Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself

Chapter 531: Accompanying to Work

"Previously, you two haven’t experienced being chased by paparazzi during your secret romance, have you? Some of these paparazzi are like dogs that smell meat—they won’t stop until they catch something. Luckily, you two behaved yourselves before."He Ci sighed, "Well, now you can consider this as catching up on the experience of being hunted by paparazzi."

Yu Xia took off her stifling mask and accepted the cup of water offered by Xie Qingci.

"Feels like we’re eloping. Is there any car still following us?"

"Not anymore," He Ci said, twirling his sunglasses on his finger as he glanced at the tightly packed couple in the rearview mirror. "If you were really eloping, it wouldn’t look like this. Your brother would use luxury cars to block the entire street."

"...It’s not that exaggerated." It sounded as if her family was some sort of mafia aristocracy.

He Ci said, "You never know. The other day, your brother looked like he was going to eat someone alive. If you guys get married, won’t he be even more irritable?"

"Getting married? That’s not happening; you’re fantasizing too much. When I first debuted, you said I’d be working single until I was thirty." She casually responded.

Xie Qingci joined the conversation and turned his head to ask her, "Why not happening?"

Yu Xia looked at him in shock, and both He Ci and Mei slightly gaped their mouths, their eyes darting towards him.

Yu Xia chuckled a bit, "You haven’t seriously thought about marriage, have you? It’s way too early for that. You’ve only been in the industry for two years; what young actor has such a short prime period like you?"

He Ci said, "Exactly. Although getting married doesn’t necessarily mean a break in career, in the entertainment industry, being single, dating, and getting married are different situations. Married artists inevitably face some impact."

He had just moved to a big house, not wanting his prized clients to marry halfway; he still hoped to see his own career as a manager rise.

Xie Qingci remained relaxed, unbothered by how far-fetched his words seemed.

"I was just asking why you think it’s not happening. If you’re dating, it’s only natural to consider marriage. Isn’t that normal? Even if it takes years to happen, doesn’t hurt to think about it ahead."

"That’s because you don’t understand the entertainment industry," He Ci, being an industry veteran for years, shared his insights on artists dating and getting married.

"In this circle, relationships and marriages are usually at two extremes: either quick marriage and quick divorce or a long, ambiguous relationship.

We can further categorize it into three situations—first, when artists date rich second generations, especially female artists with wealthy heirs, it’s usually the rich second generations picking and choosing or family disapproval. If they do end up together, it’s fast, news of marriage might splash headlines within a month of knowing each other. If not, breakups are swift too."

"Second is when artists pair with directors, producers, or crew members, which generally develops quickly—within a single movie shoot—but can easily fall apart."

"The third scenario is artists dating other artists or ordinary people, usually enduring long-term romances lasting five to eight years, often kept secret. While dating, they might vanish if one suddenly becomes popular or successful. They are often hesitant to go public, let alone marry early. Plus, breakups can get ugly; we see divorce spats regularly; it’s a mutual exposure, neither wanting to yield."

"Looking at the overall atmosphere, most couples in this situation tacitly avoid discussing further steps. While there’s affection, they stay together, as no one can predict whether future hate could lead to betrayal."

Yu Xia leaned forward to touch the seat ahead, "He, you’re going off track; do you think we would end up hating each other?"

He Ci glanced at them, jokingly saying, "Who knows."

If one day another Xie Qingci figure emerges, yearning for her affection, wouldn’t Xie Qingci go mad?

Yu Xia rolled her eyes and reached for Xie Qingci’s hand.

"Don’t listen to He; his love life isn’t smooth, so he can’t stand others being happy."

Xie Qingci grasped her hand in return and nodded seriously, "I noticed."

He Ci: "..."

Are they pretending I don’t exist?!

Mei giggled to herself, watching the drama unfold like a good show.

The conversation extended until they reached their destination.

The magazine shoot wasn’t their first collaboration, they were somewhat familiar. The team even inquired about Yu Xia’s health first thing.

When their gazes fell on the person sticking close to her, they gave a teasing ambiguous smile.

"Can’t bear to leave him, you brought your boyfriend along? We don’t do couple shoots here."

Yu Xia proficiently retorted, "Doing couple shoots would cost extra. He’s just accompanying me since he has nothing else to do these days."

"Got it. I heard online that you keep him on a tight leash, but it seems like it’s the other way around—he won’t leave your side even for work. Is it like the couple shooting next door—"

The other party gestured towards next door, where several people were taking group photos in the studio, and a pretty girl in a dress stood behind the cameraman.

She looked a bit familiar, but Yu Xia couldn’t recognize who it was, so she looked at He Ci.

He Ci casually explained, "Last year, a movie he performed in did okay; that guy played the second male lead and got a bit of recognition thanks to his character. The girl outside is his girlfriend; they were together long before the film released. The girl seems worried he’d stray after a minor fame, so she tags along everywhere.

If collaborating with female artists, she follows through the whole process, leaving the actresses too intimidated during promotions to openly mention the male actor’s tag. The key is the male actor isn’t exactly behaving."

The magazine team agreed with a nod, "Right, that’s way over the top, really treats him like a prized possession fighting everyone off. Her presence made things uncomfortable for us, too."

Yu Xia raised an eyebrow post listening, "Well, that situation is quite different from ours. My little brother is purely accompanying me."

"It is different," the magazine team chuckled, "You both are the real prizes."

They then led her to the makeup room, with Xie Qingci following closely behind.

Outside, hearing that Xie Qingci was accompanying Yu Xia to the magazine shoot prompted some to sneakily peek and gossip in whispers about "how well they get along," "Xie Qingci always looking at Yu Xia," "Does Yu Xia insist on dragging him along, or is Xie Qingci hesitant to let go?"

The magazine team couldn’t stand by; they assigned Xie Qingci an exclusive seat in the makeup room, making him look like backstage bigwig overseeing his girlfriend, with the makeup artist occasionally seeking his input.