Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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People who could sit in the first row had some relationship with the crew to some extent, such as crew members, media reporters contacted by the crew, and supporting guests.
Even though the movie had already started, there were still people coming and going around, moving around very frequently.
Zu Qi was not in the mood to watch the movie in the first place, and since now and then people walked past him while bent over and on tiptoes, it made it even harder for him to concentrate. So as soon as the person next to him sat down, his attention was drawn to him.
He rested his left elbow lightly on the armrest of the seat, slightly supported his chin, and looked sideways.
Before he could see the man’s face clearly, suddenly, a familiar fragrance entered his nose.
Zu Qi had never been interested in perfume, but because he had been with Xue Jue for a long time, he could easily smell the scent of the men’s perfume that Xue Jue often used – a very light jasmine scent.
If Zu Qi wasn’t very familiar with the smell, he probably wouldn’t have been able to smell it so quickly.
He was stunned for a moment, and the next second, he seemed to suddenly realize something. After thinking about it, he seemed to move towards the man unintentionally and then looked at the other person’s appearance carefully.
Then, he saw a familiar face.
Zu Qi: “…”
Damn.
Isn’t this Xue Jue?
Before, when Zu Qi learned the date and location of the movie preview, he asked Xue Jue if he had time to come to the scene. Unfortunately, Xue Jue had already confirmed a meeting in a neighboring city and probably couldn’t spare the time.
So, shouldn’t Xue Jue be holding a meeting in the neighboring city at this time?
Although Zu Qi was confused, when he saw Xue Jue appear beside him silently, the emotion and joy he felt was beyond words.
If they were not still at the preview, Zu Qi would have wanted to stand up and hug Xue Jue and spin around a few times.
“Why are you here?” Zu Qi approached Xue Jue, lowered his head and whispered, “Didn’t you go to a meeting?”
Xue Jue seemed to enjoy Zu Qi’s active approach and leaned closer to him. The little movements of the two people were like students whispering in class.
“I got here early.” Xue Jue lowered his eyes to look at Zu Qi’s sparkling eyes. Then he couldn’t help but peck his eyes at a very fast speed and say, “The meeting only took half a day. Fortunately, your preview was to be held in the evening.”
Finally, Xue Jue said a little aggrievedly, “I made an appointment with Director Wang in advance, but it’s a pity my seat is far from you, so I came here quietly.”
Zu Qi held back his laughter and squeezed Xue Jue’s hand privately.
Although the people sitting in a row often moved around, the organizer had already decided everyone’s seat, which meant that the owner of Xue Jue’s seat could come back at any time.
Thinking of this, Zu Qi felt that it was a bit embarrassing to be urged to give up his seat, so he said to Xue Jue: “Why don’t you go back to your seat. I’ll come to you after the movie is over.”
Xue Jue blinked: “That person won’t come back.”
“Huh?” Zu Qi remembered that the person sitting next to him seemed to be a well-known reporter in the industry. According to common sense, such a reporter should not miss Director Wang’s preview.
“I just ran into him in the restroom. He said he seemed to have something urgent to do, so he gave up his seat to me.” Xue Jue explained seriously.
“…” Zu Qi was speechless after hearing this.
If he guessed correctly, Xue Jue did not meet the reporter by chance but deliberately intercepted him in the bathroom.
And because of Xue Jue’s identity, the reporter was embarrassed to refuse his request, so he had to grit his teeth and agree.
Facts proved that Zu Qi really knew Xue Jue well…
The poor reporter had to give up his seat to Xue Jue, but didn’t dare to sit in Xue Jue’s seat. So, he could only stand at the back with his camera, watching the movie and taking a few photos occasionally.
When the movie was one-third through, the scene finally became completely quiet, and those who were busy socializing at the beginning returned to their seats as quietly as chickens.
Zu Qi sighed secretly. He had thought that the preview of a famous director like Director Wang would be held in a very formal and serious manner, with all the procedures being meticulous. He did not expect the scene to be so chaotic, where even the scandal between him and Qiao Yang was rehashed.
He wondered how this preview would be reviewed on Weibo tomorrow.
He was afraid he would be the target of attacks by major marketing accounts and passers-by again.
Fortunately, Zu Qi was open-minded. After being sad for less than half a minute, he put the matter behind him and concentrated on teasing Xue Jue next to him.
Zu Qi had always thought that Xue Jue, with his personality, wouldn’t like watching movies, but he didn’t expect that Xue Jue was watching the movie so attentively that he didn’t even take his eyes off the big screen.
If Xue Jue wasn’t sitting here, Zu Qi could still watch the movie seriously, but when he thought that Xue Jue was within his reach, Zu Qi became distracted after being quiet for a while.
So he would bump Xue Jue’s body with his elbow, then scratch the back of Xue Jue’s hand which was on the armrest with his fingers, while observing Xue Jue’s reaction in his peripheral vision.
Xue Jue frowned slightly, grabbed Zu Qi’s restless hand, then pulled it back with a little force and held it in his own palm.
