Chapter 38
It was obvious to anyone watching that Tang Yue and Jiang Shulu were whispering to each other.
What’s more, Tang Yue had pulled on his hood, hiding half his face, and was leaning so close to Jiang Shulu that it made everyone incredibly curious about what they were saying.
But the production team hadn’t turned on their mics at that moment. The sound of the tide crashed against the shore, the sky was dim, and the image of them from behind gave many old fans a sense of déjà vu, a feeling of overlap with the past.
Liang Yi finally had a moment to open the live stream and check on Tang Yue.
It was already past office hours, but Liang Yi, who had recently returned to S City, was still swamped. Her assistant knew she cared about Tang Yue and made sure to give her regular updates on his situation.
Liang Yi had only provided the funding and the initial planner for this variety show; she hadn’t been personally involved in the specific negotiations.
Taking the device from her assistant, Liang Yi looked at the screen.
Seaside. Two adults leading two children were walking beside massive, colorful wave breakers.
These wave breakers were shaped like stars. A top-tier team, a top-tier visual.
The comments were a mess of fans’ wails and screams, refreshing so quickly it was impossible to keep up.
“The other kid is one of their members’?” Liang Yi asked.
“His nephew,” the assistant replied.
Liang Yi was a busy woman with very little time for entertainment. Her only hobby was spending money, or rather, spending money on others.
Looking at the string of boyfriends she’d had, the assistant even felt they couldn’t really be called boyfriends; they were all just living off Liang Yi.
Some people probably used this as a way to de-stress. For example, Liang Yi’s hobby was finding amusement in young men.
Liang Yi let out an “oh.” “Has Xiujun gone over yet?”
“Mr. Jiang left yesterday,” the assistant said.
Liang Yi nodded, her eyes on the screen where Tang Yue and Jiang Shulu were looking at each other. “Do you think there’s something going on between them?”
The assistant was experienced. She had been with Liang Yi for five years and thought she understood this woman, but she still found it hard to deal with Liang Yi’s sudden questions.
The assistant knew that President Liang had a younger brother, but she never expected that brother to be the maknae of the boy band that had been a national sensation.
The two of them seemed completely unrelated, as if they had no intersection in their lives.
The relationships of wealthy families were always complicated. Liang Yi and Tang Yue were half-siblings.
But Tang Yue hadn’t been seen in five years. Since the Tang family’s business had been taken over by Liang Yi’s company, the current shareholders were completely unaware of the relationship between Liang Yi and Tang Yue.
They only thought this woman’s methods were impressive, truly terrifying.
The assistant let out an “uh.” “I guess so.”
This was the only popular variety show recently.
You could see people watching it everywhere during their commute. Not to mention the large-screen ads bought by the fans themselves; it was hard to miss.
Even a trip to the break room to get water would be filled with colleagues’ discussions. If you weren’t in the circle, knowing a little made it easier to find topics for conversation.
“Check my schedule for a free day. I want to go see Tang Mian,” Liang Yi said.
“You’re going too?”
“Don’t I have annual leave?”
The woman’s long hair fell to her shoulders. She had a natural air of authority, and her face wasn’t one to be trifled with.
Her style was also completely decisive and efficient. Many business partners were a little intimidated when they first met Liang Yi.
“Then will you be staying with Mr. Jiang?” the assistant asked.
Liang Yi was still looking at Tang Yue on the screen.
She had visited Tang Yue from time to time over the years. This cheap younger brother of hers was indeed pitiable, looking quite pathetic.
It gave Liang Yi a completely different feeling from what was written in his file. If it weren’t for the DNA test confirming their blood relationship, she would have suspected that Tang Yue wasn’t from this world.
His constitution was special, he spoke in a mystical way, had no plans for his own future, and seemed convinced that he didn’t have long to live.
But his body was very healthy, he’d even had a child. Where did this “not long to live” come from?
Liang Yi hummed in agreement, her finger tapping open the comment section. She found that many of the popular comments were hoping the production team would add flying guests.
There was even a poll, and the top vote was for the leader of UL.
Liang Yi asked her assistant, “What’s the relationship between this person and Tang Yue?”
When she wasn’t working, even the most terrifying boss had a gossipy side. She asked curiously, “Did he date Tang Yue?”
At this moment, Liang Yi really did look like an approachable older sister.
Her tone even carried a hint of teasing about her younger brother’s love life.
“I don’t know about that,” the assistant said.
She tried to remember if her younger sister at home had mentioned this. It seemed like she vaguely remembered something about that leader tricking Tang Yue or something.
“Contact the production team and have them add him as a flying guest. Rework the plan,” Liang Yi said.
“Huh?”
“Is there a problem? A relationship always needs some ups and downs to heat up, right?”
Anyone who didn’t know would think this was really a romance show.
The assistant nodded, unable to resist asking, “President Liang, why do you have to make it happen on the show? Couldn’t it happen in private?”
Liang Yi’s finger tapped on the table. Only then did the assistant notice an invitation on her desk.
An invitation to a banquet from the Jiang family, for the birthday of one of the old men from the previous generation.
The time was this weekend, and the location was a castle-like building in S City specifically used for banquets.
“What ‘private’ is there in the Jiang family? Unless Jiang Shulu is going on a blind date.”
She sighed. “It’s a pity Tang Yue is a boy, otherwise I could have squeezed him onto the blind date list.”
Although she said that, Liang Yi’s tone was very carefree. “But it doesn’t matter. Tang Yue is my brother, he can go with me.”
“The Jiang family doesn’t want a male daughter-in-law, but our family still wants a son-in-law who marries in.”
The assistant was petrified, feeling like she had just heard some earth-shattering plan.
But she couldn’t tell if it was a joke or real. After all, Liang Yi always spoke half-truthfully, requiring her subordinates to guess.
A male daughter-in-law, does she mean what I think she means?
And what’s with a son-in-law who marries in?
You actually want Jiang Shulu to be a live-in son-in-law? Who’s marrying who? Do you want him to bring the Jiang family’s assets with him?
Such ambition! What a terrifying woman!
Tang Yue had no idea about Liang Yi’s grand ambitions.
He and Jiang Shulu were sitting on a blue wave breaker, looking at the moonlit sea.
Tang Mian had brought binoculars when he came out, and the two little boys were sitting to the side, taking turns looking into the distance.
The sound of the waves came in bursts. Jiang Shulu saw Tang Mian about to go look at another wave breaker and asked Tang Yue, “Are there a lot of photos at home?”
Tang Yue was about to follow Tang Mian; he was always worried something would happen to him.
“What?”
Jiang Shulu jumped down first and gave Tang Yue a hand. “I heard Xiao Mie say there are a lot of photos at home.”
Tang Yue hummed in agreement. “They were taken before, all developed.”
Jiang Shulu didn’t have any particular fondness for the sea; no matter how nice the wave breakers were, they wouldn’t attract his attention.
But when Tang Yue was filming the island special before, he always wanted to run over here.
The two children in front were taking pictures of each other with cameras. One was Yao Lixin’s miniature camera, and the other was Tang Yue’s Polaroid.
Tang Mian’s wrist was also hung with photo paper. Because it was too much trouble, Yao Xuan’yu let Tang Mian give the film camera to Tang Yue to hold.
The adults stood to the side chatting. One had his hands in his pockets, the other had put the other’s hand into his own pocket.
“Why do you like it so much?” Jiang Shulu asked.
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