It was good that Chen Ming Xu was angry. If he were angry, he wouldn’t have the spare time to ponder over unnecessary things and might even blurt out the truth during a spurt of anger.
Tang Feng had read through some of the diary entries the past Tang Feng left behind. There hadn’t been any mentions of Chen Ming Xu’s name in the entries he’d read. From Chen Ming Xu’s expression however, Tang Feng knew that the TV host had some connections to the past Tang Feng.
“You’re asking me why? Tang Feng, I’d thought you turned over a new leaf and became a better person, but now I see that you’re the same heartless and ungrateful bastard as before. Since you don’t remember what happened, let me tell you. Don’t think that I’m the one bullying you here. You were the one who begged me to let you appear on my show.” Chen Ming Xu’s chest heaved up and down with the effort of suppressing his anger.
Tang Feng nodded and said with a smile, “But now I don’t need to appear on your show anymore. What do you want from me? A word of thanks? Then I thank you for always letting me have some screen time on your show.”
Tang Feng’s reply was obviously one of ridicule. Even if Chen Ming Xu was befuddled with anger, he’d still be able to hear the mockery in those words. He knitted his brows and looked at Tang Feng as if he were looking at a heartless monster.
“You’re more eloquent than before.”
“You aren’t the first one to have mentioned it.” Tang Feng had no plans of explaining anything. Once he started, he’d have to stand there and explain his whole life away. That was too tiring for him.
Tang Feng’s calm and cool-headedness seemed to have affected Chen Ming Xu as he wasn’t as agitated and short for breath anymore. The TV host merely stared at Tang Feng, looking him over. After calming down, Chen Ming Xu started viciously attacking Tang Feng again. “I heard you flew to the United States a few days earlier along with Lu Tian Chen, right? Should I be congratulating you? You finally got into Lu Tian Chen’s good graces after hounding him like a dog for years.”
If Tang Feng got angry over a few vicious remarks he wouldn’t be Tang Feng anymore. He merely smiled and said, “Right now I’m very curious to know if we have some leftover conflicts that we’ve never resolved. Otherwise, you’d never speak to me like this. I personally don’t think you hate me though, after all, you still let me appear on your show.”
The best way to deal with someone irritating in the entertainment industry was to cut down on their exposure to the public. Dragging them into a talk show was not the proper way of doing things. Even if they were just getting picked on in the show, it still counted as exposure to the public.
If a small-time celebrity didn’t keep up a constant level of exposure, their career would certainly sputter and die.
“This isn’t fair…” Chen Ming Xu took a deep breath and sat down with a huff on the balcony bench. His eyelashes quivered, appearing as if he was on the verge of tears.
“This isn’t fair at all. Why did you have to be the one to forget everything? Why is your life becoming better and better? You’re obviously a bastard, the trashiest guy I’ve ever met.” Chen Ming Xu started cursing at Tang Feng again.
Tang Feng placed his cup of coffee down and walked over to Chen Ming Xu. Standing in front of the other, he asked, “May I sit down?”
“You weren’t polite like this either.” Chen Ming Xu raised his head and glared at Tang Feng. Unfortunately, his glare didn’t have any force in it and only made him look all the more pitiful.
“If you want to cry, go ahead and cry. Don’t hold it back. It won’t be good for your health.” Tang Feng sat down beside Chen Ming Xu. He found it hard to deal with the brash anger of youngsters like Chen Ming Xu. As Tang Feng had already gone through that youthful age, he knew young people were especially indecisive and uncertain about their life during that time. They might seem strong on the outside, might seem spiky and abrasive like a porcupine, but those were all shields for hiding their own weaknesses.
Often, the showiest people were the most fragile on the inside. They wanted to give people the allusion that they were strong, so they fabricated a mask that deluded everyone into thinking they were mighty and powerful. It was for self-protection, but also for self-encouragement.
“I’m not crying!” Chen Ming Xu yelled with his head lowered. He clenched his hands and rested them on his legs.
“All right, all right. I know you aren’t crying.” Out of concern for a junior and guilt for not knowing what the past Tang Feng had done to Chen Ming Xu, Tang Feng turned sideways and pulled the latter into a hug. To have someone hug you while you were deeply hurt was always comforting.
At first, Chen Ming Xu resisted against the hug. Quickly though, he unclenched his fists and wrappe