Did the Movie Emperor Blow His Cover Today? - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Tao Hui watched in disbelief as Han Buji took a large bite out of her apple.

She was stunned.

What in the world is happening? Why is the Best Actor stealing my apple?!

If she hadn’t retained some semblance of rationality, Tao Hui would have demanded, “Are you another poor kid from Dongyang Orphanage who never got to eat green apples?!”

Han Buji, seeing Tao Hui’s shocked expression, calmly raised a hand to his stomach and frowned slightly. “Low blood sugar.”

Not long ago, Miao Miao had fainted in front of Tao Hui. Tao Hui was utterly defenseless against that pained expression of clutching one’s stomach.

She immediately squatted down beside her shopping bag, pulled out a yogurt cup, stabbed it with a straw, and held it to Han Buji’s lips. “This yogurt has fruit chunks and is pretty sweet. Take a couple of sips. If that doesn’t help, I bought a bag of brown sugar a few days ago when I was on my period. Want me to make you some brown sugar water?”

“Thank you,” Han Buji said with a smile, accepting the yogurt without hesitation.

Han Buji’s skin was a cool white, and the LED lights in the elevator made him look almost porcelain-like. Yet his lips were a healthy red, showing no signs of low blood sugar.

Tao Hui didn’t notice any of this. She didn’t even realize how gentle her tone had become as she stood beside Han Buji in the elevator, still wondering where she had put the brown sugar.

When the elevator reached Tao Hui’s floor, Han Buji followed her out.

“Just a moment,” Tao Hui said, pulling a jumbled mess from her coat pocket.

Entangled earphones, three crumpled one-dollar bills, a crumpled napkin, a keychain with chibi figurines, and a small cardholder.

Han Buji’s lips curved into a smile as he watched her struggle with the tangled mess.

Tao Hui pulled out a card, swiped it, and the door clicked open.

Han Buji and Tao Hui were staying at the same hotel, and their rooms had nearly identical layouts and decor. But a room lived in by a girl was unmistakably different.

Tao Hui’s room held a pair of fluffy pink bunny slippers, several snack bags scattered on the sofa, a script lying face down in the corner, and a humidifier puffing out sweet orange-scented mist.

“Have a seat,” Tao Hui said. “I’ll make you some brown sugar water.”

Afraid Han Buji might be the type to say, “Brown sugar and red dates are for women!” or “What kind of sissy drinks brown sugar water?”, Tao Hui added specifically, “Men can drink brown sugar too, just like women eat oysters and kidneys!”

Han Buji glanced around Tao Hui’s living room at the small decorations and replied with a smile, “Alright.”

Tao Hui poured brown sugar into a paper cup. While waiting for the water to boil, she remembered Han Buji clutching his stomach and saying “low blood sugar.”

Tsk, he’s got such a smooth, muscular physique—how can he have low blood sugar?

Back in school, the students with low blood sugar were always skinny, frail girls, weren’t they?

Wait a minute… clutching his stomach?

Does low blood sugar cause stomach pain?

The kettle began to hum as the water boiled, steam trickling from its spout.

Tao Hui turned around expressionlessly and asked, “Han Buji, did you eat breakfast?”

Han Buji, absorbed in whatever he was holding, answered casually, “Yeah, I did.”

Tao Hui gritted her teeth. “So, is it a stomachache or low blood sugar?”

Han Buji looked up, paused in surprise, then chuckled, admitting frankly, “Caught me? Well… I just wanted to try your apple.”

Tao Hui, who had been brimming with concern, ready to make him brown sugar water and even offer him a coconut and a bag of snacks, took a deep breath.

Don’t get angry, Tao Hui. You’re 21 now. You can’t wear your emotions on your sleeve all the time.

Screw not getting angry! I’m about to explode!

Today, I’m going to beat him so badly even Han Meimei won’t recognize him!

Tao Hui rolled up her sleeves, but Han Buji calmly raised the item in his hand. “Sorry. Can you forgive me?”

When Tao Hui saw what he was holding, her anger vanished instantly. She tugged her sleeve back down to her wrist.

In his hand! It was the Best Actor’s autographed photo she had defaced with turtles!

The very one where she had drawn three large turtles on his face, neck, and forehead.

Guilty, Tao Hui couldn’t bring herself to say, “I drew that a long time ago. I haven’t done anything like that recently.”

