Chapter 134: 0134
Chapter 134
The first music festival was scheduled for Christmas, coinciding with the weekend - a perfect combination of holiday and weekend for an outing.
Before the plane even landed, Jiang Liuxing and her two friends were already taking off their outer layers.
On the same flight were many others heading to the music festival, including several social media influencers whom Jiang Liuxing had noticed filming throughout the journey, along with several "fellow fans."
"What are you doing? Why aren't you taking it off? You're just wearing a vest, surely you don't need to go to the bathroom for that," Liu Yue had already stuffed her thick clothes into her carry-on, then turned to see Jiang Liuxing still perking up her ears.
Zhou Keke had just emerged from the bathroom, holding her thick clothes, and shifted her gaze to Jiang Liuxing when Liu Yue mentioned her.
Sitting by the aisle, Jiang Liuxing was intensely focused, almost extending her ears forward. Just as Zhou Keke was about to speak, Jiang Liuxing raised her hand to stop them both from talking.
"Shh!" She gestured for them to stay quiet.
Liu Yue and Zhou Keke exchanged puzzled looks, wondering what had gotten into Jiang Liuxing this time.
After withdrawing her attention, Jiang Liuxing began removing her thick vest. Zhou Keke returned to her seat as the plane's announcement system came on.
Flight attendants came through business class reminding passengers to adjust their seats. Jiang Liuxing adjusted hers and leaned over to whisper to Liu Yue: "Hey! I just caught some major gossip."
Liu Yue, who had been wearing her typical aristocratic scowl, suddenly brightened up and leaned in to ask, "What gossip?"
Following Jiang Liuxing's line of sight across the aisle to the seat diagonally in front, she spotted the source of the gossip.
"I'll tell you after we get off. Too many people on the plane," Jiang Liuxing's voice grew increasingly quiet as she focused on gathering her belongings.
Liu Yue nearly choked, "..."
Now that her gossip high had worn off, Jiang Liuxing thought it would be better to tell her sister first.
After deplaning, instead of embracing the southern winter or reveling in the holiday spirit, Jiang Liuxing's first priority was getting online to tell her sister what she'd overheard.
Liu Yue and Zhou Keke stood nearby waiting for their luggage. This was Zhou Keke's first time in business class and first trip with friends, making everything excitingly novel. Feeling somewhat shy, she was hesitant to take photos openly and could only sneakily snap a few pictures.
Seeing this, Liu Yue insisted on taking photos for her, leading to some playful pushing and shoving between them.
Jiang Liuxing turned away from the two, her fingers tapping rapidly on her phone.
"Jiang Liuxing: Sis, I just heard some gossip - they're saying Gao Xiayu is dating someone. You should keep an eye on this."
The other end might have been busy, as there was no immediate response, leaving Jiang Liuxing anxiously waiting.
She had no particular feelings about Gao Xiayu - in Timetrain, Yao Shuo was the one she liked. Usually, she would have been gleefully sharing links online, reveling in the drama.
But this was different. Timetrain was under her sister's company, and their problems were essentially her sister's problems.
Not only would Gao Xiayu face criticism, but the other four members wouldn't be spared either. As their group's producer, Jiang Juyou would likely face even harsher mockery.
The two who had retrieved their luggage suddenly remembered something, and Liu Yue turned around, twirling her finger, "Oh right! What was that gossip you mentioned earlier?"
At the mention of gossip, Zhou Keke's head popped up, "What gossip?"
Liu Yue turned to explain to her, "She seemed to have overheard something juicy on the plane."
Then both turned to look at Jiang Liuxing.
Jiang Liuxing pressed her lips together, suddenly going quiet. Her eyes darted toward the exit as she said, "...Let's not stand here, let's go outside first, then I'll tell you."
Until her sister responded, she couldn't say anything.
At this moment, she really wanted to slap her earlier excited self.
Having just landed, they were busy getting a taxi. The journey was long, and Jiang Liuxing pretended to be carsick. After reaching the hotel, they were occupied with settling in. Several hours passed, their stomachs were growling, and still no message from her sister.
"Should we order delivery or go out to eat?" Liu Yue sprawled on the bed, barely lifting her neck to look at the other two.
Jiang Liuxing, still anxious, didn't want to move. Zhou Keke, reading the room, said, "Let's order delivery."
Getting her answer, Liu Yue finally let her head drop, sighing in relief while saying, "Then I'll just order whatever. My treat, you'll eat what I order, no complaints."
Just as Zhou Keke was about to suggest splitting the bill, Liu Yue cut her off, "Don't even think about splitting!"
Lying on the bed, Jiang Liuxing anxiously bit her fingers while continuously scrolling through her phone screen, searching Gao Xiayu's name across various platforms.
She felt slightly relieved when she found no posts about Gao Xiayu in the group forums.
