ABOES 10: A Daring Guess

Song Jing thought for a moment before remembering that Ye Xinian had indeed mentioned to him before that he had a younger brother.

If it were before, Song Jing might’ve had the patience to deal with it, but right now, he was in a terrible mood so his tone naturally turned cold.

“What’s the matter?”

Song Jing’s tone wasn’t polite, and Ye Nan on the other end of the line paused in surprise.

He could only say awkwardly, “Song Jing Ge, it’s like this. I saw my Ge on the trending searches today but I couldn’t get through to him, so I thought I’d call you and ask what’s going on?”

“Shouldn’t you be calling Xia Huaiming if you’re looking for your Ge? Why are you calling me?” Song Jing rolled his eyes.

Ye Nan seemed stumped by the question, stammering for a long time without managing a single word.

Song Jing was about to hang up, but just then, a strange female voice came from the other end of the line, “Sorry to bother you, Xiao Jing.”

Song Jing frowned. “And you are?”

“I’m Ye Xinian’s mother,” the woman said.

Song Jing let out a noncommittal “Oh.”

Mother Ye’s tone became slightly awkward but she still continued, “Xiao Jing, Xinian must’ve told you before that Xiao Xia is very busy and we didn’t want to disturb him, so that’s why we called you.”

Song Jing almost burst out laughing as if he had just heard the biggest joke.

Xia Huaiming, busy? Busy sleeping with others every day, maybe.

“No matter how busy someone is, they can still answer a phone call,” Song Jing said.

Mother Ye gave a couple of dry laughs but didn’t refute him. She just continued, “Actually, it’s because Xiao Xia changed his phone number recently and we couldn’t reach him. Plus, we haven’t been able to contact Xinian either, so we got a bit anxious and thought we’d try asking you.”

Song Jing had been growing impatient, but upon hearing this, he suddenly felt something was off.

He had been with Xia Huaiming for more than half a year—how could he not know Xia Huaiming had changed his number?

And more importantly, who was Mother Ye? She was Ye Xinian’s mother.

Xia Huaiming cherished Ye Xinian so much. He would naturally be respectful to Mother Ye as well. Even if he had changed his number, she would’ve been the first to know. How could she not have his current number?

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious Song Jing became. A bold guess even rose in his heart.

His breathing grew heavier, and he suddenly felt a bit excited.

“You’re calling to ask if the person on the trending search is Xinian?” Song Jing took a deep breath to suppress his pounding heart.

Mother Ye quickly responded with a smile, “Yes.”

Song Jing said, “It’s him. You can’t reach him right now because he’s filming a show. Once the recording ends, you’ll be able to contact him. Alright, I’ve got something else going on right now, so I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.”

With that, Song Jing hung up immediately.

He stood in the entryway and hesitated for a long while. In the end, he picked up his phone and sent a message to his manager, telling him he wouldn’t be heading to that executive’s place for now.

Song Jing put on a hat and headed out. Before getting into a taxi, he called Xia Huaiming.

The phone was picked up after barely two rings. A slightly annoyed voice came from the other end. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother me lately?”

Song Jing almost burst into hysterical laughter.

So Xia Huaiming never changed his number at all!

Mother Ye was lying. Why would she lie to him?

If even the mother-in-law didn’t dare contact her son-in-law, it meant Ye Xinian and Xia Huaiming’s marriage was already broken in name.

There might even be some secrets in all this that he didn’t know about.

Suppressing the upward curve of his lips, Song Jing softened his tone into a pitiful whisper, “But I really missed you. We haven’t seen each other for a whole week.”

On the other end, Xia Huaiming went silent for a moment before replying, “Same place. Come over.”

Since the engagement between Ye Xinian and Xia Huaiming was already falling apart, don’t blame him for being ruthless.

Song Jing’s expression was full of confidence, and his voice grew even softer, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

On the other end, just after Mother Ye hung up, two voices immediately rang out.

“Well?”

“Is it him?”

Mother Ye glanced at the father and son beside her, then gave a smug smile. “It’s him! It’s that brat Ye Xinian!” 

Father Ye clapped his hands, grinning broadly. “That’s great! He’s a celebrity now, he must be making a lot of money!”

Ye Nan was visibly excited. “My girlfriend even wants his autograph! I’ll get him to sign a few hundred copies so I can give them to my classmates! Oh right, since my Ge is making so much money now, Mom, when are you going to buy me a house?”

Mother Ye gave him a sideway glance and said helplessly, “You’re still hung up on that house? Isn’t the place we live in now good enough?”

