“Ah—” Shocked exclamations from the spectators at the venue sounded. The viewers in front of the television were also struck dumb. Nobody had expected Chu Qin to admit to it so directly.
Yet, Chu Qin was still smiling as magnanimously as before, even winking at the camera charmingly.
The program came to an abrupt stop at this point. There was no mention of any other event, as if it were truly a small-scale news conference. This episode thus set the direction of the program. In the future, anyone who wanted to clarify something or announce a piece of news could go onto the show and speak truthfully without avoiding the taboo topic.
After finishing what he had to say, Chu Qin left nonchalantly, leaving behind a group of stupefied spectators and a petrified Ou Hao.
After a lull that lasted several minutes, the viewers around the entire country went into an uproar. ‘Chu Qin admitted that he was kissing Zhong Yibin’ immediately became the leading story.
[Ahhhh, is this an official admission?]
[It shouldn’t be, he only admitted to kissing.]
[Isn’t admitting to kissing equivalent to admitting that they’re dating?]
[Not necessarily. Men who play around with each other for fun will also exchange kisses.]
Therefore, the viewers who didn’t dare to believe in it swiftly went in search of extracts from <Bun, Quickly Run> to observe Zhong Yibin’s interactions with others.
Zhong Yibin was indeed a sticky guy. When his gege was around, he would stick to him. When his gege wasn’t around, he would stick to Yu Tang. However, when he was with these two people, despite being close, his actions were still very restrained. For instance, he would hug his gege in a moment of excitement, but would never kiss him.
Zhong Yibin was close to Yu Tang and the two frequently hit each other. They would occasionally get into a scuffle. During a particular episode, Zhong Yibin fell with Yu Tang during a game and their lips almost met. After that, the two of them avoided each other for half a day.
As friends, no matter how close they were, Zhong Yibin would never kiss the other party.
A wave of sighs echoed among the fans. The majority of them had already started to believe that Chu Qin had implicitly came out of the closet. The current domestic environment had already improved significantly. Even if everyone was well aware, one wouldn’t be shut out as long as they didn’t blatantly state ‘I am gay’. Of course, credit for this had to given to <The Golden Age of the Great Jing>.
This historical drama was too popular. Even the older generation watched it enthusiastically. Because it depicted genuine historical events, no one could deny it. An emperor a thousand years ago already liked men and his liking of men had not prevented him from founding a golden age. In such a way, everyone’s degree of acceptance was raised.
Hence, when Yu Tang announced that he was dating Song Xiao, everyone accepted it very naturally due to their astonishing resemblance to the past emperor and empress.
Thinking about it carefully, Zhong Yibin’s relationship with Yu Tang was very good, while Yu Tang had long come out of the closet publicly. This was the so-called ‘birds of a feather flock together’. The fact that he was on such good terms of Yu Tang could only mean that their interests, values, sexual orientation, and so on were very similar!
[Since he’s gay, he should have acknowledged it earlier on. He still deliberately hyped up the CP in the past, is he treating everyone like idiots?]
[Always denying it in the past yet admitting to it now! Liar!]
The voices of the opposition very quickly made an appearance. What a portion of the CP fans liked was only the world in their delusions. When these two people really got together, they would feel that they had been lied to. This odd way of thinking could be compared to liking the male and female leads in dramas and thinking that were very compatible together yet becoming unhappy when the two actors revealed that they were dating.
[Who says Qinqin didn’t admit to it in the past? He has never denied it, okay?]
[They mentioned it many times previously. It was you guys who didn’t believe it!]
Chu Qin’s fans immediately ran out to defend him. In addition, they found the remarks Chu Qin had made on various large programs regarding his relationship with Zhong Yibin.
The previous time when Chu Qin interviewed Zhong Yibin and asked who Zhong Yibin liked, Zhong Yibin had directly stated ‘of course, my official partner!’. At that time, Chu Qin had not denied it.
Subsequently, the interactions between the two on various large programs were of the blatantly flirtatious type. These two had never once concealed the truth, nor had they ever declared it to be untrue. It was only everyone else who had never used that lens to view things and simply felt that they were joking around.
At Three Petals station, Chen Feng was watching Chu Qin’s live broadcast. He let out a cold smile. “I originally thought we no longer had a chance. Since he’s courting disaster, then we can’t be blamed.”
Ever since Zhong Yibin kicked him out the door, Chen Feng held back his desire and managed the influential figures in Three Petals even better than when he was in Shengshi. The Golden Gong Awards was accepting evaluations for television programs from the Mainland for the first time. This was a huge opportunity, so he also pushed two of their programs in. Originally, with Chu Qin present, the chances of winning an award wasn’t high. But now that Chu Qin ruined his reputation with his own hands, then he couldn’t put the blame on others.
