Chapter 46: I

When Qi Hao’s scandals were flying everywhere, “Immortal Sword 3” was hardly affected.

The drama had already been filmed this far; it was impossible to replace the lead at this point.

Besides, these weren’t fatal scandals.

Many in the entertainment industry with questionable orientations still became huge stars, and sometimes even gained better resources.

One could say that many of today’s popular young male actors have ambiguous orientations—or claim theirs are fine but are flexible enough to satisfy the desires of powerful figures.

Like the “Shi-Xue Eight Beauties,” or the “Hai Yan Male Beauties…”

On the set of “Immortal Sword 3,” everyone kept filming and having fun as usual.

Besides filming, Qi Hao read books and studied, listening to Zhang Songwen give him lessons.

After Zhang Songwen’s one-month course ended, Qi Hao thought the service quality was good, so he extended it.

He planned to seriously study method acting theory and integrate it with practice.

Unfortunately, the training space only opened when completing tasks.

One task opened it once, and each session lasted only eight hours, severely hindering Qi Hao’s progress.

Although Qi Hao had won the Best Actor award, he hadn’t become arrogant.

He knew he still had a long way to go.

His decision to take the role in “The Dog” for free certainly wasn’t because the director, Qi Jian, shared his surname.

The Golden Rooster Best Actor award certainly wasn’t the end goal.

He hoped the dog system wouldn’t be ungrateful and would eventually upgrade to resolve this issue.

Regarding the rampant scandals, the only thing Qi Hao did was call the implicated powerful figures to sincerely apologize.

Although he didn’t know these figures had been dragged down by Zhan Qi Laideng, it never hurt to show proper respect.

Once he’d shown proper courtesy, even if these powerful figures wanted to blame someone, they couldn’t blame him—the victim—since all the hatred had been drawn toward the Six Major Sects.

The crew didn’t distance themselves from Qi Hao despite the scandals.

Is Qi Hao gay?

Spend some time with him and you’d see how ridiculous these rumors were.

And even if he were gay, so what?

First, you don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of if you gossip with him; second, you can both be great “sisters.”

It’s settled—double blessings!

So, the gossip still had to keep spreading.

The media abandoned the rumor that Qi Hao was gay and stopped mentioning it.

If you know there are tigers in the mountains, then don’t go near the mountains.

They once again dug deep into the safe territory of Qi Hao’s gossip.

Yang Mi’s opportunity naturally arrived.

Yang Mi liked to plan ahead; she felt her talent wasn’t good enough, so she had to work harder.

Before deciding to gossip with Qi Hao, she had someone create a table for analysis.

Yeah, she just gathered data on the female stars who had gossiped with Qi Hao.

Yang Mi looked through it while complaining.

Damn, you’ve gossiped with way too many people—are you some kind of love god?

Luckily, I just want to gossip with you; if I actually dated you, I’d get cursed bald by all your gossip girlfriends.

I don’t have much hair left.

But then she realized she herself would become one of these gossip girlfriends.

Oh my god, I’m the fool here.

Instantly, she lost the moral high ground to complain and kept silently staring at the table.

The table showed which women had become famous after gossiping with Qi Hao, which remained mediocre, and which had vanished completely.

Data proved that gossiping with Qi Hao didn’t guarantee fame.

But the data also proved that some people did turn their fortunes around after gossiping with Qi Hao.

The word “turning fortune” was extremely important to Yang Mi.

What Yang Mi needed most right now was to turn her fortune.

From Qi Hao’s many gossip cases, they summarized several key points.

First, don’t put others down.

They found some female stars gossiping about Qi Hao using the tactic: "Qi Hao wants to chase me, but I won't let him."

It felt like Qi Hao wasn’t good enough for them.

These cases almost always ended in failure.

Second, don’t deceive.

Especially when the manipulation was too obvious, forcing Qi Hao to publicly clarify.

He wasn’t a soft target to be manipulated.

Once Qi Hao clarified, he naturally faced attacks from his female fans.

Their combat power was still strong.

Especially when targeting Qi Hao’s gossip girlfriends.

But if the gossip was normal, they mostly discussed whether the pair matched and how they compared to the previous one.

Yeah, you can join our No. 7, but don’t force it.

It felt like mom fans choosing a daughter-in-law.

Third, don’t be too forward.

Natural development was most valuable; if the woman was too eager, showing clear ambition, Qi Hao would quickly retreat.

