After realizing that she had almost been set up with Xie Wanxing, Fu Wenshan’s sister was so angry that she almost fainted.
However, she quickly recovered. It didn’t matter; there were plenty of handsome guys out there, and she could change her mind anytime she wanted.
Fu Wenshan sat on the sofa, listening to his mother gossip about family matters while leaning over to look at his sister’s latest idol crush on her phone.
But when he looked, it turned out to be an acquaintance.
He saw his sister’s phone screen lock screen had changed to Zhao Jinghua.
Fu Wenshan cracked open some melon seeds, wondering whether he should tell his sister that her new ‘husband’, although he looked cool and all, was also gay.
After considering it for a while, he decided to let his sister off the hook today, but he said to Fu Wenyao with ill intentions, “Zhao Jinghua is Xie Wanxing’s senior brother. If you want to meet, you can do it anytime.” Anyway, Zhao Jinghua’s husband would come along too.
Fu Wenyao suspiciously looked at her younger brother, the long-term teasing between siblings kept her on guard, “Are you really this kind-hearted?”
“Of course not, I just want to see you burst into tears on the spot.”
But Fu Wenshan continued to eat sunflower seeds nonchalantly, “It’s up to you whether you want to believe it or not.”
Having settled the major life event of coming out to his family, Fu Wenshan stayed at home for two days before eagerly moving back to Cuhe Bay.
Officially, he was returning to his own place, but now everyone in the Fu family knew who lived next door.
Fu Junlan watched his little brother drive away from the window, took a sip of tea, and shook his head, “Pathetic.”
Fu Wenshan hadn’t been back to Cuhe Bay for a few days when Li Siheng and the others found out that he had come out to his family.
One by one, they tagged him in the group chat, “@Fu Wenshan, heard you went home for a visit and came out deliberately, did they break your leg?”
Fu Wenshan replied to each of them, “Get lost.”
Li Siheng was very pleased, “Judging by how lively he is telling us to get lost, it seems he wasn’t beaten.”
Living close to Fu Wenshan’s family, Luo He’s mother heard some gossip when she visited the Fu family, then relayed it to Luo He when she got home.
Luo He said, “Not only was he not beaten, Auntie Fu is already thinking about helping him get engaged. Auntie’s exact words were, ‘It’s not easy to find someone as good-looking and blind as Xie Wanxing, so it’s better to settle down sooner rather than later.'”
The others burst into maniacal laughter.
Xie Wanxing sat beside Fu Wenshan, and when Fu Wenshan showed him, he couldn’t help but laugh too.
“Your aunt has a good sense of humor,” Xie Wanxing said tactfully.
Fu Wenshan snorted, “She just wants someone to clean up after me.”
But he was also willing if the one cleaning up after him was Xie Wanxing.
He chatted with his friends for a while, and the conversation turned to dinner.
They had long said they wanted to meet Fu Wenshan and his new boyfriend, but because their jobs were all different, especially Yan Wei, who had been on business trips recently, it had been delayed.
Now that Fu Wenshan had cleared the air at home, it was time for his old friends to visit.
“I’ll have to ask my boyfriend for his opinion,” Fu Wenshan said, seizing the opportunity to show off his love.
Everyone in the group gave him the finger.
But Xie Wanxing didn’t mind. After all, meeting friends was different from meeting parents, and he was quite curious about Fu Wenshan’s friends.
So it was settled. They agreed to meet the following Saturday at the same place, Starry Sea.
But before their meeting on Saturday, something happened that was neither big nor small.
When Xie Wanxing went out on a date with Fu Wenshan, they were photographed by someone from Yufeng Entertainment, and the photos were sent to Jiang Han’s desk, where he intercepted them temporarily.
Jiang Han took the photos and contacted Lian Dan, and they came to discuss how to handle the situation with Xie Wanxing.
This was the first time the two agents had met because of their artists. Jiang Han had known about it for a long time and had a good psychological endurance, while Lian Dan had only found out last week and suddenly realized that Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan had been living together for a long time. She quietly took a sip of cold tea and felt that she needed some peace and quiet.
Xie Wanxing sat quietly on the sofa, not wanting to agitate his fragile agent’s nerves. After telling his family about his relationship with Fu Wenshan, he realized it was pointless to keep it from Lian Dan, so he told her everything.
Lian Dan remained calm after hearing it all, but she peeled three oranges in a row, which she didn’t even like, and swallowed them without changing her expression.
Jiang Han patted Lian Dan’s shoulder sympathetically. “Talking about anything else is meaningless, let’s first think about how to handle this photo.”
