Chapter Fifty-two

  Later, when journalists recalled the scene, they couldn't help but feel emotional. Throughout his journalistic career, he had never seen such a quiet press conference.

  At that moment, the whole venue was silent, and even the sound of pressing the camera shutter was gone.

  Everyone was stunned on the spot, including reporters, IM company executives and security personnel.

  The broker suddenly jumped up, knocking over the mineral water bottle in front of him, and stared at Jiang Chuan with eyes wider than a cow's. Three seconds later, he sat back down with a "slap", shrinking into a ball on the chair, one hand covering half his face, looking like his soul had withered away.

  "What the hell," Luo Cheng wiped his face beside Agent Mr., "It's too chaotic."

  ……

  On the scene, only Jiang Chuan, who was sitting in the middle of the top row, calmly and composedly dropped a giant bomb and continued to smile fearlessly. His fingertips tapped rhythmically on the table, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his eyes curved into a narrow arc. Then, that low and even voice slowly sounded -

  "I know some people will definitely think that this is just an excuse I'm making up for myself, after all, how could someone as ordinary as me possibly know Yuan Jinran?"

  As he said this, Jiang Chuan let out a low laugh, and that extremely magnetic voice was perfectly transmitted to the ears of every reporter through the microphone - all the reporters present, regardless of gender, couldn't help but jump in their hearts when they heard the laughter, and when they looked up, they saw the man smiling with his eyes downcast...

  They actually saw a hint of shyness in his smile.

  It's almost a conditioned reflex, with a stunned expression still on their faces, journalists have already subconsciously started frantically pressing the shutter, zooming in and giving that face a close-up.

  "But you know, before Jin Yan officially debuted at the age of 19, he was also a good and ordinary middle school student... Ah, you probably don't know that he can speak some German, right?" Jiang Chuan thought for a moment, then raised his head and said lightly, "Actually, during his middle school days, Jin Yan went to Germany to study abroad for a year. He learned German at that time, but he dropped out of school and returned to China in less than a year. I was in the same school as him back then, but he was in the middle school department and I was in the elementary school department... Later, some things happened, and even now when I think about it, I still feel very regretful."

  The reporters on the scene quieted down, and instead of rushing forward to ask various explosive questions, they stared wide-eyed, almost involuntarily following the man's speech frequency, honestly sitting in their own positions, listening to the story.

  "He was already a very special existence in his middle school days - ah, at least for people from our side," said Jiang Chuan with a somewhat helpless smile. "Slender, delicate skin, black soft hair and black eyes, when he transferred to our school as an exchange student, it caused a huge sensation. I still remember that after class, no matter what grade the boys or girls were in, they would all run to his classroom to see him - unfortunately, the elementary school was separated from the middle school by a whole playground, so it wasn't realistic to rush over and catch a glimpse of him during recess. Luckily, at that time, the elementary school always got out half an hour earlier than the middle school, so I would pack up early and run to his school gate, standing there waiting just to get a glimpse of him."

  Luò Chéng let out a bewildered and ambiguous voice, Fāng Yú, who was in a state of spiritual withering, turned around and looked at Jiāng Chuān with a strange expression. The past Jiāng Chuān did not understand, even though Jiāng Chuān had told him that he had studied abroad for a period of time when he was young, but he didn't say it in detail, nor did he ask. So, for most people, Jiāng Chuān's past has always been a blank state... But at this moment... Fāng Yú suddenly felt that the guy sitting next to him now was telling the truth.

  Those calm and serene eyes were always tranquil, without even a hint of ripples or flaws.

  It makes people easily and unconsciously want to believe what he says.

  "When we were young, everyone would make mistakes like this, it's the weakness of humanity regardless of nationality or ethnicity. When they see something beautiful, they want to possess it, and if they can't get it, they'll destroy it." Jiang Chuan's tone sank as he spoke, "Later on, I always thought that if only I had been a bit stronger back then, things wouldn't have turned out like this - I watched with my own eyes as the flower that had just bloomed began to wither away, and the school uniform that had fit him so well gradually became loose. I wanted to know what had happened, but when I asked, people would always avoid eye contact and not tell me what was going on with that exchange student. When they mentioned it, all they did was sigh."

