Did the Movie Emperor Blow His Cover Today? - Chapter 62

Chapter 62

The announcement of Han Buji and Tao Hui’s relationship was met with mixed reactions. Some fans were overjoyed, others remained neutral, while a small but vocal minority of extremist fans refused to accept that their beloved “Gege” or “Xiao Jiejie” was actually dating. (t/n: Gege/Brother, Xiao Jieje/Little Older Sister)

With a fervor that defied logic, they chanted, “Gege can’t date! Gege belongs only to his fans!”

Tao Hui found these sentiments baffling. Holding up her phone, she remarked with her characteristic nonchalance, “Why does Gege belong only to his fans? Hmm, now that I think about it, I really want some mutton paomo. Or maybe hot and sour noodles? Or how about hotpot with vermicelli? Ugh, these little brats are making me hungry!”

Han Buji, who was about to comfort Tao Hui, stared at her in bewilderment.

After filming Drug Enforcement Storm, Tao Hui rarely made public appearances, focusing instead on promoting the film and taking on a couple of small commercials that piqued her interest.

Han Buji, on the other hand, remained more visible. As the boss of Unruly Entertainment, one of the industry’s top entertainment conglomerates, and a Best Actor winner, he naturally had more public engagements than Tao Hui.

In December, Han Buji attended a promotional event for a drama starring one of his company’s female celebrities, appearing in his capacity as an investor. During the interview, a fanatical fan rushed into the venue, holding up a sign that read, “Break up with Tao Hui!” and shouting, “Gege! When are you breaking up with Tao Hui? Please break up with Tao Hui!”

Han Buji, the usually composed and gentlemanly figure of the entertainment industry, lifted his gaze with an uncharacteristic chill. A cold glint flashed in his deep-set eyes as he snatched the nearest reporter’s microphone, his voice firm and commanding: “We will never break up.”

After security escorted the frenzied fan out of the venue, an awkward silence hung in the air. The reporters were at a loss for words, but Han Buji acted first. He calmly picked up the “Break up with Tao Hui” sign from the floor, tore it apart, crumpled the pieces, and tossed them into a nearby trash can.

Such a confrontation with a fan seemed entirely out of character for the young and gentlemanly CEO of Unruly Entertainment. The reporters’ minds collectively short-circuited. Han Buji clapped his hands, a wry smile playing on his lips, and addressed the cameras in a measured tone:

“I’m an actor, the founder of an entertainment company—these are my professions. But I’m also a man, and I have someone I want to protect. I’m honored by my fans’ support, but I believe they’ll ultimately respect someone with independent thought, someone who is more than just a puppet of public opinion. They’ll appreciate Han Buji the skilled actor, not Han Buji the living mannequin.”

Han Buji’s defense of Tao Hui was unwavering, and the Han Meimeis rallied to protect their “Gege.” Soon, a level-headed fan stepped forward, posting:

<i>Support Best Actor Han in his roles, but leave Han Buji alone in his personal life.</i>

That evening, Wu Yue, the top manager at Unruly Entertainment, shared a Weibo video from the company’s year-end party. The young boss, Han Buji, was dressed casually, a stark contrast to his usual formal attire. His eyes were slightly red, likely from drinking, as he sat at a table.

Leaning his head against his hand, his gaze was filled with deep affection as he looked at his girlfriend, Tao Hui, seated beside him.

Suddenly, Han Buji frowned, turned his head, and said in a slightly aggrieved tone, “Girlfriend, someone told me to break up with you today.”

Tao Hui, who had been serving him soup, turned her head. Dressed in matching casual wear with her hair in a ponytail, her large eyes filled with confusion. “Huh? Someone said that again?”

She blinked, scratched her head sheepishly, but showed no sign of backing down. Clenching her fist, she declared, “It must be because I haven’t worked hard enough in my career. Once more people recognize my acting skills, they’ll stop! Don’t worry, Girlfriend will protect you! Here, have some hangover soup. Ah—”

The High Mountain Flower, so unattainable, the Best Actor who had his first love at 28, obediently opened his mouth. “Ah—”

Viewers stared in stunned silence, their faces a sea of question marks.

This man was so fierce during the day! He tore up that sign with such dominance! His eyes were like Arctic glaciers when facing the camera!

Now, he was not only as warm as an April day but… even acting coy?!

Was he the type to whine to his girlfriend after a rough day, over a glass of wine?!

The real kicker was Tao Hui’s cluelessness. A simple hug and kiss could have resolved everything, yet she acted like a 24k pure steel straight man, insisting they wait until her career reached new heights.

