Zong Xuan looked at Xu Tang with an unfriendly expression.
Xu Tang also did not speak again, only waiting for Zong Xuan’s reply.
After a long while, Zong Xuan said coldly: “The marriage alliance was proposed by your Xu family in the first place. I also asked you whether you truly wanted to marry, and you said ‘yes’, so I married you. All the wedding procedures were also arranged according to your preferences; whatever you said went. Although this was a marriage alliance, neither of us interfered in the other’s life. We agreed on this before marriage, and we indeed did it. So up to now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with this marriage. The marriage was what you wanted, everything was your call. But marriage is not something belonging to one person alone. Getting married—you get to decide, yes. But getting divorced, I decide!”
He was never someone who would let himself be controlled by others. Marrying Xu Tang was already a compromise for him. So he was actually somewhat dissatisfied with this marriage. And he would not compromise a second time. Since the marriage was already done, when to divorce, whether to divorce, all of it had to be up to him!
Xu Tang stared blankly at Zong Xuan. He originally thought Zong Xuan would agree very readily, after all, in this marriage, the only one who was willing was him. But he did not expect that Zong Xuan would actually refuse…
However, he also understood that Zong Xuan simply did not like losing control over his life, and was not refusing because of love—this was even more painful than not being loved.
Seeing Xu Tang remain silent, his eyes slightly reddening, Zong Xuan somehow felt a sudden pain in his heart. Afterwards, he softened his tone and said, “About the scandal, I will settle it before tomorrow morning.”
Xu Tang really wanted to ask, “Are you so actively trying to resolve it because of me, or because of Teng Yizheng?” but his mouth moved and he did not ask it out. Anyway, he already roughly knew the answer—about eighty percent—and why humiliate himself further?
Taking a deep breath, Xu Tang stood up. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back.”
Zong Xuan did not stop him.
Xu Tang then turned and left the audiovisual room.
Watching Xu Tang’s thin back, Zong Xuan sighed—once this matter is settled, I should buy a gift for Xu Tang. After all, it was due to his carelessness that Xu Tang was affected, which was not right to begin with. Xu Tang was probably under too much pressure, and his temper was not very good either. They should both calm down before talking.
Xu Tang returned to his room and immediately went to sleep under the covers. For him, this was the best way to temporarily escape worries and anxiety.
On the other side, Liao Mei finally posted a Weibo post—【The road of true love has never been smooth.】
These eight words could be interpreted in many ways. Such vague language, an ambiguous so-called “explanation,” not only failed to clarify anything, but could even be said to be like adding a cup of water into a pot of boiling oil.
After seeing the Weibo, Zong Xuan sneered in his heart. He called Wen Hui.
After Wen Hui finished a call with Kang Duo, they had already prepared on all sides and drafted several backup plans. So Liao Mei’s vague, non-explanatory Weibo did not cause them to panic; instead, they began operations according to procedure.
The studio’s official Weibo first issued a statement, saying that Zong Xuan had no relationship with Liao Mei. The reason they had delayed clarification for so long was because they had considered Liao Mei was a woman and would care more about her reputation, so they wanted to wait for Liao Mei to clarify on Weibo first before giving the public an explanation. But the situation had now seriously affected Zong Xuan and Xu Tang’s normal lives. Since Liao Mei had not given a clear explanation, the studio no longer wished to wait, and thus issued this statement, along with surveillance footage from the parking lot at that time, to prove innocence.
Because Liao Mei did not show respect, the studio also no longer showed respect to Mr. Zhao, directly releasing the entire process.
—The truth was revealed.
Fans who originally did not want to cause trouble for Zong Xuan and were quietly waiting for results no longer remained silent, and collectively attacked her, cursing Liao Mei thoroughly. Other actors’ fans who took the opportunity to slander Zong Xuan were also counterattacked, slapped hard in the face.
With evidence and statements, other entertainers in the industry finally stood up one after another to support Zong Xuan. Zong Xuan found it somewhat amusing—people in this circle really were becoming better and better at surface-level politeness.