  The reporters paused for a moment, their minds buzzing with thoughts as they searched through their memories of Yuan Zhenyan's past, only to find that those memories were blank and waiting to be filled in. No one had ever thought that there would be such a story behind the well-known good guy in the entertainment industry, nor had anyone tried to dig deeper - until now, as the man sitting on stage slowly recounted his tale, it was as if a missing piece of the puzzle had suddenly been found and was about to fill in the blank.

  They always think they've heard some earth-shattering news.

  About Yuan Jinyan.

  About Jiangchuan.

  "I found that there were always a few high school students from the upper grades who would strangely appear around Jian Ran. They were tall and strong, had tattoos, swore, smoked, disobeyed teachers, and bullied others in school without anyone daring to provoke them. It was also difficult for ordinary people to easily approach or join them. However, they would always surround that handsome foreign student like flies, laughing and chatting with him during class breaks or on the way to and from school. Sometimes, the leader of those guys would even use violence, but when others tried to have normal contact with the foreign student, he would loudly stop them and roughly chase them away... Gradually, the originally popular foreign student lost his social activities, and only those terrible people were left around him."

  At this point, Jiang Chuan's words paused, as if recalling a very unpleasant episode, and he slightly furrowed his brow.

  The reporters, sensing that even more explosive information might be forthcoming, held their breath.

  "One day, when I was leaving school, I didn't wait for him - I told the security guard at the middle school department that I wanted to go in and find my brother. They probably saw the same school uniform on me and didn't ask many questions before letting me in... When I entered the school, I almost didn't hesitate and went straight to Jianran's classroom. Of course, I knew which grade and class he was in - who wouldn't know that at our school? Jiang Chuan said slowly, "But when I got to the classroom, I didn't see him there. The room was empty, his backpack was still on the desk, half-packed as if someone had dragged him away, and his homework notebook was scattered all over the floor."

  "Hey, isn't that enough?"

  If it were a scripted story, it would be too dramatic by now - he felt like he was about to hear something terrible, Fang Yu furrowed his brow and kicked Jiang Chuan lightly under the table. Jiang Chuan turned around and subtly shook his head in Fang Yu's direction, Fang Yu helplessly closed his mouth and looked at Jiang Chuan.

  Kang Chuan refocused his gaze on the group of reporters below.

  Paused for a moment.

  He continued slowly and said...

  "In the end, I found him in the bathroom. Ah, and those upperclassmen - the tallest one had him pinned against the wall, his spotless uniform was stained, his uniform was lifted up to reveal his abdomen, and they used their burning cigarette butts to press into his skin...". Jiang Chuan's expression was calm as he said this, "I stood at the entrance of the bathroom, I could hear their wanton laughter, I could hear the 'sizzling' sound of the cigarette butts on his skin, even smell the burnt flesh emitting a foul odor... Those scars are permanent, you can probably still find them on him now."

  The reporters subconsciously put down their cameras and looked at each other in dismay.

  Fang Yu stared at Jiang Chuan with a mixture of shock and speechlessness, while the latter raised his hand, seemingly somewhat annoyed, and mussed up his originally neat hair.

  "I was also shocked, scared and angry like you at that time... but I knew I couldn't beat them, so I fell down on the toilet door in a useless pose, screaming loudly. My screams called the teacher over, who found out what happened and took those older students away. At this moment, the person who should have been crying or moaning in pain was actually the calmest. He simply stood up from his curled-up corner, smoothed out his school uniform, walked to my front and said 'thank you' and 'I'm fine'."

  It's probably because what Kōji Yamamoto said was too vivid.

  Few of the reporters below were calm, some young female reporters had red eyes and covered their lips. At this time, one of the female reporters stuttered: "Yes... I saw with my own eyes that the makeup artist applied makeup to Jianran's waist - at that time, I was curious and asked why, he smiled and told me it was convenient for lighting because he himself didn't have much muscle - oh my god."

  The female journalist couldn't speak anymore, the person standing next to her from the same newspaper holding a camera helplessly pulled out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to her.