Actually, the photos weren’t too scandalous.
The first picture was very clear, capturing the faces of Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan. Fu Wenshan was bowing his head to help Xie Wanxing adjust his scarf, which would be nothing out of the ordinary.
However, the second photo showed Fu Wenshan’s forehead pressed against Xie Wanxing’s forehead, with their faces very close together. Any closer, and it would be a kiss. Saying something to each other while smiling.
And the third photo showed Fu Wenshan holding an ice cream cone, feeding it to Xie Wanxing.
This couldn’t be explained away as just brotherly affection.
Audiences nowadays weren’t blind. What straight male good friends would press foreheads together and even hand-feed ice cream?
Jiang Han looked at the photos with a headache and asked Fu Wenshan, “It’s almost winter, why eat ice cream? Isn’t roasted sweet potato good enough?”
Fu Wenshan replied, “It’s good, but Xie Wanxing doesn’t like it. What can I do if he wants to eat ice cream?”
Xie Wanxing kicked Fu Wenshan under the table.
Lian Dan asked Xie Wanxing, “What do you want to do? If you don’t want it to be exposed, we can totally suppress it.”
Although same-sex marriage was legal now, society hadn’t fully accepted it yet. Although the entertainment industry seemed open, in recent years, there had been quite a few variety shows featuring LGBTQ artists, but some opportunities were not open to artists who had come out. It could be as minor as commercial endorsements, or as major as some awards.
And although Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan weren’t A-list celebrities, they still had quite a few young female fans. Once their relationship was made public, the fan circle would inevitably undergo a reshuffle.
From a personal perspective, Lian Dan didn’t want Xie Wanxing to come out just yet.
But Xie Wanxing didn’t answer immediately. He knew that coming out could have some impact on his career, but compared to hiding his relationship with Fu Wenshan, the price seemed insignificant.
Jiang Han’s thoughts differed from Lian Dan’s. Seeing Xie Wanxing remain silent, he asked another question, “Both of you are planning to come out sooner or later, right? Even if not now, then in the future. And it’ll likely be within the next few years.”
Fu Wenshan and Xie Wanxing nodded together.
“In that case, personally, I suggest not suppressing these photos, but also not coming out just yet. We just need to guide public opinion gradually,” Jiang Han said calmly to Fu Wenshan, “Even if there are more paparazzi incidents, I can handle them. Based on what I know about you, you two might even be holding hands and getting married in a couple of years, so suppressing this now is meaningless.”
Here, he turned to Lian Dan again, “You may not know, but they’ve already told each other’s families.”
Lian Dan stared at Xie Wanxing with widened eyes.
Xie Wanxing turned his head away guiltily.
“So I think what we need to do now is let people gradually get used to and accept the fact that Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan are a couple. Then, when you two eventually come out, most people will have already anticipated it,” Jiang Han pushed up his glasses, “When you two were on variety shows before, you already had some shippers, but they weren’t significant. What we need to do now is to amplify your CP (couple) fanbase.”
Jiang Han quickly pulled out his phone and opened the fan page for Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan’s CP. “Actually, the CP fans have some interesting ideas. The CP name they came up with for you two sounds nice—Fu Xing.”
Xie Wanxing looked down and saw that the first post on the fan page was an NSFW image.
Xie Wanxing: “…………”
But Fu Wenshan whistled inwardly. They’ve actually used that position before.
?
The group discussed late into the night at Xie Wanxing’s home, and eventually, even Lian Dan accepted Jiang Han’s opinion. The two of them came up with a practical plan before leaving.
As they walked out, they glanced at each other with somewhat complicated expressions. On one hand, now that their artists were tied together, they were comrades in the same trench. But on the other hand, as they looked at each other, they seemed like two parents of mischievous kids, exchanging glances.
“Our young Master Fu, although he looks a bit fierce, is actually very nice and innocent. Xie Wanxing won’t suffer being with him,” Jiang Han vaguely praised, “He hasn’t really dated much. You’ll see in the future.”
Lian Dan didn’t believe it at all. Fu Wenshan hasn’t dated? That’s a big joke.
She refused to back down, saying, “Since my Xie Wanxing entered the entertainment circle, he has never flirted with anyone. He’s always been easy to deal with and dedicated. It’s just this time, for some reason, he fell for Fu Wenshan. Maybe it’s fate.”
Jiang Han also didn’t believe it; the CP of Xie Wanxing had one more boost than Fu Wenshan’s, and the rumored partners changed every year.
But they both had a very agreeing look on their faces, extremely hypocritical.