Coming out of astonishment, Xiao Can immediately switched to Weibo.
After the opening screen, the first thing on his homepage was Tan Zhen’s repost.
Tan Zhen’s caption was simple, with no text, just the default “hug” emoji.
Both sides of the comment section were full of shock, and well-wishes were pushed to the back.
This news was indeed sudden.
Calling him “fiancé” meant they were already engaged, indicating there was already a certain foundation of affection. However, the two had never had any interaction in the past. Not only were there no rumors about them, but they had never even publicly collaborated.
Tan Zhen initially debuted on a singing variety show, where he received praise for several cover songs. After the show, he released some original songs, but unfortunately, they didn’t receive much attention.
His fans often lamented about his bad luck, saying he had talent but didn’t sign with a good company and lacked resources.
No one could have expected that he would have such an intimate relationship with a recognized ace musician behind the scenes.
He Xingzhou’s public image became even more bizarre.
They were planning to get married, yet he wasn’t even willing to write a song for his partner. What kind of person was he?
Tan Zhen was also quite puzzling. Why would he stick with such a stingy eccentric? Was it true love?
In He Xingzhou’s comment section, besides confusion and bewilderment, there were also many of Tan Zhen’s fans passionately wishing for him to quickly arrange things for his partner, hoping to hear a new song as soon as next week.
He Xingzhou didn’t reply to any of the comments; it seemed like he went offline right after posting.
Xiao Can roughly skimmed through them, feeling a mix of emotions.
No wonder he saw the two of them together at the hotel that day; there was this layer of relationship.
He Xingzhou and his partner were staying in the same hotel, yet he still made advances towards other Omegas, which was truly despicable.
Xiao Can had a good impression of Tan Zhen and was worried that he might be making the wrong choices. However, since they hardly had any personal relationship, it wasn’t convenient for him to advise him directly.
Out of politeness, he privately messaged Tan Zhen to offer his congratulations.
Tan Zhen quickly replied, thanking him and asking if he was feeling better.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, before saying goodbye, Tan Zhen suddenly asked when Xiao Can would be uploading a new video and urged him not to delay the updates anymore.
Xiao Can felt awkward and promised to do it immediately, secretly wondering whether Tan Zhen was just being polite or if he was indeed a loyal viewer.
Xiao Can was someone who highly valued his career. To maintain his popularity, he had always been diligent in updating. Every day, he was either writing scripts or editing videos.
During this period, due to additional work and his health issues, his frequency of posting had slightly decreased. It’s not like he didn’t have any backlog, but the quality of the content might be compromised.
Most of the new audience attracted by his popularity were too lazy to scroll back. If they found the latest videos uninteresting, they would naturally leave.
Although each video was only a few minutes long, the production process wasn’t easy.
Selecting topics, writing scripts, filming, and editing—all of these tasks were done independently by him, which required a lot of effort and energy.
With the size of his audience now, he could consider establishing a studio for group collaboration. However, this would also require a lot of effort.
As a creative and performing talent, he had no managerial skills and had no idea how to select talents.
For the next half month, Xiao Can was busy with this. During this period, due to his persistent anxiety, he had to go to the hospital again.
The doctor changed his medication, but unfortunately, there was no improvement in his condition.
Feeling anxious and distracted, his work naturally became less efficient. Because of the low efficiency, Xiao Can’s anxiety worsened day by day.
In this vicious cycle, he cursed He Xingzhou three hundred times a day.
Just when he was on the verge of a breakdown, contemplating whether he should take a break, he suddenly received an invitation.
The platform where he usually posted videos, Baitao, had organized a large-scale charity project and needed a support song as a warm-up. They asked if he was interested in participating as a singer.
Receiving a singer’s invitation from such a big platform so quickly, Xiao Can was overjoyed. He almost didn’t bother to ask for details and immediately agreed.
To show restraint, he pretended to inquire about the details of the cooperation. However, the answer he received left him dumbfounded on the spot.
The staff at Baitao told him that they had already invited the well-known musician He Xingzhou to compose the song, and the other singer would be Tan Zhen.
“He… Does He Xingzhou know that you plan to invite me?” he asked anxiously.
“Of course,” the other party replied calmly. “He Xingzhou is looking forward to collaborating with you.”
Xiao Can thought, this couldn’t be true.
Sensing his hesitation, the other party assured him that there was no rush and hoped to have a chance to talk in more detail another day.
