The Reconciliation Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Shocking News

Yu Xi has come out on broadcast.

During the Channel X television station live broadcasting one hour past, she received the phone the host handed her, ready to do the accepted challenge.

The challenge was to give her first love a call.

Without any hesitation, she inserted the phone number. After a moment of stillness, the voice of a women came from the phone, “Hey.”

The voice was slightly deep, holding a tone of unfamiliarity, and left everyone on set stunned. The shock even caused the host to awkwardly ask, “Miss Yu, did you accidentally call the wrong person?”

Yu Xi shook her head, lightly smiling gracefully, “I didn’t.”

She pondered for a bit, believing that the two words did not give a clear enough explanation, and so added, “My first love is a very pretty girl.”

All was silent on the set. The phone abruptly hung up, leaving the host very bewildered at the turn of events.

But of course, the host was not the only one. All of the audience watching the live broadcast online were also taken aback.

Various commentary arose during the live: ‘Yu Xi likes girls’, ‘Yu Xi is actually gay’, “Who exactly is Yu Xi’s first love’. The whole screen was filled with these questions. The Tianya forums also blew up with these discussions. All sorts of theories came forth. Two headlines topped Weibo’s trending list #GrandSlamQueenIsActuallyGay# #YuXiComingOut#

A heated discussion was set off online. Her fans ultimately did not believe the news and turned to lamenting on Weibo.

——What is this situation? Is it April Fools today? 【122222 upvotes】

——I don’t believe this! Xixi is definitely joking around. 【88888 upvotes】

——Is this a publicity stunt? 【66666 upvotes】

——I knew it. I’ve always thought that Yu Xi’s sexual orientation was not normal. Disgusting. Block her from any further activities! 【43438 upvotes】

——Exactly, gay people are all mentally sick! 【33567 upvotes】

——No, what do you mean by an abnormal sexual orientation? What do you mean by mentally sick? As of right now, Xixi still hasn’t made a statement on whether this was actually true. And even if it, does her liking girls affect you in any way even? If you don’t know how to talk properly then get lost! 【33333 thumbs up】

Originally feeling quite at peace, Yu Xi’s mood fluctuated upon reading the commentary on Weibo. The last comment made her crack a smile. But before she was able to like the comment, Zhong Chen confiscated her phone.

“Bai-jie’s already told you. Starting from now, you are not allowed to go on Weibo, not allowed to send anything, and not allowed to interact with your fans.”

Detecting Yu Xi’s insipid gaze on herself, Zhong Chen sighed, “Well, at most, you can only go on your small account.”

Yu Xi reached out with her hand and Zhong Chen handed her another phone.
The accounts in this phone were all small accounts used specifically against anti-fans.

The first thing Yu Xi did once she received the phone was to log into her own personal account and find the comment that she was just looking at earlier. She gave it a red thumbs up and didn’t even forget to reply to the comment, ‘You said it very well! Muah~ heart emoji.’

Zhong Chen rolled her eyes.

This person’s damn noble and cool persona once again collapsed in front of her!

After upvoting, Yu Xi handed the phone back to Zhong Chen. She nodded, “When is Bai-jie coming back?”

Zhong Chen looked at her wristwatch, “She’s almost back. She said that she’ll be back around 12.”

She added, “When she arrives, don’t talk back to her. Just do what we what tell you do.”

“Got it,” Yu Xi replied.

Yu Xi stood up and walked to the windows. She lifted the curtains from a corner and looked towards the ground. Down below were all reporters, huddled by the apartment complex gate with cameras hung around their necks. On such a hot day, they simultaneously wiped their sweat while looking towards the direction of the apartment buildings in hopes of a glimpse at Yu Xi.

Sunlight shined in from the opening. Yu Xi put down the curtain.

Just as she put down the curtains, a dark gray sedan drove up to the gates and was immediately surrounded by the reporters.

“Miss Bai, was what Yu Xi said on broadcast true?”

“Miss Bai, is Yu Xi actually gay?”

“Miss Bai, will this have any effect on Yu Xi’s entertainment career?”

“Miss Bai, did you know about this beforehand?”