The internet erupted in laughter, and the couple’s popularity soared. The “No Way CP” fandom grew exponentially.

Those who voiced extreme opinions were ostracized. The Han Meimeis and Rabbit Furs united like never before, joined by the CP fans. Anyone who dared curse this divine romance would face their wrath—a barrage of insults so cutting, they’d leave you questioning your own mother’s identity!

Alas, there will always be those who, unable to find happiness in their own lives, resent the happiness of others.

At the end of the year, near the Lunar New Year’s Eve, a photo suddenly surfaced online: a woman’s back as she entered a drug rehabilitation center. The woman was wearing an orange-red coat and a felt hat—it was Tao Hui.

Immediately, rumors spread online accusing Tao Hui of drug use and charity fraud.

Her fans naturally refused to believe it, but they couldn’t argue with the professional smear campaigns run by marketing accounts. Just as they were rolling up their sleeves for a full-scale online battle, Tao Hui’s top fan, Han Buji, stepped forward.

Han Buji directly presented the foundation’s donation records from the past decade, highlighting Tao Hui’s name with a floral border. He also shared visitation logs from the rehabilitation center, showing Tao Hui as a visitor, her name surrounded by hearts.

Not only did he debunk the marketing accounts with solid evidence, but he also put on a dazzling display of affection.

After presenting the evidence, Han Buji bribed the professional smear campaign accounts to uncover the mastermind behind the attacks: Li Biao, an investor notorious for exploiting naive online celebrities in poorly made films for quick profits.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. Han Buji discovered that Li Biao had also orchestrated the previous trending topics smearing Tao Hui.

Li Biao’s reputation in the entertainment industry was notoriously bad. Rumors had long circulated that he used casting auditions as a pretext to sexually harass young female celebrities, and his films were blatant rip-offs skirting copyright laws.

Han Buji, who had been so doting and playful with his girlfriend when drunk, transformed completely when faced with someone who had bullied Tao Hui. He became ruthless and uncompromising, immediately contacting a lawyer to sue Li Biao.

The female celebrities previously associated with Li Biao panicked, scrambling to distance themselves from him. Eager to win public favor, they eagerly publicized every misdeed they knew he had committed.

As the saying goes, “When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down.” Li Biao became like a rat scurrying through the streets, despised by all.

Han You, who had been Li Biao’s closest associate in recent years, was also exposed by the other young actresses, each eager to implicate her.

Initially, Han You put on a show of victimhood, livestreaming herself crying and pleading her innocence to her fans. Her tears flowed like pear blossoms in the rain, her eyes red and swollen like a moon rabbit descended from the heavens.

While Han You was livestreaming, Tao Hui sat cross-legged on the sofa, gnawing on a spicy rabbit head. Han Buji handed her a glass of passion fruit juice, reminding her, “Drink some juice to cut the spice and grease.”

“My hands are all greasy,” Tao Hui said, her lips burning red. “Can you turn up the brightness on my phone? You’re the best boyfriend ever! Heart heart!” She gestured with her chin, directing Han Buji.

Han Buji glanced at the phone screen, where Han You was sobbing hysterically. He raised an eyebrow. “Why are you watching her?”

“She should take acting lessons,” Tao Hui remarked, gnawing on a rabbit head. “What a perfect white lotus! Tsk, tsk, tsk… Look at her crying so naturally, trembling all over like she’s set on vibrate mode.”

Han Buji didn’t glance at Han You’s tearful performance on the phone screen. Instead, he stared at Tao Hui’s bright red lips for a long moment before finally saying, “Your mouth is greasy.”

“What do you expect from eating rabbit heads? Help me wipe it,” Tao Hui pouted, her eyes still glued to her phone. “How does she manage to cry like that without getting a runny nose? I’m seriously… Ugh!”

Before she could finish, Han Buji, sitting across from her, pinched her chin and kissed her.

Kneeling on the sofa, Han Buji braced himself against the backrest with one hand while gently caressing Tao Hui’s cheek with the other. He pressed two soft kisses against her lips before Tao Hui interrupted with a sudden, vigorous struggle, like a carp leaping out of water.

Her head slammed against the sofa back, her hair slightly disheveled. She stared at Han Buji in a panic. “No! Wu Yue said you can’t eat spicy food—not even a tiny bit!”

