Chapter 271: Meeting the Elders
Translator: Yunyi Editor: Yunyi
Compared to Mo Ting's mysteriousness, Quan Ye accepted interviews more often. Whenever reporters came across him on the street, if he or his female companion was in a good mood, he would act all generous and answer their questions.
For example, at present, he was returning to China with his twin models. As soon as they unboarded the cruise, they ran into the waiting reporters. In this cold weather, he was only wearing a thin pair of board shorts, a set of Kalikali sunglasses and had one girl around each arm. The smile on his face was typical of a young and rich professional.
"President Quan, President Quan, you've received so much attention as soon as you returned to Beijing and have ruled over the news headlines alongside President Mo. What are your thoughts towards this?"
"Do you mind being compared? In what way do you think you are different to President Mo?"
Quan Ye stopped in his track, lowered his sunglasses slightly and peered at everyone. He then laughed, "My thoughts? Honored?"
"As for our differences...I guess we have different sexual preferences," Quan Ye chuckled before wrapping his arm around the twin models and walking away. From this moment onwards, rumors started spreading about the 32-year-old entertainment big boss; the CEO of Hai Rui, Mo Ting. Everyone started saying he had an interest in men.
From the time Mo Ting took over Hai Rui, he had always been mysterious and kept a low profile; he had never had any scandals. He'd never had any rumors with women, let alone men.
On the other hand, the 27-year-old Quan Ye had a girlfriend count that was almost equivalent to the number of artists in Star King. So, the Mo Ting that still had not had a single girlfriend, appeared extremely weird to the outside world.
Even if he had Tangning, after what Quan Ye said, everyone would assume he was only using her to cover up his secret.
All of a sudden, the rumor of Mo Ting being gay started spreading like wildfire. As they were afraid of stirring up trouble with Hai Rui, they could only gossip in secret.
"Hey, have you guys heard that the CEO of Hai Rui is, you know...? I can't believe it."
"He must be hidden deep inside the closet. Think about it, he's never acted like a typical man and never exposed his body to the public. I've heard that gay men are extremely mindful of people's judgment so they act even more normal than a normal person."
"What would happen to Tangning then?"
"I guess the 'couple fans' will need to die a little inside..."
"I feel this Quan Ye has quite a filthy mouth. Just because he lives a showy life, does that mean others need to be like him to be considered normal? Can't there be low-profile people in the entertainment industry? Who knows, maybe President Mo is already married without us knowing."
"If he's married, why is he acting ambiguous with Tangning?"
Most of the main media sources were too afraid to report on the scandal. Only a few aggressive netizens were brave enough to talk recklessly.
"Tangning, this Quan Ye has quite a filthy mouth! How dare he insult the Boss when his scrawny body does not compare!" Long Jie yelled in frustration after seeing the news. "It's clear to see, the agency is a direct representation of its boss."
Tangning turned and looked at the tightly shut study room. In reality, no matter how people insulted her, she didn't care. But, this time, they were talking about Mo Ting.
Although Hai Rui had done PR to contain the situation, the rumor that Mo Ting was gay would definitely be used against him in future.
But, if Tangning was to step out and respond, she wouldn't be very convincing because she was on a different level.
"What did the Boss say?"
"He did not respond," Tangning replied. This was a battle between the two agency bosses; observers had no business getting involved.
"So, he will just sit there and let Quan Ye insult him? We should think of a way to teach him a lesson..."
Tangning lowered her head and contemplated for a moment. She stood up from the sofa and headed for the study room. As soon as she saw her husband hard at work, she walked straight over to his side and sat down next to him before helping him sign off his documents.
"What's wrong?"
"I've seen the news online," Tangning said as she leaned into his embrace. "To be honest, I am a bit uncomfortable about it. This Quan Ye wants to devalue you, but I refuse to let him do that."
Mo Ting held onto his documents in one hand and stroked Tangning's hair with the other, "You think he can go up against me with his scrawny body?"
"You're not going to respond?"
"I've already called his father and questioned his methods of teaching his child. If he doesn't know how to teach him, then I will have to step in," Mo Ting scanned through the documents as he answered Tangning's question.
"You know his father?"
"Although Hai Rui and Star King are competitors, the older generation remain friends."
"So, you dobbed him in?" Tangning was a little surprised. Of course, Tangning had no idea Hai Rui and Star King still had elders to answer to.
"That's why I received an invite to a banquet," Mo Ting put down his documents and looked at Tangning. "On that day, his father and my second uncle will attend; it is a sign of truce."
"Second uncle?" Tangning highlighted these two words, "Do I have to go as well?"
"Are you afraid of meeting my uncle?" Mo Ting asked. After confirming that Tangning was indeed a little nervous, he continued gently, "Not many people in the Mo family know I got married. So, you can focus on being my female companion."
"Are you going to let him off with a simple truce?" Tangning never expected things would end so casually.
Mo Ting knew Tangning usually kept to herself. Even when she was constantly defamed, she never took it to heart.
On the other hand, he was simply insulted once and it was embedded deep in her heart.
"Since you treasure my reputation so much, how could I bear to treat it casually?" Mo Ting responded with a deeper meaning. The look in his eyes was dark and piercing.
Tangning couldn't help but laugh. Since Mo Ting was going to make a counterattack, she no longer needed to worry.
"When will the banquet be held?"
"7pm tomorrow night."
"In that case, I'll go pick out a nice dress."
In reality, even though she was only attending as Mo Ting's female companion, it still did not hide the fact that she was going to see his second uncle. Tangning did not want to leave a bad impression. So, as soon as Mo Ting gave her a time, she immediately headed to the wardrobe and anxiously tried to pick out a dress.
Seeing his arms were empty, Mo Ting shook his head as he mumbled to himself, "The woman that's normally not afraid of anything...is just a delicate little woman in the end."
Long Jie was getting a little bored sitting downstairs, so when she saw Tangning picking out a dress from the wardrobe, she couldn't help but walk over and ask, "What are you doing? Are you attending another event? Or is there another awards ceremony?"
"I'm meeting the elders!" Tangning replied gently, "Long Jie, I am a little nervous."
Long Jie could understand because she was aware that Tangning's family was quite complex; she had never been treated well by them. Even when she met with Han Yufan's family in the past, it also wasn't a good experience. So, she never expected to truly get along with family.
So, now that she had to meet with a member of the Mo family, it was reasonable for her to be in a panic.
"You don't need to be nervous..."
"I wouldn't be talking. I wonder who was so scared that they hung up the phone on Lu Che."
"Are you comparing yourself to me? All you need to do is be yourself. Everything else, leave it to Boss!" Long Jie rolled her eyes. "Tangning, bring out the confidence you show on the runway. Just treat this as another show."
Translator's Thoughts
Yunyi Yunyi
Tangning is finally meeting someone from the Mo family! I wonder how it will go.