Bai Yutang sat in the car, windows tightly shut and secured, yet was still able to hear the bombardment of questions from outside. She closed her eyes and said to her driver, “Drive on.”

The dark grey sedan drove slowly forward, making way inch by inch through the gates. The reporters were stopped by the security guards before they could follow in. Bai Yutang sighed in relief once the car made it past the gate.

Yu Xi has only just received her two awards and the news of her achieving the Grand Slam Queen title has not even gotten out yet, but she’s already made such a huge mess.

Bai Yutang gritted her teeth and took a deep breath to calm herself down first. Then she knocked on the door, harder than she usually does. Once Zhong Chen heard the knocks from the door, her blood froze. Bai Yutang never knocks besides times she’s really angry.

For example, right at this moment.

Opening the door, Zhong Chen flashed an awkward smile at her, “Bai-jie.”

Upon seeing Bai Yutang, the smile on her face fell. Bai Yutang walked into the house, her high heels left on. Behind her, Zhong Chen desperately grabbed onto her arm. “Calm down, Bai-jie. Please calm down. I’ve already scolded Xixi for you. She really regrets it right now. She feels really bad about it. She’s really remorseful about it. She really-.”

Zhong Chen wasn’t finished speaking when she noticed Yu Xi walking towards them. She’s changed into more comfortable attire and was holding a plate full of peeled apple slices. There were even toothpicks stuck on top of the slices. She had on a very carefree expression and her movement was very graceful. Upon taking in Yu Xi’s appearance, Zhong Chen patted her chest twice, feeling a thousand toothpicks jabbing at her heart. The damage was heavy.

Bai Yutang tilted her head, her gaze landing on the hand that was still clinging onto her sleeves. She asked in a deliberate manner, “She really feels regretful?”

“She really feels bad about it?”

“She really feels remorseful?”

“What else is she feeling?”

Zhong Chen gulped, “Feeling like she’s got a death wish.”

Because for one, at that moment in time, Zhong Chen really felt like she wanted to die

Bai Yutang glared at her and pried her fingers off. She walked over to the coach and sat down. Yu Xi carried her plate of apples over to Zhong Chen’s side. Zhong Chen whispered to her, “Didn’t we agree to act pitiful earlier?”

Yu Xi held onto a toothpick, chewing on a crisp apple slice. She spoke, her breath sweet and voice light, “Acting pitiful doesn’t suit my noble and cool persona.”

Zhong Chen rolled her eyes once again. Gone with her noble and cool persona.

Bai Yutang did not pay any attention to the two girls’ chatter. She applied on a thicker layer of red lipstick before speaking, “You two, talk. Tell me exactly what happened.”

She was only out of the country for a quick trip, leaving Zhong Chen to accompany Yu Xi to film one short program and yet something this major still occurred. Before returning back to the country, she watched a recording of the broadcast from her assistant. When she heard that Yu Xi’s first love was a pretty girl, she almost didn’t believe her own ears.

Although the interview was quickly removed from the internet, there were still quite a few people that watched it live when it was broadcasting. In addition, Yu Xi’s recent popularity had been quite high, causing a few people to be unsatisfied of her achievements. Anti-fans even started to spread rumors that her awards were obtained through dishonest means.

And now this has happened, giving anti-fans more materials to attack her with.

Even their company has started to interrogate them on the event, leaving Bai Yutang very frustrated.

Noticing Bai Yutang’s pale complexion, Yu Xi walked over to her and sat down. She passed the plate of apples over and said with an upright look on her face, “Bai-jie, the media would’ve eventually figured it out anyways.”

After all, she’s never really tried to hide her own sexual orientation nor think that it could be hid.

It was only that in the first few years after debuting, due to her family background and Bai Yutang’s connection, the media has never really dared question her dating history too closely. However, now that she’s become more popular, everything she does will be examined much more closely with a magnifying glass by the media. Even if she did want to hide her sexual orientation, it’ll be nearly impossible to do so.