Yang Mi had personally witnessed how Qi Hao and An Feng developed their gossip.

In reality, their private interactions weren’t frequent.

The main thing was rehearsing scenes.

Occasionally they’d chat about topics both found interesting, always seeming to enjoy the conversations.

That feeling arose naturally.

Every casual photo looked like a perfectly composed picture.

Having decided, Yang Mi set her plan in motion.

Unbeknownst to her, Yang Mi’s behavior was like a firefly in the dark.

The kind that glows right on its ass.

Qi Hao had known long ago she was planning to target him.

Since early April, when Qi Hao returned to the set, she had subtly interacted with him—sometimes chatting about “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” sometimes about practical acting methods.

When the conversation got deep, she’d lean close.

When something was funny, she’d laugh and rest her head on Qi Hao’s arm.

I’m giving you the chance—will you take it or not…

This was the most annoying kind; “The Return of the Condor Heroes” was a genuine shared topic, impossible to deny since they’d worked together—and happily at that.

Back then, people had already said Yang Mi wasn’t acting.

Now they were on the same set; they couldn’t avoid interaction, and during interaction, they certainly couldn’t sit stiffly all the time.

Playful antics and physical contact were normal.

Many stars became lovers or friends after working together, their bond formed through months of daily closeness.

You couldn’t just kick her away.

Under these circumstances, gossip naturally arose.

This time, the media captured a photo of Qi Hao and Yang Mi sharing one phone, their heads nearly touching.

At that moment, the spring sunlight of southern China filtered through the tree shade, falling on both of them—the scene as beautiful as a watercolor of interwoven light and shadow.

In the photo, Yang Mi looked slightly pouting, while Qi Hao looked slightly smug.

This photo was clearly taken secretly by someone on set and then leaked to the media.

On set, extras or staff often secretly photographed stars and sold the images to the media; as long as they weren’t caught, the income was very good.

The internet was so forgetful—just days ago everyone was saying Qi Hao was gay, now they were saying he was promiscuous.

Entered a new set, and sure enough, he started gossiping with a new female star again.

Didn’t you propose to Fan Xuexue on the red carpet just last year?

The benefit of this gossip was that it completely washed away the previous scandal claiming Qi Hao was gay.

Now, anyone who said Qi Hao was gay was instantly labeled a mindless hater.

Even professional trolls no longer bother mentioning it.

“What were you doing?” Zhang Nan looked at Qi Hao with a headache.

Are you repaying your agent, who has been wholeheartedly helping you build your career, like this?

I just stepped out for a bit, and you’ve already hooked up with another?

Boss, women only slow down your sword-drawing speed.

“I don’t quite remember what I was doing—she definitely wanted to sleep with me; look at her eyes, they were practically dripping.”

Qi Hao hadn’t paid much attention at the time, but now, looking at the photo, it was clear.

"You..." Zhang Nan steadied his breathing and asked again: "You had a book on your knee and were holding your phone—weren't you looking up words you didn't know?"

"Oh right, I remember now—I said 'qiang jing' for 'strong and vigorous,' but she insisted it was 'qiang jin,' meaning 'powerful.' Of course I disagreed, so I checked it on my phone—and naturally, I won."

Qi Hao thought this wasn't a big deal; it was mainly the media overreacting.

If someone wants to smear you, they'll always find an excuse.

"So what do we do now? How did we handle similar things before? Do we need to clarify anything? Should we coordinate with An Yu?"

Zhang Nan placed the book he'd just bought for Qi Hao on the bedside table.

"Seems like we don't need to do anything—we never really handled it before."

Qi Hao thought carefully: according to Lao Tian's view, situations like Yang Mi's would most likely turn out mutually beneficial.

Everyone shares the spotlight.

Besides, Qi Hao doesn't need to spend any money—anyone wanting to hype up the trend is the woman's side footing the bill.

Lao Tian called it "prostitution fees."

Just watch the direction and don't let the woman drag you down.

"Boss, you absolutely can't take this seriously—Yang Mi isn't a good match. She's too career-driven."

"You have the nerve to talk about someone else being career-driven?"

Qi Hao was amused by him.

"Career-driven women make good subordinates, not girlfriends. Boss, you should find someone rich and obedient. Right now, priorities come first."

Zhang Nan felt uneasy.

He wasn't truly opposed to Qi Hao dating—he had no right to forbid it, after all, he himself had dated, married, and even had a child.

All he could do was fool Qi Hao—wealthy women are worth the risk.