  Jiang Chuan glanced at her, didn't say a word, just changed his sitting posture, and then said lightly: "Later he left this school, I never saw him again until a few years ago when I accidentally saw the movie he starred in on TV - although it's been a long time, I still recognized him at a glance. From that moment on, I decided to join the film industry. There were no particularly good opportunities abroad, and despite my father's objections, I became an extra actor. The ultimate goal was to come to this country and get close to him again."

  Jiang Chuan's words fell, and he slightly moved the receiver away from his ear.

  Fang Yu, sitting next to him, looked at him in shock - the completely unadulterated shocked expression was also captured by the reporter.

  The reporters were stunned for a while, until they realized that Jiang Chuan had finished what he wanted to say. They were still immersed in the story just now and couldn't come back to their senses for a long time. If someone asked them to give a title to today's press conference right now, they might not know how to write it.

  Too shocked.

  Really shocked.

  They took a little time to calm down their emotions that couldn't be calmed for a long time. At this moment, the reporter who asked Jiang Chuan to do the exam paper was the first to come back to his senses. He stood up and, with the approval of the staff, asked Jiang Chuan: "So, Jiang Chuan, are you indirectly admitting that you are gay?"

  The question was a bit direct, and it even drew disapproving glances from other authors present - but no one spoke out in opposition, although they themselves were unwilling to ask, yet they knew that this might also be what the readers wanted to know.

  For an artist, this is a relatively dangerous question. Fang Yu felt that Luo Cheng elbowed him hard from the side. At this moment, Manager Li finally came to his senses and stood up, just wanting to stop the reporter's questioning. However, he saw Jiang Chuan smiling beside him: "At least before Jian Ran says 'thank you' to me, I don't think so."

  The reporters were in an uproar.

  Those female journalists who had been listening to the story with eyes wide open were now blushing, they lowered their heads and grasped tightly at their small notebooks as their pens flew.

  The reporter finished asking the question and flashed a stiff smile at Jiang Chuan - the rigid agent realized that this should be over, at least the reporter would not use biased language to smear in the report... He let out a sigh of relief, cursed silently, thinking "What kind of press conference is this, it's so stimulating, do they want people to live or die?"

  After the reporter sat down, another reporter stood up. He was a reporter from G City Metropolitan Daily - Fang Yuxin thought to himself that things were going to be bad. This guy was the one whose camera equipment had been smashed by Jiang Chuan before. An old nemesis, he hadn't expected him to follow him all the way to H City this time... The organizer must have been out of their mind to let them in... Fang Yuxin's heart, which had just barely landed, hung up again. Sure enough, he immediately heard the reporter ask with malice: "Mr. Jiang Chuan, why are you here telling us this story now?"

  "I'm telling you, I didn't hype it up," Jiang Chuan said. "Please don't continue reporting on things that will lower my image in Jian Ran's heart."

  "Is that so? But in my opinion, your behavior has undoubtedly formed an invisible moral constraint on Yuan Jinyan——"

  "He is now lying in hospital, knowing nothing, as long as your report is normal and unbiased, what can I use to morally bind him?"

  As soon as Jiang Chuan spoke, Luo Cheng quietly gave him a round of applause under the table - by saying so, he also blocked the way for those reporters who were ready to write nonsense - because there were so many reporters present, and some of them would definitely be willing to record the whole truth instead of fabricating it, after all, Jiang Chuan's original words were already... brilliant.

  Writing randomly will be slapped in the face mercilessly.

  As a media outlet, they themselves are aware of how terrifying fan emotions can be after smearing an artist and then getting slapped in the face.

  At this time, with the end of the questioning by the reporter from G City Metropolitan Daily, the press conference has come to an end. Jiang Chuan stopped speaking and Luo Cheng took over the microphone to say some polite closing remarks before Jiang Chuan left the scene under the escort of the security team.

  ……

  He and Fang Yu sat in the car, just as the door closed, the agent rushed over and grabbed Jiang Chuan's collar. His face twisted and distorted, but under Jiang Chuan's expressionless gaze, he let go of Jiang Chuan and slumped into the seat beside him. He took a bottle of mineral water from his assistant and gulped down half of it, letting out a long sigh. Pointing at Jiang Chuan with the bottle, he exclaimed: "You... you... I... I... have gone too far! Those reporters are so easy to fool!!! You actually fabricated a story and almost came out of the closet! What kind of sin did I commit by meeting you?! Ahhhhhh, my heart is racing! According to the company's script, just say that you and Yuan Jin Yan are friends. Now this crisis has temporarily passed, but what's next? Those reporters will definitely investigate how Jin Yan got hurt and whether he has been abroad or not..."

