Rebirth: I Became Mr.President's Beloved-Chapter 1009: The Killer Substitute Trope
"What kind of sneaky business can I do?" Tang Li felt the need to correct his misunderstanding of her, "I have a proper job too, don’t think that only men need to go out drinking for social engagements."
She spoke without intent, but he caught onto it: "Been drinking?"
"...I was just using an example."
"Sneak off to Gaozhou without a word, just to drink?"
Tang Li: "..."
"It’s a last-minute work arrangement." She firmly denied doing it on purpose.
Song Baiyan said: "Went to Gaozhou for a new drama promotion?"
"More or less." Tang Li shifted the topic, mentioning Meng Shu: "I just ran into your cousin."
"Cousin, which cousin?"
Hearing Song Baiyan’s somewhat indifferent tone, Tang Li had to remind him: "The one with the surname Meng who was at the family dinner that night."
Once she mentioned the surname Meng, Song Baiyan obviously recalled who she was talking about.
Tang Li, holding her cellphone, added: "He’s a sponsor of this variety show, probably has to advertise his family’s products during filming."
"The Meng Family started with mining, amassed quite a bit of wealth in earlier years. Meng Shu studied abroad and didn’t join the family business, opened an electronic product research company with classmates, right when the global digital economy was on the rise."
Song Baiyan had been the Finance Minister, so he could easily recount information like this, pausing for a few seconds before speaking again with a tone laced with indulgence: "Not willing to read the ad script?"
"If our families had a good relationship, reading it wouldn’t be a big deal."
Noting her ’reluctance,’ Song Baiyan chuckled: "If you don’t want to read it, don’t. Will anyone force you?"
Tang Li’s lips also curled up, "You said it."
"I did say it." Over the phone, Song Baiyan affirmed, "If Meng Shu doesn’t agree, tell him to come find me."
...
Tang Li returned to the box, where the atmosphere was already harmonious.
Meng Shu, though not necessarily the first to see her, was the first to speak: "Out for so long, Miss Tang must have been having a long chat with her boyfriend?"
As he spoke, his peach blossom eyes curved with charm, under the light of the bamboo woven pendant lamp, displaying elegance akin to ’spring water reflecting in his eyes,’ and with his casual yet exquisite attire, easy to win favor.
Tang Li’s relationship status was an open secret online.
With Meng Shu’s lead, others also joked: "Tang Li’s boyfriend is one of the entertainment industry’s four great mysteries."
As for what the other three are, look them up on Google.
"With Miss Tang’s qualities, her other half must be extraordinary." Meng Shu smiled, his gaze remaining on Tang Li’s face.
Tang Li sat back beside Guan Xiao, seemingly ignoring the ’praise,’ and merely asked Guan Xiao: "Are you leaving tomorrow night or the morning after?"
If filming goes smoothly, a day is enough.
Guan Xiao has a train on the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.
With this interruption, the topic in the box shifted again.
When the dinner party ended, it was past nine o’clock in the evening.
Tang Li followed Guan Xiao out of the box; while others exuberantly embraced farewell, she headed to a nearby vending machine to buy a mini can of Coke, then returned to find only Guan Xiao saying goodbye to the director outside the box.
The dining place was actually on the third floor of their hotel.
Guan Xiao asked Tang Li once in the elevator: "You know that President Meng?"
"We’ve met once." Tang Li said, turning to look at Guan Xiao: "What’s up?"
Seeing Tang Li nonchalantly drinking Coke, Guan Xiao didn’t want to meddle much, yet exiting the elevator, he still reminded her: "He seems very interested in you."
In the entertainment world, being of interest isn’t necessarily a good thing.
"Are you saying he acts sleazy?"
"..." Guan Xiao.
Many female stars suffered setbacks when they first entered the industry; he didn’t wish Tang Li to follow suit, "Rich young nobles like him have quite the skills in pursuit; especially earlier in the box when he mentioned their family’s connection to the current President. If he──"
He hadn’t finished speaking when a can burst in front of him.
Guan Xiao: "..."
With such strength, it’s hard to tell who’s the hero and who’s the bow.
Tang Li casually tossed the crushed Coke can into the hallway trash bin and looked at Guan Xiao again: "What were you trying to say just now?"
"Just pretend I didn’t say anything." Guan Xiao wiped his face, swiped his room card at the door, yet couldn’t resist turning back to advise: "In today’s rule-of-law society, if you encounter harassment, remember to call the police immediately, don’t act impulsively!"