Tao Hui could only stare down at the half-cup of brown sugar powder in her hand, puffing out her cheeks as she said, “Well, you won’t be drinking any brown sugar either, then? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

To make matters worse, Han Buji didn’t forget to snatch the apple with the two bite marks he had stolen earlier as he left.

Seriously?

You! Seriously!

You’re the Best Actor! You’re the Best Actor who runs a major entertainment company!

You went through all that trouble just for an apple?

And a bitten apple at that!

Martial Arts Cutie: Today’s dose of happiness! I took a test where you count the strokes in two names to determine their compatibility. Han Buji has 33 strokes, Tao Hui has 15, a difference of 18, which means “eternal lovers”! So accurate!!!

After posting her Weibo update, Gao Meng immediately liked her own post. Humming cheerfully, she went next door to deliver Han Buji’s freshly ironed suit.

In recent days, more and more people had joined their “Movie Emperor Han and Rabbit are a Perfect Match” group. The CP fans had grown from a few dozen to so many that the group was bursting at the seams. The more Gao Meng thought about it, the more excited she became, convinced she would soon witness some real-life romance!

Wu Yue opened the door. Gao Meng greeted him, “Brother Wu, I’m here to deliver the boss’s suit.”

“Quite the nose you’ve got there,” Wu Yue said with a smile. “I just had afternoon tea sent over. Come on in.”

As his assistant, Gao Meng was exceptionally observant. The moment she entered the room, she noticed a green apple on the table, marked with two sets of bite marks—one large, one small. The bitten areas had already oxidized, turning a faint reddish-brown.

Gao Meng blinked in confusion, unable to understand why her boss hadn’t thrown the apple away. She pointed at it and tentatively asked, “Boss, should I toss this for you?”

“Throw it away.”

“No need.”

Wu Yue and Han Buji spoke simultaneously.

Wu Yue glanced at Han Buji in surprise. “Don’t throw it away? Is it even edible anymore? It’s been sitting here for hours. Was it here when I arrived this morning?”

“Yeah, don’t throw it away,” Han Buji replied without explanation. He casually scrolled through Weibo and saw a post from “Martial Arts Cutie” from a few minutes earlier, chuckling in amusement.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Wu Yue, his apple-tossing proposal rejected, grumbled and went to answer it, retrieving the afternoon tea.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Gao Meng felt her boss suddenly look up, as if watching her.

“Boss? What’s wrong?” Gao Meng asked.

Han Buji pointed at the apple.

Gao Meng looked again and finally noticed that the oxidized apple was resting on a limited-edition silk scarf!

Han Buji suddenly said, “Two bite marks. One’s mine, the other’s Tao Hui’s.”

Gao Meng gasped.

Wu Yue took the afternoon tea from the delivery guy, balancing the coffee and pastries in his hands. He closed the door with his foot and turned to see Gao Meng kneeling before the rotten apple, clutching her chest, tears glistening in her eyes. “Mom! I’ve found the real deal!”

Wu Yue stared in confusion.

That afternoon, Tao Hui was trending on Weibo again. The hashtag: Tao Hui Hahahaha.

Bewildered, Tao Hui clicked on the trending topic. The entertainment news outlet that had interviewed her had indeed released the footage, with a clickbait title, “Tao Hui Calls Han Buji—And This Happened…”

By the time she saw it, the post had 420,000 shares, 270,000 comments, and 3.26 million likes.

Given her previous experiences with trending topics, none of which had been positive, Tao Hui hesitated to read the comments first. Instead, she clicked on the video.

In the video, she wore a white ancient costume with a waist-length wig loosely tied with a ribbon. Her makeup was understated, and she wore a polite smile as she said, “Teacher Han is a very kind person… He’s popular and a great actor…”

Then the entertainment reporter asked, “…Could you call the Best Actor and ask him to come over?”

A row of bold, hot pink capital letters appeared above her head, digitally added: HIGH ALERT!

The video showed herself frozen, eyes wide with disbelief, as if she’d heard something utterly absurd.

The hot pink text reappeared: Tao Hui, utterly dumbfounded.

Tao Hui facepalmed. This is so embarrassing! What kind of expression management is this? I’m practically disgracing the film academy!

After her internal rant, Tao Hui continued watching the video.