  "How did you get hurt like this?"

  “……”

  I don't know.

  So he immediately shut his mouth.

  Jiang Chuan smiled and bent down to pull out the computer from under the seat, opening his email to show Fang Yu.

  He hastily scanned the email and found that it was basically what Jiang Chuan had said at the press conference earlier, about Jin Yan's past experiences... He was stunned, turned his head to stare at Jiang Chuan, who calmly met his gaze. The agent rushed over excitedly, wanting to finish reading the email, but Jiang Chuan suddenly closed the laptop with a "slam". Facing the agent's dissatisfied look, Jiang Chuan remained calm: "This is a private email sent to my personal mailbox, I won't let you see it."

  He was so furious that he spat blood.

  "Mysterious email you just believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

  "I called Jianran's mother and she said that Jianran had been to Germany." Jiang Chuan glanced at Fang Yu, "And also said that the burns on his body were from that time too."

  Fang Yu: "………………"

  "That's right."

  Fang Yu fell silent for a moment, stretched out his hand and poked Jiang Chuan's sturdy arm with a subtle expression: "So what you said earlier was all true, did you really witness those things and..."

  "Fake," Jiang Chuan bent down and stuffed the computer back under the seat, "I went to a noble school for elementary and middle school, not just anyone can get in, and..."

  "And what's more?"

  "Even when I was in elementary school, I wouldn't be scared to tears by a few high school students, it's not like I couldn't fight back." Jiang Chuan said lazily.

  Fang Yu was completely speechless, and he decided that after this storm passed, he would definitely go to the hospital to check his heart.

  ……

  On the same day, along with the announcement of Jiang Chuan's press conference content, countless passersby flooded into Jiang Chuan's Weibo to apologize and express their regret for believing in rumors about him before. They also left encouraging messages under his last post before the incident, wishing Zhang Yixing a speedy recovery. Everyone was blessing Zhang Yixing to wake up soon, and some were gossiping that after waking up, he must not forget to let Jiang Chuan

  Take a look at this moving declaration of love by Jiang Chuan at today's press conference.

  At the same time, the topic of campus violence was also raised. Even passersby couldn't help but sigh and say that someone like Yuan Yanchen had actually experienced such a thing, and it's really not easy for him to be where he is today.

  Just as Fang Yu had guessed, after reporting the entire press conference, the reporters did not stop there. In less than one night, they contacted Yuan Yinran's classmates and teachers from back in China through various channels, including those who knew him before he went abroad. They confirmed that Yuan Yinran indeed went to Germany as an exchange student, but were unclear about when he returned; others who knew him after his return proved that when Yuan Yinran transferred to their school as a transfer student, his mental state was not very good, but later performed excellently and was well-liked by both classmates and teachers.

  When asked if they had any scars on their bodies, these people uniformly said they didn't know.

  Finally, a reporter contacted Yuan Jinyan's mother, who also saw the press conference and said that some things had passed and did not want to mention them again. She also hoped that the media would not continue to bother Jiang Chuan or Jinyan with this topic. In any case, Jiang Chuan is a good person, and previous reports were unfair to him. She had thought about standing up for him to clarify things, but was refused by Jiang Chuan himself.

  The media finally admitted defeat.

  Because there were too many explosive points throughout the press conference, everyone's focus was on "small transparent newcomer chasing big star across thousands of miles", a plot more idol-like than an idol drama itself. Everyone was excitedly shouting "too romantic" and almost no one noticed that whether it was the "small transparent" or the "big star", they all had handles underneath them.

  Even if someone made a comment like "Jiang Chuan is gay, how disgusting", they would be swarmed by the crowd and slapped in the face with questions: Which eye of yours saw him admit to being gay?

  Jiang Chuan indeed didn't say it.

  He replied to reporters that before meeting Yuan Yinran, he was not gay.

  In other words, this can be answered like this - he likes Yuan Zhenyan as a person, regardless of Yuan Zhenyan's specific gender.