"Of course." Tang Li nodded: "After all, I’m just a girl, if I don’t call the police, I’ll surely suffer from harassment."
"..."
Do you believe this yourself?
Watching Guan Xiao close the door with a troubled expression, Tang Li also returned to her own room.
As soon as she entered, she found Yu Sui practicing Toad Kung Fu (?) on the bed.
Yu Sui had a paper mask on her face, her butt raised high while planking, and she was also on video with Wu Xuehan. Seeing Tang Li come back, she immediately asked, "Did Yang Ning give you a hard time?"
Tang Li didn’t answer and instead asked her and Wu Xuehan, "You guys tell me, a guy whose family is always involved with your man’s family meets you for the first time and starts acting all showy, what does that mean?"
"Could it be he fell in love with you at first sight?" Yu Sui was quick to react.
Tang Li believed in her sixth sense, and Meng Shu definitely didn’t fall in love with her at first sight; that occasional playful look did not include admiration.
"What else could it be?" From the video end, Wu Xuehan was munching on pickled chicken feet with oily mouth: "He likes your man, obviously."
Tang Li: "..."
Yu Sui: "!!!"
"Holy moly!" Yu Sui was so shocked that her face mask fell off. Tang Li thought she would say something startling, but unexpectedly, she only heard, "Makes so much sense!"
Tang Li: "..."
Thanks to the sudden appearance of a ’rival in love’, Tang Li woke up the next day with dark circles around her eyes.
When she took Yu Sui to the filming location of "Infinite Challenge", she saw Meng Shu was also there. The director even announced on the spot that the winning team of this episode would become the spokespersons for the latest series of VG cellphones.
Tang Li had little interest in this ’reward’.
Before the program started recording, the guests were first led by the staff to get familiar with the environment.
"Infinite Challenge," to put it simply, was all about physical games.
The most ’thrilling’ part was shooting arrows over the piranha pool.
A total of ten arrows, hitting over 60 rings, meant crossing the bridge; otherwise, you had to cross on the water by stepping on foam blocks floating on the surface, always at risk of falling into the pool.
The piranhas in the pool weren’t huge, but a bite would hurt.
Tang Li picked up a bow and was just aiming at the target when a male voice sounded from behind, "With your shooting style, you won’t even hit one ring."
"By the way, Yunxi is pretty good at archery." Meng Shu glanced sideways, smiling at Tang Li, "Forgot to introduce, Yunxi is the child adopted by the Song Family. He grew up with your man—back when your man was attending military school, Yunxi was his little shadow, but unfortunately—"
"Unfortunately, what?" Tang Li picked up the conversation.
Meng Shu spoke even more meaningfully, "Unfortunately, Yunxi started dating in college, and later, your man applied to go to the frontier."
Clearly unrelated matters were twisted by him into a mess with a stench.
"Looking closely, you do look a lot like Yunxi back then." Meng Shu picked up some fish food, standing by the pool, "In front of your man, just as lively and obedient, no wonder your man likes you."
Saying this, he glanced again at Tang Li.
—As if through her, seeing another figure.
[This guy probably read a lot of JJ Toplist novels.]
When Tang Li put the arrow on the bow, only this thought popped into her mind. When she lifted the bow again, the ’buzzing’ sound returned in her ears: "The boy Yunxi dated back then died, Yunxi was heartbroken and went abroad, hasn’t returned for years. That night at the Tan Palace family banquet, when I saw your silhouette, I thought Yunxi had come back."
Without hearing Tang Li respond, Meng Shu scattered the fish food into the pool, turning to look at Tang Li, just in time to see her shoot an arrow.
It didn’t hit the target center, barely stabbing the edge.
Tang Li was about to practice her second arrow when someone pressed close behind her. She instinctively turned to avoid but met with Meng Shu’s handsome and subtly smiling face: "Won’t even let me teach you archery?"
Tossing the bow back into the basket, Tang Li walked away without a word.
Behind her was a faint, inaudible laugh. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Tang Li paused her steps, walked back, and kicked Meng Shu’s knee hard!
Meng Shu, who was originally standing with hands on hips, was about to turn when his left knee suddenly weakened. Before he realized, he lost control and fell headfirst into the piranha pool.
In no time, the water splashed everywhere!
In no time, dozens of piranhas grinned and frantically swarmed!
Meng Shu could swim.
Without caring for anything else, he immediately swam towards the pool edge.
He had just grabbed onto the ladder with his right hand and was about to climb up when a sharp pain came on his butt!
—Damn it!
—Even without turning back, he knew he’d been bitten by that damned fish!
