You can read ahead up to 60 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Hong Kong's entertainment reporters were cut from the same cloth as Britain's notoriously infamous paparazzi, having inherited all the latter's worst habits and mastered their craft.
Because Hong Kong's media industry was extremely developed, even in the internet age traditional media, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, remained highly influential. With limited space and limited resources to compete over, most Hong Kong paparazzi had developed exceptional skills in stalking celebrities, secretly taking photos, and digging up the private lives of stars and public figures.
Hong Kong entertainers, in particular, all changed expressions the moment paparazzi were mentioned. Guarding against paparazzi was practically a basic survival skill. Anyone who failed to master it, unless they were completely spotless and squeaky clean, would sooner or later end up being publicly humiliated.
As a result, quite a few people had ended up leaving the entertainment industry altogether, and sensational gossip scandals such as various "gate" incidents had been born.
Before coming to Hong Kong, several friends in the entertainment circle, including Chen Fei'er, had warned Lu Chen that Hong Kong paparazzi were formidable and that he had to be extremely careful not to let them get hold of any compromising material.
Lu Chen had kept that in mind.
But after arriving in Hong Kong, he discovered that the atmosphere here was rather unique. Very few people recognized him, so naturally, he had relaxed a little.
Who would have thought that one careless moment was all it took for him to get secretly photographed?
Actually, he knew that even being cautious might not have helped much. Shu Jing had been cautious enough too, yet she still hadn't anticipated this.
Lu Chen couldn't help shaking his head. He reached out, took down a copy of Bolo Daily, and asked, "How much?"
The store clerk replied, "Fifty cents."
Bolo Daily was a free daily newspaper, but copies sold in convenience stores or newsstands obviously weren't free. The fifty cents was simply the distribution fee these vendors reasonably charged.
Still, it was very cheap. As a daily paper, Bolo Daily had more than twenty pages, with plenty of content and a surprisingly weighty feel in hand.
Lu Chen knew a bit about Hong Kong's media landscape. He was aware that Bolo Daily was a rising dark horse in Hong Kong's newspaper industry over the past few years, with daily circulation already surpassing several long-established competitors.
What he hadn't expected was that after only being in Hong Kong for a few days, he would already make it onto page two of Bolo Daily.
But what left Lu Chen speechless was that in this sensationalized article, he was referred to merely as a "mysterious man." Even more outrageous, the article subtly implied that he might be Shu Jing's kept boy toy.
If the owner of Bolo Daily had been standing in front of Lu Chen at that moment, Lu Chen would absolutely have slapped this nonsense-filled newspaper straight onto his face without hesitation.
Carrying his breakfast and newspaper, Lu Chen returned home.
After washing off his sweat and changing into clean clothes, the phone sitting on the coffee table rang.
As soon as he answered, Shu Jing's voice came through:
"Lu Chen, I'm really sorry…"
The moment he heard that, Lu Chen understood.
"You mean today's Bolo Daily article?"
"Ah!"
Shu Jing sounded surprised.
"You've already seen it?"
Lu Chen laughed.
"Yeah. I guess I've finally witnessed firsthand how formidable Hong Kong paparazzi really are."
Shu Jing apologized again:
"I'm sorry, this was my oversight. I dragged you into this mess. I'll post a statement on my blog to explain things. I've caused you trouble."
The blog she referred to wasn't the Mainland's Wave Blog, but Hong Kong Island Blog.
Lu Chen said:
"This really isn't your fault. You don't need to apologize. Honestly, it's not a big deal."
Countless examples had already proven that for celebrities and public figures, getting angry at the media was usually the most unprofitable thing you could do. Unless it was blatant malicious defamation or outright fabrication, clarifying the facts once and then laughing it off was enough.
Since he had come to Hong Kong to develop his career, he needed to familiarize himself with and adapt to the rules here.
So Lu Chen didn't take the matter to heart at all, nor did he blame Shu Jing.
After chatting for a few more sentences, Lu Chen ended the call with Shu Jing. After thinking for a moment, he called Chen Fei'er as well.
The communication between Mainland and Hong Kong media was relatively poor, and gossip news from Hong Kong rarely spread to the Mainland. But this was the internet age, and information traveled fast.
To be safe, he still felt it was necessary to give Chen Fei'er a heads-up.
After all, this technically counted as a scandal rumor.
After hearing Lu Chen's explanation over the phone, Chen Fei'er laughed so hard that she was practically shaking with amusement.
She exclaimed, "Hurry up and express-deliver that newspaper to me right now! I want to see this so-called mysterious man for myself!"
Lu Chen was left speechless.
There was really no point arguing with her.
After finishing breakfast, he headed out and rushed to the workshop.
Today, he would be going together with Wan Xiaoquan and Chen Wenqiang to visit a local film and television company to discuss cooperation on shooting a new project.
Meanwhile, Shu Jing posted a statement on her blog.
The main content of the statement was a direct rebuttal to Bolo Daily's report. She explained Lu Chen's identity and background in detail, specifically clarifying that the two of them had met for the first time only last night, and that what they discussed in the café was her new album.
At the end of the blog post, Shu Jing also attached a photo of herself and Lu Chen together at the charity gala from that night.
As someone who had once risen to become a Little Heavenly Queen of Hong Kong's music scene, Shu Jing naturally knew exactly how to handle gossip rumors like this.
She didn't try to hide Lu Chen's identity. Instead, she openly revealed it for everyone to see, using that transparency to demonstrate her own innocence and confidence.
In other words:
Stop making wild guesses and talking nonsense.
And throughout the post, Shu Jing subtly mocked the ignorance of Bolo Daily's paparazzi and editors, remarking that it was ridiculous for them not to even recognize Lu Chen, who was currently blazing hot in both the Mainland and South Korea, and still refer to him as a "mysterious man."
Shu Jing had over 500,000+ followers on Hong Kong Island Blog. While that was still far behind top superstar celebrities, once this rumor-refuting clarification post was published, it was immediately reposted and commented on by many people.
Hong Kong's circles were actually very small.
Whenever there was the slightest bit of movement, news tended to spread everywhere almost instantly.
Shu Jing was, after all, still a celebrity.
So it didn't take long before Li Wan, editor-in-chief of Bolo Daily, learned about it.
After reading Shu Jing's blog post, he fell into thought for a moment, then made a call to summon Xiao Hou back.
As soon as Xiao Hou returned to the editorial department, Li Wan showed him the post.
Xiao Hou was utterly shocked.
"Chief Editor Li, I…"
Li Wan waved his hand, cutting off his self-criticism.
"This isn't your fault. Even I failed to recognize this Lu Chen. If we're talking negligence, then the first one at fault is me."
Xiao Hou felt as if he had just been granted a pardon, and was deeply moved.
Li Wan continued:
"A first mistake can be forgiven. A second one is absolutely out of the question. Starting today, I want you to keep your eyes on him."
He pointed at Lu Chen's image on the screen, where Lu Chen was smiling rather handsomely in the photo.
"There's definitely a lot of material worth digging up on this guy."
A sharp glint flashed through Li Wan's eyes, as though a hunter had just discovered powerful prey.
It was the first time Xiao Hou had ever seen such a look from Li Wan, and an involuntary chill ran down his spine.
He seemed to smell the scent of gunpowder already filling the air.
(End of Chapter)