Xue Jue’s skin was on the cool side, but his hands were extremely hot, and soon both of their hands were covered in a thin layer of sweat from pinching.
However, Zu Qi didn’t want to pull his hand away, and Xue Jue didn’t want to let go, so they kept this posture until the movie came to an end, the tragic background music sounded, and the list of actors and staff appeared in black and white on the big screen.
Zu Qi withdrew his hand when he saw that it was almost time, pushed Xue Jue and said, “Go back to your seat quickly.”
Xue Jue chuckled and said, “We are just trying to cover up our own mistakes. There are so many spectators and media here, they might have filmed our actions over and over again.”
As he said that, Xue Jue suddenly leaned back a little.
Then, Zu Qi saw that a well-known reporter sitting on the other side of Xue Jue who had a camera placed on his legs, with the lens aimed at them.
When the reporter saw that his secret filming was discovered, an awkward smile emerged on his face. His nervous gaze wandered between Zu Qi and Xue Jue a few times, and suddenly he said with a strong desire to survive: “I, I am a Jue Qi party. I’m just distributing candy for the kids.”
Zu Qi: “…”
Xue Jue: “…”
As soon as Xue Jue left, the lights on the scene lit up, and at the same time, there was a warm applause from the back, as well as everyone’s exclamations and praises for the movie. However it was unknown whether the audience could understand the content of the movie under such a chaotic order.
Next was the curtain call ceremony, which required only Director Wang, the assistant director and two screenwriters to go on stage. Bai Guangjian should have appeared as well, but unfortunately this producer just wanted to be a hands-off boss.
Director Wang on the stage spoke touching words, but Qiao Yang, who was sitting on the other side of Zu Qi, had a hypocritical smile on his face from beginning to end.
Obviously, Qiao Yang did not put too much real emotion into this preview, it seemed more like he was just going through the motions.
However, Qiao Yang’s behavior and attitude had nothing to do with Zu Qi. Zu Qi only secretly paid attention to Qiao Yang for a moment in his peripheral vision, and then calmly shifted his attention to the stage.
But Qiao Yang spoke first: “You seem to have changed a lot.”
Qiao Yang’s voice was very low, and his body was slightly tilted towards Zu Qi, so only Zu Qi could hear clearly what he said.
Zu Qi knew that Qiao Yang was talking to him. In fact, he had long guessed that Qiao Yang might come to see him, but he didn’t expect that the other party would be unable to hold back so soon.
“People will change.” Zu Qi replied softly.
Qiao Yang was sitting on Zu Qi’s left, so he naturally saw the interaction between Zu Qi and Xue Jue clearly.
In fact, Zu Qi could have persuaded Xue Jue to leave or kept a certain distance from Xue Jue, or at least not shown affection on such an occasion. Even when watching a movie, where the surrounding environment was dim and their movements were very small, they still could not escape the well-prepared cameras.
But Zu Qi was unwilling to do so, and even deliberately did those little tricks with Xue Jue, just to avoid being too involved with Qiao Yang.
He would rather have his Weibo tomorrow filled with posts about him and Xue Jue stealing the show from the audience and criticizing him for not being serious and professional when watching a movie, than have other people tie him and Qiao Yang together again.
Zu Qi didn’t know whether Qiao Yang could sense his thoughts, but he thought he was being very obvious.
Qiao Yang seemed to have expected Zu Qi to answer like this. The cold expression on his face did not change much. But the corners of his mouth were pursed into a straight line, as if he was suppressing some emotions.
The stalemate lasted for a long time before Qiao Yang spoke: “Maybe you misunderstood something. Don’t take the news on the Internet too seriously. Besides, they just want to use us to create hype. It will be fine after a while.”
It seemed that Qiao Yang understood what he meant very well.
Zu Qi sighed and said, “I am a person with strong ability to accept and adapt. If I were not married yet, I would not refuse any arrangement of the crew. But I am already married, and some rumors are not appropriate for me.”
What’s more, the gossip that he and Xue Jue were having a disagreement and were about to divorce was widely circulated on the Internet.
Hearing this, the fake smile on Qiao Yang’s face could no longer be maintained. The smile on the corners of his mouth gradually became bitter, mixed with some other emotions.
His mouth opened and closed, and he blurted out the words that had been lingering in his mind for so many days: “I feel like you simply don’t like me, so you have been slowly distancing yourself from me.”
Zu Qi remained silent and could not deny it.
Qiao Yang felt Zu Qi’s silence and suddenly felt as if a cat’s claws were scratching his heart, and even an uncontrollable urge surged in him.
He didn’t care that there were so many people at the scene. He just turned his head and looked at Zu Qi blankly and asked, “Are you really distancing yourself from me?”
Zu Qi knew that Qiao Yang would not give up until he got his answer, so he nodded and said, “Yes.”
“What’s the reason?” Qiao Yang asked relentlessly.
“…” Zu Qi bit his lip and turned his head to look into Qiao Yang’s inky eyes, “You should know the reason.”
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