Congratulations is due to gossip reporters, who hit the mother lode this week when news broke that singer and TV hostess Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, aka Big S) got engaged to Chinese restaurateur and multimillionaire Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲), 29, following a whirlwind 20-day courtship.
“When I first laid my eyes on him, I instantly knew this is it. I found him,” the Taiwanese actress wrote in a Microblog (微博) posting on Oct. 29.
Cue the media frenzy. By now, every Chinese-speaking person should know that the couple were engaged on their fourth date, which was on Oct. 22, in a Catholic church in Beijing, the wedding is scheduled for Feb. 18 next year, and they’ll live happily ever after. The end.
Photo: Taipei times
But not quite.
Rumors of an engagement were confirmed when Hsu’s sister Dee Hsu (徐熙娣, aka Little S) left a congratulatory comment on Barbie’s blog.
Other associates of the Hsus, however, were as surprised as fans by the news. Makiyo Kawashima said she read about her close friend’s engagement in the newspapers and immediately called Big S, but couldn’t reach her. “I was shocked when I heard,” the singer told the Apple Daily.
Jay Chou (周杰倫) lauded Wang’s good looks, common sense and restaurants, which, according to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), frequently play Chou’s songs. “Not bad. Congratulations, he’s rich,” Chou said.
Not everyone was happy for the couple. Wang’s former girlfriend Kitty Zhang (張雨綺) was photographed by paparazzi at a Beijing cafe forlornly smoking a cigarette soon after news of her ex’s engagement broke. The actress was accompanied by two friends and looked miserable, despite having publicly congratulated her former paramour. Zhang’s relationship with Wang had been serious enough for her to pay a formal visit to Wang’s mother. The Apple Daily reported that she was shocked when Wang dumped her. Both denied that Big S broke up their relationship.
Rumors have also circulated on gossip sites in China that Wang had not only been married before, but was an abusive husband and is currently paying child support for a young daughter. In response Wang’s mother, businesswoman Zhang Lan (張蘭), said: “That’s nonsense, I’ll sue them for slander!”
After living in Canada, Wang’s mother returned to China in 1991 with savings of NT$600,000 and now, 19 years later, she owns more than 50 restaurants across the country, employing more than 10,000 staff members and enjoying a yearly turnover of NT$7 billion, according to Apple Daily and Liberty Times reports. Moreover, the prominent entrepreneur has publicly identified herself as a descendant of the Qing Dynasty Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后).
When news of her son and Barbie Hsu’s engagement surfaced, she told reporters that “the two of them are making a big deal about getting engaged, but I wasn’t there, so it’s not formal.” Since then, her tune has changed and she has announced that she plans to host a big wedding. “I was never against it, I just wanted to share the good news with [Hsu’s mother] and Little S,” she said.
Dee Hsu has denied rumors that her older sister is getting married quickly because she is knocked up, and said that their mother is pleased and touched by Wang’s extremely fast courtship of her daughter.
Little S complimented her future brother-in-law’s looks — but with reservations. “He looks a lot like my husband,” Hsu said. “But their level of handsomeness is not the same. My husband’s better looking.” She added that she calls Wang “Little Mike” (小Mike) in private.
In other celebrity news, the tabloids have been keeping a constant eye on Selina Jen’s (任家萱) condition. The S.H.E singer suffered burns to 40 percent of her body while filming a commercial in China two weeks ago and is currently undergoing treatment, including skin graft surgery, at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou (林口長庚紀念醫院).
Jen’s bandmate Hebe Tien (田馥甄) wrote on her blog that the singer is in so much pain “she can’t even shiver.” Tien added that Jen has said that the feeling is like having “nails driven through her bones.”
Jen spent her 29th birthday last weekend in the hospital with her family keeping her company. Model Lin Chi-ling (林志玲), who recovered from serious injuries after falling from a horse while filming a commercial five years ago, sent Jen a get-well card. “It’s always at your most vulnerable that you discover your endless strength,” Lin wrote.
Jen’s fiance Richard Chang (張承中) has been a constant presence at her side since the accident. HIM International Music (華研國際音樂) General Manager Linda Ho (何燕玲) told reporters that Chang has refused to cry in front of Jen, but paparazzi photos have shown the lawyer leaving the hospital looking pale and red-eyed.
Meanwhile, the Apple Daily said that curious doctors from other departments in the hospital have been sneaking peeks at Jen’s medical records. Hospital officials denied the reports.
While one pop star is laid up, another returns to the stage. Faye Wong (王菲) is officially back in business after a more than five-year hiatus. She performed a show on Friday last week at the Wukesong Arena (五棵松體育館) in Beijing. The pop diva was caught singing off-key when crooning the second song in the lineup, but the 13,000 concertgoers didn’t seem too bothered. Wong’s five sold-out shows in Bejing will net the star an estimated NT$429 million.
Wong will perform three shows at the Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋), scheduled for Jan. 21, Jan. 22 and Jan. 23. 15
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