The marketing account used its usual exaggerated headline.
"Male celebrity surnamed Gu checked into a hotel with a woman last night, spent a passionate night together, suspected relationship exposure."
Below the news were not only pictures but also a short video clip of over ten seconds.
Jiang Mo clicked open the video. She recognized Gu Ye immediately. Gu Ye was supporting someone wearing a baseball cap, a long trench coat, with delicate facial features, shoulder-length hair dyed blue.
In the footage, Gu Ye and the other person entered the hotel together.
It looked a bit odd. The person next to Gu Ye was quite tall. Was that really a woman?
Jiang Mo still trusted Gu Ye. Rushing to work, she finished reading the news and hurriedly drove to the office.
As soon as Jiang Mo arrived at her office, Gu Ye sent a message, also attaching a short video.
Gu Ye: "I didn't reply to your message yesterday because Chen Yu got drunk and was vomiting. I got him settled in a hotel, and by the time I finished cleaning up, it was too late to message you back."
"Don't believe the nonsense those marketing accounts are spreading."
Gu Ye felt utterly wronged. They even posted the video they took, still calling him a 'male celebrity surnamed Gu.'
The paparazzi who shot the video must have bad eyesight. A perfectly good man had his gender switched.
In the video Gu Ye sent, Chen Yu was lying on the hotel bed, sleeping soundly with his blue shoulder-length hair. Gu Ye pulled him up and gave a close-up shot of his face.
The two had a good relationship. Last night, Gu Ye had dinner with Chen Yu and two others. Chen Yu drank a bit too much, so Gu Ye took him to a hotel.
Then this gossip erupted.
"I saw the news this morning. I knew something looked off," Jiang Mo inquired. "You didn't drink last night, did you?"
"I just had one beer. I know my limit, didn't dare drink more. Don't worry," Gu Ye explained.
Seeing Jiang Mo wasn't misunderstanding, he felt relieved.
Checking the time, Gu Ye pulled the person on the bed up. "Still sleeping? How can you even sleep?"
Chen Yu woke up groggily, feeling weak. The sunlight streamed in, and he asked hoarsely, "What's up?"
Gu Ye snorted coldly. "What's up? They're saying you and I are in a relationship, that we spent a passionate night together in a hotel."
"Damn, which bastard is spreading rumors out there? I'm a hundred percent straight guy," Chen Yu got angry.
He was wide awake now.
"Check your phone, look at the messages, the marketing accounts posted it," Gu Ye said, looking at his luscious hair and delicate face. "I'm telling you, with this long hair, aren't you going to do something about it? This isn't the first time you've been mistaken."
"This is called having personality and being distinctive," Chen Yu said after checking the trending search and the video. "If I hadn't been having dinner with you, I wouldn't have made the headlines and hot searches. Being with you is rough."
He wouldn't normally get this kind of attention.
"Enough said, we're both having a hard time," Gu Ye said. "Come on, let's take a selfie together to debunk the rumor."
After Gu Ye posted the photo, everyone compared it to the person in the video and confirmed it was the singer Chen Yu.
The fans' hearts settled back down, and the onlookers dispersed. However, there were still a few rogue fans whispering that couples don't necessarily have to be male and female, and who's to say these two aren't a couple?
Seeing this comment nearly made Gu Ye spit blood.
With the rumor debunked, Gu Ye left the hotel and drove to find Huang Ling.
Huang Ling had been waiting at the company since morning because Gu Ye had told her in advance he had something important to discuss.
Gu Ye rarely came to the company. This time, he noticed some changes—the overall environment had improved a bit.
Huang Ling had just finished reading the morning news about Gu Ye. She was planning to inquire and then issue a denial, but he directly posted the group photo.
Seeing him come in, Huang Ling said with a smile, "What exactly do you need to talk about? You wouldn't say when I asked, insisting on discussing it at the company today."
Gu Ye sat down, made some small talk first, then looked around. "Sister Huang, I noticed our company seems to have changed a bit. There seem to be more people too."
"You saw? The office was renovated and redecorated. We recently signed two new artists, so we hired more staff," Huang Ling said. "With the renovation and upgrade, doesn't it make our company look more substantial?"
"It definitely feels different. Which two new artists did you sign? If I have any shows recently, I can help give them some exposure."
"Is that okay?" Huang Ling was naturally very happy that Gu Ye offered to help promote newcomers.
"It's no problem at all," Gu Ye said. "Give the company's newcomers more opportunities."
"Alright, I'll talk to them later," Huang Ling looked at him. "You still haven't said what you want to discuss. You've got me feeling a bit nervous."
Gu Ye paused. "Sister Huang, I've been thinking about it for a while. I plan to retire from the industry."
"Retire?!"
Huang Ling raised her voice. "No, why? Everything's fine, why would you retire?"
"I just don't want to live under the spotlight anymore. I plan to try something else."
Huang Ling knew Gu Ye's family was well-off; he had the capital to be willful. If he said he wasn't doing it anymore, he probably meant it.
But he was her cash cow.
"Is it because of the recent workload I arranged for you? Or you don't really like it? You can tell me," Huang Ling tried to find a reason.
Gu Ye shook his head: "It's really not that."
