Chapter 582: Cruelty to Oneself

Liu Xiaoli wasn't here—she was probably still at a relative's house. When the two of them went to the United States, Liu Xiaoli had gone to visit relatives; it happened to be during the New Year period.

"Next time give me a heads-up so I can buy groceries in advance." Xu Liyun was happy to see her son and daughter-in-law.

She had been all alone during this stretch of time.

"Got it. Are you doing okay at home?" Liu Tianxian asked with concern.

"I'm fine—I can eat and sleep." Xu Liyun said.

The three of them walked into the house chatting and laughing. After putting the luggage away, Liu Tianxian took off her coat and flung herself onto the sofa: "That trip was exhausting."

"If you're tired, rest well. I'll go make you some soup to nourish your body." Xu Liyun said with concern.

"No need, Mom! I'm not hungry, don't trouble yourself." Liu Tianxian sat back up.

"It's no trouble. Even if you're not hungry, you can still drink some."

"Alright then, just whip up whatever you like." Liu Tianxian saw that Xu Liyun was insistent and didn't want to say anything more.

She flung herself back onto the sofa again, rolling around and stretching lazily.

"Smack!" Fang Hong patted her bottom, then sat down beside her: "So you just don't care about me anymore."

"Oh right, I need to apply medicine on you." Liu Tianxian gave an apologetic smile, sat up, and steadying herself on his shoulder said: "Lie down, I'll go get the medicine box."

"No need. There's something else I want to tell you." Fang Hong felt he wasn't seriously hurt.

"Why no need? What if it gets infected?" Liu Tianxian was very serious.

"You're exaggerating. It's just a few red marks, the skin isn't even broken." Fang Hong said.

"Still need to apply medicine. Listen to me." Liu Tianxian would hear no argument, pressed him down onto the sofa, then ran off in her slippers.

When she came back, she was already carrying a medicine box.

"Come on, take your shirt off." she said.

Fang Hong took off his shirt, revealing an upper body that wasn't very muscular—no abs, belly reasonably flat, no chest muscles, also reasonably flat.

He still had some flesh on him, didn't look skinny either—medium build, you could say.

Although he didn't like to exercise normally, Liu Tianxian still cared a lot about his daily living and diet—good food, good clothes, he just never really got fat.

Always worrying, always fighting with this one and that one, overthinking everything—how could he possibly get fat?

People like Jack Ma and Lei Jun never seem to get fat either.

"What did you want to tell me?" Liu Tianxian dipped a cotton swab in some antiseptic and gently dabbed the scratched spot on his chest.

"Hiss!" Fang Hong immediately felt a stinging sensation.

"Does it hurt? Then bear with it, it'll be over soon." Liu Tianxian dipped the swab again, then said: "What were you about to say just now?"

"You told me earlier that the only people you told about your return were the Assistant and the bodyguard, right?" Fang Hong said.

Now that they were home, this could be discussed; there had been too many people earlier.

"Yes. I had them come pick me up, plus the driver—just those three people." Liu Tianxian said as she carefully applied the medicine.

"Then you need to investigate those three. One of them probably sold the information of your return to the country. After all, you're at the peak of your fame right now, your status is high, and there are still plenty of people willing to pay a lot for your information." Fang Hong suspected.

This couldn't help but raise suspicion—so many fanatics suddenly showing up, someone must have leaked the news of Liu Tianxian's return.

People like them, unless they don't care whether the outside world knows, generally place great importance on the privacy of their schedules.

"No way? They've been with me for so many years, how could they possibly betray me?" Liu Tianxian found it hard to believe.

"I don't want to assume the worst about people either. I didn't tell anyone, but you told those three. Do you think it's unreasonable to suspect them?" Fang Hong lay there, watching her expression.

Liu Tianxian's expression flickered between light and dark. Hearing him say this, she actually had some doubts herself, but couldn't bring herself to believe it—after all, these were people who had been with her for so many years.

"When we were coming back, we also told Yu Xian, told Donna." She didn't sound very confident saying this.

Mainly because she couldn't quite believe her own people had betrayed her.

"Then give those two a call and see if they'll leak our whereabouts." Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian immediately deflated, feeling it couldn't be those two.

"Yu Xian has been in this circle for so many years, has come into contact with plenty of Hollywood stars, and is himself always being scolded and having scandals spread about him—would he not know about keeping schedules confidential?

What status does Donna have—even if she said something, so what? The level of people she interacts with—would she bother telling some random person in the country about your whereabouts?"

Fang Hong said again: "Those two people, I'm not talking about whether I have any feelings for them or not—it's that they simply wouldn't bother making money by selling your information."

"And how would you know about people making money by selling my information?" Liu Tianxian shot back.

"If you feel it doesn't matter, you can pretend you don't know. This kind of thing can be big or small." Fang Hong sighed, knowing she was kind-hearted.

He also understood she was someone who valued loyalty—after all, these people had been with her for so many years.

"You've put it that way—how could I pretend not to know? This is selling my information. Sell it once, and there'll be a second time. The behavior is outrageous." Liu Tianxian changed her attitude from before, feeling this was very serious misconduct.

If they sold her information to others, then in the future when she gets married and has kids, would her private life also be sold to others?