Ye Nan stopped smiling and frowned. “It’s nice, yeah, just a bit old. Mom, you know my girlfriend’s family has money. If I’m going to marry her, how can I not have a new house? Oh, and a car too, a Benz would be perfect!”

Mother Ye was more thorough in her thinking than Ye Nan. She laughed and tapped his head, “Always scheming! You’re still young and you’re thinking about marriage already?”

Ye Nan hated it when his mother brought up his age and grumbled, “I’m already in second year of middle school! I’m not that young!”

Mother Ye sighed silently and exchanged a glance with Father Ye, then said, “Don’t worry. Your house and car, we will definitely get them for you. As for marriage, we’ll have to see. Your current girlfriend might have money, but her family isn’t all that great. My son’s so handsome, of course he can do better!”

Though Ye Nan was a little annoyed at her criticism of his girlfriend, he was still pleased to hear her say that. “Then hurry up and buy it! Once I finish high school, I’ll get my driver’s license and take you guys on a trip!”

At that, both Mother Ye and Father Ye burst out laughing.

The whole family couldn’t help but start imagining the beautiful life that lay ahead.

The first episode of Let’s Travel Together was only three days long. Recording wrapped up by the afternoon of the third day.

Liu Ran helped Ye Xinian pack up his suitcase, and just as he got into the car, he was surprised to see that Xie Yi was inside too.

“Yi Jie,” Ye Xinian greeted in surprise. “You’re here too?”

Xie Yi was busy on her laptop but looked up and gave him a smile. “Of course I came. There’s something to do. Come on, sit.”

Ye Xinian sat down next to her and asked curiously, “What is it?”

Xie Yi turned the laptop toward him and smiled: “Take a look. These are all the casting and gig offers people sent me these past few days. See if anything interests you.”

Ye Xinian glanced at the screen. He didn’t even get to read it properly before being stunned by the dense spreadsheet.

“This many?”

Xie Yi laughed before saying, “And this is after I filtered the bad ones out. I already declined the unsuitable offers.”

Ye Xinian was honestly shocked. “That’s still too many…”

Xie Yi replied, “There’ll be even more later. Take your time. Ask me if anything’s unclear.”

Ye Xinian nodded seriously. He spent almost the whole ride back looking through those offers.

In the end, he and Xie Yi picked out three gigs: one was an endorsement for a popular beverage, one was a magazine interview, and the last was a guest appearance in a livestream with a trending host to sell products.

Xie Yi’s top pick was the livestream gig.

After all, endorsements and interviews needed post-production, but livestreams had the fastest turnaround.

Ye Xinian had just gone viral. Only a small number of fans could recognize him right now, most of the audience only knew of him by name.

Only if most of the public recognized him could he become a real celebrity. However, even being a top celebrity wasn’t enough—no one could stay at the top forever.

So Xie Yi didn’t fill up his schedule too tightly. She specifically left him three days to attend acting classes at the company.

Ye Xinian was very satisfied with this arrangement. He didn’t know much about the entertainment industry, but he knew that popularity wasn’t a long-term solution.

About an hour later, the van stopped in front of Ye Xinian’s apartment.

Liu Ran helped him carry the suitcase out, and Ye Xinian waved at the two, “Alright, I’m heading back. Yi Jie, Liu Ran, you should head back too.”

Xie Yi nodded then said, “I’ll send you the livestream details tonight. Take a look during your break.”

Ye Xinian nodded. “Okay.”

He watched the van drive off before dragging his tired body upstairs.

After getting home, the first thing he did was take a shower.

Once he dried his hair and lay on the bed, he finally had time to check his phone and open Weibo.

Only then did he realize he had been trending two days ago! No wonder his backend was showing so many comments and likes.

When he scrolled to the video of himself falling into the mud pit, Ye Xinian couldn’t help but laugh.

He really had taken a nasty fall! And those people actually laughed so hard!

He kept smiling until he saw a comment that made his expression change slightly:

【Xinian’s cooking skills are amazing. The other five guests were all won over. I suddenly feel jealous of his fiancé!】

Ye Xinian’s eyes darkened.

He couldn’t resist searching for himself. The second suggested tag was:

#Ye Xinian’s Fiancé#

He clicked on it and read for a while, then frowned.

The whole internet now knew he had a fiancé, but no one knew that it was Xia Huaiming.

If it stayed like this, it wouldn’t be enough.

He sat up in bed, pondering. He still needed to come up with a plan.

Just then, his WeChat notification popped up.

Ye Xinian looked down and smiled instantly. He had just been thinking that he had no opportunity, and yet, one delivered itself.

[Xia Huaiming: Is the filming over? I want to see you.]

[Ye Xinian: It’s over. I’m going home tomorrow. Where should we meet?]