"He was." Jiang Yan frowned.
"Did he go to pick Lin Yi up?" Gao Rui had the same questions as the other reporters. Even Jiang Yan had the same question in his mind.
"What do you think?" Jiang Yan turned his eyes away from his computer screen and looked at Gao Rui. This woman looked calm and steady, but she was one of the brilliant stars in his office. It was fortunate that they were not chasing the same objects of articles. It would be hard to deal with her if they were working on the same case.
Jiang Yan was specialized in chasing news about celebrity and Gao Rui was specialized in chasing news about politicians. She was quite ruthless in her work that sometimes it was worrying that they would come after her because of what she wrote on her articles. However, rumor said that the one 'behind' her was pretty powerful that she could be willful with her work and still her safety was guaranteed.
Even so, they both were 'good' friends who supported each other. Sometimes Jiang Yan would provide her with a comparative opinion to enrich her articles, and she would do the same. They would share opinions with each other without having to worry one would steal the other's idea.
Seeing the picture in front of her, Gao Rui squeezed her eyes with a serious expression. "That's not the arrival gate." She told him.
Jiang Yan widened his eyes and almost smacked his own head for his carelessness. Of course! He wasn't at the arrival gate. He was tens meters away from the arrival gate and from the way he was looking at the distance, Jiang Yan was sure Mu Yang wasn't there to pick up Lin Yi.
There! The pieces of puzzles were starting to put in place. What could he decipher from that simple information? A lot!
One, it confirmed his assumption that Mu Yang did not have any romantic relationship with Lin Yi. With that kind of stare he had where the stare wasn't aimed on the arrival gate, there was no way he had the A-lister actress in his mind, not to mention his heart.
Two, Mu Yang was sending off someone important to him! That's for sure!
The question was... who was it?
Was there any chance that they met out far away from the airport? There was only one way to confirm it.
Jiang Yan pulled out his phone and dialed some numbers. He signaled at Gao Rui to wait a minute while he made a call. A wide smile appeared on his face as soon as he got the information that he needed.
"I guess you have a good lead, then." Gao Rui smiled while crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Well, it's still missing a big chunk of important piece, but at least I know two things now." Jiang Yan was happy, it was clear from the way he smiled joyfully as if he was enjoying a delightful drinks.
"Then, I suppose I'll wait for the articles to come out. When will it be? This afternoon? Tonight? Tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid it will take longer before I can finalize it. I need to hunt down the most important piece before I can write an article about it. One thing for sure, Mu Yang won't appear in my article about Lin Yi."
"Oh." Gao Rui arched her beautiful eyebrows as she studied the determined look on her buddy's face. "Then, I'll wait. Don't forget to inform me whenever you are ready. I'll hunt my own news after lunch." She winked at him before she waved him goodbye.
That afternoon, many articles were released about Lin Yi's arrival and Mu Yang's name was mentioned as one of the people who went to welcome her arrival in the airport. Followed by those articles was a speculation of their romantic relationship from the year where they worked together until present. There was no pictures that Mu Yang was in the airport, but somehow people believed that Mu Yang was really there.
Of course, in the midst of those heated discussion, the only person who held the picture of Mu Yang in the airport only released an article about Lin Yi's arrival without mentioning Mu Yang's name at all. Actually, his article was the only one that had not mentioned Mu Yang's name and he didn't even make a follow up article like the others since he believed that there was no connection between Mu Yang and Lin Yi.
His boss wanted to scold him for being ignorant but Jiang Yan promised him an exclusive article about Mu Yang that others wouldn't know. Only after assuring his boss then he could get out from the room quickly.
Sighing softly, Jiang Yan massaged his eyebrows to ease the tension. Now that he had promised the boss an exclusive article, he had to work hard to collect the information about Mu Yang.
Did he miss something about Mu Yang these months? As one of the reporters in charge of covering Mu Yang, he had gained some connections with the people around the actor. They were happily providing him with information since he didn't violate their trust in him. However, from his previous conversation when he asked for Mu Yang's location when Lin Yi arrived, he knew that the matter of Mu Yang going to the airport was unknown for most people.
Did he have to call Mu Yang's manager? Where should he start?
----- Section's Break -----
In YM Agency.
President of YM Agency where Mu Yang was working, Murong Li, was sitting in the chairman's seat with four other people in the room. Mu Yang and his manager sat on the left side and two other men were sitting on the chairman's right side. One was the HR Director of YM and the other one was his personal assistant.
"Did you really go to the airport this morning?" Murong Li asked him while rubbing his own temple.
"I did." Mu Yang admitted absentmindedly. His hand fiddled with his phone, waiting for a phone call that had never come.
"Did you know that Lin Yi came back today? Is that why you went there?"
"I didn't know. I have my own personal issue to go there."
"Then, do you remember that you're going to sign a contract with Apollo? What if they don't want you again after seeing that you're involved in such scandal?" Murong Li's stern voice raised a level higher as his eyes shot daggers towards Mu Yang.
"It can't be said as a scandal, though. These people talked without evidence. We can still salvage the situation." Mu Yang's manager, Lin Aotian, spoke calmly. He couldn't possibly tell the President that Mu Yang went to the airport to send his girlfriend off, right? The Higher Ups would die in anger if they were to know that.
Lin Aotian glanced at Mu Yang who was lost in his own trail of thought even when he was getting scolded. He sighed inwardly. He knew perfectly well why his artiste acted like this when eight hours ago he was still as active as monkey. Something that could make him absentminded was only that girl. She must have arrived at her country but she had not called Mu Yang at all. There were no news of her and somehow it affected the actor greatly.
Normally, he would stand up and clarify himself whenever any gossips about his romantic life was all over the news. However, he didn't do anything even when he was being questioned in front of the President. His contract with Apollo was the biggest contract YM's artistes had ever had in years, there was no way they would let Mu Yang screw it up. Therefore, before Mu Yang could make any statement, the President had called him over to talk about it.
However, Mu Yang was not in a condition where he would answer all questions being thrown at him. Lin Aotian knew that perfectly well. Taking a glance at the President, it looked like he was about to explode in anger anytime soon if Mu Yang wouldn't start talking seriously.
"Yang Yichen!" As expected, the President slammed the table in a fit of anger as he didn't get the response he wanted.
Lin Aotian flinched even though he knew that it was going to happen. On the other hand, if Mu Yang was startled because of the loud sound, he didn't show it. If anything, his expression grew colder, but at least his attention turned to the President.
"I'll just post on my account that I wasn't there to pick her up, right?" An upset Mu Yang was as impulsive as a high school teenager. Cold sweat wet Lin Aotian's back as he prepared himself to protect his artiste.
"You!" Murong Li seemed to age faster in this short time during their meeting. "Do you think you can clear this rumor by offending Lin Yi with such straightforward statement? Mind your words! Even though both of you are A-list artistes, you are miles away from her power!" The older man's hand trembled as he pointed his finger at Mu Yang.
"Mr. President, Mu Yang didn't mean it. Please, ignore him." Lin Aotian hastily interfered. "There is a way to solve this problem and Miss Lin Yi's side won't be offended."
"Unless you have proof that says Mu Yang wasn't in vicinity when Miss Lin arrived, then salvaging this situation isn't impossible. At least, we can keep Mu Yang's popularity intact and no one will question him anymore." The HR Director said calmly.
Proof? Where can I get such proof? Lin Aotian felt like he wanted to cry.