  This is Fang Yu's "half-out-of-the-closet".

  What Jiang Chuan said at the press conference has raised his and Yuan Xinyu's popularity to its highest point, and almost all comments from netizens are positive - whether it's on web portals, newspapers or TV stations. Now they're calling for everyone to remain calm and objective in the face of rumors, not spreading false information or blindly following the crowd. Before the truth comes out, let's keep a level head and make judgments calmly. This is the best way to protect and support public figures nowadays.

  The chocolate green tea girl posted a Weibo saying: [It's hard work, it's okay if nothing happens.]

  Li Dog HAI also posted a Weibo saying: "The secretly in love Jiang Chuan is worth singing and crying about."

  The worst part is he even @ed Xia Jiangchuan.

  Below, fans expressed "2333333 heart aches for Jiang Chuan", then called out to "let Jian Ran see", this Weibo teasing Jiang Chuan's secret crush on Yuan Jianran has tens of thousands of forwards, some people say "hurry up and get together", but more people still express that no matter what, the truth will be revealed, and hope Yuan Jianran wakes up soon.

  The crew, Jiang Luocheng looked at Jiang Chuan with a very subtle gaze, of course, it was the subtlety of "rivals meeting and seeing red, losing to the old self who used to support you, but you actually ate inside and peeled outside". The producer teacher had a talk with Jiang Chuan about life, mainly centered on the idea that nowadays young people are really open-minded, but don't worry, your answer at the press conference was very good at hitting the nail on the head, regarding whether you like men or women... Although the domestic atmosphere is still relatively tense, this side is also working hard to reform and open up, with your evasive answer, it shouldn't have serious consequences —— however, in the end, it's still best for Jiang Chuan to speak less nonsense, this time nothing happened, but that doesn't mean next time will be the same.

  Jiang Chuan solemnly promised and said he would pay attention.

  Jiang Chuan and Yuan Jingyan's fans shook hands and became in-laws directly.

  Those who were holding him automatically let go and disappeared without a trace.

  Compared to the terrifying and depressing atmosphere of the previous period, today's entire entertainment circle can be said to be joyful and peaceful.

  It's as if Jiang Chuan and Yuan Yanyan are going to hold a wedding ceremony tomorrow morning.

  ……

  The company has made an incredible comeback in the midst of adversity.

  Of course, the company's high-level executives couldn't help but scold Jiang Chuan, intimidating him that if he continued to play cards against common sense, something would go wrong sooner or later. Jiang Chuan neither admitted nor denied it, apologized when necessary, and had a good attitude that left no room for criticism. However, when they asked Jiang Chuan who was the Lei Feng who leaked Yuan Jinran's information to him, Jiang Chuan refused to say.

  To be exact, his answers from start to finish were extremely sincere ——

  "I don't know."

  "I don't know either."

  "It's an anonymous email, don't know who it is from where."

  "I really don't know."

  The high-level executives of IM Company expressed their helplessness, but as a small transparent figure who is secretly in love with someone, Jiang Chuan's external image has been settled. The IM company immediately cancelled the plan to have Jiang Chuan and Ronnie stir up rumors next, and instead arranged for him to go to the hospital to visit Jin Yan.

  After all, being a deep and secret lover, one should at least have the appearance of a secret admirer.

  Jiang Chuan confirmed that the company would not intentionally arrange for reporters to follow him, so he didn't refuse and arranged a time with the crew to take a plane back to G City. Of course, such a vacation was impossible to get approved by Jiang Luo Cheng, so in the end, the producer had to personally approve it before Jiang Chuan could leave.

  ……

  It was in mid-May on this day that G City, which was about to welcome the arrival of summer, had clear skies and a gentle breeze.

  As soon as Jiang Chuan got off the plane, he went straight to the hospital where Jin Yan was located - just like the first day he came. His pocket still had a hamster in it - although this hamster was several times larger than the one he brought to the hospital last time, but the owner was still the same, and the hamster was still the same one.