As she spoke, her cheeks flushed faintly, and her eyes shimmered with a watery sheen—whether from the spice or the kiss, Han Buji couldn’t tell. Her lashes fluttered like a feather brushing lightly against his heart.

Han Buji chuckled, “It’s fine. You’re sweet enough.”

Without giving Tao Hui a chance to protest, he silenced her objections with a long, possessive kiss.

While Tao Hui and Han Buji lived in blissful harmony, Han You diligently livestreamed her pitiful act every day.

Han You’s portrayal of an innocent rabbit spirit was truly masterful. Unfortunately, it’s not the formidable opponents you need to fear, but the incompetent allies.

Han You’s teammate, the pig-headed Li Biao, immediately betrayed her, tearfully confessing, “Han You ordered me to do it all! She hates Tao Hui and wanted to ruin her! I was just following her orders!”

Han You finally made it to the trending topics, firmly securing a spot in the top three.

The headlines weren’t flattering:

1. Snake-Hearted Han You
2. Saint-Syrlandy Terminates Endorsement Contract with Han You
3. Han You’s Sugar Daddy: Li Biao

Tao Hui remained blissfully unaware of the online drama. The previous night, Gao Meng had suddenly appeared, flustered after Lu Xiaotang’s awkward confession. The silly girl had rushed to her boss’s house, knocked on the door, shoved past him, and thrown herself into the Boss Lady’s arms.

This young woman, who was full of witty banter when shipping couples online, found herself deeply confused when faced with real-life romance.

Tao Hui spent half the night comforting Gao Meng like a wise older sister. Lu Xiaotang eventually came to pick Gao Meng up, and Tao Hui didn’t fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.

She slept until 10 a.m., jolted awake by a phone call. Still groggy, she answered without opening her eyes, forcing herself to sound alert: “Hello, who is this?”

“Good morning, Miss Tao. We’ve worked together before. I’m the Manager for Saint-Syrlandy. Do you have some time in the next few days?” a familiar, gentle male voice asked.

Still half-asleep and wearing a silk eye mask, Tao Hui mumbled, thinking she was dreaming, “Saint-Syrlandy? What do you want with me? I’m not endorsing your brand anymore.”

The gentle voice seemed slightly embarrassed. He cleared his throat and continued, “Miss Tao, the actresses we’ve worked with since haven’t captured the brand’s essence as well as you did. We’d still very much like to collaborate with you. Your manager, Mr. Zhou… seems to have blocked my number…”

Tao Hui had once been deeply grateful to the Saint-Syrlandy brand, even lowering her endorsement fee to represent them, which led to numerous clashes with her agency’s executives.

But last year, Saint-Syrlandy had unilaterally dropped her.

Their reason was particularly absurd: they claimed the birthmark on her neck didn’t align with their brand’s concept of “flawless skin.” Tao Hui wasn’t naive; she saw through their pretense immediately. What “didn’t align”? It was obvious Han You had bribed Li Biao to secure the endorsement.

Still half-asleep, Tao Hui answered the “dream call” with fierce defiance: “Wasn’t it right for my manager to block you? I, Tao Hui, will never work with brands like yours again! Goodbye!”

After hanging up, Tao Hui lay in bed for another two minutes before groggily removing her eye mask. When she checked her phone’s call history, she was instantly horrified.

“Han Buji! This is bad!” Tao Hui screamed, phone in hand, as she burst into the kitchen, where Han Buji was on a call.

Hearing her voice, Han Buji told the caller, “Hold on a moment,” and turned to Tao Hui. “What’s wrong?”

Tao Hui slumped. “I’ve offended the brand daddy.”

Han Buji covered the phone and raised an eyebrow. “Who is it?”

“Saint-Syrlandy,” Tao Hui replied.

“Don’t worry about it. If we’ve offended them, so be it. I wasn’t planning on having you work with them again anyway.” Han Buji chuckled and patted Tao Hui’s disheveled hair.

“Oh, who’s calling? Is it work?” Tao Hui perked up immediately, her confidence restored. She tilted her head and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

Han Buji exchanged a few brief words with Wu Yue on the phone before hanging up. He stroked Tao Hui’s hair and said softly, “Han You attempted suicide. They’re trying to save her at the hospital.”

“What?” Tao Hui’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Suicide? Why?”

Han Buji shook his head. “I don’t know the exact reason. But Wu Yue said there’s a recording of you on Han You’s phone. Apparently, it was playing on repeat when they found her.”

Tao Hui stared blankly.

What’s wrong with this girl? Listening to my voice while trying to kill herself?