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Can felt dizzy for a moment.
But he didn’t hesitate for too long.
This was a huge opportunity. The intention of the organizers to invite him was obvious. His collaboration with He Xingzhou would definitely attract a lot of attention, regardless of the quality of the support song. The topic was already trending.
Xiao Can certainly didn’t want any personal contact with He Xingzhou anymore, but he wouldn’t miss out on any opportunity that he could leverage.
Moreover, Tan Zhen would also be involved. With his lover by his side, this Alpha wouldn’t dare to act rashly.
Two days later, with no contact from Baitao, Xiao Can received a call from Tan Zhen.
“I heard from them that you’re still considering it,” he asked Xiao Can, “Do you have any concerns?”
Listening to his tone, there was no doubt he was very eager to collaborate with Xiao Can.
Xiao Can took the opportunity to ask, “I’m curious, why did Mr. He agree to the invitation?”
“Because I wanted him to come,” Tan Zhen replied matter-of-factly.
“Oh, I see,” Xiao Can awkwardly chuckled, “You two have a really good relationship.”
“You don’t have to worry about him,” Tan Zhen said, “If he dares to speak out of line again, you let me know, I’ll take care of it for you.”
Xiao Can was secretly surprised. He couldn’t tell, but He Xingzhou turned out to be a henpecked fiancé.
“Just agree,” Tan Zhen said earnestly, “I really want to collaborate with you.”
Xiao Can’s mood was complicated, but he still gave a positive response, “Well, I’m looking forward to it too.”
After that, everything went smoothly.
The staff at Baitao were very efficient. After finalizing the details, they arranged the first meeting of the main creators that month.
Thinking about facing He Xingzhou again, Xiao Can was extremely anxious. What made it even more difficult to accept was that the night before the scheduled date, he found out that Tan Zhen would not be attending.
“I can communicate with him privately anytime, no need to be so formal. We can adjust when we record together, right?” Tan Zhen said.
It sounded reasonable, and Xiao Can couldn’t refute it, so he could only steel himself to face it.
He tried to console himself in the midst of his troubles, thinking at least he could record a Vlog of tomorrow’s meeting and use it as an update.
Not wanting to communicate with He Xingzhou in person, he asked Tan Zhen if He Xingzhou would mind appearing in his Vlog and got an affirmative answer.
“He doesn’t mind at all, as long as it’s okay with Baitao.”
Xiao Can breathed a sigh of relief. Enduring such humiliation, he had to make good use of He Xingzhou.
The song was still in the creation stage, and Baitao preferred not to announce the collaboration too soon, but they didn’t mind doing some preliminary promotion.
Xiao Can planned to shoot some footage of He Xingzhou and blur it in post-production, letting everyone guess who it was.
He walked along, holding up a selfie stick and filming as he went, until he was led upstairs to the designated location.
“We’re almost there,” Xiao Can stood outside the meeting room, smiling at his phone’s camera. “I’m about to meet a very mysterious figure. I’m so nervous!”
Just as he finished speaking, a deep voice beside him said, “Excuse me.”
At the same time, a slightly familiar chin appeared on his screen.
Xiao Can instinctively startled, dodging to the side. He saw He Xingzhou walking past him without a glance, heading into the corridor.
Stunned in place, he watched He Xingzhou walk into the restroom in the distance. He covered his chest with his hand, took a deep breath, then silently rejoiced that he was only recording and not live streaming.
Entering the meeting room, he found it empty.
Nervously, Xiao Can took a seat. Before long, He Xingzhou returned.
The Alpha’s face remained expressionless as he walked to the table, grabbing two tissues to wipe his hands, seemingly oblivious to the presence of another person in the room.
Xiao Can felt displeased but feared it might be an arrangement by the organizers, perhaps someone lurking in the shadows. So, he maintained basic politeness and greeted proactively, “Mr. He?”
He Xingzhou glanced at him, walked to the trash can, and while throwing away the tissues, asked, “Who are you?”
Xiao Can was stunned.
Then, a surge of anger rose within him.
As Xiao Can stood up, he glanced around, ensuring there were no cameras. The forced smile on his face instantly crumbled, and his tone turned eerie, “You really don’t remember?”
He Xingzhou turned to him, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
His gaze carried a strong sense of scrutiny, making Xiao Can extremely uncomfortable.
After a moment, He Xingzhou finally spoke, “Have we met?”