Her past self, looking like a complete idiot, covered the phone’s microphone and awkwardly chuckled as she explained to the reporter, “Teacher Han is probably still filming. Everyone on the production team knows he always keeps his phone—”

Suddenly, a string of Chuan Yu-accented curses erupted from the phone. Tao Hui watched herself frantically turn off the call in the video, like a startled cat with its fur standing on end.

The hot pink text flashed: Tao the Tenacious, who praised the Best Actor’s popularity and now has to pretend she has his number.

In the video, “Tao the Tenacious” forced a smile and weakly explained, “I’m actually not very close to Movie Emperor Han…”

Tsk! This is embarrassing to watch! Look at how cowardly you are! Tao Hui thought to herself.

The video continued with two entertainment reporters stifling their laughter as they offered awkward consolation. Tao Hui listlessly closed the video and opened the comments section.

[ ~Hahahaha! What’s up with Tao Hui? She’s hilarious! Is she afraid the media will attack our oppa for not being popular? Pretending to have his number, hahaha! ]

[ ~Poor Tao Hui, but I can’t help but laugh! Pfft, hahahahaha! ]

[ ~Hahahaha! Tao Hui is so silly! Her expression looks like a kid caught cheating by the teacher! ]

[ ~Hahahaha! This is too cute! I’m hooked! From casual viewer to fan! ]

[ ~Although… I haven’t played pretend games like this since elementary school, hahaha! ]

[ ~What’s Rabbit doing? Pfft, hahahahaha! It’s not embarrassing not to have the Best Actor’s number! Hugs to the forcibly smiling Rabbit! ]

[ ~Xswl! Is Tao Hui trying to be funny? Hahaha! ]

[ ~Even though oppa is popular, he doesn’t interact much with female celebrities. Hugs to Miss Tao! Hahaha, that forced smile is too adorable! ]

This was the friendliest comment section Tao Hui had ever seen on any of her trending topics. The entire space was filled with cheerful “hahaha” laughter.

Entertainment reporters and gossip enthusiasts alike assumed she had said earlier, “Teacher Han is a very kind person… He’s popular and a great actor…” and, fearing that admitting she didn’t have Han Buji’s phone number would lead to attacks on his “popularity,” had forced a smile and pretended to have it.

This beautiful misunderstanding caused Tao Hui’s Weibo followers to surge by 30,000 in an instant.

Yet Tao Hui remained anxious. Although many of Han Buji’s Chuan Yu-style curses in the video had been censored with “bleep” sounds, she still worried someone might recognize them.

She spent the entire afternoon online, terrified of stumbling upon comments about Han Buji’s “image collapse.”

Only when the trending topic was finally replaced by news of a musical prodigy that evening did Tao Hui breathe a sigh of relief.

As she prepared to exit the comment section, she noticed a private message from “Martial Arts Cutie,” an account she had followed yesterday with her alt account.

Curious, Tao Hui opened it.

Martial Arts Cutie: Little Peach, are you also a fan of Movie Emperor Han and Rabbit’s ship?

Martial Arts Cutie: If you’re interested, you can join our CP group!

Tao Hui was stunned by the term “CP fans.” Her fingers trembled as she joined the group “Best Actor and Rabbit: A Perfect Match.” The chat was buzzing with activity, messages flashing across the screen one after another:

“Today is a day of heartbreak! The main couple themselves have come out to dismantle the ship! sobs violently“

“Turns out our Rabbit doesn’t even have the Best Actor’s number! How tragic!”

“Waaah! My heart aches!”

“Martial Arts Cutie, come comfort us! You’re so good with words, say something!”

“I’m here, sisters! Cheer up! I just ran a compatibility test on Rabbit and the Best Actor’s names. Guess what the result was!”

“Hahaha! They’re destined to be eternal lovers!”

“Wow! That’s amazing! I knew Rabbit and the Best Actor were meant to be!”

“I have an idea! Since they don’t have each other’s numbers, let’s not despair. We’ll rename ourselves the ‘Never Will’ CP. From now on, any contact between them will be a slap in the face to the haters and a sweet treat for us!”

“Wow! ‘Never Will’ CP! A pun on Han Buji and Huihui! Brilliant!”

“This works! We’re the ‘Never Will’ CP—rising from the ashes!”

“Exactly! The ‘Never Will’ CP—finding hope in despair!”

Tao Hui, who had just joined the group: “?”