The program was broadcasted live. During its broadcast, Zhong Yibin was still in a meeting at the Group secretly using his phone to connect to the wireless network. Using his authority as the director, he watched the live broadcast on Shengshi’s internal network.
“For the development of projects this time, I believe we should…” The chief of the projects department was speaking seriously on the stage when Zhong Yibin suddenly slapped the table.
With a ‘bang!’ sound, the entire meeting room quietened, and everyone looked over one by one.
What they saw was Zhong Yibin bending to pick up the handphone that had already fallen to the ground before standing up. “Apologies, I have something urgent to attend to.” Then, he picked up the coat behind him and ran out with large steps.
Some couldn’t help curling their lips and looking towards Zhong Jiabin simultaneously. The Zhong family’s big brother was seated in the boss’ position, frowning as he watched his younger brother’s actions. He was silent for a moment before looking towards the head of the projects department on the stage. “Continue.”
The head of the projects department regained his wits and continued the topic. The rest saw that Zhong Jiabin wasn’t bothered by it, so naturally, they didn’t dare to say anything more and continued the meeting seriously.
That day when Chu Qin spoke of wanting to come out of the closet in front of the entire country, Zhong Yibin hadn’t taken it for real. He had only assumed that Chu Qin had drunk too much. Even if he did intend to come out of the closet, he would still need to wait for a suitable juncture. Zhong Yibin hadn’t expected that he would publicly admit to it on a program so soon. Though Chu Qin hadn’t said anything directly, everyone would understand what he meant.
He needed to rush over to the television station immediately to prevent any accidents from happening.
Just as expected, right as his car came to a stop at the entrance, Chu Qin walked out from the main entrance to the station. Suddenly, several fans who had attended the live broadcast just now and dithered outside the main entrance after the program ended, swiftly rushed forward to surround him.
Chu Qin originally intended to turn back, until he noticed Zhong Yibin’s car. Gritting his teeth, he directly raced to the car.
Zhong Yibin instantly pushed open the car door from the inside, allowing Chu Qin to directly rush into the front passenger seat. With a ‘kacha’ sound, the doors were locked. He stepped on the accelerator and the car rushed off with a whine.
Their movements were done with tacit cooperation. Everything flowed smoothly and there wasn’t a single jarring moment. By the time the fans reacted, not even the shadow of the beautiful sports car could be seen.
“Ahhh, that’s Director Zhong’s car!”
“Yes, yes. I saw that the driver just now was Zhong Yibin!”
“They’re really together, ahhhh!”
The fans who had been left where they were sunk into a frenzy.
Zhong Yibin didn’t speak to Chu Qin on the road. When they reached the residence, he parked at the residence’s underground carpark. Zhong Yibin got out and scooped the guy in the front passenger seat up. Slinging him over his shoulder, he closed the car door with a kick and confidently headed upstairs.
“Mm, put me down!” Chu Qin was uncomfortable from the jolting and slapped Zhong Yibin’s back.
“Pah!” His buttocks were given a slap. Chu Qin immediately became well-behaved. He was carted upstairs, thrown onto the sofa, and then locked in place by two strong arms.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” Zhong Yibin said fiercely.
“What?” Chu Qin was the epitome of innocence.
“Still reluctant to admit your mistake!” Zhong Yibin slapped those perfectly round buttocks once again. “You didn’t even discuss such a major thing with me in advance. If I didn’t secretly watch the live broadcast in the office, how would you get away today?”
A program that was broadcasted live had a certain level of danger. Since it was broadcasted at the same time, everyone would know when one was in the station. When this sort of explosive news was released, many media outlets would rush over to the venue immediately after hearing of it. If Chu Qin hadn’t rushed out at that time, he would very likely be blocked off inside.
“I can use the station’s car to get out,” Chu Qin didn’t want to admit to it. Immediately after that, a palm once again landed on him, causing his lips to flatten in resentment.
“I think you’re itching for a spanking,” Zhong Yibin sat up and peeled off Chu Qin’s pants. He draped him over his leg and slapped his fair buttocks. “Do you know what you did wrong?”
The slap didn’t hurt at all. Chu Qin only felt embarrassed and couldn’t help using his hands to cover his face. “I have my own ways…wu…”
The two people were messing around when Zhong Yibin’s phone rang. One of his hands pressed Chu Qin down to prevent him from escaping while the other picked up his handphone. After switching on the speaker, he threw it onto the couch.
“What’s with the live broadcast today? Are you two preparing to go public?” Mother Zhong’s voice sounded from the phone.
