A capable, middle-aged lady, who seemed to be the actor’s agent, was sitting next to him. She looked stern in her glasses but was polite enough to acknowledge the actress with a smile.
“Boss Qin, can I exchange seats with you? I wanna sit next to Shishi.”
The manager rejected his plea mercilessly. “No way. I have to look after her if she gets motion sickness.”
“Lemme take care of her, then! I’ll look after her! I’m very good with that. You can leave her to me.”
The other man merely snorted with a glare. “No way! I don’t trust you.”
The young chap clasped his palms together in a prayer-like posture and drew close to the manager with a sincere smile, seemingly begging for a chance to prove himself.
At one side, the actor’s agent admonished him gently. “Hey, you’d better be on your best behavior and stay in your seat.” She then lowered her volume abruptly with a warning next. “Missy won’t be happy if she finds out about you sitting with another woman.”
“Don’t worry; I know how to pacify her.”
After saying that, he stood up, plastered himself on Qin Zhou, and pleaded incessantly.
The manager could not shake him off and gave up his seat finally.
Once the chap sat next to the actress, he could not stop talking.
“Shishi, we must be fated to share the same flight! I thought I’d be bored sitting by myself on the plane.”
“Eh.”
“Who is walking the red carpet with you?”
“Qin Zhou.”
“Oh, why him? How about walking the red carpet with me? I’m alone, anyway.”
“No, thanks.”
“Hey… Why not?”
Her manager sneered at one side. “Please don’t assume that I can’t hear you. I know you’re trying to undercut me right now.”
Hua Jin stuck his tongue out cheekily and then strutted his stuff before the former. “As an A-lister for period dramas, I have a substantive fanbase. Besides, I’ll complement her nicely with my pretty face. We’ll be a beautiful and compatible couple on the red carpet. We’ll certainly steal the limelight tonight! Shishi, walk the red carpet with me, please? You’ll be able to win over many more fans!”
Qin Zhou could not help taking a dig at the young actor. “You mean winning over the anti-fans, right?”
“Nonsense! I’ll destroy anyone who dares to smear her reputation!”
The other man continued to flip his papers as he sniggered. “Well, this is a good attitude.”
The idol continued impatiently. “Regardless of anything, she’ll walk the red carpet with me. I’m a better option with our youth compared to a middle-aged uncle like you, after all. You’re overripe for her and totally incompatible!”
The older man’s hands stiffened with the newspapers in them; angry veins popped on his temples.
The remark about his age hit his sore spot.
Narrowing his eyes dangerously, he shot daggers at Hua Jin. “‘Middle-aged uncle’?”
“That’s right. You’re approaching your thirties, aren’t you? Is that not old?”
The manager wanted to strangle the fellow there and then.
“Shut up!”
“C’mon. All men are the same. The older they are, the less they admit to it.”
By now, Qin Zhou was gnashing his teeth at the other party, stabbing him many times over in his imagination.
He dared to call me an old man right in my face?!
The actress suddenly commented with a smile, “Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer to walk the red carpet with that old man.”
“Why?!” The young chap looked hurt.
Her manager intercepted with a vicious retort. “You don’t understand her at all! Compared to fresh meat, she prefers a mature and good-looking uncle.”
“Woo…”
Vexed, Hua Jin crossed his fingers and did not show any intention of backing down.
He really wanted to walk the red carpet with Yun Shishi.