Switching to Weibo, she began searching his name, using her alternate account to follow several of his major fans, then tracked down their secondary accounts through their main Weibo posts to search for news about Gao Xiayu.
After checking several accounts without finding anything, just as Jiang Liuxing was about to give up, she noticed that while one major fan's main account hadn't been updated for a long time, their secondary account was quite active.
Jiang Liuxing glanced at the active secondary account, then looked back to ensure the others weren't watching before continuing to check her phone.
With the premise of "Gao Xiayu dating again," the mysterious posts on the secondary account became easier to understand.
"Go to hell... [disgusted] How could you do this to us?"
"So disappointed in myself, want to leave but can't."
"Saw clips from '21 again today, the orchestral version. So this is where it all began."
"Heartbroken"
"I calculated my expenses, just the photocard spending alone was nearly 500,000 yuan. Haha, now my collection is worth a house. Thanks a lot, Orchestra [smile]"
"I'm so pathetic, even while running away I'm still thinking about you, worried that releasing so many cards at once might make others suspicious."
"I'm breaking down."
Looking at the timeline, news about the relationship could be traced back to before the August comeback. It seemed many fans had known about it then but had tacitly agreed to keep it secret for him.
While feeling sorry for that fan, Jiang Liuxing was completely baffled, "No... how is this possible?" she muttered to herself.
"What's not possible?" The other two turned to look at her.
Jiang Liuxing, lying on her side, suddenly stiffened, "Ah... I meant how can car rental be so expensive?"
"Don't worry about it, I've already rented one," Liu Yue fell back again, continuing to browse through her food delivery app.
The two seemed to have lost interest, but Jiang Liuxing couldn't relax.
She curled up there, her mind filled with thoughts of "How could it possibly be Gao Xiayu dating?"
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At the same time, several artists were conducting live rehearsals, and Jiang Juyou was also in the venue, helping oversee the stage effects. Her phone was constantly in her hand receiving messages, but being too busy, she could only respond to the important ones.
Jiang Liuxing's message was buried at the bottom, and she hadn't even had a chance to read it.
Around three or four in the afternoon, when it was hottest, Jiang Juyou was sweating profusely even in just a t-shirt.
She held the setlist, standing with the stage director and several choreographers, all helping to monitor the stage effects.
Everyone was working hard for tomorrow's official performance.
Jiang Juyou stayed busy until evening, when the temperature difference between day and night became apparent. Being in the suburbs with its vast open spaces, the wind was quite strong.
The three groups from Random Entertainment stood together, listening to Jiang Juyou point out the day's shortcomings in their stage performance.
She had been running around helping all day until her voice became hoarse. Her young assistant stood behind her, holding an opened water bottle, ready to hand it to her as soon as she finished speaking.
"...Alright, that's it for today. Go home and get some good rest tonight, make sure you're in good condition." Jiang Juyou's voice was hoarse, and her expression had turned uncomfortable due to the sudden drop in temperature.
She rubbed her arms, and the young assistant standing behind her quickly shook out a blanket and draped it over her shoulders.
After finishing her words, Jiang Juyou waved to them and walked away wrapped in the blanket.
After dismissing, the young ones seemed like they were finally released from a spell and began moving their bodies.
Pei Luming couldn't hold it anymore. He shook his limbs and exclaimed, "Ahh, the mosquitoes!"
It was late December, the dead of winter in Beijing, and mosquitoes should have been long gone. They hadn't paid much attention to it when they arrived, but Pei Luming had been bitten by mosquitoes on the first day, and he was still struggling with them during today's rehearsal.
Gao Xiayu also shrank his neck as the night was really cold. He hugged himself and hurried toward the parking lot.
Following his lead, the other boys started making weird noises, running and shouting as if that would help ward off the cold.
The four girls were well-prepared, having already wrapped themselves in blankets while listening to Jiang Juyou's talk.
Seeing the boys run off, they also quickened their pace, while the staff members helped light their way with flashlights.
Even though it was night time, Jiang Liuxing still hadn't received a message from her sister, making her too anxious to sleep.
While her two roommates were playing on their phones, Jiang Liuxing pretended she needed to use the bathroom and walked to the door, then suddenly said, "I'm going downstairs to buy something. Do you want anything?"
"What are you buying?"
Aliali: 674546a8c4f3f33ac44c92ac"Just some snacks or something."
"Just get whatever then."
Zhou Keke sat up and asked her, "Want me to come with you?"
"No need, no need, the convenience store is just downstairs, why would I need company?" Jiang Liuxing could barely maintain her smile. She really cared about Random Entertainment's future right now.
Even at this point, she still couldn't understand.
How could Gao Xiayu possibly be dating?
Jiang Liuxing: My sister's business empire can't have any problems!
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Been quite busy at the hospital these days... sorry.
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