“Yup. Chu Qin discussed it with me two days ago. I felt that announcing it publicly is quite good,” While dealing with his mother, he fished out lubricant from a small crack in the couch’s sponge padding.
“Wu…” Feeling something enter his body, Chu Qin let out a shriek of surprise and instantly used a hand to cover his mouth.
“Good? Do you know how many phone calls I’ve received already? You didn’t even give us a heads-up. Later when your dad comes back, he’ll definitely flare up…” Mother Zhong blabbered on without stopping. Zhong Yibin made relaxed sounds of agreement, but the hand that was bullying the other person didn’t stop moving.
Chu Qin wanted to cry out but dared not, his eyes reddening after being bullied by Zhong Yibin. He gritted his teeth and glared at him, but the other person raised a brow at him provocatively, his hands suddenly speeding up.
The slender legs couldn’t help starting to tremble slightly. Chu Qin stretched out a hand and pinched Zhong Yibin’s thigh, unable to bear it any longer. His loud yet suave voice cried out. “Wu…slow down…ah…”
Zhong Yibin stiffened. On the other side, Mother Zhong immediately roared, “Smelly brat, what are you doing while speaking to your mother?”
“Wu…I don’t want it anymore…” Chu Qin moved his head to the phone, crying out with moaning sounds.
Zhong Yibin hurriedly picked up his phone. “It’s nothing, mom. We’re just fooling around. What’s that? The pot of soup is almost done boiling. I’m going to switch off the fire. I’ll call you later!” Saying this, he hung up.
The two people glared at each other for a while. Zhong Yibin scooped Chu Qin up, letting him slouch into his embrace. “You devil, do you want to destroy my image in front of my parents?”
“Who’s the one who started it!” Chu Qin pinched his face.
Zhong Yibin grimaced in pain but persisted in completing his lines. “Hmph. Sinister devil, the righteous warrior will now conquer you!” Following which, he raised the other party and abruptly placed the other person down.
The righteous warrior eventually conquered the little devil. It was just that the battle was too intense and exhausted the righteous warrior’s strength. Even till the end, he didn’t think of giving the warrior’s mother a call, only hugging the limp little devil to sleep.
Zhong Yibin woke up in the middle of the night and sent Yu Tang a message, requesting for him to help settle the things online. Then, he sent another message to Shengshi’s new public relations manager to make the necessary preparations.
The previous public relations manager who incited disharmony in his presence had been bribed by Zou Bo. After Zou Bo’s downfall, Zhong Yibin directly let him go. Moreover, he wrote the phrase ‘leaked company secrets, slandered artists’ on the proof of him leaving office. The next day, he dug out a new public relations manager.
This new person was extremely capable. The next minute after receiving the message, he replied. “Noted, Director. I’ve already notified someone to prepare the article. The media have also been contacted – they will guide people into accepting it.”
Zhong Yibin was satisfied and replied with a ‘good’.
On the other side, Yu Tang was also hugging his family’s wife and sleeping soundly. He was awoken by the message and immediately scolded in a low voice, “If it isn’t anything urgent, zhen will have his head cut off.” He picked up his phone and read what Zhong Yibin sent him before sending one word ‘scram!’.
Zhong Yibin saw this reply and kept his phone with satisfaction. Hugging Chu Qin, he continued to sleep.
The next day, the media was pressured by Shengshi and no uproar occurred. The number of people who truly stepped forward to criticize were very little. The majority were giving an account of what had happened the previous day before giving a simple analysis. They spoke in ambiguous, roundabout ways. There wasn’t much criticism online either. It was just that Chu Qin continued to remain the topic of many discussions. Everyone was engaged in intense discussions.
All the industry insiders were of the opinion that Chu Qin’s actions were not wise. The Golden Gong Awards were imminent. Now that he publicly announced this sort of news, there was a possibility the award would grow wings and fly off.
[The selection of programs is based on ability, not personal lives. On what basis can they not allow our Qinqin to participate?]
[In this country, Chu Qin is fully deserving of being the top host. Certain people, don’t let your hearts be too gloomy!]
To prove Chu Qin didn’t lie, the fans went about cutting out video clips. Then, in order to defend Chu Qin, they went around explaining things. Lastly, they even had to be outraged for Chu Qin’s Golden Gong Award. It could be said their hearts had shattered from worry.
The organizing committee of the Golden Gong Award also heard of this news and very quickly expressed on their official Weibo, ‘The Golden Gong Awards will not be influenced by external events. May everyone be at ease’.
At the same time, Chu Qin received a notification from the organizing committee.
“Mr Chu Qin, you have entered the list of finalists for ‘Best Host’ for this year’s Golden Gong Awards. Will you be able to attend the awards ceremony on the fifteenth of the next month?”