Thank goodness Han You’s a girl. If she were a boy, I’d suspect she was some obsessive stalker with a secret crush on me.

Unlike Tao Hui’s carefree attitude, Han Buji was more cautious. He worried that the recording Han You had been listening to might contain something damaging to Tao Hui.

At first glance, Han You seemed like an ordinary girl. But beneath her deliberately sweet and cute facade lay a deep-seated resentment, the kind that made her prone to obsessing over trivial matters.

Fortunately, Han Buji’s worries didn’t last long. The audio clip Han You had been obsessively replaying soon surfaced online. It was a recording of Han You’s conversation with Tao Hui in the dressing room of the Charming production.

The recording began with Han You’s voice: “…You’re carrying an LV bag and wearing Chanel sunglasses, but as far as I know, you’re not a second-generation rich kid, Sister Tao Hui. So how did a sixteen-year-old like you manage to deck yourself out in head-to-toe international luxury brands?”

This remark immediately brought to mind the old rumors about Tao Hui having a sugar daddy.

The subsequent audio featured Tao Hui’s calm, measured response: “…First, I have no connections and I’m an orphan. Second, all my designer items are fake—not even high-quality replicas… The first thing the director said to me when I joined the production crew was, ‘Tao Hui, can you please stop wearing those cheap knockoffs? They look so tacky…'”

As the audio recording surfaced, Han You was declared out of critical danger.

The recording contained so much information that netizens quickly discovered the orphanage Tao Hui had previously donated to was the same one where she had grown up.

Marketing accounts attempted to stir up controversy, smearing Tao Hui by claiming her romance was a “rags-to-riches” story and accusing her of wearing fake designer brands. However, they were swiftly condemned by netizens and fans, leading to their accounts being suspended.

The internet erupted with shock and sympathy:

<i>”Waaah, my Rabbit is so wonderful! How could she have lived through such hardship? My heart aches for her!”</i>

<i>”I feel so bad for Miss Tao Hui! I hope Best Actor Han treats her well!”</i>

<i>”OMG, what an inspiring story! Tao Hui is so strong!”</i>

<i>”I cried the whole time I was watching. This beautiful young woman never complained about her life. She’s amazing!”</i>

<i>”Upstairs, what did you just say?! ‘Amazing’?!”</i>

<i>”No, no, I meant ‘so strong’! Sorry, I typed it wrong!”</i>

The entire internet was heartbroken for this resilient young woman. Some netizens commented that Tao Hui always appeared with a smile, like a little sun radiating positive energy.

That day, Tao Hui posted a Weibo video. In it, she wore Han Buji’s loose-fitting men’s loungewear, without makeup, sitting on the sofa with a faint smile. Looking slightly embarrassed, she scratched her hair before speaking with a smile:

“First, I want to apologize to my brand dads, LV and Chanel. Back then, I was too poor and didn’t really know much about luxury brands. I even thought I was pretty trendy… Hehe… I’m really sorry. Please don’t follow my example and support genuine products.”

After saying this with a smile, Tao Hui paused for two seconds, took a deep breath, and suppressed the stinging sensation in her nose. “I’ve seen the speculation and comments online. Thank you all for your support. I…”

She carefully chose her words, unsure how to proceed. When she spoke again, she wore a bright smile. “Actually, I feel incredibly lucky. Please don’t feel sad for me anymore. Let’s all be happy! How about I sing you a song? What should I sing? Hmm… How about something powerful and uplifting!”

Then, the person in the video cleared her throat and belted out: “The great river flows eastward! The stars in the sky align with the Big Dipper! When injustice is seen, a roar is heard! When action is needed, strike! Storm across the nine provinces with fiery passion! Hey-ay-hey-yi-er-yo!”

The song was as stark a contrast to Tao Hui’s image as the moon in the heavens to a turtle in the ocean. Netizens were stunned, but still clung to the thought: Rabbit’s working so hard to make us laugh. We’ll shower her with praise later. As they listened, they racked their brains for the most extravagant compliments.

After finishing the song, the young actress, her face flushed from shouting, waved at the person filming and mouthed: All done! Did I sing well?

Then, the netizens heard a soft chuckle from the Best Actor, followed by a doting: “You sang beautifully, Girlfriend. Your voice is heavenly, a hundred times better than Zhang Luxiao’s.”

Zhang Luxiao, who was watching the video: ?! I’m the damn Newcomer King of Singers! King!

The other netizens: …I concede. The Best Actor truly is Rabbit’s brainless fanboy.