nose into other people’s business.”

With a chuckle, Shen Yuan showed no trace of timidity: “I’m not sticking my nose into anyone’s business; I’m just eating melons and watching the show. I’m genuinely curious why you Gu family members suddenly ran up to President Gu’s wife to bring up President Gu’s ex. Isn’t that… a little impolite? Is this the family upbringing of the Gu family?”

“Besides, isn’t Film Emperor Xiao on rather good terms with your Gu family’s fifth young master? So what does Film Emperor Xiao’s return mean this time around? Fifth young master is out of commission, and sixth young master is back in action, so you came crawling back to the sixth young master?”

At the mention of the Gu family’s fifth young master, the expressions of the Gu family members shifted instantly.

Other onlookers who were quietly monitoring the commotion: …What kind of melon is this?

Shen Qing also looked over at Young Master Shen.

As everyone knew, the fifth young master of the Gu family had become a vegetative state following an accident over two years ago and was reportedly settled in an authoritative hospital abroad for treatment.

Since he wasn’t a public figure and lacked the soaring fame of the sixth young master Gu Huaiying, not many people paid attention to him.

So it turned out Film Emperor Xiao had entanglements with both the fifth and sixth young masters of the Gu family?

Shen Yuan only addressed Shen Qing: “…Some news hasn’t been officially verified, so I shouldn’t broadcast it publicly. But once we’re in private later, I’ll happily dish out the gossip to you!”

Film Emperor Xiao & the others: …While gossiping about others in private was something everyone had done, Young Master Shen actually said it out loud so brazenly?!

Was he doing it on purpose?!

Shen Qing, however, burst out laughing, revealing a row of clean, neat white teeth with a brilliant, sunny expression.

He arched an eyebrow at Young Master Shen: “Are there any verified melons you can share with me first?”

His tone and posture closely resembled a melon-eating gourd peeking its head out.

“Oh, that one’s definitely verified!”

Without dodging anyone’s presence, Shen Yuan stated directly:

“Over a year ago in Country M, this Film Emperor Xiao got drunk at a party. Not only did he resentfully state that the fifth young master was nothing more than a burden, but when someone asked him whether he’d go back to find the sixth young master then, he replied that the President Gu was paralyzed anyway, in poor health, and basically on the deathbed—so why on earth would he go back to look for him? …I’m not making things up; local media outlets had reports on it. Everyone should have seen that piece of news, right?”

Across from them, Xiao Hangying’s face darkened as he stared with a deathly fixity at Shen Yuan for blurting that out.

Because this was never a widely circulated piece of gossip—he had been framed and manipulated into uttering those words back then, and recorded on video as leverage.

Yet Xiao Hangying had already settled that matter by spending a massive amount of money.

The local media had only leaked a tiny sliver of it—just a bit of material thrown out by the mastermind behind the blackmail—and no video had ever been made public.

In the print-edition newspaper narrative, the two protagonists—the fifth and sixth young masters—and their entanglements with Xiao Hangying were described ambiguously. Because it didn’t trigger any public outrage and was treated purely as tabloid fodder, it never caused a stir.

Later on, Xiao Hangying destroyed the video entirely.

Those media outlets were left peddling groundless smears and had nearly been sued by Xiao Hangying in court.

As a film emperor who built his reputation strictly on his works, Xiao Hangying never participated in variety shows, never deliberately cultivated fanbases, and never played the traffic-idol game. Since he had already stepped back into a low profile for a couple of years by then, coupled with his deliberate suppression of the incident, the entire affair blew over without making waves.

Now that old history was being dragged back into the light, Film Emperor Xiao kept his face expressionless, but his glare toward Shen Yuan looked like he wanted to commit murder.

Even so, his tone remained calm: “Young Master Shen, do you only read media-fabricated tabloid rumors instead of legal columns? If you keep spreading rumors, I can sue you for defamation.”

Unconsciously mimicking Shen Qing’s expression, Shen Yuan bared his white teeth as well, smiling cheerfully: “I certainly wouldn’t dare spread rumors. We’re just discussing the facts based on the situation, engaging in a reasonable debate, huh.”

He had long found Xiao Hangying irritating. Now, sensing the malicious intent of the opposing party, he instinctively wanted to protect Qingqing.

Though he had already developed a whole new level of respect for Shen Qing and vaguely looked up to him as a role model, a few of Shen Yuan’s ingrained impressions still lingered around the old Shen Qing—the one who used to work odd jobs at the Shen household.

Timid, fragile, overly mindful of others’ opinions, and obsessed with saving face.

Shen Yuan subconsciously assumed that under these circumstances, facing public scrutiny like this, Qingqing wouldn’t be able to handle it!

With a fake smile, Young Master Shen pressed on: “Originally, I just treated that story as a joke. But guess what? The principal character has suddenly returned! And he even shows up with the identity of a white moonlight, teaming up with the Gu family to track down President Gu’s wife for a private chat. May I ask what exactly is going on here?”

Young Master Shen’s words instantly plunged all the surrounding onlookers into deep thought.

While Xiao Hangying’s affair hadn’t been blasted across public headlines for widespread debate, who among the people present lacked connections and influence?

Those who loved a good gossip hadn’t missed out on this piece of juice just because Xiao Hangying lived overseas. Quite a few people actually knew about this little tabloid footnote.

It was just that back then, Xiao Hangying had used various means to suppress the incident, so those in the know figured it wasn’t worth offending Xiao Hangying and the Gu family over it.

At most, people mocked Xiao Hangying behind his back—despite always acting so high and mighty, putting on an aristocratic and profound facade, he turned out to be an ungrateful white-eyed wolf who couldn’t be tamed. The Gu family masters had been blind to treat him so well, only for him to fly the coop the moment disaster struck.

Or perhaps they sighed at how the former film emperor spent his empty, lonely nights getting drunk and complaining to strangers.

Aside from these reactions, no one had bothered to expand the conversation further.

However, the situation right now was manifestly different.

—Because one of the primary figures in question, the sixth young master who was supposedly “on the verge of death,” seemed to have recovered! …Combined with President Gu’s recent series of maneuvers, it strongly suggested his physical condition had improved significantly, right?

Under such premises, things aligned remarkably well with what Young Master Shen had described: Film Emperor Xiao was first involved with the fifth young master; when the fifth young master went down, and the sixth young master went down too, Xiao Hangying simply fled, even while whining and drowning his sorrows abroad all alone.

Then, recently, since the sixth young master got back on his feet, he rushed back to look for him, hoping to rekindle an old flame…

Yet the prerequisite for rekindling that flame was that something had indeed transpired between them before.

…So, did Film Emperor Xiao genuinely have a grand multi-cornered love triangle with the Gu brothers?!

No, make that a four-way entanglement.

Because Gu Huaiying—who was now President Gu and long since stopped being merely the sixth young master of the Gu family—was already married.

And his marriage partner was…

In an instant, everyone present turned their gazes toward Shen Qing and Xiao Hangying, who were standing face-to-face like rival combatants.