  The ward was quiet and still, without any reporters. The original caregivers had also been arranged to temporarily withdraw in advance. After entering the ward, only the rhythmic beeping of the monitoring equipment could be heard... A hamster suddenly jumped out of Jiang Chuan's pocket and landed on the bedspread, crawling forward a few steps with a rustling sound, then slightly raised its body to look at its own face, which was now close at hand. At the same time, behind it, a tall man opened the window to let in fresh air, and the warm sunlight spilled onto the cheek of the young black-haired person lying on the bed. As the trees outside the window swayed gently in the breeze, the sunlight also danced lively.

  Jiang Chuan stood by the bed and looked at the young man with black hair for a while, then said, "Vividly lifelike."

  The hamster squatting on the hospital bed and the agent beside it turned their heads at the same time, looking at him speechlessly. The latter said: "People are not dead yet, don't use idioms randomly if you can't use them properly."

  Jiang Chuan let out a soft "oh" and walked lazily to the bedside, his eyes fixed on the face of the young man with black hair who was quietly sleeping with his eyes closed - although he had been in a coma for nearly half a year, due to professional care and regular massage, Yuan Jinran did not have muscle atrophy, but because he had not seen outdoor sunlight for many years, his face was pale to the point of being almost transparent.

  Her gaze swept across the eyelashes that trembled slightly with his breathing, and the person standing by the bed was moved in their heart, but didn't know which nerve was acting up, and suddenly, as if possessed, reached out a hand to gently tousle the black hair hanging down on his forehead.

  Compared with Westerners' coarse hair texture, black hair feels incredibly soft to Jiang Chuan.

  He slightly narrowed his eyes, the man's throat moved, facing that expressionless and unresponsive face, and he muttered vaguely: "Thank you."

  The hamster squatting on its own "corpse" almost shed tears of emotion at this word of "thank you".

  But the next second, when he crawled towards his own face (......), wanting to see if his jade-like face still had elasticity after sleeping for so long and whether there was muscle relaxation, he was suddenly pulled down by Fang Yu behind him. The hamster "squeaked" twice and struggled, but at this time, he heard Fang Yu ask: "Jiang Chuan, there's something that has been on my mind for a long time - I just want to ask, the Lei Feng who sent you an email, did he suggest that you say you secretly love Jian Ran?"

  The hamster stopped struggling.

  At this time, Jiang Chuan's hand was still suspended in the air above the young black-haired man's face, with his slightly curved finger joints almost touching the tip of the other person's nose. Upon hearing Fang Yu's question, he suddenly seemed to be awakened from a dream and hesitated for a moment before withdrawing his hand without leaving any trace. A strange light flashed through his azure pupils, and then he replied calmly: "No."

  The hamster held in Mr. Broker's palm raised its head and stared at the man in front of it.

  "The person in the email said that Yuan Jinyan is gay, so they suggested I directly say we are lovers, which would be more convincing." Jiang Chuan said calmly, "The reason they mentioned the origin of the scar was also to tell me where the scars were on his body, to further prove our intimate relationship... The person also said that Yuan Jinyan is more popular than me, if his sexual orientation is made public, maybe everyone's focus would shift directly to him, and I could take the opportunity to slip away."

  Fang Yu's eyes widened slightly.

  "But I thought about it, and to be honest, I wasn't too sure what the consequences would be if I said something like that. You guys seem to be quite sensitive about celebrities' sexual orientation," Jiang Chuan put his hands in his pockets, slightly tilting his head, his eyes fixed on the young man with black hair lying in bed with tubes all over him, expressionless. "If saying this has bad consequences, I don't really care... but he might wake up one day and probably wouldn't want to be outed for no reason."

  Fang Yu: "......"

  "So I changed my statement," Jiang Chuan paused for a moment before continuing slowly, "It was originally my own business, no need to drag him into it."

  Fang Yu thought for half a day, the expression on his face changed from initial worry to shock and then to speechlessness. Finally, when his whole face was stiffened, he suddenly burst out laughing with a "hiss" sound.

  Jiang Chuan: "What's going on?"

  He chuckled to himself for a while, and then the agent, with one hand on the bedside table, pointed at the unconscious young man with black hair and said: "You're really gentle, Mr. Jiang Chuan, if this guy could hear what you just said, he might have fallen in love with you unconditionally."

  Jiang Chuan was stunned for a moment, then lightly coughed and silently turned his face away.