He also dug up the earlier Weibo post from “Zhou Yijian” accusing him of cheating, reposted it with the comment “heh heh,” then logged off Weibo to shower and sleep—daring to jump around on his head like this, it seemed Zhou Yijian no longer wanted to stay in the industry.
Later that night, an anonymous Weibo account posted photos of Liao Mei groping male actors over the years. Only then did everyone realize this woman seemed not to be doing this for the first time.
Once someone started, things naturally became even more heated. Soon the topic #Liao Mei sexually harassing male actors# trended, and netizens dug up even more photos and news. Even some minor actors came forward saying they had been harassed. After that, Liao Mei’s background was completely exposed. Many netizens also began to sympathize with Mr. Zhao, who was wearing a “green hat” two meters high.
The studio kept monitoring online trends and guiding public opinion. The earlier account exposing Liao Mei’s behavior was actually created by their studio, but they did not expect the effect to be so good, even uncovering things they themselves did not know—an unexpected gain.
Kang Duo also kept watching. Once the online comments stabilized, she messaged Xu Tang, telling him to retweet Zong Xuan’s studio Weibo the next morning. As for Zong Xuan’s personal post… just ignore it.
The next morning, Xu Tang woke up and saw Kang Duo’s message.
Sitting up in bed holding his phone, he checked the situation roughly. Indeed, Zong Xuan’s studio was not inefficient—it was just dependent on who the target was.
He sighed slightly and retweeted the studio’s Weibo, then put down his phone, washed up, and ate breakfast. Tonight he still had a performance at a music festival, so after eating he prepared to go to the company.
His retweet without any comment drew concern from many fans:
“Tongtong, are you okay?”
“That woman is really looking for trouble, dragging our Tongtong into this, so hateful!”
“Muah Tongtong, as long as you and Zong Yingdi are fine, I love you both so much!”
“I think our ‘Tong fans’ are not united enough. We didn’t even band together to attack this time; otherwise Zong Xuan’s studio would have been pressured to issue a statement earlier.”
“Agree with above. Zong Xuan fans only cared about their idol and waited for the statement, without considering Tongtong’s position. We weren’t strong enough, so Tongtong got bullied!”
“If this happens again, we must all go fight together!”
……
This farce did not achieve the mastermind’s expectations, but it unexpectedly brought Xu Tang some gains—whether to be happy or sad, it was hard to tell.
And Xu Tang’s attitude also seemed meaningful to the media, so the music festival became the best place for them to intercept him.
At the music festival, Xu Tang was scheduled to sing three songs.
Once on stage, Xu Tang cast aside all distractions and focused entirely on singing. His interactions between songs were gentle and lively, appearing completely unaffected by the scandal. His pure retweet also looked, in hindsight, like he was saying: “I believe Zong Xuan, there is nothing more to say.”
The audience’s enthusiasm was also fully stirred. Whether fans or not, at that moment everyone’s impression of him improved greatly.
To prevent overly enthusiastic fans from causing chaos, the organizers had strong security measures in place. Even though more reporters came than expected, the situation was still well controlled.
After the performance, Xu Tang did not accept any interviews and directly left in a car.
To prevent tailing, the car drove straight to the company, making others think Xu Tang had returned home after the performance and would go home a bit later. But in reality, after entering the company building, Xu Tang went directly to the underground parking lot, got into a very low-profile black car, and drove in the opposite direction of home.
Meanwhile, about fifteen minutes later, Yuan Shang sat in the car Xu Tang usually used, heading toward Xu Tang’s home, letting reporters waiting at the company gate “see” Xu Tang going home. The car even entered the residential area, stayed briefly, then returned the same way.
