Chapter 41: Encounter with Zhang Xiaowen Again

  The first question was asked by a young female reporter, who after greeting directly entered the main topic, "Your album sales have broken through one million copies, everyone knows that such an achievement is not only rare for mainland singers, but also for Hong Kong and Taiwan singers. I'd like to ask if you will give up your initial plan of just trying out and enter the music industry, discovering that you will soon release your second album?"

  "I still say the same thing, we will prioritize our studies for now and won't enter the music scene or release an album temporarily, even if we do it again, it will have to wait until after we finish our studies."

  "But the entertainment industry is the most forgetful, maybe after a few years people will have forgotten about you, don't you think it's a pity to miss such an opportunity?" The reporter seemed to be a fan of the two and was disappointed when she heard that they wouldn't release another album.

  Zou Ze pulled her back slightly as Ji Xin An was about to answer, indicating that he would take this question himself. He didn't want to hide behind Ji Xin An. "Of course not, there are too many things in life that require choice, and An Xin and I are facing such a choice right now. If we look at it from a long-term perspective, which one is more important for our lives, I think everyone can understand, so there's nothing to regret. And when we come back here again, even if everyone has forgotten us, I believe we will use our better music to remind everyone of the past An Xin and the bumpy road."

  A round of applause erupted below, after finishing these words Zou Ze also thoroughly relaxed, the two looked at each other and smiled, Ji Xin'an was also relieved.

  The next question was also relatively friendly, and the two of them gave humorous answers, with laughter filling the scene. The questions gradually became like a conversation between friends. At this time, Zou Ze's sharp eyes spotted someone wearing a press badge pushing their way to the front, holding a fairly professional-looking camera, but Zou Ze could be certain that this person was not a journalist.

  "An An, look two meters in front of you to the left, your most loyal fan has arrived." Zou Ze whispered into Ji Xinan's ear.

  Ji Xin'an looked over and was surprised to see that it was her deskmate and fan, Yao Wenhuang. She suddenly felt a wave of panic, the distance between them was so close, even with a mask on, she was still afraid of being discovered. "How did he get into the press area? Isn't that only for reporters?"

  "I don't know, but look at his press badge, he must have been brought in by someone." The two exchanged words with a smile on their faces, but spoke in hushed tones.

  The two of them thought they wouldn't be discovered this way, but they never expected that all of this would fall into the eyes of someone who was paying attention.

  This man was Zhang Xiaowen, who had once bullied Ji Xin'an in front of the company gate.

  Having got the chance to ask questions, Zhang Xiaowen asked concisely, "What is the relationship between you two?"

  "We're just ordinary friends." Ji Xin'an also recognized this reporter who had always been against her.

  "But what you've shown is not just that, we all saw it, you're holding hands together, I think if it's just ordinary friends, there's no need to be so intimate, right?" Zhang Xiaowen was still being aggressive.

  Due to her sharp question, the relaxed atmosphere suddenly disappeared. Ji Xin'an smiled and thought that Zhang Xiaowen was indeed very observant. So she gathered her spirit and answered carefully, "This reporter friend's insight is really admirable, and his association ability is not bad either. I held hands with Kang Kuo because today, in order to attend this reception, I wore high heels for the first time, so I wasn't steady on my feet yet when we came out. I was holding onto him because I was afraid of falling down in front of all these reporter friends and making a fool of myself. I don't want to be on the headlines because of this."

  Ji Xin'an's response made the reporters below understand and smile, but Zhang Xiaowen seemed to have no intention of letting her go. "What about the intimate whisper in your ear just now, in front of so many reporters? This is a completely subconscious behavior, how do you explain it?"

  "Kan Kan just whispered a few words in my ear, I don't know if you guys want to know what he said?" Ji Xin'an smiled and swept her gaze across the room full of reporters.

  "Think." The uniform voices rose up in unison below.

  Ji Xin'an smiled and continued, "He told me that before going on stage, he was very nervous, afraid of the reporters' difficulties and the fans' coldness. But today, seeing everyone here, the enthusiastic fans and the friendly reporters, if he wasn't standing on stage, he would have thought it was like being with his own friends, really making him unnecessarily nervous."

