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 the hell is going on? 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 sap 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, his brow furrowing slightly. “Low blood sugar.”

Tao Hui had witnessed Miao Miao faint from low blood sugar recently, and she was utterly defenseless against that pained, stomach-clutching expression.

She even squatted down beside the shopping bag, pulled out a yogurt cup, stabbed in a straw, and offered 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 for my period. I can make you some brown sugar water.”

“Thank you,” Han Buji said without hesitation, smiling as he accepted the yogurt.

Han Buji’s skin was a cool, porcelain white. The LED lights in the elevator flickered, making him appear even paler, like fine white porcelain. Yet his lips were a healthy red, betraying no sign of low blood sugar.

Tao Hui didn’t notice any of this, nor did she realize how gentle her tone had become. As she stood with Han Buji in the elevator, she was 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 crumpled mess from her coat pocket: tangled earphones, three one-yuan bills, a crumpled napkin, a keychain with a chibi figure, and a small cardholder.

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

Tao Hui pulled out a card. Beep, the door unlocked.

Han Buji and Tao Hui were staying at the same hotel, their rooms nearly identical in layout and decor. Yet a room occupied by a girl had a distinct feel.

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

“Make yourself comfortable,” Tao Hui said. “I’ll go make you some brown sugar water.”

Fearing Han Buji might be the type to declare, “Brown sugar and jujubes are for women, I won’t drink that!” or “What kind of girly man drinks brown sugar water?!” Tao Hui added pointedly, “Men can drink brown sugar too, just like women eat oysters and kidney!”

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

Tao Hui poured brown sugar into a paper cup and waited for the water to boil. As she did, she recalled Han Buji clutching his stomach and saying, “Low blood sugar.”

Tsk, with those sculpted muscles, how can he have low blood sugar?!

Back in school, the classmates 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, steam trickling from its spout.

Tao Hui turned around, her expression impassive, and asked, “Han Buji, have you had breakfast yet?”

Han Buji, engrossed in examining something in his hand, replied casually, “Yeah, I ate.”

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

Hearing this, Han Buji looked up, paused for a moment, then chuckled, admitting frankly, “Did I give myself away? Well… I just wanted to taste your apple.”

Tao Hui, who had been brimming with concern and had even prepared to make Han Buji brown sugar water, and was considering giving him a coconut and a bag of snacks and fruit, took a deep breath.

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

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. “I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

When Tao Hui saw what he was holding, her anger instantly fizzled out. She tugged her sleeves back down to her wrists.

In his hand! He was holding the Best Actor Han’s autographed photo—the one she had drawn turtles all over!

The photo with three massive turtles scrawled across his face, neck, and forehead.

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

Tao Hui could only stare down at the half-empty cup of brown sugar powder in her hand, huffing, “Then you won’t be drinking brown sugar anymore either, right? Goodbye, and don’t come back.”

What made it even more infuriating was that Han Buji, even as he left, didn’t forget to snatch the apple with the two bite marks he had stolen earlier.

Seriously?!

You! Seriously?!

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

You went through all this trouble just for an apple?

And one that someone had already bitten!

Martial Arts Cutie: Today’s dose of happiness! I did a test where you count the strokes in your names to calculate relationship compatibility. Han Buji has 33 strokes, Tao Hui has 15, a difference of 18, which means “lovers destined to be together forever”! It’s so accurate!!!

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

In recent days, more and more people had joined their “Best Actor Han and Rabbit: A Perfect Match” group. The CP fans had grown from a few dozen to the point where a single group chat couldn’t contain them all. The more Gao Meng thought about it, the happier she became, convinced that she would soon get to witness some real-life romance!

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

“What a long nose you have!” Wu Yue said with a smile. “I just had afternoon tea delivered. Come in.”

As Han Buji’s assistant, Gao Meng was exceptionally observant. The moment she entered the room, she noticed a green apple on the table, bearing two distinct bite marks—one large, one small.

The bitten areas had already oxidized, turning a faint brownish-red.

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 throw this away 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 still edible? It’s been sitting here for hours. Was it here when I came in this morning?”

“Mm, don’t throw it away,” Han Buji replied without explanation. He casually scrolled through Weibo and chuckled, spotting a post from “Martial Arts Cutie” from just a few minutes earlier.

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Wu Yue’s suggestion to discard the apple was overruled, and he grumbled his way to answer the door and retrieve the afternoon tea.

As soon as Wu Yue was out of earshot, Gao Meng sensed her boss suddenly looking up at her. Was he staring at her?

“Boss? What’s wrong?” Gao Meng asked.

Han Buji pointed at the apple.