Sitting in the car, Yuan Shang felt very complicated—Xu Tang actually did not go home, but went to another residence. What kind of situation was this? Clearly a separation situation! Then after that wouldn’t it be…
Yuan Shang quickly shook his head, pushing those messy thoughts out—Kang Duo also knew about this, which meant if it was discovered, she would find a way to handle it. But Xu Tang had not allowed them to tell their big boss and general manager, meaning Xu Tang’s father and elder brother. If this got exposed, neither he nor Kang Duo would escape punishment. And given how much the general manager doted on Xu Tang, Xu Tang would probably be fine… as expected, when the young master causes trouble, the subordinates take the blame!
Xu Tang drove into a high-end residential community. There were only two buildings here, not many people, relatively private, with excellent greenery and a medium-sized sports ground, very suitable for living.
This was Xu Tang’s residence before marriage. After he moved out, it had remained vacant, but someone came regularly to clean it, so it was very clean.
After entering, Xu Tang threw his luggage bag onto the coffee table and collapsed onto the sofa. There was no sign of Zong Xuan here, nor his scent, but to Xu Tang it made no difference, because Zong Xuan was not often at home anyway. His life actually did not contain many real traces of Zong Xuan; he only followed him more through the internet.
After reposting Weibo today, he decided to move out. If he continued living under the same roof, he was afraid that seeing news about Zong Xuan and Teng Yizheng together would make his jealousy uncontrollable. After thinking “since we can’t divorce, we’ll separate first,” he did not give himself time to think further and simply packed a few bags, leaving after breakfast.
Now, back in this place belonging only to himself, although his heart felt empty, there were no disturbances, and his mind gradually calmed.
Lying lazily on the sofa, his phone rang.
Taking it out from his bag, seeing the caller ID, Xu Tang immediately sat up and answered.
“Brother.”
“I just returned from abroad, how are you?” Xu Zhou’s voice on the other end was cold yet gentle.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Xu Tang tried to make his voice sound like he was smiling.
“Really?” Xu Zhou confirmed. He knew better than anyone that his younger brother liked Zong Xuan, and this marriage was also something he had personally arranged. Originally he just wanted his younger brother, whom he had raised, to be happy, but he did not expect that while he was abroad for a short trip, such a big incident would occur—was it disrespecting his brother, or disrespecting the Xu family?
“Really. If I wasn’t happy, I would have already complained to you and sister.” Xu Tang said. In truth, even if he was unhappy, he would not do that; he only said it to reassure Xu Zhou.
Xu Zhou slightly relaxed, “That’s good. If anything happens, don’t keep it in your heart, tell the family.”
“I know.” Xu Tang forced a smile and said: “I’m just a bit tired after the music festival. The scandal about Zong Xuan has already been cleared up. After a couple of days when the heat dies down, everything will be fine. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. When you’re free, I’ll come home for dinner.”
“Alright, then have the kitchen make a few more of your favorite dishes.” Xu Zhou’s voice finally carried a bit of a smile.
Xu Tang lay back on the sofa, covering his eyes with his arm, “You just got back, you must be jet-lagged, rest early, don’t overwork yourself.”
“Mm, alright.” Seeing that Xu Tang seemed fine, Xu Zhou felt reassured. As for other matters, he would talk with Kang Duo and Yuan Shang later to understand Xu Tang’s situation, “You should also sleep early.”
“Okay, goodnight, brother.”
“Goodnight.”
Putting the phone aside, Xu Tang rubbed his face—without love, he still had family. No need to be afraid!
In the villa, Zong Xuan sat on the sofa waiting for Xu Tang to come back. Yesterday he had spoken a bit harshly, and now thinking about it, that little thing might have been depressed these past few days and brought up divorce out of frustration, which was understandable. So he planned to apologize when Xu Tang returned, and let the matter be over.
But he waited and did not see him. Waited again and still did not see him. It was already 11 p.m.—what was going on?
After thinking for a moment, Zong Xuan sent Xu Tang a WeChat message: Where are you? Why aren’t you back yet?
Soon after, Xu Tang replied: I’m not coming back. Please think again about the divorce.
Zong Xuan stared in disbelief—what situation was this? Was he being separated?!