She could tolerate many things from others, but she simply could not tolerate people selling her information. If that were the case, there'd just be another pile of rumors.

Rumors were already circulating online. There was an article titled: "Crazy Airport Fan-Chasing! Fan Circle Culture Disrupts Public Place Order!" The article read:

Large-scale gatherings of fans at the airport, refusing to comply with the order management of relevant personnel, endangering public order—these are all surface-level.

On a deeper level, how was the artist's schedule leaked? Who organized the fan group causing trouble? Did the artist tacitly allow it? Is there a black-and-gray industry chain involving proxy-photography and the like behind it?

Fans' crazy "star-chasing" behavior has disrupted public place order, infringed on the legitimate rights of other travelers, and also planted hidden dangers for public safety.

Now that the incident has happened, shouldn't the involved artist come out and make their stance clear?

In the chaos of fans chasing stars, the artist also bears an inescapable responsibility. Regulating and restraining fan behavior isn't as simple as issuing a statement—there must be real action! —

This article was written very quickly and very convincingly. What was originally spontaneous fan behavior got pinned on Liu Tianxian—how was her schedule leaked?

Why don't you restrain your fans?

Fans are a collective, not any one individual. The celebrity is something concrete, pointing to one specific person—easier to denounce.

After seeing this article, someone shouted: "Actors ruin the nation!"

Clearly this was a rhythm being led by someone.

That's normal — the entertainment circle now isn't what it was two or three years ago; this is just the capital infiltration period.

You could say it like this: more than half the companies in the film and TV circle have, to one degree or another, been invested in or acquired by capital.

Huace, Dongyang Meila, Gongfu Pictures, Linmon Pictures, Xinli Media, Yao Ke Media, Daylight Entertainment and so on — these rising ones, or old-school ones like Enlight and Huayi — are all being permeated by capital.

They no longer rely only on their own strength like before; instead, Alibaba, Tencent, Sequoia, Fosun and the like have given them power.

This kind of power can balance the Principal's dominance in the entertainment circle.

They've got real strength and they've got media channels — they simply aren't afraid of the Principal.

The Principal is a big deal inside the entertainment circle, but step outside it and people wouldn't recognize him any more than they ever did — what's he got?

Thinking that just because he clashed with Jack Ma a couple of times he's suddenly a big shot — that doesn't exist.

"Then that's that," Fang Hong said.

"It's not that I don't believe you — it's just that those three people have followed me for so long, emotionally I can't really accept it." Liu Tianxian believed someone had betrayed her.

But she didn't believe it was the old-timers who had been with her who sold her out — that was the contradiction.

"Sometimes you have to be ruthless when it's time to be ruthless. Your kindness to others is cruelty to yourself. Some people can never be satisfied," Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian fell silent. After finishing applying the medicine, she put the bottle back in the medical kit; her mood was somewhat complicated.

"First time seeing my wife being so virtuous and capable," Fang Hong said with a smile as he sat up, the two of them facing each other.

"Pfft, when have I ever not been virtuous and capable! Your clothes are bought by me, this household is supported by me." Liu Tianxian had returned to her usual self.

Every month she would give Xu Liyun some money.

"Yes, yes, yes — virtuous wife, good mother, runs the household well," Fang Hong flattered.

"Of course — whether the Fang family prospers from now on depends entirely on me." Having said that, Liu Tianxian gave his belly a casual *smack* with a "pa," the movement casual and free.

She quickly pulled herself out of what had just happened.

Fang Hong's belly instinctively shrank. "Then how should I repay you?"

"No need to repay — just give me a little reward now and then, give me a little surprise." What Liu Tianxian meant was for him to send her gifts from time to time to keep her happy.

"Then I'll give you a reward and a surprise right now." Fang Hong leaned in.

"Sure, what reward?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Here!" Having said that, Fang Hong puffed out his chest, held her head, and pulled it toward himself.

Liu Tianxian, caught off guard, had her lips touch it.

"Hahaha!" Fang Hong laughed loudly.

"Are you trying to kill me!"

Liu Tianxian exploded up and delivered several *smack smack smack* slaps to his back.

Because he wasn't wearing a shirt, the sound was especially loud.

It even startled Xu Liyun, who came over carrying a bowl of soup and said: "What's going on? What are you two fighting about now?"

"He's bullying me." Liu Tianxian pointed at Fang Hong.

"Honghong, you child — why do you keep bullying Xixi?"

Xu Liyun handed the soup to Liu Tianxian, then also gave Fang Hong a slap on the shoulder: "In broad daylight, and you don't even put on a shirt."

Fang Hong was miserable — he'd only lightly kissed a certain spot, and already taken several slaps from these two.

"Serves you right!" Liu Tianxian glared, took a sip of soup from the bowl: "What kind of soup is this?"

"Lotus seed soup — it's good for you, drinking it is good for you." Xu Liyun reached out to hold the bowl for her, ready to feed her.

"Mom, I'll do it myself." Liu Tianxian saw that Xu Liyun seemed quite eager and signaled that she could drink it on her own.

She knew what it was for — it was to help her get pregnant as soon as possible. She usually read up on pregnancy knowledge too, mainly out of curiosity.

(End of chapter)