  Fans heard her words and suddenly burst into warm applause, while Ji Xin'an's compliments made many reporters give up some difficult questions. No one wanted to trouble this clever girl anymore, but Zhang Xiaowen was not included. However, before she could ask again, the microphone was snatched away by staff and given to someone else.

  Zhang Xiaowen didn't make any more trouble, shook her hand and turned around to leave. However, after she went back, how she would use her pen was no longer something that Ji Xin'an could control.

  Ji Xin'an let out a sigh of relief as she walked away, but when she turned around, she saw Yao Wenhuo squeezing into the front row, looking at her with an appreciative gaze and occasionally pressing the shutter button on his camera.

  Ji Xin'an swallowed hard and looked at him nervously, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she finally relaxed.

  Then came the interaction with fans, Ji Xin'an had seen the crazy fans of later generations, although today's fans are not as crazy, but their enthusiasm is no less, a girl even brought several thousand paper cranes she folded herself to give to Ji Xin'an, which still moved her.

  Finally, Song Jiang saw that the time was almost up and had the staff bring out champagne. Everyone poured champagne and ended today's celebration party.

  The two retreated to the backstage, and Ji Xin'an was about to remove the mask from her face when she discovered that Yao Wenhuo had somehow entered the backstage and appeared in front of her. His awkward demeanor was not like his usual self. "Anxin, may I ask if I can take a photo with you?"

  Ji Xin'an and the staff were all stunned, not knowing how he had mixed in. The staff hurried to drive him out, but was stopped by Ji Xin'an, who smiled and agreed to take a photo with him.

  After taking the photo, Ji Xin'an proactively stretched out her hand to shake hands with him. Yao Wenhuang showed a surprised expression and immediately shook hands with her excitedly, but possibly because he was too excited, he used too much force, hurting Ji Xin'an's already injured shoulder.

  Ji Xin'an was in so much pain that she gasped for cold air, and Zou Ze and Yao Wen-huang both noticed her abnormality, showing concern, "What's wrong?"

  Smiling lightly, he shook his head and left with Zou Ze. Yao Wenhuo suddenly felt that the familiar back figure was a bit familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. However, he immediately shook his head again, how could he possibly have any connection with them? Then, holding the camera with the photo of him and An Xin, he left happily.

  As soon as she entered the dressing room and found a place to sit down, Ji Xin'an hurriedly pressed her sore shoulder with her hand, thinking that it was self-inflicted suffering. If she hadn't played too wildly yesterday, it wouldn't have ended up like this.

  Just as Ji Xin'an was in 'agony', Zou Ze suddenly produced a peeled hard-boiled egg from somewhere and handed it over. Ji Xin'an looked at him in surprise, "Zou Ze, you're also too amazing, where did you find this?"

  "I'll go get it from the company cafeteria." Zou Ze saw that she was having some trouble, so he took over and helped her roll around on her shoulders.

  "Easy, it hurts." Ji Xin'an was made by him again with a mouthful of teeth.

  "Know the pain, be more careful next time. You're so old and still can't avoid a collision, useless." Although Zou Ze said this with his mouth, his hands were much gentler.

  Ji Xin'an knew that although he was venomous in his words, he still cared about himself deep down, so she didn't bother to argue with him anymore.

  After being treated by Zou Ze, I felt that my shoulders and arms were mine again. Although it still hurt, I felt much more comfortable. I didn't expect that the usually careless-looking Zou Ze would be so good at taking care of people.

  Afterwards, the two of them simply ate a bit and then started preparing for tonight's banquet. Once everything was ready, it was about time.

  Zou Ze looked at Ji Xin'an, who had just changed into a cheongsam and tied up her hair, and was captivated by her unique charm.

  "What's wrong?" Ji Xin'an came out and saw Zou Ze staring at her, thinking there was something wrong with herself, so she lowered her head to check, but didn't find anything unusual.

  "An An, you look really beautiful like this." Zou Ze looked at Ji Xin'an with a sincere smile.

  "Thank you." Ji Xin An playfully curtsied with a European-style courtly bow.

  "Let's go, my princess." Zou Ze smiled and held out an arm.

  Ji Xin'an cooperated and put her hand in Zou Ze's arm.