Gao Meng looked again, finally noticing that the oxidized apple was resting on a limited-edition silk square scarf.

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

Gao Meng gasped.

Wu Yue took the afternoon tea from the delivery guy, balancing the coffee and pastries in each hand. He closed the door with his foot and turned around to find 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 trended on social media again, with the hashtag: Tao Hui Hahahahaha.

Tao Hui clicked on the trending topic, bewildered, and discovered that the entertainment outlet that had interviewed her earlier had released the footage with an eye-catching headline: “Tao Hui Calls Han Buji, and the Result Is…”

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

Given her previous negative experiences with trending topics, Tao Hui hesitated to read the comments first. Instead, she clicked on the video to watch it.

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

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

A row of bold, hot pink subtitles appeared above her head: HIGH-ENERGY ALERT!

The video showed her freezing, her eyes widening as if she’d heard something utterly absurd.

The hot pink subtitles reappeared, Tao Hui, utterly dumbfounded.

Tao Hui covered her face in embarrassment. What kind of expression management is this? I’m practically disgracing the Film Academy!

After mentally scolding herself, Tao Hui continued watching the video.

She looked like a complete idiot, awkwardly covering the phone’s microphone as she explained to the reporter with a forced laugh, “Teacher Han is probably still filming. Everyone on set knows he always leaves his phone—”

Suddenly, a string of Sichuan-Chongqing dialect curses erupted from the phone. Tao Hui watched herself frantically shut off the phone, like a startled cat whose fur had stood on end.

Hot pink subtitles: Praised the Best Actor’s popularity, now forced to pretend she has his number. Tao the Resilient.

In the video, “Tao the Resilient” wore a forced smile as she weakly explained, “I’m actually not very familiar with Best Actor Han…”

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

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

[ ~Hahahaha! What’s up with Tao Hui? She’s hilarious! Is she afraid the media will say our Brother has no friends? Pretending to have his number, hahahaha! ]

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

[ ~Hahahahahahaha! Tao Hui is so silly! Her expression is like a grade schooler caught doing something wrong by the teacher! ]

[ ~Hahahaha! She’s so cute! I’m hooked! From hater to fan! ]

[ ~Though… I haven’t played these pretend games since elementary school, hahaha! ]

[ ~What’s Rabbit doing? Pfft hahahaha! It’s not embarrassing to not have Best Actor’s number! Hugs to our forced-smiling Rabbit! ]

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

[ ~Brother may be popular, but he doesn’t interact much with female celebrities. Hugs to Miss Tao! Hahahaha! That forced smile is too adorable! ]

This was the most positive reception Tao Hui had ever received on a trending topic. The entire comment section was filled with celebratory “hahaha” laughter.

Entertainment reporters and gossip enthusiasts assumed she had pretended to have Han Buji’s phone number, forcing a smile to maintain the image of “Teacher Han being a kind person… well-liked and a brilliant actor…” They believed she feared that admitting she didn’t have his number would allow the media to attack Han Buji’s reputation for being well-liked.

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

Yet Tao Hui remained anxious. Although many of the Sichuan-Chongqing curse words Han Buji had hurled in the video had been censored with “bleep” sounds, she still worried someone might recognize them.

She spent the entire afternoon online, dreading encountering any comments about “Han Buji’s image crumbling.”

It wasn’t until the evening, when the trending topic was replaced by news of a musical prodigy, that Tao Hui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to exit the comment section, she noticed a private message from “Martial Arts Cutie,” a user she had followed on her alt account the previous day.

Curious, Tao Hui clicked to read it.

Martial Arts Cutie: Xiao Taozi, are you also a fan of Best Actor 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 fan.” Her fingers trembled as she entered the group chat “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 just dismantled their ship! I’m crying buckets!”

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

“Waaah! My heart hurts so much!”

“Martial Arts Cutie, where are you? Come comfort everyone! If you have words, speak them!”

“I’m here, sisters! Buck up! I just did a name compatibility test for Rabbit and the Best Actor. Guess what the result was!”

“Hahaha! ‘Eternal Lovers’!”

“Waaah! That’s amazing! I knew Rabbit and the Best Actor were destined for each other!”

“I have an idea! Since the main couple doesn’t have each other’s numbers, let’s not despair. We’ll rename our ship ‘No Way CP (Buhui CP)’! From now on, any interaction between them will be a slap in the face to fate! Every interaction will be sweet!”

“Wow, No Way CP! A pun on Buji and Huihui! Brilliant!”

“I’m in! ‘No Way CP’! From the depths of despair, we shall rise again!”

“Exactly! No Way CP! From the brink of destruction, we shall find rebirth!”

Tao Hui, just joining the group, typed: “?”