Bai Yutang understood what Yu Xi meant. However, this was still way too sudden and unexpected. If they had discussed this beforehand, she’d be able to first test out the reaction with some smoke and fog before setting out the actual bullet. Any other situation will still be better than right now, unable to do anything besides staying in a passive position and waiting for development.

Yu Xi’s expression slowly fell. Watching Bai Yutang’s breathing normalize, she gave her a toothpick. Bai Yutang glared at her fiercefully, biting off the apple slice from the toothpick.

“Let me tell you, during this time you better stay on it. Don’t make any trouble. Zhong Chen, watch over her. Don’t let her get near the phone, tablet, or internet.”

Zhong Chen hurriedly nodded, “Got it.”

“I’ll try to put out two big news to cover yours, but you better prepare yourself mentally. You just received two big awards. The media’s all watching you right now. I doubt it’ll be easy to get past this,“ Bai Yutang continued, “The company called and said that a couple of advertisement companies want to terminate their contracts with us. I’ll have to rush back to the company for a bit.”

Yu Xi nodded. “What are they saying on Director Mei’s side?

When she asked this, her body involuntarily tensed up. She clutched the plate of apples tighter in her grasp. It was obvious she cared very much about her response.

Bai Yutang’s backhand was just like a chestnut knocking onto her forehead, “You still remember Director Mei?”

“And here I thought you’ve let go of your own self-control, not caring and not worrying.”

Director Mei was the first director Yu Xi collaborated with when she first stepped into the entertainment circle. At that time, she went into the audition for the role of the supporting actress and caught the director’s eye. The director immediately decided to cast her as the female lead.

Although it was also due to Yu Xi’s own efforts that she’s gotten to where she is today, if Director Mei had not casted her as the lead then, her career pathway as an actress would not have been as smooth.

Hence, Director Mei has always existed as a Bo Le-like¹ figure in Yu Xi’s heart.

Despite being able to maintain an indifferent attitude to everyone else in the entertainment circle, she is not able to do that to Director Mei.

Upon seeing Yu Xi’s anxious appearance, Bai Yutang couldn’t remain angry, “Alright fine. I got in contact with them right after coming back. The audition’s still three days later, same time and place.”

“Spend the next two days mulling over the script. Don’t make any mistakes on it.” Yu Xi sigh in relief, “Okay.”
Bai Yutang glanced over at her relaxed expression, “There’s still one more thing.” Yu Xi frowned, “What thing?”

Bai Yutang pointed to the curtains tightly covering the windows all around the house and said, “We’re moving.”

“Moving?”

“The reporters are all holding their stance down below the house. I doubt they’ll leave within the next two months. The entire media wants to dig up your secrets. Even you cracking open the windows by a little bit will send you up onto the daily search trends.

Yu Xi nodded, “Where are we moving?”

Bai Yutang pulled out a sticky note, “I found this place when I was looking for an apartment for the new boss. The neighborhood’s not bad, transportation is also very convenient. Most importantly, the security guards do a very nice job. The reporters won’t be able to get in.”

Yu Xi took the sticky note, eyes drooping, “Chief Hu actually left?”

Bai Yutang hummed in affirmation, “Left this morning. The new boss will arrive tomorrow. You’ll might as well go to the company tomorrow too and meet the new boss. We could also discuss itinerary changes there too.”

Yu Xi nodded, “Okay.”

She handed the sticky note down to Zhong Chen, which the latter took and placed in her wallet, nicely folded. Just then, her phone vibrated. She opened Wechat and noticed that a celebrity assistant she previously met had sent her a message.

——Chen-jie, is the post on Tianya Forums true?

Zhong Chen furrowed her brows and replied back, ‘What post?’

The other party quickly sent over a link. Zhong Chen scanned the post for a few minutes before shouting out, “Bai-jie!”

Noting Zhong Chen’s pale complexion, her eyes twitched. She stopped talking to Yu Xi and walked quickly over to Zhong Chen’s side. She looked over at the post on Zhong Chen’s phone.

“Breaking news! Yu Xi’s first love is her high school classmate! ! Last name starts with a J!!!”

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¹ Bo Le was a historical figure considered as a good judge of talents in China.

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